Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that despite the apology from Lee Kuan Yew, he was still angry with Singapore's first prime minister because some of his new remarks in his letter were uncalled for.

The way I see it, Pak Lah should not be asking Lee to explain his remarks in the dialogue with the former United States Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers. Pak Lah should instead address his letter to the republic's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Kuan Yew's son) to demand that his father's remarks did not represent the Singapore government's views on the matter.

Pak Lah shouldn't correspond with Kuan Yew directly. Instead he should demand Hsien Loong to reprimand his father for his insensitive remarks which have now opened up old wounds.

Of course, I am being naive because stepping down as prime minister to make way for Goh Chok Tong and now his son, Kuan Yew, who now goes by the title minister mentor, remains the prime minister of Singapore, calling all the important shots.

Thus, I doubt that Kuan Yew made those remarks without aforethought. He was willing to risk the wrath across the Causeway in his plan to kill two birds with one stone.

First, he wants Summers to take it back to US President George W Bush and those neo-cons in the White House that in dealing with countries in this region particularly Islamic Malaysia and Indonesia, Uncle Sam can always count on Singapore for undivided support. Although Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia should be comrades in arms in Asean, this situation could never be achieved because Singapore has close ties with Israel.

Secondly, Lee had perhaps wanted to tell the Chinese in Malaysia that they should work and push harder towards a 'Malaysian Malaysia' that he proposed when Singapore was still part of the federation of Malaysia.