After having set Facebook alight yesterday, this is front page news this morning. The man made a big mistake aka Michael Palmer before him. He saw and didn't learn. There was enough time as his relationship with another PAP activist Wendy Lim began about six months ago. We are more interested in the larger picture though.
Well said Evelyn. In other words we will always be less trusting toward the PAP than our parents did. We will always wonder what lurks in dark corners and behind closed doors which we have no access. It also means that we expect and rank transparency very highly.
Many probably share Beldin's feeling about this as well. We will never know until a skeleton fell out of a cardboard accidentally left opened. You would have thought in private the party must have severely warned its MPs since Michael Palmer soiled their reputation. Sure we cannot expect Palmer to be the last but we would appreciate there is a lot more time between Palmer and David Ong, like from one generation to another as every generation often need to learn old lessons anew. We are all disappointed.
David Ong you messed up and that is your problem. You have gravely wronged the woman's husband and also your own family. You were a fool to have behaved this way. It would have gone much better for you if this was a one time indiscretion and never happened again, but you kept up as long as you weren't caught. Who else from the PAP is like you doing the same or other shameful acts away from the public glare? Only time will tell. For now will the secretary general privately or publicly warn its MPs and party members to live up to their whiter than white reputation?
actually i beg to differ from you slightly. maybe becoz i am the younger generation (a 2nd time voter actually), so my views towards infidelity differs from you. For me, i wont purposely vote against a candidate just becoz he or she has extra-marital affairs. Yaw Shin Leong from WP also had an affair last time, and my opinion towards his affair is the same as how i view David Ong's affair as well.
ReplyDeleteA lot of american presidents which i admire greatly have extra marital affairs and this didn't hinder their ability to govern well. For me, government transparency is not the same as extra-marital affairs. I wont view a particular govt as not being transparent just becoz one of its mp had an extra-marital affair. Its entirely two separate issues. Men and women relationship is not the same as governing. But if a politician is committed to his marriage, then it is a bonus point (having said that, i also recognize that not all politicians who are committed to their marriage are able politicians to begin with).
But on the other hand,I understand the moral mistake that David Ong has made. So i guess the best action for him is resigning from his position and not let down his party (as stated, i dont feel he had let down his voters just becoz he had an extra-marital affair). So resigning from MP is the least he can do.
And i have an advice for David Ong which although he may not read, but i will still say anyway. If he really discover that the women he truly wants to spend the rest of his life with is Wendy Lim (aka the second women), then go ahead and divorce amicably his first wife and marry the second. There is nothing disgraceful even for a middle-age men in fighting for the person you truly love. if the affair is only a moment of folly, then apologize to your first wife and start anew.
Thanks, it is good to read a different point of view.
DeleteHad David Ong been a filipino politician it would not only be not a problem, he might be and oddball he doesn't have extra-marital affairs. Perhaps a few decades from now another David Ong would not have had to resign. I don't know when but I think that is possible.
For now the issue with David Ong is betrayal by which adultery is just the means for betrayal. He joined the PAP which expected him to live by certain moral code. Clearly his wife also expected him to be faithful and true to their marriage vows. Ditto for Wendy Lim as well since she also identifies so closely with the folks in white.
Had David had an open marriage this would not have been an issue much less a problem. He would also not be accepted and asked by the PAP to stand for election as an MP.
So the issue is not so much adultery but betrayal and hypocrisy.
As for US Presidents e.g., it was up to Congress to decide if it wanted to impeach Clinton. The American people decided to let him off. PAP could choose to forgive David Ong as well and turn itself into a new PAP more consonant with the times. I think we are too early for that. Public opinion is quite clear on this. At the end of the day they need the consent of the people to remain in power. These politicians aren't moralists. When the moral tone of the society shift they will too if they are still interested to govern.