3/12/2007
biting the hands that feed
The call to ban granite export is on again. Which confirms that there was no ban and the arrest of our vessels was a violation of international law, Indonesian law and a wanton hostile act.
The military commanders were acting in their own accord, in violation of Jakarta, a kind of mutiny or warlordism.
Still want to help them, still want to develop Batam and Bintan? On a personal basis, on humanitarian ground, the feeling of wanting to help the victims of a disasters is unavoidable. There is the heart and emotion to want to help another human being. But if their government do not appreciate such acts of humanities and repeatedly acts in a hostile and unfriendly manner towards us, let them shoulder the burden of helping their own kind. Let them bear the guilt of not able to provide their people in times of need. We shall fold our arms and look elsewhere.
Our resources are limited and there are many Singaporeans more worthy of our assistance. The money or aid can go to the needy instead of giving them one dollar more. We cannot help the world. We need to help ourselves and our own kind first. Why waste our time and resources when the hands that feed are going to be bitten?
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20 comments:
The proposals to develop Bintan and Batam have not been made with helping the indonesians in mind. Singapore will NEVER offer anything to anyone unless Singapore stands to gain at the end. Lets not beat about the bush, Singapore only "offer" help whenever there is profit for Singapore, never otherwise.
"Biting the hands that feed?" - don't make me laugh!!
Singapore, or any country, must be real stupid to put in money anywhere if it does not benefit from them. i did not mention it as it is a fact and a major consideration. but by putting money in bintan/batam, the indonesians too will benefit from it. the so called win win formula.
if things are unfavourable, singapore can put its money somewhere else. why waste money in bintan/batam? it is not the only place to invest. the mentality that they only want to take and not to give in return will see bintan/batam put to waste.
malaysia has learnt the same lesson. the chinese too have learnt the same lesson. no mncs will put money into a country if they cannot reap any good return.
singapore has no reason to throw money into bintan/batam if it has no gains. the indonesians better know that fast.
and if they keep going that way, our offers of help in times of disasters or crisis will only be just words. no need to give them even a cent if that is what we are getting from the tribal mentality.
If Singapore expects humanitarian help to be reciprocated by economic favors, then it is truly a nation without a soul, or rather a nation with money as its soul. In that case, the Indonesians are better off without Singapore's help if Singapore expects them to pander to their whims and fancies. In case you forget, redbean Indonesia is not a vassal state of Singapore. It has the right to sell or not sell to anyone what is rightfully theirs. Get that in your thick skull.
when singapore or singaporeans offer help or assistance, it is done out of kindness. i don't think singapore/singaporeans expect anything in return but maybe some goodwill, that they will see us as a good neighbour. that is all that singapore is asking and i don't think it is asking too much.
but what singapore/singaporeans are getting in return is anything that they have bargained for. the talks, the diatribes, the accusations and the way they arbitrarily arrested our ships are not what a good neighbour shall behave.
our efforts to be nice to them since the time of suharto, abdul rahman wahib, megawati and yudhoyono, are all wasted. bet you, singapore has tried all it could to be nice to the indonesians in everyway we can.
what singapore has not done is to fill the pockets of all their decision makers with singapore dollars. that we cannot afford to.
Make up your mind lah. You say Singapore doesn't expect anything in return and then in the same breath, you say you expect goodwill ? WTF ? You either expect something in return or you don't. If you expect something in return, be it goodwill or whatever, then it can't have been done out of 'the goodness in your hearts'.
there is a difference between dealing with human beings and wild animals. when you feed a tiger or a wolf, be prepared to be eaten. wild animals are like that, totally senseless and without any obligations.
when you feed a dog, it will at least wag its tail.
when you feed a human being, at least you expect him not to turn against you. but some humans may be like wild animals.
when we help the indonesians, we help them as human beings.
you understand what i am saying?
The main reason why Singapore has been branded "the most undesorable neighbour" in SE Asia is the fact that Singapore acts like a big bully all the time. Most of the SE Asian countries have been colonised once before and now Singapore want to practise "economical colonisation" of it neighbours. Not many will stand for that. Stay within your small dot and keep your filty hands off our national assets.
Redbean, in what way has Indonesia turned against Singapore ? They simply decided they no longer want to sell sand and granite to Singapore. That is entirely their prerogative, those resources belong to them, they have a right to not sell it to Singapore. The principle is so simple, yet you choose to twist and turn the facts to suit your warped logic. You understand what I am saying ?
And another thing, buying sand from smugglers, either Singaporeans or Indonesians, is as low as a country could either sink to. Harbouring Indonesian criminals just for the dirty money they bring to Singapore is so unworthy of a supposedly squeeky clean Singapore. A little "two face" don't you think?
Anon 7.33 AM, Singapore is a country with the Almighty $ as it's GOD. What do you expect ? Principles, ethics, morality ? All humbug, when there's money to be made. Redbean always talks about karma. Singapore's karma can't be all that good based on its past record. It's day of reckoning is a lot closer than its deluded leaders and citizens think. I wouldn't want to be there when that day dawns. 'Nuff said.
buying sand from smugglers is definitely wrong. i agree with you.
did indonesian turned against singapore in the sand issue? if it is a normal business transaction, the indonesians can always make an official announcement that they will stop exporting sand, even without giving any reasons. like you said, it is their right.
but what actually happened and what was said spoke for themselves. even the seizing of singapore vessels with valid papers carrying granite. those are hostile acts that nations did to their enemies.
we Asean countries, friends, neighbours, talking about cooperation. and now the volte face.
do that to the americans and they will send in the 7th fleet. and this is one of the main reason why singapore welcomes the american presence. to keep the wild tribal chiefs at bay. they do not conduct international relations. they think like tribal chiefs.
and thank you for thinking that singapore is so powerful that it can colonise our giant neighbours. i believe that they are not run by idiots who would let their countries to be colonised by a midget.
but on hindsight, maybe they will. until today they did not know that they were colonised by the west! they still worshipped the west and would willingly go to bed with them.
as for karma, individual or as a collective people, it will be repaid when the time comes. no escape.
what we can hope to do is to sow more good karma and lesser bad karma. and karma will also deal with the ingrates accordingly.
Ingrates, haha. The question of gratitude does not arise. Considering the amount of dirty money sloshing around in the Singapore financial system, one would think that humanitarian aid should be treated as sort of a counter weight to all the bad karma associated with such money. Otherwise, Singaporeans may get up one fine morning to find that they have woken up in a Republic of Atlantis instead.
i find it so strange that despite being so able to express oneself in writing a person's mentality could be so poor. could be environmental reason since ah meng
is quite different.
the quality of a person and his upbringing are reflected by his ability to engage in a discussion and stay focus on the topic without attacking the person personally.
The person's upbringing is also reflected in his ability to understand simple concepts, like a sovereign country has the sovereign right to impose its laws on any foreigners within its borders. What does it say about that person's upbringing if he chooses not to undertsand such a simple concept yet twist and turn facts to suit his warped, demented, delusional logic
Anon 2.35, no point trying to convince redbean. When the frog is in the well, all it can see is the little bit of sky above its head. Smuggled sand, dirty money and economical colonisation of neighbours are all acceptable to Singapore because there is money to be made and when Singapore can incease her reserves, they will even join the devil himself.
To all the anonymouses—
redbean is deliberately provocative at the best of times. This is the way he stimulates discussion on his blog and website.
If you know something about linguistics, you will notice that the underlying presuppositions and assumptions in what he writes are filled with logical fallacies. Another trait I've observed is that he is adept at "shifting contexts". I have no idea if this is deliberate or habitual, which also means I cannot conclusively say whether he is a total idiot or a skilled negotiatator and intelligent manipulator ;-)
I will quite openly that the reason I post is for my own personal entertainment. I'm one of those people who "sensualises" an intellectual experience!
thank you matilah, for all the accolades.
i shall elevate myself to the magician of thoughts, saying different things and meaning the same or saying the same thing but meaning something else : )
i am also blur myself, at times.
Knock yourself out lah, it's your blog so do as you like. You don't even have to tell me what you're gonna do—because I don't really care either which way!
:-)
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