But the Americans are such peaceful people....

'Chinese paper condemns Libya air strikes 2011-03-21 15:18 BEIJING - Chinese official newspaper People's Daily on Monday stepped up opposition to Western air attacks on Libya, accusing the United States and its allies of breaking international rules and courting new turmoil in the Middle East. The paper likened the assault on Libyan sites to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and suggested it followed a pattern of Western overreaching in other countries' affairs. "The blood-soaked tempests that Iraq has undergone for eight years and the unspeakable suffering of its people are a mirror and a warning," said the commentary in the People's Daily. "The military attacks on Libya are, following on the Afghan and Iraq wars, the third time that some countries have launched armed action against sovereign countries," it said....' We all know that the Americans are such peace loving people. And they did all the invasions of Arab countries to maintain peace for the world. Their next target for war, oops, I mean for peace, is North Korea. Then there will be peace in Korea, like in Iraq, with many infrastructures flattened and many Koreans bite the dust. All for a good cause. Long live the peaceful American Empire. Yes, we believe America is a peace loving country. Not like China! So belligerent and aggressive, fighting wars everywhere! Where, where? Don't worry, the silly Asians and Africans will believe that America is the best thing that happens to them and to the peace loving people. In the meantime, Arabs, please don't complain. It is all for your own good and the good of the world.

Big changes in PAP policies

2 out of 6 candidates introduced so far are new citizens. Both became citizens in 2008. After Janil Puthucheary comes Foo Mee Har, from Ipoh. If this is the general trend, then we can expect 1/3 of the new PAP candidates will be new citizens, not local born. Foreign talents are showing how dependent Singapore is for their contributions in the private and now the public sector. With the dearth of local talents, this is the natural thing to do. Evolution, Singapore style or we will go the dodo way. The next big change in PAP policies is to field lesser Chinese educated candidates. But Kan Seng quickly assured the Chinese educated group that their interests will still be important and that national decisions will be based on national interest. What is he trying to say? Hopefully national interest and the interest of the Chinese educated will coincide and not contrary. Over time this has to be the way to go. Either there are now no more Chinese schools or the proficiency of the students from the SAP schools is just not good enough. Or maybe there are no worthy talents from the SAP schools, or maybe the students from SAP schools are not willing to serve. Or maybe there is no more Chinese educated community to talk about. So gradually evolution will take place. A third change is the passing of the baton. We are seeing more ‘tai zi’ and ‘gong zi yeh’ stepping forward to fill the shoes left behind by their fathers. 3 out of 6 so far are children of the first generation of PAP founders. And more are on the cards. This must be the year of the princelings. Or is it the year of the foreign talents? I must say that these are important developments in the evolution of PAP politics. It will not cause any revolution for sure.

Killing Fields

For those who remember, the infamous Killing Fields of Kampuchea where millions could have been killed by the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime of children soldiers. What's left in the Killing Fields were stacks and stacks of skulls and bones. A new life has taken over kampuchea, thriving, while the memories and skulls of the Killing Fields, and the pains, live on as part of Kampuchea's gruesome past of a political regime gone badly wrong. More photos at www.artofrar.blogspot.com.

Way to cleaner, safer future

An interesting front page article in mypaper today by M D Nalapat, a professor of geopolitics, Manipal University, India. This is the first time someone pointedly argued that all the craps about regime change in the Middle East and the world is about oil. Saddam Hussein was murdered by the Americans because of oil. Gaddafi is next in line, also because of oil. And the Americans are in every corner of the world guarding their oil interest and scheming for regime change to secure oil for its huge appetite. Nalapat said, ‘Not many people know that the US Dept of Defence consumes close to 500,000 barrels of oil a day.’ Shit, and govt’s of the world are telling their citizens to save on using plastic bags. And Greenpeace is attacking everyone across the world for destroying the environment. Mind you, the 500,000 barrels of oil a day is only for the Dept of Defence. What about the other uses? The wasteful consumption of petrol by private individuals in their energy guzzlers, 6 to 7 litre cars, jetting down the freeways and the big trucks, could consume another big chunk of the world’s little precious oil that is left. Nalapat went on to claim that nuclear energy is safe and the way to go. Another controversial statement. For big countries with big space to host the nuclear plants and the ability to abandon site in case of a nuclear accident, and the population can be moved away, maybe still a viable option. Please don’t encourage those people living in a small piece of rock to have one. Abandoning the nuclear plant is abandoning the whole piece of rock for good. No option, no way out. Nice food for thought.

I want to write a book

I have been thinking about writing a book on the housing fiasco over the last ten years. There are plenty of materials to write about and it is also of great public interest. I thought about it but decided not to. For everything that needs to be said were all public knowledge. How the fiasco started, how it was continued and how it was solved or presumably solved were all very subjective? Whatever I write will be a very biased one sided view, my view on the issue . So what is new other than flattering my little ego? Yes, there are things that the public still wanted to know but will not be told. Some hard truths like the cost of building a flat, the nitty gritty that goes into the formula to come out with the cost of building a flat will be such a highly guarded secret that it will never see the light for at least another generation. If such a vital piece of information cannot be written, why would anyone bother to read my book? So I quietly shelf my plan for my great book.