Business Vs Politics

I WAS being asked this question by one of my friends: "Would you be interested in politics one day?"

Before I answer, I would like to literate something I observed. Take Singapore for instance. For the past few generations of prime ministers that I happen to be aware of, I realise that all of them are sophisticated investors themselves. They have extremely sharp sense of finance. I can't bring up any evidence to support my view. But if I could, I would have listed a few.

Therefore, it led me to deduce one thing. Running a country is like running a big company.

Or to put it in another way, running a company is like running a country.

For a public company(a company that allows the public to invest in) they "print" their own currencies via shares. The value of the share depends upon the performance of the company as well as the market pressure.

A company that is well run, generates profit and in turn causes its shares to worth more. A country that is prospering, has strong currencies that the finance world have faith in, which in turn causes it to rise in value against other currencies.

If I'm not mistaken, one of the rules Warren Buffet (world's richest man) had mentioned about picking stock is to look at who is leading the company. A leader with good financial sense could usually turn a lemon into lemonade.

Back to the question, will I go into politics.

After giving it much thought, this is my refined answer.

First of all, I have to say that my education is insufficient to become a minister (I do not intend to further my studies unless I deem it beneficial to my personal growth as well as for my chosen path).

Secondly, to me, politicians are there to serve the people, I can do the same with my business, I need not join politics.

Thirdly, I love raw power. As long as I can stretch to the boundaries without overshooting it, I will. Being a politician, I will be under scrutiny of the public, this greatly affects me in terms of my privacy. I can't do as I please and get away with it like I could as a civilian.

Fourthly, I believe that everyone has a role to play in this society and my role is someone who brings in wealth. I believe that in order for politicians to carry out their policies, they need the monetary support. I will have the choice to support those policies that I liked and not needing to do much of the work myself.

I'm power hungry, but I know my limits first. Power without control is nothing. Both ways give me power, but I can control the power from business much better.