Dhanabalan:
‘Why I quit’
For first time he said he left cabinet because of disagreement. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Dec 16, 2007

In several little-noticed paragraphs highlighted by TODAY newspaper, Mr. S. Dhanabalan admitted in a dialogue session that he left the government because of disagreements within the leadership.

It was mentioned in quick passing and no details were given in the Q-and-A session with The Straits Times.

The thrust of his message was integrity in the government, during which he said:

”I think Singapore is probably one of the few places in the world where there is the least conflict because the political leadership is honest.

“It believes in having to tell the truth...But I do not deny that there will be conflicts and you just have to make your stand clear,' he said.

The session ended with Mr. Patrick Daniel, Editor-in-Chief, who chaired the dialogue, asking him why he quit politics.

“All I would say is that I had differences which I felt I could not live with. Therefore, I thought it was best to step down and work with the leadership in other ways,” he said.

This was the first time that Mr. Dhanabalan has gone public to speak on the reason why he left the cabinet.

The Straits Times downplayed this part, putting this passage almost at the end of the story.

TODAY newspaper highlighted it, with the comment that “in the seemingly-unexciting world of Singapore politics, some unexpected gems do pop up.

“The reader who bothered to plough through (the ST) report .. would have made this rare find on why the former minister left the Cabinet in 1992: Differences with the leadership that he could not live with.

“In a political system in which exit management is practised with a handshake, a smile and a tacit understanding not to talk publicly about departures, Mr Dhanabalan's candour was unusual.

“But don't expect others who have left or were forced to quit to come out of the woodwork.

”The fear of how robustly the other side will tell its story, and the Singapore culture of not going against the establishment will weigh against others going down Mr. Dhanabalan's route.

The nature of the disagreement was not stated, but Singaporeans recall the widespread rumour, which was dismissed by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that in 1990 Mr Lee Hsien Loong had (before he became Prime Minister) slapped Mr. Dhanabalan.

In a National Day Rally years later PM Goh Chok Tong, said "You may also have heard this old story about Loong {Referring to DPM Lee}. In case you have not, I'll tell you now.

”Back in 1990, Loong had a quarrel with Richard Hu. S. Dhanabalan sided with Richard. Loong lost his temper.

”He reached across the table and gave Dhanabalan a tight slap. The whole Cabinet was thrown into commotion.

“I then forced Loong to apologise. I must be suffering from amnesia. I just cannot remember this incident. Now you know how creative Singaporeans are."

The ‘slapping incident’ was extracted from a recent book by Australian Ross Worthington.

Dhanabalan’s departure was a surprise to Singaporeans.

He was one of four ministers - Tony Tan, Ong Teng Cheong, Goh Chok Tong and S. Dhanabalan – who were originally short-listed to succeed Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in 1990.

In his public account of why he chose them and what he felt were their strengths and weaknesses, Lee said his preferred successor was Tony Tan.

He felt that while the other three were all of Prime Ministerial material, each had a particular weakness:

* Goh was too stiff, lacking eloquence in public speaking,
* Ong was too closely aligned with the Chinese-speaking masses, lacking appeal to other communities.
* On Dhanabalan, Lee felt the 76% ethnic Chinese electorate was not yet ready for an Indian Prime Minister. Lee left the ultimate decision to the second generation ministers themselves, who went on to choose Goh.

(Dhanabalan is a Singaporean of Tamil Indian descent. A devout Christian (Baptist), he is married to Christine Tan Khoon Hiap and they have one son and one daughter.
Littlespeck.com