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18-06-2013, 11:10 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
This meritocracy question has been asked over the years on the brow-raising senior appointments of various government-linked people in the private sectors (just think of the number of inexperienced ex-civil servants and ex-military, navy and airforce personnel who were hired by some prominent GLCs and TLCs and the number of MPs without business experience being invited to sit on the boards of listed companies).
The recent appointment of Desmond Kuek as the new CEO of the beleaguered SMRT is yet another interesting example. Desmond’s experience in a nutshell before becoming the head of a public-listed transport company can be summed up as ex-civil servant and ex-army man. He was Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and Chief of Army prior to that. Did he have any business or corporate experience in running a public-listed transport company? The answer is No.
In many other developed countries, there would have been a proper recruitment process to headhunt candidates with the relevant experience and merits before the CEO is appointed to a public-listed company. Was this done by SMRT which is 54% owned by Temasek Holdings? Is Desmond the best man for this difficult job to take care of the nation’s transport issues and to ensure financial returns to the company’s shareholders? On what merit was he appointed? And by whom? And today’s Straits Times reported that Desmond may be appointing more of his own kind by tapping some senior Singapore Armed Forces officers to join SMRT. How qualified are they?
The meteoric rise and rise of the unpopular Chan Chun Sing is one that continues to baffle many Singaporeans. It is highly doubtful that he would have gotten into Parliament on his own if he had stood in a single member constituency. Truth is he got in because he was in the unchallenged Tanjong Pagar GRC helmed by Lee Kuan Yew. Within 16 months, he shot into prominence and made the transition from being Chief of Army to Acting Minister for Social and Family Development and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence.
Since then, he has often been in the limelight and many Singaporeans have cringed at his shockingly poor English and his inane sayings. Who can forget his head-scratching carrot cake metaphor?
- http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013...walk-the-talk/ (http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/06/meritocracy-pap-style-do-they-walk-the-talk/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?154739-quot-Meritocracy-quot-the-PAP-way&goto=newpost).
This meritocracy question has been asked over the years on the brow-raising senior appointments of various government-linked people in the private sectors (just think of the number of inexperienced ex-civil servants and ex-military, navy and airforce personnel who were hired by some prominent GLCs and TLCs and the number of MPs without business experience being invited to sit on the boards of listed companies).
The recent appointment of Desmond Kuek as the new CEO of the beleaguered SMRT is yet another interesting example. Desmond’s experience in a nutshell before becoming the head of a public-listed transport company can be summed up as ex-civil servant and ex-army man. He was Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and Chief of Army prior to that. Did he have any business or corporate experience in running a public-listed transport company? The answer is No.
In many other developed countries, there would have been a proper recruitment process to headhunt candidates with the relevant experience and merits before the CEO is appointed to a public-listed company. Was this done by SMRT which is 54% owned by Temasek Holdings? Is Desmond the best man for this difficult job to take care of the nation’s transport issues and to ensure financial returns to the company’s shareholders? On what merit was he appointed? And by whom? And today’s Straits Times reported that Desmond may be appointing more of his own kind by tapping some senior Singapore Armed Forces officers to join SMRT. How qualified are they?
The meteoric rise and rise of the unpopular Chan Chun Sing is one that continues to baffle many Singaporeans. It is highly doubtful that he would have gotten into Parliament on his own if he had stood in a single member constituency. Truth is he got in because he was in the unchallenged Tanjong Pagar GRC helmed by Lee Kuan Yew. Within 16 months, he shot into prominence and made the transition from being Chief of Army to Acting Minister for Social and Family Development and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence.
Since then, he has often been in the limelight and many Singaporeans have cringed at his shockingly poor English and his inane sayings. Who can forget his head-scratching carrot cake metaphor?
- http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013...walk-the-talk/ (http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/06/meritocracy-pap-style-do-they-walk-the-talk/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?154739-quot-Meritocracy-quot-the-PAP-way&goto=newpost).