CONNECTING WITH GEORGE YEO'S BOOK

Just started reading George Yeo.

I loved the appetizers. I am ready to sink in and enjoy what seems to be a great expedition ahead.

There is already a sense of deja vu in the beginning pages. Some things I thought about recently were found right there.

Only a day or two ago before I bought the book, someone shared on FB a list of jobs that will disappear. My response to that was only the very top, the very best who are able to rise above the invasions of machines and algorithm filtering will remain in those profession.

And yes, right in there George spoke about machines and algorithms and and a higher from of human organization emerging. It's coincidental, yet not. I guess many years of listening to George Yeo do have a certain influence in the way I look at things though I am really not in his circle of friends.

In one of those General Election morning meetings in 2001, George asked, "Where is Anthony Kan and who is he?" Someone had relayed what happened to me later.

As the pioneer group of "Youth Wing" chairs, there were frequent meetings with the late Dr Tay Eng Soon and subsequently George Yeo. As Secretary of the Sub-Urban Central District, I too get to listen to much of George's views on various matters.

It was the days with Aljunied GRC that offered the most opportunities of interaction with the man. There were two things that I have mentally tagged Geroge Yeo with.

1. Profound. A word he frequently used during casual conversations and that too is very representing of the man himself.

2. His particular interest in the Malay/Muslim community and culture.

I found connection with his expression, "The Taoist side of me accepts that whatever we do, there are larger currents at play which are beyond our control and to which we are subject."

In one of those rare occasions when the late S Rajaratnam asked an audience to the effect of what is most important in their lives, the audience and members of the CEC were caught in an awkward situation. A catch between absolute respect for a senior statesman and his medical condition.

George Yeo answered : "GOD"