Minister Lim, please stand up.
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I humbly apologise to fans, supporters and even Minister Lim Hng Kiang if he should be reading this, which i doubt so. I have no ill intentions or any desire, but only write this post for the sake of our society.
The near collapse of the financial market is unprecedented, as each day and week passes by with grim news, only to be grimmer in time to come. The root of this crisis is total absolute loss of confidence in the financial market and system.
Govts around the world had done the necessary thing to contain and alleviate this crisis, thru the injection of huge amounts of funds with guarantees. But it is still not enough.
When the loss of confidence occurs, it goes beyond facts and figures. What is lost will take time to rebuild, and time is something a soon to starve world dont have.
But rebuild of confidence we must, and it must begin with one man whom all can trust, and knows that the buck stops with him, and that he is fully responsible and accountable for decisions made.
That man can only be Minister Lim Hng Kiang, our Trade and Industry Minister, the most vital ministry in our nation's economic affairs with the full facts and figures .
Our Prime Minister, though ultimately is responsible for every decision, cannot afford to be the leader of this crisis, for he still has other national agendas such as security, health, etc, to achieve and watch over. Should he be heading this crisis management, it will only lead to loss of confidence in the other national agendas by citizens.
Our society need one leader whom can devote his whole effort and time in resolving this crisis of unprecedented epic proportions. He must be the one man whom must make the decisions, with authorisation from our PM, that affects our economy.
Anything to do with the economy must be reffered to him, and thru him.Not the Finance Minister, not the Labour Minister, not the unions, not stat boards, not CEOs.
But what happens behind close doors, or decisions made, the public is not interested. The public only wants to know who is really in charge, on top of this crisis, whom they can talk to or take direction from that affect their lives and livehood.
He will be someone who thru the media weekly or bi-monthly faces the public to explain or summarize cabinet decisions - cpf cuts, wage hikes, transport/food costs rise, retrenchments, international developements, etc.
He will be the one who will quickly resolve injustices thru the necessary actions to the relevant departments for fair and equatible judgements, and bring swift justice thru courts to white collar criminals to restore public confidence in the economy. Even roll heads if necessary.
He will be the face the public will see and know, and ultimately to trust. The public has the money to invest, with solid blue chip companies to invest in, but did not do so. Because they had lost trust, and had grown fear.
A confident face, no less than a respected MP and full fledge minister, will help to build that trust.
Economists, govt planners and treasuries have the antidote to cure the markets, and can't be wrong. But the public, the rich and banks are not biting. They need a hero. And someone to lynch if things don't work out.
This is a crisis, not a time to 'cover backside'. No politicians favourite self defeating 'ifs' or 'buts' in statements. An emphatic yes or a no. A man who don't fear making critical decisions, or become the sacrificial lamb if wrong for the sake survival sake of our society.
Minister Lim Hng Kiang must be that man, or if he feels he is not up to it, I respectfully request that he resign and let someone who will face the public and not hide behind the PM or use spokesmen.
We are no longer the poor 3rd world country, without talent and money. We can buy the best and pay the best or a team of best to help formulate quick and effective policies to tackle the crisis behind the scenes, not neccessarily to involve him in planning inorder to free up his time.
The public only needs a face to build up trust and confidence. They need to know that they are not alone in making necessary decisions. They need to know someone is with them all the way, empathise with them beyond facts and figures, and here to stay. May Minister Lim please stand up.
PS. If Minister Lim is from your constituency, please appeal with him to stand up and lead in the soon arriving but fully reversible darkest hour of our history. Thanks.
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im not surprise that what minister LIM does all the time.
remember sars when he was the health minister. he was abruptly replace by the now health minister Khaw when he seem lost what to do with Sars thinking maybe it someone stolen rifle perhaps!
i rate him poorly and moneg the worse of all ministers!
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Hard to follow you. Make your points clear.
Is it about
1) loss of electorate confidence?
2) collapse of the financial market?
3) rebuild of public confidence?
4) searching for a more trustworthy Minister?
5) re-appointment of a better Minister-In-Charge of the crisis?
All along our govt is based on the UK Westminster model of govt, where the cabinet collectively is the public front of the existing govt and it is not something new. -
Originally posted by 4sg:
Hard to follow you. Make your points clear.
Is it about
1) loss of electorate confidence?
2) collapse of the financial market?
3) rebuild of public confidence?
4) searching for a more trustworthy Minister?
5) re-appointment of a better Minister-In-Charge of the crisis?
All along our govt is based on the UK Westminster model of govt, where the cabinet collectively is the public front of the existing govt and it is not something new.This is nothing to do with elections or voting.
Very simply, my post is about rebuilding confidence and trust in the financial markets. The public, the rich and business enterprises must be assured frequently that our govt is on top of the situation, and have measures in place to alleviate the pain, if not the perfect solution to solve the crisis, thru a single man/leader 'where the buck stops' (responsible and accountable for decisions) in authority, with the power from the PM, to make the crucial and necessary changes that will affect our lives and livehood for the months or years ahead. and to encourage reasonable and intelligent spending, investments in blue chip strong companies that MUST not fail. Our funds and future are in there.
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I am not a fan of the incumbent party these days but even I won't go as far as to blame one minister for the global financial crisis.
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no choice wat, when trade is not doing well blame him lor.
when banking in problem blame tharma lor.
when sars strike again in singapore blame khaw lor.
when my sales dont hit target, my boss blame me lor, even though this is recession time.
when my customer dont get their machinery on time, they blame me lor, even though customer take a longer time to decide and lotsa year end holiday causing the hold up.
its not just a blaming game, it the line of responsibility. i can accept it, so should them!
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Originally posted by charlize:
I am not a fan of the incumbent party these days but even I won't go as far as to blame one minister for the global financial crisis.
My post is not about blaming anyone. What had happened, had already happened. We cannot turn back time. I am a forward looking type of person. It's a zero sum game whenever one plays the blame game.
What is needed now is to move forward. A crisis had already happened. How best should we move forward? What are the necessary steps? What are the necessary measures? We cannot continue to push the blame to 'external factors'! People need to eat or they will starve.
Society has all kinds of opinions, each pointing to different directions. Shall we close ourselves up and hide, or move in different directions, breaking unity when unity is more critical than ever now?
What society needs is a person whom it can trust, to lead and guide, to know that it is not alone, he is with it all the way, and that measures adopted are necessary and will ultimately lead us out of the tunnel into bright days ahead.
When Sars happened, it was Minister Khaw who courageously stood up and led our society out of our deepest fears. Even though there was no cure, he assured us daily that the measures in place were enough to prevent its spread, ally misconceptions, worked for prevention if not cure, and gradually, our society walked out of that crisis, with Minister Khaw leading us out.
The financial crisis is one of confidence or the lack of it now. It is not that they is no more money in this world. It is all hoarded up. The public, the rich and banks needs to be assured that hoarding money is not feasible, and that it is safe to invest in strong and reliable firms that still abound, with better regulations.
Society must have a leader who will take our hands and guide us out of this crisis. During Sars, we had Minister Khaw who had set and shown the way out. Who now?