Friday, February 3, 2012

What Toh Chin Chye really did for Singapore?

A few days ago, former PAP minister cum co-founder Toh Chin Chye kicked the bucket. From the MSM, I gather the impression that other than holding the most insignificant portfolio like Minister for Science and Technology and Minister for Health, Toh basically did nothing.

Among the 1st generation PAP leaders, we all knew Rajaratnam spearheaded foreign affairs. Goh Keng Swee destroyed Singapore well-being in the long run by ruining domestic capital and set up the abominable GIC with Jewish Rothschild shylock. We knew Lim Kim San put Singaporeans into debt by forcing us to stay in HDB. That given a choice, most would prefer to stay in the worst slum than PAP's HDB barrack. We knew Kuan Yew cannot do any good things but ISA, FT polices, property ponzi....etc.

But what did Toh Chin Chye did, that make him stand side by side with Raja and Goh, and even ahead of Lim Kim San?

Toh Chin Chye was the kingmaker
Toh was beholden to Kuan Yew because he re-created PAP modelling after tyrannical Lenin's Communist Party. This helped Kuan Yew to consolidate power by suppressing grassroot democracy.

According to wikipedia, The election of the CEC through the PAP cadre system has been described as a "closed system" in which "the cardinals appoint the pope and the pope appoints the cardinals. The PAP's organisational structure has Leninist roots whereby a group of elite PAP members known as cadres elect 18 CEC members from a list of candidates. Originally when this structure was organised in 1957, the outgoing committee recommended a list of candidates for the next CEC. This has been changed recently so that the CEC nominates eight members and the party caucus selects the remaining ten.

The cadre system was started in 1957 by Toh Chin Chye, in an effort to prevent the popular leftist faction of the PAP, which dominated the early Party at the grassroots level and many of its committees, and composed much of its early membership, from ever taking control of the CEC again.

Before 1957, every party member could vote in CEC elections. However on August 9 1957, the leftists took control of the CEC, and the original founders (the "Peranakan Circle") lost control. After Lim Yew Hock, cracked down on many of the leftist leaders in the CEC in 1957 (as well as many non-PAP leftist leaders in general), the Peranakan Circle regained control of the CEC.


CNA today wrote that, in a tribute years later, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said without Dr Toh holding the fort in the PAP, the party might never have held together. Lee was wrong, without Toh, the party would still exist but Kuan Yew would most likely not become the PM.

Toh had few occasions to become PM but he supported Kuan Yew. He supported Kuan Yew in all the inflexion points.

To conclude, Toh did nothing for our country, or rather his works were mostly destructive. He has such a high standing in PAP because without him, Kuan Yew would almost certainly not ascend to power. And his destruction of party democracy means Kuan Yew is able to have a iron grip of the party for as long as he like.

Toh was spurned by Kuan Yew
He was not given any significant portfolio. He watched and saw all his PAP buddies rotating in and out of prestigious appointments such as defence, finance, foreign affairs....etc.

After doing running dog for Kuan Yew, he was kicked out mercilessly, in all major projects of nation building. This is the reason till this date, no one can tell what Toh really does. He was just a spent stepping stone.

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