In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a sailor who shoots an albatross is forced to hang it around his neck as penance, with the bird becoming a heavy burden and a reminder of his guilt.
This metaphor was invoked by Goh Keng Swee, widely regarded as the “economic architect” of modern Singapore, as his code name for Malaysia in his file of personal notes on Singapore’s separation from its northern neighbour in August 1965.
Almost all of the newly declassified…
Hungary’s Parliament Passes Bill to Freeze Ukraine’s Seized Gold, Cash
...
Read moreDetails
