lets talk about the hypocrisy

Perhaps the time has come for ASEAN leaders to face the ugly truth squarely instead of pretending that everything is alright. Race is something that no one consciously choose to be. One is born a Malay, Indian, Chinese, English, German or whatever. We are stuck with whatever colour that we came by. There is no running away from this racial distinction by calling oneself an international citizen or a Singaporean, Malaysian or Australian. And associated with this racial thing is a primordial instinct to belong, to be identified with. Imagine when the Indonesians were looting the Chinese shops and burning their houses, raping Chinese girls and killing Chinese Indonesians, and the Singapore leaders were feasting the Indonesian leaders at the Istana, pretending that everything is alright. We are Singaporeans and the Indonesian Chinese are Indonesians. Conversely, if the majority Chinese in Singapore were doing the same thing to their Malay counterparts while our leaders were having a feast in KL. How much hypocrisy can one live with and get by without being prick by one's conscience or morals? Inhumane treatment of human beings, discriminations, victimisations, can never be tolerated regardless of race or whatever distinctions. And the injustice becomes that much closer when one's race or religion is being victimised. Just listen to the uproar over what the Pope said and how the Muslims feel aggrieved by the comments. Perhaps LKY has assumed a new role in himself. It is no longer a domestic issue and he is speaking as an international statesman on an international issue. It is something that concerns him or any statesman around the world, the issue of treating every human being with respect, fairness and dignity. Are the other ASEAN leaders up to the mark to discuss the issues or are they going to pretend that there were no such things in their countries but only happened in Singapore?

second guessing lky

Why did LKY made such a sensitive comment that he knew would invite reactions from all quarters? Let me try to guess, ok? I do not profess to know his thoughts. One possibility is to clear the deck before he quit the scene. Hsien Loong is now in charge. And all these bickerings and cross borders accusations to score political points is unhealthy. Hsien Loong can do without, so that he can spend his time with more important things. And who is best to clean up this old rivalry once and for all except LKY? What LKY is saying is that we should stop all this bitching. But if one party thinks that they can keep bringing it up to stir shit, lets do it now. Talk about it openly, have an open discussion to see who have more shit to spread. You want to thump table or chest, go ahead. He will do it with them. It is going to be rough. But he is prepared to rough it out, take all the blows, but hopefully he can put an end to all the nonsense that one is whiter than the other. No other Singapore leaders will be in a better position to take this headon than he himself. The other objective is to tell the other countries that they cannot keep on oppressing and discriminating against their chinese citizens. This could be something that he felt was wrong and he wanted to say it out. Not that it will make a difference if both Indonesia and Malaysia insist to continue with their victimisation of their Chinese minorities. But saying it out is to tell them that it is not a decent thing to do and as a statesman, he cannot turn a blind eye to it and pretend that he did not know. If the Malaysian and Indonesian leaders are offended by it, so be it. He is retiring from the scene soon and either he says it now or he would not have a chance to do so later. Better to go down in history as someone to call a spade a spade than to be seen as hypocritical. At least he could be remembered for telling the ugly truth that no one dares to say. Would the two countries severe relations with Singapore because of this remark? Unlikely. There could be some strains and posturing. But there are too many things that all can work together for mutual benefits to be ruined by his telling the truth. Would Malaysia go ahead like some kampong headmen in Johore suggested, developed the SJER without Singapore? Or would Jakarta drop all economic projects with Singapore in Batam and Bintang just because of this? Even if they do, Singapore is not going to lose anything. Our economy is now dependent on the world than just Johore and the islands in the Riau archipelago.

guided democracy singapore style

While on the way to work I was pondering what Singapore will belike in the future and came out with a hypothetical situation. I didn't realised that this could be a solution to the list of problems Lim Swee Say raised as reported by Clement Mesenas. I will think about it a little more and get it our on Sat morning. Let me just reflect something about guided democracy in Singapore. Hsien Loong had a long session with the post 65ers, a very encouraging and engaging session as was reported. But why guided democracy? Apparently the 17 to 30 year old youth had a preparatory session with a group of younger MPs who coached them on what to ask and who to ask and the sequence to ask their pre prepared 12 questions. That is meticulous work and needed as these young people would probably be lost as they have not a clue on what they were talking about, I think. So the guidance and help sure did them a lot of good. And the programmed session went on as they have planned. The only interruption came when Hsien Loong wanted to hear a bit more about race relations. And the room waited. Quite expected as it was not planned and they did not know what to do. Very Singaporeans. Out of the script and they will be lost to the extent that Hsien Loong had to push for more spontaneity. Given their youth, this is natural. Give them a few more years when they are in the 30s or 40s, they might be more ready. Only problem is that their useful years will be very short as many would probably be retired by 55. Maybe the political lifespan of politicians could be extended.

abe takes 30% paycut

It is reported in the Business Times today that Abe Shinzo has announced a 30% pay cut for himself as a symbolic gesture to cut cost. And all his ministers will take a 10% pay cut. I think they are all very rich so they can afford to take paycuts.

switzerland 1st singapore 5th

Switzerland is the world's most competitive economy due to its reputation for innovation, research and development and its scientific infrastructure. And other Scandinavian economies are also performing well because of the same reasons. Singapore is ranked fifth. Not bad. But why Singapore is there is not explained. Is Singapore's position also due to innovation, research and development, and scientific infrastructure? Or we are there because of lower cost through outsourcing and hiring of cheap labour ie foreign talents?