[softy54534]

[QUOTE=kingrant;1162063]How true!


TCJ is a workhorse, hay rewarded for him.
Kee Chiu is a clown like LSS.QUOTE]

TCJ no workhouse, just got a bit more PR skill than kee chiu. other than look hardworking, he no better than the rest. his looks help, especially when compare to the clownish kee chiu.

[doctorzlo]

All are fakers! I expect early elections to be called to bring in more [COLOR="#FF0000]"" qualified " characters [/COLOR]to appease a more informed public .
!

If they still get from the same source NTUC and MINDEF, I doubt you will get qualified character. Mostly obedient dogs again, it is history provened already.

[Raj_Copi_Jin]

[QUOTE=sleaguepunter;1162501]

How true!


TCJ is a workhorse, hay rewarded for him.
Kee Chiu is a clown like LSS.QUOTE]

TCJ no workhouse, just got a bit more PR skill than kee chiu. other than look hardworking, he no better than the rest. his looks help, especially when compare to the clownish kee chiu.

One got rewarded the other not

[brraverishhh]

I don't really know how much you can read into this cabinet reshuffle.

One thing is that arts is now divorced from information and communication. That is one interesting thing: why was arts lumped together with information in the first place? Unless the only thing they know about the arts is how to censor it, and nothing else.

Then the other main issue is that MCYS is split into two. One that deals with family issues (ie forcing Singaporeans to have more children) and another that deals with "fixing" the xenophobia problem.

How the ministers are reshuffled after just one year - and we do have a lot of inexperienced ministers in charge - I don't think it's a reflection of who's on the up or not. You can always read it as CCS having part of his portfolio cut away, or you can read it as he's managed a reorganisation after just one year in charge - no mean feat.

[Peptobismol]

Scroobal, I read the situation differently.

MoM is potentially going to be hot seat, given the general unhappiness over flood of new immigrants. Public anger will be partially directed at MoM if number of new immigrants continue to increase, which I think will continue to be the case. Hence by putting TCJ in this hot seat, the PM is "risking" TCJ's career. This would normally not be done if the purpose is to line TCJ up for the most important post.

The new MSF is going to be the main body to dole out welfare goodies. This will make Kee Chiu look good in the eyes of public. We can envisage that PAP will be a lot more generous in giving out welfare support in the coming decades. Will not be surprise if in 10 years' time, the new MSF budget runs into billions, matching even that for education.

I think with the latest changes, the decision remains for Kee Chiu to ascent, potentially to the highest post.

PS. I have heard murmurs in the Army on TCJ's attitude towards lower beings. If what I heard is true, then I will rather have Kee Chiu in the higher post.

[Raj_Copi_Jin]

Scroobal, I read the situation differently.

MoM is potentially going to be hot seat, given the general unhappiness over flood of new immigrants. Public anger will be partially directed at MoM if number of new immigrants continue to increase, which I think will continue to be the case. Hence by putting TCJ in this hot seat, the PM is "risking" TCJ's career. This would normally not be done if the purpose is to line TCJ up for the most important post.

The new MSF is going to be the main body to dole out welfare goodies. This will make Kee Chiu look good in the eyes of public. We can envisage that PAP will be a lot more generous in giving out welfare support in the coming decades. Will not be surprise if in 10 years' time, the new MSF budget runs into billions, matching even that for education.

I think with the latest changes, the decision remains for Kee Chiu to ascent, potentially to the highest post.

PS. I have heard murmurs in the Army on TCJ's attitude towards lower beings. If what I heard is true, then I will rather have Kee Chiu in the higher post.

What was wrong with TCJ? He commanded the elite Guard unit. Kee Chiu was only in Infantry.

[Beerinkol]

What was wrong with TCJ? He commanded the elite Guard unit. Kee Chiu was only in Infantry.

by this logic lhl should had been commando chief liao.

watch tcj for next few years. he can't hide his true nature for long.

[NeroASERCH]

What was wrong with TCJ? He commanded the elite Guard unit. Kee Chiu was only in Infantry.

What is wrong with you? Being the commander of the Praetorian Guard does not make you better either, oh you want to go back to the Commandoes vs Guards vs Infantry bullshit again?

[9mm_fan]

What is wrong with you? Being the commander of the Praetorian Guard does not make you better either, oh you want to go back to the Commandoes vs Guards vs Infantry bullshit again?

What's wrong then? Care to explain why someone who gives food analogies is better off?

[Beerinkol]

What's wrong then? Care to explain why someone who gives food analogies is better off?

well i got news for you overtrained infantry and underpaid commandoes, go suck a horse

[Fegasderty]

well i got news for you overtrained infantry and underpaid commandoes, go suck a horse

Up yours fat reservist

[HedgeYourBets]

Up yours fat reservist

Children, children....

A guardsman is superior to an infantryman, OK? Nobody is taking that away from guardsmen.

However, an infantry general is probably a bigger post than a guards general for the following reasons:

1. The infantry corps is larger than the guards
2. The job of a general is not to win battles. The job of a general is 90% to maintain supply routes and equip your men, and 10% military strategy. This is a larger job for the infantry.
3. The job of the infantry is not only to fight wars, but to hold ground. As you have learnt from the Iraq war, holding ground is actually the trickiest part of the war. This means that you not only have to be a warrior, you also have to be a politician.
4. The infantry is also the end user for a lot of the support arms, and they are subordinate to the infantry. ie the infantry is usually telling artillery, signals, air defence, etc what to do rather than the other way around.

[9mm_fan]

PS. I have heard murmurs in the Army on TCJ's attitude towards lower beings. If what I heard is true, then I will rather have Kee Chiu in the higher post.

Well, to be frank, I would not trust either of them to be able to identify with the lower rungs of society. Even if they have studied overseas, I doubt they have significant exposure to various philosophies (be it western liberal values or eastern philosophies like Buddhism, etc) which expound egalitarianism, etc.

More importantly, they have spent their lives in bureaucracies which present peoples lives as a whole stack of numbers. A process which dehumanizes and disconnects the masses from you.

Eventually, the irony will be on the Old Man again. The model of scholar officials, already proven to be systematically flawed by thousands of years of running a similar system in China, disproven yet again in Singapore.

[Lillie_Steins]

Well, to be frank, I would not trust either of them to be able to identify with the lower rungs of society. Even if they have studied overseas, I doubt they have significant exposure to various philosophies (be it western liberal values or eastern philosophies like Buddhism, etc) which expound egalitarianism, etc.

More importantly, they have spent their lives in bureaucracies which present peoples lives as a whole stack of numbers. A process which dehumanizes and disconnects the masses from you.

Eventually, the irony will be on the Old Man again. The model of scholar officials, already proven to be systematically flawed by thousands of years of running a similar system in China, disproven yet again in Singapore.

i don't think the scholar official model is bad. it is the high pay for admin service that is causing all the problems. even our deputy secretaries are probably paid higher than Obama. A life of luxuries and fat bank accounts have resulted in bad policies, because these mandarins now predominantly mingle amongst the richest folks. Of course all these started because someone thought it was a great idea to benchmark ministerial pay to that of CEOs and bankers.

is there a better way other than the scholar system for the civil service? Ultimately some will be the leaders, while others have to be clerks, cooks, cleaners etc. I would rather have scholars over people born with silver spoon who got to top position because of their parents or because they are willing to spread their legs or bent over.

[Peptobismol]

Scroobal, I read the situation differently.

MoM is potentially going to be hot seat, given the general unhappiness over flood of new immigrants. Public anger will be partially directed at MoM if number of new immigrants continue to increase, which I think will continue to be the case. Hence by putting TCJ in this hot seat, the PM is "risking" TCJ's career. This would normally not be done if the purpose is to line TCJ up for the most important post.

The new MSF is going to be the main body to dole out welfare goodies. This will make Kee Chiu look good in the eyes of public. We can envisage that PAP will be a lot more generous in giving out welfare support in the coming decades. Will not be surprise if in 10 years' time, the new MSF budget runs into billions, matching even that for education.

PS. I have heard murmurs in the Army on TCJ's attitude towards lower beings. If what I heard is true, then I will rather have Kee Chiu in the higher post.

If TCJ is to be risked or sacrificed, why bring him in in the first place. I believe we have to assume all are put there to test their potentials in those areas. TCJ does seem to be given the "harder" responsibilities and CCS, the "softer" tasks. Here "harder" does not mean "more difficult". "Harder" here requires greater technical skill while "softer" needs the human touch.

If being sensitive to the situation of the lower rungs is what is required at the very top, maybe a woman would be a more appropriate choice.

[PhillipHer]

换汤不换药。until the citizens ain't treated as economic digits, things will remain pretty much the same

Agree with you that the mindset needs to be changed. Anyone of them can manage to achieve their targets if the targets are clear and precise but if it is a broad, general mission that they are given which leaves them having to define more detailed goals, then it all goes down to personal experience and exposure and their underlying mindset to ask the right questions. Otherwise what they can ask is "What do you think?"

They are many good people who just missed out on a scholarship for the smallest of reasons. Whether they have a scholar background matters less than the street-smartness that comes with recognising the right priorities and the relative importance of different situations. Definitely staying too long in a sheltered and cosseted environment is not a plus point for a leader of people.

[Lt_Apple]

If TCJ is to be risked or sacrificed, why bring him in in the first place. I believe we have to assume all are put there to test their potentials in those areas. TCJ does seem to be given the "harder" responsibilities and CCS, the "softer" tasks. Here "harder" does not mean "more difficult". "Harder" here requires greater technical skill while "softer" needs the human touch.

If being sensitive to the situation of the lower rungs is what is required at the very top, maybe a woman would be a more appropriate choice.

I start from thinking about what will eventually be under CCS new portfolio. From the slant of the state's media, it seems that this govt is preparing to standardise pre-school. My guess is that the new MSF will be the ministry to manage the pre-schools and day care centres. This govt is creating the MSF partly to consolidate all the welfare and social nets under one roof. Often you will find that families that need help will tend to require daycare centres for the young as well as old, so perhaps there will be some synergy there, such as housing day care centres for pre-schoolers and seniors under one roof? By giving MSF a big budget, much can be done to help strugging families, and thereby giving CCS a good name. I will not be surprise a few years later, LHL will be telling people how much CCS fight for the welfare of singaporeans. How not to improve one's image?

On the other hand, TCJ is given a no-thanks job. MoM's is to manage the shit created by open door policy. And recent news will indicate to you that this govt will continue to keep the door wide open. They probably calculated that to reverse the immigrant policy now is more detrimental to their vote share in 2016 as the property market will tank, thereby angering the middle ground. So MoM will continue to be used to "manage" a bad situation, and there is very little TCJ can do as the policy is set in the PMO, not in MoM.

The familee likes loyalty and compliance, not a charismatic leader that TCJ is positioning himself to be. That's why woody was chosen amongst his peers, not OTC, Dhana or Tony. In this way the familee has certain level of control behind the scene. TCJ may even be seen as a threat, just like Bo Xilai.

[Lt_Apple]

换汤不换药

What is the significance? Same party, same people, same mindset. Groupthink.

[LottiFurmann]

换汤不换药

What is the significance? Same party, same people, same mindset. Groupthink.

I don't hope for PaPPies to change. In fact they should continue their form of "conservative religion". Let a second political party rise up to champion for socialism. Let these 2 parties fight it out for a more balanced set of policies over the long run.

In the meantime, we should do our best to support the emergence of a stronger alternative party, so that we can have a 2-party system of government. Good thing that old man is expiring soon. His one-man show since the late 1980s has really pushed the country too much to the conservative side.

[S.T.D.]

The PAP is frantically trying to renew its ranks. LHL's gambit in reducing the number of Ministers obviously has led to an overload. Both DPMs took on heavyweight Ministries while "mentoring" newbies. Tharman needs to focus on MOF...Chee Hian needs to clean up MHA. K.Shanmugam cannot relate to the Chinese officials and with the departure of Chin Siat Yoon as Ambassador to China and Chan Heng Chee from the United States, things may just fall apart. Vivian is likely being reserved to take over MTI once Lim Hng Kiang announces his retirement next year. Grace will then helm MEWR alone.

Tan Chuan Jin will probably be just like Gan Kim Yong...talk alot, stay away from controversy and ask everyone to go for trg, trg and more trg and quietly endorse issuance of 3rd casino license if economy takes a dive.

Josephine Teo will be slated to take over from Swee Say since the 'chosen one' didnt get to be anointed by the electorate.

Bottomline...LHL is getting worried. And if the newbies brought in by GCT and LKY don't measure-up, he will have no choice but to even sack some of the newbie Ministers and show that he is still a task-master, just like his dad.