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> I do not know the specific background of Mr Lee As an undergraduate, he studied maths at Trinity College Cambridge. Béla Bollobás said [1]: > I certainly ta
by jamessb 5y ago
> I do not know the specific background of Mr Lee
As an undergraduate, he studied maths at Trinity College Cambridge. Béla Bollobás said [1]:
> I certainly taught him more than anybody else in
Cambridge. I can truthfully say that he was an exceptionally
good student. I’m not sure that this is really known in
Singapore. “Because he’s now the Prime Minister,” people
may say, “oh, you would say he was good.” No, he was truly
outstanding: he was head and shoulders above the rest of
the students. He was not only the first, but the gap between
him and the man who came second was huge.
> I think that he did computer science (after mathematics)
mostly because his father didn’t want him to stay in
pure mathematics. Loong was not only hardworking,
conscientious and professional, but he was also very
inventive. All the signs indicated that he would have been a
world-class research mathematician. I’m sure his father never
realized how exceptional Loong was. He thought Loong was
very good. No, Loong was much better than that. When I
tried to tell Lee Kuan Yew, “Look, your son is phenomenally
good: you should encourage him to do mathematics,” then
he implied that that was impossible, since as a top-flight
professional mathematician Loong would leave Singapore
for Princeton, Harvard or Cambridge, and that would send
the wrong signal to the people in Singapore. And I have to
agree that this was a very good point indeed. Now I am
even more impressed by Lee Hsien Loong than I was all
those years ago, and I am very proud that I taught him; he
seems to be doing very well. I have come round to thinking
that it was indeed good for him to go into politics; he can
certainly make an awful lot of difference.
He then did the (now-discontinued) Diploma in Computer Science at Cambridge.
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722130213/https://www2.ims.nus.edu.sg/imprints/interviews/BelaBollobas.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20180722130213/https://www2.ims....
- xvilka 5y agoQuite sad he didn't pursue science career, it might have brought a few amazing discoveries to the world.
- secondaryacct 5y agoInstead he rotted as an actor of change, represented his citizens, protected his country and solved sudokus. I dont know if he's good for Singapore but I mean, he did one of the most noble thing a human can do so I wouldnt blame him. I hope to do 1% of what this politician tried to do in my lifetime.
- Aeolun 5y ago> he did one of the most noble thing a human can do Solve sudokus?
- mattcommenting 5y agoIs he also pursuing covid-zero at all costs? death penalty for drug dealer? embracing canning? Kim jung um studied at a top school too
- samatman 5y agoI vouched for this comment because it was worth addressing. You can go online and ask Singaporeans all day about their opinion of Lee Hsien Loong, depending on how old they are they've voted for or against him and the PAP several times. Singapore is a de facto one-party state, but it stays that way by (sometimes narrowly) keeping the ruling party in power by voting for it periodically. The comparison to Kim Jun "um" is inept and insulting.
- vvillena 5y agoEven if Singapore is the best of all the authoritarian governments out there, it is still kinda fucked up. Even with its nature put aside, Singapore still engages in all sorts of regressive, backwards policies, up to a point where it's difficult to claim that any high govt official from Singapore holds any sort of sense of nobility within them. If this person is the prime minister, he is actively choosing to ignore, detach himself from, or even to support and continue those policies.
- Cthulhu_ 5y agoI mean, he might yet? What someone does now is not their permanent lot in life.
- yomly 5y agoQuite the opposite - I'm not sure how many eminent mathematicians have the background to have gone far in politics. The early pandemic outlined how many politicians lacked even the ability to reason about exponentials (let alone scientific thinking!) I am very glad that there is at least SOME representation of great thinkers amongst our leader-class