“Politics is a contest for power but the key principle when you have power is, don’t take advantage of people under your charge, and always be honest and upfront with them.” The problem with this sentence is that the speaker misses his own message.
For a guy who talks so much about power, he should recognise the demise of his own. Thanks to the careless choice of words in his Facebook post about the haze that triggered the megaphone politics, heavy weight Ng Eng Hen had to be roped in to handle the sensitive issue. His own role was diminished to one of messenger boy, carrying a big white envelope to soothe ruffled feathers.
As for being upfront and honest, we still don’t know what went into the $79.8 million “Other Costs” accounting entry of the bloated $387 million YOG budget. That’s enough money for a couple of houses at Sentosa Cove. And while he gave away free condoms for the foreign athletes, we had to pay $2.25 for a N95 mask.
Who can forget the gutter politics during the watershed election of 2011? Thankfully, Vincent Wijeysingha’s open declaration of his sexuality has put spade to Balakrishnan’s shameful innuendos.
While he’s busy wallowing in dirt, another has died of dengue fever, the fourth Singaporean victim, a Chinese male who lived in the Tanglin Halt area. Five dengue related deaths on our shores, if you count the Indonesian. Clearly, his priority is misplaced.
There’s only one way to put him out of his misery. Have him repeat his charges outside of parliament house, where he’s protected by parliamentary privilege. Calling people liars, when he himself is so generous with half truths, is tantamount to libel and defamation. And he had to pick a fight with an ex-cop and practising lawyer. That’s gotta be real dumb.
Tattler
*The writer blogs at http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com