The Wire

Lee Kuan Yew ruled with an iron fist. In his Big-Brother-style authoritarian regime Lee allegedly abused many freedoms we take for granted. He is accused of suppressing freedom of speech, freedom of the press, torturing suspected dissidents, and trying to quell the birth-rate by sterilisation. Apparently such social freedoms were a mere sacrifice for national security. The question is, do the ends justify the means? Students at the ANU believe the answer is a resounding no. Lee’s biographer Michael Barr, on the other hand, is adamant that Lee’s ruthless regime was ‘par for the course’.