There is no specific qualification or skill set needed in political office. The closest in terms of relevance would be some social science disciplines and public administration, but still inadequate as some ministries could entail and demand very specific and professional skills, e.g. Defence, Home Affairs, Health, Housing, Education etc.. etc. It would be difficult to cast a specific academic qualification for appointments like the President or the Prime Minister. The presumption that anyone as long as he is an elected politician is good enough to helm any ministry is the biggest flaw in a democratic system.
Hsien Loong is a mathematician by training and he is the PM. Chee Hian is an engineer, Tharman an economics grad, Eng Hen and Vivian are in medicine, and there are some from law, the hard sciences etc.. etc. In political offices, the academic or professional qualifications needed are non-specific except for a few ministries when professional qualifications are very useful like law and health or defence. The common denominator actually is that nothing is relevant.
What then is the qualification or skill set needed to be a politician? In my view, other than a basic academic qualification to show that one has the ability to understand the 3-Rs, the other important attributes are the intangibles. Leadership, trust, integrity, honesty, compassion and a heart of gold, to want to look after the interest of the people are more important attributes than academic qualifications. Our obsession with super talents ended up wasting super talents but having to pay super talented pay for skill sets that are totally irrelevant to the jobs.
Political office is about country, nation and people and their well-being. From these aspects, it is clear that super talents in the professions are not a necessary requirement and irrelevant in many cases to the appointments. It is the man and his mission and his heart that make a good political leader. Political leaders must be clear that it is all about country and people, to prosper the country and people. It is not about how good one is a doctor or lawyer or engineer or how much one is earning in the profession. It is not about self and how well they should be compensated.
So, what is the relevance in making a case for super talents to be better politicians and demanding ‘out-of-this-world’ salaries? Where is the relationship in a super eye surgeon and a ministry like defence or the environment? Where is the relationship in a super lawyer and the education or health ministry? Broadly, the only relation is a good heart, a good mind and a mission to serve the interests of the people.
A good leader is priceless but not demanding to be paid ridiculously. His value is not in his qualifications or profession but the lifting of the quality of life of the people and the people’s interests.
Chua Chin Leng aka redbean
* The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com