All hail the new first assistant secretary-general!
READERS OFTEN grumble that Singapore’s high commissioner to London (a public servant of great intelligence and charm) wastes inordinate time penning letters of complaint to The Economist, usually over any hint that Singapore is in effect a one-party state. Banyan once argued that the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), with 82 out of 89 elected parliamentary seats, had maintained its uninterrupted rule since 1959 not only by governing competently, but also through gerrymandering, harassing opposition figures, cowing the media, threatening spending cuts in districts that vote against it and “inculcating the absurd notion that its survival and that of Singapore itself are synonymous”. The high commissioner duly responded: Singaporeans vote for the PAP “because it continues to deliver them good government, stability and progress”. One reader promptly called out the “delicious irony”: surely such claims are for the PAP to make, not “the ambassador who represents the very state she insists is not synonymous with its ruling party.”
This column returns to the one-party theme, because years of speculation over who the next prime minister of Singapore will be would appear to have been settled. Lee Hsien Loong, eldest child of Singapore’s late independence leader, Lee Kuan Yew, has run the country since 2004. But he will step down ahead of his 70th birthday in 2022.
Never say that Singapore is a hereditary state, like North Korea. The fact that Lee family members occupy high positions in state bodies has nothing to do with nepotism but with talent and selfless energies. Admittedly, Lee Kuan Yew occasionally allowed that superior genes might have something to do with it. But those genes are not flawless. Their inheritors have indulged in an unseemly family squabble, played out in social media, over the great man’s will. That may have tarnished the family somewhat in Singaporeans’ eyes. At any rate, there is no strong family candidate to take over the reins.
On November 23rd came news instead that Heng Swee Keat, the 57-year-old finance minister, will be Singapore’s next leader. The PAP didn’t put it quite like that: it announced that he had been appointed its first assistant secretary-general. But media with ties to the government, such as the Straits Times, lost no time inferring it.
So comparisons with China may be more apt. Its Communist Party loves to send signals through appointments to obscure positions within its hierarchy. It refers to party “cadres”—just like the PAP. It emphasises “collective” leadership, or did before the rise of Xi Jinping. And it talks in terms of “generations” of leaders since “new” China’s founding in 1949: Mr Xi is of the fifth. Mr Heng’s elevation was supposedly a collective decision of the PAP’s “4G” (fourth-generation) cadres. No intra-party democracy there.
Another parallel: for all the talk of a new generation taking over, the oldies never fade away. For 21 years after stepping down as prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew remained in the cabinet. And years ago Lee set up Mr Heng by saying that his bright former private secretary was destined for greatness. Deng Xiaoping also ruled from beyond the grave. Well before his death in 1997, he had picked out Hu Jintao, Mr Xi’s predecessor, who held power from 2002 to 2012.
The late Mr Lee’s only regret was that Mr Heng, at around five feet six inches, “is not of a big bulk, which makes a difference in a mass rally”. But then the PAP loves a technocrat. Mr Heng, who has run the education ministry and the central bank, is nothing if not that.
Popular sentiment also surely counts. Singaporeans like Mr Heng’s soft-spoken humility, and sympathise over a stroke he suffered two years ago. Ad nauseam, the Straits Times and others praise his propensity to “listen”. That has come to matter since the PAP’s poor electoral showing in 2011 suggested it had lost touch with ordinary Singaporeans.
A second assistant secretary-general was also appointed: the trade minister, Chan Chun Sing. A scrappy politician, you can imagine him thriving in any full-throated democratic system, unlike Mr Heng. He makes much of his humble origins and subsequent success, including scholarships and a brilliant army career. That grates on many Singaporeans, but there is no denying his ambition. And so, a final parallel with the Chinese Communist Party: might a populist challenge upset succession plans, just as Bo Xilai’s dramatic bid nearly did for Mr Xi in 2012? Best to leave any speculation about that to the high commissioner.
Source: https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/12/01/singapores-ruling-party-reveals-the-next-prime-minister
Former GIC Chief-economist rubbishes Kee Chiu!!!!! HE CANNOT BE PM!!!!!!
Former Chief Economist at GIC and former adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Yeoh Lam Keong has criticised Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing's statement regarding collective responsibility in easing the effects of social mobility and globalisation.
Mr Yeoh, in his Facebook post on Friday (30 Nov), raised the question as to why the government, which he dubbed as "the most powerful agent" for “collective responsibility”, appears in Mr Chan's statement to be "seemingly exempt from redoubling its current insufficient efforts to increase social mobility by helping the less privileged".
He further questioned as to why the onus of alleviating socioeconomic inequality is instead placed on “individuals and groups”, who do not have the power to put in place social and economic policies the way the government does.
Mr Yeoh argued that "raising the payouts of the WIS [Workfare Income Supplement] and SSS [Silver Support Scheme] by $600 would effectively provide the working and elderly poor a living income that would not only seriously reduce absolute poverty markedly, but also provide a platform for children from these families to improve their difficult lot".
"The fiscal cost is less than 0.8% of GDP and eminently affordable, yet the government has somehow avoided doing this for a over a decade," he added.
Mr Yeoh also said that he found it "bizarre" that "a top minister who has helmed both MSF and NTUC seems somehow oblivious to the fact that only [the] government has the financial and organizational resources to systematically do the heavy lifting in the fight against poverty and inequality, and that it is government that needs to lead any serious systemic change in our social compact."
"Do we take the maximum that we think we are entitled to have, or do we leave something more for those who need it more?": Chan
Previously at The Straits Times' annual Global Outlook Forum on Wednesday (28 Nov), Mr Chan had called upon more privileged Singaporeans to step up their efforts in assisting their underprivileged counterparts in the face of social mobility and globalisation, both of which are rife with constant challenges.
He said that those who are able to catch up with the tide of such changes should take it upon themselves to help the ones who struggle in order "for us to progress as a society together".
Mr Chan added that while government policy and intervention do play a significant role in uplifting the livelihoods of underprivileged classes in Singapore, citizens who are able to reap great benefits from such material progress should also develop conscientiousness and collective responsibility towards making the country a habitable place for all.
In a dialogue session after delivering his speech, he said: "Do we take the maximum that we think we are entitled to have, or do we leave something more for those who need it more?"
"If we have that kind of collective responsibility to one another, the kind of societal values that say it is a privilege to take care of others... and it's not just about us taking all that we can - then, I think, we will have the new social compact," he emphasised.
"Never-ending task" to find the right people to take up the task of governing Singapore; no "magic formula": Chan
Touching on leadership, particularly in light of the political transition currently taking place amongst the upper echelons of Singapore's governance, Mr Chan said: "There's no magic formula to this."
"How do we hardcode this into our DNA? It's a constant process; it's a never-ending task to find people with the correct value system."
He emphasised that the individuals who decide to take up leadership posts should have "sense of a higher purpose that they are here because the country is more important than their individual considerations".
Despite measures such as unilateralism, protectionism and trade frictions that are being adopted by an increasing number of nations throughout the world currently, Mr Chan said that a closed-door policy "has never been and can never be an option" for Singapore.
"For a small city-state to survive and thrive, the world must be our hinterland from Day One," he stressed.
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2018/11/30/former-gic-chief-economist-questions-chan-chun-sings-apparent-downplaying-of-govts-actual-role-in-alleviating-socioeconomic-inequality/
Deep within somehow I still feel HSK is merely a shock absorber..........presented to the public as the potential PM-designate so that significant relief washes over and people will still choose PAP in the next GE; but when the polls are over and done with, CCS will emerge once more to take over Pinky for real.