Goh Chok Tong and Low Thia Khiang make their exits.

What do Goh Chok Tong, 79, and Low Thia Khiang, 63, have in common? 

Well, they both served about four decades in politics. GCT was 44 years and LTK, 40. They both brought in flesh young/vibrant blood to their respective parties. 

GCT talent-spotted LHL and persuaded him to join the election in 1984. He also had a hand in bringing 3G leaders into politics like Teo Chee Hean, Tharman, Khaw Boon Wan and Lim Swee Say. 

As for LTK, he had “secured a group representation constituency for the WP (in 2011).” He also renewed WP ranks by grooming current leader Pritam and outgoing Chen Show Mao and Png Eng Huat. 

And perhaps lastly, they changed the style of leadership to a more consultative, approachable one. 

GCT took over from LKY who had a more stern and firm leadership style, while GCT’s was a kinder and gentler approach. He also set a Feedback Unit to allow Singaporeans to share their views on policies. 

Further, he “used budget surpluses to set up endowment funds that to this day provide financial support to less well-off Singaporeans.” And he started “redistributing budget surpluses to citizens in the form of Central Provident Fund top-ups.” 

As for LTK, he took over from the more adversarial JB Jeyaretnam. The party then was plagued by infighting and that hindered the search for good candidates. 

When LTK helmed WP in 2001, he took “a different direction, focusing on issues of the day and creating a brand of constructive politics that strives to provide a check in Parliament.”

He said: “If I compare myself with my predecessor Jeyaretnam, I think I am probably mild, right? So probably this political progress, where you become less aggressive and you can sit down and talk about things rather than just political brickbats, is a good thing.”

So, those are the commonalities between GCT and LTK. Both leaders are nevertheless retiring from politics. LTK said he felt his work was done. And for GCT, he wrote in his farewell letter to LHL the following: -

“Marine Parade is my second home. I live the people...Many urged me to stand for another term. But I should not. I would not have the same energy when I cross into my 80s.”

And there you have, the life and times of politicians, both debating at the opposite sides of the parliamentary long table for decades. 

FYI, LTK saw his role as “a co-driver that would slap the driver, the PAP, if the ruling party were to go off course in governing the country.” And GCT saw it as a leadership to ensure Singapore flourish in every possible way, with a government “that listened and paid attention not just to material well-being but also matters of the heart, or “heartware””.

Now, the question, as posed by GCT, is “Quo vadis, Singapore? Quo vadis, me?” And in case you’re wondering, “Quo vadis” is Latin for “Where are you going?”, and that is for Singapore and, well, GCT and LTK to think about.

In reflection, GCT said his current priority is to complete his second part biography entitled Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story.

As for LTK, he has this to say: “I do not have this hope that others will (remember me in any particular way). I have done what I should do, I have no regrets. Of course everyone will have different views. And as a public figure you have to accept them. That’s all. I would not be surprised if someone is scolding me; I accept it. I will remember the people, the voters. I think these are important life assets, friends in Hougang. I will remember them.”

Lesson? One. That’s the long journey of a political life in service. 

Politics is proned to acquire a bad name because it promises too much, and most of the time, it achieves much lesser than promised.

That is all in a day’s work for a politican trying his darnest to win your vote, and every one of them counts. He has to prove his mettle to the masses in rally after rally, and speeches of that sort always come in more exaggerative and idealistic form than in realistic self-assessment.

At its lowest, they are all professional performers marketing their perceived suitability and viability to persuade the majority and win their trust and favour. 

You can therefore expect a lot of bravados, at times, braggadocio, in order to fire the crowd. They spin some make-beliefs together with trust-me spiel to bridge the gap and win hearts. Not all of them feel at all natural “selling” themselves in that open, shameless and blatant way. 

At its highest, a politician put himself or herself out there to be lynched, pilfered, stoned, denounced and ridiculed. And because you can never please everybody, and it is a politician’s greatest mistake to even try, and also because you can’t ensure every citizen will get their fair share of the fruit of society’s economic labour, that is, the inevitability of the blind assortment process, there will therefore always be a section of society that blames them for their blighted state, causation notwithstanding. 

In a family, the father as the head of the household will always be respected. His proximity to his offspring and their dependence on him are the familiarity and nexus needed to ensure the reverence to him is properly accorded. 

But as a father of a nation, as a politician taking the helm, not all your children recognise your authority. There will always be the prodigals, the sidelined and those by the wayside. In other words, there will always be those who perceive you as exercising favourtism and discrimination, turning a blind eye to their plight, when the reality of things is indeed something that is clearly beyond you and your leadership. 

So, in the end, I guess LKY puts it aptly when he was asked - “What does it take to be a politican?” And he said: “You must have convictions. If you don’t have convictions, you are going in for personal glory or honour or publicity or popularity, forget it.” He also added “democracy as practised by the West is not a universal good.” 

Indeed, what is universal good is a heart that is humbled, a spirit for the welfare of others, and a mind that never let up to find solutions to bridge the gap even at one’s own expense. 

And I believe the best of our politicians embody most of all that, in good measure. 

Ps: Farewell GCT and LTK, a long journey completed, a good race finished.