December 30, 2009
Former transport minister Mr Yeo Cheow Tong will
not be taking part in the next general election due by February
2012 and will retire from politics for good.
Mr Yeo, who have been a MP since 1984, felt “it’s time to call
it a day and let a younger person take over.”
He left the Cabinet in 2006 but stay on as a MP at the request
of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
However, according to some unverified rumors circulating in
cyberspace, Mr Yeo was “removed” from his cabinet position because
of some “problems” in his personal life.
A
website bearing Mr Yeo’s full name set up two years ago
by an anonymous blogger claimed that Mr Yeo was in “financial
distress” from his wife’s “investments” in property.
It also alleged that Mr Yeo is now working for Indonesian
conglomerate Lippo Group and drawing a salary of around $18,000 a
month.
Mr Yeo has not refuted the allegations publicly or taken any
action against the blog so far.
Another minister who has retired is Dr Lee Boon Yang who was
appointed as a non-executive Chairman on the board of Keppel
Corporation, a gigantic state-owned company. Dr Lee is a vet by
training.
With the announcement of Mr Yeo’s retirement, it appears that
the next election is around the corner.
As in the past, the ruling party will first announce the
retirement of its ministers followed by introduction of its new
candidates in the media.
The electoral boundaries and polling date are usually revealed
only in the last minute to catch the opposition off guard.
With the mainstream media firmly in its control, the ruling
party has managed to keep scandals of its leaders under wraps and
allowed only good news to be released to the public.
This explains why over 90 per cent of Singaporeans had expressed
confidence in their leaders and public institutions in a survey
done by the United Nations Development Programme, the highest in
the world.
The opposition is also disadvantaged by the short campaign
period of only nine days which hampers their efforts to get their
message across to the electorate.
With the ruling party giving out Singapore citizenships like
freebies to foreigners, it will be an uphill task for the
opposition to mount a credible challenge against it in future
elections to come.
