'I'm not a paper General'

New Paper

08-05-2025

Member of Parliament Dinesh Vasu Dash, a former brigadier-general in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), has found himself at the heart of an old national conversation: should former military men enter politics?
The People's Action Party has long tapped into the ranks of the military for political talent.
But in recent years, there has been growing criticism that these ex-officers - sometimes branded "paper Generals" - lack the lived experience and grassroots touch needed in civilian life.
Mr Dinesh, 50, who won a seat in East Coast GRC in the May 3 general election, disagrees. And he's not shying away from the scrutiny.
"I'm not a paper General," he boldly told Tabla during an interview at an East Coast food centre on May 6.
"I had 18 rockets fired at me by the Taliban. I've seen what real conflict looks like. That's not something you fake in a boardroom."
Mr Dinesh's credentials go beyond theory. In 2009, he spent eight months in Afghanistan, embedded with Dutch NATO forces in Uruzgan province, one of the more volatile regions bordering Pakistan.
During the deployment, his camp endured frequent attacks, indirect fire and suicide bomb threats. One rocket missed his bunk by a few metres.
Said Mr Dinesh: "The rockets were fired over many nights. The one that landed the closest flew over me, so we could hear it, but it landed just outside my bunk.
"You'd hear the explosion and then five minutes later, it would rain gravel and debris. It teaches you what stress really is. I came back with PTS (post-traumatic stress) - enough to wake up in the middle of the night, thinking you're under attack.
"My wife would tell me that I would regularly spring up in the middle of the night, triggered by alarm. It was quite normal, and went on for the first six months after I got back."
This, he says, fundamentally shaped his resilience and deepened his sense of service - traits he believes are equally valuable in politics.
Asked about the common critique that generals are too rigid, too removed or too institutionalised for the messiness of politics, Mr Dinesh is quick to call out a double standard.
"Why is there no criticism when senior counsels enter politics? There's no training school for politicians - we're all new when we start. So examine the person, not the past profession," he said.
He argued that military leaders - especially those who have served in high-pressure, operational environments - often possess skills that are directly transferable to governance: strategic thinking, calmness under pressure and a deep appreciation for national interest over individual gain.
"It's not about command-and-control. It's about clarity, cohesion and commitment," he said. "Leading 25,000 troops in a division - as I did in the SAF - is not unlike managing a constituency of 30,000 people. You learn to listen, empathise and act."
Far from being insulated, Mr Dinesh insisted that his military career connected him to people on the ground - literally. During the election campaign, several former national servicemen recognised him.
"They would stop me and say, 'Sir, remember me, I was a soldier in your battalion'. That kind of bond is forged in the field not in air-conditioned offices," he said.
Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash (right), then an SAF Brigadier-General, with the Indian Army's Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Manoj Pande at Visakhapatnam, India, in November 2018. With them are Defence Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Ng Eng Hen. PHOTO: MINDEF
Mr Dinesh acknowledged, though, that the transition from military to politics does come with cultural adjustments.
"If you enter politics straight from the SAF, the civilian pace and tone may take some getting used to," he admitted. "I had five years in between - with the Ministry of Health and as CEO of the Agency for Integrated Care after I left the army in 2020 - so I've been thoroughly civilianised. Most people are shocked to find out I was in the army at all."
Singapore, Mr Dinesh argued, is too small and too complex for labels to determine someone's suitability for leadership.
"There's a kind of 'wokeness' to the criticism of generals. It assumes that we're somehow less capable of connecting with people or understanding their needs. That's not fair," he said.
"I've worked through Covid with four hours of sleep for two years - managing health crises, elderly care and frontline coordination. That's real-world, high-stakes leadership."
And his connection to the ground isn't just rhetorical. "If anything, I've been one of the most outspoken civil servants," he said. "I've never been one to sugarcoat issues. I've criticised policies from within, not just nodded along."
Far from the stoic stereotype of a commander, Mr Dinesh's personality defies easy categorisation.
He loves heavy metal music "the hardcore anti-establishment type," he pointed out - and has little patience for political niceties. "I'm not the type who will shy away from difficult situations," he said. "I will take them head on."
Mr Dinesh's military resume is dotted with high-stakes roles. Beyond Afghanistan, he was the ground commander during the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in 2018.
He sat alongside the police commissioner, coordinating bomb squads and security for two of the world's most unpredictable leaders.
In 2015, he had the sombre honour of serving as the lead coffin bearer, the only Indian, in the state funeral of Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
"It was a moment of deep significance for me," he said. "To honour the man who built the country I now serve in a different capacity."
Mr Dinesh also spent a formative year (2006-2007) in India attending the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, where he listened to an "illuminating" talk by then-President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and gained insights into India's evolving defence and geopolitical landscape.
It was also the time when India's first field marshal Sam Manekshaw, who was the chief of the army staff during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, was receiving treatment at the military hospital in Wellington, before he died at the age of 94 a year later.
"It was a cultural and strategic immersion," said Mr Dinesh, even as he got up several times from our table during the interview to receive congratulations and chat with the residents of East Coast. "It gave me a unique understanding of the India-Pakistan-China dynamics which, given current global tensions, is invaluable."
His travels took him to Kashmir, Ladakh and the Line of Control - frontline exposure that gave him a broader perspective on national security and diplomacy.
Now, as a first-time MP, Mr Dinesh hopes to bring that same sense of strategic clarity and moral courage to policy.
"I'm not here to warm a seat. I've been in firefights - real ones. I've coordinated public health responses. I've carried a nation's founding father. If you think I'm not ready to walk the ground and serve my residents, then you haven't been paying attention."
He's keen on issues related to elder care, youth empowerment and community mental health - areas he dealt with at AIC.
"There's dignity in every life stage," he said. "As a society, we must learn to support both the young and the old, not just economically, but emotionally."
Mr Dinesh offered a challenge: "Judge me not by my rank, but by my record. I didn't come into this for prestige. I came in because I care."