[Fegasderty]

I am always impressed who Tan Jee Say knows and associates with. Long ago, I stopped paying any value to his views, opinions and content of articles he raises. Its the names and institutions that is streets ahead of people like LTK, Chee, VW, JBJ or even the PAP leadership. I even think that LTK has no idea where the House of Lords is.

Even in these 3 small paragraphs, the following is rich with association of names and important places

- Prof Ian Gough, Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia
- Goran Therborn
- London School of Economics
- UK
- Economic Society of Singapore
- Nordic Model
- Denmark, Finland
- Gallup
- World Happiness Report
- Lord Butler
- House of Lords
- OXford
- Ministry of Trade and Industry
- Yahoo

This is a guy that actually met these people, visited the House of Lords, worked in MTI, went to Oxford, went to LSE, held discussions with Prof Gough, shared the amusement with His Lordship, contested the GE and the list goes on and on. This is clearly no name dropping exercise by a nobody. More a man that is well connected to the levers of the World. He actually did all these things and met all these people. Not just met. He held discussions, shared light moments and amusements over comments from stumbling asian leaders etc.

Now tell me honestly, holding your hand to your heart, can you actually pay any attention to the purpose or content of the article. I frankly have no clue and the message is completely lost. I was too distracted by all those famous names and iconic places and very fact that he has met and done all these things. To me that is value of the article that he authored.

I am shocked that Singaporeans are unable to recognise value when they see one. On retrospect, a great disservice has been done to this man. We gave him only 25% of the votes in the Presidential Elections of 2011. Instead 70% of the votes went to 2 individuals who probably got their first degree in a third world country, never been to the House of Lords let alone have a meaningful discussion with a Lordship.

Let be absolutely honest here - Tan Cheng Bock ran a derelict clinic in an area full of pig farms. Tony Tan albeit rich is frankly more known for his hairstyle. Yet we completely ignored a PSC OM Scholar, a reader of the Plebian, whose mentor was one of the longest detained political prisoner in recent world history, an Oxford Alumnus, an author of a groundbreaking paper on Remodelling an economy and lastly a man who at one time guided a future Prime Minister thru treacherous waters and turbulent times as his personal private secretary.

And they said Pigs can't fly. I reckon that this pig will fly. Fly where? Lets cross that bridge when we come to it.