Chan Chun Sing , Vivian Balakrishnan, GCT & LKY

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

tot i wld pen some words on these 4 chaps as i dont seem to c much comment on them after the PE 'punch' on Sat.

CCS - obviously an apparent big loser fm the PE 'punch'...even young ST journos had the temerity to link him as a failed "strategist" together wif Teo Ser Luck...suddenly CCS appears to hv mysteriously gone 'MIA'...and this is the kind of character who seems to be touted as future PM material?!...then again GCT 'suffered' kway teow r was it towgay being thrown at him during his abysmal baptism of fire as 'strategist' at the seminal Anson BE in 81...so perhaps all is not lost for CCS...interesting to c how he conducts himself after this fiasco...personally though, i just dont c him as PM material....appears to lack political gravitas n the ability to connect n inspire pple...more n more comes across as a paper general perhaps?...

VB - gotta feel for him...chap who came into politics wif so much promise...a person who fm his youth has always appeared to be a political 'animal', quite a rare breed amongst the technocrats parachuted in by pap...now stuck in environment of all places??, again had to be co-opted into pap cec...wat has happpened to him n why is he so quiet of late...v curious to know his views on the PE 'punch'...i wonder whether he will still be in cabinet come next GE r whether he may 'retire' fm politics altogether?...personally i wld like to c him to split fm pap n form his own party, but guess just wishful thinking on my part...

GCT - no word fm him on the PE 'punch'...v curious to hear his 'unvarnished' take for obvious reasons...is he chuckling to himself together wif his kakis at the way LHL & gang hv handled this BE?...does this mean he may now hv more clout wifin pap?...does he wish to hv more clout?...

LKY - finally i come to Harry, left the best for last!...must say his recent 'silence' appears quite eerie, especially after Sat's PE 'Punch'...ironically i was just reading tdy's ST 31/1 , n low n behold there is an op-ed piece 'lifted' fm FT in there, written by 2 top american international relations experts who hv coined Harry "The Grandmaster" strategist, although this title appears to be more in relation to his international statesmanship stature akin to say Harry's good buddy Henry Kissinger rather than on the local political front...be tat as it may, i wld prolly give a 'king's ransom' to be a fly on the wall at 38 Oxley Rd to listen n observe the goings on relating to the PE 'punch' n the local political scene in general...wat do u think is Harry's 'unvarnished' take?...is he still going to influence the PM r take the position tat the PM n his inner circle hv to stand on their own?...this is Singapore's primus inter pares political animal afterall...

PS...on Sat afternoon i was listening to the BBC Davos Forum n interestingly enuff Kishore Mahbubani n George Yeo were on the panel...Kishore perhaps made a somewhat prescient comment when he said tat political leaders(formerly dominant successful authoritarian rulers) wld now hv to talk "with" the people rather than "to" the people to become successful in this era of globalisation n change in technology n communication...

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Actually on Vivian Balakrishnan guess i spoke too quickly...oops?!...just saw his take ion the govt's latest white paper in tdy's Today 31/1..taken fm his facebook post titled 'Political suicide v demographic extinction'...he said..

"..Our main focus must be the hopes, dreams and fears of our current 3.2 million Singaporean citizens and our future children. Everyone and everything else is secondary...The headline numbers and the speed of change are scary - but we must keep our cool and decide confidently as one people on our future destiny regardless of politics...That is why the government is taking such a big political risk in publishing (the White Paper)."

So looks like Dr Viv is still v much entrenched wif pap??...

 

[aurvandil]

LKY needs to make one of those PR appearances to remind us he is still alive. Otherwise we will think that he died again.

LKY - finally i come to Harry, left the best for last!...must say his recent 'silence' appears quite eerie, especially after Sat's PE 'Punch'...ironically i was just reading tdy's ST 31/1 , n low n behold there is an op-ed piece 'lifted' fm FT in there, written by 2 top american international relations experts who hv coined Harry "The Grandmaster" strategist, although this title appears to be more in relation to his international statesmanship stature akin to say Harry's good buddy Henry Kissinger rather than on the local political front...be tat as it may, i wld prolly give a 'king's ransom' to be a fly on the wall at 38 Oxley Rd to listen n observe the goings on relating to the PE 'punch' n the local political scene in general...wat do u think is Harry's 'unvarnished' take?...is he still going to influence the PM r take the position tat the PM n his inner circle hv to stand on their own?...this is Singapore's primus inter pares political animal afterall...

 

[metalmickey]

Actually on Vivian Balakrishnan guess i spoke too quickly...oops?!...just saw his take ion the govt's latest white paper in tdy's Today 31/1..taken fm his facebook post titled 'Political suicide v demographic extinction'...he said..

"..Our main focus must be the hopes, dreams and fears of our current 3.2 million Singaporean citizens and our future children. Everyone and everything else is secondary...The headline numbers and the speed of change are scary - but we must keep our cool and decide confidently as one people on our future destiny regardless of politics...That is why the government is taking such a big political risk in publishing (the White Paper)."

So looks like Dr Viv is still v much entrenched wif pap??...

This is very interesting. My guess is that the people who worked on the white paper are not idiots. I can bet that half of them were screaming at their bosses - "if you pull this shit off, the people of Singapore will never forgive you". So they decided, fine, let's put this thing out in the open and let the people join in the debate. This is the first step. What is the second step? I think nobody knows what the second step is and therefore they're all watching what comes out of this.

 

[lockeliberal]

Dear Porfirosa

His basic thesis is correct, the long run demographics are not in Singapore's favour. Whether its political suicide largely depends on how much the PAP is willing to spend. The trust or bond between the PAP and the people have been shaken or broken, Ever seen a gf/lover/spouse betrayed ? The road back is a long and expensive one and for the PAP its gonna get very expensive

They packed the people in without telling us to five million, they have now TOLD us they intend to increase it to seven but will build the infrastructure in advance , and they expect us to trust it will be alright ?

The trust will have to be bought, or it will be political extinction for the PAP in 2016 and beyond.



Locke

Actually on Vivian Balakrishnan guess i spoke too quickly...oops?!...just saw his take ion the govt's latest white paper in tdy's Today 31/1..taken fm his facebook post titled 'Political suicide v demographic extinction'...he said..

"..Our main focus must be the hopes, dreams and fears of our current 3.2 million Singaporean citizens and our future children. Everyone and everything else is secondary...The headline numbers and the speed of change are scary - but we must keep our cool and decide confidently as one people on our future destiny regardless of politics...That is why the government is taking such a big political risk in publishing (the White Paper)."

So looks like Dr Viv is still v much entrenched wif pap??...

 

[metalmickey]

PS...on Sat afternoon i was listening to the BBC Davos Forum n interestingly enuff Kishore Mahbubani n George Yeo were on the panel...Kishore perhaps made a somewhat prescient comment when he said tat political leaders(formerly dominant successful authoritarian rulers) wld now hv to talk "with" the people rather than "to" the people to become successful in this era of globalisation n change in technology n communication...

Of the four people you talked about, LKY and GCT are non-entities. GCT was made senior minister as a form of courtesy because they couldn't possibly not make him a senior minister after they made LKY a senior minister. They couldn't make GCT lose face like that. LKY who got made a minister mentor - that makes me cringe. A great man has to walk around with that stupid tag coined up by his son. Put it this way, if you are a prime minister and you still need a mentor then the country is in a shithole. Senior minister emeritus tells a big story - somebody wants him to be senior minister, but the senior minister just wants to get the fuck out of that place. As it is, neither of the two has much influence. The cabinet has totally changed in 2011. Pinky is on his own now. I'm sure that the titles of Minister Mentor and Senior Minister Emeritus were coined up by Pinky himself. That guy has a political tin ear. Why doesn't he ask his father to walk around in a clown suit?

VB - I read somewhere that his stock fell very fast after a few very high profile mistakes. I wouldn't count him as somebody very important for the future.

 

[metalmickey]

They packed the people in without telling us to five million, they have now TOLD us they intend to increase it to seven but will build the infrastructure in advance , and they expect us to trust it will be alright ?

They told us it would be five million. There were white papers everywhere in 2000. It was not a secret. The people of Singapore were silent about this, not understanding the implications. If there was a massive protest, it wouldn't have happened.

 

[scroobal]

My sense is that the official political line to follow for all these players has become blurred. One would not want to reduce their political capital by taking the wrong line lest they get lost. Old man must have been told to be quiet by the son.

The short term internal line post-PE is that KPK did not have sufficient exposure for people to know him and that he will be fielded again. The second part is that there will be a mix of candidates to accommodate the voter's needs. Both positions clearly made by LHL over 2 days.

There is also AIMgate. No one is going to step forward until this is over.

For AIMgate, there will be 2 parts - (1) the actual AIMgate inquiry which I do not think will go far and then there (2) the opportunity and pretext that the inquiry offers to re-cast the municipal structure that WP has gamed to get seats. Gerrymandering will no longer help as KPK lost across all precincts. This would reflect the island-wide position.

In essence, this must be the fork in the road and the fog has to clear.

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

LKY needs to make one of those PR appearances to remind us he is still alive. Otherwise we will think that he died again.

Believe harry is quite healthy at the moment...

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

This is the first step. What is the second step? I think nobody knows what the second step is and therefore they're all watching what comes out of this.

Pap appear to hv never left anything to chance...prolly hv worked out all sorts of scenarios n more...saying tat theory n practice r 2 different things altogether...so i guess the current state of play is in a flux...

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Dear Porfirosa

His basic thesis is correct, the long run demographics are not in Singapore's favour. Whether its political suicide largely depends on how much the PAP is willing to spend. The trust or bond between the PAP and the people have been shaken or broken, Ever seen a gf/lover/spouse betrayed ? The road back is a long and expensive one and for the PAP its gonna get very expensive

They packed the people in without telling us to five million, they have now TOLD us they intend to increase it to seven but will build the infrastructure in advance , and they expect us to trust it will be alright ?

The trust will have to be bought, or it will be political extinction for the PAP in 2016 and beyond.



Locke

Hi Locke,

Long time no talk!...

first off kudos to LTK,SL, LLL & co at WP for playing an astute hand during the PE, BE...first wrt to SDP's 'games', then over the hustings proper n even post BE...i wish them well...

As for this white paper n the future of PAP...at the risk of sounding trite...the key is prolly all abt political EQ/EI...the ability to truly n sincerely reconnect wif the pink i/cs...listening to snippets of the PM's performance on Mon at the IPS conference, i am left wondering...sadly n unfortunately for PAP it did not appear to heed Catherine Lim's warning in 94...n thus 'A Great Affective Divide' is slowly turning into PAP's worse nigthmare...

 

[kingrant]

There seems to be a pattern of charlatan wonks casting aside their hypocrisy from time to time to start making veiled comments when it is rather safe to do so. Isnt he stating the obvious? Wisdom-wise, zero; PR wise, 6. We have no shortage of his ilk. This chap certainly knows which side of his bread the butter is on.

.Kishore perhaps made a somewhat prescient comment when he said tat political leaders(formerly dominant successful authoritarian rulers) wld now hv to talk "with" the people rather than "to" the people to become successful in this era of globalisation n change in technology n communication...

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Of the four people you talked about, LKY and GCT are non-entities.

VB - I read somewhere that his stock fell very fast after a few very high profile mistakes. I wouldn't count him as somebody very important for the future.

I wld be v surprised if Harry n GCT are indeed "non-entities"...do not mistake form for substance...saying tat i now wonder how far their influence extends?...

As for Dr Viv...yes it looks like he did encounter some problems in the past...but i cld prolly pt out others getting off...to me it appears tat Dr Viv has somehow never been fully accepted into the PM's inner core circle...

 

[kingrant]

With all these Indians flooding us, is it a good idea to think of an Indian PM?

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

My sense is that the official political line to follow for all these players has become blurred. One would not want to reduce their political capital by taking the wrong line lest they get lost. Old man must have been told to be quiet by the son.

The short term internal line post-PE is that KPK did not have sufficient exposure for people to know him and that he will be fielded again. The second part is that there will be a mix of candidates to accommodate the voter's needs. Both positions clearly made by LHL over 2 days.

There is also AIMgate. No one is going to step forward until this is over.

For AIMgate, there will be 2 parts - (1) the actual AIMgate inquiry which I do not think will go far and then there (2) the opportunity and pretext that the inquiry offers to re-cast the municipal structure that WP has gamed to get seats. Gerrymandering will no longer help as KPK lost across all precincts. This would reflect the island-wide position.

In essence, this must be the fork in the road and the fog has to clear.

Interesting pts bro...

1. cant imagine the son telling daddy to pipe down but perhaps Harry may hv grasped the concept of 'new normal' by now?...but i agree PM wld like to c one n all at PAP sing fm the same hymn book...so perhaps silence is golden when in doubt...

2. " KPK did not have sufficient exposure for people to know him "...actually i think the PM has shot himself in the foot on this one...becuz the timing to call the BE was totally in his hands...so by making such a statement, he is actually admitting(implicitly) tat he cocked up on BE strategy by failing to provide KPK wif more time lag at PE for him to get know the residents not forgetting his own grassroots helpers...

3. oops forgot all abt AIMgate in the post PE 'punch' euphoria n now wif this whopper of a white paper!...appreciate the reminder bro...particularly the way u hv broken down the corresponding issues...

Looks like we hv a mini Beijing kinda political smog in the local air at the mo...how shall it clear...?...we live in interesting times...

 

[Debonerman]

6.9 million population. PAP think it is running a fucking business? $6.99 is smoke and mirror to give you a comfortable feeling that you are not spending $7.

 

[lockeliberal]

Dear Profirio

I doubt they could do it and sound sincere, The elitist, top 1% earning mindset, immunizses them from a long of pain , middle and upper middle class professionals are feeling. PM says " follow me", " trust me " but I seriously doubt he has the same political capital as his father and that trust has frayed because the shared sense of community and nation has faded.



Locke

Hi Locke,

Long time no talk!...

first off kudos to LTK,SL, LLL & co at WP for playing an astute hand during the PE, BE...first wrt to SDP's 'games', then over the hustings proper n even post BE...i wish them well...

As for this white paper n the future of PAP...at the risk of sounding trite...the key is prolly all abt political EQ/EI...the ability to truly n sincerely reconnect wif the pink i/cs...listening to snippets of the PM's performance on Mon at the IPS conference, i am left wondering...sadly n unfortunately for PAP it did not appear to heed Catherine Lim's warning in 94...n thus 'A Great Affective Divide' is slowly turning into PAP's worse nigthmare...

 

[GoldenDragon]

2. " KPK did not have sufficient exposure for people to know him "...actually i think the PM has shot himself in the foot on this one...becuz the timing to call the BE was totally in his hands...so by making such a statement, he is actually admitting(implicitly) tat he cocked up on BE strategy by failing to provide KPK wif more time lag at PE for him to get know the residents not forgetting his own grassroots helpers...

Even before the results were announced, LHL knew it was gone case. His intelligence outfit had submitted a report to him based on "Public Reaction" reports.

 

[metalmickey]

Pap appear to hv never left anything to chance...prolly hv worked out all sorts of scenarios n more...saying tat theory n practice r 2 different things altogether...so i guess the current state of play is in a flux...

So you believe that this attempt at "revealing" the plan is nothing but a sham to drive it through and implement it regardless of the ground sentiment? Maybe this town council thing has its uses after all - making sure that the WP is too busy trying to run its own town council and take care of its grassroots movement to heckle the PAP in parliament.

Vivian - it seemed that in the early days he was one of the few brave enough to speak the truth to the authorities. But these days he's turned into some kind of a hatchet man. That gaffe with the "how much do you want, do you want to eat at a hawker centre or a restaurant?", and telling the whole world that Vincent Wijeysingha was not only gay but had something to hide from the world. This doesn't sound like the kind of guy with any scruples at all. Very likely then that a lot of what was written recently was just wayanging about wanting to get feedback from the ground.

 

[metalmickey]

I wld be v surprised if Harry n GCT are indeed "non-entities"...do not mistake form for substance...saying tat i now wonder how far their influence extends?...

As for Dr Viv...yes it looks like he did encounter some problems in the past...but i cld prolly pt out others getting off...to me it appears tat Dr Viv has somehow never been fully accepted into the PM's inner core circle...

OK, I meant to say that they probably don't have much influence. I'm not exactly sure that GCT and LHL really got along with each other, and have heard that there are two factions in the PAP centered around the two. My guess is that the retirement of a lot of the cabinet after 2011 reflects the declining influence of GCT. A GCT who was truly powerful would not have been saddled with a Tin Pei Ling. LKY seems to be fading away and getting senile. May not be in a position to do much. My feeling is that more and more, pinky's on his own and not only is he on his own, he has to navigate a very different landscape from the premierships of the other two.