The political problems faced by many countries in Asia
can be traced back to two words: Money politics.
And the reason such troubles have not taken root here? There is
no “money politics” in Singapore, and “we have a Division One team
in charge”, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew last night.
In many Asian countries, money politics is simply the “code
word” for buying votes to gain power, and after that is done, “to
recover your expenses plus some profit for the next round of
vote—buying”, said Mr Lee at the Tanjong Pagar 43rd National Day
Celebration Dinner.
“One of the big problems they now face, in other countries, is
the people in power want to reserve the money, keep it for
themselves. So, they exclude young able people who want to join
their team ...
“The result is, there is no talent inside the existing
parties.”
Contrast that to Singapore.
“In other countries, elections do not put up a Division One
team. They are a Division Three, either a B team or a C team in
charge. In Singapore, we carefully select our candidates ...
“Over the years, with each election, we see the quality of the
MPs, their education levels, their competence, their abilities,
their energy.
“Their youthfulness is renewed and we have a leadership that’s
able to meet the rising standards of the population,” said Mr
Lee.
But today’s younger generation does not understand all this, the
Minister Mentor said.
“They say, oh, let’s have multiparty politics. Let’s have
different parties change and be in charge of the Government. Is it
that simple? You vote in a Division Three government, not a
Division One government, and the whole economy will just subside
within three, four years. Finished.”
Such proponents should study Taiwan, Thailand and the
Philippines, where rotating party governments have led to more
mismanagement. “And a 'freewheeling paress’ has not cleaed
up corruption, although according to American 'liberal’
democracy theories, it is designed to do so,” Mr Lee said.
Even in the face of a global recession, Singapore has enough
long—term investments to buffer the setbacks, noted Mr Lee.
“Why are we on top of our problem? Because there’s a Government
that’s planning ahead, seeing ahead, calculating ahead, making the
right decision. Yes, there will be recession around the world. But
we will have enough investments already going on,” he said.
As a mentor and advisor to the younger policy—makers, he cited
how he backed Singapore’s hosting of the Formula One in September,
even though he himself was not a fan. “We cannot stay still. The
world has changed — there’s a jetset that travels all over the
world because they are interested in the Formula One races. Why? I
don’t know.
“I find very little excitement in it. They wheel around and
around, and it’s over. And there’s an accident — so what? But I’m
told there is tremendous exitement in the way you get the cars, the
way you change wheels, the way you drive, and so on,” he said,
drawing chuckles from the audience. — TODAY/ra
