Q Were you regarded as the top high-flier in the 1976 General Election and seen as one of the potential new Cabinet ministers?
A I would not say so. At that time, nobody expected you to be anybody. Succession was still not quite yet flaunted or talked about. How did you know the others would not be high-fliers? Nobody speculated that you would be an office-holder and there was no point in speculating because the old ministers then were still quite young. It was too early to say. Your bigwigs in politics were there - Toh Chin Chye, Ong Pang Boon, Chua Sian Chin, Jek Yeun Thong, S. Rajaratnam, E.W. Barker. They were in their late 40s, at most 50s. I was 35.
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