“Leadership must begin with commitment; with conviction. This, in the end, is what I think leadership is about. You should be able to fulfill the need of the people who are willing to be led by you. They are willing to be led by you because you fulfil their need for hope, their need to believe in themselves. If you cannot make those people you are trying to lead believe in themselves, you cannot really be a leader.” ---- Aung San Suu Kyi. [Link]
On the contrary, our
“leaders” derive utmost pleasure from running down their people and the
country, specifically the country before PAP took over. Remember, Singapore
was still a small fishing village
before PAP came to our salvation.
They have a range
of infamous vocabulary for us, such as “daft”, “lesser mortals”, “quitters”,
“poor”, “ungrateful” and “xenophobic”.
They must have the
hardest time in governing this hopeless island and therefore the justification
of the size of their salaries which is still astronomically high even after the
pay review.
Our land size, our
population and our lack of natural resources are all perceived negatively and
selectively and persistently ingrained into us.
It makes one
wonder why would the British set their eyes on this island based on the forlorn
description painted by PAP. Singapore
eventually became the crown colony. And yes, we know that the British were not
looking for tin ores or oil fields but a strategic harbour for their trade.
They saw beyond the size, population and the natural resources to appreciate
what Singapore
has.
The Arabs may have
the oil but they do not lead the world. India
and China
may be populous but that could also be a disadvantage for now. It is just not
about what we do not have but what we
have. And even what we do not have may also be an advantage if we look at it
POSITIVELY. It is about working around the constraints, staying focused on
our goals and overcoming challenges. More
importantly, it is also about the kind of leadership exhibited.
But PAP
conveniently forgets to share with us the advantages of our land size and
population in the planning and building of infrastructure for a young country; the
added advantage of exerting easy control over the population. Having a small
population size also reduces the pressure of creating sufficient jobs. Look,
our political leaders were desperate enough to bring two casinos onto our
shores to create jobs opportunities, implying the challenges of job creations
that they face.
Someone just
dispelled the myth that our land-scarce island is ill-suited for agricultural. A
vertical farming was created with cutting edge technology right on our island. [Link] At an individual
level. It goes to show that with the right conviction and determination, even
at individual level, one can achieve the near-impossible.
We are repeatedly
handed “death sentences” by our leaders, about our inability to be anything worthwhile.
We cannot be the price setters for wages, we cannot enjoy cheap public housing
(yet, we can afford tens of golf courses), cannot do without foreign investors
and foreigners, cannot groom our own sports talents, cannot do without huge GDP
growth, cannot grow jobs without the presence of casinos.
And the worst
thing that we cannot do is that we cannot do without PAP. If it is really so, then
that would the biggest failure of PAP’s 48 years of governance of failing to establish a strong social, economic and political systems that are independent
of political entities.
We understand too
well about how PAP enjoys playing their cards with our “weaknesses” as a means to
inflate their “successful” leadership. To prove that PAP has the right talent to
transform worthless rocks into gold wherever they lay their fingers on. That is
the way to which they legitimate their monopoly on local politics.
“So that, simply, to me, is the mindset of leadership;
the
determination to serve, not to lead. And it’s a determination and commitment to
serve that decides who is a real leader, not the desire to be a leader itself.”
----Aung San Suu Kyi. [Link]
