Age, gender, race ... and the next PM

Singapore - Leave it to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to deliver that delightful, memorable and incisive soundbite. Showing his displeasure with Myanmar`s generals who lead obscenely rich lives while their country continues to burn, he described one of their daughters decked in all her wedding splendour thus: She was lit like a Christmas tree.

And just two Fridays ago, Mr Lee returned to one of his pet themes, Singapore`s political succession, this way: If the "silhouette of a fourth-generation A team" is missing in the next two elections, then the country is in for trouble.

The Singapore leadership`s obsession with finding a new group of potential successors, and then the next group, is legendary. It has tried to break barriers by paying top dollar to office holders and converting the unconverted to join the party.

With finding the right Cabinet talent becoming a bigger headache during every election, the leadership has no choice but to break at least three more barriers: Age, gender and race.

To stick to an age-old practice of ruling out a potential PM just because he will be in his late 50s or early 60s when the present Prime Minister is ready to step down will be out of step with reality. With each PM, we have seen an older person assuming power. Mr Lee became the leader at a very agile 35, Mr Goh Chok Tong at a very ripe 49 and Mr Lee Hsien Loong at a very sober 52.

If we take an out-of-the-box view on age, then four of the Fast Track ministers who broke onto the political scene in the 2001 elections should be there in the race.

In about 10 years, when one can reasonably expect the PM to step down, Messrs Khaw Boon Wan, 55, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 51, Ng Eng Hen, 49, and Vivian Balakrishnan, 47, should continue to be sprightly, more well-blooded and well-known to investors.

With statistics showing more and more Singaporeans living up to and beyond 85 and with the Government cajoling employers not to chuck older workers by the wayside, what better poster boy to have than a Singaporean touching the pinnacle of political power in his late 50s or early 60s?

As for gender, it has become even more urgent to get the silhouette of a fourth-generation woman PM in the next elections. The argument that it is even more difficult to find women candidates because of their home-office burden, their reluctance to take on public office or their perceived weaknesses will not wash in a modern Singapore.

The impact women are making in running some of our big companies or playing key roles in them is there for all to see. Getting into politics with a fighting chance to become PM is not just going to be seductive but necessary if talent is the name of the game.

And, finally, race. We haven`t heard from the present leadership on whether Mr Lee Kuan Yew`s view, expressed 20 years ago that Singapore is not ready for a non-Chinese PM, is still binding. Maybe, the Cabinet changes, expected to be announced in the next couple of months, might give the clearest signal that that view is outdated. It is important that the next PM breaks at least one of these barriers.

Singapore does not have the luxury of a clear successor to Mr Lee Hsien Loong in sight. The whole world knew well before Mr Lee Kuan Yew stepped down that Mr Goh would take over. And it was the same with Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

As the hunt for a silhouette of the fourth generation PM goes into high gear, there is nothing to stop a successor being named from the present lot of potential candidates. If a couple of barriers are broken in the process, it can only be for the good of a progressive nation scratching its head once again for Cabinet talent.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com (12 Februari 2008)
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