What Utter Rubbish!

Someone sent me this pic and article by Chua Lee Hoong to irritate me. He knows how my stomach turns and how my skin crawls whenever balls-carrying articles appear in msm which I hate to read. My doctors and cardiologist are dead against me reading them too as they feel that reading such materials is detrimental to my health especially my broken heart.

To Chua Lee Hoong's description of Chee Soon Juan being "What wasted potential", a phrase that my colonial English teacher used to say came to mind. "What utter rubbish!" My teacher of 50 years ago would have said if he's still alive today.

It really amazes me that a political editor of Straits Times would write the way she wrote. It seems that she's regurgitating what Lee Kuan Yew said. Minister Mentor said in court that Chee Soon Juan is considered a "near psychopath"by his doctors, we now have Chua Lee Hoong jumping on the bandwagon in describing CSJ as

"Irresponsible, reckless, impulsive, unethical are all words that describe Chee's behaviour. Interestingly, they are also all words associated with what American psychologists call antisocial personality disorder, which manifests itself in a disregard for truth and for social norms.

According to a medical website, one complication that might arise from this disorder is frequent imprisonment for unlawful behaviour."

Anti-social personality disorder? I guess behaving like a sychophant or toady to the rich & powerful and "I'm with you Boss, I support you Boss!" kind of writing should then be the acceptable social norm in Singapore? Do we have to sell our principles, our souls to be in the good books so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation (ourselves)?

I'm surprised she did not add that "He’s a liar, a cheat, and altogether an unscrupulous man."

In their chase for glory and even job security some may be "Irresponsible, reckless, impulsive, unethical" without even realising it :)

Psychopath? Sychophant? To each, his/her own.

On a lighter note:
I think singers are smarter than politicians. Quote from Nancy Sinatra of her father's (Frank Sinatra) career advice to her,
'He said to me - wise words - "Just stay away from what I do. You'll be up for comparison, and it'll be ridiculous"'.

"These Boots are Made For Walking" but saying "Something Stupid" like "Mee Siam Mai Hum" is ridiculous indeed!


feedmetothefish

THINKING ALOUD The squandered potential of Chee Soon Juan

By Chua Lee Hoong, Political Editor Today, one cannot help but conclude that the trailblazer is more a sputtering meteor, and perhaps one with an antisocial personality disorder.

MANY people will remember the stir caused by Chee Soon Juan when he first entered politics. The year was 1992; the occasion, the Marine Parade by-election called by then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong. Chee was a psychology lecturer at the National University of Singapore. Just 30 years old, he was eloquent, photogenic and full of passionate conviction. Mr Chiam See Tong, then-leader of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), hailed his new recruit as 'perhaps the most courageous person in Singapore today'. He looked forward to Chee heralding a new era in opposition politics, one in which more well-educated professionals entered the fray. What has happened in the 16 years hence? Today, one cannot help but conclude that the trailblazer is more a sputtering meteor, and perhaps one with an antisocial personality disorder. The SDP that is now under his leadership is no more than a ragtag band, hardly credible as an opposition party. Nowhere was this more evident than in court last week, during the three-day hearing to assess damages in the defamation suit Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had won against the SDP, Chee and his sister Siok Chin. SDP supporters numbered not more than 15 or so, even though the public gallery was invariably full. Of those who started out as neutral observers, I would venture that not a few ended up even less sympathetic to Chee after observing his behaviour up close. Chee and his supporters will argue that the SDP's sad state of affairs is entirely the doing of the ruling party. The latter, they will allege, has used all means at its disposal to suppress the SDP's rise. Such a 'Poor me! I'm a victim' argument will, however, cut no ice with the majority of Singaporeans, who can point to Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Chiam as examples of opposition politicians who have managed to get elected in successive polls in spite of the uphill battle. Going by anecdotal evidence, Chee has disappointed an entire generation of voters who had hoped that his entry into politics in 1992 would bring about more substantial debate on political issues here. The disappointment began early enough - barely six months after the Marine Parade by-election in fact, as a series of shenanigans came to light in rapid succession. There was the misuse of university funds to send his wife's thesis overseas. There was the 'hunger strike' during which he drank water with glucose. There was the ouster of Mr Chiam from the SDP that led rapidly to the party's decline. From three SDP MPs in Parliament after the 1991 polls, there was none by the next election. Chee seemed to focus his energies not on getting his party into Parliament but himself into the spotlight. At an election walkabout at a Jurong hawker centre in 2001, he heckled then-PM Goh loudly and persistently, right in front of the dozens of people having their Sunday breakfast. It was my misfortune to have witnessed the incident with my own eyes. In 2004, another rude heckling incident, this time at a Washington think-tank which had invited Mr Goh to give a talk. Last year, there was Chee's performance at the International Bar Association conference at Suntec City, when he used a question and answer session on the rule of law to criticise Singapore's judiciary and focus attention on his own political misfortunes. The attempt to play to an international audience for his own gain did not go down well with Singaporeans. Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim, a speaker at the symposium, distanced herself from him when she said Singaporeans are quite capable of deciding for themselves the kind of country they want and did not need foreigners to 'canvass our agenda for us'. 'Singapore is not perfect, and we don't pretend that it is. But neither should we make it out to be worse than it really is,' she said, in what seemed a rebuke to Chee. This Monday, it seemed to be Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam's turn to distance himself from Chee. Acting as Chee's counsel for a contempt of court hearing, the 82-year-old seemed to be making a disclaimer when he said that while he had a duty to present the best case for his client, 'the counsel doesn't have to agree with whatever has been done by the client'. When two prominent opposition figures have problems accepting Chee's behaviour, what more the average Singaporean? Not that I think Chee will care about this. He marches, at least in his own mind, to a different beat. 'My Christian faith guides me, and it is a faith that compels me to fight for justice and to treat my fellow men and women with compassion,' he said in court last week. Back in 1993, he also cited his Christian faith when talking about his 10-day hunger strike: 'I am a Christian. I came into this hunger strike under the Lord's guidance and am leaving it the same way. My life is not mine to take.' The question though is whether mainstream Christians will accept his pattern of behaviour as being particularly Christian. He claims to fight for justice but the way he fights has been lamentable. Irresponsible, reckless, impulsive, unethical are all words that describe Chee's behaviour. Interestingly, they are also all words associated with what American psychologists call antisocial personality disorder, which manifests itself in a disregard for truth and for social norms. According to a medical website, one complication that might arise from this disorder is frequent imprisonment for unlawful behaviour. We don't know if indeed Chee suffers from this disorder. If he does, we have got to feel sorry for him. If he doesn't - well, all I can say is, Chee has squandered his potential. leehoong@sph.com.sg