TOTD: Oxley Temple Saga - PAP, why?

Thought of the Day - PAP, why?

Many people have been "misled" in this Oxley saga that it is a "Private" matter but apparently, it is not.

The WHOLE Cabinet of PAP Ministers wanted the Oxley House to be preserved and no compromise on just having a garden, why?

While PM Lee and his siblings LHY and LWL may have called for a "cease fire" and wanted to "solve the issue in private", but to me, this issue cannot be solved without looking hard at what these PAP Ministers want.

First of all, why did the FIRST Will of LKY signed in Aug 2011 stated so clearly that he wanted the house to be demolished immediately after his death? This was done right after the 21 Jul 2011 Cabinet Meeting which he was "invited" (I would refrain from using "summon") to the Cabinet to "discuss" about the fate of the Oxley House.

It is in my view that this is part of PAP's reactions and "strategy" to cope with the bad GE result in May 2011. PAP has never been so "enthusiastic" about "Heritage Preservation". It has demolished quite a lot of important landmarks in Singapore without much consultation or even winking. These includes the National Theater (I doubt many younger generations know what it is!), National Central Library etc.

But why LKY's Oxley house suddenly become so important for them? It is only about PAP's history and not much of value as a "National Heritage".

Thus, it is my view that PAP has its own self vested interests in mind, in a direct response to the dwindling popularity of its rule. Someone must have come up with the brilliant idea that LKY's political capital, embedded in the Holy Temple of Oxley, could help PAP in retaining its perpetual rule! Thus, this is the reason why that Cabinet meeting was called and basically telling LKY that they need to preserve his Oxley house to create his temple.

LKY, though throughout his life, he has been no short of a dictator, didn't like the idea. He knew that his system of rule could only be sustainable with good people as "benevolent dictators" but apparently, this is almost impossible to get in real life. He didn't want his name to be linked to any foreseeable failure of PAP's dictatorial rule in future, or even become the political milking machine for these incompetent PAP Ministers who cannot even hold their own fort and ground without depending on him, as a dead man!

Thus, he decided to add that demolition clause into his First Will, right after that Cabinet Meeting. This is the response he made against these PAP Minions.

Thus, Singaporeans must really understand the FULL Context of this Oxley saga. I am rather worried to see some people being "indifferent" or even "supportive" of setting this Oxley Political Temple of PAP! People have been mistaken this issue as some "National Interest" but there is absolutely no "National Interest" in it, only PAP's interests of perpetual rule!

In fact, the REAL National Interest is to prevent the PAP from creating the Oxley Political Temple, making use of LKY as the idolized God in it. It is in National Interest to prevent ANYONE from continuously milking a dead man for political capital to sustain his rule.

Although I am not a fan of LKY but I guess on this point, I have to agree with his decision.

This is especially true that after PAP has tasted "success" in milking a dead LKY for all his possible political capital in GE 2015, right after his death and achieving an exceptional result of 70% in the polls, PAP's minions will definitely be more determined to use all means to preserve the house and turn it into a permanent Oxley Temple for them to milk the dead man indefinitely! They would even threaten to say, with total disrespect and disgraceful that they have the power to over write LKY's last wish through forceful land acquisition or gazetting that house!

This shows how desperate they are in wanting to create that Oxley Temple for their own political interests! But they just want to be seen "nice" and this is the only reason why they didn't act straight away. They are just trying to have the cake and eat it as well.

Thus, having this true context in mind, would you expect the Lee family could possibly settle this issue amicably in private? The answer is NO. Whether we like it or not, it is PAP's political will at play and it will become a "National Issue", no matter what superficial agreement could be reached between PM Lee and his siblings.

Many people cannot see the point why LHY and LWL had accused LHL and his wife of having this intention of making use of their father's name for "Dynastic Rule" because they do not see the whole context of this Oxley saga.

If you understand the full context why, in the first place, PAP has insisted of turning Oxley house into a Political Temple and why LKY resisted, you will understand why LHY and LWL would see LHL's anger and objection to the demolition plus attempts made to preserve the house, even to "rewrite" their father's history to achieve that, as an attempt to get his son to become a successor in future.

This is because, in LHY's and LWL's perspective, if LHL and wife didn't have that intention, why would he be so assertive and even emotional in wanting the house to be preserved as a "Heritage Site"? In LHY's and LWL's view, if LHL has nothing to gain from it, why would he be so anxious about the intended demolition of the house?

I would urge all Singaporeans to oppose PAP's intention of turning this Oxley house into PAP's Political Temple. It is LKY's foresight in not having it and I must admit, this time round, he got it right.

LKY knew that his system of political rule is not sustainable and it should be abused, definitely not in his name. He was prepared to subject PAP to a more democratic system after what he saw the true colors of his PAP Ministers, after that Jul 2011 Cabinet meeting.

We will just have to trust his political judgement for one last time and oppose this blatant attempt of PAP creating that Oxley Temple.

Goh Meng Seng