A selfie, a tweet and the tragedy of rising sons

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Here, Twitter is still a baby; Facebook is the preferred forum for political, business and other public discussions. Everyone, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, posts on Facebook regularly. The case is the same across the causeway; Najib Razak, Lee's Malaysian counterpart, is also an avid Facebooker. On Sunday, Razak's selfie with a grinning US President Barack Obama went viral, recording about 200,000 'likes' and thousands of comments.

Is it appropriate for a prime minister to shoot a selfie with a visiting dignitary? Was he breaching protocol? And, by the way, what is the protocol for selfies and Facebook? Let's face it; our rules and conventions have moved little from the typewriter era.

What would have happened if Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had posted a selfie with Infosys' Rohan Murty, instead of a tweet? Mazumdar-Shaw, an independent director and a nominations committee member at Infosys, had to tweet an apology for tweeting Murty, son of Infosys founder and chairman Narayana Murthy, had made a "brilliant, tech-loaded presentation", which would "enormously benefit Infy".

No part of Mazumdar-Shaw's tweet sounded as if it was 'price-sensitive information' that had to be disclosed by the company through official channels. Tweeting undisclosed, price-sensitive information would have been illegal.

As a member of various internal committees, such as the one on nominations, an independent director such as Mazumdar-Shaw is expected to act in an "objective manner" and "in the interest of the company". Here, too, she is unlikely to be proven guilty of any transgression.

What then is she apologising for?

The real issue governance watchdogs are after is the prospective appointment of Murty to a senior position. Proxy advisory firms have regularly opposed company moves to air-drop promoters' inexperienced, sometimes even under-aged, children to the top rung.

By appointing Murty executive assistant of the chairman, Infosys seemed to have got the best of both worlds - he could be present at board meetings, and the company could rebut criticism he was inexperienced. Yet, the appointment kicked up a storm.

Now, Mazumdar-Shaw's tweet has given proxy advisory firms a chance to brush up public memory.

Murty's brother-in-law, Sudarshan Venu, had faced similar criticism ahead of his induction into the board of TVS Motor. But Venu had found his way into the boards due to his family's voting firepower, which the Murthys clearly lack.

Should sons of famous fathers live in the shadows? Many a time, a father's reluctance to let go has delayed or stunted the son's progress. Ask a certain M K Stalin, the prince-in-waiting in Tamil Nadu for about 40 years. There should be a middle path.

Singapore, which views itself as a meritocracy, has found it fair to give all men, including the prime minister's son, equal opportunities. Prime Minister Lee, the son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kwan Yew, worked his way through the ranks of the ruling party and the government for about two decades, before becoming the republic's third, not the second, prime minister.

Murty could become Infy's Lee but he might be a few more brilliant presentations away.