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[h=2]Indranee Rajah thinks it’s exciting time to join the Cabinet[/h]
August 3rd, 2012 |
Author: Editorial
(Photo Asiaone)
Ms Indranee Rajah thinks it’s exciting time to join the Cabinet and wants to be part of the change.
Ms Indranee told the media today (2 Aug), “If there is a time for people to step up for the government, this is the time, and to be part of that change, the new direction, that is very exciting.
“You can see, for example, the creation of the new [Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth]. That is, I think, an important new initiative. You can see the emphasis on the need to reinforce our sense of identity. You can also see it in the appointment of new Cabinet ministers, or the promotions within the Cabinet.”
She added, “(There’s) just the general sense that Singapore is moving in a new direction.”
However, she won’t be joining the new Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. She will be joining the Ministry of Law and Education instead.
She was appointed by PM Lee to be a Senior Minister of State for Law and Education with effect from 1 Nov. As an office-holder, she will have to leave her 25-year law career.
Ms Indranee, who has been a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC since 2001, is a top lawyer and Senior Counsel at Drew & Napier.
With regard to education, she said, “The purpose of education is not just to churn out students with good grades.”
“The grades are important because they get you somewhere, but the real purpose behind education is… a great emphasis on their character, their sense of country, of community. You want them to be people who develop their fullest potential and after developing the potential, not to just use for themselves but use it for the benefit of the community and others as well.”
“That’s the kind of Singaporean we want to produce from our education system, somebody who is Singaporean at heart and a global citizen and that’s the big picture where we should be and the kind of policies should head in that direction.”
However, she is not without criticism.
In 2009 during a parliamentary debate, WP MP Low Thia Khiang said that a more effective opposition presence can provide checks and balances on the ruling party.
Ms Indranee then countered Mr Low, “Going by Mr Low’s argument… in Singapore, in which a large majority of the Parliament comes from a single party, then Singapore should be the most corrupt country in the world. That as we know is not the case. Since we have only two elected opposition members in Parliament, the fact that we currently have an honest and clean government clearly cannot be attributable to the opposition and must obviously be due to something else…”
Many netizens pointed out the flaw in her argument.
Mr Low was saying an effective opposition presence can help make the ruling party less corrupt. In logical term, Low was saying:
If A then B (i.e, A = effective opposition presence, B = less corrupt)
A
Hence, B
Ms Indranee was saying it followed that with a weak opposition presence, the ruling party would then become more corrupt. In logical term, she was saying:
If A then B (Low’s original assertion)
Not A
Hence, Not B
In fact, if it’s not A, B is not determined at all. It does not necessary follow that the result has to be ‘Not B’. So, a weak opposition presence says nothing about the corruption level of the ruling party.
It’s strange that as an experienced lawyer, Ms Indranee would make such elementary error in her arguments.
She has indicated that she will leave her law firm at the end of Oct before joining the Cabinet on 1 Nov.
.
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Ms Indranee Rajah thinks it’s exciting time to join the Cabinet and wants to be part of the change.
Ms Indranee told the media today (2 Aug), “If there is a time for people to step up for the government, this is the time, and to be part of that change, the new direction, that is very exciting.
“You can see, for example, the creation of the new [Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth]. That is, I think, an important new initiative. You can see the emphasis on the need to reinforce our sense of identity. You can also see it in the appointment of new Cabinet ministers, or the promotions within the Cabinet.”
She added, “(There’s) just the general sense that Singapore is moving in a new direction.”
However, she won’t be joining the new Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. She will be joining the Ministry of Law and Education instead.
She was appointed by PM Lee to be a Senior Minister of State for Law and Education with effect from 1 Nov. As an office-holder, she will have to leave her 25-year law career.
Ms Indranee, who has been a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC since 2001, is a top lawyer and Senior Counsel at Drew & Napier.
With regard to education, she said, “The purpose of education is not just to churn out students with good grades.”
“The grades are important because they get you somewhere, but the real purpose behind education is… a great emphasis on their character, their sense of country, of community. You want them to be people who develop their fullest potential and after developing the potential, not to just use for themselves but use it for the benefit of the community and others as well.”
“That’s the kind of Singaporean we want to produce from our education system, somebody who is Singaporean at heart and a global citizen and that’s the big picture where we should be and the kind of policies should head in that direction.”
However, she is not without criticism.
In 2009 during a parliamentary debate, WP MP Low Thia Khiang said that a more effective opposition presence can provide checks and balances on the ruling party.
Ms Indranee then countered Mr Low, “Going by Mr Low’s argument… in Singapore, in which a large majority of the Parliament comes from a single party, then Singapore should be the most corrupt country in the world. That as we know is not the case. Since we have only two elected opposition members in Parliament, the fact that we currently have an honest and clean government clearly cannot be attributable to the opposition and must obviously be due to something else…”
Many netizens pointed out the flaw in her argument.
Mr Low was saying an effective opposition presence can help make the ruling party less corrupt. In logical term, Low was saying:
If A then B (i.e, A = effective opposition presence, B = less corrupt)
A
Hence, B
Ms Indranee was saying it followed that with a weak opposition presence, the ruling party would then become more corrupt. In logical term, she was saying:
If A then B (Low’s original assertion)
Not A
Hence, Not B
In fact, if it’s not A, B is not determined at all. It does not necessary follow that the result has to be ‘Not B’. So, a weak opposition presence says nothing about the corruption level of the ruling party.
It’s strange that as an experienced lawyer, Ms Indranee would make such elementary error in her arguments.
She has indicated that she will leave her law firm at the end of Oct before joining the Cabinet on 1 Nov.
.
Join our TRE facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TREmeritus
