If the government give in to the investors demands now, it will make them 'lose face' and make Tan Kin Lian an instant hero which will be a PR disaster for them.
If the investors give the PAP some face and 'plead' with them to act on ther behalf, they may just relent and give them some 'help' even though we know it's a only a wayang.
Read full article here:
http://wayangparty.com/2008/11/17/a...to-break-out-of-the-current-minibond-impasse/
Excerpts:
There is a brilliant strategem in Sun Tzu’s Art of War which says: “Knowing oneself and one’s enemy is a sure way of winning a hundred battles.”
To stand even half a chance of persuading the government to act, we must first understand the PAP’s psyche:
1. Contrary to the general perception, the PAP is a very sensitive government with eyes and ears on the ground almost everywhere. It does care a lot about its image and reputation.
2. The PAP is a very proud government which does not want to “lose face” and succumb to external pressure in any circumstances. When U.S President Bill Clinton wrote a letter pleading with then PM Goh Chok Tong not to cane vandal Michael Fay, he was caned. When Australian Prime Minister John Howard implored Singapore not to hang its citizen, an ethnic Vietnamese for drug trafficking, he was hung anyway.
3. The PAP regards itself as having the popular mandate of the people to govern Singapore and therefore only it has the right and power to dispense “help”. It is incredibly intolerant of an alternative center of power competing with it for the love, respect and regard of Singaporeans. In short, it wants to claim all credits on everything to itself and nobody else.
While we continue to exert pressure on the PAP, we should also give it some “face”, stroke its ego a bit and provide our leaders a ladder to “walk down”. Confronting the PAP directly will not do either party any good.
XXX
At this point in time, there are still no clear signs that the PAP will soften their initial stance and therefore the fortnightly protests at Hong Lim Park must continue. The new media should publicize the event widely and disseminate it throughout Singapore’s blogosphere. The more Singaporeans know about the truth, the more the government will be put in a tight spot.
Now, pushing the PAP into a corner without providing them an escape route will only force them to retaliate. We must provide them a face-saving measure so that it appear that they are now helping the investors out of compassion and kindness and not because of the pressure we have heaped on them.
The investors should exert political pressure on the PAP directly by urging their MPs (most of which will be PAP anyway) to bring up the issue in Parliament for debate.
Mr Tan can invite a PAP MP, an opposition MP and a NMP to speak together at Hong Lim Park the next time thereby allowing the PAP to share some of his credit for rendering timely assistance to the investors. He is currently taking too much firepower on his own. There’s an urgent need to prepare “fire insurance” and share the blame all around so that should anything happen, he will not be made an easy scapegoat.
If the investors give the PAP some face and 'plead' with them to act on ther behalf, they may just relent and give them some 'help' even though we know it's a only a wayang.
Read full article here:
http://wayangparty.com/2008/11/17/a...to-break-out-of-the-current-minibond-impasse/
Excerpts:
There is a brilliant strategem in Sun Tzu’s Art of War which says: “Knowing oneself and one’s enemy is a sure way of winning a hundred battles.”
To stand even half a chance of persuading the government to act, we must first understand the PAP’s psyche:
1. Contrary to the general perception, the PAP is a very sensitive government with eyes and ears on the ground almost everywhere. It does care a lot about its image and reputation.
2. The PAP is a very proud government which does not want to “lose face” and succumb to external pressure in any circumstances. When U.S President Bill Clinton wrote a letter pleading with then PM Goh Chok Tong not to cane vandal Michael Fay, he was caned. When Australian Prime Minister John Howard implored Singapore not to hang its citizen, an ethnic Vietnamese for drug trafficking, he was hung anyway.
3. The PAP regards itself as having the popular mandate of the people to govern Singapore and therefore only it has the right and power to dispense “help”. It is incredibly intolerant of an alternative center of power competing with it for the love, respect and regard of Singaporeans. In short, it wants to claim all credits on everything to itself and nobody else.
While we continue to exert pressure on the PAP, we should also give it some “face”, stroke its ego a bit and provide our leaders a ladder to “walk down”. Confronting the PAP directly will not do either party any good.
XXX
At this point in time, there are still no clear signs that the PAP will soften their initial stance and therefore the fortnightly protests at Hong Lim Park must continue. The new media should publicize the event widely and disseminate it throughout Singapore’s blogosphere. The more Singaporeans know about the truth, the more the government will be put in a tight spot.
Now, pushing the PAP into a corner without providing them an escape route will only force them to retaliate. We must provide them a face-saving measure so that it appear that they are now helping the investors out of compassion and kindness and not because of the pressure we have heaped on them.
The investors should exert political pressure on the PAP directly by urging their MPs (most of which will be PAP anyway) to bring up the issue in Parliament for debate.
Mr Tan can invite a PAP MP, an opposition MP and a NMP to speak together at Hong Lim Park the next time thereby allowing the PAP to share some of his credit for rendering timely assistance to the investors. He is currently taking too much firepower on his own. There’s an urgent need to prepare “fire insurance” and share the blame all around so that should anything happen, he will not be made an easy scapegoat.
