Daily Lessons from Life 30 October 2009

"France's Chirac ordered to face embezzlement trial
Trial an unprecedented move against a former head of state. -Fri, Oct 30, 2009 Reuters

PARIS, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A French magistrate has ordered former President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on embezzlement charges dating back to his time as mayor of Paris, in an unprecedented move against a former French head of state, Chirac's office said.


The retired Chirac, 76, who was mayor from 1977 until 1995 when he was elected president, is not certain to go on trial, however, as Paris public prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin had previously said that there was no case against him.

Marin is likely to appeal the decision by Xaviere Simeoni, a magistrate whose role is to investigate cases and decide whether suspects should face trial. In that case, an appeals court would take the final decision in another year or so.

The charges investigated by Simeoni relate to 35 work contracts that were allegedly awarded by the Paris city hall to friends or associates of the Chirac political camp as favours, for non-existent jobs."

If this case is true, then it once again proved that 'corruption' is not privy to the Asians, as some ignorant and stubborn non-Asians insisted! ;-)

Lessons for me are:

1. when you are in power, you need to know why you want to be in power. If it is for fame and fortune for yourself ONLY, then you are doomed. You will make mistake and do the wrong things. You will be found out. There is no 'if' or 'but' about this!;

2. when you are in power, it pays to let your family and friends know that you have to be scrutinized at a higher level of tightness. So, if they love you, it is better that they do ask you of any favour or put you in position where your independence may be perceived as being compromised! This is the price you have to pay for being in power! Of course, this approach is totally against why some people want to be in power in the first place!! So, there will be a lot of detractors to this approach!;

3. the approach I mentioned above are not new. I have shared that when President Obama became the 1st African-American, and the 44th, President of USA. It is a good practice to adhere to no matter where you are. For some reasons, in certain Asian countries, there are people in power who believed that talents only exist within their limited pool of genes. That outside that pool of genes, no one can be better! This is another fallacy that some leaders need to overcome. Otherwise, there will come a day when they realize how wrong they were!

May justice be served with no fear nor favour. May people in power remember to remind themselves of the simple approach I advocate here! May more people benefit from the people in power who do the right things as much as possible!!