Tharman appointment: The next shot? Dubai, too Last
chance for Bush?
P N BALJI
CHRISTIE LOH
ROSNAH AHMAD
IF AT all there was a surprise element in Mr Tharman
Shanmugaratnam's appointment as Finance Minister, it was the
timing.
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The big question: Why the urgency to make the change now when it
would have been neater to tie this announcement with the Cabinet
reshuffle, which the Prime Minister's Office statement said will
happen after the Budget debate sometime in February/March?
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Don't be surprised if some major initiative, which demands the PM's
personal attention, is underway. A political decision might have
been reached that solutions to the cost of living pressures cannot
wait a parliamentary debate early next year. Interim measures to
ease some of the pain might be needed sooner than later.
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But it is the impending Cabinet reshuffle that should occupy a lot
of the political watchers' attention. And one key appointment that
will be scrutinised will be that of a Deputy Prime Minister, for it
will signal who the next PM could be. It has been three years since
Mr Lee Hsien Loong became PM and one missing link in the succession
planning chain is a younger deputy.
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And if that DPM is a non-Chinese, imagine what that would do to add
to Singapore's stature as a multi-racial country!
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IN AN increasingly wary world, every investment firm with stated
commercial imperatives but some kind of government link wants to
gain the markets' respect.
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For Temasek Holdings, its attempt at being transparent and getting
foreign talent have often been held up as an advantage over its
peers. That lead, however, just narrowed on Thursday.
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Dubai International Capital, a three-year-old fund owned by the
emirate's ruling family, has roped in three CEO-types from big-name
foreign firms (Sony, BMW and GlaxoSmithKline) to join the advisory
board of its US$2-billion ($2.9-billion) global strategic equities
fund. DIC said the appointments reflect its "global
ambitions".
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Temasek, with a bigger portfolio of US$100 billion, has similar
aspirations and an "international panel". The question to ask is:
How will Temasek win the tussle for the creme de la creme?
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IT'S easy to dismiss the significance of the Annapolis peace summit
this week.
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After all, the two key participants, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, are as
weak as they come.
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The two leaders, with a little prodding from their American host,
have agreed to hold regular talks from Dec 12 with the aim of
concluding a peace treaty by the end of next year.
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Given that both sides are miles apart on "core issues", such as
Jerusalem's future, the idea that an agreement is possible within
12 months seems a bit far-fetched.
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Still, there's someone who can make a difference: Lame duck
President George W Bush. If he is prepared to allow the US to be
heavily involved in the talks as an impartial arbiter, a peace
accord may just be possible.
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For the US President, brokering a Israeli-Palestinian deal may well
be his only chance of leaving behind a decent legacy. And that
alone may be enough of a reason for Mr Bush to want to adopt a
hands-on approach.