By Andrew Loh
Once upon a time, Vivian Balakrishnan was among a group of PAP candidates which was termed “super-seven” by the local mainstream media. In the 2001 General Elections, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had introduce the seven – Khaw Boon Wan, Dr Ng Eng Hen, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Raymond Lim and Cedric Foo.
Immediately after that elections, Vivian Balakrishnan, who was said to be a critic of the government before he joined the ruling party, was made Minister of State for National Development in 2002.
Following this, he was given numerous positions in the next few years:
2002 – Chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee
2003 – Minister of State (Trade and Industry)
2003 – Chairman of the National Youth Council
2004 – Acting Minister for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS)
2004 – Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry)
2005 – Minister for MCYS and Second Minister for Trade and Industry
2005 – Minister responsible for entrepreneurship
2007 to 2008 – Minister for MCYS and Second Minister for Communications and the Arts (Mica)
In addition to all these, he was also Chairman of the Young PAP, was responsible for the casinos issue (he led a govt team to the Bahamas to study the Atlantis Resort there), a Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC and oversaw Singapore’s 2010 Youth Olympics bid.
Vivian Balakrishnan was the youngest Cabinet minister at 45 years old when he joined the PAP.
Indeed, super-human feats were expected of him.
So, how has Vivian Balakrishnan fared – 10 years after having won in the 2001 elections under the PAP banner? What portfolios does he now hold? Let’s recap:
Chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee – Defunct
Minister of State (Trade and Industry) – Now Lim Hng Kiang
Chairman of the National Youth Council – Now Teo Ser Luck
Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry) – Now S Iswaran
Second Minister for Trade and Industry – Li Yee Shyan
Minister responsible for entrepreneurship – Now Li Yee Shyan
Minister for MCYS
Second Minister for Communications and the Arts (Mica) – Now, Lui Tuck Yew (Acting Minister)
Chairman of Young PAP – Now Teo Ser Luck
MP Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC
Youth Olympics – Now Teo Ser Luck
Vivian Balakrishnan now has, basically, two portfolios – Minister for MCYS, which is considered a light-weight ministry and MP for the Holland-Bukit Panjang Group Representation Constituency, along with five of his fellow PAP MPs.
It looks like Vivian Balakrishnan has either fallen out of favour or may have been unable to handle the numerous portfolios given to him. Or it could simply mean that the PAP has found more people to shoulder the weight previously carried by him. Whatever the reasons, one thing’s for certain: Vivian Balakrishan’s once-shining star has diminished. Once said to be on a “speedboat for greater things”, he instead seems to have fallen off the boat.
What could be the reason?
One clue could perhaps be his public gaffes since becoming MP and minister. In his early years in office, according to this website,
“… when you listen to his closed-door forums, you can sense a slight streak of controlled impatienceness and authoritarianism in him… In 2002, he labelled the Malaysian Media as “wild animals”, which is quite an unprecedented comment made by any Singaporean Ministers.”
Indeed, in February 2009, Vivian Balakrishnan, who was then Second Minister for Mica, made an explicit threat to those in cyberspace:
“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion…..if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.” (21st Feb 2009, Channel NewsAsia.)
Ironically, the very next month (March 2009), his MICA portfolio was removed when PM Lee reshuffled his cabinet (see more below).
At times, Vivian Balakrishnan’s emotional streak – such as during the debate on bar top dancing – leaves even his supporters with red faces:
“If you want to dance, some of us will fall off that bar-top. Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar-top dancing, not just because they have fallen off the bar-top. Because usually a young girl, with a short skirt, dancing on a bar-top, may attract some insults from some other men, and the boyfriend starts fighting. Some people will die. Blood will be shed for liberalising this policy.”
Of course, no one died when bar-top dancing was eventually allowed and the minister probably heaved a huge sigh of relief – not that no one died (because no one would have) but because that episode was finally over and he could get over the public embarrassment of his statement.
In 2007, when he had become Minister for MCYS, another gaffe, this time in Parliament – and over a very sensitive subject. When MP for Jalan Besar GRC asked the government to raise Public Assistance for those in need, Vivian Balakrishnan retorted with what is now a classic:
“How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?”
It caused a public outcry.
That was in 2007. In 2008, when the issue came up again, MCYS finally raised PA assistance by a mere $30, to the dismay of many. Then in 2009, after some prodding by MPs, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, in his Budget Speech, announced that PA assistance will be increased by a further S$30 to S$360 – a sort of slap in the face for Vivian Balakrishnan who had been unwilling to consider such an increase.
When MICA minister, Lee Boon Yang, announced that he would like to step down, it was expected that Vivian Balakrishnan would assume his post. After all, he had been in MCYS since 2004 and ministers are regularly rotated. Also, he was then Second Minister at Mica. However, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his Cabinet reshuffle in March of 2009, Vivian Balakrishnan not only had been passed over as successor to Lee Boon Yang but his Second Minister of Mica portfolio was altogether taken away from him. Lui Tuck Yew was made the new Mica minister instead.
In the previous year, 2008, Vivian Balakrishnan’s chairmanship of the Young PAP was given to Teo Ser Luck and it is also Teo Ser Luck who was widely considered to be responsible for Singapore’s successful Youth Olympics bid. And it is Teo Ser Luck who was put in charge of the S$400 million Sports Hub project as well.
In 2010, the issue of homeless Singaporeans camping out in public parks apparently caught his ministry unawares. It was only after The Online Citizen brought the issue to the public’s attention that Vivian Balakrishnan’s ministry started to do something about it – but did it in a most condescending and threatening manner. The ministry brought police officers and Nparks officers to these areas and started to shout at and threaten the campers with fines, ordering them to remove themselves from the parks immediately.
Perhaps Vivian Balakrishan was upset at having been caught sleeping on the job. But nonetheless, despite his tough talk Vivian Balakrishnan seems to have had his wings clipped – and clipped severely.
It would thus be no surprise if he decided not to stand in the next elections. After all, he is not expected to be able to handle any heavyweight portfolio. Would he want to remain in a lightweight capacity, given that he may have ambitions to be Prime Minister as those who know him suspect?
That’s left to be seen.
For now, Vivian Balakrishnan has been a huge disappointment to those who had expected him to be a stand-up guy and speak up for the less fortunate – just as he was said to have done before joining the PAP.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely that he will – given his frequent off-hand dismissals of appeals for help for the less fortunate and his wannabe “tough guy” statements.
In short, Vivian Balakrishnan’s political future is one of going with the (PAP) flow. Don’t expect the man to be any different from other PAP MPs or ministers – or to be a maverick.
“If you were a poor person, anywhere on this planet, Singapore is the one place where you will have a roof over your head, where you will have food on the table…Even if you can’t afford it, we will have meals delivered to you.” – Vivian Balakrishnan, 2010
_________________________________________________
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
People who betray their own conscience will never have a good ending ! The final straw is his utterance of “delivering free meals to you.” How can a critic of PAP becomes a traitor of the citizens.
Vivian the road is still long for you to tread on and we are all watching your performance. Be the citizens’ minister not the citizens’ enemy. Maybe the salary you draw now make you the all
mighty and you lose your sense of empathy to the common poor folks of Singapore. You are really living in your Ivory Tower of doom.
The higher you climb, the harder you fall. Sure, high hopes to become the next PM. You can dream the impossible dream.
Andrew, you did will to chronicle his disgrace.
People have eyes to see who have sold their souls.
If he didn’t sell his soul, he may not even be allowed to stay in MCYS.
Still, the pay is pretty good in MCYS. So no skin off his handsome nose lol!
The Pariah, http://www.singaporeenbloc.blogspot.com
dun trust anybody with a girl’s name
TOC shouldn’t become like another website that runs personal campaigns against individual politicians.
And can anyone enlighten me how these statements are wrong?
“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion…..if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.”
This is a simple technological fact. And if it is a threat, it’s a threat to those who abuse the anonymity offered by cyberspace to commit crimes, like making seditious comments or posting bomb threats.
“How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?”
I think he means we shouldn’t go the way of other welfare states where ‘poor’ people abuse the system in order to lead very comfortable lives. PA should rightly be used as a subsistence fund (able to eat at hawker centre), not as a luxury fund (to eat at restaurant).
Basically, if you want to eat at restaurants, you jolly work for the money, not expect taxpayers to fund your restaurant meal. You want to live like a ‘normal’ Singaporean, you work like one. It’s common sense.
Minister of State (Trade and Industry) – Now Lim Hng Kiang
Second Minister for Trade and Industry - Li Yee Shyan
It’s very hard to take someone writing about politics seriously when he doesn’t even know the difference between “minister of state” and a full minister, and get it all mixed up. Just for the record, 1) Lim Hng Kiang is the Trade and Industry Minister. 2) There is currently no one holding the post of Second Minister for Trade and Industry, which is a full ministerial post. 3) Li Yi Shyan is a Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
chiper,
Errrr… it’s an article. An opinion piece. Not a campaign. A campaign would be what we’re doing with the Mandatory Death Penalty. ;)
Annonymous,
Of course, I know who the ministers are. Just as there is no minister for entrepreneurship now as we had in the past (when Raymond Lim held it). My listing is to show which post VB does not hold anymore, and his replacements – as close to his previous post as possible.
In short, I have listed the ones who now hold the helm in VB’s previous positions/portfolios.
My apologies but it was not apparent. Perhaps you should have made it clearer.
Andrew
I get your point. I guess I just felt that the part where you posted VB’s list of past and current portfolios was unnecessarily personal, as opposed to say, criticising his comments about the internet or poor people. As an analogy, if you think that a colleague made a stupid comment at work, you’d just point out why it’s stupid. I doubt you’d dig up his employment history and run an analysis on why and how he left each job and how that makes him a lousy employee in general.
At the rate that VB is changing his portfolio, maybe he should change his title to MCP i.e. Minister of Changing Portfolios.
chiper,
I understand what you are saying but I have to disagree with you. I started the article with the mention of him being one of the “super seven” candidates. And I wasn’t the one who put him in that category or termed him a “super seven”. It was the Straits Times, if I recall correctly.
Following from that, the article is to highlight how this “super seven” candidate may have fallen below expectations. After all, being called “super” brings with it higher expectations. Thus, my article is to highlight how he may not have met these expectations.
I don’t know why people keep saying that he was anti-establishment before!!
I knew him well in UNI and he was someone we could count on for the Establishment point of view. I even asked him to help out once as the voice of the establishment.
Remember, the presidents of NUSSU before him were Tan Wah Piow and Juliet Chin. He managed to transform a politically active body with a national voice into an organisation that ran a pretty good bus service and some kilat Jams and Hops!
I do not think he is ashamed of his Establishment past while a student and I think it is odd that people associate that with him. Intelligent, articulate – yes. Anti-establishment – you have to be kidding me.
If VB had done well, would there be an issue of poor performance and mis matched expectations? The easier part for him to do well is to speak with tact and which he fails miserably. There cant be a obscenely paid job without a minimum performance standard. He cant even meet that standard and all he gets nowadays are not praises but heaps of criticism. He might end up in Prime Minister’s Office doing office boy works drawing a minister pay.
paul,
We’ve been trying to look for any of his so-called anti-establishment writings but have come up with nothing. If you have any, please do let us know. Strange that there are no publication of any of VB’s “anti-establishment” writings at all.
VB was considered “super seven” but is now in charge of a lightweight ministry. That says it all.
# leejuanspat
People who betray their own conscience will never have a good ending .
Yap, what he did was foolish, should have been himself. Instead walked with the dogs and started barking like them…now people see him as a dog.
It is best he quit. Should have been himself and gone against the PAP or should have tried changing things from within with strong words and actions. But looks like he was caught napping somewhere and now he has to serve like a dog.
Expected him to try for PM, but now it seems he was just made to run around and be a broken man.
Politics is only for man who live by their actions.
#paul…thanx
should get more details of VB from his UNI days too, after what paul had mentioned.
Pride goes before a fall……. He is too arrogant!!
Should quit politics!!
# The Pariah
I like reading your blog posting.
How do I get to read your stuffs? Where do I go to ?
Tell me please, thanks.
What seems likely is all these MIW will stay on as long as they possibly can to draw their million dollars salaries and eventually they will migrate with their families to retire in a real 1st world country. Paid millions to talk and act cock is a pretty good deal.
It does appear that his star is waning.
To avoid further embarrassment, I guess he should leave politics and go back to his medical profession.
durin my time i spent in schools..i also can vouched for my fellows classmates whom we steal marbles together before… you know that type socalled anti-establishments/peoples’people/blah blah blah…
onced easy money dropped into their pocket$..they would even sell their parent$ for a $ong…you all mereLEE think dr balekampond is a down2earth upright humane bein?
ha ha ha….
even in the internet durin the earLEE days when pacific internet inc was chargin $100 unlimited for a 56k surfin speed..so many peoples’ people forumers…onced this few become moderators(in which i humbly declined because clash of interest/ideas)..they too turned to the dark sides..where even annakin skywalker is an angel than gabriel himself…
$$$$ talk$..nothin el$e realLEE matter$..now you know why leekuanyew made pheyucork the union leader to become a pap ministers who later absconed with the union fund$…till today nobody know$ where pheyucork is….as for durai…yes yes the same indian bloke who is a good good fren of the former prime minister’s wife too was onced classified as an upright man who would championed the sicks like mother teresa…
He is like a hot air balloon, always trying to go up and forgot to look at the ground when he is up there thus he lost directions and lost touched with the people. He is just floating along, no directions, no support and cannot lead. But he still has a lot of hot air that serves only to himself and that brings the worse out of him.
Wow, this guy is really losing it, huh?
The greed for money and lust for power can change a person permanently.
TSL is no better than Vivian. He is nothing more than a pretty face mascott of MIW.
Judging by his quotes, VB is ill-suited for politics. He is too emotional and honest :)
he is really pretty pathetic. indeed how many farewell matches did we have exactly for the National Stadium? lol.
Second degree of separation from Balakrishnan – while unable to reveal much, I’d say is this article is based on what happened, but the situation depicted is far from true. The pessimistic view is pretty much unfounded.
My personal opinion of the article follows after this line:
I salute Mr. Balakrishnan for being outspoken. Sure, there are poor people living in Singapore, aged collecting aluminium cans& cardboards and those who end up living in parks. But there is also some Singaporeans who choose to abuse the system with surplus cash, by collecting from more than one volunteer/ welfare organization that Singapore provides. And yet, they are able to purchase the latest tech gadgets and demand more from the Government. Those are the people – who are able to collect more than a monthly of $330 – refuse to work and choose to splurge, I will not sympathize with them - no thanks for dragging of genuine cases with them.
Should Balakrishnan be faulted if NPark workers or Singapore Police yelling at those homeless people? No, I don’t think so. I don’t see why the finger-pointing is to Balakrishnan, when it could have been the individual officers themselves. Would have been a different story if it was MCYS social workers doing all that yelling in “condescending and threatening manner”.
(I vaguely remember TOC reporting of not allowing them to go to work or something like that, but that’s another context. Sigh.)
Yes, I agree that Singapore politicians are sitting on their ivory towers. However, because they are hardly on the ground level as us average Singaporeans, I don’t entirely fault them for being unable to micro-manage all the different aspects, they definitely can do a better job, in any case…
Dear Andrew,
Why waste your precious time writing on someone so ordinary?
So, the “pay-ministers-million$” scheme is working or not?
As Andrew seems to know the ministers portfolio pretty well, mind enlightening me which is the clown in charge of Productivity? GKY?
Khaw Boon Wan today mentioned don’t mix healthcare with politics; no free healthcare — just after Dr.V mentioned free meals and (implied free) healthcare & roof. Wonder if the ministers are talking to each other or not? Maybe if they are not always absence in parliament, they can meet more often, practise sing-song talk-cork, etc.
I like this article. The PAP ministers think it’s easy to run a country with so many portfolios without even risking their own job, but merely a rotation of duties within. Highly paid, but zero efficiency.
They should scratch out Cedric Fool and Lemon Lim too. These two have also been bounced around. In addition, PM’s sis doesn’t like Western names.
The rejection of $30/month increase in subsidy to needy person was simply disgusting….bearing in mind that we pay our servant ministers millions to do nothing but ‘forecasting’.
Is he taking speed boat to deliver food to the poor and homeless staying at East Coast? If he has really fallen off, the poor will have to call pizza delivery.
HAYOO!
Mar 31, 2010 1:45
Second degree of separation from Balakrishnan – while unable to reveal much, I’d say is this article is based on what happened, but the situation depicted is far from true. The pessimistic view is pretty much unfounded.No, I don’t think so. I don’t see why the finger-pointing is to Balakrishnan. I don’t entirely fault them for being unable to micro-manage all the different aspects, they definitely can do a better job, in any case…
so if what you are sayin is the little people below which is the small civil servants been doin all this dirty duties and hav to be responsible for all the mistakes incurled…
than what is the hell are we payin dr balekampond for? he simplEE cannot be fault under any circustances just liked wongcantsink/shortleggs minister/blah blah blah…
He should dedicate his ministry to find ways and means to use the internet to help put food on the table for most Singaporeans and residents. The problem with the government is they have a very child like idea about growing internet enterprises. They think that just because they provide the infrastructure and wire up the whole island with miles of fiber optics that’s going to somehow translate into something tangible and worthwhile – that’s like a man who believes just because he lives in a cave; he is an archeologist.
My feel is too much effort, time and resources is directed at fighting the internet.
SD (Liaison officer of the Internet – Mercantile Interspacing Guild)
“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion…..if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.” (21st Feb 2009, Channel NewsAsia.)
When a minister says something like this in public forum and fails to qualify what he actually means - he is callous, irresponsible and lacks wisdom.
Firstly, everyone has a right to privacy. Even today the every state has classified technology to even see through walls, but does that mean that they go around saying, we can even look into your living room and see you peeling the skin on your big toe. Of course not. Civilized government knows where the line between state and citizenry should begin and end. They dont cross the line.
But once a government fails to see the wisdom of such a line and even has the temerity to claim if you have nothing to hide you should not fear - then you need to be very careful as that is what the Nazi’s used to say when they went around terrorising folk – and we all certainly dont want to live in a hell like this:
http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/munich-the-heart-of-darkness-travelogue/
So the moral of the story is learn to respect people, give them space (after all they pay your salary and we are the customers and you only the service provider – nothing more or less) and even if you have the power to see – that power should be regulated to ensure that it is not abused or used as a means to terrorize people. Because dont think only you have the technology to see us; we can see you as well.
SD
I agree wih Hayoo. How many of the people here really know what the poor go through and how many are just taking advantage of the system? Maybe Vivian has seen his fair share of “free loaders” and does not agree with the PAP’s stance of being “politically correct”. Can we then blame him for making remarks in such a manner? I’d seriously prefer a politician that gives the cold hard truth then one that tries to paper over the cracks and try to fool the public that everything is ok. No one’s perfect.
Just look at the recent case where a property agent claimed he did not know the rules fo subletting of flats. Are we supposed to sympathize with such people? Or the elderly couple that asked for rental flat when they have assets worth over 7 digits? Something which most of us will never even have in our lifetime?
‘… Give & Take….’, in my opinions, he’s been ‘taking’ too much & thus more reluctant to ‘give’. That makes me feels that he’s mixing his own emotions & principles in making a ‘timely decision’ for the general people of Singapore under his MCYS portfolio.
Protocols, Rules, ethics etc are generally set & govern by humans. It’s only if he shows some ‘flexibility’ in his political career, he may have earn more respects from us.
It also seems to me that ‘he’s been loosing ground contacts’ for quite some time as what he had been speaking in Parliaments, citing examples, allows his ‘emotions’ to straddle his more rationale thinking etc…
Just my opinions!
How can PAP still keep this disgusting fool despite his cruel and unjust statement? It shows how corrupt PAP can be during this situation while the people on the ground blindly vote for the corrupt party.
when i was little i would watch the inter college debate. i think vivian (sorry i may be wrong) was a debater for a team back then . i thought he was quite talented when he stood up to talk. i thought he would enter politics but not in pap group. nevertheless everything turned out otherwise… ha ha ha…
like i said in a previous post, once he became Minister drawing enormous salary and amassing incredible wealth, they sold out.
I don’t know… I never trusted guys with names like that…
.. I will always walk behind people with such names…
When a person sold his soul to the devil, he has no conscience left!!
He forgot what he has said before he became a minister.
He even used threat to bully the netizens who have harboured high hopes in him to speak out for them.
Instead, he let many of them down by his arrogrance and high-handedness.
Just look at the postings here and in TR, whenever, he made a small slip or went out of line, he got
fired, left, right, top and rear!!!
Hope he still remembers who put him where he is today, and more importantly, where his $millions
salary come from!!
“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion…..if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.” (21st Feb 2009, Channel NewsAsia.)
Yeah right; and pigs walk on 2 feet.
Oops, they actually do, in Singapore’s Animal Farm.
Oh dear, all of us in TR and TOC and opposition wards are doomed to eternal monitoring!
Help God/Goddesses/Devas/Buddhas. Err..they’re not bought over too by MIW too right? :)
@ I’d seriously prefer a politician that gives the cold hard truth then one that tries to paper over the cracks and try to fool the public that everything is ok. No one’s perfect”
So where are the cold hard truths from the politicians ??
1) Real cost of HDB
2) Actual losses in TH/GLC till date
3) Breakdown of unemployment data for local born/PR/Foreigners
4) Number of jobs created for local born singaporeans by FTs.
“How many of the people here really know what the poor go through and how many are just taking advantage of the system?” - hopefully we get to find out after a freak election.
Andrew, I congratulate you on a well researched piece of posting. It is only true honest and correct
postings that we can get the real picture.
We must recognise that it is quite an achievement from an outspoken to a team worker for Dr Bala.
Thanks once again.
“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion…..if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.” (21st Feb 2009, Channel NewsAsia.)
To be fair to Doc. He didn’t name and shame anyone when they lost an argument online. Wasn’t it temasek reviw who did that. One guy called isd Tay published the online details of the B………..
So let’s be fair& Square on the blame game
Just because they haven’t done it does not mean that they won’t do it.
A threat is a threat whichever way you cut it.
And with GE around the corner, I guess it will be sooner rather than later.