Musings is a smart title for a book, especially this one by George Yeo. He must have chosen it to lull readers into not reading too much into his anecdotal-heavy storytelling that spans over a variety of subjects, from history, economics, philosophy, and religion to his views on China, India, ASEAN…
Reading between some of the throwaway lines, you can pick out some hidden political points. Like when he very briefly mentioned a phone call from Singapore during one of his many visits to India. He was there to attend the wedding of the son of Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys.
All that the former Foreign Minister would reveal was this: “I remember being preoccupied at the time with the call to enter the Presidential race in Singapore.”
It was in June 2011, a month after he had lost his Aljunied Parliamentary seat in the general election. Did the government want him to throw his name into the ring? What was his response? Why did he tuck this nugget away in a chapter called Passage to India?
Yeo also revealed he was surprised that PM Lee Hsien Loong apologised to voters after the PAP lost heavily to the Opposition in 2011. He was surprised because he did not expect the PM to do that? Or that he felt that there was no need to say sorry? Again, he left readers like me second-guessing.
The book is peppered with such throwaway one-liners.
At first, I was hesitant about wanting to read Musings. My view was coloured by what Yeo, who was then the Minister for Information and the Arts, said during a memorable lunch meeting with SPH editors. He was visibly upset by a commentary in The Strait Times that criticised an MP. A robust discussion followed, with ST editor Leslie Fong defending the article and Yeo criticising the commentary.
Yeo put his foot down and concluded that the government will defend an MP even if the latter was wrong. It was not a statement that I had expected from a man who was not just a thinker and philosopher but also what many people saw as a liberal.
Musings forced a rethink in me. His references to India and the warmth in the words showed that the author is clearly and truly race-blind. His deep friendship with Indian politicians, businessmen, and thinkers tells a story of a man whose knowledge of India is unparalleled in a Chinese-majority Singapore.
Yeo’s involvement in the Nalanda University project was a feather in his, and for sure Singapore’s, cap. There are two whole chapters on it, and he became a key figure to revive the 800-year-old institution, which was closed down three times by invaders. It is a story that reveals Yeo’s undying interest and spirit in an age-old Buddhist institution.
He became its second Chancellor but had to step down as BJP began to interfere in the university’s affairs.
In a comparison with China, Yeo appeared to be pro-India. China is like a giant redwood and looks very magnificent from a distance. But one day it will die affecting a large part of the forest. “India, by contrast, is like a giant bush. It is everywhere and hard to make sense of,” Yeo writes. It keeps growing and never dies. “Yet the biomass of the tree and that of the bush are comparable.”
The loudest praise for his deep interest in India comes from P Chidambaram, the former Finance Minister of India. “His abiding love for China, because of his roots, is understandable, but his love affair with India leads me to remark that once in his previous birth he must have been an Indian.”
George Yeo is an exception in Singapore politics. His intellectual might, his understanding of and experience in geopolitical affairs and his sense of history are being missed. Once Lee Kuan Yew said the ministers had to be paid high salaries because the top banks are eyeing them. But not one of them has got a high-profile job overseas.
Yeo is the exception. He joined Kerry Logistics in Hong Kong and has inside him a reservoir of knowledge about China and its territories. With the government saying it has launched an offensive to target top talent, the George Yeos of Singapore should not be forgotten.