China should say a big thank you to the USA

This is what visiting Iraq Prime Minister said and reported in China Daily.

‘Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told China Daily on Wednesday.

In an interview on the second day of his first visit to China since taking office in September last year, al-Abadi also voiced confidence over increasing crude oil exports to China, as Iraq is "hoping to double oil exports in the coming years".

He stressed the key role of railways in Iraq and plans to expand the network to about 5,000 kilometers from the current 2,000 km.

Iraq, after the upheaval of recent years, is in dire need of infrastructure as it beefs up economic growth.

Al-Abadi confirmed that Chinese companies "are very interested" in expanding the railway network. Earlier on Wednesday, he attended a meeting of business leaders representing up to 60 Chinese companies involved in sectors including telecommunications, infrastructure and insurance.

"They bring me their technology. ... I think they can expand the network in Iraq," he said, adding that the expanded network "can act both for the people and for goods”’

I am not sure what to say. Are the Americans trying to do a favour to China or the Arab countries by bombing them to Stone Age and allowing China to come in and rebuild these flattened countries?  Would Iraq and other Arab countries be grateful to the Americans for doing them such a big favour, leveling their countries to rubbles and make them easier to rebuild?

I know China would not have to say thank you as their effort to rebuild these broken and destroyed countries would be attacked by the Americans and American media in the name of exploitation and taking advantage of the Arab countries.  They would have nothing good to say. The fact that the Iraqi PM was in China and inviting China to rebuild Iraq speak for themselves.

The American and western media and American step children all over the world can sing all the songs they want about bad China and good America. The fact, the Arab countries are suffering and paying for the crimes of the Americans. And China is there to help to rebuild their countries at competitive Chinese prices.

More progressive news – The best stock market in the world

Hongkong has pipped New York for the top spot in IPOs listing for 2015. Not very sure where Singapore stood on this but we have heard that this is the best managed and regulated stock exchange in the world, or at least in Asia. And the SGX has been announcing increasing trading volumes for derivatives and its come is improving and making more millions, from trading bonds and other commodities.

These are healthy and positive news for the stock broking industry. Singapore has, in the last few years, transformed its stock broking industry into an industry of the future. Stock and stock prices have increasingly become irrelevant in the new business model. We used to have blue chips trading at $20 to $40, mid range stocks between $5 to $10, and cheap stocks between $1 to $2. Today our blue chips are trading at around $10, midrange around $1 to $3 and at the bottom, 1c to 2c or less than 1c. But this is changing fast as the new rules required the super penny stocks to consolidate, just like post CLOB Malaysian shares, 1000 shares became 10 or 1 share, to improve the prices to between 20c and 40c. It will look less ridiculous for the main board when the exercise is completed.

But these changes would mean nothing when trading activities is no longer there or needed. The exchange doesn’t even need investors or retail traders. The computers are doing all the trading and trading in derivatives. The net effect, there will be no need for stock listing. That speaks for the lack of IPOs in the SGX. There will be no need for traders and also no need for remisiers. Many have left the industry and many on the way. Broking houses are still doing roaring business without the need for remisiers and planning to retrench more in the new year. Some have started.

Have no fear, all these are just teething problems for an industry in transition to be better. In the new stock trading business, cannot call it stock broking business as there will be little broking activities left. The word stock would also become misleading if trading is all about derivatives. There will be no need for stocks, no need for traders, no need for remisiers, no need for broking houses. The industry will just have computers trading against each other on derivatives from anything they can write on.

The industry of 40,000 people would become very manpower efficient. The new business model would probably need less than 1000 people to provide the supporting roles mainly programmers and derivative writers and the rest run virtually by computers.

Singapore has embarked on the most innovative change in an old industry. Not sure what would be the new name for the stock exchange. Definitely there is no need for the word stock as stocks would be replaced by derivatives. Exchange may need to be changed too as it would no longer be an exchange but more like a computer game. I am sure the new name for this industry would be something fascinating and pleasing to the ear, futuristic like ‘You know ya’ or something like that.

This is progress. No other exchange could have thought of it. We are ahead of the world in transforming our stock exchange into something else, unheard of. That is how innovative we have become.

The silly Americans at it again

The Americans are warning Europe not to grant market economy status to China. The reason, the Chinese will flood the European market with cheap goods. And thiat is bad. The Europeans must pay for more expensive goods from the Americans or force the Chinese to sell them goods at higher prices. That is good.

Would the Europeans want to pay for more expensive goods or cheap goods from China? And by buying cheaper goods from China, the Chinese would be investing in a big way in Europe with more infrastructure development to the tune of S$465b. Now this again must be bad deal in the eyes of the Americans. But the Europeans need the investment to kick start and revive their slowing economy.

Whatever the Chinese are doing must be bad.  The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is bad as it would mean China would gain more influence in the Asia.  Giving cheap loans to help countries to develop their infrastructure is bad unless the money comes from the American controlled World Bank or Japanese controlled ADB. The One Belt One Road is bad as China would benefit and the rest lose out to China.  It is only good for China! Maybe the Americans should sell more weapons to the Europeans, at American prices of course. That must be good.

I was watching a documentary in Channel News Asia on the under nourished and starving children in the Philippines. More than 3m of Philippines’ children are suffering from malnutrition in the same scale as those in the Sahara and tropical region of Africa. And what did the Americans do to help the Philippines? Send them more weapons and warships. What about feeding the hungry and stunted children, to give them proper meals? No that is bad.

If the Philippines would behave better, China may send in ship loads of food for its hungry children and let them grow up as normal and healthy human beans with a full stomach. The children can wait, bickering with China and thumping chests and sailing in American warships are more important than feeding millions of hungry children.

Would Europe listen to the mischievous Americans, refuse China’s billions of dollars of investment and the benefits of buying cheap goods from China that the Americans said, are bad, real bad?

We are progressing, tomorrow will be better

Let me repeat the familiar story of the islander in an island far, far away. When the rich tourist on vacation in the island saw him wasting his time under the coconut tree having his siesta, he offered him his advice on how to grow rich and to retire happily with a lot of money and not having to work again. The islander asked the tourist for his age. The tourist was 65. The islanders told him at best he had 15 years to enjoy his life while the islander who was 30 and had 50 years to enjoy life under the clear blue sky, turquoise water and without a worry.

Why are Singaporeans working so hard for, to be rich, to have a good life, to enjoy life?  Our parents relatively were rich in their own ways, earning a couple of thousand dollars a month and living in semi Ds that cost maybe two years of income and a car to drive the family around to eat air. The children could happily hop on the family car and go dating with their friends. They had so much free space and free time then.

Today, a semi D would probably cost more than 30 years of a $100k annual income and a car would cost a hand or a leg. But the people are rich and happy and are told to aspire for better things in life. A 800 sq ft pigeon hole in the sky is very good living, quality living. And they should aspire to take public transport, to cycle or to walk, to adopt a healthy lifestyle while the multimillionaire would drive their limousines around expressways and the average Singaporeans should get use to taking public transport and get squeezed.

The govt is also helping and making life without cars easier with no car days in the city and building more bicycle lanes for the new and rich lifestyle of future Singaporeans.

Is this what is called progress? Are these the aspirations of our young? What would be the next phase of progress after acquiring all the good degrees when all the jobs are either taken over by foreigners or by robots and machine? A life of leisure in a tropical island without stress and wants, no job, no home and no income and no car? How to survive then? Got govt subsidies I think.

Let's celebrate car free day. And better get used to the idea that owning a car is at best a wet dream in the future for the average Singaporeans.

Sustainable growth is in dire need for China

By Chua Chin Leng (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2015-12-24 15:33

After three decades of double-digit growth, China has embarked on new development track with moderate growth rate around 7 percent annually. Even at this conservative growth rate, the Chinese economy could double itself in seven years to a US$20 trillion economy. It could be regarded as miraculous growth for a huge economy.

China has arrived at a point where rapid economic growth becomes a big challenge and risk overheating. In fact it was the fear of overheating that prompted the Chinese government to rein in the high growth rate.

China has little to fear of external factors dragging down its economy that is built on a very broad base of economic activities, from agriculture to manufacturing, tourism and finance etc. China has a lot of rooms to grow, and to continue growing at the new normal of a mature or maturing economy at 5 percent to 7 percent is not an issue.

The big question is whether China wants to push so hard to continue with its past growth rate of more than 10% or to take a breather and grow at a more leisure pace of 7 percent?

The last three to four decades of heady growth naturally led to many inequalities and inefficiencies in the Chinese economy like unequal distribution of wealth, unequal rate of growth across region, unequal growth in different industries and priorities. The inequalities itself would present great challenges but also opportunities for the Chinese economy to continue to grow as it seeks to level up these inequalities, diversify its industrial and manufacturing base, bringing growth and development to less developed regions and industries.

The obvious and often touted strategy to sustain a high growth rate is to steer the export oriented economy to raising internal consumption of consumer goods and services. The sheer size of 1.3 billion consumers, far more than the combined market of the US and Europe, would keep the Chinese manufacturers and producers very busy for a long time to come. China can be a self sufficient and domestic driven economy with the advantage of size.

There are also many industries that are still growing, such as the defense industries, pharmaceuticals and the redevelopment of the central and western regions of China. There are also many new industries such as renewable energies that could become the new engines of growth to keep the economy happily rumbling, albeit at a more sustainable and respectable growth rate.

And the banking and finance industry is just opening up and with great potential to contribute a bigger share to the economy.

The issue of the Chinese economy is not about growth but about sustainable growth, about managing growth for the good of its people, better distribution of wealth to uplift the well being of the population, to spread growth to all corners of the country.

The break-neck speed of the past decades of double digit growth should be tempered with more control in the direction of growth, in being selective of the industries to grow, in capitalizing on the green revolution, to turn green and the use of green technology.

China should take this opportunity to transform the economy and country into a country of the new century with measured and manageable growth, with a clear purpose and direction.

The author is a political observer from Singapore.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website.

Sultan of Johore – So much to learn from Singapore

An Agencies’ report on an interview with Sultan Ibrahim of Johore appeared on 28 Dec and the Sultan’s frank view on Najib and Singapore. After years of silence, out of the spotlight following Mahathir’s clipping of the wings of the royalties, the Royal House of Johore is stirring once again. The current Sultan and his son the Crown Prince have exuded a new sense of mission and confidence in what they think is good for Johore and Malaysia. There is a kind of balance and rationality in the things they said, free from the encumbrance of the past, of race and religion. Behind what they said is the focus on peace and stability and on development of the state and country and the good of the people regardless of race, language and religion. This is a common trait in the thinking and policies of Singapore leaders.

In the report, other than taking a position of being above politics and taking a non committal position in the power struggle in KL, the Sultan did not want to be seen to be taking sides. And in a major shift in thinking, the Sultan said he found it ‘hard to understand the rationale or irrationality of my Malaysian leader who wants Malaysia to quarrel with Singapore. There is so much we can learn from Singapore. They have done well, let’s be honest here…We don’t have to go on expensive study trips to Europe or the United States – just go across the causeway to Singapore; they have done so many things that are correct and efficient.’

This change of tone is unprecedented coming from the Malaysian leaders and coming from the Royal House of Johore.  The new leaders are starting to chart a course very different from the days of Mahathir when everything is about politics and muddled with a history of political baggages. Even Najib, though still playing with the politics of race and religion has departed from the policy of no need to learn English. He is talking about learning English as the international language of commerce.

The profound change is in the thinking of the Sultan of Johore that is very pragmatic and development biased. With his development priority in place, Johore is going to develop rapidly and runaway from the other Malaysian states unless his legs are tripped by the Federal govt in KL.

For a start the Johore state govt may want to engage some Singaporean state planners to assist in the redevelopment of Johore Bahru. We have plenty of experienced civil servants available to offer our expertise. And not to worry about the expensive trips Singapore is sending to the West to learn from them. I can bet they learn nothing much as we are much better organized and developed than the West in city planning and management other than one or two obvious areas that we are still scrambling for cover. Learn only the good stuff.

Actually Singapore is very worried that all the Malaysian states would put aside their obsession with politics and start to think progressively and objectively. Singapore would be in real trouble with a competitive and development minded Malaysian govt. We would not be able to compete with a new Malaysia withthe low productivity of today due to the foreigners here.

It is a frightening thought and a frightening reality. All the million dollar pay will be gone with the wind.

The things that silly Asians and American cronies would not want to know

Below is a quote I copied from John Harding’s blog on what Putin said.

‘Putin also took aim at the United States and the West for the wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria, saying they destabilized regions “that looked quite good until recently but are now areas of anarchy.”

“We know who decided to change regimes in those countries and impose their own rules,” Putin said. “They destroyed those states and then they washed their hands of it, opening the road to radicals, extremists and terrorists.”’

 

The American’s game plan of destabilizing countries and allowed them to fall into ruins and anarchy is the way to keep these countries and their people forever in poverty and unrest, and to allow the Americans and the West to keep them under control and to be exploited.  The sad thing is that many countries and pro American jokers would not want to know about this. They only want to believe in a good and compassionate and caring white God that could do no evil and whatever evil He did is for a good reason.

 

And these countries supporting this American policy of regime change and destabilising functional economies could not see themselves ending up as the next target of American regime change. There are many countries in SE Asia, Africa and the Middle East that have very good potential for regime change by virtue of the fact that they are either ruled by corrupt leaders, undemocratic or dictatorship or the most important factor, Muslim countries and of course with oil reserves.

 

When these countries became victims of American invasion and regime change, it would be just dessert, just retribution for supporting such an Evil Empire and committing crimes of destroying functioning countries, killing their people, and also their leaders.

 

Those that live by the sword will die by the sword.

Why Singapore has no talents?

Life is a learning process. People get smarter and wiser after making many mistakes in life and learn from them. They worked on their problems, overcame the problems and gained experience and wisdom. The funny thing in life is that the more challenges one faced in life, the more one learns and the tougher one becomes though not always the case. A person that did not have to face too many difficulties and challenges invariably learns less, not necessarily that he is less clever. So, where can you find experienced and well trained people in Singapore when everything works so well, no problems?

In Singapore, everything works. So the people working in the industries, in the ministries, etc etc would naturally learn less as there are lesser breakdowns and problems for them to overcome and to learn from. Ok, I know you people will be shouting SMRT! Ok, there are exceptions. After the breakdowns are taken care of, our SMRT staff would be very experienced and they can market their skills to the world, for having gone through all the problems and knowing how to deal with them. I think this is the only industry and profession where we can tell the world we have the most experienced and trained people.

The industries like water and sewerage system, power and electrical system, all working so smoothly, sure got no talent. Just like in the business, banking and finance, our banks were rock solid, no problem for so many decades. Where got talent?  They got no opportunity to learn anything, so now we have to start all over again, go overseas to find the talents we need. Maybe when there is a financial crisis and out banks are at the brink of collapse we will have new talents after they survived the crisis.

The moral of the story, when you want people with talents in flood control and drainage, go to countries that are flood prone. They sure have very experienced people who would know everything about flooding and drainage. If you want experienced train operators, go to countries where trains always breakdown and you will find all the seasoned engineers and managers who have gone through all the problems. Very well trained and experience.

And if Singapore wants to go nuclear, better go and recruit the engineers and scientists from Fukushima when they are still alive. Not many would be left around for long. They have the experienced on how to deal with a breakdown. And if you want banking and finance experts, go to countries where there are many banking frauds and problems, you will find all the experienced people to hire.

Did someone say when a system is working fine, with no problems, it means you have very able people running it, proactively planning and preventing problems from happening?  These people would not have the experience of solving all the massive breakdown problems but they are so efficient to prevent problems from happening, seeing to it that everything works at the push of the button. Unfortunately if they have to apply for jobs, they would not have a string of problem solving skills to boot and some may think they have no talent, or no experience at solving problems.

What do you think? Who is the better person to employ? Those that ensure systems work with no or little failures, or those who cannot manage a proper system that runs smoothly and every day fighting fires but with a lot of experience to tell? Do you want people to work diligently until everything works so fine that people may think they are useless, nothing to do, or people who run around everywhere trying to solve problems when problems is the norm, and looking like very hardworking, very involved, because they could not ensure that the system works smoothly?

If no one was there to screw up the housing policy and programmes, Boon Wan would not have the chance to solve the problems and now can put it in his resume as the hero that solved the housing problem. Some may say the problem is still there. That is another opinion.

Underemployment – Blame the young graduates

It was a good thing that the media is now pursuing the problem of underemployment of our graduates from our world class universities that have a renowned reputation, I heard that employers really loved to employ the graduates from these world class universities and our graduates are in great demand. So if any graduate from these world class universities failed to get a job, it must be his own fault. They graduated from world class universities but without the skills the employers want, or for the reasons like some unthinking parrots would spout every day, our graduates are demanding, lazy, choosy, only want high pay but not wanting to work, entitlement mentality.  Not to worry, these sick parrots would be here to repeat the shame shit they stored in their heads instead of their bottoms.

While the media are picking up this dreadful news of our pathetic graduates, spending a small fortune and putting great effort to get their As and degrees, some asses are still telling stupid things like it is a good thing, normal that only a small percentage is not employed. Or some saying, they are not tracking, meaning why waste time tracking them, or they are only interested in tracking part time employment. Now you know why they are so blur or ignorant about the problems faced by our jobless or underemployed graduates. They don’t even know, they don’t bother. So, they quoted a Sarah that had been hunting for a job since May but ended up taking something not relevant to her fine arts degree. Reading between the lines, nobody cares despite the media starting to dig up the shit. It is her fault for taking a course that has no market demand.

How can our world class universities be churning out graduates that did not have the skills employers want? Do our universities think that our graduates are all children of millionaires or ministers and went to universities to study for fun, study courses that have no market value because they don’t need to work after graduation? Why offer courses that have no market demand, not marketable and making the poor graduates struggled to get the degrees and wasting 3 or 4 years of their lives in the universities for nothing? Do the universities have the responsibility to do their due diligence to offer relevant courses and not issuing degrees that cannot be eaten?  Whose fault is that? The universities or the students? No need to ask for the answers. It must be the students. The question, is it fair to blame the young students who did not know what the job market is all about? Aren’t the universities in a better position, with better knowledge, to offer the relevant and useful courses for the students?

And who was that to say that only two percent of the graduates are unemployed or underemployed and that is healthy? In normal cases it is healthy. But when 2 million foreigners are employed here, many with fictitious degrees, some with fake degrees, some with longkang university degrees, it is NOT ok. Something is very wrong. Something is very sick.

By the way, apart from the professional degrees, many degrees are not designed to fit into the job market fresh from the universities, eg the arts and social sciences, the general sciences, humanities, the artistic courses. How can employers expect young graduates to be immediately employable and with the skills to start work when fresh out from universities?

While those responsible for the plight of our graduates from our world class universities are talking cock, I hope the media will continue to pursue this issue and highlight the pains and suffering of our young and their parents, being left on the lurch by the people responsible to look after them in the initial years of their working life, the people that they voted to protect their interests.

The media should also dismiss the fools and irresponsible Singaporeans that are running down our young graduates and passing silly comments that the unemployed and underemployed graduates have only themselves to be blamed. The media should also take to task those million dollar people in education for turning the other way when our graduates from our world class universities are bashed and ridiculed as worthless and with a piece of paper that cannot be eaten. The media can play a big role to champion the cause of our miserable graduates from our world class universities as they have been abandoned by the very people they trusted and placed their hopes on. They are on their own, dismissed and discredited, insulted and taunted by irresponsible Singaporeans in their own country.

There is a time to fight and defend your very own brothers and sisters. If no one is going to fight for them, then, like the Sarah they interviewed said, the last option is to go overseas.  Oh yes, Skillsfuture will train them to be employable overseas when they cannot find employment in their own countries. And the govt is going overseas trying to attract overseas Singaporeans to come back home because we are losing our Singaporean core. Dunno what shit they are talking or doing. So these young graduates can first go overseas and then be invited to come back later in life.

In the meantime foreigners, more than 2m of them with half past six degrees are happily employed, all with the right skills, better than our world class university graduates. And they have no problem securing a job here, even applying from a distance, in their home country.

Singapore the safest and most peaceful place on earth

A chaotic year went by and many will ‘kee chiu’ if I say Singapore is one of the safest and peaceful countries in the world. We should count our blessings and thank a forward looking, proactive and good planning govt that is all the time worrying about our national security and the preservation of our social fabric. Chee Hean had made two statements yesterday, one after protecting our social fabric from a breakdown of social cohesion that would lead us down the rubbish chute of social unrest and racial strife. And it is a miracle that we could keep our social fabric intact after stuffing the little island with more than 2m of the people highly prone to violence from around the world. The few punching bag incidents are peanuts and tolerable. We can live with that. It must be the successful integration process that the govt has put in place and the good jobs that were given to the foreigners that resulted in this harmony. This is something to be proud of, and a price worth paying for.

The next important statement by Chee Hean is on cyber security. This is an increasing threat to our smart nation where the decision to cross the road or what to eat, or whether the oldies at home are safe, are all wired and computerized. Then there are the transport system, the water and flooding system, the electrical grid, banking and finance, the health records and our power system. With so many systems being wired up, the opportunities for them to be targeted for mischief are plentiful and very real.

And thanks again to the great policies of the govt to import the best foreigners to boost up our IT industry and our cyber security. It is a cat and mouse thing and we need the best cats to catch the most intelligent mice. And if the mice are from foreign sources, we need foreign cats to deal with them. Ah, to set a thief to catch a thief really works. What about local threats? They would route their attacks from overseas and the foreign cats would be well placed to catch them too. Our cyber security and cyber defence are in the best hands, the best foreigners money can buy to guard our security and to protect us.

Singaporeans can sleep well. All the computerized systems will be safe under the watchful eyes of our foreign IT experts. This may be called defence in depth like having gurkhas to guard our installations. Foreign mercenaries can play a big role in our safety and security. So far so good. This is not ownself check ownself. This is depending on foreigners to check ownself and to protect us. The foreigners not only protect us, they also provide good jobs for us and integrated very nicely with our citizens. This is like what they say, have the cake and eat it as well.

Let’s hope our social fabric will remain intact when we hit 6.9m. Let’s hope we would not be dragged into a war by some of our good friends or because of them terrorists would want to teach us a lesson for meddling with their domestic affairs.

This is another good thing to remember for Christmas.

Futuristic Train Terminal

Many would think this photo is a screen shot taken from the Star Wars movie or some Sci fi movies coming out from Hollywood. This is real. This is not back from the future or the future. This is the present.

Where would you think this is from? Singapore's Bishan or the Tuas depot of tomorrow? Or is it in Japan, Germany, France or the USA?  Keep guessing.

Many critics or western media will say these trains are good to see but would break apart after two days. Some will say there are made of cheap parts, plastics, cannot move, maybe got horses inside the trains to pull it along.

These are the latest bullet trains from China. They are breaking all the records for speed and safety features. And they have been running for more than a decade. And they have been running from China to Central Asia. They have been operating in Europe, in Africa, and will be running in Indonesia, Thailand and the USA.

How about that, a present from China for Christmas?

Merry Christmas everyone.

Photo credit to China Daily.

Schools raise cut off points for admission

The PSLE result was so good that top secondary schools have to raise their cut off points for admission. Many PSLE graduates were disappointed after doing so well and thinking that they could get admitted only to be thwarted by the new cut off points. And at the other extreme, 7 schools need not raise their points and did not receive enough students to run their classes. Even if they were to lower their cut off points, it would not make any difference. The MOE is now having a different kind of headache on what to do with these schools. Should they be merged or close down?

The exceptionally good results of our students, and kudos to the schools and the teachers, are not a once off phenomenon. The trend has been consistent for the last 4 decades. The funny thing is that we have lost one whole generation of industry leaders. According to the foreign recruiting agents, not Singaporean recruiting agents, we don’t have talents and the only talents they could find are in the 3^rd World villages. And if you want them to do any placement, they will go scouring the little villages where talents are plentiful, especially in banking and finance and also IT, to give you the best. They just can’t find the talents they need from the local cohorts that were famed for their straight As. I dunno what happened to these bright students when they grow up? Becoming part time employees or doing temp jobs?

And the loss of talents is not confined to just IT, banking and finance. It is across the board. Even top postman job must go to foreigners, top gardeners job, top animal keepers jobs, curators of junks, oops I mean antiques,  etc etc must also go to foreigners. And foreign talents are starting to fill the politicial positions as well. That is how good our education system has become. And not a single Singaporean dares to dispute this fact, that we don’t have local talents for top jobs. Maybe in 30 years time. They have just planted the shoots and waiting for the harvest in 30 years time. Yes, in 30 years time we will have local talents for top jobs. Don’t worry.

For those who just completed their PSLE, in 30 years time they will be about 40 years old, just about right. They will be just in time to be the top talents Singapore is waiting for.

Oh, what about the schools that cannot attract students and facing a bleak future of no students? Not to worry. I have several solutions. One simple one is to go to 3^rd World countries and offer them scholarships to pick up the village best to be our future talents. There is only one problem, or maybe not a problem, only a paradox. These village talents will shine if they continue to stay in their village school system and when they graduated, they will be headhunted to be our foreign talents. But if they are to study here, in our world best education system, would they score straight As like our local students but ended up with no talent and unemployable like our local students?

The village talents must think very hard on which is the better system that will bring out their best. From experience and empirical data, it is better that they stayed in the village school system that will turn them into top grade foreign talents for this city state.  And they can say, cheap and good, a cheap education but with excellent results.

What do you think?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - An Asian tapestry

By Chua Chin Leng (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2015-12-15 14:46

Since its humble beginning as the Shanghai Five, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is growing in stature as a regional political and economic organization.

Created for confidence building measures between Russia, China and the Central Asian states, the SCO has been very successful in reducing regional tension and ensuring peace and stability in Asia. With the growing threats of terrorism, the member states work together to contain the scourge of terrorism spreading into the respective countries.

The original conceptualization of this security organization grew out of a necessity. The plan was to lower tension and to build trust, to provide a formal framework for consultation and cooperation in security matters, it has expanded its role to cooperation and mutual support in the international arena for its member states. The fact that many countries are lining up to join this low key regional organization signifies its recognition and acceptance as a valued organization.

Uzbekistan was added to the original Shanghai Five of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in 2001. This year, India and Pakistan were accepted as the two new members. Many Asian states have applied and been accepted as 'observers' and 'dialogue partners'. The USA also applied to be an observer (a prerequisite to become a full member) but was rejected in 2005.

The security of Asia, to remain as a unified region free from conflict and warfare, depends a great deal to an organization like the SCO. Smaller Asian countries need a security umbrella to protect them from big powers. It is of utmost importance that the SCO sew up this tapestry with more Asian members, to keep them together and not be divided and be at odds with each other. A divided Asia will provide the cracks needed for unfriendly forces to exploit and to engage in sowing conflicts. With more Asian countries showing interest to be a member of SCO, it shows these countries seek peace and stability in Asia. They seek security and protection that the SCO can provide them.

Asia must remain united as a region free from war. The SCO proves to be a dependable and indispensable stabilizing role. They must seize the moment to sew up more Asian states into its tapestry to keep them stitched together as parts of Asia, a united Asia where peace prevails.

The author is a political observer from Singapore.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website.

South China Sea – History versus geography

I normally would not care to comment on what the lunatics said. There was one that posted a comment in the Today forum calling Singapore to take sides with the Americans against China in the South China Sea dispute. He urged Singapore not to remain neutral as neutrality was a sign of appeasement. This kind of thought must come from the same mindset that Singapore could punch above its weight and would make a difference in geopolitical struggle. Many Singaporeans still did not know that standing on the head of a tiger and shouting out loud did not really mean anything as the power came from the tiger and not the mouse.

Another forumer replied in the Today paper calling the one suggesting that Singapore must take sides with the Americans against China as naïve. The naïve in his own way thought he was the judge of the South China Sea dispute and already decided that China was wrong in his deluded mind. No need to ask why he thought he was the one to judge the right or wrong of such a dispute.

The norms of international relations went through many phases starting with historical claims. Every native today claimed ownership of the land on historical grounds. They were the first settlers or founded the land first. Even the Jews were claiming their rights from history to own Israel as a God given land. Removing the historical justification, then all the natives in South East Asia or the whole world would have no rights to their land.

The next unwritten law was conquest. Past civilizations and their empires were decided by conquest. Then you have the Egyptian Empire, the Persian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Greek and Roman Empire also the Chinese Empire. And their territories grew or shrank according to their power and influence.

This was eclipsed by a moderated version of power and conquest in colonialism. The rule then was based on the western version of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery originated from the Vatican. The papal bull proclaimed that all the non Christian land is occupied by sub humans and the Christian Europeans had the right to conquer and seized their lands.

Many countries today were established on the above principles, historical rights, conquest or the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. Anyone wants to rubbish all these precedence and historical claims to start afresh? The law of history, conquest and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery no longer relevant, to be overruled by the new Rule of Law of the Sea based on geography?

The lunatic claimed that geography and the Rule of Law of the Sea now stand supreme and override historical claims, and the claims of conquest and colonialism? Well, in the asylum, the lunatics are the kings and they can claim anything they want.

Singapore to take sides with the Americans to fight the Chinese over claims in the South China Sea that it has nothing to do with? Or Singapore must guarantee freedom of navigation of the high seas and must defend this right. Oh, I see, Singapore can punch above its weight and its voice means a lot and the super powers are trembling when Singapore opens its mouth and decides to take sides.

Committee on the Future Economy of Singapore

A task force has been set up headed by Heng Swee Kiat to look into the future of Singapore’s economy. The Committee has identified five key areas in the development of the Singapore economy. Heng Swee Kiat would have a deputy in S Iswaran. The two will gather a team of 30 experts and professionals from different industries and backgrounds to chart the future of Singapore.

30 years ago Hsien Loong too headed a similar committee to look into the future of Singapore and an appointment of such a nature has very serious implications. In Hsien Loong’s case it was to put on notice that he is the PM in the making and the Committee he sat on would be used to cultivate and build his support base. Heng Swee Kiat is now given the same opportunity to build his base and looking good to be the future PM in the making.

A Committee to look into the economic development of the country is part and parcel of the planning process and also indicates the priorities of the govt. We had seen two decades of growth at all cost and how it has changed the fabric of our society and the demography of the people, now with many new citizens and foreigners.

What is missing till now is the security angle. The security of the country did not seem to warrant any attention other than the doctrine of a strong defence force to thwart a foreign invasion. The danger of bringing in so many foreigners and allowing them to take a controlling stake in many key industries and positions surely must deserve more considerations and raise concerns on the security of the country. How would these new citizens and foreigners impact on our national security, social security and the life of our citizens are serious matters that cannot be left to chance.

Would the govt think it necessary to form a Committee to review the security implications of the liberal and indiscriminate immigration policy? What is the point of economic growth when it ends up with the people losing their jobs, homes and even country to foreigners, to be replaced by foreigners?  What could happen if there is an international crisis, war, etc that calls on the loyalties of the new citizens and PRs and residents in the country to take sides or being exploited or attracted to do damage to the country’s security and other aspects of life and industries in the country?  What would happen if the Committee for economic growth recommends another CECA type of free trade agreements and open the immigration door wider still?

The security people must play a bigger role and a Committee on Security is calling and urgent in view of the immigration policy, the large foreign population and the problems of terrorism all over the world.  We cannot take our national security for granted and hope for the best.

What is Chee Hean doing or thinking as the Coordinating Minister for Defence and National Security? Should he call for the formation of a Committee to look into the security of our country?

India’s superpower dream

It is natural that a country with more than 1b people and going to be the most populous nation in the world, India will aspire to be a superpower one day.  The reawakening of the Indian civilization and the realization of its potential, if every Indian could earn a per capital income half of what an average American is getting, India will be rich like hell and its GDP many times bigger than the Americans. For the time being, India knows that it is a far fetch dream to overtake the Americans. Its main target is China, to over take China in everyway, to be the Number One in Asia. No need to be bothered about overtaking Japan.

The thinking of the Indian elite and political leaders is clear and manifested in every inch of Indian literature and the Indian mass media. They talk, sleep and dream of being the Number One super power in Asia. And China is the target to beat. The Indians did not hide their ambition. They are not contented with just the Indian Ocean. Never mind if the Americans is controlling the Indian Ocean through their stronghold military fortress in Diego Garcia. Over taking the Americans and chasing them away from the Indian Ocean can wait. China is what India is looking out for.

The Indians have been playing military war games with the Americans and the Japanese, in the Indian Ocean, in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea, to show to the world that Indi has arrived and is extending its influence to the Pacific Ocean. To over take China is tough. What India could hope for is to hold back China, keep China in check, not by India of course, but to play the American and Japanese game, using the two to contain China.

In an article by a Brahma Chellaney in the Today paper on 21 Dec, taken from a Project Syndicate source, this Indian professor wrote, ‘Why China must pay a cost for its actions in South China Sea’. It took the same stance as the West, that China has no right to the islands it is claiming, calling China’s historical claim weak. And he is suggesting that the Americans and the Japanese, together with Little India, the superpower aspirants, to take on China with a big stick, to extract a price on China for developing the islands.

He totally ignores the rights of the Chinese to develop their own islands, their own land and territories. From the China’s perspective, a Chinese professor would have written, ‘Why can’t China develop its own islands in the South China Sea?’ It all depends on which side one is taking and what logic or assumption one is taking. To the Chinese, it is perfectly normal for them to develop what is in their territory, even extracting all the oil and resources from the surround sea. To those who want to have a share of these resources, they would want to challenge China’s claim and want a piece of the resources for themselves.

For India, this is a great opportunity to prod the Americans and Japanese to get into an open conflict with China, and the bystander would stand to gain when they fight. The Indian super power dream will be realized earlier if these powers ended up destroying each other over the little islands in the South China Sea.

Every player has a game plan to favour their vested interests. There is a confluence of interest in the Americans, Japanese and Indians to want to go to stir trouble with China in Chinese territory. It will be a power play and will be decided by who carries the bigger stick. And to the players and adventurers, is the stake big enough, good enough to play with fire.

China could play the same game as India. But India is too far behind to worry China. Even Japan is no issue. China’s main concern is the Americans. China will tackle the Americans in many other ways that would hurt the Americans more than wanting a war in the South China Sea. China must copy the American doctrine of fighting wars away from its shores and create trouble for the Americans away from China. The Americans are thinking that they are in control of the situation and having the upper hand. When they could not even deal with Syria, with ISIS and the Russians, they must be dreaming that they can take on China and thinking it is another cakewalk.

China is unlikely to go into war with the Americans militarily. There are many options and cards the Chinese can play.  Boosting the Russian efforts in Syria would be a good start and drag the Americans into a bigger war in the Middle East. As for ambitous India, happy dreaming. They are not a factor in the Chinese calculus for a long time to come. They are irrelevant no matter how loud they shouted.

Catherine Lim’s open letter to Hsien Loong

$150,000 damage to Hsien Loong. This is the court’s ruling against Roy Ngerng in the defamation suit taken up by Hsien Loong against him. Many eyes were rolling but most people kept quiet. What is there to say anymore? This is the normal and better to get use to it. But Catherine Lim is not going to let it rest. She wrote an open letter to Hsien Loong. Below are a few paras from her letter.

‘Sir

It was with much dismay that I read the report ‘Blogger ordered to pay PM 150k in damages’ in the Straits Times of 18 December 2015. I was less struck by the specifics of a court case that Singaporeans must have been following with great interest over the months – the standpoints taken by the contending parties, the various judicial processes, the assessment of damages to be paid to the plaintiff – than by one stark fact: once again, Sir, your powerful government is putting to use its most powerful instrument for silencing critics, namely, the defamation suit.

This dreaded instrument that had been created in a past era to punish political opponents specifically and instil fear in the people generally, could not have appeared at a more inappropriate time. For this is supposedly a period of sweeping change and new connection with the people, following the PAP’s resounding victory in a highly fraught general election. Charged with new energy, the government has been engaged in a massive exercise of goodwill and generous giving to the people, firstly to consolidate and strengthen the support that they had given in the election, and secondly, to lead them, during this crucial period of transition, into a new era of PAP leadership that promises to be even better connected with their needs and aspirations…

Catherine quoted words like amity, unity, magnanimity, grace, enlightened creativity, courage etc etc hoping that her message will get through to Hsien Loong and maybe the latter will have a change of heart in view of the great election victory and the hope for sweeping changes and a new ethos of kindness and compassion. Many thought the overwhelming victory to the PAP will lead to goodwill and generosity and not an endorsement of past practices and norms.

Would it be, would Catherine’s appeal to the heart and emotion of Hsien Loong do anything or change anything to minimise the financial damages to Roy Ngerng?

The war against ISIS is a big joke

Everyone is going into Syria to fight the ISIS. And the ISIS keeps growing from strength to strength. The Americans and its allies, Nato countries, Saudi Arabia and OPEC countries, all of them are forming alliances to fight ISIS. The Russians have moved in in a big way, air, naval and soldiers on the ground to join the Syrian armies fighting the ISIS.

What is real? Russian aircraft got shot down by Turkey. Latest report American bombers struck and killed Syrian govt soldiers. Where are the ISIS casualties? Oh everyone is attacking the ISIS. It looks like the parties really fighting the ISIS are the Russians and the Syrian govt forces. The rest are putting up a show attacking the ISIS but really attacking the Russians and Assad’s soldiers.

What is the most important factor in the war? ISIS growing stronger when everyone is supposed to be attacking them. It is the presence of more Russian forces on the ground. And this is the most critical factor that is prompting Washington to want to put boots on the ground in Syria. They cannot allow the Russians to be the most powerful foreign forces in Syria. They cannot afford to let the Russians destroyed the ISIS. And the only way to check on the Russians, to shoot down Russian aircraft and to destroy Assad’s forces is to bring in the American soldiers. Perhaps it is a good excuse to drag in some silly and unthinking allies in another Coalition of the Unwilling, to fight the Russians and the Syrian forces.

How, who are the silly govts that would volunteer their soldiers to fight the Russians and the Syrians in the name of fighting the ISIS?

Don’t ask the Europeans except maybe France and UK who would be willing do it, the rest would say No, thank you.

Would anyone want to ask how come the Russians and the Syrians are being attacked all the time and not ISIS?

In John Harding’s view expressed in his blog, ‘Even though Saudi Arabia said all the right things in announcing their 34-nation Islamic military coalition against terrorism, their words were only a sham….. “The Saudis are under a lot of pressure, for what they’re doing in Yemen, from the accusations that they’re spreading Wahhabi ideology [i.e. ISIS ideology}, and for what they are not doing on the military side of the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. So I can see that this would have some propaganda value for them,” says Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat in Middle Eastern affairs who is now a vice president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington….. More precisely, how can Saudi Arabia, the founder and supporter of ISIS, join any coalition to defeat ISIS? ISIS is the child of Wahhabi ideology, the Saudi brand of radical Islam.’

John Harding forgot to mention that the midwife of ISIS is the USA. So why would the US want to destroy the ISIS who is doing all the work for them, to destabilize the Middle East and keep the region burning and the Arabs fighting and killing themselves and no time to live a normal life and no time to work on their oil fields and to build a functioning govt for their people?

Let’s forgive Matilah Singapura

Christmas is a time for forgiveness and Sunday is also a good time to do the same. For a long time, Matilah Singapura has been making personal attacks at me, calling me all kinds of names and branding me as racist, bigot, and whatever negative words he could find in his vocabulary. I, being a better person, simply ignored him. But I noticed several anonymous have been attacking him like a scoundrel and calling him all the base things they could to make him know that he is indeed a scum of society, a shameful person that is so low down that a dog would be a saint in his company.

Let’s forgive him for his waywardness. Let’s try to understand him. He is indeed a very miserable person if you know what he had gone through. I am very sure that he did not go and smell his mother though he has been describing how smelly is her cxxx. I shan’t use the words that he used. Did I get the word correctly? I often skip what he wrote. Or did he used something like c… b.. to describe his mother?  I can even swear that he is innocent of the acts that he claimed to do. I believe inside him he is a good boy.

But where did he get the idea that his mother is smelly if he did not do it? My conclusion is that it must be his father that told him, after all his father must be the only one that is intimate with his mother. But again, for him to come here and scold his mother, insult his mother and said those not very nice things are a reflection that he is really angry with his mother. How can he be so angry really beats me?  What has his mother done to make him so angry to the point of hate? Has his mother been naughty or doing bad things that he has to condemn her, even saying out loud that he came out from her …., you know what. So embarrassing to even mention it.  My apologies.

See, try to understand him and forgive him. He is angry maybe for some other reasons. He might have thought he made a damn clever decision to migrate to Australia and thought he is very clever and can make it there. The truth, that he had to crawl back here, and jobless, living on his friend’s charity, he is so proud to say he got his cheap thrills for free, speak for itself. He did not want to admit that he is a failure and so has to talk big to try to impress the readers here. It is alright to praise him and flatter him once in a while to make him happy, and let him think or feel that he is really clever.

But not to worry for him. It is very lucky for him that he did not sell his HDB flat when he left and still can collect some rent to get by.  Luckily it is a HDB flat and all his failed marriages did not end up with him having to sell his flat and split with his ex spouses. Then he would have nothing to live on.

Poor chap. Please be kind to him. Please don’t scold him now that you know what he had gone through in life. And if he comes back to claim that he is very successful and scrounging from his rich friends, just give him a listening ear. Don’t run him down or expose his failures. He will go down in depression.

Thank you for your understanding and for showing your kindness to Matilah Singapura.

Amen.

China must take the initiative in the South China Sea

The American again flew two B52 bombers over the Chinese islands in the South China Sea yesterday and all China did was to protest. This is making China looking helpless in the eyes of the international community and especially Asean countries that would think China is ripe for the whacking.

Though war is bad for China and it is trying its best to avoid an open conflict, China cannot keep sitting still and do nothing to the provocations. Even lame Australia thinks it is up to it to challenge China by trying to act as a deputy sheriff as well. There are many ways to deal with the Americans without going to war. There are economic, political and financial tools to apply the pressure where it hurts. There are many areas that China need not cooperate with the Americans where it matters most to the Americans. Let the North Koreans and the Iranian thump their chests at the Americans. Also China can work more closely with the Russians in Syria by contributing to the war effort on the side of Assad and the Russians.  China can also support the indigenous people of North America and champion their cause to reclaim their land in the UN. Beat the drum hard in the UN and let it be heard. Keep the occupation of stolen land issue alive.

China must take the initiative, go on the offensive instead of sitting there and waiting for the Americans to come kicking at their door. No need to engage in military warfare unless forced to. Fight the Americans in areas that they are weak and sensitive about, hit them where it hurts.

Not doing anything is not an option.  The Syrian conflict is a good start to keep the American busy with American troops on the ground to drain their military resources and bog them down in an area away from China. Putin is doing a great job and if China can give him a helping hand, that would keep the Americans very busy there and got no time to provoke another theatre of war and create mischief in the South China Sea.

Remember, the Americans are broke and cannot sustain their military operations overseas for long.

CPF – A reflection

Conveniently no one would like to talk about this subject anymore. It is best to let it die quietly, that everything is now normal, your CPF is no longer your savings to enjoy on their retirement.

The inconvenient part about social media is that it has a long of space to bring out dead issues, forgotten issues and uncomfortable issues.

What is happening to your CPF savings? Why are you saving for a life time for? Who is benefiting from your life time saving? You?

Should someone that have saved a lifetime, 30 to 40 years of big savings, not peanuts, 40% to 50% of your monthly income, shouldn’t the saver feel rich and could retire happily and live graciously?

Why are such people still complaining about money no enough when a foreign worker, a maid, not even at the executive level, could work for 10 years or sold here and could return and live a life of relative plenty?

No one wants to think about their CPF savings anymore. It is gone, fait accompli. Oh, to be used to provide medical protection for life. No need to worry about sickness anymore. Just make sure you have enough savings outside your CPF savings to live and enjoy life and enjoy the medical protection.

Asean losing its plot

Asean is not only losing its plot but also its way. It is looking dysfunctional and will become dysfunctional if Asean does not take a good look at where it is going. The formation of Asean by the wise founding members was based on neutrality during a time when the world was embroiled in big power game with the Americans fighting a Cold War with the communist bloc led by Russia. The Americans wanted every country on their side as part of the American Empire. They created Nato in Europe and Cento, Seato to lock in central Asian countries and SE Asian countries to oppose the Russians.

The SE Asian leaders then saw through the game. Why should they be involved and be caught up in other people’s fight, why should they be fighting for the big powers and dying for the big powers? Asean was formed with such a background and premises that it is better to stay neutral. The big power can do all their fighting, Asean will stay neutral and not be involved in the silly contest when they have nothing to gain and not in their interests.

Razak came out with the concept of Zone of Freedom and Neutrality or ZOPFAN and Asean stayed that way, free and stable, to pursue their national interests. Today you don’t hear any Asean member talking about this anymore. Every Asean member is cozying up to the big powers, to be feasted as the darling of the day, happily waiting to be invited to bed. They have forgotten what Asean was all about. When Asean was neutral and staying close as a single bloc, the big powers come wooing. They wanted to be friends of Asean.

Now the big powers have been successful in seducing some Asean members and bringing them to bed, and Asean is now breaking up. Asean no longer sets the agenda. The big powers are setting the agenda for Asean. Instead of the big powers coming to woo Asean as a bloc, individual members are signing up with the big powers, joining the camps of the big powers as their proxies in the big power game of geopolitical tussle for power and influence.

Asean is at the verge of breaking up. The members are all having different dreams, instead of sharing the same dreams of Asean like the founding fathers. They wanted to be the pet boys of the big powers, to walk along the side of the big powers, to carry their little pistols and swagger like little cowboys, wanting to go to wars, to be the silly soldiers fighting for the interests of the big powers that the founding fathers of Asean chose to avoid.

Asean has lost its way. With mediocre and shallow leaders, with crazy leaders, with imbeciles, it is only expected that Asean will break up and individual members will join the camps of the big powers to engage in warfare, something that they have not enjoyed while living the spirit of Asean. They have grown tired of peace and life has been too boring. Now they are looking for excitement and want to have fun, to buy more weapons to fight wars and have more dead heroes to worship. Membership to the Empire is the privilege of the knaves.

Foreign workers – Singapore can have the cake and eats it as well

Many people have written about the pains of being Singaporeans and being displaced by foreigners with doubtful qualifications and backgrounds and ended up jobless or underemployed. The consequences of this self made disaster would be felt many years down the road and it would be too late to do anything if nothing is done now. The impact of this crazy policy would be many times worse than the Stop at Two policy of yesteryear. We may even lose our country to the foreigners and the original Singaporeans would not just be a minority but be victimized by the new Singaporeans and treated as the new dalits of Singapore.

Leong Sze Hian wrote another piece on the same subject posted in TRE titled ‘Singaporeans competing with millions of foreigners for jobs?’ The points he raised and the numbers quoted are not funny. They are very serious and with equally serious implications for Singaporeans.

Let me try to say something very politely on why things could be better and this influx of foreigners could be better managed and better received and accepted by the Singaporeans and with theirapproval. The original concept and assumptions were fair, we need more migrants to help shore up the economy. The govt was also conscious that the foreigners are here to compliment our manpower and talent pool, not to simply replaced Singaporeans. No one will disagree with these premises. The people will be behind the govt if these are the guiding principles in bringing in more foreigners and Singaporeans would have priority in employment.

OK, the silly myth that Singaporeans are choosy, lazy and stupid, please do not raise these comments again. It not only show how shallow and stupid the person is, but also show how anti Singaporean is the thinking. Singapore belongs to the original Singaporeans and not to the foreigners. Compromising on this principle is treason. Singaporeans must be in charge. Period.

Let’s seriously put Singaporeans first. Make sure Singaporeans are fully and gainfully employed before the next foreigner is allowed in. It is like at the immigration check points. We have express lanes for Singaporeans. This is home, this is our country. We are Singaporeans and this country belongs to us. The govt/MOM must establish express lanes for Singaporeans for good jobs. 

Singaporeans can register in the express lanes and be placed for jobs suitable to their qualifications and experience. Only after the Singaporeans are placed that foreigners can be considered and approved for employment here when no Singaporean is left in the queue. This is elementary Watson. Every country is doing it.  No need to reinvent the wheel and try so hard to be stupid and to be anti Singaporeans.

Is it so hard to implement such a policy for the good of Singaporeans? I bet you, if the govt’s policies are along this line of thinking, the PAP would be voted into power after every election and will be the party of the people. No need for funny things to be done during elections. The people will go vote for the PAP, as the party for the people. No bluff. So simple!

Sitting on stolen lands, acting as sheriff and deputy sheriff

The Americans and Australians are sitting on stolen lands that belonged to the indigenous people of North America and Australia. They seized the lands from the native people and claimed it as their own, with the power of the gun. Now they called these two continental size land as theirs, as America and Australia and hushed up on the protests by the natives and their claims for the return of their lands in the United Nations.

Today we are seeing the two nations built on stolen lands sailing into the South China Sea and appointing themselves as the sheriff and deputy sheriff of the region, carry guns again to stamp their authority. Indirectly they are staking their claims on the South China Sea and the islands under the pretension of protecting freedom of navigation. Their war ships and war planes are here, to control the South China Sea as their playground.

After stealing the continents of North America and Australia, they are eyeing the South China Sea and the islands and the resources below, wanting to claim them as theirs as well. Would they also be thinking of the Asean countries and revive the concept of colonialism or the Doctrine of Christian Discovery?

When are the Americans and the Australians going to return their stolen lands to the indigenous people of the respective lands? What audacity they have in appointing themselves as the sheriff and deputy sheriff of the South China Sea?

Alibaba – The power of the pen

Alibaba paid $375m for South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong.  It looks like a risky but normal commercial deal for Alibaba to want to diversify into the media industry that could compliment its complex and worldwide business empire.  According to the New York Times reporting from Hong Kong, there is a bigger agenda for Alibaba in this purchase. I quote,

‘Alibaba Group Holdings in taking over Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP), is making an ambitious play to reshape media coverage of its home country, taking aim at what company executives call the negative portrayal of China in the Western media…the deal was fuelled by a desire to improve China’s image and offer an alternative to what it called the biased lens of Western news outlets….’

The power of the pen to shape how people think by telling stories laced with carefully crafted toxic messages has been a blatant transgression of the media industry. The Western media have two centuries of head start to mould and shape the thinking of western educated readers all over the world to think, act and behave the way they wanted them to. Many Afro Asians are now more familiar with the folk tales and history of the West than their own history and culture and subconsciously adopted a western persona without know it. They spout nonsense and hate against anything Asians and Africans without a clue as to why they are doing it and who they really are.

The Singapore’s version is the anglophiles, the western thinking bananas fed with with a diet of potatoes and hamburgers and a mind full of hate against China and anything Chinese. Thanks to the contributions of western media like the NYT, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Agencies, Reuters and what not. They have nothing good to say about China and would put a negative spin to everything China did and a positive spin to everything western.

The acquisition and control of SCMP is a small step taken by a commercial establishment like Alibaba to share its corporate responsibility towards its home country, to say the right thing, to give China a proper and positive image instead of all the craps and biased reports from small mind hill billies in the US and the red neck Europeans. Two centuries of planting negativities cannot disappear overnight and media like the SCMP would take at least one or two generations to cleanse the mush in the unthinking Afro Asian minds. There will be resistance, disbeliefs, denials and withdrawal symptoms to wean these unthinking minds of bananas to think straight again. Some may realize it faster than others, some may not. The good news is time is on the side of an Asian perspective as the ageing anglophiles will soon be history and not able to spout their rubbish without thinking.

What the Alibaba intends to do with SCMP is similar to what Channel News Asia is doing, presenting Asian news by Asians. Channel News Asia will lose its credibility when it slips back to using westerners to report Asian news and may even be banned by Asian countries from doing so if it is silly enough to stray away from this successful and acceptable formula.

Do not try to resist. Resistance is futile, and the truth shall set you free.