Sooo here's my thought for the day.... and it has to do with the resignation of the MM and the SM....
I have cut and pasted the original article so everyone can read it before it gets deleted or something:
Lee Kuan Yew steps down
| Singapore's founding father retires to give PM room to break from the past |
Zuraidah Ibrahim
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 15-05-2011
Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew Saturday (May 14) nudged the city state decisively towards a future without his towering presence as he, together with Goh Chok Tong, announced their desire to quit Cabinet.
In a 148-word joint statement, the two former prime ministers said the time had come to give Lee Hsien Loong and his team a "fresh clean slate" to carry the country forward in a more difficult and complex situation. Both will remain Members of Parliament.
Prime Minister Lee did not confirm that he would accept their resignations from the government. "It's a major matter so I'd like to take some time to think it over to decide how I should decide and I'll think about it for a couple of days before I give my response," he said Saturday night.
But he described their moves as a "selfless decision" and a major event for Singapore. "It shows that they are thinking of Singapore and of the future of Singapore," he told reporters at a post-election parade to thank voters in his Ang Mo Kio GRC.
The retirement of Minister Mentor Lee, 87, would end an extraordinary 52 years in government, including 31 years as Singapore's first Prime Minister. Senior Minister Goh, 69, has spent 35 years in office, including 14 as Lee's successor.
Noting that younger Singaporeans wanted to be engaged in the decisions that affect them, their joint statement said: "After a watershed general election, we have decided to leave the Cabinet and have a completely younger team of ministers to connect to and engage with this young generation in shaping the future of our Singapore."
The announcement comes exactly a week after a general election that the ruling People's Action Party won with its least impressive performance since Independence, losing six seats and 39.9 per cent of the popular vote to the opposition.
Both men had stirred controversy with some of their statements during the heated campaign. Responding to the election results, PM Lee said that voters had expressed "significant concerns, both on the issues and on our approach to government".
In their statement Saturday, titled Joint Statement By SM Goh Chok Tong And MM Lee Kuan Yew, reflecting their relative ranks on the protocol list, the two men said that they had studied the new political situation and thought about how it could affect the future.
While they had made their contributions, they noted the yearnings of a younger generation that wanted, apart from a non-corrupt and meritocratic government and a high standard of living, to be more engaged in the decisions that affected them.
Even as they declared their desire to step down, the two leaders urged the younger team to bear in mind the interests of the older generation who had contributed to Singapore and to look after them well.
MM Lee once famously said that if he knew something was wrong with Singapore, he would rise as he was being lowered into his grave to set it right.
Asked about the sudden decision to withdraw from Government, he said Saturday night that he and Goh wanted to show that Singapore was in a new era.
"It cannot be government as usual. Both former PMs withdrawing from the government will indicate that it is not government as usual and that the PM can and will revise and revamp his policies going into this new situation," he said in an e-mailed reply to The Straits Times.
"SM Goh and I believe this is the right thing to do, to give PM and his team the room to break from the past, and we want to make it clear that the PAP has never been averse to change. It is vital to avoid a situation where people vote to have more opposition for opposition's sake."
Goh, who turns 70 this Friday, posted the news on his constituency's Facebook page, MParader: "PM can then refresh his Cabinet to forge a new Singapore consensus by rethinking policies and reshaping Singapore with fresh ideas."
PM Lee said he would probably be ready to announce his new Cabinet line-up early this week. If his predecessors are not on it, Cabinet would no longer have any minister inducted before 1984. The oldest minister after the two is Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is 64 and was elected in 1984 along with PM Lee.
Several newly elected PAP MPs are expected to become office holders in the coming years, forming the core of a fourth-generation leadership. One of them, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin, reacted quickly to Saturday's news on his Facebook page: "This is part of our efforts to move forward. But I have to say with all respect that it is with a very heavy heart that I see this day."
There had been mounting speculation about when Singapore would enter the post-LKY era. On top of his advancing years, MM Lee suffered the loss of his wife and confidante of 63 years, Madam Kwa Geok Choo, last October.
Lee led the PAP into power in 1959 at the age of 35. Goh took over in 1990 and pledged to build on the first generation's success while opening up new avenues for consultation and nurturing a more gracious society. Goh handed over the premiership to Lee Hsien Loong in 2004.
A Cabinet with two former prime ministers has always been an oddity, but the government has maintained that they remained assets to the team.
Since stepping down as PM, Goh has travelled to various parts of the world to raise Singapore's profile, most notably in the Middle East, India and Europe. He was credited with fostering closer ties between Asia and Europe.
MM Lee has repeatedly voiced his concern that younger Singaporeans might forget the constant vigilance required to secure the future of a small and vulnerable island republic, an "80-storey building on marshy land", was how he put it in the recent book, Hard Truths.
His two-volume memoirs and lengthy interviews for Hard Truths were motivated by his conviction that Singapore was no ordinary country that could run on auto-pilot and a desire to impress that upon a younger generation.
This year marked his 14th General Election. MM Lee won his Tanjong Pagar seat uncontested. On Nomination Day, when he took the microphone, he pledged to take care of his constituents for the next five years.
At 87, he missed not a beat when he noticed that none of his other GRC colleagues had spoken in Chinese. He grasped the microphone for a second time and said in Mandarin: "Thank you everyone, thank you all, let's progress and fight on" - and this after a walkover.
His decision Saturday stemmed from that same instinct to never take voters for granted. If it was change that people demanded, he was not afraid of it.
Whatever the future holds for him, one thing is not likely to change for Singapore's most influential son. As he said over and over again in the course of this newspaper's interviews with him for Hard Truths: "Singapore is my concern till the end of my life."
Quickie quiz.... WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER TO UR "SUPERMAN" FATHER WANTING TO STEP DOWN AFTER STANDING BEHIND YOU FOR SO MANY YEARS... AND OH, PEOPLE SECRETLY THINK YOU ARE JUST YOUR FATHER'S "HAND" AND YOU DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU?
I love posing this kinda What-If question because the answer AND the explanation of the action behind it, tells you a bit about the personality of the person answering the question.
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with his ACTUAL answer:
"Prime Minister Lee did not confirm that he would accept their resignations from the government. "It's a major matter so I'd like to take some time to think it over to decide how I should decide and I'll think about it for a couple of days before I give my response," he said Saturday night."
Now, to give him the benefit of the doubt... and ASSUME that he is intelligent... his hesitancy shows:
1. at least in our parent-honouring Asian society that he has humility
2. he isn't greedy for power and would like us to know that he honours his father's insight and advice and isn't about to kick "The Old Man" out.
The correct conclusion to this would be:
Conclusion: After sufficient period of "contemplation" he would graciously accept his father's resignation on reasons of... "Taking the tremendously heavy burden of rulership off his father's back ... allowing the old man to spend the rest of his life in peace ... enjoying of course, the fruits of his labour in the country he has built... "
This would sound sufficiently filial... no one in Asia can default this. Some people might criticise the Wayang-ing... (ie. acting) but hey... good politics is also good theatre.
Of course the WRONG CONCLUSION would be that he asks his father to stay... this will only confirm all our suspicions that he is his father's .... errand boy... and that NOTHING is ever gonna change....
And we all know what happens when frustrated young people find that they live in a society that doesn't change no matter how hard they try..... (hint hint.... wonder where Al Qaeda comes from??? Remember the recent revolutions of the Arab world.... Why do you think so many regimes fell so quickly?)
However, consider the following:
IF this entire resignation exercise is all about remaking a new, fresh PAP that is led by young people and allowing PM Lee to step out of the shadows of his enormous father.... then I think (personally) the most appropriate answer should be....
"Sure Dad, I graciously accept your resignation..."
This response should be immediate and EVEN IF PM Lee somehow fails to hide his own glee.... it is really no political loss to him....
I think quite a lot of people would actually applaud his guts.... (Oh and I think some people might even be surprised "Oh my god! He HAS GUTS!"... we want a leader like that!)
Oh, and if SOMEHOW the MM's reaction is one of shock and surprise.... ooooooo.... double-win for Lee HL :D
Sure, he might get some backlash from some members of the older generation about his "unfilial" behaviour... but hey... in the world of modern politics... (which btw... is a truly dog-eat-dog world) better to be known as a somewhat "unfilial" but ruthless politician ... than a spineless ruler who needs his hand to be held by Daddy. Other more vicious dogs will eat the weak dog alive... especially when Daddy departs this world - rules of the wild...
Now, for all you PAP supporters out there.... No, for once I'm not actually against the PAP..... I think the PAP COULD be something different... it COULD ACTUALLY be better than it was in the days of LKY.
I'm putting this recent bit of news through a bit of my own blunt logic.... and my understanding of human behaviour.... now, if Lee HL is a thinking man... he will read this and understand what it is this post is about.....
People look to their leaders for strength and confidence.... all my years in management and the time I've spent with swordsmen have taught me this...
People tend to follow a guy who shows that he is:
1. an independent thinker
2. shows that he has dauntless courage
3. is willing to confront issues, not flee from it..
4. Is aware of his own power and is not afraid to use it
5. AND is a bit of a rebel....
Hey, being a rebel is not a bad thing in the world of leaders.... to rebel is to show that one has some form of guts.... and the CONFIDENCE that comes with guts is what people need to see...
People NEED to feel the safety that is created as a result of the confidence reflected in the faces of their leaders. This confidence and assurance that one's decisions are right is what people need .... especially if confronted by the horrors of their darkest hour.
I hope that your great father has taught you this Mr Prime Minister... YOU... of all people need to know this.... IF you want to be a true leader people will look up to ....
So, my good sir... please for heaven's sake.... don't go "Err..... I'll need some time to think about it".... unless this is some kinda major "Wayang" to garner some political advantage... I'd always advice taking "decisive action".... Remember... decisiveness ALSO creates a sense of CONFIDENCE.
How do I know this?
Well, LIFE and my experiences with men who are leaders have taught me this....
Also, I have the benefit of hindsight....
Take it as some kindly advice from a blunt-speaking Common Joe who has been a world leader... in more than a few lifetimes. I DO KNOW what I'm talking about....
Oh and hey.... you might laugh this off as the ramblings of a lunatic who believes in reincarnation... but I have demonstrated my point.... admitting this takes GUTS and I have it....
Do YOU?
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