Morality and heroism for some...

Straits Times MAR 15 1998 
 Ministerial statement on scholars and scholarship bonds by Deputy Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong
[snipped]
 Without the moral sense of duty to family, friends and society, no society
can thrive. No army can win battles if every soldier only does his minimum
duty. It is the altruism and heroism of outstanding leaders and soldiers, from
the commander-in-chief down to the private soldier, which differentiates the
victors from the vanquished. 



 The Straits Times      December 4, 1993
    THE need to strike a balance between preserving a sense of public service
and compensating able men adequately for serving in public office was a
running theme throughout the debate on ministerial pay yesterday.

   Several MPs who rose to speak on this issue expressed support for the pay 
increases, but voiced concern and unease over the money factor. 

   They felt that using high  salaries  to attract talent for political
appointments would undermine the notion of politics as public service.

   Perhaps the debate was brought up most vividly by Deputy Prime  Minister
Lee Hsien Loong,  who said few men would be so idealistic as to give up all their
pay and "run the country as a religious order and a calling".

   Brigadier-General (Res) Lee agreed that the altruistic motive was ideal,
but argued one had to be realistic. "Now, I think we can find one or two such
people. Can we find 81 to be MPs?" 



The Straits Times (Singapore), December 10, 1994
   In Parliament recently, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew reeled off the names
of 14 MPs who had left government service for the booming private sector in
recent years.
   As he put it, MPs are ordinary men who want a good life for themselves and
their families, and who "act logically", to seize the chances offered by a
booming regional economy.