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Battle for Aljunied: No minister's indispensable
MR LEE Chee Koon argues that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is not easily replaceable ("For Singapore's sake, it's too great a sacrifice"; Wednesday).
Mr George Yeo is indeed a talented individual who has done much for Singapore. However, no official in any level of government, anywhere in the world, is truly indispensable.
That is why succession planning is something that is taken very seriously, whether in the corporate world or in government.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), for example, there is a Second Minister for Foreign Affairs as well as a Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Having a second- or third-in-command is vital for when the first Minister is unable to fulfil his duties.
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim has been capably performing his duties for over a decade, having been Minister of State for Foreign Affairs since 2001 and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2005.
I can also understand the apprehension people have at the thought of an established Singapore Minister relinquishing his role, for fear of political instability in the country.
However, was it not announced last month that veteran PAP ministers S. Jayakumar, Abdullah Tarmugi and Lim Boon Heng would be retiring? Yet we see that confidence in the Singapore government has not been shaken, due to excellent succession planning.
Furthermore, we should not discount the capability of the hardworking civil servants in the MFA to keep that ship running, just like they have done since its formation in 1965.
Mr Yeo's talent also need not be lost, should he decide to take up a role as an ambassador for the government.
I would even argue that his extensive experience makes him uniquely suited to advance Singapore's interests abroad as an Ambassador-at-Large, where he will no longer be kept occupied with municipal concerns such as insufficient carpark spaces and pest-control problems.
Nicholas Loh
MR LEE Chee Koon argues that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is not easily replaceable ("For Singapore's sake, it's too great a sacrifice"; Wednesday).
Mr George Yeo is indeed a talented individual who has done much for Singapore. However, no official in any level of government, anywhere in the world, is truly indispensable.
That is why succession planning is something that is taken very seriously, whether in the corporate world or in government.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), for example, there is a Second Minister for Foreign Affairs as well as a Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Having a second- or third-in-command is vital for when the first Minister is unable to fulfil his duties.
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim has been capably performing his duties for over a decade, having been Minister of State for Foreign Affairs since 2001 and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2005.
I can also understand the apprehension people have at the thought of an established Singapore Minister relinquishing his role, for fear of political instability in the country.
However, was it not announced last month that veteran PAP ministers S. Jayakumar, Abdullah Tarmugi and Lim Boon Heng would be retiring? Yet we see that confidence in the Singapore government has not been shaken, due to excellent succession planning.
Furthermore, we should not discount the capability of the hardworking civil servants in the MFA to keep that ship running, just like they have done since its formation in 1965.
Mr Yeo's talent also need not be lost, should he decide to take up a role as an ambassador for the government.
I would even argue that his extensive experience makes him uniquely suited to advance Singapore's interests abroad as an Ambassador-at-Large, where he will no longer be kept occupied with municipal concerns such as insufficient carpark spaces and pest-control problems.
Nicholas Loh
