On Wednesday (21 Aug), Elon Musk shared a clip of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong discussing “wokeness” on the social media platform X, which he owns.
Source: @elonmusk on X
The post, captioned “Wisdom” by the Tesla CEO, has accumulated 249,000 likes and 56,000 shares.
The clip came from an exit interview with now-Senior Minister Lee that aired on 10 May this year, where he addressed various pertinent issues.
In the clip, SM Lee referred to wokeness as a “Western” movement marked by excessive sensitivity to others’ issues and an overreaction to perceived disrespect toward one’s identity or subgroup.
He argued that this mindset fosters “very extreme attitudes and social norms,” particularly in academic institutions. He cited “safe spaces” and “appropriate pronouns” as examples.
SM Lee expressed that “wokeness” makes life “burdensome,” a direction he believes Singapore does not want not go.
“It does not make us a more resilient, cohesive society with a strong sense of solidarity. We must be more robust,” added the senior minister.
Some users agreed with Musk’s post, saying that SM Lee is indeed “wise” and praised Singapore for its “exceptional” leadership.
However, others noted that Singapore’s strict speech laws run contrary to the free speech ideals that the CEO is notorious for.
They claimed that Musk’s free speech “absolutism” would likely clash with the country’s policies, adding that people should take SM Lee’s advice with a grain of salt.
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Featured image adapted from CNA on YouTube, @elonmusk on Twitter
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