The Tragicomey of the Non-bland MP Candidates

Over half a century ago William White wrote Organization Man, then a major book about modern technocracy, and made the famous (though forgotten today) quote about the kind of person suited to the system: the bland leading the bland. This happens to capture well the kind of personality that fits the Singapore system: there are few colourful characters among the government scholars  who rise to become members of parliament, cabinet ministers and CEOs of government corporations.

In contrast, both Francis Seow and Tang Liang Hong were colourful, and in the end, tragic figures, with an element of dark comedy thrown in as well. Seow was Solicitor General, and actually received a medal for some work in dealing with certain difficult political issues. Tang Liang Hong was being considered as Nominated Member of Parliament (for discussion of this see box below ). Seow had to leave public service because of certain issues of personal morals and use of power (I heard some unconfirmed stories - the one piece of public information I have is that in a mid 80s public confrontation over some Law Society matters, he objected to some personal files being read out on the ground of privacy), while Tang's nomination was rejected after several senior political figures who were consulted over the matter provided feedback about Chinese chauvinism. Their later attempts to enter parliament on opposition tickets and subsequent events have all been well reported so I wont repeat them here.

Obviously, they did not fit into the "system"; but since they were, or at least wanted to be, part of it, and must have shared most of its values, why did they turn so hostile towards it? I think there is more to it than just opportunism (and judging by how their choices turned out for them, they were actually quite lousy opportunists).

In a system that commands so much resources, where one door closes against you and other doors also close at the same time, if one used to be "somebody", and suddenly discovers that he has become "nobody", it is rather hard to take, especially for someone with a colourful past.