I think we owe Mr. Tan Yong Soon an apology.

Don't get me wrong, I also think his travelogue piece in the Straits Times was a painful mistake. I am not proposing we apologize for that.

But rather, we should thank him for starting this fiasco. For without it, we wouldn't have discovered that some of our MPs did not have good perception of those who query their lavish pursuits.

If not for him, we wouldn't have found out that Pasir Ris MP Charles Chong had considered those that are critical of his lavish pursuit as "lesser mortals envious" of Mr. Tan's extravagant vacation.

To fully quote from the article which appeared in TODAY on 20 Jan 2009:

"Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought maybe he was a little bit boastful," he said. "Would people have taken offence if his wife (a senior investment counsellor at a bank) had paid for everything?"

Sure, there is nothing wrong in going for an expensive holiday with your family to hone your cooking skills in one of the most prestigious culinary schools in Paris (or the world), I am no judge of character, and neither is it anyone's place to be one. The public has made its stand clear and I am sure Mr Tan has learnt something from this lesson. I will not bring it up here.

I wonder why he told his story to the media. But through Mr Tan's story, one certainly has a glimpse of the good life our public sector servants live. Five weeks annual leave appears to be rather easy to get approval.

But Mr. Chong, why do you see people who find such lavish pursuits in financially pressing times as "lesser mortals"? Having chosen to serve the public, should civil servants not focus your attention and energies on more important issues and not spend time and resources on extravagant things?

Not only do we have a financial crisis on our hands and Budget 2009 was pushed forward by a month to address the current economic challenges. And put aside the reports that our population might shrink over 3% by 2010 that may well end our country's fairy-tale years of prosperity and productivity.

Perhaps, in addition to being well paid and living the good life, surely those who serve the public can afford to be more sensitive to ground sentiments and have a little more public appeal. This flaunting of the luxury lifestyle does nothing for the Singaporean morale.