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Thursday, December 2, 2021

Appointing the right people in South Korean Cabinet

Facing polls: Incumbent President moon Jae-in and his Cabinet saluting the South Korean flag before a meeting at the presidential blue House in Seoul - AP


CRITICS have always argued that South Korean presidents all have one serious flaw in common: They fill government posts with people from their own political faction or election ca mp only, regardless of their abilities. As a result, amateurs have run the country, making numerous, sometimes fatal mistakes.

Of course, there have been some outstanding, competent ministers. However, they often could not extend their abilities to their full capacity, blocked by a bunch of amateurs who wielded political power surrounding the president. If Korean presidents had appointed truly capable people to their Cabinets, South Korea would be a much more advanced nation today.

A great leader should have a vision for the future, not a fixation on grudges from the past. Someone who is too preoccupied with past grievances can never become a great leader.

More importantly, a great leader should transcend the gravity of his or her own faction, embracing a “rainbow coalition” of different people. Therefore, a great leader is one who can appoint capable people to important posts regardless of their political stance. And if a leader appoints an able person but does not listen to them, that leader too is not a good leader.

The late Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, offered sound advice for all leaders when he said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

Likewise, the president of a country should also appoint smart, capable men and women, and then listen to them and support them.

To the leader who does not like smart people and favours flattering, incompetent people instead, David Ogilvy, founder of renowned PR and marketing firm Ogilvy & Mather, has this to say: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

A nation’s leader, too, can turn his or her country into a place of dwarfs if he or she does not appoint smart, competent people.

To the leader who only likes his/ her own kind from his/her own faction, the great Honda Soichiro of Honda Motor Co admonished, “If you hire only those people you understand, the company will never get people better than you are. Always remember that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t particularly like.”

That is why a great leader should not hesitate to appoint capable people to the Cabinet, even if they are not “one of our own”.

In a sense, the president of a country is like the president of a company. Both should have competent staff members to make their institutions flourish. The only difference between the two is that unlike a company president, a nation’s president should be diplomatic and embrace even political dissidents. If the president of a nation wants to work with ideological followers, school friends or hometown associates only, he or she cannot become a great leader and will consequently ruin the country.

At Seoul National University (SNU), I led three major institutions for eight years. At each institution, I appointed truly able specialists to help me run the institutions successfully. In fact, I helped them work freely to the full because they, not I, were the experts in their fields. Thanks to these extremely competent experts, my institutions thrived as among the best SNU institutions.

However, problems occurred when the administrative assistant, whom the university appointed, worked clumsily. For example, once my administrative assistant reported to me that since we needed more space, we should close down the big office for emeritus professors. As I had just taken office and did not know the situation well enough, I consented without giving it much thought. Alas! That was a bad idea and a fatal mistake.

You never disappoint or maltreat emeritus professors under any circumstance; they deserve our full respect and esteem. Unfortunately, I was too young to know it and, unwittingly, I became the target of harsh criticism due to the thoughtless administrative assistant. At that time, I came to realise how important it was to have smart, thoughtful staff members.

Recently, Koreans have become concerned about the country being divided into two main competing presidential election camps ahead of elections in 2022. If the newly-elected president follows in the footsteps of predecessors and appoints these partisans to important government posts despite their ineptitude and incompetence, South Korea will never be able to put an end to the evil cycle of nepotism. And amateurs will ruin the country once again.

We strongly hope that the new president finds and appoints truly capable professionals to his or her Cabinet and secretariat, regardless of their political background. Only then can South Korea be on the right track and prosperous. – The Korea Herald/asia News Network

By KIM SEONG-KON, A Professor emeritus of English at Seoul Nntional University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College, United States.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

The new James Bond film is nostalgia of a declining empire






British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Photo:VCG

British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Photo:VCG


I watched the new James Bond movie last night. It is well made. But the more I watched, the more it looked like comedy. In one scene when they are about to destroy a chemical manufacturing facility located on a disputed island between Russia and Japan, the MI6 official asks whether there are any Royal Navy warships nearby. It turns out there are, and then the missile is launched. Are the British sleepwalking? The Royal Navy is now relying heavily on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, which has been leaking frequently, to scrape a battle group up. Yet HMS Queen Elizabeth did come to show in the Asia Pacific region recently. But if it is exploited as the basis for the story, it would be too embarrassing.

The UK is a declining empire. The novel coronavirus epidemic has gravely devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Many residents of other countries are afraid of taking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by the UK. In the Taiwan island alone, hundreds of people died after receiving the vaccine. Ironically, this James Bond movie is about preventing biological weapons.

The British are really good at this. Although the country is in decline, it is still high-spirited. In the newly filmed 007 movie, the empire seems to be in full swing. But I believe that the Western blockbusters in which characters attempt to save the human race will gradually become ridiculous over time, as these blockbusters will lose the public's psychological foundation due to the relative decline in strengths of Western countries and the continuous disintegration of self-confidence.

In the movie, the disputed islands between Russia and Japan, which should be controlled by Russia, were bombed. If the UK dared to do this in reality, Russia wouldn't waste a minute to respond with hardline measures. A few months ago after Moscow said a patrol ship fired warning shots against British vessels, London declined that any warning shot had been fired.

But I have to praise James Bond movies. They never mess with China. Instead, they are friendly to China. Even when the ties between China and Britain is getting worse, some villains in the movie still "speak Russian." This is because the Chinese film market is huge. In a commercial promoting the James Bond movie, Daniel Craig said "Thank you" in Chinese, showing his appreciation. Chinese consumption power is the strength. 

The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times.

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OMICRON NEW VARIANT ALERT !

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Stay cautious even fully jabbed

 Proactive and preventive measures against Covid-19 need to be heightened to prevent a new threat from the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, say health experts.

The new coronavirus variant, first detected in South Africa on Nov 9, was classified as a variant of concern (VOC) by the World Health Organisation on Friday.

With countries around the world rushing to contain the Omicron variant, Singapore has announced that Malaysians using the land Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) to get to the republic from today must take an Antigen Rapid Test upon arrival.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai said Malaysia should be cautious with the new variant which has already been detected in Europe and Asia.

He said early evidence suggested that the Omicron variant had a higher reinfection risk.

“Experts have already expressed concern that Omicron’s large number of mutations may help it spread or even enable it to evade antibodies from prior infections or vaccination,” he said, adding that Malaysians needed to be on alert as all economic sectors had reopened.

With the latest variant threat, Dr Koh urged Malaysians to strictly adhere to the SOP even after full vaccination and booster shots.

“We also advise the remaining population who are unvaccinated to get their jabs as soon as possible if they are eligible as it will prevent severe Covid-19.

“All available evidence-based preventive measures against Covid-19 should be taken. Regardless of the variant, the public should not let its guard down,” he said.

Universiti Malaya epidemiologist Prof Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said Malaysia should safeguard its borders as there was reason to be extra cautious of the Omicron variant.

“This is possibly the shortest time between detection of a variant and its designation as a VOC,” he said, pointing to the period between Nov 9 and when it was reported to WHO on Nov 24.

Dr Awang Bulgiba, however, said time would determine whether the new VOC was more lethal than the earlier ones.

We need to increase our genomic surveillance and sequencing combined with thorough epidemiological analysis to make sure we do not miss any Omicron infections,” he said, adding that the Omicron variant could be quickly identified through a PCR test, where there is an S gene dropout.

He said by using the PCR test, samples could then be prioritised in order to be sent for genome sequencing.

“It takes time but this is needed for confirmation,” he said.

Dr Awang Bulgiba said due to the potential immune escape for the particular VOC, vaccine manufacturers were investigating whether their vaccines require updating.

He said Novavax was already working on a newer version of its vaccine with Omicron in mind, while Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson were examining whether their vaccines needed updating.

He said AstraZeneca had months earlier worked on a newer updated version of its vaccine (AZD2816) which targeted the Beta variant.

“AstraZeneca has stated that they are working to see if their current vaccine and its new long-acting antibody cocktail (AZD7442) work against the Omicron variant.

“As the Omicron variant shares some of the same mutations of the Beta variant, it would probably not take very long for the company to modify the AZD2816 to work against the Omicron variant, if indeed there is a need to do so,” he said.

In safeguarding the country from the potential spread of the variant, Dr Awang Bulgiba advised that vaccination for schoolchildren, as well as the booster programme, need to be completed quickly to achieve optimal immunity in the population.

Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said preliminary findings showed that the new variant’s protein differed significantly from that used to develop vaccines against Covid-19 infection.

She said current measures of the Health Ministry were sufficient but the public must continuously adhere to the SOP.

“The travel ban on the affected countries should continue until specific clinical impact is known,” said Dr Malina.

The ministry had on Friday announced that Malaysians had been banned from travelling to seven African countries following the emergence of the new variant.

Foreigners with a history of travel to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe over the past 14 days would not be allowed to enter Malaysia.

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