Occupy Singapore Operations Plan

What I am writing is fully fictional, bordering on the side of insanity. So please read with care, better with Parental Guidance, and have a sanity check once in a while before reading on. Some of the ideas were borrowed from the Japanese Imperial Army in the early 20th Century when they formulated the East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere, ie, conquering the whole of East Asia under Japanese rule. But this plan is small in scale and only applicable to small countries or islands. The occupation plan is to take over a small country peacefully, without firing a bullet or a drop of blood.

Let me elaborate. Immigration is the first step. Take advantage of the loose immigration climate and the falutin theory of a borderless world when cross national emigration is encouraged. This is particularly easy when there are countries coveting for other country’s talents instead of developing and nurturing their own. So, encourage your people to work in the targeted country as workers or anything, just get them into the country like claiming a beach head to prepare for the landing of the main force.

When there is critical mass, get the more able to capture top positions in the industries, starting with MNCs. MNCs are easier to infiltrate than national companies. Seize the CEO positions and the HR Dept and start to recruit your own people to fill up top management positions, especially division and dept heads. When these are in place, it will be a systematic replacement of the locals with your own people, but make sure some locals are still around so as not to frighten them and reveal the plan. Ease them out slowly.

After seizing the MNCs, go for the big local or national institutions. These are the choice organizations as they are closely linked to the Govt of the day. Controlling them is like controlling the Govt or at least be accepted as part of the Govt. Take up citizenship if necessary to give the impression that it is another Singaporean taking over the jobs.

On the ground, seize territories by buying up properties, as many as possible. Buy up whole condominiums and streets of houses, form your own enclaves and community networks to self support each other.

Build your own schools to educate your own children so that their national identity will not be diluted by the locals. Send some to the local schools to blend with the locals as one people, to be accepted or integrated.

The final stage is to take over the govt and govt agencies. This one will need more of your people to take up citizenships and claim to be a local, a citizen. When this stage is reached, the take over is complete and the constitution and other govt policies can gradually be amended to turn the country into one’s own country. By then most of the locals will know that it is too late, they have lost their country and will reluctantly emigrate to make way for the new owner.

The plan looks very simple and easy to execute. But two conditions must be present. The first is a daft population that does not think much about ownership of their country and willing to let foreigners in without complaints. A country of migrant origins is very conducive for such thinking. They think they are still migrants and have a soft spot for migrants. Another, the most important, is for a willing govt to collaborate and assist in the takeover. This is possible when the govt thinks that giving foreigners citizenship is as good as the foreigners becoming one of them. They could not see the difference between their own people and the foreigners. All they could recognize and believe is a piece of paper called citizenship. So whether the citizens are new, foreigners or locals, natives, it does not matter. With such govt in place and such mindset, taking over such little countries is a piece of cake.

The whole process can be over in one generation or 20 to 30 years at most. And the local military whose role is to defend the country from being taken over would not even know the difference as the enemy looks exactly like one of them. And the enemy was invited in happily and even integrated with all the assistance and encouragement of the govt of the day.

Of course this is fictional, too easy, and would not happen and definitely would not happen to a well governed country like Singapore when the people have been taught to sing ‘This is my country, this is my home’, and also to pledge to defend the country.

I quote PM Lee Hsien Loong, ‘From time to time, we hear reports of terrorists in our region wanting to attack Singapore…We must never let our guard down.’ With such assurance, Singaporeans can sleep in peace, that their paradise island will never be taken over by a foreign country.