Jeevs To The Rescue.
Since I have been feeling angry and anxious these past few days I called my cousin Jeevs. Jeevs has the wonderful and unique talent of being able to cheer me up. Now let me tell you something about Jeevs first. He is the golden boy of our family. He was held up as an example, to all us lesser cousins, by our grand mother. He is very smart and now a very successful man but a supporter of the Sihala Urumaya. Though he is a lovely person Jeevs is a Sinhala chauvinist. I blame our grandmother for this.
Sri Lanka Is Like Singapore
So yesterday Jeevs worked his magic on me and cheered me up. He told me that everything was going to be ok. He believes that Sri Lanka is going to develop under MR and be like Singapore in the near future. His reasoning is that Singapore too does not have a proper democracy. The opposition is virtually non existent. It is ruled by a family dynasty too - the Lee dynasty.
Choosing Candidates in Singapore
Since our political parties are in the process of choosing candidates I thought I'd check how it's done by the PAP, the ruling party in Singapore. I found the descriptions of the new candidates. They are mostly from the business world - CEOs, GMs and Directors but also an Eye Surgeon, a Professor and some lawyers. These men and women seem so great..... it brought tears to my eyes. I got the impression that suitable people are invited to contest.( Please let me know if you know how the candidates are selected in Singapore). You should check them out.
( The link is HTTP://www.pap.org.sg) . Following is an extract.
14 MANIFESTO
We believe that the quality
of the candidates is critical.
We want men and women
of substance, with ideas and
commitment.
– Mr Lim Boon Heng, PAP Chairman,Introduction of PAP New Candidates Session 4,s
3 April 2006.
In choosing candidates to become Members
of Parliament, the PAP Leadership looks for
the 4Cs – Capability, Character, Commitment
and Compassion. Candidates must also have
strong convictions on issues so that they can
add to the robust debate within the PAP, leading
to the formulation of sound policies for the
good of Singapore. They must also care for other
Singaporeans. Some candidates carry with them
a wealth of experience in grassroots work; others
do not. But they will develop the political touch
after they become MPs, as they will learn to move
people in the right direction. Because “Action” is
the Party’s middle name, the PAP looks for people
who can get things done.
Unlike in Sri Lanka there are no Actors, Singers or Talk show hosts. They chose people who can manage and develop the country. We chose entertainers because one of the main tasks of our politicians is to entertain.
How it's Done in Sri Lanka
I heard a rumour that prospective candidates here are asked
1. How much money they can spend for campaigning
2. How many thugs they control
3. How many vehicles they have at their disposal
Please feel free to correct me, but politely.
I really do want to believe Jeevs (hope he has not got the computer animations of the election propaganda confused with reality). So I hope our political parties will choose candidates similar to those of the PAP. We have to have peopole capable of develpoing this country. Some of our present MPs are criminals, clowns and incompetents. These guys would never be in the Singaporean parliament, they would be in the Singaporean prison - now you know why the crime rate in Singapore is low.
What a laugh. Singapore does not have a democracy but we will be better because we are ?
ReplyDeleteIt takes sound policy to set the stage for growth and our politicos have no clue as to this. And as for the democratic credentials, I will leave it to people judge from recent events.
We also have people like Milinda Moragoda, Sarath Amunugama and GL Peiris. Even Sihala Urumaya has Udaya Gammanpila. Your criticism applies more to the UNP and the JVP.
ReplyDeleteWhat Jeev's argument was that democracy (as advocated by the West and NGOs) is not needed for development. In fact, it's a hindrance and makes things slow and inefficient. We're not developed enough to be democratic and once we are (in 20-30 years), we can have our freedoms back.
What Sri Lanka needs is stability and prosperity, not these bloody liberties. 58% of the people have voted for this, and Mahinda will get a 2/3rd majority because of the fractured opposition this time.
The rest of you can bugger off.
oh my god messy mama enough with the politics go back to your criticizing Ashok and the other high class HI people! YOU WERE FUNNY "THEN"! stop trying to write a political blog like half the bloody blogs on kottu. WE ARE SICK OF IT! take my advice and stop this new blog! go back to being light hearted and fun to read!
ReplyDeleteAha, looks like the government bloggers are one your case? ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteWonder how they like the recent prices increases, dry rations, bread, alcohol, cigarettes, milk, gas etc all needed to pay for the waste, extravagance and luxurious retirement of the rulers.
Much more to follow, btw.