The least we want is presidential referee Kayu

To Augustine Law

Presidential candidate Thurman Shanmugaratnam said days after he said he would rather be a defender than a goal-scoring striker. revisited his soccer analogy. This time, he asserted that if he became president, he would not be on the same team as the government.

“I would rather be the referee,” he said.

The problem is that he will be the referee who was once a star player for one of the teams, the People’s Action Party (PAP) government.

On top of that, he’s effectively given his blessing and approval as a referee by that team.

So what kind of referee will he be?

Probably referee Kayu. This is a Singlish chant that reprimands a referee for not blowing the whistle for a biased call or an outright foul.

Do Singaporeans want their president to referee Kayu?

Perhaps Mr. Thurman would be better off with no more football analogies.

I don’t want to be reminded of Singapore’s recent embarrassing 7-0 defeat to Malaysia at the SEA Games in Cambodia.

We don’t want flashbacks to the ill-fated Goal 2010 either.

1998, Ma Bo Tang Declared Singapore are embarking on a glorious ambition of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – the first step in their 1,000-mile journey towards Goal 2010.

It’s already 2023 and Singapore are still billions of miles away from qualifying for the World Cup. A recent 7-0 crushing defeat by Malaysia only underscores that.

The Singaporeans definitely don’t need Thurman as a goalkeeper, defender, striker and referee.

He should stop fooling around with football analogies and tell the public in simple and clear terms what he stands for and what makes him independent.

We need a president who serves the interests of the people, not a party that has been in office for more than 20 years.

The people of Singapore longed for a fearless president, one who would check and monitor the government without fear or favor.