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Elvis Presley and Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore: Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Since 1st September, 2023 Mr Tharman has been
elected President of Singapore.
elected President of Singapore.
I have always appreciated Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, with his quiet humour and intelligent ways. Look at his eyes when he's being questioned and you can see them darting back and forth behind those glasses. He's one for a quick reply but scribbles on paper first before he provides an answer.
So what has Mr Tharman, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, to do with a 60's music blog? A surprising connection.
He quoted a famous superstar from the 60's at the end of his speech. During the Group of 30 International Banking Seminar on October 14, on a lighter note and to the delight of serious looking participants, he recited famous lines from The King of Rock n Roll:
"This was an economist called Elvis Presley, who unfortunately deceased now but made a significant impact on economic thought. And in one of his master treatises, he said, 'A little less conversation, a little more action, please. A little less fight and a little more spark. Close your mouth and open your heart, and baby, satisfy me.'"
Elvis Presley: A Little Less Conversation... From the movie 'Live A Little, Love A Little'. Video from Jimmy Cool. Thank you.
In context and as Co-ordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies he felt that there should be an urgency for more action and less conversation amongst the economists and policymakers across the world. Everyone thought so too, listening to the applause.
Mr Presley would have been pleased to know that he's being quoted using a song composed by Mac Davis and Billy Strange in 1968 for his movie Live A Little, Love A Little.
Bravo.
(An original article by Andy Lim written in2018.)
Mr. Tharman Loves This Blog. Read His Letter. Click Below:
YouTube Video: Jimmy Cool.
11 comments:
The quotes were very well prescribed for the occasion. Mr Tharman a great thinker, he reminds me of one of his peer, Mr George Yeo, who is probably much missed on the local scene.
Hi Andy,
Tharman is one of my fav politicians
he's measured n doesn't shoot his mouth spewing silly things, unlike some other ministers.
Thank you Unknown for your comment.
I was talking to my wife this afternoon and George Yeo's name was mentioned too.
You are right, Mr Yeo is, just like a pop star, much missed on the local scene.
A sense of humour is oh so rare nowadays among our serious leaders.
Very good read. Hope he continues to serve SG for as long as he can and you to continue blogging 60s music into your 90s 🤩
Seems to me DPM Tarman is a lover of pop songs. He quotes some lines from an Elvis Presley song and in today’s Straits Times, he called on Singaporeans to mix across social classes by the Hollies phrase “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.Yeh keeping on rocking and rolling...
Hi Andy
quoting wise words is one thing - living the wise words of wisdom is something else.
Cheerio
Yes, Mr Tharman did remark about the Hollies after Professor Tommy Koh quoted lines from Bob Dylan's WORKING MAN'S BLUES.
Again thank you all for immediate comments regarding a most interesting topic. Surprised to note that we get out of the ho-hum repartees by most economists.
We have our DPM to thank.
There's an evening' haze settlin' over the town
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down
Money's gettin' shallow and weak
The place I love best is a sweet memory
It's a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad
BOB DYLAN
WORKING MAN'S BLUES #2
This article has been viewed on the Facebook messenger chat box of DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 1st November 2018, Thursday 4.47pm.
thanks guys
Chow Wen Hing
Stephen Han
Yip Dick
Lim Kuan Min
Ann Rowena Lim
Patrick Chng
Kwandy Yao
Juliana Lim
Jimmy PresLee
Michael Fonseca
David Greenfield
Somkid Lakhawat
Andy Nisbet
Kali Dass S
Ser Kiong Tan
David Perkins
Christabel Teo
Action speaks louder than words
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