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Dr. Lee Wei Ling (Only daughter of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and sister of Mr Lee Hsien Loong the Prime-Minister of Singapore)Â speaks
I was born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied by family and friends. Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though most are too polite to verbalize it. Â I only realized how eccentric I am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own yardstick to judge others.Â
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I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper socio-economic class. Â I have been accused of reverse snobbery because I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or do not help the less fortunate members of our society.Â
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I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore. I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character. I favor those with integrity, compassion and courage. Â I feel too many among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status,Â
appearance and presentation.
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I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper socio-economic class. Â I have been accused of reverse snobbery because I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or do not help the less fortunate members of our society.Â
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I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore. I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character. I favor those with integrity, compassion and courage. Â I feel too many among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status,Â
appearance and presentation.
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I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). Â I have 300 staff, of whom 100 are doctors. Â I emphasize to my doctors that they must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status. Â I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not by how much money they bring in for NNI. Â My doctors know I have friends who are likely to come in as subsidized patients. Â I warn them that if I find them not treating any subsidized patient well, their appraisal - and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively affected. Â My doctors know I will do as I say.Â
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I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are doctors. Â In NNI, almost all patients are given the best possible treatment regardless of their paying status..Â
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My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my staff. Â I am director because the organization needs a reporting structure. Â But my staffs are encouraged to speak out when they disagree with me. Â This tends to be a rarity in several institutions inÂ
Singapore. Â The fear that one's career path may be negatively affected is what prevents many people from speaking out. Â This reflects poorly on leadership. Â In many organizations, superiors do not like to be contradicted by those who work under them. Â Intellectual arrogance is a deplorable attitude.Â
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'Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story,' the Desiderata tells us. Â It is advice we should all heed - especially leaders, especially doctors. Â I speak out when I see something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Â Not infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. Â As a result, I have been labeled 'anti establishment'. Â Less kind comments include:Â
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I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so.Â
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I have no protective godfather. Â My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be meted out to me. And I am not anti-establishment. Â I am proud of what Singapore has achieved. Â But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. Â I am capable of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a perspective that others may have overlooked.Â
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A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our Graduate Medical School. Â They sent me a thank-you card with a message written by each student. Â One wrote: 'You are a maverick, yet you are certainly not anti-establishment. Â You obey the moral law.' Â Another wrote: 'Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the voice that not many dare to take.' Â It would be better for Singapore's medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in positions of authority.Â
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After the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and soon, integrated resorts and night F1. Â But can we claim to be a civilized first world country if we do not treat all members of ourÂ
society with equal care and dignity? Â There are other first world countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in Singapore. Â But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to treat each other with dignity and care. Â After all, both the Bible andÂ
Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would not want to be treated. Â That is a moral precept that many societies accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice. Â I wish Singapore could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where we have surprised others with our success.Â
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*The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.*Â
*Think-Tank is a weekly column rotated among eight heads of research*Â
*and tertiary institution.*Â
I totally agree with the writer and feel deep respect for her.
Glad she is providing the leadership of open-mindedness and compassion. We all need this, especially the younger generation, who will be in charge of the world soon. 