Monday, April 11, 2011

Singapore's Publicly Funded Family

No country in the world has so many members of a single family in so many well-paid positions of power. Unless you count Saudi Arabia or Libya or other such States.

It would not matter if they were running private or, multinational, companies in Singapore. But in curious coincidence, every member of Mr.Lee Kuan Yew's immediate family is entrenched in organisations where their overlarge remunerations come from public funds.

Here is the list then :

Mr.Lee Kuan Yew
Minister Mentor
Chairman, GIC

Mr.Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister
Deputy Chairman, GIC

Mr.Lee Hsien Yang
Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
Chairman, Fraser & Neave
The incongruence of being in charge of the CAAS and selling sugared water at the same time, seems to have escaped him.

Ms.Lee Wei Ling
Director, National Neuroscience Institute

Ms.Ho Ching
Director, Temasek Holdings
Despite losing large sums in the takeover of a Thai company some years ago, she has not been fired. And never will be.

The above may not be a full list of the jobs that they hold. And we have not bothered with their aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives.  Though it is available here .

Anywhere else, it would be scandalous. In Singapore, it is shrugged shoulders and a "What to do".

This is of course, good reason why they can never let the opposition take over. Good reason why they so grimly hold on to power.

They can't have the entire family, suddenly unemployed!

1 comment:

  1. "They can't have the entire family, suddenly unemployed!"

    not really true, because their combined wealth probably makes them the richest familee on the island and they can go on spending for many generations.

    however, their greatest concern is the OPP taking over as govt and thereafter insisting that the entire familee account for their wealth and not least, take full responsibility for GIC, Temasek losses.

    so far, we're talking about the financial hanky panky, how about other hanky panky?

    squeeze the right balls really hard and the hard truths about the familee will spill out.

    ReplyDelete