Squabbling siblings

I am not here to debate whether the commemoration of LKY on the first anniversary of his death is appropriate or tantamount to hero worship or an intention to propagate a dynasty as declared by Lee Wei Ling. What stumped me is the inability to resolve differences in opinion within the walls of the home of our nation's first family. Never mind how the father would have winced at an image created out of thousands of erasers by school kids. What would really have saddened the father would be the public lashing of the brother by the sister. Gosh this is the first family of the nation and you would have thought that decorum would be of highest order. I have always followed LWL's column admiring how she always holds fast to her principles, her determination and grit (albeit tainted with streaks of stubbornness) and her kindness at heart.  Now I wonder whether age has caught up with her such that her rational mind may be impaired by her deep desire for so called truth and honesty. Does she not see how this public dispute would have affected her dad? LSL could well have find her a painful sibling.

But don't we all have so called 'painful' siblings. I am quite sure my siblings find me painful at times bossing around nagging at them etc. Those people who have siblings with the same temperament, same religious beliefs, same values, same pursuits in life and who are like their best friends are really lucky. Yet as my sister-in-law teaches her children "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family", we have to love our siblings no matter what. For they are the very people whom we grow up with in the same household through thick and thin. Perhaps it is precisely this underlying love that could have caused distress in some families because people expect more from their family members than from friends. Hence differences amongst family members is seemingly more pronounced. Furthermore when siblings age together, irrational or weird behaviour will increasingly surface making things more tricky haha.

Anyhow even first families are human by nature underlying the fact that family squabbles are inevitable. The dust will always settle somehow.