Glimpses and reflections of a President

I've read our former President's Wee Kim Wee's book Glimpses and Reflections not too long ago. A friend of mine once quipped that the role of or President is mainly ceremonious. They exist to “safe-guard” our national reserves, pardon the hard-core criminals in their appeal to escape the gallows, and yes, to soften the otherwise hard and cold image of the government.

Well, I don't absolutely agree with the above statement. But I've noticed, as had my friend, that incidentally, all our presidents, past and present, tend to be men of grace and poise, both in mettle and character. Of all the presidents that I've known, President Wee strikes me as being the most benevolent, with Mr One Teng Cheong a close second. They are quite unlike our Prime Ministers who are usually made of steelier stuff making hard decisions in the world stage.

In his book, President Wee reflects on the influences in his childhood that were to shape his life in later years. He shares many snippets of his childhood life - his family, his love for his mother, and how poverty put paid to his dream to further his studies. President Wee never had a university education. Indeed, he once quipped that his "university is society" (I call that "University of Hard Knocks"). From being a humble clerk to a diplomat and finally the head of state, President Wee demonstrates that there's no such thing as free lunches (Victor, you're absolutely right!) and hard-work is the key to successes in life. Not that President Wee coveted the presidency. In fact, he was thrust into the limelight not without resistance from himself. A simple man with simple taste in life, he declined, albeit unsuccessfully when he was appointed High Commissioner to Malaysia. He again declined when his name was mentioned in the government's search for a candidate for the Presidency. But that was not to be.

President Wee also gives his take on several issues that effect our society – filial piety, the danger of borrowing on credits, punctuality and service standards. On the world front, he writes about Malaysian relations, and could hardly contain his low regard for the UN. He also narrates how he cheated death twice - once when he was just a boy trying to reach for some fruits atop a tree when he fell into a well. He was a non-swimmer and thanked his lucky star that the water in the well was only ankle deep. The other time was when he was beaten to a pulp by a Japanese sentry for no apparent reason during the Japanese Occupation in Singapore.

It is clear in his book that President Wee was not a believer of the Christian faith, or any religion for that matter. Rather, he worshipped his ancestors and sought their help and guidance whenever he ran into problems in his life.

He is also not without a sense of humour. He describes his harrowing trip to a "quack" dentist (I reckon that's a dentist without proper qualification?) when he was a boy because his mother was too poor to afford a qualified dentist. The quack dentist had a hard time trying to extract the boy's decayed molar and resorted to breaking up the molar into piece to the boy's scream. President Wee wrote that he came out of the clinic "more dead then alive" and was "amazed that he “did not pass out or become the subject of a coroner’s inquiry". He also talked about his brush with astrology, about how he was told by a Mdm Kim (a friend of the Korean Ambassador to Malaysia) in Seoul that he would eventually be Head of State upon his retirement from the diplomatic services. When the prediction came true, President Wee was stunned but nevertheless advised against giving too much credence to this business of fortune-telling.

In a way, the "story-telling" manner in which President Wee wrote the book reminds me vaguely of Chun See's blog. The book does contain several chapters on nostalgia. But the humour, intentional or otherwise, in the book can certainly rival that of Victor's. But of course, President Wee NEVER wrote about the stuff that are not quite indecent, unlike Victor. Hehe....