by: Ghui/
George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua were both politicians who have made contributions to Singapore. George Yeo especially, was an outstanding Minister for foreign affairs. However, both have resigned from active politics after failing to win in Aljunied GRC in GE 2011.
I am disappointed by their respective decisions because it signals a lack of willpower and commitment. Every politician suffers setbacks in his or her career. All politicians the world over have lost elections and many have come back to fight another day. Most, were victorious eventually. Each failed election campaign is a learning experience after all. Singapore is unique in this because the PAP has been the ruling party for over 50 years with little or no competition, leaving us with a generation of politicians who seem ill adept to fight.
This begs the question; do our PAP candidates lack qualities which real politicians should possess? Are they in fact, true politicians?
In an article entitled “The PAP and the idealism of Nuns”, the writer quotes Laurel Teo, a Straits Times journalist who once wrote “Being an MP is still about helping people, but it is also about wielding political power. One is not asking for scheming Machiavellian types, but those who enter politics must know this. Know why they want that power, and how they intend to exercise it.”
How true! In that one statement, she has identified the difference between a “do gooder” and a real politician. While not undermining the importance of altruistic commitment, politicians must possess additional qualities such as foresight, leadership, charisma and most importantly, tireless persistence coupled with the ability to conquer setbacks. He or she must also possess a certain degree political awareness and realism.
Perhaps there is an inherent problem in PAP’s selection process. New candidates do not appear to take up the challenge of standing for elections (or walk overs) by their own volition. In recent years, it would seem that the candidates are handpicked by senior PAP cadres and invited to serve. Candidates would be selected from a pool of “elites” who have a track record of community service and volunteer work. This therefore rules out home grown politicians within the PAP and creates the “packaged” politician. Most of these individuals may never have had political aspirations had they not been “invited” to “join the club”.
The negative impact of “packaged” politicians is the creation of a “super volunteer”, ill suited to the challenges of the political stage. Someone willing to serve but without an “individual” opinion. In fact, some have no opinions at all! Take Tin Pei Ling as an example. When asked what policies she would change if elected, she replied that she would alter nothing as all existing policies work! This disturbing lack of thought on policies signals an administrator, an able one perhaps, but not a person with the political acumen and skills to qualify as a genuine politician. This lack of awareness for what true politics entail impedes a candidate’s ability to engage the voters. After all, if a particular candidate is unable to effectively articulate what he or she believes in or what policies he or she represents, how can such candidate convince voters of what they are voting for?
As Laurel Teo states “These may be do-gooders, but by appearing not to have given much prior thought to a topical issue, they make themselves look as politically apathetic as the worst of the Singaporeans”. In its selection process, the PAP has unwittingly created a breed of politicians who are politically apathetic!
In an article entitled “The 4Cs which leaders need”. Teo Ser Luck described himself as “not a natural politician”. If candidates had not been “manufactured” would someone like Mr Teo have ventured into the political arena?
Not all “created” politicians have been dismal failures of course. In the history of Singapore, a fair few have made genuine and significant contributions to Singapore. However, the drawback of such candidates is complacency and an inability or unwillingness to challenge the status quo. After all, why bite the hand that feeds you?
Juxtapose these “produced” politicians with those who have willingly stepped up to the plate. They have joined opposition parties and contested in GE 2011 without having to be “invited” to participate. You could not have a starker contrast. Take Nicole Seah for instance. She was quick witted at interviews as opposed to Tin Pei Ling’s scripted responses.
There are also other shining examples of enduring and persistent commitment.
Chiam See Tong is one such steadfast figure. Chiam entered politics in 1976 but only won his first election in 1984. At each failed election campaign, he increased his vote share, finally beating Mah Bow Tan with 60.3 % of the votes. In GE 2011, he lost in the Bishan Toa Payoh GRC. Despite this defeat, his age and his ill health, he has said that he will try again. This tenacity and strength of character is truly inspirational and is what defines a genuine politician. Chiam is willing to work hard, possesses a heart for service, realises the importance of engaging his voters and above all, has a “never say die” attitude. Someone who is willing to soldier on no matter the odds. His ability to be “one with the voters” earned him the ongoing loyalty of Singaporeans.
Another familiar figure is JBJ. Despite all his setbacks, he always picked up the pieces to try again. He never gave up till the day he died. He will go down in the annals of Singapore history as the man who was never daunted by defeat, a true hero among heros.
Much as I admire George Yeo for his contributions, he seems to lack this perseverance, announcing his retirement from active politics days after losing the election. While he gave a gracious speech, I was frustrated by his seeming lack of determination. I do not know George Yeo personally so perhaps he had his reasons. But the message sent by this prompt resignation is an unwillingness to fight the good fight. There was talk that Yeo could run for president but he remained undecided, disengaged and finally announced that he would not be running after all.
Perhaps, George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua, while being able administrators and civil servants were never put in a position whereby they had to really fight for votes. Be that as it may, wanting to fight for every vote is an essential quality every real politician should possess. Chaim is much older than both Yeo and Lim but his love for Singapore is such that he refuses to give up. JBJ was well into his 80s! To these old political veterans, I salute you. You are the real deal. To George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua, I feel somewhat let down.
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
Yes its true that PAP MPs are not in the same mold as Oppo MPs like Chiam or JBJ. They never have to run against the tide, suffer the hardships and when they fail, they will surrender as they got other goodies lined up for them. I mean they never have to worry about finances or job securities and of course the tremendous frustrations of dealing with a hostile civil service.
A successful politician is tough fighter who can not only win votes, but also think & debate policies, and finally implement them for the good of the people. In this regard, PM Lee is the finest politician.
PM Lee worked his way up from a MP of Teck Ghee to where he is today. He fought 2 difficult elections, emerging victorious each time. In fact, he increased his share of the vote in GE 2011 with a resounding 69.3% vote, the highest winning % of all GRCs.
PM Lee’s thought process & debating skills in Parliament are exemplary. For example, he closely deliberated the building of the IRS. He weighed up the pros & cons, and convinced Parliament of the merits of the project. Finally, he implemented it which eventually contributed significantly to Singapore’s economy, creating jobs & wealth for all.
The opposition candidates, on the other hand, only produce rhetoric. Not only do they have difficulty winning votes, theya re unable to think through & debate policies, not to mention implement or do any good for the people.
PM Lee is the finest politician? LOL!!
Oh come on, we know the real stories behind.
By your logic, you should be saluting Ling How Doong, Harbans Singh, and Steve Chia (expert photographer of maids).
The world is full of Charismatic Politicians who ended up dragging their countries through the mud.
This is a very thoughtful article although it did not really expound on success as the title suggests.
I too am disappointed by George Yeo’s resignation. It only goes to show that his years of rhetoric to serve rings hollow in the face of defeat. It also reminds us that high flying executives in private or public sector join PAP to become MP for a much bigger reason than public service. That is, personal success, and it is not the kind that is based upon having done others some good.
The sustainability of a politician lasts as long as his motivation for a cause. If the cause itself is not the game of his life, it will only be transient and hence his political will. In short, the lack of a bigger game in service of a cause that pulls you rather than having to drive oneself into it. What is George Yeo’s bigger game? What is CSJ’s or Vincent Wijey’s bigger game? It is quite clear who has one and who doesn’t.
It is understandable why George Yeo resigned. He probably didn’t like PAP and thus unwilling to continue serving under PAP camp. However, if he continue to be part of PAP group after he resigned, than he deserved no respect from Singaporeans. Lim Hwee Hua, on the other hand, is exactly what the article painted her to be. She was proud & arrogant. We saw her on TV the way she spoke and people crowded around her. She is the type who preferred to be served instead of serving the people. Her defeat must be a blow to her dignity. She cannot take reality and thus decided not to waste anymore effort to serve the community. She resigned, which is good for the people since she didn’t have the politician will – another PAP failure by-products.
Other than JBJ and Chiam See Tong, there is another figure in the opposition camp worth saluting, he is Dr Chee Soon Juan. He went through many legal suit no less than JBJ and he never say dies. These are the people who will protect and stand up for Singapore in time of crisis. Never count on Lee Bee Hua or other greedy soul in PAP camp, I have never trusted PAP since my teenage years.
Never trust a politician.
Any politician.
Their stock in trade is rhetoric.
They will say anything. Promise anything. Just to get your vote.
I recall LKY once quote Shakespeare when denouncing opposition candidate Harry Crab at a rally at Serangoon Gardens
‘Words. Words.And the crab crawls backwards”.
It applies even to the PAP.
After putting in their terms as MPs and Ministers, it’s perfectly human to exit after a public bruising. The millions in the bank can buy plenty of chilled prime cuts to ease the swell of a black eye.
At its core, the transition to politics as defined by the PAP isn’t a calling but a commercial transaction.
One doesn’t choose the party. the party chooses you.
And once the task is done, they get a handshake, a ‘thank you’ dinner and quietly shuffle off the stage, well rewarded.
Not a bad gig, really.
singapore politicans are not politicans. they are administrators or businessman.
they are running singapore like a MNC.
however one should clearly distinguish the difference the 2.
if we are working in a company, we are in fact serving the company. as they pay our wages.
in the case of running the country, we are the master and polticians are our servants as taxpayers pay their wages.
Tan Ah Beng, Ling How Doong, Harbans Singh, and Steve Chia charismatic meh? Wah, you must live in some delusional world.
Francis Seow said something like each and everyone of the PAP are yes men, except the two or three at the top of the hierarchy. I think he means that the rank and file PAP is not his own man, is trained not to have any opinion of his own, loyal to a fault and follows orders without fail. Such people are very hard to deal with because they may wear a suit and appear normal but if you ask them any thing, they can’t give you because they can’t decide anything. Thus you have a President who cannot for the life of him decide to pardon anyone, because this entails using his own mind, and minds the Ruling Elites one and all do not have. They only have bodies to smile with and to kiss babies with.Anyone of these chaps would never have stood for election on their own steam.They need to be herded to the election- stand,George Yeo, Ms Lim, Rashid ,those PAP members who lost at Aljunied are accidental politicians.
Quoting a Thai politician who once ran a seedy business….”politicians are like diapers..you have to change them.”
But when asked about his former life…”I say yes….I should go back to the massage parlours,” he sighed.”Because that was better – cleaner than politics.”
And he is not referring to the ruling elites.
Other than Lee kuan Yew, who is now old and behind time in his ideas, our PAP spoon fed politicians are all yes-man bought with multi-million dollar salaries who will break down at the next global financial meltdown. Our economy, due to the top-down out-dated and misguided policies pursued blindly through the years, is now in a precarious state, both economically and socially.
@Mr Kopi
How can you compare the corrupt politicians in backward country like Thailand to our country? Our politicans are well-qualified and free of corruption. Those in Thailand, on the other hand, don’t even have a proper education, and only know how to use taxpayers money to buy votes from similarly uneducated & ignorant rural voters.
________________________________________________
@Libran
Our politicians managed the recent financial crisis very well, and our economy is one of the best performers in the world, if not the best. Our politicans have prudent policies, which explains why we have current account & budget surplus. Pro-business policies will ensure foreign investment continues to flow here. Together with our reserves, we are able to handle any crisis that comes along. Your statement that our economy is in a precarious state is nonsense!
Most of the PAP MPs are basically mollycoddled scholars who never had to worry about money since obtaining PAP govt scholarships from 18 yrs old. They also never have to worry about career since they are on assisted fast-track to $1M a year Admin Service positions. Becoming MP or Minister is just another career step for them. For almost two-thirds of their lives, they are living in ivory towers, with obsequious people at their beck and call. That’s why most PAP MP scholars are not able to take setbacks well. Same thing also for those existing Admin Service scholars in Ministries and Stat Boards. If you fire them all today, many will just fly off the tops of their District 9, 10, and 11 luxury condos.
With the exception of LKY, all the top leaders are not self made, one is a seatwarmer, the other a princeling, and the “lesser mortal” ones are all coat-tail hangers, the younger ones belonging to the strawberry money faced Gen, whose ego needs to be stoked, but once squeezed Ta Boleh Tahan already. How to respect them, as we could guess what will happen if a crisis strikes. Take the example of the 2008 financial crisis, during the heat of the Lehman Bros Minibonds saga, where angry investors cried for action. No one from the Govt dared to take any responsibility and be accountable. The PAP Govt had to push out the MM to come out to stabilize the situation, by saying “investors go in with their eyes open”, thus absolving the Govt from the blame, and relieve political pressure on his son’s Govt.
But the old man could not live forever to protect these vulnerable strawberries, so strictly speaking, as long as he is alive, they are not tested yet. So, how to respect them?
I prefer the brotherhood benchmark. What they call the litmus test. From what I gather a politician should ONLY be judged by his ability to deliver results. Whether he is nice or says the right thing or not is irrelevant in this appraisal process. Take the case of George Yeo, nice guy, but as soon as the Romanian diplomat case showed no tangible results in the way of seeking a resolution for the family of the deceased. Within 24 hrs, they downgraded as a light weight. And when the Wikileaks saga erupted and once again there was no official apology from the MFA. They just wrote him off as a bad risk.
We should have the same benchmark to appraise politicians in the way Moodies appraises investment opportunities.
I realize all this sounds very heartless and even intolerant of failure, but why is it we often expect these things from let’s say leaders in the corporate world like the treatment dished out to the CEO of BP during the Gulf of Mexico crisis. But when it comes to OUR politicians, we seem almost craven to ask the same?
But as I said, the Brotherhood have never seen it as unreasonable to ask this level of service. Perhaps they see politicians as only service providers and the electorate as consumers. In these last few years, they seem to be heading towards that direction.
The lack of sagacity or ability to bear hardships is a direct function of easy street politics that stems directly from PAP’s obsessive goal to consolidate their power. Most PAP politicians do not even need to cut their teeth in a cauldron of fire. Everything is handed to them on a silver plate. All they have to do is get straight A’s and viola all the doors open. But look at the Brotherhood. Life is tough as nails for them. They have to even fight to be even heard. So they are always scheming against each other. The system is always stressed and that is bound to weed out the boys from the men. So you can even throw them into any environment, within a very short time, they will adapt and overcome.
If people can even do this in a game. Then why can’t they do it in real life?
/// This begs the question; do our PAP candidates lack qualities which real politicians should possess? Are they in fact, true politicians? ///
Ghui – the fact that you even have to ask these questions says alot about your understanding of Singapore politics.
You want true politicians – just look at our neighbouring countries.
As far as PAP candidates are concerned, politics is a career (and an obscenely well paid one at that), and not a calling.
Look at these features:
1) Tea sessions
2) High pay
3) Amakudari
4) Nomenklatura
5) Almost certain entry via GRC (until the last GE)
A diamond-encrusted golden rice-bowl for the rest of their lives – who wants to be a true politician?
i am sure Lee Kuan Yew and other merry men would have quit politics if they lost. Sitoh Yee Pin strikes me as the only PAP member who has balls, commitment and perseverance. Leadership is not = to how As you got in A levels, scholarship….Even I know Lim Hng Kian got no balls during school days.
What makes a successful politician?
#1 must know how to talk cock, sing song.
The PAP politicians are here to make a living, to make a monthly fat pay period. Those MPs and ministers who are ousted from the 2011 election cannot qualify them to get a job that pay millions $ unless they join the GLCs. right? Let me know if I missed out on this info.
I suggest to the PM to send your MPs for service training with the WDA. Good for them, if they lose the next election they can apply jobs with the WDA training certificate.
Given the worst scenario of this nation being on the verge of economic collapse, who do you think will take flight at the first sight?
I wonder how many of our million dollar ‘political ministers’ can say-with hand on heart-that they don’t have a second or third home in a foreign country.
Ready to flee? They already got their own luxury boat ready.
Hint: There are no secrets in a small town where wives of ministers love nothing more than to boast to ex-university friends.
Don’t be a politician makes a good politician. The interest should be above politics and well beings of the people. Given the current system, I don’t think it going to produce any good independent thinking, risk taking men for the future.
media king
@Libran
“Our politicians managed the recent financial crisis very well, and our economy is one of the best performers in the world, if not the best. Our politicans have prudent policies, which explains why we have current account & budget surplus. Pro-business policies will ensure foreign investment continues to flow here. Together with our reserves, we are able to handle any crisis that comes along. Your statement that our economy is in a precarious state is nonsense!”
—————————————–
The last financial crisis in 2008, we were lucky. The US, European, Chinese, Japanese governments and central banks, realizing the severity of the crisis, all chipped in massively to help save the global system, with the US doing the most. That help Singapore, because the money created flowed to emerging economies like China, which then flowed here to speculate in our property market. China has adopted an ultra easy money policy for years, and during the crisis opened the spigots further, coupled with massive fiscal stimulus.
Now all the monetary and fiscal are coming to an end, and major economies are again falling into recession. The monetary and fiscal stimuli have not worked!!! There is something very structural about the recent crisis and the current slowdown, something which monetary and fiscal stimuli are unable to reverse, not to speak of the running out of such ammunition which the governments and central banks could deploy. Besides, the political climate simply will not allow for such massive bailouts again. In other words, there is bailout fatigue!!!
As for Singapore, the PAP encouraged a massive property bubble as a way to support the economy. So now we have the greatest property bubble in Singapore’s history, resulting in the largest private sector (house buyers and developers) debt in Singapore’s history. Data shows that more than 51 pct. of total bank loans have gone into property financing, the highest among our peers!!!
Not only that, our PAP govt., following their historical script, went on a buying spree of bank stocks, and all kinds of investments, exactly at the wrong time, when everything was crashing around us!!! That was the worst of time to be gung ho!!! The writing was on the wall; the global debt bubble was at historical magnitude and at bursting point!!!
And to help support the property market and the economy, they opened up the floodgates to foreigners!!! So now we have hordes of foreigners swarming around us like sharks, forming enclaves, taking away our jobs, forcing wages down, causing congestion, etc. The rich foreigners who brought money in to speculate in our property market, and taking huge bank loans (30pct. cash, 70 pct. loan) will all drop everything here and flee Singapore once the crunch comes, when they have negative equity on their properties.
So our PAP govt. was just lucky, and was kicking the can down the road. But the can will only get bigger each time you kick it down the road, as the Fed, the ECB and Peoples’ Bank of China have realized.
China is severely overheating, with inflation running out of control, income gap rising sharply, resulting in riots in the streets. China has been frantically stepping on the brakes, raising the reserve requirements to a high of 21.5 pct., and interest rates to more than 6 pct for housing loans. It is very likely China will have a hard landing, which will spell trouble for everyone, especially Singapore.
Besides high property debts (private sector) in Singapore, our govt is also saddled with close to 110 pct. of public sector debt!!!
As for our ministers and MPs, what do they know? Besides their sky high salaries and lofty position in society, as engineered by Lee Kuan Yew himself?
The next financial crisis will see our hand picked ministers really crying at press conferences and on TV!!!
“George Yeo…was an outstanding Minister for foreign affairs”
The writer seems to be merely parroting the mainstream media. Can someone please enlighten me why and how George Yeo was “outstanding”, citing concrete examples??
Also, who amongst our past foreign affairs ministers were lousier than George Yeo???
@ Libran
AWESOME, I AM AWAKE!!!
Those who live by the silverspoon can choke on the silverspoon.
Successful leaders need to have a thick skin to experience the challenges of any business. Failures bounce back to become successful leaders. Real failures retreat into oblivion.
ABBA song:
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man’s world
Aha-ahaa
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It’s a rich man’s world
It’s a rich man’s world
If Gerard Ee’s Committee should cut ministerial pay by 50%, three-quarters of the ministers and MPs would drop off like flies, I reckon.
Suddenly, personal reasons would pop up. Health concerns would surface.
The, I believe the writer was asking a thetorical question to channel his arguments. I don’t think you should take that question literally. It’s a writing style! The rest of his article clearly states what he really thinks right?
I meant theoretical! oops! Typo
LOL, why you assume its a he? haha
@Libran
I think our Gov did ok during the crisis since we are not near bankrupt or unemployed given our dependancy on US back then.
The 1st thing they did was to slash interest rates, got hold of the financial sector to stop $$ from fleeing and all that happened because we have tons and tons of reserves. MOM pleaded with the semicons to stay, so the fallout was not that bad. But they could do nothing about all the $$ that got burned from stock capital devaluation
The question about this article is do we want a cagey politician who can win votes or a capable policy maker?
And the question Americans always ask themselves is should politicians run the economy or should economists run it.
Politicians need to win votes so they need to come up with policies which the public wants; not necessary wrong but more often than not happy public opinions are incomplete policies at best.
I think in terms of being capable administrators, PAP, WP and SPP has shown that they are stronger in this area. The rest of the parties are more interested in partisan politics.
Just my opinion.
Black Hei 29 June 2011
@Libran
“I think our Gov did ok during the crisis since we are not near bankrupt or unemployed given our dependancy on US back then.”
—————————————–
Can’t you see, Black Hei, the politics at play in our economy? The asset enhancement policy, the easy credit and money policy, the market based HDB pricing and how the “grants” and “subsidies” which help to make the HDB “affordable”, but which in turn added fuel to the property bubble, etc. Can’t you see all their policies were designed to fuel the property bubble? The result is, now we have a debt bubble so huge that can burst at any time with devastating force? It’s all politically driven, to support he economy and win votes!!!
can someone compose the song Sayang Singapura for 0ur National Day?
Love Singapore.一r.
George Yeo negotiated many trade treaties that have benefited Singapore.
He also had a significant role in ASEAN.
He also led had a key role in leading the condemnation against the crackdown of the Saffron Revolution
I’m not sure about the “tons and tons of reserves” now, given the mishaps we have had in the global investment markets, and the huge public sector debt we have, amounting to about 110pct. of GDP!!! How liquid are we now? The actions of our govt. in raising our minimum sums and retirement age (the age we can start getting our hard earned savings, in drips and drabs), and the compulsory CPF Life annuity scheme, don’t they tell us something is not right? The govt.’s confiscating of our hard earned money and telling us they can only pay us in drips and drabs without a guarantee of a minimum monthly amount, and not inflation-indexed?
This article is meaningless and misleading. JBJ and Chiam had lost many times and suffered so much before getting elected.
These ministers and MPs were shipped into parliament and enjoyed multi million cheque. You expect them to be in the same mould like Chiam or JBJ?
PAP MP and ministers as politicians?? Cannot lah! I think opposition are much stronger.
With idiots like TSL, Josephine Teo, Halimah, CCS, VB, LTY, LSS … as MOS and ministers, I think the standard is very low.
But shouldn’t we expect our candidates to have calibre? Hence the article says that there is a problem with the selection process.It is not misleading in that sense at all. It is saying that the PAP candidates lack qualities that politicians should possess. How can that be meaningless Ben 10? We should expect the best of our politicians! So PAP needs to relook their selection criteria. Might be useful to reread the article Ben 10 because based on what you have said, you have not read it properly.
As a Singaporean, I expect nothing but the best from our politicians and they need to deliver. I refuse to adopt the defeatist attitude. The PAP should learn from Chiam and JBJ. The article compares these heros with the PAP and the PAP looks bad and so it is exhorting them to change and if they can’t change then out they go!
That is a good thing!
Too true! These issues raised are valid issues. We should not be so negative.
If talent is home grown then they can be future Chiams and JBJs. Hence Ghui criticised the PAP selection process. With the current selection process, there will be no Chaims or JBJs, so system must change and that is what GHii is suggesting.
Thanks TOC again for flushing out issues!
When you want power all unto yourself and want to keep it as your preserve at all costs, something is certainly not right.
I won’t be surprised if some of top PAP politicians have more assets and cash abroad – all legally acquired of course – than an average corrupt 3rd world or even 1st world politician. If not why refuse to declare publicly the assets of yourself and family members? In US. India and few other countries they do that. Why not here?
The minister stands in the gap between the people and the political center. Whether the minister gets the job done right or not depends very much on the center of gravity. If the center draws the right talent pool in, it becomes a cohesive force. If its vision is unclear, it becomes a divisive force.
We like to believe we have a unifying center but the reality is that we have inherited a political system that encourages unsettling powers to destabilize its center.
Without the right foundation, even with good ministers around, there can only be an uncertain rest.
True politicians do not exist in the current ruling party. No one of them is. They are clouded by their own personal interest and gains.
True politicians with a heart for the people are those in the up and coming struggling opportions and the current WP.
GY and Mrs LHH have no incentive to be the “opp” in AJN GRC for the next 5 years.
For them, the question is simple: Why bother for 5 more years when they can move on?
For years, the PAP has been internalizing the gains while externalizing the risks.
It can be concluded that the MIW are all cannot take no for an answer. That’s why the 2 ministers resigned after the recent setback. Proven beyond doubt that they must all work with yes men. Nothing less.
The problem wth PAP politicians ….almost ALL are actually Bureucrats who are square pegs trying to fit into a round hole
The PAP obsession with selecting Bureaucrats to be Politicians have resulted in TYranny of ex bureaucrats over the People they are suppose to represent and serve.
The END days of PAP is inevitable if they DO NOT change the ways quick before GE2016 coms upon them again.
well,it seems rare guys like JBJ AND CHIAM understand what dr goh keng swee defined politics.public service is all about – a calling,A VOCATION.
yes,a VOCATION IS A CALLING FOR LIFE,a life-time of ardent sincere committment,no less.
this only goes to prove that PAYING TOP MONEY does not neccessiate that we will ge tGOOD HONEST POLITICIANS/PUBLIC SERVANTS who just want to ‘SERVE’ instead of ‘BEING SERVED’?
on this simple note,one must admit that in these present times,polticians to wacth out for are guys like DR CHEE,TAN JEE SAY,DR CHEN SHOW MAO and others.
it is truly hard to find one GOOD POLITICIAN wjo is truly PUBLIC-SPIRITED form amongst the PAPies;sad but true.
It is hard to see logic this article. The man has ‘served’, chooses to retire, but you are disappointed he will ‘serve’ the nation no more? If you are happy with what he has done to date, should you not be simply grateful, rather than demand more?
Mark, that is just not the point of the article. The point is that he does not have a fighting spirit in comparison with politicians like CST, JBJ or even CSJ.
Why are we always back to the gratefulness point? It is their job to do a good job and THEY ARE PAID FOR it. Granted, a good job deserves praise but gratefulness? LOL