<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PAP: Nepotism rocks! Democracy sucks!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">Lola (Langusta) <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">7:38 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 7) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>1451.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>SM Goh : Planned Leadership Succession make Singapore stable.
Another day, another piece of wisdom from our SM Goh. This time on how planned succession makes Singapore stable. I guess that is why USA the superpower is so unstable - 2 weeks from the presidential elections and we are not quite sure if Obama will win. Why don't they plan it like we do here in Singapore. Our plan and groom succession method gave us PM Lee who happens to be the son of MM Lee by coincidence - so after 40 years of planning and grooming, this is the great leadership we have, the best that is possible. Singapore must be a really complex country to run because other countries several hundred times our size can be governed without such "plan and groom" schemes.
So how does one go about selecting the next leader to groom? Selection is done by the existing PM, MM and SM to make sure the person is acceptable to the present leadership. Like what SM Goh said there will be no major policies shifts if when the person is chosen carefully. So this person is chosen to preserve existing policies which are taken to be good and ensure that little is changed in Singapore. The next part is the grooming portion - take the person through the various ministries to make sure he understands fully existing policies so that collective wisdom of the past 40 years of PAP govt sets the boundaries for which minor tweaks can take place. The last part is to market this person to the public - manufacturing great hope of a better future, great hope for change (remember the Remaking Singapore compaign?) and perhaps marketing the chosen one as some kind of marverick needed to energise the country. Of course, the marketing part is just marketing ...a few years down the road and a few crises later you discover his real leadership qualities like we are seeing in this crisis. Shackled by the ideologies of the past and past successes, he responds to change with rigidity.....
Anyone with doubts about the effectiveness of the grooming needs only to look at Vivian Balakrishnan. Here he is explaining to a Sec 3 student why defamation lawsuits are necessary in Singapore : Link It is clear he has gone through some kind of spectacular transformation from a vocal critic of the PAP govt to its greatest defender - now that is the power of grooming .... assimilating marvaricks into the establishment infecting them with a kind of groupthink and then before you know it they all sing in tune.
You can imagine with 40 years of continuous rule, there are all sorts of relationships, rules, practices and constraints set for those who are part of the establishment and in power. Policy making is not a simple matter of doing what is best for the ordinary people of Singapore. "Best" is lost in a jungle of complexity, ideology and opacity. Succession planning is a strategy to maintain the status quo for as long as possible. It is the surest way to keep much needed change and political progess at bay. 40 years ago we were the freest nation in the region - Philipines was under a dictator called Marcos, Indonesia & Thailand were under military strongmen - ask yourself where these countries are relative to us politically now. SM Goh talks about trust. We will all trust a system that is fully transparent, that can be challenged freely, peacefully and vigorously with a media that relentlessly pursues the truth. There is one word for such a system : DEMOCRACY.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Another day, another piece of wisdom from our SM Goh. This time on how planned succession makes Singapore stable. I guess that is why USA the superpower is so unstable - 2 weeks from the presidential elections and we are not quite sure if Obama will win. Why don't they plan it like we do here in Singapore. Our plan and groom succession method gave us PM Lee who happens to be the son of MM Lee by coincidence - so after 40 years of planning and grooming, this is the great leadership we have, the best that is possible. Singapore must be a really complex country to run because other countries several hundred times our size can be governed without such "plan and groom" schemes.
"Trust, like respect, cannot be decreed. It has to be earned. It is this trust of Singaporeans in their government which has enabled us to persuade them to accept some tough, painful but necessary policies and win elections" - SM Goh
.
"Sir, was that why you were so busy in Hougang and Potong Pasir during the last elections telling voters they will lose out on upgrading if they don't vote PAP? I think the people trust that you will carry out your promise. " - Lucky Tan
.
"Sir, was that why you were so busy in Hougang and Potong Pasir during the last elections telling voters they will lose out on upgrading if they don't vote PAP? I think the people trust that you will carry out your promise. " - Lucky Tan
So how does one go about selecting the next leader to groom? Selection is done by the existing PM, MM and SM to make sure the person is acceptable to the present leadership. Like what SM Goh said there will be no major policies shifts if when the person is chosen carefully. So this person is chosen to preserve existing policies which are taken to be good and ensure that little is changed in Singapore. The next part is the grooming portion - take the person through the various ministries to make sure he understands fully existing policies so that collective wisdom of the past 40 years of PAP govt sets the boundaries for which minor tweaks can take place. The last part is to market this person to the public - manufacturing great hope of a better future, great hope for change (remember the Remaking Singapore compaign?) and perhaps marketing the chosen one as some kind of marverick needed to energise the country. Of course, the marketing part is just marketing ...a few years down the road and a few crises later you discover his real leadership qualities like we are seeing in this crisis. Shackled by the ideologies of the past and past successes, he responds to change with rigidity.....
"Our attitude towards the press in Singapore is that they are partners in nation-building" - Vivian Balakrishnan
Anyone with doubts about the effectiveness of the grooming needs only to look at Vivian Balakrishnan. Here he is explaining to a Sec 3 student why defamation lawsuits are necessary in Singapore : Link It is clear he has gone through some kind of spectacular transformation from a vocal critic of the PAP govt to its greatest defender - now that is the power of grooming .... assimilating marvaricks into the establishment infecting them with a kind of groupthink and then before you know it they all sing in tune.
You can imagine with 40 years of continuous rule, there are all sorts of relationships, rules, practices and constraints set for those who are part of the establishment and in power. Policy making is not a simple matter of doing what is best for the ordinary people of Singapore. "Best" is lost in a jungle of complexity, ideology and opacity. Succession planning is a strategy to maintain the status quo for as long as possible. It is the surest way to keep much needed change and political progess at bay. 40 years ago we were the freest nation in the region - Philipines was under a dictator called Marcos, Indonesia & Thailand were under military strongmen - ask yourself where these countries are relative to us politically now. SM Goh talks about trust. We will all trust a system that is fully transparent, that can be challenged freely, peacefully and vigorously with a media that relentlessly pursues the truth. There is one word for such a system : DEMOCRACY.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
