The greatness of Benjamin Sheares

Who is Benjamin Sheares? In case you are still scratching your head, he was a highly regarded and prominent doctor in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, the doyen of the profession in his time. And he was also the second President of this country. A quiet and dignified man who did his job without blowing his own trumpet, without pretensions.

Today in the ST, a Dr Chew Shing Chai who had worked with President Sheares, shared a little insight of this great man. At that time, before the high salary is good mantra struck this land, his income was a paltry $2000 as a medical doctor, maybe slightly more. When he was appointed as the President, his monthly salary was $17,000, big by the standard of the day. And unknown to the public till now, he donated his entire salary to charity, according to Dr Chew.

What the people don’t know, now they knew. My respect to this great man. I didn’t know either. Thank you Dr Chew, for this enlightenment.
I am sure many ministers and presidents too would have donated a handsome chunk of their salaries to charity without declaring it. Some may, like President Sheares, donate their entire salaries to charity too.

God bless them. Cheers to President Sheares.

National Day regrets

Dow plunged more than 600 pts last night and we were asleep. Can't do anything. If only our stockmarket was open, we would not be caught in a situation like this. We could also sell our stocks down.

This morning Hangseng fell more than 1,400 pts. We are closed for National Day Celebration. We have gone on continuous trading, no lunch break, exactly for this reason, not to be caught while other markets are trading. Now they are all sold down and we aren't open and looking helplessly.

On this National Day, these are my two regrets.

I would like to recommend that our stock market be open, 24/7 all year round. We will only be closed when the rest of the markets are closed. Oops, no need 24/7, 24/5 and minus a few international holidays will do. Going fully operational, we will be able to cover all situations and take advantage of all situations. We can also call our city a city without sleep.

Would that be nice, fully prepared and ready, pro active, a bit kiasu though.

The unusual silence

When Tony first announced his candidacy, there was an immediate barrage of support and endorsements from his PAP colleagues. A few including Chok Tong came out to say Tony is a good man. Some praised him for his dignified look, every inch and corner like a President. The public media did the necessary with coverage on his every move, invitations and speeches.

Over the last few days the surprising development was the attack on Tony’s son, Patrick and his NS deferment. The attack was furious and vicious and quite damaging to Tony’s shining image. Mindef came out with some statements to deflect some of the bad barbs. Otherwise it was left to Tony and son to fend for themselves.

Could someone of higher standing say something or do something to moderate the blows? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Tony should be able to fight his own battle, being a heavy weight himself. At the moment it is Tony and son versus the anonymous masses in cyberspace. How would this develop or would it have a chance to develop further in the main media?

The stand of the main media at the moment is reticence. When an issue that is so hot is cyberspace is played down in the main media, it starts to prob on people’s mind as to what the hell is happening in our great media and their stable of great reporters and journalists. No one feel the itch or need to want to contribute to the debate with their sophisticated skills and resources? I feel quite sad that great reporters were deprived the avenue to write their show piece and display their brilliance in investigative journalism.

Even if they take a diametrical opposed view from cyberspace, it will be refreshing to see how and what they will put across. Or are they waiting for the debate to blossom when the EP campaign is official? They may not even have the chance if there is no contest. This must be one of the hottest topic waiting to see the light in the main media. The integrity of the hottest presidential hopeful is being questioned and a proper closure is demanded.

Where are all the eminent colleagues of Tony and are they going to stand up to defend him?

Lead by examples

The retired teachers are unhappy. There may be more certainty of their rehiring after 62, but it means a pay cut as well. And they are complaining that this is regressive. They are still doing the same hours of teaching which does not demand heavy duty work that age will slow them down.

The MOE should take a leaf from the govt where politicians are getting the same pay regardless of age. In fact they should adopt the practice of paying the teachers pension and the same pay concurrently, if the teachers are still on pension scheme. The retirement age is a legacy of the colonial past and Parliament has set a good example to delink from this abnormal practice.

Just follow the leaders and they cannot be wrong. Have they forgotten about the wise old saying of leading by examples?

Is the Elected President a dumb President?

Many comments have been made about the role of the EP. Some claimed that it must be an involved President, willing to speak up for the people, some say it is meant to be a dumb President, some say it like a machine, only say what the govt wants it to say or else better not be heard.

The lay people have their own interpretation and expectation of an Elected President, a President that they took the trouble to vote, not just any appointed President when they have no say at all. They, rightly or wrongly, feel that the President should be more than a dud. They think that being the highest office in the country, he must be able to speak up on national issues that affect their lives and have some influence on the govt.

However, these are just layman’s views, and everyone can have a view. The Law Minister too has a view. He has spoken quite comprehensively on what the EP can or cannot do. He even quoted the constitution. Now, is he just expressing a legal opinion based on his professional background, or is he taking a position, that what he said is the govt’s definition of the role of the EP?

There is still the judicial, the courts of law that will have the final say as to the interpretation of the constitution. Until the courts have its say, it is all a matter of interpretation, and naturally everyone is trying to interpret it to his own advantage.

According to the constitution, Article 21(1) as quoted by Shanmugam, it says the President shall ‘act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet’. So the EP can only act under the advice of the Cabinet and not otherwise.
What does this mean, cannot go against the will of the Cabinet? What if the Cabinet push out a bill to spend all the reserves and ask the President to sign? Now can the President then act against the advice of the Cabinet. Surely he can, or else how is he going to protect the reserves.

How many things that the EP can or cannot do that are specified by the constitution? Or is it another case of No U Turn sign. If there is a U Turn sign only can make a U Turn and if there is a No U Turn sign cannot make U Turn. No sign means cannot do anything. I am not sure how many pages are there in the constitution that described what the EP can or cannot do.

From what was reported, one thing for sure, if he is nice to the PM, he may be able to influence the PM over beer, I think.