LHL

Taken from Mr Wang's blog at http://commentarysingapore.blogspot.com/

Dear Mr Lee

Oh, very well. Bear in mind, though, that this is just Mr Wang's advice. It's just Mr Wang's point of view - you may or may not agree with it - that's entirely up to you.

Firstly, Mr Lee, I think you have a bit of an insecurity problem. That's understandable. That's very human. After all, it's your very first term as PM, and for decades, your father had been a most impressive PM himself. So you feel like you're still in his shadow, never quite able to step out and be your own man.

Furthermore, there was your immediate predecessor Mr Goh. He was supposed to warm the seat for you. Instead Mr Goh became PM for 10 long years, a formidable figure in his own right despite the lack of Lee genes. Worse, Goh even proved himself to be immensely popular with the people.

So now you're feeling insecure. You feel you have so much to prove. Well, as I said, that's only human. Where I think you may have gone wrong is that you let your insecurity get the better of you. You made a few moves that were perhaps not very clever, strategically speaking.

For example, you made bold, public proclamations that you were out to win all 84 seats in Parliament. You were out to prove yourself. You were out to surpass your father and Goh Chok Tong, in one fell swoop. You wanted to be the leader that the nation, the entire nation, voted for!

This, I think, was a misjudgment on your part. Seriously, Mr Lee, what does winning 84 out of 84 seats really do for you? You're like the boy who can score 9 A1s, but tells everyone that he will settle for nothing less than 10 A1s. Does the boy really need that tenth A1? Of course not - nine is enough to show the world that he's very clever.

But when you go out there and tell the world, "I'm going to score 10 A1s!", well, you set yourself up for failure. Because now, if you score only 9 A1s, it will look like a failure to the world - even though it isn't.

And let's say that you do get 84 out of 84 seats in Parliament, well, well, Mr Lee. Will that help your insecurity? You only improved on Goh's score by two seats. That's like beating someone by slightly more than 2 little marks in a maths examination. If you were insecure before that, then winning by 2 little marks won't be enough to cure your insecurity either.

I hear you ask - "Oh, Mr Wang, how can I prove myself then?". Well, frankly, Mr Lee, I think it's going to be very difficult as long as your father is alive and kicking. And frankly, it may still be difficult even when he's no longer alive and kicking. But I said "difficult", not "impossible". So allow Mr Wang to share a few ideas with you.

Firstly, I don't think that elections are the right place to prove yourself. Your term as PM is the right place to prove yourself. In the big picture of things, the 9 days of campaigning are not important. The next five years of your term as PM - now that's important. Perform well, do the right things and the people will stand behind you.

Secondly, have your own vision - not your father's - lead Singapore in your direction. Not his. When you build a different Singapore from what your father would have built, and when you make your own different Singapore work, that's when you will step out of your father's shadow. (By the way, what happened to your promise of an open society?)

Thirdly, be brave. Believe in yourself. Have faith. Focus on what's important and achieve great things, instead of pouncing on imagined enemies in every corner. If you, as PM, achieve great things for Singapore, those great things will speak for themselves. No need to destroy all the Francis Seow's, Tang Liang Hong's, JB Jeyaretnam's, Chee Soon Juan's and James Gomezes in the world. If truly they are fools and idiots, then they will expose themselves. If they are not, then they are not, and their contributions matter too.

Fourth, stop dumbing down to the people. Some of us are stupid, but many of us are not. When you dumb down the issues and dress up the facts, you only make it sooooooo easy for people like Mr Wang to poke fun at you and tear your speeches and announcements into little pieces. Mr Wang knows that you are really not that stupid. So stop giving me the opportunities. Tell the truth to the people, even when it's hard. That's the only way they'll ever really come to trust you.

Fifth, don't forget the little man. Don't forget the old and poor. Don't forget the Normal Stream kids, the ex-convict trying to put his life back together, the old ah ma still washing public toilets, the single mum who can't apply for a HDB flat, the 70-year-old man trapped in his Potong Pasir flat because you won't build a lift for him to get down. And don't just remember them every five years.

Whatever happens tomorrow, Mr Wang wishes you all the best in life. Because good karma is more than just a set of poll results.

Yours sincerely
Mr Wang