She then explained that she “was born a maverick – coming feet first instead of head first,” and that “irreverence is in her blood.”
Madam Ho ended her post thanking those who had watched over her, and everyone else who was looking out for each other.
One thing we’re all learning about the Prime Minister’s wife in this season is that we can never expect what we’ll get!
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HO Ching 20 Apr at 04:03
Heehee heehee heeheehee!
Heehee heehee heeheehee!
Hic hic hic hic hic!
Heehee heehee heehee heeheehee!
Lolz 😂 😂 😂
Seriously, folks, the world can sometimes be very funny!
Heehee heehee heeheehee!
More later as I’m rotfl 😂 😂 😂
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Ho Ching responds to Taiwan's mask donation with 'Errrr'
The cover photo of Tsai had been edited to make it seem like the words 'oral sex failure' are blown up next to her
She also asked her audience to "ignore" the cover photo used in the video.
She said: "I'm not yet au fait yet to know how to edit videos, and so just shared what came across my fb feed."
The cover photo in question has the words "mask diplomacy failure" next to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, but due to the way the words was edited, the specific phrase "oral sex failure" was blown up, making it stand out from the picture instead.
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Dear Prime Minister, what do you think of your wife’s Facebook posts?
Do you find them helpful, do you give a thumbs up?
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, you know better than anyone else that your wife Ho Ching is a most compulsive social media user. Her never-ending mishmash of social media shares and posts give Singaporeans – and even foreigners – plenty to chew over.
Take her recent post of a cryptic “Errr…” in response to news that Taiwan was donating face masks to Singapore. That was not the first time she caused a bit of a ruckus. PM Lee, did you go “Arghh” when you saw her “Errr…”? Or when she posted a cheeky photo of a monkey making a rude gesture. Was that targeted at anyone?
And how did you react when your wife posted a spirited defence of seven-figure pay of politicians, arguing that Singapore’s political salary system is unique as it does not include perks or pension? PM Lee, what ran through your mind when you saw that?
related: Shouldn’t there be OB markers for what a PM’s spouse post online?
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Singapore Leader’s Wife Blasts Criticism on Nation’s Virus Spike
Ho Ching, head of Singapore’s state-owned investment company and wife of the country’s prime minister, blasted criticism on the city-state’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying it wasn’t alone in misreading the pandemic’s spread among patients who don’t display symptoms.
“We all underestimated the asymptomatic transmission -- not just SG, but the world over,” Ho said in a Facebook post late Friday night, using the abbreviation for Singapore. She said she’s frustrated by “I told you so” comments, adding that “hindsight is always beautiful and perfect.” While she didn’t say who the cryptic rebuttal was directed at in the post, a report that went live on Friday said Ho admitted that the government made a mistake in bringing Singaporeans home when the number of infections surged globally.
“Nope! Don’t put words in my mouth, young man!” Ho said in her Facebook post. She added that the unnamed critic shouldn’t “waste time being a back-seat driver” and should stop acting like a “smart alec, by blaming this or that person.”
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'Stop yelping like a spoilt kid,' Ho Ching tells Singaporeans upset over new FairPrice service fee
People have been roasting NTUC FairPrice for its new $3.99 service fee — and Ho Ching is not here for it
The chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings chided Singaporeans who were complaining about the supermarket chain's fees in a candid Facebook post today (April 17), telling them to "stop yelping like a spoilt kid".
Ho, who is married to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also suggested that those who wanted their groceries delivered for free should "step up and volunteer to do delivery for the rest of us".
It came after NTUC FairPrice announced that it would impose a $3.99 service fee on all online orders from 8pm on Thursday (April 16).
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Temasek CEO, Ho Ching makes nearly 200 posts a day on Facebook – why?
Just last week, Temasek CEO and wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Ho Ching, got into a little spot of trouble with a Facebook post she made about Taiwan donating medical masks to Singapore.
In a post on Saturday (11 April), Mdm Ho shared an article by Taiwan News about the donation and she accompanied that with a caption that originally said, “Errr….” This drew flak from Taiwan netizens who found her caption confusing and ask her to explain the meaning of the post, adding that if Singapore doesn’t want the masks, it can reject the offer.
The issue unfolded over the weekend with Singaporean netizens defending Mdm Ho’s ambiguous comment, Taiwanese netizens demanding a clarification, as a pro-People’s Action Party (PAP) fanpage referencing Mdm Ho’s post to insinuate that the Taiwan government was keeping these stocks of masks from Singapore. Two days later on Monday, Mdm Ho decided to edit her post to clarify her original comment.
related:
Kenneth Jeyaretnam encourages S'poreans to keep guessing about Ho Ching’s salary
Netizens call for transparency over Ho Ching’s salary;dissatisfied by Temasek’s statement
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Making Sense of Ho Ching’s Facebook Page
Did you know that butterflies drink turtle tears? Until yesterday, I didn’t even know that turtles cried. But thanks to Mdm. Ho Ching, I now understand where herbivorous butterflies get their daily sodium fix. This is just one of the many nuggets of knowledge that Ho Ching posts to her Facebook feed – the most random but fascinating collection of internet content ever assembled by a public figure in Singapore.
If you follow her, you can learn about China’s expanding naval capabilities, bricklaying robots, Ipoh’s revitalised hipster cafe scene, and even the temperature of Uranus. (This is not a joke.) Despite being named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the world (and certainly the most powerful woman in Singapore), we know absolutely nothing about Mdm. Ho Ching beyond the basic facts. No mainstream media outlet has ever profiled her and she is rarely mentioned in news reports except in PM Lee’s company. We do not know what her political opinions are, what her vision for Singapore’s future is, or even her favourite food.
After being CEO of Temasek for 14 years, PM Lee’s spouse and the person responsible for everyone’s monies remains a complete mystery. Except on social media, where she shares often and without inhibition. So what better way to learn about Ho Ching than by reading everything on her Facebook page?
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Ho Ching’s refreshingly chill approach to social media culminates in sharing of Pornhub meme
Spam on, you powerful woman, you
Unlike her husband — who holds the most powerful position in the country — the Prime Minister’s wife Ho Ching has a rather refreshingly lax approach to her social media postings.
If one were to look at her personal (and verified) Facebook page, it would seem that she loves to spam links to various videos, articles and memes without a care for public relations at all — an amazing feat considering that every single aspect of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s own social media presence is clearly curated. The same goes for the rest of the ministers and various politicians under him — they can (most times) be so inoffensive and sterile to the point of being bland.
That’s why Ho Ching’s own posts are comparatively interesting. Politically incorrect jokes even make it to her feed — like this one about Pornhub (sadly blocked in Singapore, mind you). Bless her gleeful, carefree heart.
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HO Ching 12 hrs
I have no view one way or other about who deserves what.
I have however, one view about tables of comparison like the one given in the article.
One big difference is the clean wage system in SG - ie no other perks in kind during office, and no pensions or other benefits after leaving office in SG.
In most, if not all, other countries, they would have many other perks during term of office, like butlers and hairdressers, free flights on national airlines, even family holidays, etc; and quite a number like the USA would include perks after end of term of office.
I do have one more view about pay for public service, whether for political office or “do good” areas like social services.
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Ho Ching, please stop dissembling and tell us how much you earn as a Gov employee
Thirdly and most importantly why is Ho Ching talking about her husband’s salary while she ignores the elephant in the room, which is what she is paid and which she refuses to disclose. If Piyush Gupta is paid $12 million p.a. while the head of SingTel earns over $20 million (including share options), then she must be paid several times that. We cannot just be stonewalled in Parliament by the fiction that Temasek is a private company. I have said many times over the years that it is extremely likely that she is paid more than $100 million a year and has earned more than a billion dollars while she has been at Temasek. Yet her remuneration is treated like a state secret and guarded as closely as the size of our reserves. And when she talks about a “clean” salary without any perks she and her husband need to explain why they are using the Gulfstream owned by Temasek’s subsidiary, ST Aerospace, and whether it is available for her to use for private trips as CEO. Neither does she reveal whether her family money is invested alongside Temasek’s making use of inside information and getting cut in early on special deals.
It is clear that Ho Ching occupies much the same role as Kwa Geok Choo did for LKY. While LKY was paid an obscene salary by the standards of other world leaders, the real money was being scooped up by his wife in her role as head of Lee & Lee. My father was able to establish that Lee & Lee were the preferred lawyer for the HDB’s conveyancing though at the expense of losing our family home. It was probably her that LKY was referring to when he said in 1994 that lawyers were able to make $4 million p.a. Like LHL’s mother, Ho Ching is able to make the real money while her husband is paid a meagre pittance of only $2.2 million p.a.
I wonder who is really richer: the Najib and Rosmah Show or our very own first couple. I guess we will never know.
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PM Lee demands The Online Citizen take down allegedly defamatory article or face legal action
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s spokesperson has issued a letter to a sociopolitical website, demanding that it remove an article containing “false” and “libellous” allegations and publish an apology.
In the letter sent at 6pm on September 1 to Terry Xu, chief editor of The Online Citizen (TOC) – a copy of which was made available to the media – the prime minister’s press secretary Chang Li Lin took issue with an article titled PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members, which she called a “scurrilous” attack on Lee’s character and integrity.
A link to the article, dated August 15, was also posted on TOC’s Facebook page. The report and Facebook post repeated several false allegations that were levelled against PM Lee by his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, said Chang.
PM Lee’s wife, Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members
On Wednesday (14 August), Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (LHL), took to her Facebook to share an article that explains why it is totally fine to cut ties with toxic family members.
Apart from being married to PM Lee, Madam Ho is also widely known for her career as the chief executive officer of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings. She is also deemed as an influential figure not just in Singapore, but worldwide, as she took the 17th spot in Forbes’ World 100 Most Powerful Women in 2018.
In her post, Madam Ho shared an article by Healthy Holistic Living titled “Here’s Why Sometimes It Is Okay to Cut Ties with Toxic Family Members”.
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HO Ching shared a link. 20 hrs
healthy-holistic-living.com
Here’s Why It Is Completely Fine to Cut Family Members Out of Your Life
Prime Minister’s wife shares yet another pro-LGBT post on social media
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching, has shared yet another pro-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) post on her social media page
Notorious for flood-posting her page with several links throughout the course of each day, Mdm Ho – who also serves as CEO of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek – shared an article on her personal Facebook page about how a UK citizen took his life after his strict Muslim family told him he needed to be cured of being gay.
The article, published by Birmingham Live, covered Dr Nazim Mahmood’s death from the perspective of his longtime boyfriend and fiance Matt Ogston. Mr Ogston revealed that he had been in a 13-year relationship with Dr Nazim but the pair had to keep the relationship a secret, out of fear about how Dr Nazim’s family would react to his sexuality. Mdm Ho shared the article without comment on her Facebook page, on Monday (22 July). Some netizens responding to her post appear to have taken her action to mean that she supports the LGBT community.
This is not the first time Mdm Ho has posted pro-LGBT posts on her personal Facebook page. Last year, she surprised many when she shared an invitation to the Pink Dot event on her Facebook page, over the Chinese New Year holidays.
“Ho Ching is watching all of us” – Temasek CEO skirts question on the company’s plans for leadership succession
Temasek International CEO Dilhan Pillay appeared to skirt questions on Ho Ching’s role at Temasek and the organisation’s plans for leadership succession, at a recent press briefing.
Temasek International is the investment arm of Singapore sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, which is led by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching. Instead of giving a direct answer as to what Temasek’s leadership succession plans are, when he was asked to give details on these plans and on Mdm Ho’s role at the company, Mr Pillay would only say that Mdm Ho is “very much now involved in the stewardship aspects of Temasek…she still keeps a watchful eye over all of us to make sure we continue to do the right thing.”
The South China Morning Post noted that Mr Pillay also quipped, “Right now, she’s watching all of us,” and that this remark was met with laughter.
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Where are my Sandals?
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mrs Lee (far left) were among the foreign leaders and their spouses hosted to a welcome banquet by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan
Ho Ching criticises Boeing over a “lack of balls”
She was referring to a news article that linked the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines to a lack of proper training for the pilots to fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The Australian reported that the only requirement for pilots to fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was simply a 56-minute training video – not simulator trainings or flights with supervising captains.
Pointing out that the low-cost training proposition and the transitional ease for pilots – combined with the increased capacity, range and better fuel efficiency – made the craft sound “the perfect aircraft for cash-conscious airlines with expansion on their mind,” the publication published a quote by aviation consultant Neil Hansford who said:
“They have sold this aircraft on the basis that if you can fly a 737-800, you can fly this. It’s engineering arrogance.”Linking The Australian article on her Facebook page, Ho Ching disagreed with Hansford that the crash could have occurred due to “engineering arrogance.” She, instead, felt that the crash was a result of “marketing over safety, and the carelessness of engineering, and the lack of balls up and down the chain, and across organisations to shout out any concerns.”
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Ho Ching irks netizens by ‘liking’ video of Rosmah Mansor telling Najib supporters not to cry in court
Interestingly, Ho Ching was one among hundreds of Facebook users who have ‘liked’ the video so far
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching, was noticed ‘liking’ a video of Rosmah Mansor telling the supporters of her husband Najib Razak not to cry as the toppled former Prime Minister of Malaysia was charged in court yesterday.
Ho Ching ‘liking’ the video appears to have irked some netizens who are circulating a screenshot showing her ‘like’ on Facebook and WhatsApp.
While some have taken Ho Ching’s ‘like’ to mean that she is glad Najib is getting charged in court, others have pointed out that her ‘like’ may be her way of expressing her support for Rosmah, whom Ho Ching has been seen sharing a warm relationship with in the past.
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Ho Ching show her support for Rosmah's video on Facebook
Her hubby and najib are like abang and adik....of coz show support lah
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Ho Ching shares link to Pink Dot event on Facebook. Drama ensues
The Prime Minister’s wife shares a lot of things on Facebook.
And if you’ve ever visited her Facebook page, you’ll know what we mean — we scrolled through no less than 124 Facebook posts between 7:25am and 8:35am. On Monday. Alone.
But we digress from the main reason we’re here, which is that on Friday, February 16, one of her posts, put up at the crack of dawn (6am sharp) triggered a lot more discussion and response than usual.
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Ho Ching’s Video Of Junglefowl Alive In Sin Ming Shows That She Shares PM’s Love Of The Chickens
We are happy to report that we have not seen the last of the Sin Ming Avenue chickens yet, and they have even gained another important fan.
Apparently, families of them have been spotted in the Sin Ming Avenue and Sin Ming Road areas, thanks to a video by none other than the Prime Minister’s wife.
Ms Ho Ching’s video, shared on her Facebook page on Tuesday (Feb 14), brought joy to our hearts.
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Ho Ching Apologises for Doing What Every Wife Ought to Do: Stand By Your Man
It was a right shocker to see that picture of a monkey go up on Ho Ching’s Facebook page, amidst the raging allegations by that her sister-in-law that her husband was trying to build a dynasty and pressurising the press. But the wife of PM Lee Hsien Loong has said she’s sorry that the “monkey finger” image was posted, calling the sharing of the photo a mistake made while she was trying her hand at Twitter.
Many believed she was doing what every wife ought to do, which is “stand by your man” when he comes under attack (or when he’s being labelled a “dishonourable son”). But Ms Ho or Mrs Lee, said she had been playing around with Twitter.
She wrote on Facebook: “Peace, folks, and embarrassed apologies from this Twitter newbie. Had been playing around with Twitter yesterday, trying out different buttons, seeing what can or cannot be done. “Discovered Twitter reposts pictures without captions, and unfortunately one of the pictures could be misunderstood on its own. Took down as soon as a friend alerted me.”
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Ho Ching pens another poem, this time round about taxis
Ho Ching has gotten quite a bit of our attention this year – from the $14.90 dinosaur purse that she carried to the White House that was designed by Pathlight student Seetoh Sheng Jie to the poem she penned to share the story behind the bag she carried to meet Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace. Her poem explained that the bag had been at a previous meeting with the royal couple – carried by another woman, who died a few years ago.
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Ho Ching’s unusually high number of Facebook posts lead to netizens speculating if her account has been hacked
Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings Ho Ching’s unusual amount of activity on Facebook has led to netizens speculating if her account was hacked.
Ho Ching is not new to being under the spotlight because of social media, once being called out for posting a picture of a monkey raising its middle finger in a rude gesture around the same time her sister-in-law, Dr Lee Wei Ling, posted an exchange of her email with Singapore Press Holdings.
Once again, she has got the attention of the Internet for her large number of Facebook posts. According to Andrew Loh, Founder of The Online Citizen, just yesterday alone (July 1), she made “made 176 posts, starting from 8.56am to 11.59pm”. This comes up to an “average of almost 1 post every 5 minutes”, he added.
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Culminates in sharing of Pornhub meme
© Coconuts Media Photo: Ho Ching Facebook page
Unlike her husband — who holds the most powerful position in the country — the Prime Minister's wife Ho Ching has a rather refreshingly lax approach to her social media postings.
If one were to look at her personal (and verified) Facebook page, it would seem that she loves to spam links to various videos, articles and memes without a care for public relations at all — an amazing feat considering that every single aspect of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's own social media presence is clearly curated. The same goes for the rest of the ministers and various politicians under him — they can (most times) be so inoffensive and sterile to the point of being bland.
That's why Ho Ching's own posts are so relatively interesting. Politically incorrect jokes even make it to her feed — like this one about Pornhub (sadly blocked in Singapore, mind you). Bless her gleeful, carefree heart.
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HO Ching shared Engineering Insider's photo.
Engineering Insider Like This PagePage Liked · 19 December
Ho Ching's refreshingly chill approach to social media culminates in sharing of Pornhub meme
Spam on, you powerful woman
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Pornhub: an unlikely brand ambassador?
Dr Mumbo doffs his cap to Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong. After all, it’s not every day you see a PM’s other half sharing a gag on Facebook about pornography, let alone in a country where material of a salacious nature is strictly off limits.
It’s certainly a ringing endorsement for Pornhub. Dr Mumbo wondered if the smut site may approach Ho Ching to become its local brand ambassador.
Until he was reliably informed it is one of the many, many thousands of websites unavailable to viewers of adult art in Singapore.
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Ho Ching shares Pornhub meme, a site banned by IDA
On 19 Dec, the Prime Minister’s wife Ho Ching shared a meme from Pornhub. Pornhub is banned in Singapore. She did not share it direct from Pornhub but from a Facebook page Engineering Insider.
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PM LEE'S WIFE HO CHING SHARES PORNHUB MEME ON FB, IRRESPONSIBLE OR COOL LADY?
By the way, PornHub has been banned by IDA Singapore so it is strange that she who is the Prime Minister's wife would share such a distasteful meme. Singaporeans look up to her and what kind of wrong message will she be sending to fellow Singaporeans?
Is she condoning pornography in Singapore? Ho Ching needs to be more careful and prudent with what she shares on social media. She has a responsibility to all Singaporeans. It maybe a little joke to her but not to parents trying to teach their children the harms of pornography.
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Ho Ching just shared a post that might explain why people take so long in the toilet
Have you ever wondered why some people take so long in the toilet?
A possible reason could be gleaned from something Ho Ching recently shared on her Facebook page.
Now, the post brings up some interesting points that are relevant to Singaporeans — chief of all, the prevalence of smartphones in Singapore.
A possible reason could be gleaned from something Ho Ching recently shared on her Facebook page.
Now, the post brings up some interesting points that are relevant to Singaporeans — chief of all, the prevalence of smartphones in Singapore.
After Reading This, You Will Never Use Your Phone In A Toilet Again!
Are you one of many people who take their phone into the toilet? If the answer is YES, you should be aware of the fact that it is extremely dangerous habit. Namely, on this way you are exposing yourself to numerous germs including salmonella, E.Coli and C.
Dr. Lisa Ackerley, hygiene expert explains: “If you wipe your bum then pick up your phone, you may as well not bother washing your hands because all the bacteria you put on your phone will end up back on your hands”.
So what should you do in order to protect your health? Dr. Ron Cutler, director of biomedical science degrees at Queen Mary’s University London, explained: “Basically, you just shouldn’t (take your phone into the toilet) if you are at all concerned about the transfer of viruses and fecal contamination”. According to him, levels of contamination vary widely and depend on the place where the toilet is. While small office is not quite big problem, hospital or a cruise ship where lots of viruses are circulating are different and much more dangerous.
So what should you do in order to protect your health? Dr. Ron Cutler, director of biomedical science degrees at Queen Mary’s University London, explained: “Basically, you just shouldn’t (take your phone into the toilet) if you are at all concerned about the transfer of viruses and fecal contamination”. According to him, levels of contamination vary widely and depend on the place where the toilet is. While small office is not quite big problem, hospital or a cruise ship where lots of viruses are circulating are different and much more dangerous.
Ho Ching perfectly camouflaged with botany at Singapore Botanic Gardens
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shared a picture of his wife snapping away at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and extended his Christmas wishes via his Instagram account. Several commenters cannot help but notice how well Madam Ho Ching had blended in with the plants at the Botany Centre.
PM Lee said that his wife and him found the jolly green “snowman” outside the Botany Centre when they went for jalanjalan (a walk), and that this ‘snowman’ does not melt.
Instagram user rogerkktan responded to Mr Lee’s post and said: “Mrs Lee clothing ready blend into the back ground.
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leehsienloong
Merry Christmas to one and all! 25 December is a joyous day for Christians, as they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. ☃☃ We don’t get snow in Singapore, so instead of a white Christmas we have a green one! Ho Ching and I spotted this jolly green “snowman” outside the Botany Centre at the Singapore Botanic Gardens during a recent #jalanjalan.
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Ho Ching on Forbes Lists
#30 Power Women (2016) #43 in 2015
For half of 2015, Ho Ching, the CEO of Temasek Holdings, took a sabbatical from the Singapore state-owned investment firm before returning in the autumn. Ho, who has been on the Power Woman list every year since its inception in 2004, helped guide her firm to a $266 billion portfolio last year.
She has been with the company for 14 years, initially joining as the executive director, and was appointed to CEO in 2004. The firm has recently signaled its desire to look for opportunities in Europe. With a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in hand, Ho started her career as an engineer with the Ministry of Defence of Singapore in 1976.
She is married to Lee Hsien Loong, the nation's prime minister and son to the country's first PM, Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March 2015.
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HO Ching 10 April ·
Had been playing around with Twitter y'day, trying out different buttons, seeing what can or cannot be done.
Discovered Twitter reposts pictures without captions, and unfortunately one of the pictures could be misunderstood on its own.
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The mystery of Ho Ching
Ho Ching is conspicuously different. When was the last time you saw her deliver a speech at an event? Give a media interview? Subject herself to account for anything?
She does not even front the annual press conference to present the Temasek Holdings’ financial scorecard. This is so unlike other major organisations like SingTel and DBS Bank – you can be sure the CEO is front and centre of of it all when their financial performance is presented, fielding questions and giving media interviews. Temasek Holdings appears to adopt the unusual stance of putting the CEO at the backburner when it comes to media relations, transparency and accountability.
Ho Ching has been CEO of Temasek Holdings since 2004. For many years now, we have been hearing the usual refrain from Temasek Holdings about succession planning. This year, at its annual press conference, the same thing was regurgitated, this time by investment head Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara: “As we have said over the years, the board has an annual succession review and that’s the discipline we put in place.” We call this PR-speak – rehearsed words that say something but really mean nothing.
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I asked Ho Ching to enter politics: Goh Chok Tong
Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong has revealed that in the early 1980s, he approached Ho Ching to enter politics – but was told that the timing was wrong.
In the first volume of his newly-released memoirs entitled Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story, Goh, who was Prime Minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004, recalled that he had spotted Ho in the Ministry of Defence and thought that “she had the intellect and the attributes we were looking for”. “She would have made a good minister, a different kind of minister.”
Ho, who is now chief executive of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, was in her late 20s at the time. “She did not say no. She said not at this stage. She was still young.”
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Do you agree with ESM Goh that Ho Ching would have made a good minister?
A book about Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong is making waves lately with its many revelations about various prominent figures.
One such revelation was that Goh, in the early ’80s, had approached Ho Ching – while she was working in the Ministry of Defence, and before she married current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long – to join politics. Ho Ching is currently CEO of Temasek Holdings.
Goh had thought “she had the intellect and the attributes we were looking for”, adding that “she would have made a good minister, a different kind of minister”. She did not say no, but rather, not at [that] stage.
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In approaching Ho Ching for politics, has Goh breached his duties as cabinet minister?
To me, the aspiration to hold political office should be a calling. As such, I never really understood or agreed with the ruling Peoples' Action Party's (PAP) practice of handpicking people who have not been involved in politics to join the party and run for office. If you want to get people who have hitherto not been involved in politics to join the political scene, you would have to entice them to join. They may have to leave their existing jobs and to get them to do that - wouldn't you have to sweeten the deal? This is perhaps why our current Members of Parliament (MPs) and ministers are paid so well. Arguably, some were not really interested in political office to begin with and only joined the fray because they were invited to and perhaps made attractive offers? Are these the right type of candidates?
I don't query the intellect of those who have been handpicked. That said, having a high intellect does not necessitate to being a good MP or minister. A good MP or minister needs to have more than intellect, he or she needs to have empathy, desire and passion to be involved in public service. My concern is that the system of handpicking people not involved in politics to join the party may attract candidates who are only in it for the money or prestige. This, in turn, means that the government has to constantly offer high remuneration as an incentive to otherwise uninterested people. Is this the best use of public money?
Former Prime Minister and current Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong (Goh), has in his newly-released memoirs entitled Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story, confirmed that this practice of inviting suitable candidates to join the firm. He revealed that "in the early 1980s, he approached Ho Ching to enter politics – but was told that the timing was wrong." He further said that Ho Ching "had the intellect and the attributes we were looking for”. This begs the question - What attributes are they looking for? It sounds rather vague doesn't it? We are left to speculate what exactly those attributes are. Is it a safe pair of hands that will toe the party line part of the desired attributes? Is what is best for PAP always what is best for Singapore as a country?
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ESM Goh reveals Ho Ching didn’t say no when first approached to join politics
In the book, ESM Goh revealed that he did try to ask Ho Ching, presently the second wife of PM Lee, to join politics. But that was before she was married to PM Lee, after Lee's first wife Wong Ming Yang died shortly after giving birth to their first son, who was born with Albinism.
Goh said, "I did approach Ho Ching and ask her if she would be interested in politics. It was quite early on. She was about 28, 29 or 30, before she married Lee Hsien Loong." Goh said he spotted her in Mindef and thought that she had the necessary "intellect and attributes". "I knew she was a President's Scholar, but I didn't know her well - only superficially because she was in the science part of Mindef," he added.
"Through briefings and so on, I could see that she had a lot of substance. She would have made a good minister, a different kind of minister." Apparently, Ho Ching did not say no right away.
The politics of power dressing
WHEN it comes to powerful women and what they wear, everyone’s a critic.
Think about the attention Theresa May’s kitten heels and her love for animal prints has received. Never mind the fact that she has more than 30 years of experience in British politics.
Most recently, netizens aspiring to join the fashion police took pot-shots at Ms Ho Ching’s choice of clothes during her visit to the United States with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong this week.
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The famiLEE feud: Rise of the 'First Lady'
On April 15, 2010, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was interviewed by Charlie Rose on American national television and declared without reservation that if anyone suggested that Singapore has a dynastic government – if there was any hint of nepotism – then he would sue them.
That was then. Seven years and two months later, on June 14, 2017, his own brother and sister (Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling) accused him of exactly that. He has not sued them, but his brother has said he will flee the country in fear of unspecified repercussions from his conflict with his brother. They accuse him not only of having dynastic ambitions for his son, Li Hongyi, but also of abusing his power as prime minister in his effort to "advance his personal agenda" and of cowering the local press into timid silence.
The tipping point of the dispute is the last will and testament of the family patriarch, Lee Kuan Yew, who died on 23 March 2015. The specific point of dispute is disposal of the family home: Lee Kuan Yew wanted it bulldozed; Lee Hsien Loong wants it preserved and heritage listed. More to the point, he is accused of using the power of Cabinet and his Attorney-General (formerly his personal solicitor) to make it so. (Last week Cabinet Secretary Tan Kee Yong confirmed Cabinet had set up an internal ministerial committee to consider the options for the house but PM Lee had not been involved in the committee's discussions.) The PM's younger siblings have enlisted the power of Facebook and the foreign media (bypassing the Singapore press) to stop him.
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Ho Ching's refreshingly chill approach to social media
Screenshot from Ho Ching's Facebook page
Ho Ching, Temasek Holdings CEO and wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, took to Facebook on Monday (April 11) with an "embarrassed apolog(y)" for posting a cheeky photo of a monkey flipping the bird on Sunday (April 10).
The timing was unfortunate as it was on the same afternoon that the Lee family saga happened to be unfolding close by.
The post was already removed by Ho.
Full Coverage:
HO CHING SORRY FOR POSTING PICTURE OF MONKEY'S MIDDLE FINGER
Ho Ching apologises for Facebook post that ‘could be misunderstood’
Why does Ho Ching have such crude picture in her collections, Lee Wei Ling questions
Internet refuses to buy Ho Ching's 'it's a twitter malfunction' excuse for monkey picture
Singapore PM parries sister's claims of dynastic ambitions
Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching's 8-Facebook-post guide to Twitter
Ho Ching explains politically incorrect monkey photo, social media malfunction
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Viral Jokes???
Why does Ho Ching have such crude picture in her collections? Wei Ling questionsSingapore PM’s wife apologizes over ‘middle finger’ Twitter posting
Internet refuses Ho Ching’s ‘it’s a twitter malfunction’ excuse for posting monkey
Detail photo of a monkey posted on Facebook by Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching
HC says playing with different button but never deny Pic directed at LWL
HO CHING SORRY FOR POSTING PICTURE OF MONKEY'S MIDDLE FINGER
Social Media on the Late LKY’s children Online Squabble
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Ho Ching's refreshingly 'Chill Approach' to social media
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Ho Ching's refreshingly chill approach to social media
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The politics of power dressing
The famiLEE feud: Rise of the 'First Lady'
HC says playing with different button but never deny Pic directed at LWL
HO CHING SORRY FOR POSTING PICTURE OF MONKEY'S MIDDLE FINGER
Social Media on the Late LKY’s children Online Squabble
Ho Ching's refreshingly 'Chill Approach' to social media
Ho Ching responds to Taiwan's mask donation with 'Errrr'
Ho Ching calls Hong Kong people ‘idiots’ and for good reason
Ho Ching: 80% of housing is HDB
Ho Ching's refreshingly chill approach to social media
Singaporean Artists poke fun at Ho Ching and Rosmah
Ho Ching remains Temasek CEO
The politics of power dressing
The famiLEE feud: Rise of the 'First Lady'
