Who's The Boss?

Ng Eng Hen is supposed to be the chief strategist for this coming election, but nobody seems to give a hoot to his edicts, namely (1)outgoing incumbents to introduce replacements after August 9, (2)don't use Facebook to broadcast retirement plans. And that advice about negative campaigning didn't last too long either - advisor Teo Chee Hean is already taking pot shots at a certain town council, even when his own National Research Foundation (NRF) does not pass muster with the Auditor General.

Former Transport Minister Raymond Lim was pretty loquacious when he was head of some think tank called the Round Table or something. Since re-elected in GE 2011, he lost his voice for the whole duration 12th Parliament was in session (10 October 2011 -). And he suddenly pipes up only to utter, "It has been a great privilege and honour for me to have served as your MP these past 14 years.”

Goh Chok Tong was more provocative. He used Facebook to call his own shots:

"As for me, A few friends have suggested that I retire as I have done enough for the country. But Marine Parade residents and many others urge me to stay on. They say the country and Marine Parade still need me.
Well, I will explain my decision at our ND dinner on 14 Aug. Wish me wisdom."

As we understand the status quo, his ultimate fate is determined only by two parties. One, the electorate, who sent George Yeo packing to Hong Kong, and two, the prime minister, who alone decides who stands and who falls. But Goh upped the ante by announcing the candidacy of Edwin Tong ("at my request"), the lawyer defending the round-tripping hijinks of the City Harvest Church pastor - and the infamous flow chart used to trace the circuitous movements of our Central Provident Fund (CPF). If that's not enough, Goh just declared that the Kate Spade aficionado will be back, complete with a live SG50 baby package. Who, pray tell, is really in charge?

Years ago, when there was speculation about the People's Action Party (PAP) splitting into two ranks to provide the people with alternate voices in parliament - as in give the people cake, and eat it too - the scenario was to have Goh leading one team, and Lee Hsien Loong the other. No need for messy opposition parties meeting in secret and provide horse trading stories to sell local newspapers. Don't you just love the smell of scandal in the morning?

The Interview That Never Was

When the camera started rolling as the two walked towards their places for the televised "A Conversation with the PM: Our Future, Our People" interview, Lee was heard saying to Ambassador-at-Large Chan Heng Chee, "Thank you for doing this." Doing what? If this was a conspiracy, how come we didn't get the memo?

Netizens who bothered to sit through the entire programme noted that it ended without any scrolling credits. Whoever produced it, directed it, scripted it, provided the lighting or sound, mysteriously decided to be anonymous. No sign of the MediaCorp or CNA logo either.

Without a doubt, the topic of discussion was about foreign worker intake. Singaporeans first woke up to the problem when a dormitory sprung up overnight at Serangoon Gardens. The residents were castigated for being selfish and ungrateful wretches, and we were told the aliens in our midst were transition workers, going home when the housing blocks have been constructed. Then commuters started to notice more strange faces on the trains, and even Anton Casey bitched about the olfactory pollution. The last straw was when middle management jobs were lost to the new comers - that many of these came with fake degrees was a discovery yet to be unveiled. The excuse used for damage control? It's a competitive world out there, and the spurs that need to be dug into behinds apply to the job market too. Too bad if the Singapore core is diluted with rogue elements, and the fragile identity ethos is being torn apart with new divisive entrants. Yang Yin was an officially credited member of the Integration and Naturalisation Champion (INC) committee in Intan Mokhtar's ward.

When Prof Chan presented him with a yes-no question ("Now with the curb on immigration flow, Prime Minister, have you won more support from people, compared to the angst of the PMETs and SMEs?), Lee went into classic evasive mode, a rehash of the "please bear with us, we are trying our best on your behalf" verbiage last heard at Boat Quay during GE 2011:

"And you may agree with it, you may not agree with it, but I can tell you in complete honesty that I am trying my best to do this on your behalf. And I cannot avoid doing this because otherwise I think I will be letting you down."

That's a clear reminder right there that a nation has been let down. And a hint that the whole televised charade was an apology-in-advance. It has to be too humiliating to bow and scrape twice in one life time.

The Man Of The Moment

What, me worry?

The first reaction to the news was like, desperate times require desperate measures. "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated ..." was occasioned by erroneous newspaper accounts of Mark Twain being ill or dead. Speculation about Lui Tuck Yew being out of the sweepstakes race has been torpedoed by his announcement of a public transportation fare reduction in December.

Even the coterie of sycophants at the Public Transport Council (PTC) was taken by surprise. They had just completed their dastardly deed of hiking fares by 2.8% in April in the face of nose-diving crude oil prices; their brains are good only for computational activity once a year. The PTC is supposed to be an independent body charged with regulating public transport fares, and the next review exercise is scheduled to begin at the end of the year, using 2014 indices. And what about the poor Lieutenant-General in charge of the trains, how is he going to pay for the 30,662 insulators of the North-South and East-West lines he promised to change out? Shelve it for the next spectacular breakdown?

And why implement in December? If a major-general can hand out free packet rice and provide buses to the rallies, why can't the rear-admiral be generous in September? Transport Minister Lui claims the intent is to celebrate the opening of the second phase of the Downtown Line. While every other minister is throwing taxpayers' money for the SG50 celebrations.

The Transport Minister is flexing his muscles to the max, "I encourage the PTC to pass on this 1.9 per cent reduction fully to commuters." You're the man, Lui, why not go the whole hog and demand a 5.0 % reduction from the "independent" PTC? Heck, push it to 50% - in line with the current SG50 mania - and the electorate will make you president.

It Starts With A Lie

Jump, Sir? How high, Sir?

The official retirement age for commissioned officers in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is 50 years old, up from 45 previously - adjusted in 2009 so that Colonel Ishak Ismail at age 46 could become the first Malay general in the SAF - and warrant officers and specialists retire at 55. Amidst all the talk about advancing the retirement age for a greying nation, it is plainly contrarian for a career officer of 29 years' service to hang up his star studded uniform at age 47.

Just after another general talked about pureness of heart, the latest lottery player resorts to deceit to beguile the public with, "While I do no rule out the option of returning to the Administrative Service...." The tragedy is that Ng Chee Meng is a qualified pilot, trained at great expense to the taxpayers, to defend the nation from the cockpit of a F-16 Falcon or F-15 Strike Eagle. Unlike Brigadier-General Hoo Cher Mou who was the first non-pilot to be appointed air force chief in Singapore, or any military in the world. Ng chose instead to eject from magnificent flying machines, and parachute into the gutter politics of a third world parliament.

"Given his tested leadership and proven capabilities, I would not at all be surprised if indeed he does (enter politics)," that was Ng Eng Hen, no relation, further insulting the intelligence of the electorate. The Lieutenant General's "leadership' and "capabilities" include sending our young men into the active combat zones of Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden, while he had the cosy job of doing guard duty for a horrible person lying in state. That and the all important National Day Parade, our paper mill generals' acid test equivalent of John McCain's ordeal at Hotel Hanoi. Play spot the toy soldiers on August 9, you should be able to easily pick out the Rear-Admirals, Brigadier-Generals, Major-General, and the only guy in uniform, the Lieutenant-General. Don't be surprised if some foreign correspondent mistakes the line up at the Padang for Russia's Red Square Parade.

Descending From Heaven

After being rebuked by Ng Eng Hen for jumping the gun, Inderjit Singh is now performing to script and doing what the natural aristocrats are demanding. The retiring People’s Action Party (PAP) Member of Parliament (MP) is now talking up the calibre of his likely successor. Actually he is supposed to introduce the new candidate only after National Day, but even Ng can't have the cake and eat it too.

Deemed a maverick for speaking up against the Population White Paper (PWP) and then taking refuge in the toilet when the voting started - good reason not to elect politicians with weak bladders and weaker constitutions - he once catalogued the shortcomings of his party's record:

"I suspect that there has been some amount of complacency that has crept into the system. Whether it is the MCE fiasco, or that of the lack of hospital beds or dealing with the Little India riot, the corruption cases in the many government agencies like The Singapore Civil Defense force, I detect a certain amount of complacency in our government agencies in dealing with these problems and the trend is not healthy and needs to be eradicated fast. If Singaporeans lose confidence in these key institutions, we will face greater problems in nation building in the future."

So why is he dancing again to the tune of our local variant of the Pied Piper of Hamelin? If he remembers the fable well, he should know the rats are led to a miserable end. It's not like he was sent off to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to reflect and recant like a 16-year-old. The clue lies in his rebuttal of the “Inderjit Singh: Why I left the PAP” story. He says he remains a member of the PAP and will be assisting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his election campaign in Ang Mo Kio GRC.

For the favoured, stepping down from office is like the Japanese practice for retired bureaucrats to "descend from heaven" (amakudari) into a lucrative job in a public corporation or private industry, purportedly to create a strong bond between private and public sectors. Play the game well, and he could be a Chandra Das, with a free hand to set up $2 companies like Action Information Management (AIM). Far from being tainted by the town council affair, Chandra Das has just been appointed non-Resident High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. If Inderjit Singh knows when to take a leak while the PWP votes were being counted, he sure knows how to go with the flow.