| Aussies Will Make S'pore Fail, Says Lee Kuan Yew |
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MELBOURNE, March 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore would hit rock bottom if it was run by Australians, former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said on Wednesday.
Lee, 83, in Australia to receive an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University in Canberra, made the comments to reporters after the ceremony.
A handful of protesters waved placards outside the award ceremony, saying Lee was an opponent of democracy and the rule of law, the Australian Associated Press said in a report from Canberra.
Lee said he was accustomed to hostile receptions on overseas visits.
"It's not going to change me and I'm not going to change you," he said.
Lee said both Australia and Singapore prospered under their own style of government but Australia's method would fail in Singapore.
"We're going to prosper, you're going to prosper, if I allow you to run my country, it will spiral downwards and hit rock bottom," he told reporters.
Lee also defended the comments he made years ago in which he described Australians as "the poor white trash of Asia."
He said he made the comments in the heat of an argument but said at that time they were probably warranted.
"Perhaps, at that time it was warranted," he added.
-- BERNAMA
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