Reminds one of those fine-line rpints in disclaimers by unit trusts, funds, etc, which go something like “Past performance is no indication of future direction … ” Heehee

Well, in any case, HAKKA IS BEST! Deng Xiaoping, Lee Teng Hui, Tan A-peeh The Flat & Flattened Chen Shuibian… anyone else comes to mind?

What do you think is needed for Singapore not to “go down the drain”? Or do you think there is absolutely nothing we can do and that it’s only a matter of time before we disintegrate?

Regards,
Andrew

However, over the last 15 years, I started to see the erosion of the more important values and principles, some of which have been mentioned by another post above. So, I will only mention these: a sense of fair play, mutual respect, proper decorum, humbleness and humility, compassion and empathy, and truthful integrity. In fact, the opposite negative traits have surfaced. They are: unfairness, injustice, greed, shamelessness, callousness, ruthlessness and outright hypocrisy.

I also saw that People have become very miserly and stingy, yet publicly proclaimed by their lackeys as being very generous. I also observed People, instead of showing good examples, they display negative ones. I also felt that People have forgotten how to be humble and began to be very arrogant, haughty, overly-proud and shamelessly greedy. I began to think that People must have been staying in their ivory towers for too long, so much so that they have become over confident, insensitive and extremely calculative.

After contributing so many years of my life in nation building, from the very beginning, during those hectic and unstable pre-independence days, until my health refused to allow me to carry on in the last 10 years, I am now very saddened by the gut feeling deep inside me that whispers to me that Singapore will very soon disintegrate.

However, there is one saving grace. There is Malaysia to fall back on. We can rejoin Malaysia again on her terms. The legacy of the PAP govt can go down to the gutters for all I care. What we the commoners need is very simple: food, lodging, medical and freedom of movement.

We don’t need to care whether the country will still be 1st World or not. We don’t have to care whether our leaders are extraordinary or not. We don’t even to be bothered whether our ministers have to be paid $millions or not.

If you ask me, “Corruption how?” I would answer you: Which country in the whole world does not have corruption? Corruption is part of the nature of people who are power hungry. And corruption is very broad. It does not just cover monetary corruption. It covers favoritism, e.g. giving all the key govt posts to own family members, relatives and friends. It also covers ill-will, e.g. if you did vote for me your estate will not be upgraded. It also covers using official status for personal gains, e.g. writing books and promoting their sales while still in the office and using official staff to help in the gathering of data and reference materials. It also covers abuse of power, e.g. using official power to unjustly arrest and detain an individual without giving him access to legal counsel.

Also, whether money is transferred under the table in the dark or over the table in broad daylight, both are still outright corruptions. Only difference is that legalized corruption is worst than ordinary corruption. This is called extraordinarily very high class corruption, where the highly ingenious and innovative perpetrators are protected by the law from anyone who dare to bring them to court. Only a new govt can bring them to justice.

So, if you ask me: “Will Singapore fall or not?” I would answer you: Of course, it would fall. Its only a matter of time. If people like me, who are the foundations, have already been very badly shaken, what can prevent it from falling?

Alexios actually worried about the problems about succession right until his death bed. But the point is as what Pay and PAy said, even if you do have a successor you have to groom him and there are many unforeseen circumstances so that even if u groom him well, the instant something untoward happens, then you are in trouble. Furthermores the term “talents” is rather debatable and with regards to grooming, it looks more like molly coddling to me.

in sg, where pap “successors” are walk-ins rather than elected, they command very little respect from the pple.

if it takes losing a few grcs and critical mps as well as resultant chaos to change the direction of sg, i say LET’S DO IT.

That being said, and since I’m not well versed in history, may I ask if Comnenus has such a focus on successor?