My formative years were spent in the United Kingdom and the seven of the ten years that I spent in the UK were in a school of people who came from families that voted “Tory,” (the one “freak” known to vote Labour was the art teacher and one of the more eccentric teachers declared “You got put a blue faced baboon in this constituency and it will still be voted in”) Part of growing up in this environment meant that the presence of the Royal Family was always in the background (it was a point of Pride that the Duchess of York came to open a building – however, her name was quietly removed from the plaque on the building once she got divorced from the Duke).
The one member of the Royal Family that I
always had a soft spot for was Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and heir
apparent. Charles is what you’d call a man struggling to do the right thing,
despite his circumstances. On one hand, he was born into a life that most of us
cannot even dream of (every material need can be met with a snap of his fingers
– there’s no question of where his next meal is coming from) yet at the same
time, he’s born into a situation where most of us would never want to be in (As
far as the entire nation is concerned, he’s public property and has no right of
privacy and thus far his only purpose in life has to been to wait for his
mother to die). He has been slammed all over the place for being an adulterous
husband who made life hell for his wife (who for the record was no saint
either). His rather publicized personal life was summed up by a friend who said
“He’s the type of man who kicked a beautiful blonde out of his bed for an old
hag.”
Copyright – Vanity Fair
Having said all these things, one has to give
credit to Prince Charles for not squandering his time and for being aware of
his role in the grander scheme of things. The man has been actively trying to
use the wealth and privilege he was born into to make the world a better place
and when I stumbled across a quote of him saying “All the time I feel I must justify
my existence,” my respect for him grew. He is very aware of his situation. In
the 1990s, he alone of all the royals turned over a portion of his income to
the tax authorities (in the UK, royalty don’t have to pay tax – tax under
British law is revenue paid to the Crown hence the Crown cannot tax itself). When
he got injured playing polo he got in line and waited to be treated (the waiting
time in the British NHS is notoriously long)
Let’s look at it this way – he has two things
that most of us don’t have – namely time and money. However, unlike other
people in his position, he’s actually used it to create projects to help the
less fortunate and to better the environment. A list of initiatives pioneered
by the Prince of Wales can be found at:
https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/initiatives
The man was born into a situation of privilege
but he’s aware of that. He’s aware that his situation is by the grace of the
public that he is due to rule over and so he feels compelled to justify his
existence to them.
This is a priceless attitude in public
figure. I think of Bill Clinton who gave an “angry” response when quizzed about
the truth of the “Lewinsky Affair.” Sure, it was a private matter but when he
started on “Presidents must have private lives,” the only thought was “Ya, but
you’re being funded by tax payers who want to know how you’re spending their money
– so sorry, your life isn’t private.”
I think of the usual debate on ministerial
salaries in Singapore. Instead of showing the tax payer what they’re getting
for their dollars, it’s always met with a lecture on how you need to pay for
top talent. Instant thought to such lectures is inevitably – “Erm, we’re paying
you by way of our taxes therefore you should be justifying your existence not
lecturing us.”
Sure, Prince Charles has been on the job for
an incredibly long time. However, it’s not about the length you spend on the
job but what you do in it. I ask, for example, about the initiatives launched
by our elected presidents? Thus far, the only one that comes to mind is the “President’s
Star Charity” launched by the late SR. Nathan and now, there’s a new initiative
launched by the current president to recognize the contribution of workers:
That’s two initiatives between three
presidents in 22-years. Sure, Prince Charles is funded by the Duchy of Cornwall
(Prince of Wales is funded by the Duchy of Cornwall and does not take from the Sovereign
Grant) but our presidents were funded by the tax payer. In the case of Dr. Tony
Tan, the inability to come up with a single initiative is particularly harsh.
Not only did Dr. Tan enjoy state funding as President for six-years, he also well
compensated as deputy prime minister for over a decade and that’s not even
counting his personal wealth and monies earned running OCBC Bank. Surely a man
in Dr. Tan’s position could have come up with something.
The Prince of Wales is supposed to stay out
of politics and be a decoration. Yet, this man with no “work experience” has
managed to pioneer initiatives. He’s been accused of being whiney and
interested in “new-fangled” ideas like caring for nature and helping the underprivileged.
Yet, despite that he’s put his money and the weight of the office he holds where
his mouth is. Sure, not all of his initiatives will work but he’s at least
creating visible experiments to solve very common social problems.
Shouldn’t other non-political public office
holders follow this example? In Singapore, I look at our presidents and
ex-presidents and ask why can’t they lead in creating initiatives? If an unelected
royal feels the need to justify his existence and does so, why can’t former and
current elected officials feel and do the same?
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