At 59 Tharman is not too old for the PM job

By: Andrew Loh

These independent polls and actual election results have debunked the shallow excuse from the Prime Minister and the infantile propaganda “studies” by CNA and IPS.

And it’s not just non-Chinese such as Tharman which Singaporeans (Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasian, etc) have voted for.

In our history there have been not a few – David Marshall, S Rajaratnam, Othman Wok, S Dhanabalan, JB Jeyaretnam, Michael Palmer, Murali Pillai, and so on.

So how is it possible that Singaporeans are ready for a non-Chinese president but not a non-Chinese PM?

Isn’t it clear, from actual election results through the years, that it is the Elite Chinese Boys Club (ECBC) – aka PAP – which perpetuates such propaganda for its own political purpose?

Not true?

Then put Tharman’s name there out there for PM and see how few Singaporeans will object.

There is no other Singaporean leader, besides Lee Hsien Loong himself, who is held is high regard by the rest of the world.

Look at the six frontrunner for the PM post.

Really? That’s the best we’ve got after scraping right to the bottom of the barrel?

And for those saying Tharman is too old, eh aren’t you upping the retirement age (to past 70), and encouraging everyone to work for as long as you can?

And really, you would choose a less experienced and able person for the most important job, over another person who is truly eminently qualified – because the latter is a few years older than the former?

If you do, then please stop all this talk about age discrimination at work.

They would just be pure nonsense because you would be setting an example of age discrimination at the highest level.

Yet, at the same time, we have had one old man remaining in office till the day he died.

He was 92.

And incidentally, he too was Chinese.

And he was revered and praised for dedicating his whole life to public service.

And here we are saying someone who is presently only 59 is too old? Goodness, he is just 5 years older than the current main frontrunner for the PM job.

So what exactly are you talking about?

The logic is just so much #wow. The propaganda is so much #bleah.