Recent Cabinet Changes and Camelot

Recent Cabinet Changes and Camelot

Farquhar again demonstrated that he is one of the only three or four insightful writers in ground breaking The Online Citizen. He made a learned although not really revisionist version of succession and power play with regards to the latest Cabinet change. On April Fools' Day, Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister, will also become the DPM. Nevertheless, it is not that simple in reading the tea leaves on succession.

Tradition and Succession

Traditionally and generally, the defence, education, foreign and home affair ministries are arguably the seats of those who have the political potential to achieve at least Deputy Prime Minister appointments.

Goh Chok Tong was the Minister of Defence before he became DPM and then PM. Lee Hsien Loong was also (second) Minister for Defence prior to becoming DPM and then PM. Before becoming DPM, Goh Keng Swee was from the Education Ministry. When Tony Tan became DPM, his last appointment was Minister for Education. Both S Jayakumar and S Rajaratnem headed the Foreign Ministry before becoming DPM. When Wong Kan Seng became a DPM, he was already steering the Home Affairs Ministry.

Despite being acting-PM when Lee Hsien Loong is out of Singapore, Teo Chee Hean would not become PM because his age is too close to the current PM. Once rumoured as a contender as the next PM, Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education, might also be out of the race for PM as he was also born in the 1950s. Political pundits reminded all that the current and 3rd PM of Singapore earlier mused he wanted someone really younger to succeed him, bringing back the idea that a PM could even be someone in his 40s. Albeit under a different world and tribulations in 1965, Lee Kuan Yew was 42 when he became the PM of Singapore. That means the future PM is someone born in the 1960s possibly. With Singaporeans perceived by our own political leaders as racist implicitly and despite already having non-Chinese as the Elected President and head of state, and a DPM and thus second in command to the head of government, the PM for Singapore would still be Chinese supposedly.

Yet going against tradition, there is now the first female minister, Lim Hwee Hua, regardless if she is running her own ministry or not from April Fools' Day.

Reading Beyond Tokenism

Assuming this is more than political tokenism, it means a new age of king-making. Singapore is a parliamentary system and it is the party elected into power that chooses who would be PM, not the citizens per se. By keeping ethnic prejudices because of imagined voter preferences, the cabinet has tied its own hands especially if a next PM is one born in the 1960s. The party might decide to unfetter itself and consider a non-Chinese PM next. Furthermore, transcending sex bias in the choice of a minister could herald the commencement of the general eradication of old prejudices about where the DPM and PM could come from in terms of ministry background. The next PM might not necessarily have headed the defence, education, foreign or home affairs ministries.

The appointment of Teo Chee Hean shows that the current leadership is sticking to its traditional doctrine of electing DPMs and PMs with certain ministries as a career map for now. However, the appointment of Lim Hwee Hua on the other hand shows that the cabinet is at a crossroad. If a female minister can be appointed, it also perhaps portends that the cabinet is rethinking its whole cabinet line-up formula. Thus how a DPM first and consequently how a PM can be appointed and other old mindsets are being repacked.

Returning to king-making, it doesn't matter if he is a noble or not, as long as the One can pull the Sword out of the Stone. If that is the case, for example, Vivian Balakrishnan, is still in the game.

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