Baroness Vadera
England’s Baroness Vadera (as in the feminine of Darth Vader) has been called upon by Singapore to advise Temasek on its investments.
And so continues the parade of strange names such as Charles “Chip” Waterhouse Goodyear IV recruited earlier to save Singapore before “resigning.” (Goodyear is now being considered as the next head of British Petroleum—a perfect position for a CIA operative.)
Like Goodyear IV, the origins of Baroness Vadera are clouded in mystery.
Lady Vadera aka Shriti Vadera was born in Uganda around 1962 of Indian parentage. Her family owned a small tea plantation but fled to India in 1971 or 1972, the year before Idi Amin’s expulsions of Indians.
According to the UK’s Telegraph
Lady Vadera’s family fled Uganda in 1971, and eventually moved to Northwood in north-west London.
She studied at a private girls’ school, Northwood College, and read politics philosophy and economics at the Oxford women’s college, Somerville.
She left Somerville with a second-class degree and a number of enemies. One woman who lived with her said: “She was the ringleader of a rather bitchy group, they wanted to rubbish everything. She boasted she’d only ever wear silk underwear and brought enough to last all term so she didn’t have to wash any.”
For over 14 years Vadera worked for the investment bank UBS Warburg.
Baroness "Green Shoots" Vadera
From April 1999 she was an adviser to Gordon Brown during his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Following his appointment as Prime Minister in June 2007, Brown saw to it that Ms. Vadera was created a life peer on July 11, 2007 as Baroness Vadera, of Holland Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The Sunday Times reported that the Cabinet Secretary “flatly refused to allow her to cross the threshold of No 10 as policy enforcer” and “no Permanent Secretary could stand her” – although the Cabinet Secretary denied making these comments
Can Ho Ching "man up" to the challenge of Baroness Vadera?
On 14 January 2009 she gave an interview on ITV’s Lunchtime News, in which she said she saw “green shoots” (an improvement) in the British economy. Since this occurred just before the UK’s stock market crash, she was roundly criticized for this remark. This led to her being referred to as Baroness “Green Shoots” Vadera.
Other nicknames Baroness Vadera has earned are “Shriti the Shriek” and “Gordon Brown’s representative on earth.”
Can Madam Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek, “man up” to the challenge of Baroness Vadera? If looks mean anything, our answer to that question would be “yes!”
Singapore’s Indian population along with the incoming hordes of Indian immigrants should be pleased with Temasek’s hiring of Baroness Vadera.
Now Singapore has two Indians at the top—Dato Setia Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, Chief Advisor to the Sultan of Brunei, and Baroness Vadera.
Doesn’t matter Indian or not, it is “talents” that counts. And if these “talents” happened to be Indians, so be it.
There are quite a few in the Cabinet, eg Jayakumar, Shanmugam, Tharman and they even hold important portfolios like Finance, Law and Home Affairs. And Singapore’s largest and govt linked bank DBS has recently also appointed an Indian as Chief. And the next Attorney General to be is also an Indian.
And of course Davinder Singh is also the lawyer of choice when libel lawsuits need to be filed against the opposition when PAP ministers are defamed.
Of course when a mistake is made in the appointment, just remove them, Indian or not, like in the case of Goodyear. No issue, even if the mistake is costly. Sometimes if there is no “suitable” replacement, the incumbent may even continue as long as needed. Again, no issue.
No issue because PAP can still remain in power despite mistakes. There are no serious challengers to them, at least for another 10 years.