Who is to repent, Singapore or the PAP if Jee Say is elected?

Will there be repentance for Singapore or the PAP if Tan Jee Say is elected as the new President?  That is very much depending on the performance of Tan Jee Say during his presidency as well as the co-operation between the government and the President.

In other word, Yin-Yang balance and harmony can be achieved if the government is acting as Yang force and the President as Yin force.  Contrary to normal thinking, to have Yin-Yang balance does not require same Yang or same Yin forces.  In fact, it is the worst situation if Yang-Yang or Yin-Yin working together.

Jee Say represents Yin (people)

But how can we image Tan Jee Say’s strong characters (checks and balances) to be a Yin force?

To explain this, we need to understand who is representing the people or the elites. Jee Say wants to be a caring President with good intention and a good heart.  When a person is caring for the people, he is a Yin, just like a mother who will fight back if her children are under attack.  Jee Say looks angry because the people are not happy and as their representative he needs to voice out loudly. 

In surface, it seems to suggest Jee Say looks like Yang force (so do his supporters booing Dr Tony Tan) and cannot work closely with the government, another Yang force. If he is elected as President, Singapore will suffer as 2 yang forces are fighting each other.  However, the fact is Jee Say is a Yin and he is supporting the government by giving the people feedback for better public administration and policies.

It could be an interesting outcome as Tan Jee Say will be a very different President as compared to all other previous presidents in the history of Singapore. If elected, he will be the first former opposition politician to hold the position of the President.

Repentance for Singapore or the PAP

Repentance for Singapore will happen if the government and the President do not see eye and eye and have disagreements in the way of how to protect the reserve and the appointments of senior civil servants.

Repentance for the PAP will occur when the President does a good job of checks and balances and the government rules the country in the principle of moral and puts Singaporeans first.

Of course, it can also be repentance for both the country and the PAP. It will end up as a no win situation and perhaps with a removal of the President by parliament.

We want a win-win situation and it looks like repentance for the PAP as explained above is good for Singapore.

Summary of the speeches

After watching the first television broadcast of the Presidential candidates, I list down the 3 most important messages of their respective speeches.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock

1. Istana is for the President not the Prime Minister

2. To publish Annual statement for transparency

3. Multi-racialism is vital to unity.

Tan Jee Say

1. To provide checks and balances on the government.

2. To prevent deep division in the society.

3. Not to pursue high GDP growth at the expense of ordinary Singaporeans.

Dr Tony Tan

1. People interested in such roles (oppositions, policies) should run for Parliament.

2. The President is to be the Head of State.

3. I successfully pressed for greater transparency (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund).

Tan Kin Lian

1. To think outside the box and take a different perspectives from the government

2. To form a President’s Personal Council.

3. To donate at least half of the salary to charity and other worthy causes.    

For the above short summaries, who is the Yin and who is the Yang?

On 27 August 2011, the best option is to choose a Yin candidate to match the (Yang) PAP government to achieve Yin-Yang harmony.