Perhaps it's a passion for helping the community, or the elderly, or pushing on environmental protection. Nonetheless, a reluctance to join politics seems to be widespread. Some academics argue that apart from the obvious priorities of pursuing wealth and raising a family, potential candidates are often scared off from entering politics because they would then be subject to public scrutiny, be bound by party guidelines and rules, and typically have to go through security-clearance procedures for political appointments. It's not really attractive for someone to spend a great deal of time at the party branch, grassroots level . . . If you are politically ambitious it's better for you to do well first in the private sector or civil service, then catch the eye of someone and be parachuted into the party.
Company culture is also to blame for discouraging employees from running for politics, others argue.
Involvement in politics will take time away from attending to job matters, and if it's an employee who is involved in the opposition it's even more tough. At school, he recalls, ambitions proposed by his teachers never included running for political office or being Singapore's next prime minister. Instead, kids were encouraged to enter professions such as engineering, medicine or law. What's more, at the end of the day he's happy with how the PAP is running the country. Unless something really upsetting happens, I will not consider joining a political party to put things right.