$13b gala provocation more Lear than Lee
Lee Kuan Yew has, as usual, done his provocative show, this time in criticising the University of Cambridge during its fund-raising gala dinner ('Singapore's Lee stuns Cambridge $13b gala guests', Education Post, April 8). Perhaps as Senior Minister Mentor he is getting a little old if not Learian (Act 1 though).
It must have dampened the evening a little, and was rather ungracious. On the other hand, Cambridge, being the 800-year-old citadel of knowledge, could afford it. Its alumni and friends would not turn away because of a mere controversy, or even a little mud on its face. In a way, the vice-chancellor may have misjudged in inviting Mr Lee as the guest of honour, as Westerners sometimes have problems handling Singapore and China. But Alison Richard made a very gracious response, perhaps one of the best you could expect from a vice-chancellor.
However, perhaps the Cambridge staff should also take a closer look at the house programme, which in Chinese mistakenly translated 'vice-chancellor' as 'vice-president of Cambridge', among other glaring errors.
I don't think this Lee act, appropriate or not, would dampen the fund-raising momentum of Cambridge. We shouldn't rule out the possibility that Mr Lee, though he declared he would rather donate to Harvard Kennedy School, would somewhere down the road help get support for Cambridge. Institutional advancement is for optimists and people who have dreams and hold on to them.
BERNADETTE TSUI, Pokfulam