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Notes -
Singapore has a new prime minister, marking the end of the political dynasty founded by Lee Kuan Yew. I don't know much about this new guy, but it will be interesting to see for how much longer the People's Action Party can maintain its current level of centralized control with less charismatic leaders. Given the popularity of Lee around these parts, I figured others may have something to add about the stability of the current system or the future of everyone's favorite Southeast Asian city-state (no offense to Brunei).
Strongly believe Lee Quan Yew had general purpose intelligence that matched an average nobel/turing/fields medalist. His son (Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore PM from 2004-2024) was the undisputed top student at Cambridge Math. In another life, he would have been the favorite to win one of those prizes. Assuming an apple doesn't fall that far from the tree, Lee Quan Yew was likely to be in the same ballpark.
Those are some near impossible standards on IQ alone. Take Lee Kuan's GOATed public speaking and it's actually impossible.
The new guy has a standard college education, with a standard beaurocratic career. Reminds me of when cofounders retire and hand their company over to a caretaker MBA. I'm sure he is competent enough to execute. But, I doubt if he is competent+charismatic enough to innovate in the face of inevitable crises.
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