Dear PM Lee,
I refer to the 6 Apr 2011 Straits Times report on why Singapore cannot afford to have a bad PM.
No Singaporean would want a bad PM. But there is no basis to say that the democratic elections of the US have a greater chance of churning out bad presidents compared to the tracking system in China. The US has had so many presidents already. The small odd of a ¡®bad¡¯ president showing up will eventually materialise after many tries. On the other hand, communist China has only had four batches of leaders. So even if the Chinese system has the same odds at churning out a ¡®bad¡¯ leader, it hasn¡¯t had as many tries for that small odd to eventually show up yet.
Also, the so-called ¡®bad¡¯ of President Nixon is mainly the Watergate scandal which is really his attempt at fixing his opponents. For someone who has similarly expressed a wish to ¡®fix the opposition¡¯, how bad can President Nixon be? He is probably just as bad as any politician playing the political game.
The ¡®bad¡¯ we really should be concerned with is the ¡®bad¡¯ that compromises the peace, prosperity and security of the nation. In that respect, there haven¡¯t really been any ¡®bad¡¯ US presidents.
Not that we want a bad PM. But if Singapore can bounce back from three years and eight months of Japanese Occupation, Singapore can survive a bad PM.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
From ST
I refer to the 6 Apr 2011 Straits Times report on why Singapore cannot afford to have a bad PM.
No Singaporean would want a bad PM. But there is no basis to say that the democratic elections of the US have a greater chance of churning out bad presidents compared to the tracking system in China. The US has had so many presidents already. The small odd of a ¡®bad¡¯ president showing up will eventually materialise after many tries. On the other hand, communist China has only had four batches of leaders. So even if the Chinese system has the same odds at churning out a ¡®bad¡¯ leader, it hasn¡¯t had as many tries for that small odd to eventually show up yet.
Also, the so-called ¡®bad¡¯ of President Nixon is mainly the Watergate scandal which is really his attempt at fixing his opponents. For someone who has similarly expressed a wish to ¡®fix the opposition¡¯, how bad can President Nixon be? He is probably just as bad as any politician playing the political game.
The ¡®bad¡¯ we really should be concerned with is the ¡®bad¡¯ that compromises the peace, prosperity and security of the nation. In that respect, there haven¡¯t really been any ¡®bad¡¯ US presidents.
Not that we want a bad PM. But if Singapore can bounce back from three years and eight months of Japanese Occupation, Singapore can survive a bad PM.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
From ST
