Dear Sir,
But the last 5 years have not been easy. His 747 is getting increasingly crowded with more space allocated for the First Class and Business Class passengers leaving little leg room for the “cattle class”. Service standard has fallen as the air crew gives their undivided attention to the billionaire passengers who are so much more welcome compared to the hoi-polloi.It has been 10 years since PM Lee took over as the Captain of SQ 001 and I must say he has been pretty lucky to have flown this far without crashing.
Conditions have grown so bad that some of the economy passengers have threatened to switch to other air-lines. But Captain Lee felt that it was highly unlikely because they have gotten used to his style of flying permitting him to change course whenever it suited him.
He also feels that it is dangerous for them to bale out from 36,000 ft. So it is better to stick with him even though they know he is seriously off course. Captain Lee knows that he cannot be forever circling round the world and blaming everything on the world. He has to land somewhere or else he will run out of fuel. When that happens his passengers may well switch to Eva Air or Emirates which promises them wider and more comfortable seats with plenty of leg-room and a standard of service which even SQ is talking about.
GE 2015/16 is round the corner and the Captain’s biggest regret is that he has moved too slowly to cater to a fast growing populace whose frustrations over housing and transport had contributed to his party’s worst election showing in 2011. In his own words he felt that if he can offer the people more opportunities he will be able to “face the next election with more confidence”. Perhaps he is facing a crisis of confidence himself as more and more of his troops desert him.
As yet he has not found any co-pilot whom he thinks is worthy of taking over. One deputy pilot is deemed not suitable because he feels that the passengers are not ready because he is wearing the wrong color. The other deputy pilot’s prowess has been found wanting for his Home Team could not even quell a riot when it erupted in Little India recently. And now all the flight attendants are busy rushing to enact laws to prohibit ordinary citizens from drink flying after 10.30 at night,
Even the cohort of 24 recruited during the last GE has also been found wanting. This leaves Captain Lee to speculate that perhaps his successor may be found in the next cohort of 24.
But seriously, when you parachute some teenage paper general still wet behind his ears hanging on to the coat-tails of a 90-year old Gong Gong, where on earth will he ever find the necessary battle experience to lead the entire populace? Clearly the entire system is screwed up and he may have to change the entire fleet.
Looks like there will be turbulent weather conditions ahead for Captain Lee and if he fails to take corrective measures we might all end up at the bottom of the sea in which event he will also blame us for making the wrong choice.
Sincerely,
Patrick Low