The right wing militant governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, is still waving his samurai sword like a true samurai. He is still living in the days of the Japanese Empire, when Japan ruled East Asia, with Korea and Taiwan as their colonies and China a semi colony. Yesterday he proudly announced that he is going to buy Diaoyutai, a Chinese island which the Japanese claimed during the Empire days and named Senkaku, from a Japanese owner. What’s next, he is going to buy over Taiwan from another Japanese and Dokto from another Japanese as well.
China is lucky that it now carries a bigger stick than the samurai sword and when comes to the crunch, China can wield the stick and swing it hard at the Japanese. What else can the Chinese do if the Japanese insist on taking over Diaoyutai? The Japanese position has weakened over the last decade with the realization that China will go to war if Japan dares take over the island. They used to arrest Chinese and Taiwanese fishing boats and chased them away with their coast guards like what the Philippines were trying to do. The Philippines too were arresting Chinese fishing boats till the latest incident when they threatened some Chinese fishermen with their WW 2 antique warship donated by the Americans.
What happened after the provocative attempt to arrest the Chinese fishermen and threatening to defend their claims with their big guns? They quietly sailed back to Luzon on the pretext of refueling and needing food ration. Or was it that the Chinese told them that they would be sunk by Chinese submarines on their flanks if they refused to get lost?
Lately the Japanese too have been less brazen in arresting and chasing away Chinese fishing boats. They know that their Empire days are over, except for militants like Shintaro. It may be time for some fireworks. And this time it would be the Chinese turn to tell the Japanese that it was the Japanese fault for carrying a smaller gun than the Chinese. That was what the Japanese told the Chinese when they invaded China in the early 20th Century. The Japanese like Shintaro may want to taste their own medicine by pushing the boundary against China. They can still count on America to fight on their side. They can try and see if Tokyo still exists in the aftermath.
4/19/2012
Celebration time for Sinkies
HDB flats costing $1m in the resale market, or near to $1m. COE for small cars is now $64k and big cars $91k. And the best part, Sinkies are all celebrating, or at least none is complaining. The property owners are feeling so rich. The car owners who can afford to buy just a piece of paper to entitle them to buy a car must definitely be very rich.
These are happy problems. It only means that Sinkies are getting richer by the day without having to work. No wonder they have to import foreigners to do all the works. Sinkies only need to sit on their properties and feel richer everyday. Now they can also buy cars, park in the car park and wait for the prices to soar with COEs costing more than the value of a car.
With the million dollar flats, they can make a quick pile and spend a little on a brand new car. Who cares whether the train is delayed or not moving? Who cares if COE is $100k? A million dollar HDB flat can buy several COEs and cars. Life is wonderful in this little paradise.
The best plan is to sell the million dollar flat and switch to a 2 rm flat and take advantage of all the subsidies. Don’t work, so will qualify as low income earner. The extra cash can buy a Mercedes to drive around. Hear only the good stuff.
These are happy problems. It only means that Sinkies are getting richer by the day without having to work. No wonder they have to import foreigners to do all the works. Sinkies only need to sit on their properties and feel richer everyday. Now they can also buy cars, park in the car park and wait for the prices to soar with COEs costing more than the value of a car.
With the million dollar flats, they can make a quick pile and spend a little on a brand new car. Who cares whether the train is delayed or not moving? Who cares if COE is $100k? A million dollar HDB flat can buy several COEs and cars. Life is wonderful in this little paradise.
The best plan is to sell the million dollar flat and switch to a 2 rm flat and take advantage of all the subsidies. Don’t work, so will qualify as low income earner. The extra cash can buy a Mercedes to drive around. Hear only the good stuff.
Clockwork Singapore
Singapore used to be a clockwork country. Push a button, press a switch, turn on the tap, everything works. Singapore used to pride itself as a first world country, an oasis in the third world. It differentiated itself with world class quality and services, reliability and efficiency In just a few months, the public train system is breaking apart. How so? This kind of thing does not breakdown overnight. It takes a long gestation period to build up a series of lapses for such a thing to happen. An entire system functioning smoothly over 40 years does not go down like a string of dominoes. That is exactly what is happening to the train system.
Having breakdowns, stoppages and delays are daily business. And the frequency is no longer funny. The standby support system is activated and is working like a substitute to the main system. Excuse for coming late to work chits are printed so that workers can bring it back to office as proof of being late, like getting an MC. Soon organizations will have to check with public transport operators on the validity of such chits and breakdowns. And there will be permanent signs outside every station just to report on delays and breakdowns. It could even have a dedicated radio channel or mobile phone apps to inform commuters to take alternative transport.
It was only yesterday that workers were encouraged to sell their private cars to take public transport, as cheaper, faster and more convenient. Those who opted for the change are finding it a daily hustle to get from point to point. What is going on man?
And with COEs hitting $100k, what is the alternative for those who cannot afford cars now? What is happening to this first world oasis? It is like the light is being switched off, the end is near, age is catching up. The mandate of heaven has been withdrawn and nothing is going to work like clockwork anymore.
And it is happening despite the super talents being in charge and being paid super talented salaries. It is time the people vote like Citigroup against the huge pay packages when the management cannot deliver.
Having breakdowns, stoppages and delays are daily business. And the frequency is no longer funny. The standby support system is activated and is working like a substitute to the main system. Excuse for coming late to work chits are printed so that workers can bring it back to office as proof of being late, like getting an MC. Soon organizations will have to check with public transport operators on the validity of such chits and breakdowns. And there will be permanent signs outside every station just to report on delays and breakdowns. It could even have a dedicated radio channel or mobile phone apps to inform commuters to take alternative transport.
It was only yesterday that workers were encouraged to sell their private cars to take public transport, as cheaper, faster and more convenient. Those who opted for the change are finding it a daily hustle to get from point to point. What is going on man?
And with COEs hitting $100k, what is the alternative for those who cannot afford cars now? What is happening to this first world oasis? It is like the light is being switched off, the end is near, age is catching up. The mandate of heaven has been withdrawn and nothing is going to work like clockwork anymore.
And it is happening despite the super talents being in charge and being paid super talented salaries. It is time the people vote like Citigroup against the huge pay packages when the management cannot deliver.
Singapore Day for 3000 in New York
We flew our hawkers to New York. We flew the chief of PA to entertain them. We flew Chee Hean and Amy Khor to shake hands with our Singaporeans and let them know that we missed them and want them to feel that there is a home back home. We flew Michele Chong, Hossan Leong and a few of our local entertainers to give them a bit of Singlish humour.
$4m were spent in the process or about $1,300 per head going by the 3000 happy participants. Only a rich country can afford to throw this kind of party for its overseas citizens. It is money worth spending. What is the purpose of the party? To tell them to come home after their studies or after their overseas experience and acquisition of knowledge and skills? Would they come home?
Heard one of them saying he will need $1m to come home but he could not afford to. He will not be eligible to buy a HDB flat as his income exceeded the ceiling to be classified poor but not rich enough to plonk $1m for a 655 sq ft luxurious condominium. So how?
Singapore can wait. And thanks for the food and the thought. To go home and contribute $1m to the property market and another $100k to buy a COE just do not make money sense. One bowl of laksa may be $10 in New York, but still very cheap.
$4m were spent in the process or about $1,300 per head going by the 3000 happy participants. Only a rich country can afford to throw this kind of party for its overseas citizens. It is money worth spending. What is the purpose of the party? To tell them to come home after their studies or after their overseas experience and acquisition of knowledge and skills? Would they come home?
Heard one of them saying he will need $1m to come home but he could not afford to. He will not be eligible to buy a HDB flat as his income exceeded the ceiling to be classified poor but not rich enough to plonk $1m for a 655 sq ft luxurious condominium. So how?
Singapore can wait. And thanks for the food and the thought. To go home and contribute $1m to the property market and another $100k to buy a COE just do not make money sense. One bowl of laksa may be $10 in New York, but still very cheap.
4/18/2012
All victims of Japanese atrocities need to apologise to Japan
After Liew Khai Khuin’s response to a school teacher’s enactment of WW2’s Japanese Occupation, there were some violent responses in the ST forum. Yesterday there was a follow up on the issue by Clarissa Oon, a senior ST writer. This is perhaps the most objective article written by the apologetic victims after the emotional outbursts in the ST forum.
The gist of her objective and critical analysis is that the war and the atrocities are only a matter of interpretation. There is no right and wrong really. In the case of China, it has no right to ask for an apology from Japan after what it had done to its people during the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution and the Tian Anmen Incident. If China could kill its own people in the millions, what was so wrong about Japan killing Chinese? Until China acknowledges its crime over its citizens, it is inappropriate to demand an apology from Japan for war atrocities.
As for the other nations like Korea or South East Asian countries, their histories have a lot of omissions. ‘Singaporeans should also cast a self critical eye on biases and omissions in the telling of our own national history, even as we take a hard look at the narratives of other countries.’ And ‘While Japan’s neighbours should continue to nudge it to face up more fully to its wartime abuses, these countries should also move towards more honest and open examination of their own histories.’
So Asian countries, please rewrite your history honestly before making demands on Japan. Your own interpretation of your history is wrong. Japan’s interpretation is their business. Asian countries have to be honest first before they can ask Japan for an apology. I am wondering what the Asian countries were so dishonest about? Have they distorted their history and anyhow blamed the Japanese for the atrocities which did not take place? Were the claims of atrocities and brutality false, exaggerated as in the case of the Nankin Massacre? What is the relationship between their own histories, or what have the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution got to do with Japanese barbarism towards the Chinese and South East Asian people?
I am floored by the convincing objectivity of the brilliant article and how the Asian countries were wronged about Japan. I must pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine to apologise to the dead Japanese soldiers. We have no right to demand for an apology from the Japanese if we were not honest with our history, or in other words, our history could have been wrong. There were no atrocities and Japanese interpretation could be right, or the Japanese have their right to interpret their own history. It is only a matter of interpretation. It is our fault for wrongly interpreting our history and worst, for omitting about the good part of the Japanese atrocities against Asian people.
The gist of her objective and critical analysis is that the war and the atrocities are only a matter of interpretation. There is no right and wrong really. In the case of China, it has no right to ask for an apology from Japan after what it had done to its people during the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution and the Tian Anmen Incident. If China could kill its own people in the millions, what was so wrong about Japan killing Chinese? Until China acknowledges its crime over its citizens, it is inappropriate to demand an apology from Japan for war atrocities.
As for the other nations like Korea or South East Asian countries, their histories have a lot of omissions. ‘Singaporeans should also cast a self critical eye on biases and omissions in the telling of our own national history, even as we take a hard look at the narratives of other countries.’ And ‘While Japan’s neighbours should continue to nudge it to face up more fully to its wartime abuses, these countries should also move towards more honest and open examination of their own histories.’
So Asian countries, please rewrite your history honestly before making demands on Japan. Your own interpretation of your history is wrong. Japan’s interpretation is their business. Asian countries have to be honest first before they can ask Japan for an apology. I am wondering what the Asian countries were so dishonest about? Have they distorted their history and anyhow blamed the Japanese for the atrocities which did not take place? Were the claims of atrocities and brutality false, exaggerated as in the case of the Nankin Massacre? What is the relationship between their own histories, or what have the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution got to do with Japanese barbarism towards the Chinese and South East Asian people?
I am floored by the convincing objectivity of the brilliant article and how the Asian countries were wronged about Japan. I must pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine to apologise to the dead Japanese soldiers. We have no right to demand for an apology from the Japanese if we were not honest with our history, or in other words, our history could have been wrong. There were no atrocities and Japanese interpretation could be right, or the Japanese have their right to interpret their own history. It is only a matter of interpretation. It is our fault for wrongly interpreting our history and worst, for omitting about the good part of the Japanese atrocities against Asian people.
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