...in an interview in 2003 with the Business Times. He foresaw the departures of JC Tan, Dr Ang, Pwee and other PAP departees.
Q. YOUR idea of creating an alternate elite is not new. What do you think
of the oft-mooted suggestion of achieving that splitting ranks within the
People's Action Party?
A. Quite honestly, if you ask me, Team A-and-Team B is a synthetic and
infantile idea. If you want to challenge the Government, it must be
spontaneous. You have to allow some of your best and brightest to remain
outside your reach and let them grow spontaneously. How do you know their
leadership will not be as good as yours? But if you monopolise all the
talent, there will never be an alternative leadership. And alternatives are
good for Singapore.Q. In your calculation, what are the odds of this alternative replacing the
incumbent?
A. Of course there's a political risk. Some of these chaps may turn out to
be your real opposition, but that is the risk the PAP has to take if it
really wants Singapore to endure. A model we should work towards is the
French model of the elite administration. The very brightest of France all
go to university or college. Some emerge Socialists, others Conservative,
some work in industries, some work in government. Yet, at the end of the
day, when the chips are down, they are all Frenchmen. No member of the
French elite will ever think of betraying his country, never. That is the
sort of Singapore elite we want. It doesn't mean that all of us must belong
to the PAP. That is very important.
Q. YOUR idea of creating an alternate elite is not new. What do you think
of the oft-mooted suggestion of achieving that splitting ranks within the
People's Action Party?
A. Quite honestly, if you ask me, Team A-and-Team B is a synthetic and
infantile idea. If you want to challenge the Government, it must be
spontaneous. You have to allow some of your best and brightest to remain
outside your reach and let them grow spontaneously. How do you know their
leadership will not be as good as yours? But if you monopolise all the
talent, there will never be an alternative leadership. And alternatives are
good for Singapore.Q. In your calculation, what are the odds of this alternative replacing the
incumbent?
A. Of course there's a political risk. Some of these chaps may turn out to
be your real opposition, but that is the risk the PAP has to take if it
really wants Singapore to endure. A model we should work towards is the
French model of the elite administration. The very brightest of France all
go to university or college. Some emerge Socialists, others Conservative,
some work in industries, some work in government. Yet, at the end of the
day, when the chips are down, they are all Frenchmen. No member of the
French elite will ever think of betraying his country, never. That is the
sort of Singapore elite we want. It doesn't mean that all of us must belong
to the PAP. That is very important.
