Pay to see the president

The Prime Minister of Singapore told the New Straits Times that he had to pay a hefty sum of money to get an appointment to see George Bush. I was shocked. That is the practice of third world countries where one has to bribe the gate keeper to see the local war lord. It is not befitting for a first class country like USA. The Prime Minister however did not mention to who he paid the money. I suspect he must be the White House chief of staff. He is the one who fixes the president's schedule - who the president sees that day, that sort of thing

Did the money paid by the Prime Minister go into the pocket of the chief of staff? Did it go into a collection box like what we provide in mosques in Malaysia to help them pay for the upkeep. Surely the White House does not need the money in the collection box to pay for the phone bills!

Imposing a fee on a visiting head of government is bad. It amounts to saying "I have no time for you but if you insist seeing me, then you pay for my time" The Prime Minister of Malaysia also visited Washington but he didn't get to see George Bush. Dick Cheney was thrown in as substitute. I wonder whether the Prime Minister of Malaysia too was made to pay "Visiting Fee" like his counter part from Singapore

Obama's chief of staff is Rahm Emanuel- a citizen of Israel. The same guy could have been the chief of staff under Bush.