Singapore a fine and smart city

The govt is turning the city state into a wonderful, fine and smart city of the future. We are going to see all the space age technology being introduced to make life so convenient and so wonderful.  Everything will be at the finger tips, with the push of a button. You want to know when the next train or bus will arrive, whether it is full or empty or how many empty seats are available and at which corner, just push a button in your mobile phone or at any terminals provided at the station. Everything is so smart. The citizens can even park their brains at home and move around without thinking. All the thinking will be done by the computers they carry around or strapped to their bodies. All the buildings, homes, cars etc etc will be smart like hell too.

The catch, can you afford it? The $600.000 bill to transform the National Stadium from football mode to athletics mode is a case in point. The stadium is fabulous, state of the art architecture. It is available for use to the buyer who can afford its clever and useful facilities. This time is looks like the Athletes Association cannot afford it. So sad. How so? Doesn’t the association know that good things, quality things, don’t come cheap. You want style, you want cheap, cannot right.

This prohibitive fee by the National Stadium is going to be the new normal. Singaporeans must get use to live in a fine, smart and futuristic city with fantastic sci fi facilities. Just make sure you can afford it, like $100 taxi fare. How many people earn less than $100 a day?

When the light shuts out

Papa PME was a successful professional and about to retire quite comfortably. His only son, the darling of the family, had completed his A level and applying to get into a local university.  Unfortunately he did not get the course he wanted to do and went back to Papa PME with his disappointment. Papa told his son not to worry. Go apply to get into a reputable university overseas and pursue his dream and his favourite course.  After a successful lifelong career and with some decent savings, life was convenient and options were plenty when money was not an issue.

Son was successful in getting himself admitted into a reputable university in Australia. Everything ended up well as expected and it was time for a big celebration. All the kakis of Papa, all PMEs, were invited to a big send off party for Son on the eve of his departure to pursue his dream in Australia.

The next few years were all happy stories from Australia. Son reported his academic achievements year by year and was in the Dean’s List. And he graduated with a good honours degree. Papa was a very happy man. You could se pride oozing out from all his orifices.  He was the toast among his kakis when they met for a drink. Son was doing Papa proud and it was money well spent.

Son did so well and was offered to do his masters. Papa was again joyous with the good news and told Son money was no problem. Time passed so quickly and son was soon home with his gleaming masters’ degree. The whole world opened up to him. Another big party was thrown on his return. And Papa was the envy of all his kakis. In the party they were looking admiringly at this young man and offered all the advices they could for a wonderful career ahead. There were so many options with such a fine degree and a fine young man. Getting a good job was not a problem.  All the doors would be open to this Son of Papa PME.

After the mandatory one month of holiday to see the world, a reward from Papa PME for doing so well in his studies, Son came back and started to write his beautiful resume. He shared with Papa’s kakis in their drinking sessions of his aspiration and ambition. There was so much confidence in the young man and he was looking for a very bright and illustrious career ahead.

A few weeks passed. No news. A few months passed, all Son could get were a couple of interviews but no job offer. As the days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, the smile and confidence on the face of the young man disappeared. He started to get worried. The kakis and Papa PME told him not to worry. There were many applicants and competition was tough but with his good degrees, a masters’ included, and from a reputable overseas Australian university, it was only a matter of time for him to land a job.

More than a year gone by. Son lost all his confidence and hope of landing a job. He suffered depression. He could not believe that he was not good enough to get a job with his good academic records.  He withdrew himself socially and hid in his room most of the day. Papa PME too stop joining the drinking sessions. He was so disillusioned, disheartened and feeling so ashamed that his son was still unemployed after more than a year from graduation. Papa turned into a recluse.

There was no one to talk to. It must be their faults. The son was not good enough, no good for employment. It was as if the light shut on them. All the hopes, promises, confidence and the dreams of a better life, of a successful young man were doomed. There was no more light. Someone snuffed it out for them.

More than $300k and 6 years of slogging in a reputable Australian university and Papa and Son could not believe they were all wasted. And Papa’s savings started to look perilous. He rented a room to a couple of young foreign talents. And they could not understand why they were so happy, and could get jobs so easily, earning more than $4,000 each. And better still, their degrees were from their 3^rd World universities, unknown, unrated.  Papa and Son were so ashamed to tell them that Son got a masters’s degree when the two tenants advised the Son to study hard to get a degree and to get a good job. Son ended up doing some temp job quietly for $20 a day.

PS. The story is genuine though with some dramatics to make it sound interesting. How many Singaporeans, how many papas and mamas, are disappointed after spending a fortune on their favourite children to get a good education only to find out it was a vain hope, a wasted effort?  And the poor child ended up in depression or a broken person, losing all faith and confidence in himself or herself? Does anyone care? Would our responsible and caring govt care? Do they know what is happening?

I was so depressed after hearing this story. I am so angry.

Johore’s Prince Charming passed away

Tunku Abdul jalil Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, the fourth child of the Sultan of Johore, passed away at the tender age of 25 due to cancer. Many turned out under heavy downpour to pay their last respect to this fine young man.

From the photo in the media, this a fine looking prince that befits the title Prince Charming.  And according to Hsien Loong, ‘Tunku Jalil was well loved for his compassion, his charitable work for the Johore community and the police and his passion for the environment and animals.’

And a twitter tweeted, ‘Johore certainly has just lost one of the most beautiful souls to exist.’ They will forever remember him in his prime, a handsome young prince.

China Africa relations – 60 years after Bandung

China Africa relations – 60 years after Bandung By Chua Chin Leng (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2015-12-02 08:13

President Xi Jinping and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma attend a bilateral signing ceremony in Beijing on Dec 4, 2014. China and South Africa signed 11 agreements. PHOTO BY WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY
After two centuries of colonization and exploitation by European colonialists, African nations regained their independence from Western domination after World War II. The new nations gathered at Bandung, Indonesia in 1955 to inaugurate the Non Aligned Movement of newly independent and developing countries of the world. Sixty years forward, individual Asian and African countries took separate paths towards social, economic and political development. All the countries of the Non Aligned Movements are still developing nations but at different level of success.

China has returned to Africa over the last few decades to trade and invest in the continent. China brought along technology and finance to develop the infrastructure, manufacturing and mining industries in the African countries in exchange for natural resources. The Chinese development projects cost a fraction of those offered by the Western countries and were attractively packaged with soft loans and terms that were freely negotiated by the governments on a willing buyer and seller basis and on fair and equitable terms for both parties, unlike during colonial days. The African countries have enjoyed a good era of peace and economic growth with Chinese technology and soft loans.

President Xi Jinping and his entourage, including the commerce minister, trade representatives and private corporations, are visiting Africa, meeting good friends in Zimbabwe prior to attending a China-Africa Summit. President Xi's delegation is arriving with promises of closer economic cooperation and strengthening relations with the African states.
China has a lot to offer the African countries. According to Vice-Commerce Minister Qian Keming, "China will help African countries to upgrade their industrial systems and structure, safeguard food security and to build infrastructure". And "Chinese companies will exhibit their competence in railways, aviation, electricity, telecom, machinery and smart manufacturing, (and)…To finance bilateral cooperation, China will set up funds and give African countries more low-interest bank loans."

Sixty years after the Bandung Conference, China is now in a better position to help the African countries with financing, technology and know-how to bring their countries to a higher level of economic development that the West failed to do so for centuries. China's assistance and foreign aid are strictly commercial, with no interference in the domestic politics of the African countries.

Against the negative Western narratives of exploitation, China's investments, developments and assistance to the African nation states are viewed very positively and welcomed by the African governments. How can there be exploitation when both parties negotiated on an equal partner basis on terms they mutually agreed to with no coercion? China will stick to its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states and will strictly stick to trade and development. Many of the African states have developed very close relations with China since post-independence and will continue to favor Chinese aid and economic relations. Many trade deals and investment projects will be signed during this trip by President Xi and his trade delegation.

China's relations with the African states have reached another level of sophistication, maturity and stability and will move to a higher plane after this summit with the African leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa. China has the blueprints for economic and infrastructure development and could share its expertise with the African nations. And with technology and financing, China could raise the quality of life of the African nations to become rich and prosperous developed nations of the 21st Century.

The author is a political observer from Singapore.

Gearing up for the next General Election

The PAP is celebrating their recent GE victory in a big way at its biennial party Convention. The morale is very high and PAP is extremely confident they will continue to be the ruling party to SG100. And the signs are good that they will be the govt of the day if they continue to deliver the goods that the citizens want and continue to work for the good of the citizens.

So soon after a GE the PAP is already talking about preparing to win the next GE. This, on its own, is a big plus factor in its favour. There is nothing to replace being prepared and working for a goal and not leaving things to chance.

What about the opposition parties? Are they going to prepare and gear up for the next GE and work as hard as the PAP, to start working now?  Understandably their morale must be low after the rubbing in the last GE. But as politicians, aspiring leaders of the people, this is no reason to be dejected, to wallow in self pity. The defeat must make them stronger, push them to want to work harder. Some people are lucky to have success thrust onto their laps. Some people would have to work very hard for success and must go through a lot of trials and tribulations.

Are the opposition parties busy preparing for the GE just like the PAP?
They could be but not beating the drums.  So far only the SDP seems to be active and trying to show that they have not been defeated. At least there was some news on the activities in the opposition camp. It may be a strategy not to ruffle the grass and warn the enemy. But this strategy of not to be seen has proven to be disastrous in the last GE. The opposition parties must be seen to be working, not just during the GE. They must be seen to be involved in the affairs of the state and the people the whole year round. Keeping mum and not being seen is not the way to go.

The opposition parties cannot be seen as parties that have no views on things, have no issues to talk about. By being reticent, not to be seen, not to be heard, they are indirectly saying everything is fine, there is no issue to talk about. Don’t they have any views about the CPF, the MedishieldLife Scheme, the high cost of living, the influx of foreigners to take away the good jobs of Singaporeans, the silly schemes to train our PMETs to be security guards and taxi drivers and throw away all their experience and training to remain in the main stream of economic activities? What about the high cost of living, the regular breakdowns of public transport system, the selling of national icons, the trading of assets from left hand to right hand to generate fictitious growth and value?

There are many issues that are troubling and need to be questioned, addressed and alternative solutions be offered. There are many things that the opposition parties can do and should be doing to tell the people they have not gone to sleep, to hibernate and to wake up to run as candidates in the next GE. The battle starts now if they want to be counted.

The ball is in the courts of the opposition parties. If they are not doing anything, not seen to be doing anything, they will lose by default in the next GE, with another good rubbing.

The Loots of the World on exhibition

The Treasures of the World from the British Museum is now on display at the National Museum. A collection of 239 pieces or rare and ancient objects of art and lifestyle of civilizations from around the world will be on show till 29 May 16. Some of the pieces are 800.000 years old. Many of the artefacts are from Europe, Middle East, Africa and even South East Asia. The many attractions include mummies from Egypt.

The collection must be worth a fortune today. The British are great collectors and must have paid handsomely for them I am sure. Some may question if they are the loots of the British Empire, taken from the colonies when Great Britain ruled the world. If so, the cost of collecting these historical artefacts must be quite economical, like got it for a song. Some may wander, if these are the loots, would the British Museum return them to their rightful owners or when would they be returned.

The fact that the British Museum are exhibiting them openly means that these objects must not be loots but acquired legally or bought legally. The British Museum would not be so arrogant nor have the audacity to exhibit them if they were not acquired through proper means.  Singapore’s Asian Civilisation Museum recently returned a piece of their collection to India when they discovered that it was a loot or a stolen piece. Many countries have started to return the loots that they stole from their former colonies or loots they took by forced or by deception or by theft. There is now a new morality, to return stolen objects of art or loot to their rightful owners. The biggest piece of such object is the continent of North American that the indigenous people are demanding for its return and the matter has been raised at the United Nation.

When would all the loots be returned by the thieves of the past, by the ex colonialists?

San Bernardino – It’s all coming back home now

The American govt was in a state of denial on the killings in San Bernardino by a heavily armed man and a woman in combat uniform. Not sure if it was anything else but a terrorist attack. The assault rifles, handguns, bombs, fake bombs, explosive devices and the name, Syed Rizwan Farook  and Tashfeen Malik did not ring any bell. Could be just two disgruntled employees. Ok believe whatever you like, it is anything but terrorism. Happy?

Obama was quoted to have said this by CBS News, ‘The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world…’ So, what is it? Finally they had to admit that it was nothing else but a terrorist attack, something they brought it upon themselves.

It is all coming back now. The wars the Americans are conducting in the Middle East, the killings of Arabs and Muslims for whatever reasons the Americans in Washington and the Pentagon think fit and reasonable, are coming back to American soil now and will only get more frequent and worse. You can kill some people some of the time. But you cannot kill all the people all the time. They will get wiser and will come back after you, in your homeland, in your home town, in your streets.

The war has arrived in home ground, like it or not. The protagonists will use the cheapest way to inflict as much damage to the Americans as they could.  Incidents like what happened in San Bernardino will be a morale booster to the Arabs and Muslims who have had enough of American bombings, killings and terrorizing their countries.  The man and woman, called them terrorists if that makes the Americans feel better, will be seen as warriors, as martyrs. This terrorist act will be seen as a heroic act against the invaders in their countries.

This is new warfare, asymmetrical warfare, no war zone, no boundaries, no front line, no battle field. It can happen anywhere, right in the heart of New York or Washington or any town or city in the USA.  This will be the new normal as long as the Americans think it is convenient and normal to conduct wars in other people’s countries and to kill people with no qualms or conscience or remorse. It’s ok, they can’t get back at us! Sure they can and they would.

It is like winter, let is snow, let it snow. The Americans must know that they cannot go around starting wars and killing people and think that it is safe to do so, that they can go home and be safe in America, sleep well as if nothing happens. And the next morning go to Walmart to do some marketing and tuck in the beef steak in the pub when the sun goes down. The war is still going on in the Middle East and the Arabs are still being bombed and killed every morning, every night. The GIs could switch on and switch of like going to a movie for some excitement.

Japan’s remilitarisation – A gamble the Americans going to regret

In its obsession to contain the rise of China as the next superpower in Asia, the Americans are pulling out all stops to block and contain China. It has reached a point that it has to use its last trump card, a militarized Japan. The memory of Pearl Harbour is forgotten or swept under the carpet. A militant Japan is a safer bet that a mammoth China that is bigger than the USA in many ways. Is this a sound premise?

Historically China has never been a threat to the Americans or Europe in any way. It was the Americans and the Europeans that invaded, ransacked and looted China to the point of turning China into a semi colony. And during the Second World War China was a closed ally of the American led allies fighting Japan. Since China’s recovery as a normal nation and pursuing economic growth, it has worked closely and interdependently with the Americans for mutual benefits. The Americans helped to train and educate hundreds of thousands of Chinese engineers and scholars that would think more like the Americans in many ways, and they have returned to rebuild a modern China. They could only have good feelings of America from the education and living in America. In many ways, China is turning into a mirror image of the USA.

What was the history of Japan with the USA? Japan was forced to open up by the Americans. They learnt fast. Industrialized, militarized and challenge the West for world domination. They dealt a devastating blow to the American naval power when they attacked Pearl Harbour. They fought the Americans viciously in for supremacy in the Pacific Oceans. The Japanese were only tamed by the two Atom Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And they were rightly bottled up not to make mischief again by the Americans in a Pacifist Constitution and with many military bases in Japan presumably to protect Japan against a China and Korea threat. The real intent, to control Japan and to prevent a repeat of history.

Now the Americans are releasing this monster from the bottle to be used against China. The Americans believed the Japanese are the tame tiger they could control and use as they pleased. The Japanese obliged, bowed and bowed, yes boss, we will do your bidding, we will fight China.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his right wing ministers are now in charge and playing up Japanese militarism and nationalism. Japan would be the same Japan before the defeat by the Americans in WW2. Japan would rearm and be as powerful and glorious as before. The Americans are very happy with Abe’s anti China policy and his gungho style, to take on China militarily and forcefully.

In this madness, the Americans are fully behind Abe to abolish the Pacifist Constitution so that Japan can engage in wars all over again.  What is the real intent and objective of Abe? According to Naoko Kumada, a research fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Abe’s real intent and ambition are reflected in his book, Towards A New Country. In the book Abe explained the meaning of ‘The use of the right to collective self defence’…ie  for Japan to ‘become an equal of the US, rather than a subordinate’. And in the case of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, ‘there is no room for negotiation…only physical force is needed’. That is the real Abe, a strong believer of the use of military force.

The creeping changes to the pacifist Constitution and remilitarization of Japan is pushing Japan to a state it was before the Second World War. The role of the Emperor as the head of state has been resurrected, backed by the Army and with the Prime Minister as the Commander in chief. Japan is returning to its pre war stature and organization.

What would this hold for the Americans? Would the Japan of Abe return to his grandfather’s stance, to hold wild ambition to conquer the world, to turn against the Americans once again? Would there be a repeat of Pearl Harbour? Would the Americans be moved out of the military bases in Japan? With the rising tide of nationalism, the calling to rule the world, with the painful memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the bombing of Tokyo, would the Japanese forget and forgive the Americans for these attacks on Japan?

Would the Americans awoke one morning to see Japanese planes all over America just like in 1941?

Singapore to blame for Chennai flood

Chennai is hit by the worst flood in a century. Thousands are injured and the death toll hit 269 and rising. Millions of people have been cut off from basic services. The army has been put on a war footing. According to Agencies report, ‘Chennai has become a small island. This is unprecedented,’ said Home Minister Rajnath Singh. A Madrash University professor said, ‘It is shocking to see how (Chennai) has collapsed in the last 48 hours.’ ‘Experts said haphazard construction, faulty drainage and build up of rubbish contributed to the flooding.’

According to a CNA news reporter in Chennai, the problem is man made. They forgot to work on the drainage system with all the construction and economic activities in Chennai. And Modi is blaming on climate change.

Why would I say Singapore is to be blamed for the flood inn Chennai? The answer, most of the flood and irrigation/drainage experts are now in Singapore, working in Singapore. That’s why Singapore has no flood but Chennai got flood. We have taken all their experts as foreign talents here.

It is time Singapore returns India the favour, send the Indian experts working here to India and do something for India. They can come back to their well paying jobs here when they have helped India and Chennai with their irrigation/drainage and flood problems.  The flood problem in Singapore is already solved. No longer a once in 50 years problem. Now with the contribution of the Indian experts it may be once in 100 years or never again.

Let’s do something for Chennai first. Hold your fire on building 100 smart cities. Take care of the flood and drainage problems first.

Two bad wishes of the West that backfired

The world is not so inter related and interconnected that it is working more like a complete system with inter joining and connected parts that when one part moves or fails to move, other parts will be affected and the whole system could wind down and become dysfunctional. The first bad wish and designed by the Americans with the full support of its allies is to keep the Middle East on fire, in a constant state of warfare. This would keep the Arabs and the Muslims tied down in a counter productive pursuit that is only self destructing. All the countries and people in the region would be bogged down, trapped in war economies that become dysfunctional, instead of peace and stability, instead of building a thriving economy, instead of educating their children in schools, their people in employment, these normal daily activities are now in a flux. 

On the other hand, other than imprisoning these countries and people and condemning them to daily hardship and stagnation, death and injuries, in perpetuity, the western world are profiting from their destruction and miseries.  They keep encouraging them to fight, to kill each other, agitate them to go after one another, pulling regimes down and changing new and equally ineffective ones, and selling them weapons of war and the badly needed food and medicine and essentials of life. It is so pathetic to see these countries being manipulated to self destruct and lost in the quagmire without knowing what is happening and who is behind their tragedy.

The only good thing about this bad wish is that the disease will spread to the originator of this crime against the people of the region. It’s all coming back now. The flood of refugees have begun and Europe is the first recipient of the exodus. And Europe will pay a heavy price for bringing about or being accomplice to the war torn region. The refugees are coming for their compensation for destroying their homes and countries. When they crippled Europe, the Americans would no longer have the European allies to answer their becks and calls and to do their dirty work, killing people all over the world.  The Americans and the West must pay for the sin against the people and countries in the Middle East. The pain and suffering cannot be isolated and will spread across to Europe and North America. It is happening now in the streets of America, with people being gunned down by terrorists. The latter called themselves freedom fighters.

And the Americans are demanding the BRICS countries to do more to help the refugees. Why should they when the Americans and the West are the instigators and provocateurs of this crime against humanity in the name of freedom and democracy? What you sow you shall reap. The BRICS countries shall watch as the retribution of evil deeds seeks justice when justice needs to be done.

The second evil wish of the West, the collapse of China and the Chinese economy. They failed to see how inter related and inter connected is China to the western world and the rest of the world. When the factory of the world stops producing or winds down its production, the upstream and down stream industries and countries will be equally affected. Australia is the first to feel the pinch when China cuts down its import of raw material from Australia. Whole industries will close down and people go jobless. The cheap products would trickle into the consumer nations and prices will soar. China’s Yuan will depreciate, and there will be lesser demand for T Bills. China may start to sell the T Bills to convert to cash. The Americans would need to print more fiat currencies to buy back their debt. There will be less high spending Chinese tourists to share their wealth in tourism related industries and countries. In other words, all things will wind down accordingly.

Who will benefit from this bad wish? Or who will be the ultimate losers? There are many western corporations and manufacturers in China producing goods and services for the Chinese and the rest of the world. Apple would have to find new and cheaper sources of production to make their IPhones. Maybe not necessary as the demand would be down as well. The falling demand will sweep across all industries and countries.

If this bad wish comes true, no one will be left untouched. The richer nations of the West are likely to be affected more as they are the producers and the big consumers of goods and services.

Do not wish other’s ill or beggar thy neighbours. The whole world is now one economy. Have a better Christmas wish.

Tharman talks about intervention in social policy

Tharman went to Brookings Institution in Washington to talk about why it is good for the govt to intervene in social policy like social engineering. Has Singapore been doing social engineering in the city state? Of course we have and it is a very serious decision to take to ensure social security and stability. We have four major ethnic groups here and it is a natural tendency for the different ethnic groups to gravitate and live together.  ‘It’s not a natural tendency of society, it’s not part of the natural workings of society that  you get people wanting more and more to live with people who are different from them. So we need the visible hand of public policy to mitigate the invisible hand of markets, both the economic market as well as the invisible hand of social forces,’ he said.

So we have the HDB housing policies and quotas to spread the people to avoid having ghettos and ethnic enclaves. So far so good. We have not only avoided ghettos, we also have avoided racial problems and tensions.

Then again, with more than 2 million foreigners here, did the govt engage in intervention social policies? Don’t think so. We are seeing some ghetto like housing appearing. We are also seeing enclaves of foreigners in certain parts of the islands. If ethnic gatherings are not healthy to a multi racial society, what about the enclaves and segregations of foreign nationals in the city state? Would they pose a problem to the social cohesion and social fabric of our fragile multi racial and multi religious society? Somehow no one seems to bother about the millions of foreigners here, no social intervention, not even a care about the possible consequences on security of the nation. And many foreigners are employed to provide security services, to check on the Singaporeans, many of whom are NS men or ex NS men, with the responsibility to defend this city state. And now they are subject to checks and scrutiny by foreigners whose backgrounds are unknown, whose loyalties and political or religious affiliations are unknown.

How crazy or irresponsible has things become? What do you think? We control our people to the minute details but foreigners can do as they please, can run wild all over the island, living in their own enclaves and even business parks.

What is happening? Oh, Singaporeans committed more crimes than foreigners. Foreigners are all good and law abiding, model residents.

The most important development in Asia

I spoke about this earlier. The second most important development in Asia would be the reunifications of China and Korea. The most important development would be the unification of Asia and better if South and South East Asia are included.

Asia is still divided by the West into different camps at odds with each other. They will sign military alliances, trade pacts and provoke, incite the countries on their differences and take sides, stoke the fire and raise tensions. After the end of colonialism, the divide and rule of Asia is still a prominent feature in Asian countries. The Asians could not see why they are being divided and being exploited by the West and unable to come together to form an economic bloc of Asian countries. They have been victims of western conspiracies and strategies, harping on imaginary fears that become self feeding and self fulfilling.

Imagine an Asia when the countries work together for economic growth instead of wars or threats of wars and bickering over imagined fears? The TPP is another instrument to split Asian countries apart. Why would the Americans who created APEX refused to admit all the members in APEX to form a trade pact but only a few countries? If Asians start to think as a group, work together as a group, they would not be exploited by the West to make enemies of their neighbours.

Despite the red herring that China is a hostile aggressive power, the truth, China is already an economic power sewing together a tapestry of countries from Central Asia, Europe, Africa and South East Asia together in an undefined Co Prosperity Sphere build on trade and economic development, not military alliances. The pieces are coming together one by one. China’s economic and financial might are the most powerful and effective weapons to build a new world of prosperity, not in wars as the Americans would want it to be.

China may want to adopt a new strategy of a Coalition of the Willing, to stitch together all the willing countries starting with its immediate neighbours to bring economic development in these countries. When China can show the positive results in the prosperity of these countries, the rest will find it to their benefit to join the China bandwagon of growth and mutual prosperity instead of living in imaginary fears and wasting financial resources in a futile arms race, to buy more and more military hardware. China should simply go slow with the doubting Thomases and accelerate its cooperation with the willing and move on.

The rest of the Asian states would then have a choice, to seek economic growth and development or to join the American camp and be preparing for war and wasting their resources and finance.

Economic prosperity in peace and stability are what sensible leaders want for their countries and people, not conflicts and warfare. There is now a choice and only wise leaders can see it and benefit from it. Africa, excluding the northern states, and Latin America, are distancing themselves from the evil American Empire and seeking economic growth and development with China. The colonial mindset of the South and South East Asian countries are still trapped with the West is good myth, still unable to wean themselves from their colonial masters and happily being played against one another by the West.

When Asia is united, it will change the world and the lives of Asians.

Dan Tan rearrested by the Police

Less than a week after he was released as a free man when the Courts of Appeal ruled that his 2 year detention was unlawful. Dan Tan has been rearrested again on Tuesday night. The police did not give any reason but gave a statement, ‘The police are unable to provide further comments at this point as investigations are ongoing’. This is how efficient our police are when they want someone behind bars.  OK, this time the Law Minister said if Dan Tan were to be detained again, the police will set out the grounds fully and adequately this time.

Let’s look at the judgement again, and I quote the Today paper, ‘his detention was “beyond the scope of the power vested in the minister, which was to detain persons in the circumstances where activities of a sufficiently serious criminal nature threatened to or did undermine public safety, peace or good order in Singapore”.’  If it is beyond the power of the minister to arrest him, is it within the power of the police to arrest him again? I am not a legal trained person so can only ask to be enlightened.

What is he being charged now? And how long can the police detained him this time if no charges are framed against him, the normal 48 hours? Or is the police making a statement that the Courts of Appeal is wrong in its judgement to release Dan Tan? Is this now a question of law, the courts interpret it one way and the police interpret it in another way?  Shanmugam emphasized that his ministry is not challenging the court’s decision, so there is no conflict or conflict of interest. The police will do what it thinks is right and the court can decide what it thinks is lawful. If the first assessment or thinking is unlawful, would this second thinking be right and lawful?

The other big question, Dan Tan was under detention for two years, in other words ‘he was jailed for two years’ without being found guilty of a crime but alleged to be a master mind of an international football fixing syndicate.  Not enough meh? Is this fair to this man that has yet to be proven guilty but already guilty before being charged?

What happens if he is finally charged and the jail sentence is one year, would the govt owes him one year of over detention? Or if he is found not guilty, who is going to be responsible for his more than 2 years of detention?

And now he is being rearrested. What would his lawyer be saying or doing? When a person commits an act that is unlawful, the person is as good as having committed a crime. If the police detained Dan Tan for two years unlawfully, have the police committed a crime against Dan Tan or the law?

The most troubling issue will be the faith and confidence of the people over this CL/TPA.  How the police invoke this provision and how often it is ruled unlawful by the court will have serious implications on the police and the purpose of this provision.  This Dan Tan case has already cast a doubt over its use or misuse. The police must be seen to use this provision judiciously, lawfully and not because it thinks it is the right thing to do.

This case is getting very interesting. Some even questioned if the govt is under pressure to arrest Dan Tan and put him behind bars. Shanmugam had  categorically denied that this is so. ‘We don’t arrest or release people based on international pressure. We do what is right for Singapore.’ This arrest must be right for Singapore. Just make sure it is lawful and not thrown out by the courts again. Right is one thing, a personal judgement. We are a rule of law country and it must be lawful.

Paris COP21 on climate change – changing the world we lived

By Chua Chin Leng (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2015-11-30 15:12
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There are great expectations in Paris this week with the arrival of world leaders for the 21st Conference of Parties on Climate Change from 30 Nov to 11 Dec. After a 20-year run of tough negotiations, an agreement is expected to be signed during this UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Chua Chin Leng [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Touted as the last chance to save Mother Earth from global warming due to carbon emissions, world leaders are heeding the calls from environmental scientists and experts to ink a series of measures in this conference. According to a BBC report scientists are expecting the leaders to agree to an eight-point action plan in Paris.
The plans would include limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, keeping CO2 emissions to 1,000 gigatonnes, a zero carbon society by 2050, the richer countries giving assistance to the poorer ones, protection of forests and oceans, research and a strategy to address the loss and damage due to climate change, and lastly to provide financing assistance to developing countries.
The urgency and seriousness of global warming would see leaders of more than 140 countries arriving in Paris for a summit. President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping have arrived early for a pre conference bilateral meeting to set the tone and direction for the conference and to provide the necessary leadership needed to take the agenda forward. Both countries would have a common objective to work together and lead the community of nations to overcome a dire problem facing all nations caused by global warming.
The atmosphere in Paris this time is less adversarial but more consultative and cooperative. Most of the hard negotiations have been done by the respective countries' representatives over the years and there is great hope of a historic agreement for the good of the human kind.
There are still some disagreements on the fine details, but there is a general agreement to cap the global temperature change at 2 degrees Celsius. There will be repeated calls and measures for countries to cut down their carbon emissions from fossil fuels and switching to cleaner energy sources. Financial assistance would be needed, so are technologies on renewable and clean energies. Agreements would be signed, pledges would be made by the participating countries but the difficult part would be the implementations of these commitments, the change to new and clean technologies and the supply and construction of new energy manufacturing plants and facilities.
There would still be the demands from the developing nations, particularly the island states that would face the most direct impact of higher sea level, on the developed nations for more financial assistance to meet the challenges of shrinking islands. The pledges are voluntary though some leaders are pushing for them to be legally binding. What needs to be addressed quickly is the cost of implementing the pledges to the fullest instead of just a thought of what the countries would like to do. Many of the countries would be hard pressed when cost of cutting carbon emission is prohibitive. Who is going to finance the measures to be taken?
Countries like China with their manufacturing capabilities and technologies in windmills and solar panels would play a bigger part in assisting countries in transforming their energy production to clean energy. China could showcase its knowhow and clean energy products and processes to countries to meet their pledges and commitments to cut carbon emissions. It is infrastructure development of a different kind where China is well positioned to play a big role for the island nations.
The Paris meeting will generate demands and opportunities for clean and renewable energy technologies between the users and manufacturers of such technologies. The transition to new and clean energy will revolutionize human activities and behaviors in a very major way. New industries will emerge to support the needs of countries going green and to cut carbon emissions. Lifestyle and living will not be the same again.
China's investment and development in lowering the cost of green technology could be a game changer for countries wanting to make the change to new energy sources. No amount of talks, scientific presentations and pledges will make the earth better unless the cost is addressed and reduced to an acceptable level. After Paris the talking must stop and serious work begins.
Saving the earth from climate change is an enormous task involving every country and every citizen of the world, and is a continuous process of human endeavor.
The author, Chua Chin Leng, is a political observer from Singapore.
The above is my contribution to China Daily as a featured contributor.

Changes at CPF that will affect your Medisave Savings

Below is a copy from the CPF website on Medisave Savings, Q&A. You may want to know the Basic Healthcare Sum which is the Medisave Contribution Ceiling sum.

Is there a ceiling on the Medisave balance?

 

Yes, the current Medisave Contribution Ceiling (MCC) is $48,500. The Medisave Contribution Ceiling keeps up with inflation so that Singaporeans will have sufficient savings to meet their healthcare expenses.   For members below 55 years old, any Medisave contribution in excess of MCC will be transferred to their Special Account and/or Ordinary Account (if their Special Account savings have reached the current Full CPF Retirement Sum).   For members 55 years old and above and who have not set aside Full Retirement Sum or Basic Retirement Sum (with sufficient property charge/pledge), the excess Medisave contributions will be transferred to their Retirement Account. For those who have set aside the applicable retirement sum, the excess Medisave contribution will be transferred to the Ordinary Account.   Government pensioners under the Fixed Amount on Ward Charges Scheme (FAW) do not need to have Medisave whereas pensioners under the Co-payment on Ward Charges scheme (CPW) need to contribute to Medisave for up to 30% of the current MCC.   The MCC will be renamed as the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) from 1 January 2016. The BHS is designed to be enough for a CPF member’s basic, subsidised healthcare needs in old age. Amounts above the BHS will be transferred to the member’s SA, RA or OA, similar to the MCC.    The BHS will be set at $49,800 on 1 January 2016 for all CPF members. The BHS will be adjusted yearly in January to keep pace with the growth in Medisave use by the elderly. The BHS will be fixed when members turn 65, and this amount will not change for the rest of their lives. Therefore, all members aged 65 and above in 2016 will have the same BHS of $49,800 for the rest of their lives.

Japan should rearm - An irresponsible and insensitive thought

‘Why Japan should re-arm’ is the title of an article in the Today paper on 1 Dec by a Brahma Chellaney, a professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi based Centre for Policy Research.  The whole argument was based on an imagined fear of China as a regional hegemon and Japan as the angel and India as the archangel of peace and stability. While India has its big dream of becoming a super power one day in the next century, there is no need to bring out the butcher of World War 2 as a messenger and guardian of peace. India may not have suffered the brutality of the Japanese Imperial Army when they invaded Asia. India might be fighting with the Japanese to rid the British colonialist, but the rest of Asia suffered gravely with 30m killed by the invading Japanese forces.

And the idea that Japan was a pacifist country by choice is a big farce. Japan was forced to be a pacifist country by the Americans when they defeated the brutal Japanese and handcuffed them in a Pacifist Constitution to prevent the Japanese from more mischief and adventurism. Pacifism is embedded in the Japanese Constitution by force. Militarism is in the blood of the Japanese. The quick passing of the revisionist policies of Abe to wage wars in the Japanese Diet is ample proof of the real Japanese and not the few hundred protestors in the streets.

Despite the pacifist Constitution, Japan has been allowed to rearm by the US as a possible force to counter the rise of China, and its armed forces is second only to China in Asia and could easily run down South East Asia once again. The militarism of the Japanese has not gone away. This is the most barbaric colonialist of the Second World War. Allowing Japan out of the bottle will destabilize Asia once again.

What has this Brahma Chellaney been smoking or drinking? Too much toddy?  The rearmament of Japan ‘would enhance its capacity to forestall the emergence of a destabilizing power imbalance in East Asia? Who started a world war in East Asia, who invaded the countries in East Asia and South East Asia? This professor must be reading history from Japanese history books. In a slip his real intent came off when he said, ‘A more confident and secure Japan would certainly serve the interests of the US, which could then depend on its close ally to take more responsibility for both its own security and regional peace. Americans increasingly seem to recognize this, with 47 per cent of respondents in the Pew survey supporting a more active role for Japan in Asian security. The Asian countries must be stupid to ask the butcher and invader of their countries to guard the peace and security of the region.

Japan would not support or encourage aggression? How silly.

PS. Does the Today paper and the Singapore govt also support this view, that Japan should rearm? Remember Sook Ching? Remember Syonan-to? Stupid people got short memory.

Dan Tan, the Home Affairs and Law Minister spoke

After a week of silence, a very unusual thing for the outspoken Law Minister to do so, he finally spoke about the injustice of the Dan Tan case. But to be correct, according to the media, he never say anything about injustice. In other words there is no injustice.

Shanmugam said the law, the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act(CLTPA) is sound. He said there is nothing wrong with this law. I agree. He also said ‘a majority of Singaporeans support it’. This part I am not sure. If I were to conduct a poll in my blog, I can guarantee at least 70% will be against it unless Raymond and his clowns appeared to stuff the votes. Would be good if the minister can enlighten the people on where he got this impression that a majority of Singaporeans support it. Is it because no one is demonstrating against it, no one is marching on the streets, or no one spoke against it? See, no protest so everyone must be happy.  I am not saying the minister is wrong on this. He could be right. Just not sure how he got the numbers to support his claim of a majority.

Ok, nothing is wrong with the law. So is there anything wrong with this case? The Chief Justice and his appeals judges said it was wrong to detain Dan Tan and summarily released him. If there is nothing wrong, then am I right to say that the Chief Justice and his peers must be wrong? Why was Dan Tan detained without trial and with no conviction, for two years?  According to Shanmugam, ‘the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had assessed Tan to be a threat, and his detention in 2013 was “on good grounds”’ Oh the MHA made an assessment.

What was Shanmugam saying, the law is ok, the detention is by an assessment of MHA which was also ok?  So there is really nothing wrong. Would the MHA appeal against the decision of the Appeals Court since everything is ok? Ok, he said MHA is not going to appeal, or MHA is accepting the court’s decision.  

Now the bad part, the international observers, not sure who the heck these observers were, and former, not current, Interpol investigators, have taken issue with the court’s decision.  So?

And this is the betterer part, ‘From their perspective, without having looked at the grounds of the Court of Appeal’s judgement, they take it at the headline, that he is being released by the courts and they can’t understand.’  Oh, like that ah! Does it mean that they are all so superficial, shallow, ignorant, just like the readers in my blog and in TRE, only read headlines and jumped into conclusions? These are law enforcement officers, and they acted like that without thinking, without knowing the truth? And our Court of Appeals must therefore take note of these superficial jokers’ concern, that they did not understand?

Shall the Chief Justice or the Law Minister write to these international observers and former Interpol investigators to explain to them why the Court had to release Dan Tan so that they will not be unhappy with the Court’s decision? If not, would it damage the reputation of Singapore or our justice system? Or the release of Dan Tan is going to post a threat to our peace and security?

What is the best thing to do? Rearrest Dan Tan or what?

Outsourced to overseas operators to hire Singaporeans

Outsourcing of services to cheaper 3^rd world countries for less important services have been going on for several decades and the business of outsourcing is still doing well as the business competitiveness keeps going lower and lower down the value chain, from a cheap country to another cheaper country. To the business that outsourced its services, it is all about keeping cost down. Nothing else matter especially in the banking and IT industries where sensitive data and critical operations can be compromised, sabotaged or important data stolen. No, these are not important as long as there is cost savings.

Not all oursourcing services goes to cheaper countries. Some outsourcing went to developed countries like Australia, New Zealand and now UK is also in the picture. I was told by someone who was fuming mad that he lost a bid for a very big job to an Australian agency. But this was not his sore point. The pain came when the Australian company contacted him to be the subcontractor as the Australian companies did not have the expertise or his expertise was cheaper. What it meant was that the Australian agency ended up as the main contractor and getting the first and biggest cut of the pie. He ended up doing the donkey work as the subcontractor with a few pieces of crumbs.  Singapore job given to foreign companies to make the money and Singaporeans still ended up doing the job for less!

This kind of outsourcing is not exploiting the cheap labour of foreigners but on Singaporeans. And the foreigners get the most profit.

There is now a hybrid model of outsourcing. This is outsourcing to a 3^rd world country, presumingly cheaper, only for the 3^rd world agent to hire cheaper locals to do the job here. This model just surfaced in the LTA officer beating up a Uber taxi driver case. LTA outsourced its parking and traffic control services to a foreign company called Ramky Cleantech Services. I found this out from a post in TRE. And this foreign company then hired Singaporeans and locals to do the jobs here. I am not sure if the fighter LTA officer now arrested is a local or a Singaporean.

Anyway, this is the new model of outsourcing services. What is the advantage of such a costing saving arrangement? If the foreign company is hiring locals or Singaporeans and pay them cheaply, how cheap could they pay them and how much would be the savings? From this beating incident, the LTA officer must not be paid much as he was not interested in his job. I think the most savings must come from top management staff. If this company is operating in a 3^rd world country, and their management staff are located in the 3^rd world country, they can’t be expected to be paid in the millions like in Sin City. There must be a lot of savings from not paying their management staff in S$ and in the millions. I think this makes sense.

I am not sure how many different models of outsourcing could there be. I know one model would not happen. This model would be setting up a Singaporean company overseas, hired Singaporeans in top management and pay them millions to hire workers in 3^rd world countries. The savings cannot be much even if the rental is cheaper. The Singaporeans would demand for more for hardship pay, living in a 3^rd world country and suffering the inconvenience of living.

What do you think?

The two most feared political developments in East Asia

I am looking at this from the perspective of the Americans and the Japanese and their interests in the region. There are two developments that would not only make them crazy but turn purple. And they are doing everything possible to make sure that these two events must not happen. There is a third event that is even more fearsome than these two. I shall discuss about that in an article by itself.

 

What are these two events that the Americans and the Japanese feared most? It is reunification, the reunification of the two Koreans and the two Chinas. When the two Koreans reunite as one people and one country, the American bases in South Korea would have to close shop. There is no need for another Vietnam War or Korean War and it would send the Americans packing. There will be no more opportunities to keep inciting the North Koreans, to provoke them and called them aggressive or part of the Axis of Evil. There will be no opportunities to conduct war games in the seas around Korea. There will be no reasons to force the South Koreans to pay for American protection, to pay for American military hardware. There will be no reason for the South Koreans to put their armed forces under the control of an American general. There will be no opportunities to create false flag incidents to pit the two Koreans to kill each other. And South Korea will become a full fledge independent state, reunited with North Korea in a new, bigger, economically and militarily more powerful Korea.

 

A new united Korea will be as big as Japan, with equivalent arms to boot and with nuclear weapons. Japan would not be able to play the South Koreans to hate the North Koreans, to perpetuate a divided Korea that would be no threat to Japan. Japan will have to deal with the Koreans as equals, and cannot think of ruling them all over again, and no more wild ambitions on Korean islands and territories.

 

The first victim of a reunited Korea will be Japan. The Americans will raise their hype of a dangerous Korea to Japan’s security and would insist on having more military bases in Japan to protect Japan. Japan would have to cede more land to the Americans, to pay for American protection and be a confirmed colony of the Americans. After losing their bases in the Korean Peninsula, the Americans have no choice but to turn Japan into its front line of defence against a perceived threat from Korea and China.

 

And what would happen if China and Taiwan would also reunite at the same time? Both the Americans and Japanese would go bonkers. They could no longer provoke and incite the Taiwanese to irritate the Chinese. They could not play the two Chinese states against one another. There will be peace and unity in the East Asia continent. Japan and its colonial master would find themselves surrounded by China, Korea and Russia. They will be isolated if necessary by the three countries.

 

When this day comes, there is a great likelihood that Japan too would make peace with Korea, China and Russia and ask the Americans, please go back to America. There is peace in East Asia and there is no need for an American presence in the East China Sea.

 

For the time being, Japan and the USA will be putting in extra effort to ensure that Taiwan will keep having its independence dream covertly supported by the Americans to be a constant pain and irritation to China. Likewise both Japan and the USA would never allow the South Koreans to reunite with North Korea and would continuously raise the threat of an aggressive and mad North Korea waiting to invade the South and kill the South Koreans.

Lawlessness in Singapore

A LTA officer was seen beating up an old Uber taxi driver in full uniform. This was caught on video and is being circulated around like wild fire.  What is happening to Singapore when a govt official thought he could go around beating a citizen? When criminal intimidation without hurting another person is a serious offence, now you had an officer beating a citizen as if he was the law, acting like he was above the law.

While beating up the old man, all the LTA officer was concerned with was that he would not mind losing his job. He probably knew that that was the worse he could get. He would not be arrested or charge in court for a crime, for beating an old man while on duty. Just like Jover Chew of Sim Lim fame, he knew the law and nothing would happen to him.

What would the ministers be saying? Vile, or good, acting beyond the call of duty? What would the police say? Got offence or no offence? Or shall the old Uber driver get a lawyer to sue the LTA officer or sue LTA, settle it in the court, no crime was committed. The old man did not seem to be badly hurt, just a lot of blood on his face, loosen tooth, so not serious, not a seizable offence.  Why is this LTA man not arrested? He was just relieved of his duty pending investigation.

The streets of Singapore used to be very safe, at least save from thugs and hoodlums. Now who is making the streets of Singapore unsafe?

Watching the video is so scary. As an old uncle myself, I must stay away from such uniform officers to be safe. Better don’t argue with them. When they say move, quickly move and say sorry for causing any inconvenience to them.

This is what my Singapore is turning into. It is safer to stay indoors with my computer.