Chitchat Paul Thambyah to see a Psychiatrist - Bilahari Kausikan

Paul is in the CEC and you only get in if Chee knows he is still in control. When Paul responded to the MP de Souza and ST did not publish it , he should have taken the cue. Yet they made a song and dance about ST refusing to publish it. ST in this instance might have saved him the embarrassment. Yes, he should have stuck to Healthcare.

I don't think we will see PT in SDP colours at the next elections. The penny would have dropped by now. I think like all meaning people he was desperate for a platform.

RandomNexus said:

Paul Tambyah should just stay in his area of concern - healthcare. He is doing such a good job creating awareness and especially for those under-privileged. I shook my head when he assailed the government on defence spending. He is entering into an area he has little understanding like most average folks. The big question for the middle ground folks is how much to give way to more healthcare spending without tilting the bowl too much it could not give out more beyond its capacity. I doubt SDP has any idea at all.

In all politics, all is fair and if you come out with the punches, you likewise deserve to be wrecked, and it does not matter which camp you are from. Here, Paul Tambyah deserved the punches coz he entered into the arena himself.

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They are in no position to formulate policies in the first. They have no representation in parliament. They should push their manifesto and chip away at issues. If you look at WP or any other party for that matter, none of them have pretension of forming government. The only party in Singapore's history that carried this charade is Harbans Singh and his shadow cabinet with his secretary and mistress being the shadow Foreign Minister. I can't remember who but someone said that PT will be the natural Minister of Health. Goodness me, not a single seat in parliament and why are we discussing this.

Instead of formulating a comprehensive policy, they should have pushed the health safety net agenda which immediately hits the right spot for voters. They should not even attempt costing it. The British, Aussies and the Americans parties in opposition do provide costing because they have full access and it done by the main opposition party.

Again poor strategy.

3_M said:

The main weakness of sdp healthcare policy is it suggests drastically cutting defence spending and divert the fund to finance the healthcare plan. Such proposal is deem as 'populist and naive ' amongst the middle ground and will unlikely help sdp. Essentially sdp is digging a hole for themselves.

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in b4 more bashings

I've never been impressed by this top echelon porlumpar. This is the loose canon who shot his mouth off and disgraced Singapore – the irony! – in front of an international audience in Cambridge and hit below the belt of one of our most eminent historians who incidentally was the first Singaporean to swim the English Channel. He doesn't need a psychiatrist, just an Oxford Dictionary to define the word 'diplomat' for him.

Read Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss's account:

Bilahari Kausikan – Loose and Large

scroobal said:

They are in no position to formulate policies in the first. They have no representation in parliament. They should push their manifesto and chip away at issues. If you look at WP or any other party for that matter, none of them have pretension of forming government. The only party in Singapore's history that carried this charade is Harbans Singh and his shadow cabinet with his secretary and mistress being the shadow Foreign Minister. I can't remember who but someone said that PT will be the natural Minister of Health. Goodness me, not a single seat in parliament and why are we discussing this.

Instead of formulating a comprehensive policy, they should have pushed the health safety net agenda which immediately hits the right spot for voters. They should not even attempt costing it. The British, Aussies and the Americans parties in opposition do provide costing because they have full access and it done by the main opposition party.

Again poor strategy.

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Sdp strategy can work only if they are contesting to form the alternative govt. Only then you need a policy platform to compete with pap. Having said so, there is no need to list out the policies in such details. That the job of the civil servants.

But if they are just contesting in a handful of seats, then how are they going to push their policies? In the end they are just drawing a pie to entice voters but they will never get to eat it.

yellowarse said:

I've never been impressed by this top echelon porlumpar. This is the loose canon who shot his mouth off and disgraced Singapore – the irony! – in front of an international audience in Cambridge and hit below the belt of one of our most eminent historians who incidentally was the first Singaporean to swim the English Channel. He doesn't need a psychiatrist, just an Oxford Dictionary to define the word 'diplomat' for him.

Read Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss's account:

Bilahari Kausikan – Loose and Large

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Far from being a disgrace I am extremely proud of Bilahari. Being a diplomat does not mean one has to be constantly diplomatic. He tells it like it is when necessary and in this instance it was perfectly justifiable.

LKY is no longer around to defend himself and to use a foreign pulpit to criticise his era is a cowardly act. Dr Thum also failed to mention that the democratic era prior to LKY was full of poverty, turmoil and bloodshed. LKY brought peace, prosperity and harmony when he took over and he did what was needed to ensure that the country thrived while diplomats like Bilahari played a vital role internationally.

What has Dr Thum done for Singapore lately?

Leongsam said:

Far from being a disgrace I am extremely proud of Bilahari. Being a diplomat does not mean one has to be constantly diplomatic. He tells it like it is when necessary and in this instance it was perfectly justifiable.

LKY is no longer around to defend himself and to use a foreign pulpit to criticise his era is a cowardly act. Dr Thum also failed to mention that the democratic era prior to LKY was full of poverty, turmoil and bloodshed. LKY brought peace, prosperity and harmony when he took over and he did what was needed to ensure that the country thrived while diplomats like Bilahari played a vital role internationally.

What has Dr Thum done for Singapore lately?

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I agree with you here. Bilahari has a sound grasp of international relations and has served his function as diplomat well. However he could have adopted a more nuanced tone. His points about relationship with US, China, etc, as well as statements made concerning the deficits about our opposition are all valid and I support him on these. But he must craft his message so as to maintain his objectivity and reflect a balanced approach. Or else, people would see him as partisan and the message would be lost.

The trouble with the opposition is that they can't see things from a global perspective. That is why I have stopped supporting the SDP. They want to cut defence spending. To hell with that! Our republic rests on a knife's edge. Does the SDP know how vulnerable we actually are?

I dislike the way populism has infected opposition discourse. Everyone wants to be populist and anyone who dares to voice a dissenting view is automatically shut out. If I were to post this on Facebook using my real name, I would lose all my followers. Nobody wants to discuss alternative points of view. The PAP is always bad, the opposition is always right. How to progress like that?

I think they fell into the hole that was creating by PAP MPs and he PM in parliament badgering the WP to come out with an alternative policy. Low Thia Kiang refused to bite as it he knew it was a trap. It should be the PAP that should be accounting for the effectiveness and value of their policies. WP does have the resources to flesh out a comprehensive policies and neither they have access to key data which the govt has always masked to some extent.

I am not sure why SDP jumped on this.

3_M said:

Sdp strategy can work only if they are contesting to form the alternative govt. Only then you need a policy platform to compete with pap. Having said so, there is no need to list out the policies in such details. That the job of the civil servants.

But if they are just contesting in a handful of seats, then how are they going to push their policies? In the end they are just drawing a pie to entice voters but they will never get to eat it.

Click to expand...

yellowarse said:

I've never been impressed by this top echelon porlumpar. This is the loose canon who shot his mouth off and disgraced Singapore – the irony! – in front of an international audience in Cambridge and hit below the belt of one of our most eminent historians who incidentally was the first Singaporean to swim the English Channel. He doesn't need a psychiatrist, just an Oxford Dictionary to define the word 'diplomat' for him.

Read Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss's account:

Bilahari Kausikan – Loose and Large

Click to expand...

I agree. Bila has always been two sizes too large for his pants.