Michael Palmer - Damage Control or Personal Crisis?

[scroobal]

Saturday - Palmer approaches TCH and seeks resignation and the the latter agrees.
Sunday - PM meets Palmer and agrees as well.
Monday - Laura Ong tenders resignation citing family commitments.
Tuesday - the Press is notified to attend Press Conference on Wed
Wed - Letter of resignation tendered by Palmer and accepted by PM. Press conference is held.

Firstly, adultery is not a rare event in society and PAP is no different. There have many such instances over the 5 decades of its rule and the most infamous is that of a founding DPM. So why the new morality?

Secondly, it is an unusual pres conference where too much unnecessary details were given. Only missing were the name of the female and her NRIC number. So why go into the details?

Thirdly, the speed of events, the quick decisions by both Michael, DPM and PM. This is not the type of event that calls for quick decisions and frankly it ranks as personal indiscretion.

Fourthly, Palmer's demeanour at the press conference. The guy obviously did not have much sleep and teary. This is a lawyer with a major firm.

There was not need to even hold a press conference. A press release would have been fine along the following lines;

"The Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of the Member of Parliament for Punggol East and Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer over a matter of personal indiscretion in relation to an improper relationship. He has expressed regret and apologises for his conduct."

So why the song and dance?

 

[Dreamer1]

So why the song and dance?

Brother Scroobal,I think it is karma,PM Lee & company made a huge Song and dance when WP was facing this crisis,Citizens would still have a fresh re-collection of what PAP did then.
WE thank God that our opposition party WP has laid down a standard that all politicians must follow in Singapore,it is a blessing to us Singaporeans,God bless Worker Party,amen

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

I do not find the turn of events surprising. The PAP acted high-handed and ruthless in the YSL episode, so to play it low key now would paint them very negatively.

This is also the age of the internet where words and pictures travel at the speed of electrons and where speculations and rumours mount to breakneck proportions within hours. The damage escalates exponentially the more they withhold. So to withhold as little as possible and come clean as fast as possible is the right strategy.

This is not a new morality. The PAP has never been a moral party for the last 3 decades. They are in full damage control mode and PM Lee is taking a firm grasp of the party. He knows he's losing the ground very fast. This is not the time for a curt press release and expecting the public to swallow it without violent backlash. That was for 15 years ago when modems connected at 28.8kbps and we could still afford houses and take the trains safely to and from work without worrying about getting stranded in a dark tunnel.

Saturday - Palmer approaches TCH and seeks resignation and the the latter agrees.
Sunday - PM meets Palmer and agrees as well.
Monday - Laura Ong tenders resignation citing family commitments.
Tuesday - the Press is notified to attend Press Conference on Wed
Wed - Letter of resignation tendered by Palmer and accepted by PM. Press conference is held.

Firstly, adultery is not a rare event in society and PAP is no different. There have many such instances over the 5 decades of its rule and the most infamous is that of a founding DPM. So why the new morality?

Secondly, it is an unusual pres conference where too much unnecessary details were given. Only missing were the name of the female and her NRIC number. So why go into the details?

Thirdly, the speed of events, the quick decisions by both Michael, DPM and PM. This is not the type of event that calls for quick decisions and frankly it ranks as personal indiscretion.

Fourthly, Palmer's demeanour at the press conference. The guy obviously did not have much sleep and teary. This is a lawyer with a major firm.

There was not need to even hold a press conference. A press release would have been fine along the following lines;

"The Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of the Member of Parliament for Punggol East and Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer over a matter of personal indiscretion in relation to an improper relationship. He has expressed regret and apologises for his conduct."

So why the song and dance?

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

Dreamer1 in another thread said that WP actually set the standard for PAP this time round.

 

[gz0707]

I agree with TBBH. Playing it slowly and low key will turn out negative for them. already there is comparison about the length of time taken to fire YSL, based on his silence vs the quick removal of palmer. This is the classic play of "Kill one, show to all". During the run up to next elections, voters will be reminded again and again how the cancer was removed swiftly and decisively to uphold their high standards.

the reaction by opp parties within a day will have shown them how fast things now move. If Baey who is a young and modern PR man has not advised them of this, I would be very surprised.

 

[scroobal]

Dreamer / TFBH

I tend to disagree. MSM did not want to touch YSL's adultery story when they were first approached. It has been a no-go zone for decades unless the news came from elsewhere . Except for the US Presidency where votes from the bible belt is significant, no political party bothers about illicit affairs as these tend to happen quite regularly. When it involves conflict of interest or subordinates, the practice is to give a stern ticking off, a transfer to a less important position and eventually an exit. The message then gets thru to the rest for a while before the next one surfaces.

I got the distinct impression that Palmer wanted out at all costs. People who steal eat generally do not behave in this manner including those who are remorseful. There has to be something else that prompted this quick turn of events such as an incident in either of the 2 families or both. Anyway ethics and morality where the PA is concerned is a joke for the simple fact that they do not support the elected MP but the PAP adviser. I know of senior civil servants and scholars who refused postings to PA on ethical grounds. They are basically prostitutes anyway so where is the beef?

If the PM and the PAP are really concerned about morality, he would have terminated his wife from heading a state sovereign fund. She has a terrible track record before heading Temasek, that track record is getting worse and I have absolutely no clue why there are no other capable person in Singapore or in this World who can do this job.

I also don't buy this new morality to regain ground or hold on the ground that they have. It simple matter of consensual sex outside of marriage and unlike Yaw who was a serial nutcase where the Mandarin translator suggested that she had to given in this is nothing.

 

[scroobal]

WP did no such thing. YSL habit was well known. LTK knew of his nonsense well before he named him to contest Hougang. Until the law kicked in, our culture tolerated 2nd and 3rd wives. After the law kicked in, it became quite common especially for businessmen to have mistresses. Personal affairs even for the opposition is off limit to the press.

In YSL's case, there was a slow build over weeks by those within the party. The knives came out. Richard Wan finally ran the story when MSM refused. GMS then ran shortgun mercilessly until he got fried. It got worse when the translator suggested that she was coerced to give him. It then became untenable for WP and they did the right thing.

YSL was also silly. He should have just resigned and did a Palmer.

Dreamer1 in another thread said that WP actually set the standard for PAP this time round.

 

[scroobal]

Let me just state what is the SOP for the PAP or most political parties around the world concerning illicit affairs.

The PAP expects its MPs to notify them if the discovery is likely to go public and damaging to the PAP and its cause. Then selected individuals within the Party will manage the individuals and their families until resolution. Sometimes compensation is negotiated to close the matter. The MP is counseled. Where the manner of the affair is particularly damaging, the person is dropped at the next GE.

By the way this approach is used in the corporate world where senior leaders are concerned where brand damage is concerned.

I can tell you that a very prominent MP was not only involved in affairs but was also bashing his wife. He is no longer an MP and a divorce was the final outcome.

I agree with TBBH. Playing it slowly and low key will turn out negative for them. already there is comparison about the length of time taken to fire YSL, based on his silence vs the quick removal of palmer. This is the classic play of "Kill one, show to all". During the run up to next elections, voters will be reminded again and again how the cancer was removed swiftly and decisively to uphold their high standards.

the reaction by opp parties within a day will have shown them how fast things now move. If Baey who is a young and modern PR man has not advised them of this, I would be very surprised.

 

[Troll]

So why the song and dance?

When an MP who is a public figure is even rumoured to be involved with somebody, words do get around. If this is not nipped in the bud, the damage would be much worst.

In other societies, such personal indiscretion could be swept under the carpet, as long as the office holder does his job well. But here, WP had set the bar very high and PAP has no choice but to meet them there, or be seen as the inferior party.

I disagree about "not need to even hold a press conference. When an MP and office bearer resigns, which is a big deal in Singapore, people WILL be interested and want answers. Again, due to the high standard of transparency set by WP, PAP has to come clean about the affair. Even though in the process, the 3rd party, the family members get dragged through the m&d.

 

[Troll]

Let me just state what is the SOP for the PAP or most political parties around the world concerning illicit affairs.

The PAP expects its MPs to notify them if the discovery is likely to go public and damaging to the PAP and its cause. Then selected individuals within the Party will manage the individuals and their families until resolution. Sometimes compensation is negotiated to close the matter. The MP is counseled. Where the manner of the affair is particularly damaging, the person is dropped at the next GE.

By the way this approach is used in the corporate world where senior leaders are concerned where brand damage is concerned.

I can tell you that a very prominent MP was not only involved in affairs but was also bashing his wife. He is no longer an MP and a divorce was the final outcome.

Agree with you on that it is not so much a morality thing, but a brand reputation issue that has to be addressed.

 

[watchman8]

I think someone other than the woman and Palmer has the evidence of the affair and has threatened to expose it on Internet and to opposition party unless Palmer resigns or be sacked immediately.

Notice how fast WP reacted. It was as if WP already knew about the case over the weekend and had an internal meeting to draft the press release statement.

Also note that someone post 60+ photos of the girl on a new blog. Could be same person doing the threatening. Could be disgruntled PA staff or someone who really hated the girl or Palmer.

This person could have remain anonymous, so even if PAP wants to keep it under wraps, they don't know who to contact!?

 

[gz0707]

Having the same thoughts as Watchman

- enemies political, enough said
- enemies internal, someone from PA knew and was not happy with the attention she was getting. if any evidence, passed it on to score points, thereby enjoying scoring points for the future. a case of office politics?

 

[captainxerox]

There was not need to even hold a press conference. A press release would have been fine along the following lines;

"The Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of the Member of Parliament for Punggol East and Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer over a matter of personal indiscretion in relation to an improper relationship. He has expressed regret and apologises for his conduct."

So why the song and dance?

if do anything lesser or slower than what wp did, would be seen as not up to wp standard. so pap tripped over itself to close the matter.

 

[metalmickey]

I got the distinct impression that Palmer wanted out at all costs. People who steal eat generally do not behave in this manner including those who are remorseful. There has to be something else that prompted this quick turn of events such as an incident in either of the 2 families or both. Anyway ethics and morality where the PA is concerned is a joke for the simple fact that they do not support the elected MP but the PAP adviser. I know of senior civil servants and scholars who refused postings to PA on ethical grounds. They are basically prostitutes anyway so where is the beef?

There is something not right about this explanation. Michael Palmer could have resigned, without causing a great scandal. He could have cited family commitments. Or even if there was adultery, he could have hushed it up and bided his time until 2016. His seat is risky because he only has 55% of the votes. PAP losing 1 seat is a distinct possibility, and an MP resigning in disgrace makes it worse.

Some things could have made his position untenable. Like his wife threatening to have a messy divorce. Or there could be blackmail. Or he could have been involved in a larger breach of ethics, and they decided that citing the affair as a reason was an indirect form of damage limitation.

Or maybe people understand that the public has the impression that an extra-marital affair means you have to resign. Maybe some PAP people think that the public is not fully aware about the differences between YSL and Palmer, and if he carries on in his position, a lot of unfavourable comparison could be made.

Seems like the Speaker of Parliament position is cursed. Recall that Zainal Abidin Rasheed, had he been elected to Aljunied, was slated to be the next speaker. PAP has lost 2 speakers in the space of 18 months.

People are selectively ethical about different matters. There is no general standard of ethics for a person. A mass murderer might be scrupulously loyal to his wife. A criminal could have an extremely good work ethic. A serial philanderer could be extremely loyal to his friends. This is a well known aspect of human psychology.

 

[loneshark]

I guess the same question was raised in this article by TOC.


Palmergate begs more questions
....

While we might choose to sympathise with a repentant Palmer, who has not demonstrated failure in serving his constituents and unlike his colleagues have refrained from making politically suicidal statements, the full measure of the announcement has missed one important question: Was the relationship he had with the Peoples' Association staff member a lawful one, or was there dirty money or underhand business involved in this case?

To be clear, we are not interested in Palmer’s sexual indiscretion – that is a matter between him, his family and God. But nowhere in the official letters, statements and responses was there an unquestionable indication that it was only an extramarital affair.

Instead, Palmer’s former colleague and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean insisted many times during the media conference that “these are details that we do not need to go into. The important thing is that Mr Palmer has acknowledged his mistake, he has resigned to take full responsibility, and that is the proper thing to do.”

Oddly, we are asked to trust that the PAP did the right thing, without knowing the full extent of the what they are asking our confidence for.

 

[captainxerox]

I do not find the turn of events surprising. The PAP acted high-handed and ruthless in the YSL episode, so to play it low key now would paint them very negatively.

yeah, pap leadership trying to get its act together, not to the public but also to its mps who are screwing around. sure got pap mps and members who are shocked and angered with pap high command public shaming of palmer. that impact is more interesting.

 

[metalmickey]

Instead, Palmer’s former colleague and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean insisted many times during the media conference that “these are details that we do not need to go into. The important thing is that Mr Palmer has acknowledged his mistake, he has resigned to take full responsibility, and that is the proper thing to do.”

Oddly, we are asked to trust that the PAP did the right thing, without knowing the full extent of the what they are asking our confidence for.

Sorry, I find this comment stupid. During Yaw-gate we were asked to trust that the WP did the right thing, without knowing the full extent of the what they are asking our confidence for. Even if you are not pro-PAP, you should believe that the same standards apply to both sides. Palmer's gone. Get over it!

 

[HTOLAS]

K Shanmugam?

When an MP who is a public figure is even rumoured to be involved with somebody, words do get around. If this is not nipped in the bud, the damage would be much worst.

In other societies, such personal indiscretion could be swept under the carpet, as long as the office holder does his job well. But here, WP had set the bar very high and PAP has no choice but to meet them there, or be seen as the inferior party.

I disagree about "not need to even hold a press conference. When an MP and office bearer resigns, which is a big deal in Singapore, people WILL be interested and want answers. Again, due to the high standard of transparency set by WP, PAP has to come clean about the affair. Even though in the process, the 3rd party, the family members get dragged through the m&d.

 

[captainxerox]

Agree with you on that it is not so much a morality thing, but a brand reputation issue that has to be addressed.

politics all abt branding - don't care whether product good or not, just that customers think that product better than the others on the shelf.

 

[kukubird58]

K Shanmugam?

hahaha......k shanmugan.........
many pple claimed he had an affair but the name of the woman is still a mystery to me.....
so far we were told the whole legal fratenity and many learned bros were aware of the affair; etc...etc....
any kind soul can point me to the post where her name was mentioned or can we assume it is just malicious gossiping???
thanks a lot.....