President Bill Clinton has embarrassed the office of the Presidency and is now under an impeachment trial for allegedly lied about a sexual relation with a 21-year-old White House intern. Closer at home, Malaysians are sick and tired of the specter of drama and shocking disclosures from the trial of sacked Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

In the meantime, the global economy continues to be threatened by financial turmoil, environmental disaster and meteorological upheavals, leaving millions homeless, hungry and in despair. One can't help wonder, "if our leaders are so out of control, where's a Nation to turn?"
 

A Female President?

In America, many are starting to toy with the idea of having a female candidate running for president in the year 2000 for the world's most powerful office. One potential candidate is former director of The American Red Cross, Mrs. Elizabeth Dole.  Mrs. Dole, 62, a Harvard Law School graduate.  In addition to being a two time cabinet minister with a very distinguished public service career, she is also the wife of one time presidential candidate Bob Dole who publicly endorses Pfizer's impotence drug Viagra.

Women were long openly considered hormonally unsuitable for high office or combat. US Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has warned that in war, "women have biological problems being in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections." The House speaker also noted that "males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes," while "women like to sit still."  The belief is the lack of aggression in women nature made them ill suited for offices that wield great power.
 

Does gender matter?
It depends on what does the people want from their leaders, and what kind of personalities leaders have that suit the demand of their jobs at a particular point in time. In the Scandinavian regions, many women have occupied the highest offices, and their nations have prospered.  In today's world dominated by high-speed telecommunication tools, an increasingly transparent world and more and more knowledgeable citizenry, the competence in leaders have less weight than the strength of their moral character.

Men are by nature more vulnerable, and the ethos need is greater -- bigger egos, thus the world has many phallic symbols among our monuments.  It has been much harder for men to extricate
themselves from the abyss of desire.  Women do hover at that libidinal fail-safe point for a nanosecond, but they seem to be able to pull themselves back from the brink of no return, in time.

Of course, there is an element of wishful thinking to depict women as less driven by desire.  Once they get the power, women can be just as sexually capricious and demanding as men can.  Historian Doris Kearn Goodwin is uncertain whether women have more purity or less opportunity.  "Women have had a narrower world," she says. "It would be nice to think women had internalized such high moral values that we could skip over the phase of being tempted.  But maybe we just haven't evolved to that point yet."

On balance, it is also observed that feminine nature is more sacrificial, less competitive and more willing to collaborate and cares for the overall state of affairs.  In today's very divided world of divergent and pluralistic interests seeking to compromise a living together, perhaps women's embracing capacity could hold the world together better.
 

Starting on a clean slate
If a female president can breathe a fresh breeze into public life, it is worthwhile for society to take this step forward.  Voters want from their leader character and integrity, and often times, people refused to go to the polls to pick the guy who is the lesser evil of the lot --this explains the low turnout at the polls in the developed world!

A disciplined, principled and trusting character is what the people crave for.  Someone who knows how to do the job, respect the rules decided by the system and respect his or her source of power, the people.  A refreshing face with attractive moral attributes will help the world start on a clean slate.
 

The nobility of public office

Given the confusion, corruption and condemnation, there is a desperate need the world over to restore the nobility of public office.  It is disturbing to hear young people lose faith and take "dirty politics" as a matter of fact and reality. They hold the notion that occupiers of public offices are corrupt people with an outsized ego setting out to dominate and to enrich themselves.  It is worrying to hear young people demean public office with such disdain.

We know that in any society, a professional and competent public service is made up of talented and dedicated individuals who have a keen sense of caring for the public good, who genuinely want to serve. At a certain point in their life and career, they want to seek meaning by giving back to the society that have nurtured them.  It is society's fault if we can't attract talents to serve public office, and hence we have every responsibility to clean up the system to attract talents back.
 

A Pillar of Faith
While in Beijing, my visit with the head of Pinggu County turned out to be a lesson on leadership. The county head is a 56 years old professional bureaucrat who came to this poor rural region when she was merely a fresh 21-year-old agricultural college graduate. She toiled and grew with the county, rising from rank and file to its highest office, while witnessing Pinggu County becoming a model county in all of China; boasting the most impressive standards of balanced development with leading environmental indexes in all categories.

Madam Chen came across to me as a dedicated and knowledgeable bureaucrat.  I was told that she is very popular with the people of Pinggu.  She was returned unanimously in the last county election, and what did it for her was her upright moral character.

The story has it that earlier in the year; Madam Chen's husband left her for a younger woman in Beijing City.  Instead of displaying resentment towards her husband's family, Madam Chen continued to care for her aging in-laws.  Her attitude towards them unchanged by the unfaithful act of her husband.  She continued to treat them just as filial as a daughter-in-law should be.  People told me if only for this quality they would have voted for her and give her character "full marks" in the county election.

Upright character is indeed a rare and cherished trait people want in their leaders. People want their leaders to be living examples of noble ideals and reminder that such aspirations are possible.  Let's hope women can rise to the occasion, show the way for society to restore faith in their leaders.

January 16, 1999

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