http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/dec3w6.htm

Singapore needs more mavericks says Lee
December 3, 2003

Lee Kuan Yew says Singapore needs more mavericks, geniuses and
independent thinkers. AFP

SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore needs more mavericks, geniuses and
independent thinkers, says the founding father of this wealthy city-
state - known for its tight social, political and media controls.
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew was quoted Tuesday as saying that he
made Singapore a "first-world oasis in a third-world region," but
failed to realise the need for both team players and radical
thinkers, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

"I didn't know this when I started. I know this now - you need both,"
Lee was quoted as saying in by local media.

Lee's critics say he's stifled his people's creativity through years
of insistence on obedience, cooperation and efficiency.

Films and television shows are censored in Singapore. Home satellite
TV antennae are outlawed. Public speech, assembly and political
activities are strictly regulated. Lee and other leaders have
successfully sued numerous journalists and opposition politicians for
defamation. Protests and strikes are virtually non-existent.

"Your work force must have the cohesiveness, but to make the big leap
forward you need your mavericks, your geniuses, your people who can
think outside the box and say: 'I can do it better, simpler,"' Lee
said, according to the report.

Lee, though widely labeled an authoritarian, is also credited with
transforming this former British colony from an impoverished
backwater into one of the world's most modern and prosperous
countries.

He made his comments Monday at the opening of the Global Brand Forum
international business conference. Other speakers include Anita
Roddick, the British founder of The Body Shop, and inspirational
speaker Deepak Chopra.

Lee, 80, was Singapore's first prime minister - a post he held from
1965, when Singapore separated from neighbouring Malaysia, until he
stepped down in 1990. But he still wields strong influence under the
title of senior minister.

His successor, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, has said he'll step down
by 2005 to make way for Lee's son, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong.