Elected Presidency – Eurasians, Others and Indians

It is now official that the Eurasians and Others are in the same category for qualification to be a deserving minority EP candidate.  Reading from this, as long as there is an EP be he be Indian, Eurasian or Others, this group would not be given another reserved election as there is an EP shared among them. If every other election or every 3 or 4 EP election there is an Indian EP, then for the next 100 years or more, if there is no Eurasian EP, they cannot demand for a reserved election for the Eurasians. Likewise it applies to the Indians and Others if there is one of the kind in this group been elected as an EP.

Theoretically this is so and can be so. But the Eurasians need not worry as the PAP would know when to put up an Eurasian EP like they are putting up a Malay EP for the next EP election. It is within the party’s control to put up whoever they so desired, from Yusof Ishak to Tony Tan and the next EP.  So this is a moot point. The exigency and necessity of political pressure would make sure that the Eurasian community would not be left out in the cold.

Maybe this is understood and the Eurasian MPs in the PAP did not make a strong case to have a separate category for the Eurasians. Joan Peirera did said something about recognizing the contributions of the Eurasians and that’s it, case closed. The Eurasian community’s representative has said their piece and has more or less agreed with this new arrangement, this new category.

The CMIO formula would be changed to CM and I++ or CM(I++). So far so good. The Eurasian community has taken this change in their stride and all is quiet on the western front.  No violent street protest is expected, not even a walkabout in Hong Lim Park. When a good idea is proposed, it is quite easy to get it passed without any strong objections. That is why these new changes to the Constitution are better than the proposal by the WP. The latter has no chance to stand scrutiny and dumped into the waste bin in one sitting in Parliament, by Shanmugam as badly conceived, full of flaws.

Maybe the Eurasians and all are saying, since there is no other better alternatives, not considering the current model, or the appointed Presidency in the past, this is the best model and so let’s live with it. If one cannot have the best of the best, then have the best of the ‘not the best’ will do. Is this a compromise or a new reality in decision making in Parliament? Can a ‘the best of not the best’ be set aside until the best is found, or this is the right approach to solve an important national issue like this? Urgency, no choice lah. So long never appoint a Malay President, so now must do it at all cost, in double speed, no time to wait, cannot wait. It is all about minority interest and representation or else there will be trouble in the future. Now our system will be so solid, so sound, unshakable, and no racial problems could be expected as the minority has been given the right to be represented in the Presidency. For those who think otherwise, that this is tokenism, please rethink. This is very serious stuff, and very real.

What do you think?