One man illegal assembly? Yes, only in Singapore

 This whole thing of being investigated for holding a playcard without a permit is getting ridiculous. It is now PAP MP Louis Ng at the receiving end of the police investigation for holding a playcard to support hawkers.

 

This is similar to Jolovan Wham’s case where he held a placard with a smiley face in front of a police station and got charged for it.

Another absurdity was when the police charged and fined Jolovan Wham for organizing a conference over skype.

A third man was charged for protesting alone outside the US embassy in Singapore.

Where is this all bringing us to? We are slowly turing into a police state. The govenrment seems to be intolerant of dissenting voices and prosecuting even at the slightest transgression with a sledge hammer.

 

The above is posted by Osman Bin Sulaiman in TRE.  This is an assembly, an illegal assembly of one man and a placard according to Singapore law. Really dunno what to say. Anywhere in the world got this kind of law? Would Myanmar's generals be calling the Singapore govt to protest and say this is not democracy? Would it be an illegal assembly if the words were printed on the T shirt? Would someone wearing a T shirt printed with the words, 'Screw You' or 'Love You' also be guilty of illegal assembly?

My advice to all in Singapore, for your own sake and own good, do not wear T shirts or blouses with printed words on it. Just to be on the safe side.

Is this getting too far, too absurd? What do you think? It must be good for Singapore. Really?

What American sanctions really meant? Fight and destroy American enemies for the Americans

SINGAPORE — Singapore has been dumping thousands of cases containing red wine meant to be smuggled into North Korea, in a sign that demand for luxury goods remains high in the isolated communist country.

NK News, an American website providing news and analysis on North Korea, reported on 19 February that a new and unpublished report from the United Nations Panel of Experts stated Singaporean authorities had intercepted a shipment of 1,158 cases of wine on 31 January last year.

A Singapore court subsequently ordered its customs to dispose of the haul, or a total of 4,632 three-litre boxes of wine and 174 cases of assorted South African juices, NK News added.  Yahoo News

When the Americans imposed sanction on a country, what does it mean to the country and its people and what does it mean to the rest of the world?

The country and its people would suffer economic and financial hardship as trade with the country and people would cease. The whole population suffered and this could be for decades like in Cuba, North Korea and several other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin American.  It is a very inhuman way of attacking a people, indiscriminately, young and old regardless.  Some people in American sanctioned countries could grow up and live a whole life in poverty because of this outrageous attack by the Americans against them.

For the rest of the world who have to obey this sanction, they become accomplices to this crime imposed on them by the Americans. They for no reason also treated the country and its people as their enemies. They became part of the American lapdogs unwillingly, unintentionally and haplessly, in attacking innocent countries and people that have nothing to do with them.

This is how vicious and destructive the American sanctions are. They coerced the rest of the world to be their hatchet men, to do harm to the sanctioned countries and their people. The oppression of the Americans became the oppression of the world against the victim countries and people.

Why should the rest of the world be made to be butchers of innocent people by the Americans? Why should the UN allowed this to happen and even enforced it on behalf of the evil Americans?

In the past, when the Americans were the absolute uncontested super power, super bully and oppressor of the world, the UN had no choice.  Today the unchallenged dominance of the Americans is no longer a force that the UN cannot say no to.  It is time the UN remove all the unilateral sanctions imposed and dictated by the Americans and free the rest of the world from becoming the accomplice and murderers of the American crimes against humanity, against innocent people of the world. No innocent people should suffer because of different political systems or because of a few men in charge, rightly or wrongly.

The world, the UN, must break free from the clutches of the evil Americans and not be forced to do their dirty crimes against humanity. Save the world by freeing the world from the evil Americans and the evil Empire.

Nu Piang Ngaih Don - Can you imagine how she suffered, alone, in the home of strangers

 

Some S$206,000 raised for family of late Myanmar domestic worker abused to death in S'pore

Public moved to give as the case is resumed before the courts.







People in Singapore and beyond have donated S$206,565.40 to the family of the late 24-year-old Myanmar domestic worker who was abused to death by her employers here in 2016. Posted in the mothership.sg.

A young innocent girl from Myanmar, probably first time left her home and country, to work as a domestic maid in Singapore. Alone, she was left in the home of her employers, total strangers to her, just like any other maids. Many were luckier to have decent and some very warm employers that welcomed them in their homes to work, and share their lives. 

In the case of Nu Piang Ngaih Don, she was beaten, chained to the window grill next to the toilet and slept there for about a year. She was starved and lost about half her weight, from about 40kg to about 20kg when she died from her injury. Can you imagine a year of daily beating, pain and suffering, fear, loneliness, hungry, cold, without anyone to turn to, to talk to? And this cruelty was dealt to her in a home in Singapore, a couple and their mother were the devils that ill treated this poor child. 

I cannot imagine the deep pain and despair this hapless girl had to go through, day and night, for a year. This is how cruel human beans can be. The perpetrators of her tragic life are now charged and waiting for judgement and punishment by the courts. I still cannot accept that this could happen for so long and the poor soul had to suffer for so long, alone, crying silently in the corner of the kitchen floor. There was no one to turn to, no one there for her, to help her.  May the devils be made to pay heavily for her suffering and tragic premature death. The cruelty was so sickening.

Covid19 vaccination programme -- How generous and caring are the Americans and Brits?

 

The above chart said it all.  This is how many Americans and Brits have been vaccinated per 100 persons as at 26 Feb 21, while many around the world are still waiting desperately for their vaccines.  Some of the less rich countries were lucky with China helping to distribute Chinese produced vaccines to them.  Without China, they would likely to still be waiting and may take another few months or years before the western vaccines would reach them, provided they can afford to pay for them.

The self proclaimed generous protector of human rights are hoarding and hogging all the vaccines for themselves.  It is Americans first, British first. The rest of the world can wait and can die. They would not care until after they have feasted. 

Who is doing this save the world task in distributing vaccines to the rest of the world, at a much lower cost and delivering them almost as when an order is made. No need to wait for months for delivery. No need for China to vaccinate its whole population before sharing with the rest of the world.

The above chart shows only a fraction of the Chinese population has been vaccinated, lesser than many European countries even.

Still waiting for American leadership and generosity and American kindness?

PS.  To date the Americans have acquired and received several hundred millions of doses and distributing/vaccinating an average of 14m or 15m Americans weekly.

How many countries in the world has received even 1m doses, though many have place orders for several millions?  Most of them are waiting for delivery but no delivery as priority to deliver goes to the selfish and evil Americans.  It is American and British first.  The rest of the world can wait, can die, they don't care.

Stock Exchange - China must not allow the Wall street crooks to dictate how it runs its stock market

 The war against China started by the warmongering Americans has reached an intensity and scale near to an open arms conflict. Though no bullet has been fired yet, except for the 5 cruise missiles that hit China's Embassy in Belgrade a decade ago, war is imminent. China should forgo any misgivings and delusion that it is possible to strike a fair and equal trade deals with the devils. They are out to destroy China at all cost. 

China must disengage in all forms of deals and civility The American gangsters are hostile in every count. No deal is the best deal.  Any deal is a bad deal as the intent and purpose is to hurt and destroy China. Decoupling is inevitable and might as well do it now while the Americans' own house is on fire, ravaged by natural calamities and their very own Covid19 virus.

In the area of finance, especially the stock market, China must resist at all cost and not allow the crooks in Wall Streets to dictate the terms and conditions for stock trading, not to let them redesign how trading should be done to cheat the retail traders and to destroy the market at will, at their own time and calling.

The crooks in Wall Street, in cahoot with the managers and regulators of NYSE, had redesigned the whole trading system to allow them to use high speed computers, algos and illegal means, concealing, cheating and fraudulent false tradings, including the sinister scrip borrowing facility, to destroy the values of stocks at the expense of the retail and innocent fund managers.

China may want to build a big stock exchange, bigger than NYSE. But this ambition must not cloud the vision of what the Americans were up to. China must build a strong, secure and fair stock exchange in its own terms and designed system, not to allow the crooks to mess around and tell China what to do. Some countries have wild ambitious dreams and allowed their silly stock markets to become victims of the Americans, and their stock markets are now at the mercy of the American funds and high speed traders. To want to grow the stock market must be done carefully under conditions and systems that can be managed and controlled, not like the system now in practice in NYSE.

China beware. Set your own terms and trading system and grow at your own pace. Never deal with the devils.  There are many examples in the world that are now hopelessly at the mercy of the Americans. Thanks to the stupidity of their govts and regulators that naively allowed the Americans to set the terms and conditions on how the market should operate.  It is always wise to move one step at a time, in measured pace, than to rush and be dragged by the devils to the slaughter house.

When dealing with the evil Americans whose intent is to cheat, to steal and destroy, they do not come to throw money at the stock market but to make money, and more, to destroy China and its stock markets if allowed to. Do not fall victims to the disease, 'Stupidity has no cure' and foolishly try to bite too much and ended up being choked to death. They do not come in peace or with good intention..

来则不善

Singapore's big mouth foreign policy

 No one can forget the whacking by China after Singapore's loose cannon went firing at its own time and own target during the fake ruling by a private court in Hague in favour of the Aquino regime in the Philippines on the South China Sea island claims. The embarassing Terrex Incident is still vivid in many Singaporeans' mind of a little red dot telling a super power China off. 

China was incensed that a little piece of rock would dare to pull its whiskers and promptly taught it a lesson it would not forget. Since then, no little countries would dare to throw stones at China, knowing that China now meant business, would kick asses. They all learnt from Singapore's mistake and have smartly stay away from the American's aggressive agenda of spoiling a fight with China.  All Asean states have since refused to be dragged by the Americans to take sides against China. What for, it is not their wars and why be cannon fodder for the evil American Empire.

Singapore is opening its big mouth again in the Myanmese coup. What does Singapore hope to gain for standing up to antagonise the Myanmese generals? Is Singapore trying to tell the world that it is a big shot, a champion of democracy, a beacon of light, to be respected for speaking out? Is Singapore thinking that by speaking out, it is seen as the leader of Asean, leading the charge?

Or could it be the other way. Singapore is now seen as another international big mouth? Would any Asean leaders want to let Singapore act like the leader of Asean by default? Or would they be fuming mad that the little red dot is at it again?

Why is Singapore barking at Myanmar? Is there more than meets the eyes for Singapore to want to be the eager beaver, to talk like the Americans? What would the Asean leaders be thinking, what would the world be thinking of this big mouth foreign policy of Singapore?

Singapore abhors foreign interference in its domestic affairs. Singapore's big mouth foreign policy is not interference in other country's domestic affairs and would be welcomed by them? What would Myanmar be thinking of the recent comments by Singapore? Non interference or feeling like giving Singapore a black eye? Heard of the saying, 'Do not do unto others what you do not wish others to do unto you'?

Would Singapore be better off to know its place and let the big boys quarrel among themselves, just keep quiet and watch the show? Would Singapore be better off in Myanmar's case to let Asean make a collective stand and not rushing forward like an eager beaver clamouring for the limelight?

By all means, Singapore has more to lose than gain by standing up looking like a sore thumb. The self proclaimed and designated Sheriff of South East Asia is now having a bleeding nose for thinking too highly of itself. Is Singapore thinking of taking over this position as the Sheriff of South East Asia?

Singapore should remember what George Yeo said about knowing one's place and station and be respectful of others.

What do you think?

Wildlife outlive their welcome

 Wildlife were well received when they first appeared on the island. The novelty was welcome as their rarity became a centre for attention. Wildlife are so cute, so cuddly, could have carried them up for a hug or a kiss. 

But wildlife are wildlife and would behave in their normal wildlife ways. You cannot take the wildness of wildlife away. Not many wildlife can be domesticated.  When few in numbers, they behaved well, afraid of human beans.  When their number grows, they gained confidence, and when hungry, would attack human beans.

This is exactly what is happening in Singapore. The love affair with wildlife is now being tested. When they are far away or when they behaved timidly, they were adored. But once they turned wild, once the human beans are bitten or attacked by the wildlife, the reaction would be the same. For those who have yet to be hurt by the wildlife, the affection would still be there and would like want to share their space with wildlife. Only when they are seriously bitten would they wake up from their foolish idea, wildlife would always be wildlife and when you least expect it, they would turn on you, repay your loving kindness with pain and hurt.

Beware, daft Singaporeans, wildlife is not your familiar chicken or pets. Under the docile facade of timidness lies a wildness beyond your imagination.

It is only a matter of time before the daft will start to ask to cull the wildlife. But when their numbers are too big, the problem of culling or getting rid of them would similarly be just as big.

For those yet to be bitten by wildlife, they can continue their love affairs with wildlife. But you have been warned. At the very least, be selective and be careful and not to embrace all wildlife like cuddly little harmless pets.

DBS India responsible for all the crimes, frauds and mismanagement committed by LVB?

 Did the Indian govt ordered DBS India to save LVB and DBS India cannot say no? DBS India is a Singapore bank, owned by the Singapore govt. Is DBS India being ordered by the India govt to do national service, to save LVB and carry all its debt, pay for all its debt, be responsible for all its crimes, frauds, mismanagement and with unlimited liability? Unlimited liability? This cannot be right?

There are many fundamental questions that Singaporeans would want to know as the mounting lawsuits against DBS India is anything but puzzling. No one, no company, not even an idiot, would take over another company without knowing the debt it has to pay, and without setting conditions for the takeover to limit its liabilities. If the liabilities are not limited, looks like this is the case, the claims could even bankrupt DBS India and may also affect DBS and the Singapore govt. This is basic in any takeover of a failing company. Even Ah Seng with little education would know this if he is going to take over a kopitiam or a whore house.

And the crimes and frauds committed by the LVB management cannot be the responsibility of the taking over company, in this case DBS India. This must be a key condition to set or else the takeover must not proceed. Is this the case?

Why are all these provisions and conditions not set in the first place? If they were, why is DB India even have to defend itself in courts over all the spurious claims? At the moment it seems that DBS India is going to court to defend all the crimes and frauds of LVB management. How could this be the case? What if they committed rape or murder? Also the responsibility of DBS India?

Why are the Indian govt and Singapore govt keeping mum about this sordid saga, not saying a word to defend DBS India and to absolve it from all these liabilities and responsibilities that it did not commit in the first place? If the Indian govt is not going to protect DBS India from all the claims, then DBS India must be able to walk out of the deal and take back whatever hundreds of millions it had put into the deal.

What is going on?

Looks like no dares to ask this in Parliament. So either it is another case of all is fine or so bad that asking it would be stirring the hornet's nest and get bitten.

Syria condemns American air strikes - So what?

 

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said U.S. air strikes against Iranian-backed militias in the east of the country on Friday were a cowardly act and urged President Joe Biden not to follow "the law of the jungle"....

"Syria condemns in the strongest terms the cowardly U.S. attack on areas in Deir al-Zor near the Syrian-Iraqi border," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"It (the Biden administration) is supposed to stick to international legitimacy, not to the law of the jungle as (did) the previous administration."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned the U.S. strikes, calling them "illegal aggression" and a violation of human rights and international law.

"You can't act with impunity. Be careful," Biden told reporters in Texas when asked what message he was sending Iran with the strikes.

The above reuters report is a reflection of the pathetic fate of the Arab states in general and Syria in particular. All the condemnations are useless if you are weak and afraid or unable to hit back. Where were all the SAMs, why nothing was fired to take down the bombers? Or the SAMs were so useless and missed all their targets? Why no anti aircraft weapons to defend their positions?

The bottom line, if Syria, Iran or Arab countries dare not strike back, the Americans would keep hitting them like Biden said, with impunity. And the Russians were in Syria. If the Syrians or Iranians dare not, or did not have the capability to bring down the bombers, why were the Russians not doing anything? The Russians also afraid of the Americans?

The ridiculous situation in Syria is that the Americans and the Russians had an agreement not to strike at each other but only at the Syrians, the Arabs and the Iranians, while protecting their turf in Syria. If Syria wants to be safe, it has to get the Russians to agree to declare the whole of Syria a no fly zone and any aircraft not authorised to be there would be shot down. Only then can Syria and its forces be safe from American and Israeli air strikes.

If they just relied on their mouths and words to yell at the Americans, it would be a waster of time and very silly and unproductive. The Americans would strike the with impunity as and when they like it. The only language the evil Americans understood is force, to hit back hard at the Americans if the Syrians want the Americans to stop their air strikes.

 

PS. Posted earlier but appeared below.

CCA, the one thing Singaporeans bestest over third world students

7 Reasons Why It's Worth Investing In Your Child's CCA
By Priyanka Elhence, 27 July 2020 10195
 

What is a CCA?

Co-curricular activities (CCA), also known as extra-curricular activities, are an important part of a child’s holistic development and growth. Research and scientific studies have repeatedly shown that if children are to develop into well-rounded individuals, then CCA has to be regarded as being just as important as academics. Through CCA, students can discover their interests and talents, develop their character, learn how to appreciate values, and pick up important soft skills such as leadership to prepare them for future challenges in life.

Benefits of CCAs on your child

1. Better time management and other essential life skills  Other essential life skills that CCAs help children develop include:

- Leadership
- Communication & public speaking
- Event planning
- Teamwork and relationship building
- Goal setting
- Prioritisation
- Problem solving
- Analytical thinking

2. Improves self-esteem
3. Teaches the importance of commitment
4. Broadens their experiences & views
5. Provides opportunities for social networking  

6. Develops children into being more well-rounded individuals  

7. Gives kids a fun way to beat stress

Investing in CCAs is important as it can help children connect to different communities, form different groups of friends, and build relationships that go way beyond the classroom, giving them a good social circle, while keeping them mentally and emotionally healthy. 

 

The above is from a INCOME insurance promotion. This CCA thing is probably the only thing that Singaporean students could be better than third world students. This is a privilege that only rich countries and rich parents could afford to pay to give their children better education in being developed in all aspects of their growing up and development. With this kind of extra education, there is no way our students would be worse off than third world students, at least on paper, theoretically speaking.  The more you put in, if good stuff, the better will be the student.

The only shortcoming in this push and force feeding to our young is that every child has only 24 hours a day. Take away sleep and rest time, take away time for food and travelling, all will have only X hours left. If our students are going to be fed with their school works, home works, tuition and all the CCAs, something must give. Not many children are super fit or super gifted to be able to do so much within a fixed time available.

The third world students would probably be spared with such CCAs.  Their parents could not afford to pay for them. So their X time would only be for school works. They are likely not going to have tuition.  Most of them could not afford tuition too.

This may be the reason why our super trained students, jammed with school works and tuition and CCA could not compete with third world students that only have to care about their school works. They do not need to have all the CCAs to be the all rounded and well educated student that ended up with many becoming half past six as they just could not cope with so many things within a fixed X hours.

So you can see why all the third world students are stealing our lunches, better qualified for jobs that our half past six in everything students, with a bag full of papers and certificates but good for nothing and ended up doing part time jobs or food delivery boys and girls.

Do I make sense? Too much of the good stuff but unable to digest would end up as diarrhoea, just go in and out of the system, nothing much retained.

The aspiration of young Singaporeans? What is the message?

SINGAPORE: I recall feeling something was amiss when I drove for Uber. This was back in 2016.

Initially, I couldn’t pin down what that was. A few days in, I realised that something was work stress.
 

Since no work could be carried forward as a private hire driver, I didn’t think about work after switching off my driving app.

There was no company’s P&L to worry about over the weekend, no dreaded performance conversations to have next week and most importantly, no pointless meetings that achieved little.

Having been extremely stressed out over a past business venture, that lack of work stress was most welcoming. With no hamster wheel to keep running on, I could actually stop and smell the roses.    

That was my first taste of independence and freedom as a gig economy worker, something that I reminiscence about quite fondly.

The above is written by a reporter, Adrian Tan in CNA.

Is this is what our reporters are good at writing? This is what the readers are being told as something good or desirable for Singaporeans. No stress, can smell the roses. Tough work is not good. Let the foreign talents take care of them, and Singaporeans can relac, become grab drivers or delivery men and enjoy life.

No need to buy HDB flats, no mortgages to pay, so senang, no debt.

What is the message?

Leslie Fong - Western media's war on China and their lies, misinformation and disinformation

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/time-to-wake-up-to-western-media-bias

Above is a link to Leslie Fong's article in the Straits Times on 25 Apr about the untruths and lies published by the western media. Below are a few intro paragraphs of his article. I recommend every thinking person to read his article to get a feel of the intense grievance felt by Leslie Fong and any well meaning and objective journalists and how the West lied and lied to deceive their readers of the truth about China.

'Anyone without scales over his eyes and who has not succumbed to cerebral shampooing by the West will have realised by now that large parts of its media are biased, if not outright antagonistic, in their reporting of China.

From the riots in Hong Kong last year, whitewashed as peaceful pro-democracy protests, to the lockdown of Wuhan and other Chinese cities, derided as draconian and an abuse of human rights, the sting was always there, and often not even hidden in between the lines.

All this will be denied, of course, and not just by those media owners and employees but also the readers and viewers who swear by them. It is futile to debate them, such is their ideological bias that they leave themselves no room for doubt, much less introspection. They are entitled to their reading of China, of course, as are their critics to theirs....

WAR BY MEDIA

It would be foolish for people in this part of the world not to see all this for what it really is - a war, not yet a shooting one but a war by other means nonetheless. Only the wilfully blind will fail to see that it is being waged by the United States and some of its allies to stymie a rising China just so they can hold on to their global hegemony....'

Leslie Fong is a former editor of The Straits Times. The views here are his own.

PS. There are many good Singaporean writers that should be given a bigger stage to write about bigger and serious issues concerning Singapore and big power relationship. Leslie Fong, Han Fook Kwang are two of them. Even the two Chua sisters could write serious articles if given the mandate to write what they really think. There is no need to keep on relying on foreigners to write craps with loaded agenda for Singapore, from the tinted western lens, and to feed Singaporeans with biased pro western narratives and agenda. This is unfair and bad for educating Singaporeans about the truth and Singapore's interests.

It is very wasteful to corner Singaporeans to write only about dogs and cats and hawkers and food recipes. How can Singaporean writers and thinkers grow in their stature if they are not allowed to write freely without having to watch over their shoulders, and self regulate what they are writing. 

The fate of good Singaporean writers is the same as the fate of top Singaporean bankers. If they keep bringing in foreigners and don't give chances and opportunities to Singaporeans, the quality of Singaporeans in journalism and banking would be wanting and eventually disappear.

The first generation of leaders believe that Singaporeans can do and would take the risk, accepting some mistakes initially to grow the talent pool. They did not go the disastrous way of relying on foreigners which in many cases were frauds and cheats and nothing more. If Singapore leaders do not believe in the ability of Singaporeans, this island built by the first generation leaders would eventually be taken over by the foreigners, the new Singaporeans that did not contribute to its early days of building this nation state. It would be a betrayal of the ideals of the first generation leaders and the pioneering Singaporeans.

Maybe it is already too late as the tilt towards giving this island to the foreigners by the unthinking has gone too far.

Five Eyes white supremacist alliance is bent on suppressing the Chinese

 

Five Eyes white supremacist alliance is bent on suppressing the Chinese

Canada, the UK and Australia, three members of the Five Eyes alliance, have recently taken action to put pressure on China. They have formed a US-centered, racist community, willfully and arrogantly provoking China and trying to consolidate their hegemony as all white supremacists do. They are becoming a racist axis aimed at stifling the development rights of 1.4 billion Chinese.

Five Eyes alliance members are all English-speaking countries. The formation of four states, except the UK, is the result of British colonization. Those countries share the Anglo-Saxon civilization. The Five Eyes countries have been brought together by the US to become the "center of the West." They have a strong sense of civilization superiority. The bloc, which was initially aimed at intelligence sharing, has now become an organization targeting China. The evil idea of racism has been fermenting consciously or unconsciously in their clashes with China.

With a common skin, a common language and a common historical background, they are increasingly coordinating their attacks against China and have rapidly transformed from the intelligence-sharing mechanism into a political clique.

The total population of the Five Eyes countries is only a third of China's. After all, they are only a tiny fraction of the inhabitants on this planet. But the Five Eyes countries are spread across continents. Media organizations in the US and the UK are particularly developed and capable of dominating global public opinion in English, which increases their insolence to represent the international community and world public opinion.

Trump's team has gone, but their core diplomatic legacy of suppressing China has been largely preserved. The mechanism of the Five Eyes alliance to jointly suppress China has not only solidified, but also accelerated its operations.

Global diplomacy in the 21st century must not be hijacked by a fake international community with an axis of white supremacy, their selfishness masquerading as the common morality of the world. They cannot set the agenda of mankind. What they want is sham multilateralism, and what they actually pursue is white supremacy in their own interest circle. By resisting them, China is not only defending its own interests, but also defending the diversity of the modern world, which is based on the free choices of people and paths taken by different countries. 

Anonymous

February 24, 2021 11:10 am

Why the need for MOM to approve Employment pass application?

 

‘Employers have the primary responsibility to ensure the authenticity and quality of the academic qualifications….that they wish to hire’- MOM. I disagree with the above MOM statement. Let me explain.

The reality in the workplaces is that too many employers just do not have the required resources, means and connections to effectively vet the authenticity and quality of the academic qualifications of their foreign hires and that is why MOM being the regulator has to step in and its approval sought. Isn’t MOM aware that their approval comes with responsibility?

It is most despicable of MOM to push that responsibility to the employers when things screwed-up but when things are fine, they sure know how to collect the employment levies months after months and years after years without fail.

I will be blunt. If that is the standards and attitudes of Singapore MOM, then MOM ministers’ jobs and responsibilities aren’t too difficult, heavy and impressive really.

MOM, I clap for you!

Just imagine if only a fraction or say, 1% of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of work pass holders who have landed employment in Singapore over the decades possessed fake academic credentials, then thousands and thousands of our citizen job seekers would have been deprived or shortchanged of employment opportunities in our own job market and many of those jobs are decent paying jobs. I could go on…

Think.

Simon Lim posted the above in TRE

 Why is there a need for MOM to approve Employment Pass application when the burden of checking for fake degrees is on the employer? Would it then not be better and easier to regard MOM as a rubber stamp, to inform MOM of such an application and to pay the dues for the application and nothing more?

If MOM does not need to verify or check the qualifications and suitability of the applicant, what then is the value add of MOM? 

Who should be responsible to make sure that fake degrees and cheats are not allowed to work in Singapore? As Simon pointed out, who has the resources to make and verify that degrees and certificates are genuine, especially when they come from overseas, from little corners of the earth, from places that no one heard off, from institutions that are not even listed or known? 

What would MOM or employers do when degrees and certificates cannot be verified for whatever reasons? Never mind lah, just accept since cannot find out, dunno how or where to check? Is this what is happening when comes to application for jobs in Singapore?

When dunno, don't ask, no need to know. Never mind?

In this CCP Centennial 2021, old and past heroes of the Chinese Communist Party that saved China and the Chinese people will always be remembered eternally.

      The Chinese Communist Party is not only the saving star of China and the Chinese people but is also the saving star of many ex-colonial countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In this One Hundred Years Anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party we must appreciate that it was with the strong support of the People's Republic of China that ex-colonial countries in Africa and Asia were able to throw off the colonial yoke and gained independence. It was with strong Chinese support that Vietnam, Cambolia, Loas and Myanmar were able to escape from the clutches of American imperialism. Most important it is with strong Chinese support that North Korea was able to fight off the American imperialist and  maintain its independence. 

In the last over one hundred years from 1830s to mid 1940s  the Chinese people suffered the most outrageous humiliation of being  attacked, slandered, torn apart and dismembered by the hordes of Western barbaric countries like England, France, Russia, Germany, Holland, the United States, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Japan. They tore China apart like a living bull being attacked brutally by a pride of lions or hyenas. China was dismembered with what the west claimed that China was like a huge ripe watermelon waiting to be cut and divided among  themselves the aggressors and invaders.

Several times during this debacle of Chinese civilization there were great patriots who rose up to resist Western and Japanese aggressions. But they were brought down by the treachery of the West. It was not till the founding of the Chinese Communist Party that the long tortuous route to national survival and salvation of the Chinese Civilization could be realized.

As I had previously in June and July 2020 written a series of five articles describing the heroic fights and sgtruggles of the CCP , I will not describe the same here. But instead it is important in this centennial of the CCP , to honour and highlight the heroes , the leaders both in the civilian and military and the hundreds of thousands or millions of Chinese who out of conviction and patriotism selflessly devoted their lives to fight western and Japanese aggressions to salvage Chinese honour, dignity and self-respect through victory in Chinese nationalism and civilization.

Undoubtedly without the founding of the Chinese Communist Party China could have continuously slide into permanent choas and distability and eventual disintegration into different servile colonies of England, Russia, France, America, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland and Japan. In short the proud Chinese people would have lost forever their national state and their over 5,000 Year civilization. Thus those Chinese patriots in the Chinese Communist Party were in the forefront of the deadly struggle against Western, Russian and Japanese imperialism. At the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on 23rd July, 1921, China had already lost over three million square miles of territory to Russia, England, France and Japan. With the founding of the CCP and the eventual establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1st October, 1949, the Chinese people have stood up and prevented the further tearing up of China. China's lost territories due to coercion unequal treaties must eventually be recovered and will be recovered when history turns in China's favour.

The founders of the Chinese Communist Party and the First Generation Leaders.

Chen Tu-hsiu ( Chen Duxiu ) and Li Ta-chao ( Li Dazhao ) were co-founders of the CCP. The First National Congress of the CCP was held secretly  on 23rd July, 1921 in a deserted girls' boarding school in the French Concession of Shanghai. It was attended by 12 delegates representing fifty-seven original members. Chen Tu-hsiu described western democracy as a swindle, " democracy is no more than a tool used by the bourgeoisie to swindle mankind in order to maintain political power. " Li Ta'chao was the librarian at Peita or National University of Peking. His assistant librarian was a young intellectual Mao Tse-tung. Both Li Ta-chao and Mao Tse-tung were right in focusing on the peasants as a pre-requisite for carrying out a successful revolution instead of following the Russian dictate on using the bourgeoisie or city working class which was a complete failure in China's situation. Unfortunately Li Ta-chao was captured and executed by the re-actionary warlord Chang Tso-lin on 28th April, 1927. It was Mao Tse-tung who carried on the peasant struggle by putting his mentor's idea into practice and thus eventually won the revolutionary victory against both foreign aggressors and reactionary Chiang Kai-shek to proclaim the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1st October, 1949.

Other important CCP leaders who contributed to the success of the founding of the People's Republic of China were Premier Chou En-lai,  Liu Shaoqi,  Deng Xiaoping , Xu Xiangqian and some of the grand marshall generals Chu Teh, Peng Dehuai, Ye Jianying, Lin Biao, He Long, Liu Bo Cheng,  Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Yang Shangkun, Lo Jui-ching and Luo Ronghuan. Premier Chou En-lai was a great statesman par excellence, a strategic thinker and a great administrator without whose expertise China would not have overcome the tremendous problems that China had to face both internally and externally. The marshall generals were all great military strategists whose command and directions of the wars and struggles against the Japanese invaders and subsequently against the Kuomintang and its American supporters were consequential in the defeat of the Japanese and the Kuomintang under the despicable Chiang Kai-shek.

The success of the People's Republic of China is in a great way played by the patriotic and dedicated Chinese scientists and technocrats. These highly intellectual scientists and technocrats were very innovative and very devoted and dedicated in their work to contribute as part of their work and duty to help, preserve and maintain the safety and seecurity of China's nationalism and sovereignty. As there are too many of them to be mentioned here it would  suffice to list just a few of the most outstanding ones. They are as listed below:

Rocket propulsion and ballistic missile scientists: Professor Qian Xue - Sen ( Father of China's rocket and ballistic missiles ), Yang Nan-sheng, Guo Yong-huai, Chieh Chien-chang, Dr. Cheng Shi-ying, Xu Guo-zhi, Yang Jia-hui, Wang Xi-ji, Lu Qiang, Chen Yuan Jiu, Zhao Jiu -zhang, Wei Yi-qing, Luo Pei-lin, Luo Shi-jin and Qian Ji. Professor Qian Xue-Sen and his team of rocket and ballistic scientists have trained tens of thousands of young Chinese scientists to become qualified experts in their own ambitious goal.

Nuclear scientists: Professor Qian San C'hiang ( Father of China's Atom Bomb, Hydrogen Bomb and Nuclear Technology), Deng Jia H'sien, Sun Yuen Chi, Yang Chen Ning, Zhang Ying Yi, Sun Jia Tung, Wang Chien Chang and Wang Bing Zhang. Professor Qian San C'hiang and his colleagues too have trained tens of thousands of young Chinese scientists to become experts in nuclear technology.

Both Professor Qian Xue-sen and Professor Qian San C'hiang collaborated their efforts to propel China's ballistic missile and nuclear technology to the highest level of success to maintain China's security and sovereignty. With large pools of new young and talented scientists trained by them in both the rocket and ballistic missile technology and the nuclear technology China's future in both fields of technology is secure. The rocket and missiles scientists and the nuclear scientists form a very strong and powerful bulwark in the defense of China's security and sovereignty. Hopefully a strong and powerful nuclear armed China will deter the bellicose Anglo-Saxon British and white Americans from creating any more trouble for China and the Chinese people.

It is also important to know and recognize the vast contributions of the ordinary Chinese folks in rural agricultural China and the proletariats of the working class people in the cities in their determined struggle and fights against the western and Japanese aggressors and invaders. They held regular important revolutionary musical and dramatic cultural events that inspire the Chinese patriotic spirit to rise up and topple the evil foreign aggressors and invaders. As usual there are too many of them to be mentioned here. It is suffice to just mention two of the most outstsanding cultural intellectuals whose vital contributions to the success of the Chinese Communist victory and establishment of the People's Republic of China can never be forgotten.

Nie Er (original name Nie Shouzin)  and Tian Han worked closely with each other in devoting their lives to fight western and Japanese aggressors and invaders through the strong influence of their revolutionary songs and music which inspired the people;s monumental spirit to rise up to fight and drive out the western and Japanese invaders and to secure Chinese nationalism and sovereignty. Their songs and music touched the heart of every Chinese person and promoted nationalism and patriotism. They tell the story of people at the front line fighting Japanese invaders in northeast China in the 1930s. 

Nie Er's last song "The March of The Volunteers" in which he wrote the musical scores while Tian Han contributed the lyrics captured  the rising anti-Japanese sentiment and the song "The March of The Volunteers" was selected as China's National Anthem with the establishment of the "People's Republic of China." Further more "The March of The Volunteers  " has universal appeal that transcends Chinese Nationalism.

Every year on Chinese National Day on 1st October, the Chinese government pay tributes and eulogies to the unknown millions of Chinese martyrs who died a heroic death in fighting against western and Japanese imperialism and invasion and in so doing sacrifice their lives for the sake of securing Chinese Nationalism and sovereignty and the final success in establishing "The People's Republic of China" on 1st October, 1949.

The success and victory of the Chinese Communist Party in establishing the "Peole's Republic of China" has restored honour, dignity and self-respect to China and to every proud Chinese in all corners of the world. In this centenary of the Chinese Communist Party which is on 23rd July, let the Chinese throughout the world celebrate and toast to the Party and remember that it is the stoic struggle of the  millions of Chinese patriots in the past that contributed to the success of the revolution that finally restored honour, dignity and self-respect to all Chinese people. 

The west under the leadership of the evil empiire the United States and Japan still harbour evil intentions to destroy China and the Chinese people. It is the duty and responsibility of all Chinese people in the world to resist western and US imperialism and to defeat them completely so that China and the Chinese people and the rest of the non-western countries can live in peace and security.

Southernglory1

Wednesday, 24th February,2021

 

 

DBS in hot soup in India because of LVB?

The hottest topic today must be the long queue of Indian companies waiting to sue DBS Bank. Every concern Singaporeans, every thinking Singaporean is raining cold sweat if you know the consequences of this turning bad. My email and sms have been flooded with messages on the legal suits taken in India, not in Singapore, against DBS Bank. I would be feeling more secure if they were to sue in Singapore courts. But in Indian courts, tough.

Many are at the point of being hysterical on the fear of huge losses by DBS Bank, and at the way things are looking, it is a bottomless pit. To the concern and thinking Singaporeans it is not just our reserves being affected, their pockets would also be affected. See that? The big hole must be patched somehow, and who is going to pay for it? If you are still blur, then you are a perfect daft Singaporean.

OK, before this drama becomes too melodramatic, before doomsayers got carried away, I would like to give Singaporeans a big confidence booster. No need to worry lah. Why? Everything is under control. Such a big decision cannot be made like between Muthu and Ah Seng in the backlane, ai mai, eh sai beh sai, and deal done. 

Many very clever people must be involved in studying this merger before they said yes. No due diligence, cannot be lah. 

One best sign to know that all is well is that no one in the govt has said anything to the contrary or trying to sound out to the people, to prepare the ground, that DBS or Singapore is in deep shit. This is another way of saying, if no one complains, then there is no problem. In this case if the PM and all his ministers and MAS and DBS did not sound worrying, then all is fine. Opposition MPs also never make noise. You know they sure make a lot of noise if something is foul. If they also keep quiet, then must be ok lah. See no one ask question about this. See how many questions they asked about climate change and you know what is more important.

My logic good right?

Then DBS is not a fly by night company that was born yesterday. DBS has many years of experience in this type of merger, even advising companies about merger. How can DBS not know what it is doing. Gupta is the best banker in Singapore, maybe the whole world. And he came from India, born in India, just a few years ago he was still an Indian citizen. His contacts would have told him if got problem. He could smell them too. He is not paid millions to fumble in such a simple merger of two banks. Any small banker would be able to do it quite easily, especially to protect from unknown and unlimited liabilities. There would be a standard checklist of do's and don'ts.

And DBS have a lot of damn bloody smart and damn bloody shrewd lawyers.  These experts would be there first on the ground to assess the situation and to make sure the ground is safe before saying ok to put in hundreds of millions into the deal. Please don't suggest the damn bloody smart and shrewd lawyers were sleeping or did not know their job. They are experts in such things, many years of experience, not the first time working on such a case.  Ignorant lay people no need to worry too much. Leave it to the experts in DBS and the govt. Singapore is in good hands. Cross my heart.

Still not convinced? I guarantee you DBS and Singapore would not lose a single cent in this merger. Gupta already said LVB would be profitable in a year or two. Trust him. He is the best bank manager Singapore can find and afford to pay. Not to worry.

Yes, I guarantee. If DBS India becomes DBI, I lose and I will buy you kopi. See, putting money where my mouth is. Trust me, not to unduly worry over this and have sleepless night. Everything is fine, will be fine.

Remember, DBS is the best bank in the whole world.  You mean they could be duped so easily by the Indian govt into such a scam? Come off it. Don't let your imagination goes too wild. I bet all the Sues would be thrown out of the Indian courts. DBS would pay for the best Indian lawyers to fight these spurious lawsuits. No need best Indian lawyers from Singapore, no need Davinder. And in India, DBS can pay them in rupees some more. Cheap, cheap.

And we have a trump card still not use yet. If all else fails, send Chok Tong. He is India's man and the Indians would give him face. He looks so handsome in his Indian dress. What you call that he used to wear? When Chok Tong goes to India, all problems become no problem.

Have a good sleep and get on with your life. No need to worry unnecessarily....And we have so many top officials, ministers and MAS and DBS chiefs, all Indians, can talk in same language and understand the Indians and the game they are playing. How can anything go wrong? Por lah.

PS. Please excuse me if I made too many mistakes. I wrote this after downing half a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Cheap cheap one, offer from Fairprice.

Widespread sanctions are evil and must not be allowed

 

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's foreign minister spoke out on Tuesday about "alarming developments" in Myanmar but said he did not support widespread sanctions on the country in response to a coup there as these could hurt ordinary citizens....

Imposing broad sanctions against Myanmar would hurt its population, where poverty was rife, Balakrishnan said, adding he had conveyed this point in discussions with Western counterparts, including Germany.   Vivian Balakrishnan in Yahoo News

Countries that imposed indiscriminate widespread sanctions on a country are more evil and irresponsible than the country they imposed sanctions on. The people of North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and many others in Latin America, Africa and Asia are still living in poverty because of the evil Americans and the wicked West imposing sanctions on them, some for several decades, leading to poverty and immense suffering of the people that are innocent and did not have anything to do with their govts. Further, every country has a right to choose their own system of govt and this is not an excuse to impose widespread sanctions on them. Communism is as good as Democracy if well managed for the good of the people. Democracy is more evil than Communism if practised for the benefits of the few elites.  The bottom line on good and evil is not ideology but evil men in charge.

The evil Americans are responsible for the millions of people living in poverty in countries sanctioned by them by their wicked lies and for political reasons.  When is the UN going to stand up for these suffering people? When is the UN going to stand up against the evil American Empire and stop them from destroying the lives and economies of nation states?

Reckless indiscriminate sanctions like what the Americans have done to Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela. Iran and many other countries are evil to the core. It affects the entire population that had nothing to do with the political leaders or politics. The evil Americans must be stopped from their cruel and wicked acts to impoverish hundreds of millions of people around the world. They are going to include Myanmese as their next target.

To the evil Americans, they have been waiting eagerly for this opportunity to exert their imperial agenda to control Myanmar and to raise tension in the region, meaning wars and more business for their war industry. The main purpose of their dominance is to control and abuse the world, inciting wars and making every country fighting and killing each other, economy destabilised and dysfunctional and at the mercy of the Americans.

While some Asean countries are opening their big mouth to shout at Myanmar, they should also shout at the Americans and the West from imposing nation wide sanctions against the people of Myanmar.  They should raise this at the UN and remove all the wicked sanctions against other countries imposed by the evil Americans. The aggressive behaviour and gangsterism of the Americans cannot be condoned and cannot be allowed to be repeated in Myanmar. 

Look at what they did in Iraq, Syria and Libya! Keep the evil Americans out of other countries' domestic affairs. Tell the Americans to save themselves first from the Covid19 pandemic and the racial division in their own country.

Do not allow the Americans to use this as an excuse to destroy the lives of the Myanmese and turn the Asean region into another hotbed of wars, instability and white terrorism.

DBS In Hot Soup In India?

 DBS In Hot Soup In India?

It certainly looks like DBS, with an original Indian Chief at the helm, has got itself into very hot and spicy Indian curry soup.

UOB Kay Hian has released a report on 19 Feb 2021, suggesting that DBS would be suffering from “more headaches from lawsuits in India”.

DBS plunges itself into the Indian Ocean of deep troubles when it went ahead to acquire the failing Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) in India last November.

It was a like a shot-gun marriage initiated by the Central Bank of India. to force DBS India to merger with LVB in order to rescue LVB from certain collapse.

Immediately after DBS India merged with LVB, Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) of India filed a petition with the Delhi High Court to make DBS India a respondent in its ongoing lawsuit with LVB, on the ground of the merger of the two banks (‘Firm petitions court to make DBS responsible for LVB’s embezzlement of S$130m of its FDs‘).

Prior to DBS’ acquisition of LVB, 2 employees of LVB were already arrested last year for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation of RFL’s fixed deposits from the bank.

A total amount of some Rs 729 crore (S$132 million) belonging to RFL was alleged to have been embezzled by the 2 senior LVB staff.

In fact, RFL reported the matter to the Indian police back in 2018.

It was alleged that the staff colluded with external parties in siphoning off RFL’s fixed deposit money from the bank.

Subsequent investigation is said to have uncovered grave irregularities and severe violation of regulations at LVB.

The claim amount by RFL has swelled to Rs 900 crore (S$164m) due to compounding of interest.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled to be heard next Thursday (25 Feb).

There are also other similar cases still outstanding. How many more such claims against DBS will there be? Your guess is as good as mine.

Maybe CPIB should make an investigation into the background of how this funny deal was negotiated and who were those involved?

What will be the implications to Temasek Holdings?

SSO

Covid19 vaccines - Who are the irresponsible countries?

 As of today, two of the major vaccine producing countries are hoarding all the vaccines for themselves and their closed allies. The USA and UK are hoarding hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines for their own people, Americans first, British first. This has created a world shortage for the vaccines for the developing and poorer countries. No money no talk. Got money also have to queue. Even the European countries, hard core allies of the Americans, members of Nato, are being left out in the cold.  Germany, France and the rest of the European countries are still not getting their vaccines. And the irresponsible Americans and British are saying they would offer to them and the rest of the world after they have met the demands of their own people. Only the excess would be shared to the rest of the world. When would this happen? For now, only token amounts were given to a few select countries while USA and UK took the bulk, leading to world shortage and delays in delivery to those that paid cash out front for the vaccines.

On the contrary, the country that they have smeared as being irresponsible, China, has been distributing vaccines to more than 50 countries around the world. From east European states of Serbia, Hungary, to Nato country like Turkey and countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and South East Asia. China is now shouldering the world's demand for Covid19 vaccines on its own, sharing the vaccines to countries that desperately needed the vaccines but unable to buy or get them from the two so called 'responsible' countries, the USA and UK. Both have been paying lip service that they would help the rest of the world, only after helping themselves, and that would take at least a year or more. How irresponsible are these hypocritical countries?  All about themselves and still got the cheek to smear China as being irresponsible. The Americans and Brits would only share their vaccines when they have a surplus, leftovers!

In the meantime more and more countries are turning to China for help to get their vaccines. They know that the evil Americans and Brits would not sell to them until their own needs are met. And the developing countries would be down at the bottom of the waiting list, money not enough to pay the rogues a ransom for the vaccines. China is offering them the vaccines at very affordable price, some at friendship prices. And China is ramping up its production of vaccines to be able to spread them to the rest of the world that cannot get the vaccines from the two biggest producers, the USA and UK. 

How irresponsible are these Anglo Saxon powers? When the world needs them, when the world is dying, they are only thinking of themselves. Countries of the world must open their eyes and see who are the irresponsible ones that would turn them away in times of trouble, in a pandemic. 

When the world needs leadership to tackle this pandemic, the Americans and Brits are only caring for themselves. The European states are giving up and are turning to China for help. Unfortunately the use of vaccines has been turned into a political issue.  They cannot use Chinese or Russian vaccines without the approval of the Americans and NATO. They need the approval of the Americans to buy vaccines from China and Russia and if no approval is given, their people die. This is how tragic the Europeans are today, at the mercy of the evil Americans that dictate whether they live or die and cannot say no to the Americans.

The rest of the world, the developing countries, are in a way better than the Europeans. They don't need the blessing and approval of the Americans to buy vaccines from China or Russia. The queues for Chinese vaccines are getting longer and longer, but the wait is anytime faster than waiting for the leftovers, so called surplus, from the USA and UK that may come a day too late.

Who are the irresponsible nations in the world? Many are dying, waiting for the vaccines, vaccines that did not come in time. Good luck to the Europeans while they wait for the Americans and Brits to offer them when the two had had enough.  When would that day come?

Who is saving the rest of the world from Covid19?

PS. Believe it or not, the Americans are more caring about the imaginary 'genocide' in Xinjiang fabricated by them than the 500m infections and 500,000 American deaths due to Covid19, and the numbers are growing. They are so caring about the Muslims in Xinjiang, but keep on killing the Muslims in the Middle East and letting Americans killed by the virus or die because of snow storm.

Americans are really 'great' people.

USA, a country of fake news and lies and fake press freedom

 More glaring evidence about how fake the Americans are in their freedom of the press, fake news media, champions of human rights, abuses of power. Read what John Swinton, Chief of Staff of NYT said below and slap yourself if you have been a blind believer of American lies. 

Shame on you, lying journalists, hypocrites. And shame on you, gullible unthinking believers of white lies.

John Swinton on the independence of the press

Variations on the quote below have been misattributed as a response to a toast, by John Swinton, as "the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times", before the New York Press Club in 1953. However, research reveals that Swinton (1829-1901), after moving to New York, wrote an occasional article for the New York Times and was hired on a regular basis in 1860 as head of the editorial staff. Afterward holding this position throughout the Civil War, he left the paper in 1870 and became active in the labor struggles of the day. He later served eight years in the same position on the New York Sun and later published a weekly labor sheet, John Swinton's Paper.

The remarks were apparently made by Swinton, then the preeminent New York journalist, probably one night in 1880. Swinton was the guest of honour at a banquet given him by the leaders of his craft. Someone who knew neither the press nor Swinton offered a toast to the independent press. Swinton outraged his colleagues by replying:


There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.

There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.

The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?

We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.

Despite the misattribution, the quote raises the issue of whether there is not continuing truth in Swinton's remarks, and whether some candid journalist might not be able to fairly say similar things today. Anyone who has associated closely with journalists can hardly avoid finding a ring of truth in such words, and the best evidence lies in the actual product of journalists and how well, or how poorly, it both agrees with and covers what actually happens, especially involving such things as corruption and abuse of power.

Source:  https://constitution.org/2-Authors/jroland/pub/swinton_press.htm