SINGAPORE: The
Cabinet changes that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced last week revealed a stark reality facing Singapore: The choices were limited from the numbers available to him.
He had too few cards to play and it showed in the way first-term Members of Parliament have been
fast-tracked into political office. CNA
Han Fook Kwang is worried about the lack of political talent in Singapore, lamenting that Lawrence Wong has no choice but to fast track the promotion of newly elected candidates as ministers. He based his observations and concern on Singapore's political history and records. The 65 years of Singapore history is actually a tiny blip in world history and should not be a meaningful reference point of what is good process in political appointment. What is happening in Singapore is but a flash in the pan.
Look at the practice of democracy around the world, in the USA and India. There is no problem with having a crook or conmen, even a criminal to be a president coming from nowhere, no need any political experience. Actually, politics and political appointment are the biggest farce if one is to follow all the rule books of employment. In every profession, qualifications and experience form the basis to judge the soundness and suitability of a candidate for a job. If you leave it to the foreign headhunting agencies, they will tell you not a single Singaporean candidate is fit to be in politics, no need to talk about being ministers. They will tell you all the Indian politicians will have all the qualifications and experience needed to be politicians and ministers and should replace all the Singaporeans in political appointments just like in the commercial and industrial sectors. When they sit in the interview board interviewing Singaporeans, they treat Singaporeans as dirt, rubbish, not even good enough to be cowdung. They will go headhunt their desirable candidates from India with gleaming degrees and flawless resumes. In politics, nothing of these mean anything especially in the western democratic model of govt. There is no need for training and qualification to be a political leader under the democratic system. Put it in another way, the way leaders are elected under the democratic system is a joke.
In Singapore's case, in many ways, the candidates are transparent to the people and the party picking them. Singapore is too small and every Singaporean grows up among Singaporeans and how many hairs he has in his balls is also an open secret. From the day he is born, his education history, NS, career records, even his father and grandfather are no secret. Unless the recruiter of a political candidate is so blind and daft, it is not very difficult to find out whether a candidate is a decent person for political office or a sicko or a psychopath.
I was tempted to say that since we are so liberal in recruiting foreign talents with dubious backgrounds and fake or suspicious qualifications, maybe we should find our future leaders from the foreigners. But, to be serious, the stupidity of bringing so many foreigners to helm important appointments in Singapore already posed a very serious and dangerous problem for Singapore. If we are to foolishly move in this direction, Singapore will soon be robbed and raped by foreigners. Taking in foreigners with an unknown past, a fake past, and give him a pink IC is no joke. It is an existential problem for Singapore and Singaporeans. The worms are not large enough in numbers to be painful, with some lying low as sleepers. Let us hope no political clown will want to recruit foreigners to be our political leaders. Period.
How good a person is as a political leader is a moot point. The West is gloating and dying over Trump as a charismatic leader, a great leader that the brain dead hillbillies are hoping to make America great again. What experience did he have to qualify even as a decent man? There were many great leaders in the past that no one would think will make great political leaders, not from their qualifications and experience. Political leaders are a very different kind of animal that no single or accepted conventional formula can be used to measure them.
Who is wiser in setting the conditions and criteria for a good political leader? The only few conditions or criteria are decency, honesty and caring for the people and country. Whatever skills are superfluous if the candidate is flawed in character or have the wrong motivation and intent to be political leader.
