The writer, Associate Professor Kenneth Paul Tan, from NUS—National University of Singapore—attached to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, in a recent book of essays on the subject of meritocracy and the political order contributed the following:
"What gets counted as merit in Singapore is ultimately a reflection of the high regard that the elite have for themselves...."
After all the tales of the political fix here, expertly managed by the reigning power of the past fifty years, incarcerations without trial, quashing of the merest whisper of dissent, this arrives as a surprise.
While the grand old man still haunts the corridors of power what’s more.
Followed by the reviewer of the book in the Straits Times on the weekend: "... (a point of view this that) borders on the uncharitable."
The Straits Times newspaper, like every other in Singapore, all four languages—like in fact all the media: print, radio, television—is government owned.
The local commentators at the Geylang Serai tables suggest the journalist/reviewer is a reliable government stooge and lackey, promoted up the ranks for his pliability and oiliness.
Change clearly underway in Sin'pore in this post- (almost) LKY period.
Initially the thought had been to leave the man be, the particular journalist/reviewer; let sleeping dogs…. The titular name he bore however needed challenge.
Asad is lion in Arabic. More like an emasculated kitten this chap, as proved over many years of palatable commentary, according to a true tiger of Geylang Serai (and Patna incidentally, by ancestral title) — Zainuddin the goofy Sufi. (In fact the best touchstone one could find.)
No comments:
Post a Comment