India, where are you going?

India is the next emerging superpower, and deeply entrenched as the number one regional power in the Indian Ocean, unchallenged. It is so disheartening to hear the elation and rejoicing in New Delhi that India was the only country mentioned by the Empire as a crony in its return to the Asia Pacific region. India may now hope to be assigned a more important role by the Emperor.

In this celebration mood, India has even forgotten that the French is claiming to be a power in the Indian Ocean. India would now have to share the Indian Ocean with the French. The Brits would not be too far behind in the return to the East. Welcome Sahib, to the East India Company.

If India is aspiring to be a super power on its own steam, it should rightly stand as tall as the US and not acting as a side kick in the Empire’s scheme of things. And India must not forget that all the cronies of the Empire would have to bloody their hands if they want to remain as a faithful and loyalty poodle. And Afghanistan is waiting for grateful Indian troops to play its role as a willing partner to the killings of the Afghans, and who knows where else later.

Welcome to the dark side, the Emperor said. India should not regret the great opportunity offered. Be very grateful and honoured.

Chew Sutat – The importance of retail investors

Finally a sensible voice from the SGX spoke. A stock market without retail investors is like a bankrupt with no cash. The retail investors provide the life supporting liquidity in a stock market. Getting rid of retail investors is as good as saying goodbye to the big funds and to the stock market. Someone must feed the big funds with profits, and this can only come from the retail investors. For the last decade or so, the big funds are happily sucking away the invested funds of the retail investors to a point that it is critically dangerous, that there will be no retail investors left to keep the market alive.

The pathetic state of the local stock market when the volume generated were mainly from machines and the funds must be telling unless the people in the know choose to put on their blinkers. The pathetic value of many stocks in the main board is another indicator that the market is in the intensive care ward and could go kaput any time.

What is seriously wrong with the market is obvious. It needs to provide a level playing field for big and small investors. The retail investors cannot be victims to unfair practices like trading against machines and computers. These must be removed if the market is not going to die a premature death.

Derivatives or instruments that are pure gambling chips that destroy the value of stocks or against the true value of stocks are also detrimental to the viability of a stock exchange. When healthy companies could helplessly see their stocks being sold down indiscriminately because the funds bid them down through a complex web of derivatives with no regards to the sound fundamental of stocks, it is a very destructive process that must be stopped to save the stocks and markets. When good companies cannot grow the value of their stocks in the market, there is no reason for them to continue listing in the market. Similarly, retail investors cannot continue to plough their money into good stocks for long term investments only to be destroyed by derivative play.

The third point is the uncontrolled influx of unlimited number of stocks in a small market that could not swallow them. To make matters worst, many of the foreign stocks are fly by night stocks and investors have no real recourse to claim back their investments lost through foul play. The exchange has to act responsibility to protect investors and their money by not indiscriminately allowing questionable foreign stocks to be listed here.

Protecting the small retail investors is the key to a healthy and sustainable stock market. The small retail investors must not be left at the mercy of big funds and their destructive machines in an unlevel playing field. Looking at the long term, many serious flaws in the market system and mechanisms must be rectified or else the market is sure to head towards oblivion must quicker than we known. The truth cannot be hidden for too long. It is not only unhealthy, it is sick, very sick.

Would there be strong political will and a little wisdom to make the necessary changes to save the market?

Deep holes, weak leaders

This is the title of Thomas Friedman’s article in the ST today. Let me just do a précis of this article to make sense in the Singaporean context. I would leave out the irrelevant and may alter or substitute a word or phrase here and there to make it more interesting to read.

One of the most troubling features of today’s global economic crisis is the lack of political leadership anywhere. No one has the courage to tell people the truth. And the truth, alas, is that ‘five’ of the pillars of today’s global economy – Europe, America, China and the Arab world – have, each in their own way, squandered huge dividends they enjoyed in recent decades, and how they have to dig out of their respective holes with fewer resources, less time and, almost certainly, more pain.


There is no way out. But, as confronting these hard truths becomes unavoidable, I think we’re likely to see some wild, angry and destabilizing politics that could make the economic recovery even more difficult. Deep holes and weak leaders are a bad combination….


“Someone among the leaders must finally tell the people the truth: This fresh start can only be achieved with a radical first step,” he said….


But the leaders used their surpluses of power and wealth to ignore the United Nations’ Human Rights Report…Instead, they enriched a small slice of their populations and distracted the rest with shiny objects….


“To its credit, it used its huge export dividend to build 21st century infrastructure and to educate its people, creating a rich upper middle class. But the current leadership has not used this surging economic growth to also introduce gradual political reform. Corruption is as bad as ever, institutionalised transparency and the rule of law remain weak and consensual politics nonexistent. If growth slows and incomes widen further, more and more steam will build up in the system with no outlet, which is surely one reason that the country will reach ‘a critical stage.’


So for these countries, in different ways, these have been the years the locusts ate. Getting healthy again will be wrenching for all of us. At a minimum, it would need a sensible plan to fix the economy – which is what people want most and many in the business would surely support it. The country cannot wait until 2016 to do serious policy changes again.

Dr Lim Hock Siew, on the wrong side of history

A man of principle, detained without trial under the ISA for leftist political belief, passed away on 4 June 12 at the age of 82. He could have walked out of prison earlier if he just said he would denounce the use of force to overthrow the govt. He refused on the ground that his detention was unjustified and chose to stand by his principle. He said,

"I am not interested in saving Lee Kuan Yew’s face. This is not a question of pride but of principle. My detention is completely unjustifiable and I will not lift a single finger to help Lee Kuan Yew to justify the unjustifiable. In the light of what you say, is it not very clear that I have lost my freedom all these long and bitter years just to save Lee Kuan Yew’s face? Therefore the PAP regime’s allegation that I am a security risk is a sham cover and a facade to detain me unjustifiably for over nine years."

Dr Lim was also a founding member of the PAP but broke away to join another party, the Barisan Socialist.

A dirty house

When the house is dirty, the cockroaches, ants and flies will make it their homes. They will infest a dirty house to run riots in every nick and corner. They will become irritants to the owners. The owners can start spraying them and see their dead carcasses littering everywhere. But they will not go away. More will return to occupy the dirty house.

A more effective way is to clean the house, put it in order. Get rid of bad habits, dirty habits, disorders, and impose strict discipline and good behavior. When a house is in order, when a house is clean and not shitty, the roaches, rats, flies and ants will find it unsuitable or inhospitable to stay. They will go away naturally and will not reappear.

Buying insecticide spray, swaps, rat poison, roach traps, is only a temporary solution. The real and long lasting solution is to keep the house clean. And gluttony, eating too much and dropping crumbs everywhere, too much unfinished and unable to consume food, too will cause a house to become unhealthy and smelly. That’s when the irritating pests will return to haunt the owner.

Keep the house clean and in good order. And don’t anyhow bring in fair weather friends who are only interested in sponging and feasting in the house and with one foot outside, ready to scoot when the buffet is gone.

After Hougang

With Png Eng Huat secured as the newly elected MP, the WP has started to do what they need to do to serve the Hougang residents and win more hearts for the next GE in 2016. Desmond Choo too would be busy mapping out his strategies to win the Hougang residents to his side, which, given the current development and sentiment, is likely to be a daunting task.

Winning back Hougang is a much smaller issue to the ruling party than the bigger picture of winning the rest of the Sinkies and to remain relevant in 2016. What is the party’s position in the aftermath of the Hougang? What would it be thinking and doing to win back the support it has lost, not only in Hougang but across the island? I think they must know that the ground has shifted. What would the master strategists be plotting after the Hougang fiasco?

The easiest task of all would be to relook at the policies and how they can be tweaked or fine tuned to benefit the original citizens more than new citizens or PRs. The people’s aspirations and expectations are not difficult to match. The people are not asking for the sky. They do not expect money to be thrown at them for their votes. The Hougangkia have made sure that this point was not missed during the by election. The electorate is sensible and is just looking for more favourable and people centric policies. Any attempt to sugar coat or to smooth talk unfavourable policies as favourable policies, like affordability when it is not, would be taking the electorate for granted and would only backfire as in the by election.

Positive actions for concrete positive results would easily win back the fence sitters or those that have switched camps. Many still would not want too big a change. What could be unfortunate would be negative thoughts and negative actions that would only generate more anger and distaste. It is very easy for some to think of how to deal with those that were opposing the party or spoke ills of the party. It is very easy to bring out the hatchet and go hacking away. An ‘inquisition’ will go down very badly and will not work in an increasingly transparent environment.

Like they say, winning a battle only to lose a war, any mis-steps and miscalculations along such line will only lead to more desertion from the ranks and an abandonment of the party. The party cannot afford to create more distrust and bad publicity. The brash tactics of the past belonged to the past and a new strategy of winning the electorate would have to be formulated on the basis of mutual trust, respect and fair play. Are there still elements that think it is still acceptable and doable to return to the old ways?

There are many critical voices in the social media that meant well. Would they be embraced and won over by genuine and good policies with good intentions, or would there be a witch hunt? Witch hunting is as easy as doing the right thing with right policies to better the lives of the people. It is just the other extremity and will have extreme results.

Ironically, the party should thank the critical voices that want the party to do well, to look after the people well. Ironically too, the enemies of the party are the hatchet men that could only think of wielding the choppers to go around slashing indiscriminately. Such negativity will never go unnoticed and will only bring more adverse reactions to the party. The internet can be very unforgiving and transparent, and go viral.

Win the critics and the sceptics by genuine good works and policies, and everything will fall back in place. Dismissing the critics/sceptics and not doing the rightful, and to take on a combative style to deal with everyone as enemies will lead to a sure gone conclusion. The people are not your enemies.

Could we see a renewed party with a conviction and on a constructive path to redeem itself, or a vindictive party on a rampage? Would the party embrace the change, the new normal and take on the new challenge in its stride? The third path is to do nothing and continue with business as usual, as if everything is ok.

What is the intention of the USA?

The Americans and the western powers have been repeatedly asking about the intention of the Chinese growing military power. Does anyone want to ask or want to know the intention of the American’s overpowering military power? Does anyone want to know why are the Americans putting more than 50% of its military forces in the Pacific Ocean region? Does anyone want to know why are American bases scattered all over the eastern Pacific Oceans?

The answer is clear and transparent. America is the Empire and it will rule the countries in the region. And China, being an emerging power, will not be allowed to threaten the American position as the number One power, the Empire. In the recent Shangri La Dialogue, the Americans made it very clear, with no apologies to the Southeast and East Asian countries that they are the boss and no one can do anything about it. The Americans will dictate the terms of engagement and move its military forces into the region and no one can say no.

During the dialogue the Americans revealed their latest warship, a stealth destroyer that can penetrate the Chinese defense system and move into coastal waters to attack China mainland. The American strategy is all about offence, about attacking other countries to show who is the Empire and who rules the earth.

How did the Chinese respond to this new aggressive threat and intent of the American? They will continue to defend their coastal waters, by using fishing boats to block the path of this stealth destroyer. The Chinese strategy and equipment are defensive in nature, against a hostile and aggressive American military that is threatening war and the threats of war to oppress any emerging power that may pose a challenge to its dominance. Chinese fishing boats against the most advance stealth destroyer that will be invisible to radar but not to the naked eyes of fishermen.

In the Asia Security Summit, the host, Asean, was rudely told that the Americans will be here to stay, like it or not. And it will bring its military prowess to support its Empire status in the region. And for all intent and purposes, the Asean countries would want to minimize big power rivalry and tension in the region, and keep all at a distance. The Asean countries also plead that emerging powers big and small shall have room to grow and their interests be recognized. The Americans say, ‘Don’t bet on that, our strategic interest is supreme.’ The French and Canada are also claiming strategic interests in the region. The former even called itself a power of the Indian and Pacific Ocean. India now got another contender as the Indian Ocean’s only regional power.

The moral of the story is, never to invite the wolf for dinner. It would not go away. Is Southeast Asia seeing a resurgent of colonial powers returning to stake a claim in the region, to carve out their sphere of influence? They all claimed to have strategic interests in the region. Do the countries in the region have any strategic interests as well and will these interests be respected?

The best fund manager’s job

The best fund manager is one that can take all his clients’ money to gamble and pay himself crazily when the bet wins, and then can brag to the clients how clever he is. And if loses, never mind, twists the arms of the clients to put in more money and the clients cannot say no.

And better still, no need to show the clients how the fund is performing, just write whatever he wants to tell the clients. Just tell the clients to trust him.

And even better still, no need to refund the clients any money if there is no money in the kitty to refund the clients.

What a wonderful job. No accountability, no transparency, no responsibility and nobody’s money. The money is as good as his to do as he pleases. My dream job.

Deaf frog will not listen

Sing a song of good foreigners. This has been the theme song in the main stream media for the past months and all kinds of logical and illogical scenarios and craps were published to establish just one point, foreigners are good and we need more foreigners. It is in the blood of the deaf frogs not to listen to the people. Surveys were also conducted with flattering conclusions how Sinkies love foreigners with only a little misgivings which are understandable.

These things are happening despite the tension, cries and cursing everywhere of the problems foreigners are causing to the citizens in practically every aspect of our lives. In small numbers they were most welcomed. In bigger numbers, they were still welcomed but with a little pain. When the increasing numbers is going to make Sinkies a minority in their own country, this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. A breaking point is not too far off.

But the deaf frogs continued with their beautiful song, foreigners are good, foreigners are welcomed. There is an interesting rebut by John Kwok Jung Yun in the Today paper in response to a Vincent Gabriel’s article, ‘Not citizens, but they sacrificed.’ Gabriel was referring to the heroism of the Malay Regiment during colonial rule when citizenship was irrelevant. The Malay Regiment fought bravely, for the British Empire, who robbed them of their country and made Malaya a British colony. I wonder if that was something to be proud of without belittling the bravery of the soldiers.

Gabriel’s point was that even they were not citizens, they were willing to defend the country. What he did not touch on was the mentality of the people then. All the subjects of colonialism stretching from Africa, India to Southeast Asia, were conscripted to fight for the Empire with little thought of Nationalism. The awakening came only after the Second World War when all these colonized state and its people rose to reclaim their countries. Before that, they served the Empire blindly and out of a need to survive, to put food on the table. There were no will, no leaders to tell them that they were colonized people and the colonial masters were their enemies who robbed and raped their countries.

Would the non citizen conscripts of today fight for a country they don’t believe in? Fighting and dying for a country, a motherland, comes from the heart. No amount of money and rubbish campaigns or words can win the hearts of soldiers who have no heart to serve and die for a country. In peace time, they would reluctantly serve as they could see some economic returns after NS. In crisis, would they scoot? I bet, scoot they will.

Some jokers even called for a mercenary force. This is the most foolish idea to ever be suggested. The mercenaries could turn around and take over the country.

The gist of the importance of a national army is best defined in the words of Dr Goh Keng Swee in 1968, ‘conscripts and regulars of other countries did no put up a distinguished performance (at the Battle of Singapore) but it could have been different if “we had 40 battalions or our own men.”’ I took this quote from John Kwok’s article in his reply to Gabriel.

The defense of a country must be the responsibility of its citizens and not any foreigners. No one will fight and die for a country when the heart is not in the right place. We could continue to draft the children of PRs into our armed forces. We will constantly be in a tricky position wondering what would they do when they are called upon to fight and die for the country. Are the words of Dr Goh just hogwash and to be forgotten because the new expediency is that we need the foreigners? To take one step further, farm out the jobs of defending the country to mercenaries, out source them.

Foreigners will always be foreigners. Fair weather foreigners don’t make good choice as defenders of the nation. Sing a song of good foreigners could be singing a song of our own demise.

Dark clouds over Asia and Southeast Asia

Since the end of the Second World War, Asia and Southeast Asia enjoyed a period of relative peace excluding Vietnam and Korea. The two countries were engaged in wars against the Empire, mainly the US and its allies. After the fall of Vietnam and the departure of the Empire, peace finally returned to the region.

The US, after being driven out of Vietnam, concentrated its military interests in the Middle East, engaging in more wars in that region, fighting in Iraq, threatening Iran, fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan and lately Libya. Syria is on the verge on being attacked by the Empire.

After decades of fighting a no win war, the Americans are growing tired and disillusioned. They needed to have a convincing win for the home crowd to scream Victory and to celebrate more bravery and heroism over their poor helpless victims. Under pressure from the home crowd and failing to perform, they reluctantly forced a retreat like they did in Vietnam.

But the spare military forces and weapons need to be redeployed in another theatre. Asia and Southeast Asia presented that opportunity. The latter is so much more attractive with militarily weak regimes to rule over. And there were some with vested interests to want the Americans to back their wild claims and ambitions.

There were tensions in the region but very minor. When China was relatively weak militarily, even little country like the Philippines found it acceptable to arrest Chinese fishing boats in Chinese territories and dragged them to Manila as a show of force. With a China growing in military strength and able to stop such military adventurism, such acts became less frequent.

With the American’s declared intention of returning to the region and amassing their superior military presence, it emboldens countries like Vietnam and the Philippines to once again think that it is acceptable to intercept and arrest Chinese fishing boats. The new Chinese navy capability will not allow it to happen again and tension rose when the Chinese took a stand to protect its own fishing boats.

This was played up as an assertive and military strong China and a threat to Southeast Asian countries by the US, and with tacit support for the adventurers to create more skirmishes and tension. It then uses this rising tension to justify its presence in the region, to rule the littoral states, as the return of the Empire. Today, the targeted enemy or strawman is China. Tomorrow it could be India, and next it could be Indonesia. These fabricated threats of the Empire were used to frighten the Southeast Asian countries to seek its military support to rule the waves in the region.

Not all the Southeast Asian countries are daft to accept this fabricated truth and threats. They knew that the biggest threat to peace and stability in the region is actually the presence of the American military forces. There are concrete and historical evidence in the Middle East and Vietnam and Korea to reflect on. Who were the protagonists fighting wars everywhere? Who is the real trouble maker that insists on ruling over the little countries in the region? Who is the one that is against smaller countries to emerge as regional powers and threatened to attack and do regime change? Not China, but the Empire.

The recent Shangri La Dialogue has seen the regional powers stating their positions but was abruptly pushed aside by the Empire. The Empire does not listen to small regional powers or countries. The Empire simply ignored the concerns of the countries in the region and declared that it is here to stay, to be their protector, their ruler. And to hammer home the point, it simply needs to create fear, fear of an assertive China, creates more tension by encouraging more adventurism in the region, perhaps some conflicts. False flag incidents are going to happen next, in the South China Sea, like the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in the 1960s.

Trouble is brewing in an otherwise peaceful Southeast Asian region with the Empire back to cause mischief and mistrust among the regional countries. And France has also declared that it is also a power in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Following closely is Canada who also wants to set up a base in the region to support the American initiative. Is Southeast Asia ripe for a new phase of colonization when the western powers arrogantly invited themselves in as powers with strategic interests in the region. How are they going to carve up the region as their areas of influence? Is Southeast Asia for the taking?

What would be the position or place for India and Indonesia? And when has the US become an Asian power?

Vellama Marie Muthu versus the Attorney General

The hearing in court on the interpretation of the Constitution on by election could prove to be another highlight on the local changing political landscape. It was a case that needed not be, but after the challenge by the Attorney General against a court’s interpretation of the Act, it is now a case to be watched. The judiciary system, judicial justice and the political system will now be put under the spot light.

It was quite puzzling why the AG would want to stop the court from giving a ruling on a matter of law, on what the Constitution really meant on the expediency to hold a by election. I thought a clear and unmistakable court ruling on this piece of law will be good for everyone, a removal of an ambiguity and more transparency.

Now this case has taken a life of its own and many issues will be put out to air. The PM is now being summoned by the court under Justice Philip Pillai to make an appearance to explain the advice given to him by the AG. Not only the Sinkies will be watching this case with renewed interests, the world will also be watching this development, and the court’s ruling eagerly waited as a measure of the country’s standing and its claim to the rule of law. It has become a test case for democracy, transparency and rule of law.

A more interesting headline will be ‘Cleaner versus the Prime Minister.’

Spot the idiot

Two super talented housing ministers are saying and doing different things. One cried wolf, claiming that tens of thousands of unsold HDB flats were wasting assets in the billions and need to be got rid off fast, and never to be repeated again. The billions of unproductive dollars were they based on market price or building cost? Did any backbencher question the numbers? The two numbers were as far apart as heaven and hell. Wonder which idiot allowed the surplus to build up to such a huge number, probably sleeping on the job, and which idiot got rid of them only to find that the amount was not enough given the huge influx of immigrants in the pipeline. Did not know? And to compound the problem, the building programme was not only slowed down but no new flats would be built unless the number of confirmed applicants exceeded some numbers that they were happy with. The edict was final.

And of course public housing price was damned affordable and the DPM even quoted in Parliament that a $1000 pm income could buy a HDB flat. And there were more supporting arguments by other ministers and MPs to such a claim. And they claimed that they could be the opposing voice of the people, criticising flawed govt policies, but not a single one of them saw the flaw and the serious problems of housing. Did any of these so called backbencher MPs from the ruling party speak about the housing problems before they admitted that it was a serious problem after the last GE? Can they be trusted by the people to listen to their cries, to represent them and speak for them as individuals of independent mind, speak like opposition MPs?

Now the new housing ministers is trying desperately to ramp out building more public flats and 50,000 units were still not enough. And the prices continue to escalate with continuous demand for more. If the price is affordable, the minister would not need to talk about price easing as a major goal. And funny, the minister is also talking of a pool of over supply HDB flats as a cushion for good measures.

Now, has anyone spotted the idiot? The real idiots are really the voters who believed that ruling party backbencher MPs can really represent them and speak for them. The real idiots are those who believed that public housing was affordable and kept emptying their pockets to pay for a 99 year lease flat that would have no value when the lease expires.

The real idiots are the suckers who would not do anything to help themselves and blindly listen to half truths or fabricated truths. The real idiots are the daft Sinkies. They only have themselves to blame for the plight they are in, for being gullible sheeples. For believing that the housing policies were the best from the most talented, and meekly accepting them, queueing for them, being prevented from buying public housing as citizens while new citizens happily came in to buy and profited from them, and increasing the long queue, and buyers paying happily for public housing at very affordable price as officially pronounced, but the most expensive public housing in the world.

How long would the gullible Sinkies choose to remain as idiots?

Tay Ping Hui: Notable quote

If you have no solutions, shut up.

“Was told if I was going to comment on something, I should provide solutions instead of just talking. My reply:” then what am I paying u 4?” Tay Ping Hui on DPM's comments to the Pre U Students Seminar

Another comment when asked for solutions by the DPM, a student replied. 'But I am on 17. What do you expect me to say?'

The Empire is back

In no uncertain terms, the Americans told the Asean and Asian leaders that they are here to stay. Though they are thousands of miles away across the Pacific Ocean, they are going to deploy the largest armada in the region, consisting of 6 aircraft carriers, destroyers, combat ships and submarines and the bases in Japan, South Korea and Australia, and facilities in some of their allied countries. Resistance is futile, the Empire is here to rule.

The military forces available to the Americans are more than enough to conduct a war against all the Asian and Southeast nations combined, including China and India. That is the kind of dominating force that the Americans are presenting to these nations. What can they do about it? Nothing. They will just have to accept the presence of the Empire, like it or not.

And they invited the Empire to their Summit as a friend, only to be told by this friend that he is the boss and he will dictate the rules of diplomacy and engagement. The Americans never left. Once they are in they will not go away, unless forced out by nationalistic forces as in Vietnam and the Philippines. But both are changing their minds and may invite the Empire to put troops in their countries once again, and become semi colonies.

The two semi colonies in the north, Japan and South Korea, have no choice. One was conquered and will remain a semi colony to host troops from the Empire. The other was caught in a losing civil war when the Empire was invited in. Now that the South Koreans are claiming to be a more superior force than the North and daily itching to attack the North, they are still in no position to ask the Empire to leave. The Empire will not leave once invited in.

How long would Asian and Asean countries be ruled by the Empire and accept its military presence in the region? Are they really so willing to have an overpowering presence of an Empire that will not take no for an answer and will want to have the biggest say in their domestic and regional affairs?

The Empire is back. Resistance is futile. Obey and there will be peace.

Time scroll Series

This looks like a torn and tattered piece of ancient scroll. It is actually a painting that I have created using the Art of RAR Technique. See www.artofrar.blogspot.com for more of my rar art pieces.

11th Asia Security Summit

This high power Summit, called the Shangri La Dialogue 2012, commenced yesterday with a keynote speech by H.E. Dr. H Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, entitled “An Architecture For Durable Peace in the Asia Pacific”.The participants include heads of state of Asean and key govt officials of the major powers.

I searched furiously for a report on this event and was frustratingly denied. I thought it would be a front page news in the main media but it seems that a footballer kicking ball into a bumboat as an advertising gimmick was more newsworthy. I finally found it stashed in a corner and spreaded across page 2 and 3, a small column on each page, not bigger than 4R, that befits its importance as newsworthy.

To me this Dialogue is a major event as it is an Asean statement to the big powers of what Asean’s stand is all about with respect to peace and security in the region. Yudhoyono made the Asean stand clear and to the point. Asean welcome big powers in trade and investment, not polarisation and creating military tension in the region. If big powers are here for economic activities, they are welcomed.

He also made it plain to the Americans that it has no right to stop emerging powers to grow and they should not be treated with suspicion by the Americans. Every emerging power has a rightful place in the regional architecture, ‘Asia is certainly big enough for all powers – established and emerging – and there is always room for new stakeholders, as long as they invest in common peace and progress.’

The Americans must know that this is a plain message that every country, big and small, including every Asean country, has a right to grow and be an emerging power in the region. America cannot labelled any country as dangerous just because they wanted to be an emerging power and to be threatened with the raising of tension in the region, just like the case of North Korea. If the American can make a case out of North Korea, it can do likewise to all regional powers, branding them as dangerous and suspicious, and threatening them with sanctions or threats of war.

It is a noteworthy speech that says Asean has a mind of its own and knows where its interest lies, that peace and security in the region is of paramount importance, and regional conflicts incited by the Americans would not be entertained. Asean will conduct its own brand of diplomacy through peaceful negotiations and not through escalating tension or war.

It is interesting to hear what the Americans have to say this time, raising the spectre of a China or North Korean threat again, and Asean needs the US military presence to counter China?

May the farce be with you

I must have written quite a few pieces of farce lately. And I know that whatever I wrote, some will agree with me and some will disagree with me. But that is only natural. Be it farce or truth, facts or fictions, there will be people who agree or disagree with you. The thing is that in every farce there are some truths and in every truth there are always embedded with farces.

One very pertinent truth that I did not say is that the big tree is falling and the monkeys are going to scatter. Agree? As usual, some will, but the diehards will swear with their pants that the monkeys will stay together. My bet is that this day will come and must come. And it will be a time to write about more farces and more truths.

When Yoda told young Luke, ‘May the farce be with you,’ oops, I mean ‘May the force be with you,’ it was a story of good versus evil, and the force was meant to be good. Luke was also tempted by the Emperor to join the dark side. That was Hollywood and good and evil are easy to tell. In reality, the good and evil are interchangeable. The dark side could be the good side and the force or farce could be the wrong side.

What is also very sure is that in uncertain times like this, many able people will step forward to fulfil their destiny. Many are waiting for the moment, and it will come. The moment is imminent. And a new chapter will begin with new players and old players crisscrossing and taking sides. I can sense the forces of change building up, like Yoda said, feel it, feel the force.

Most Singaporeans welcome foreigners but…

This is the finding of the most authoritative English newspaper in the island. It did a survey on 400 individuals on their views about foreigners and the result is published in the paper today.

Coincidentally the finding is as good as what is expected. The people welcome more foreigners and foreigners are needed if we want growth. Also foreigners are more talented for sure. And foreigners will contribute to our growth. But I am to fill the survey form, I think my answers will be very different. And if there are 400 respondents like me, I don’t think anyone will want to publish the result of the survey.

It is not that I am anti foreigners. I think there is a place for some foreigners to be here. But I strongly disagree with the number of foreigners here. I strongly disagree that they are needed for the type of growth the average Sinkies want and the kind of lifestyle that they are forced to live with. And to call them talents is rubbish. There are many more local talents that are now regarded as non talents. Many are not better than the average Sinkies in all levels except the very exceptional like the few American entrepreneurs. And many are of dubious background but with a lot of money to throw.

We definitely need the foreign workers in the construction industry and some lower level jobs that no Sinkies want to do. We definitely do not need plane loads of questionable middle level executives to compete with our graduates from the three top local universities. Unfortunately, somehow, the local graduates from the local universities will never be good enough. Even at top management level, many are also found not good enough, especially in finance. But this problem will be solved in 20 years time. They realised that we are not producing good finance talents and they are starting to work at it. In 20 or 30 years time, the top banking institutions may see a chance to be headed by our own, genuinely local talents.

I wanted to conduct a survey on the views of netizens on how they feel about this survey and how they feel about foreigners. Then I know that the result would be what I expected. I humbly understand the biases in a survey sample and would not have the audacity to claim that it reflects the view of the average, or majority of Sinkies. That is how real people can be and how unreal people can be in the conduct and findings of surveys.

If I were to do a survey with an intended outcome, I can even jig or rig the result by carefully choose who I ask, how many is the sample size, the smaller sample the better, how the questions are phrased, and even throw away those answers that don’t fit the results that I wanted. Heh heh, it is so easy to conduct survey to produce the result that I want or for whoever wants it. I can simply cheat or game the result.

But that is me, or that is the kind of result one can get from the netizens, biased and unrepresentative. Big reputable organisations will not do such silly things or conduct surveys on netizens when the results will be known even before the survey is completed.

Back to the ST survey. Now that it is confirmed that Sinkies are quite happy with the foreigners here, then everything is fine and there is no problem bringing in more, except a little bit more, not so many. How many is not so many?

An exceptional talent

He molested an undercover cop and tried to bribe her with $100. He was jailed for one month and fined $10,000 for attempting to bribe a police officer.

In mitigation, his defence lawyer told the court that he ‘was an exceptionally talented individual, who graduated with a first class honours degree in engineering... He was also very good singer and had qualified for vocal training at the London School of Music.’

I am not sure if the court took into consideration the molestor’s exceptional talent when passing the sentence. What I thought was a pity is that he was not recruited as a foreign talent to boost our economy. First class engineering must be rare and in high demand here. And good singer could be usefully employed in our entertainment industry.

What a waste of talent. He could be another esteemed FT and may even become an MP with potential to be a minister.

Are we putting our soldiers at risk

Our soldiers and NSmen are there to defend this country against external threats. What are these external threats? They are threats from another country and will come in the form of foreign soldiers. They can be any foreigners.

We are importing millions of foreigners and issuing them with pink ICs to call them Singaporeans. How reliable are these new citizens? Would they be one of us, to defend our country, to fight with our children as comrades in arms, or would they do the unthinkable?

We have lost two of our fine young men in Sydney to a foreigner turned new citizens. The foreigner is still alive in Australian jail while our children dead. The foreigner could be paroled and live as another free man and will likely return to his original country.

The question is, how wise is the decision to make so many foreigners citizens and to serve as our soldiers to defend our country and our people? One potential terrorist is one too many. One potential soldier that could harm our sons is one too many. Are we too trusting or too idiotic? As it is, many would not even want to serve. Can they be forced to defend our country like our children? What have to fight and die for? They have nothing, no emotional attachment for this island. And there will be those who serve reluctantly or with different agenda or reasons. Soldiering is already a dangerous occupation. We have to guard our secrets, guard against external enemies, real or potential. You mean we don’t have to guard against these new citizens?

How much added reservations and precautions are needed to guard against new citizens turned NSmen? What is the margin of error? A little percentage that could do mischief can be a serious threat to our defence capability, and the lives of our soldiers.

Throwing citizenship crazily at anyone is already bad enough. Embracing total strangers, train them and arm them and expect them to defend our country will incur additional risk that is unnecessary.

‘What money can’t buy’ is a very appropriate question here.