For Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan, it must have sounded like the slap that was heard around the world. Speaking at think-tank Institute of Policy Studies conference “Scenarios for the Next Generation”, Singapore’s Father of Development said in no uncertain terms, “I have not quite been sold on the idea that we should have 6.5 million.”
Just a year ago, can-do-no-wrong Mah (whose name in dialect sounds like “ma, sure profit one”) announced plans to accommodate a population of 6.5 million, up from the current 4.5 million. On top of overcrowding, the other prevailing worry is that only two thirds of the 2.73 million jobs today are occupied by Singaporeans. According to latest Ministry of Manpower (MOM) numbers, 67 percent of jobs created in 2007 went to foreigners, up from 48 percent in 2006. Let’s see how Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen talk himself out of this one.
The young turks came out defensively. Once again demonstrating that his mouth is not connected to his brain, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say simultaneously said, “growth cannot be artificially controlled” and “what we are trying to do is to create this Singapore for ourselves.” “FM” George Yeo, a.ka. absentee MP for Aljunied, stood boldly by the policy of growth, stating adamantly, “….when it is growing, don’t stunt it.”
Lee Kuan Yew recently corrected his son’s prediction that India and China will be immune to a downturn in the U.S. economy. Much earlier, he had also expressed his personal reservation about building casinos in Singapore, narrating how a dinner table of his contemporaries objected vehemently to the moral desecration. So will Mr Lee stand aside again to see the city he built with the “original A Team” turn into one unholy mess? Will he allow his tombstone, like that of NMP Professor Thio Li-Ann’s , turn into a collection point for Newater?
So much for top talent that demands top dollar. Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim must have been speaking from his heart when he confessed, “I’ll be very candid. I’ve been involved in the process for two elections, there are good people that we have invited and they declined.” Makes sense. After all, “Paid Sycophant” is not exactly what any self respecting Singaporean wants on his resume.