From ‘Save for a rainy day, advises Khaw’, 8 Aug 2011, article by Alicia Wong in sg yahoo news
Amidst the financial turmoil plaguing America and Europe, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has reminded Singaporeans to save for a rainy day.
“Sometimes you get fine weather, sometimes rainy. But if you have always saved for the rainy day, you’ll be pretty steady and safe,” he was quoted as saying by The Straits Times.
…Minister Khaw also pointed out the need for political leaders to have foresight and “tell people what is unpleasant sometimes”.
…”To lead, you must be able to see first further, and tell people what is unpleasant sometimes,” he said. “I try to say what’s right,” he added. “Pleasant or unpleasant to me, is not as important as what is right, what is rational.”
There’s a reason why the PAP logo has a bolt of lightning in it, and that’s because our ministers like to frighten us with stale cliches of rainy days and stormy weather. I won’t go into how patronising this piece of advice is, since it’s stating the obvious that Singaporeans have to ‘tighten their purse-strings’ during this difficult period and ‘ride out the stormy seas’, though some of us have been subject to ‘rough weather’ for the longest time. It’s easier to tell people to brace for ‘dark clouds on the horizon’ than promise ‘clear skies’ and ‘sunny days’. After all, hiding behind the ‘weather’ analogy is ideal because it’s the only unpredictable, uncontrollable element that everyone can relate to, suggestive of an act of God which the government can’t possibly be responsible for. No minister is going to use quantum physics to describe economic turbulence because it’s too deep, nor the unpleasant word ‘chaos’ because it’s too apocalyptic. ‘Weather’ seems perfectly fine, even if it’s centuries old.
As a leader, other than ‘telling us like it is’, Mr Khaw and rest of the PAP should also lead by example and tell us how they’re going to put taxpayers’ money to more prudent use, or whether there’ll be any tapping of the national reserves (saved for rainy days like these according to our PM, see below) to help us ‘weather the storm’, instead of just reminding us of what we already know from our parents. Telling us what is ‘rational’ or ‘right’ doesn’t make it timely, appropriate, or in this case, even necessary. So much sunshine was dispensed during the last elections that it’s telling how gloomy the weather forecasts have suddenly become, especially in the wake of public transport fee hikes which makes this piece of advice as helpful as a teaspoon in a flood survival kit.
Here’s a sampling for how the PAP’s favourite platitude has been tossed about like a ‘buoy on a stormy ocean’ for the past half a century, which makes you wonder if this country is really ‘Singapura, sunny island set in the sea’.
S Rajaratnam (Raja: Watch out for storms in changing world, 25 Dec 1967, ST): As far as Singapore is concerned, the problem is one of making certain that we survive until the advent of sunnier, calmer weather. We cannot control the weather but if we have the tenacity, intelligence and resilence we can ride the storm.
Dr Ang Kok Peng, Minister of State(Communications) (Don’t spend on luxuries, Ang tells youth, 19 Feb 1973, ST): The young should be taught to practise self-discipline and to save not for only a rainy day but also for building up the economic resources of Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew (PM:Let’s find that niche, 18 Aug 1980, ST): And we got to get it into the heads of our younger generation that life is not a bed of roses. This generation has never known unemployment but if we run into stormy weather, they will get a dose of it in the 80s.
Dr Tony Tan (Rough times ahead, 16 May 1982, ST) : ‘The lower rate of growth in the first quarter of this year is a warning to us that, while we hope for an uplift in the US and the world economy, we must be prepared if necessary, to face rough weather. To avoid sinking, we must tighten up the hatches. We must cut out unnecessary spending and avoid wastage.
Goh Chok Tong (How elders can help young to weather hard times, 6 March 1983, ST) : It would also mean taking advantage of the slack period to improve ourselves to acquire knowledge and skills which we can use when the stormy weather blows over
Goh Chok Tong (A nation of cynics, 24 Aug 2002, Today): Fair weather Singaporeans who, having benefited from Singapore, will pack their bags and take flight when our country runs into a little storm.
Lee Hsien Loong (Brace for tough times: PM, 23 Feb 2009, Today): ‘For one, the reserves will not only tide Singaporeans over on a ‘very rainy day‘, but also provide confidence to investors that ‘the economy has resources, is strong, and the Singapore dollar is strong’
Postscript:Hot on the heels of Khaw’s worldly advice is none other than Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew’s uncanny carbon copy of the ‘rainy day’ analogy (Economic storms may affect Singapore: Lui Tuck Yew, 13 Aug 2011, ST)
…Singapore can weather the turbulence if the government and people all came together to face squarely the challenges and make tough decisions as a nation.
He added that there are measures in place to help needy residents and Singaporeans can also prepare for the gloomy financial forecast by saving for a rainy day.
It appears that fine weather is as rare as a politician telling us something new.
Filed under: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2000s, 2011, Money, Politicians, Weather Tagged: | Khaw Boon Wan, lui tuck yew, Money, PAP, Politicians
He has no credibility. not one ounce. Under his watch health care rocketed and became inaccessible. He should ask, how cost can be lowered and better still frozen. but instead he likes to kick down to us to bear the brunt of his job. other useless fellow.