Singapore's Security

I am a little ahead of time. Time to research and think deeply about our security. The late foreign minister S. Rajaratnam had gone down this path before. The insight he gathered from his study died with him. Now another generation must trudge the same path. So I am reading this book on the history of Venice. Already at 7% of the book, I am getting a better idea of the wisdom of choosing between investing heavily in manufacturing here versus concentrating more on services. Partly it would help me advise my children if they should study engineering when the time comes. More important, does Singapore have a future post LKY? I know in the end this question cannot be satisfactorily answered because the future is unknowable. Nevertheless it is immensely useful to understand well what is happening now.

William Choong had an excellent analysis about Singapore's defence yesterday. I can't help but recall how shallow the SDP's position is on this matter. Already I worry that the WP is not able to form the government if called upon to do so by the next GE*. Presently I sensed the PAP is veering into political survival mode. It has lost the initiative, becoming populist but will not admit so in order to preserve their brand. Forget about ideological or policy coherence, just make the people happy in time to win the next GE. There is no need to worry about the Population White Paper. It is dead.

Page 237 of Cheong Yip Seng's, 'OB Markers' I found this. Lim Kim San is a far more astute reader of the human character than LKY. In our experience the standard of government has already began to fall.


* This is for the benefit of my children. The way you think is most important. You haven't got it until the complex become simple. Often you do not have the time to go this far but in critical matters you have to. E.g., when I thought Koh Poh Koon would lose, it is different from thinking that Lee Li Lian would win. The outcome might be the same but the thought process is anything but. Today I think the PAP would lose the next GE as explained previously, and now we see that they are frantically trying to avoid that. We will always even at our best only be able to look at the mirror darkly. I am no longer thinking of who wins the next GE. That is no longer the right question. Yes, it might not matter who wins. It is hard to think this through without examining the story of Venice properly.