Was this quote/interview in the context of the salary debate in
1994 when LKY was leading the charge for pegging their pay to the
top salaries in the private sector?
BTW, I think this quote is really powerful. Basically, he points
out the main flaw in today's government - They only have"got
technocratic skills" but serve without a sense of value, integrity,
honor i.e. "internally you are empty".
The ministers are now so used to a ilfe that is "full and
overflowing", not only having an IRON bowl but a "jade bowl with
golden chopsticks".
Basically, all of us should repeat this phrase loud to the
ministers:
"What the hell do you do with all that money? You cant eat it!
What do you do with it? Your children dont need all that
money."
Also to note, 8k is big in the 50s, but not as big as 1.2mil with
all the other perks in today's dollar.
At the end his speech boils down to this: You are already
comfortably renumerated, get on with your job not as one doing it
for the money but for the honor and vision of building something
grand i.e. for others and for the people. Sadly this rhetoric is
not only missing, it is totally ignored in todays government.
Originally posted by Yunhaier:
Every
time when they talk about their salary, this interview with David
Marshall, back in 1994, always appear in my mind:
***
...And are youths the miasma of
apathetic subservience to authority? But you say to yourselves,
Well, you know, what do we seek in life? We seek a rice bowl,
full!
It is full and overflowing, in fact. They serve you your rice in a
jade bowl with golden chopsticks; not that it makes much difference
to the taste of the rice. But youre empty!
Youve got technocratic skills and you are seeking more but
internally you are empty. Money is your acid test of success.
Ive got nothing against money. Id like to have money myself! Id
like to have a house and a garden and dogs and a car and a
chauffeur but, look, Ive got a flat. Ive got a swimming pool
attached to the flat. Ive not even got a car but I use taxis. I
have a dignified way of life without being wealthy.
I dont see the necessity of owning a Mercedes-Benz and a swimming
pool and a couple of mistresses. I think weve got our values all
wrong.
You know $96,000 a month for a Prime Minister and $60,000 a month
for a minister. What the hell do you do with all that money? You
cant eat it! What do you do with it? Your children dont need all
that money.
My children have had the best of education. In fact, Im very proud
of them. One of them is a senior registrar to two major hospitals
in Oxford. Another of them is a consultant in European law to the
Securities and Investment Board in the United Kingdom. Theyve had
their education. There are no complaints.
I never earned $60,000 a month or $90,000
a month. When I was Chief Minister, I earned $8,000 a month. Look,
what is happening today is we are encouraged to and are becoming
worshippers of the Golden Calf.
We have lost sight of the joy and excitement of public service,
helping our fellow men. The joy and excitement of seeking and
understanding of the joy of the miracle of the living the duty and
the grandeur. We have lost taste for heroic action in the service
of our people.
We have become good bourgeois seeking comfort, security. Its like
seeking a crystal coffin and being fed by intravenous injections
through pipes in the crystal coffin; crystal coffins stuck with
certificates of your pragmatic abilities.
What has changed?
The self-confidence of our people has grown immensely, and that is
good to see. Our pragmatic abilities have grown magnificently, and
that is good to see. Very good to see!
You are very able. Youre ambitious, and the government has heroic
plans for the future. It hasnt finished.
I take off my hat to the pragmatic ability of our government but
there is no soul in our conduct. It is a difficult thing to speak
of because it is difficult to put in a computer, and the youth of
Singapore is accustomed to computer fault. There is no longer the
intellectual ferment, the passionate argument for a better
civilisation. The emphasis on the rice bowl!
Tell me Im wrong, come on.
***
And to the lawyer:
[b]Qn: WHAT WOULD YOU
TELL YOUTHS WHO INTEND TO PURSUE A CAREER IN
LAW?
Try and
understand that the law is a vocation and not a business.
Respect your client irrespective of the fees. I used to charge $1
for a murder case if he was Malay because he had no money. I used
to charge $1 to trade unions; all Malay unions, I charged $1 a
year. And the $1 is simply because, if you do it for nothing, you
are not liable in negligence whereas $1 makes a contract and, if
you are negligent, they can sue you.
Id like them to also understand that justice is a meld of law and
humanity. Law and humanity; decency in concepts; if we administer
law by the soulless logic of the computer, we arent on our road to
progress....
Meeting David Marshall in 1994
Cheers[/b]
