Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Honesty in Politics

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Honesty in Politics

I attended a talk given by Professor Dr. Boediono, Vice President Designate of Indonesia arranged by the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

One Singapore minister asked the question to Dr. Boediono, "What is your experience during the election campaign? How much of your success is due to hard politics and how much do to soft politics?" He used an Indonesian term to describe soft politics, which appealled to human emotions.

Dr. Boediono replied, "I do not know what is hard politics and what is soft politics. I only know what is correct politics, and that is being honest."

I like this answer. It confirms that politics does not have to be manipulating public opinion or the election process. It is possible to be honest and sincere and win over the trust of the people.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...: In addition, he also mentioned that, "This human approach politics would increase value to the politics itself.."
Btw, the Indonesian term used was 'halus' which literally means 'soft'. But as a Javanese, it actually refers to Prof Boediono's 'calm, polite but firm' personality.
-Indonesian studying in NTU-; July 28, 2009 5:28 PM
Wealth Journey said...: Haha.. That was a good one. The minister must have felt stupid asking that question.; July 28, 2009 5:47 PM
Anonymous said...: I am curious to know which Singapore Minister is he/she ?; July 28, 2009 6:50 PM
Anonymous said...: George says:

Mr Tan,

Why not consider injecting honest politics into
the red dot by standing as an independent at the next GE?

I am sure many Singaporeans would welcome your participation with open arms your honest contributions from what you have been demonstrating these months over the investment issues. We badly need a spokesman like you in parliament.; July 28, 2009 7:05 PM
sgcynic said...: I would love to ask the same question to the Singapore minister.; July 28, 2009 7:30 PM
Anonymous said...: This simple question and answer shows how much the pap politicians have lost their human common sense. I think lots of it can be attributed to their elitist education and the artificial environment around them. Just look at the top civil servants who tried to second guess what the ministers are inclined to and the top students who tried to read the minds of the interviewer for scholarships. All of them are sucking up and behaving artificially.; July 28, 2009 11:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Great. But someone once remarked that " There are no morals in politics, only expediency." Maybe politicians need to rethink that remark. In fact, to date , the only honest politician that comes to mind is Manmohan Singh, the Indian PM who was co-opted for the job. And he runs a country that is rife with corruption!; July 29, 2009 11:42 AM
Anonymous said...: Petitions may not accurately reflect peoples desire, as fear will deter them from expressing 'anti-establishments'. You may need to be very persistant.

I believe you have the right political will to salvage our very last bastion of politcal space.
- ErniesUrn; July 29, 2009 6:58 PM