When justice stood firm

This is an unbelieveable Sinkie story of the year. A cleaner challenging the PM on a point of law. The AG office going all out to get the case dismissed. And a judge that stood firm and wants it to be heard, something that many Sinkies do not believe will happen in their life time.

Justice Philip Pillai has dismissed AG’s second attempt to strike out the Hougang by-election case in High Court. The case is now set for hearing on 16th and 17th of July in open court.

Mdm Vellama, 42, filed her application in High Court in March after the Hougang seat became vacant and after the Prime Minister’s statement that he could decide ‘whether and when’ to call a by election. It thus became a case of how much discretion a PM has with regards to the calling for a by election. Apparently the law is not quite clearly defined and subject to interpretation and the PM’s discretion.

Vellama was just asking for an interpretation of the law. I am still puzzle why the AGC is bent on dismissing this case which would mean that no one is wiser about the law.

It is astonishing for the court to stay its position and to grant a hearing to clarify this part of the law. I am sure all citizens would want to know what the law really meant and the limits of the PM’s discretion, and also the need to call a by election when a seat is vacant.

This is the kind of transparency we need and we want in a rule of law country, when the law is clear to everyone. Cheers to the judiciary system. My respect to Judge Philip Pillai. He has won so much admiration for his ruling and a pat on the judiciary system.

Either now or later

China has no choice but to defend its territorial sovereignty, either now or later. The concerted conspiracy to force the issue on China is getting closer to a flash point. The Japanese are making more wild gestures to rip Diaoyutai from China. They even cooked up ridiculous acts like buying the island as if it was Japanese land, ignoring it as a piece of Chinese territory. It is a repeat and revival of the arrogance of the Japanese Imperialism in the 19th Century. The Japanese still think they can bully China and seize or occupy Chinese land at will.

In the Spratleys and Paracels, the Vietnamese and the Philippines are agitating their claims through Asean. The Empire behind the whole conspiracy is quietly planning and moving its military pieces into the region.

China has no choices left. It has to put its foot down and establish its control over its territories. Any hesitation and wavering will be seen as weakness and will encourage more adventurism from the provocateurs. The earlier that China makes a stand by sending its naval craft into the islands the better. It must let the trouble makers and opportunists know that China will fight them off and the provocations should stop there and now. China is no longer the Sick Man of Asia and its land is not for distribution.

The US will be there screaming and shouting foul. That is exactly what the US wanted to do. It is now or later, and better now than to allow the provocateurs to keep inching in nearer for a fight. A bloody nose may be needed if China is to avoid further advances from these countries. This position must be made known, clearly, with no buts, to the Asean leaders in Cambodia. Let no one have wild dreams that they could divide up China’s territories like the West did in the 19th Century. It is also about time to put Japan in its proper place, that all Chinese territories must be returned and compensation for seizing and colonizing Taiwan. The confrontation with Japan and the Americans over Chinese territories will come, only a matter of time and in what form.

Changing faces, changing sides

The 50s and 60s, the post war period, was best exemplified by the rivalry between Communism and Western Imperialism leading to Cold Wars and proxy wars. The bad guys were the Communists led by the Soviet Union and PRC. The good guys were the USA and its European and Asian allies. Soviet Union and PRC were everything bad, from poverty, military aggression, exporting revolution, and supporting insurgencies to regime change and espionage. The good guys, the Americans and allies were protection of free trade and development, economic aids and a better materialistic well being for the people on the side of goodness. The good and bad were very clearly defined, the Communist camp versus the Capitalist camp, the rich versus the poor, the haves versus the have nots, first world, modernization, economic development, versus third world, underdeveloped or developing countries, poverty and backwardness.

How the world have changed today with the two sides switching places. The rich Americans and European countries are stuck in a financial and economic crisis that could turn them into beggars, broken economies, corruption and bankruptcies. On the Communist side it was all development, development, trade and loans to the developing countries. The Russians and Chinese were everywhere signing trade and development agreements. The Americans were everywhere signing defence pacts and military agreements, conducting war games, inciting rivalry, supporting insurgencies, conducting regime change and fighting wars. The Russians and Chinese were all businesses, in business suits, buying and selling raw materials/goods/services all over the world. They carry briefcases with loads of cash to trade. The Americans were everywhere in their infamous pixilated uniforms, in military and naval crafts, with guns in hand, fighting and selling weapons, and killing framed enemies.

The Americans and their western allies are still calling themselves the good guys fighting the bad guys. But the two big bad guys are not fighting and did not carry guns on their foreign diplomatic trips. Wars, military rivalry and weapons are least on their minds. It is trade, buying and selling of commodities, raw materials and finished products that they carry with them. On the other hands, the Americans are selling weapons and weapons and nothing else, and threatening countries with sanctions and regime change.

This good guy image is now only in name. The good guy mask is soon to fall off when the world starts to call a spade a spade. It is such an irony that the two sides, the good guys and the bad guys, have changed sides. The communists are now rich, committed to free trade and engaging in trades and not wars. The bankrupt Americans and the west are raising trade barriers and fighting everywhere. In every international forum, the ‘good guys’ could be seen pounding the table to attack and bully one country or another. The ‘bad guys’ were there to defend the victims and lend them the support. The wolf pack of the ‘good guys’ will be there to tear down countries one at a time, the perfection of centuries of divide and rule to dominate the world. Now the rest of the world have two ‘bad guys’ plus a few newbies in an infant grouping called the BRICS countries to offer a new balance and a new code of ethics in international relations. A new ‘good guy’ pact is being formed to replace the old ‘good guy’ American mafia.

How daft can Sinkies be? V1.1

Their forefathers came to build this little colonial outpost to what it is today only to be told that they lacked talents. Then comes the importing of foreigners who could not help their own countries, runaway from their own countries, to come here to rule the Sinkies.

And with the most advanced and highly rated schools in the world, with the best facilities, the daft Sinkies claimed that they are daft and needed the talents of half broken down schools in third world countries to come here and help them.

And being the most advanced financial centre in the world other than the European cities, we could not produce any talents to run our banks and needed to import foreigners who came here to learn the ropes, to run our banks. To add insult to injuries, the banks that we have today were built by the so called no talent locals. And now, after they have built the banks to such a size some declared locals are not good enough to run them. And foreigners who have not run them, never built a bank, are deemed good enough, better than the locals. They are still wearing their blinkers and not seeing that western bank managing methods and processes are mostly fraudulent, gambling and taking high risks on fictitious products and derivatives that will risk the bank going bust.

And we formulated policies in favour of foreigners and detrimental to the locals without even knowing it until the daft Sinkies could not take it any more and started to vote against the govt.

And whenever there is a problem, money will be thrown around the world looking for foreign talents to come and solve them. Our parks, resorts, golf courses etc can only be managed by foreigners or they will be in ruins. Big corporations too. NOL is selling its flagship HQ because it is running into the red with foreign talents. Who else is making big losses with foreign talents running the ship?

And now all the half baked foreigners are strutting around despising the locals, and the daft locals really believe that they are inferior. Who can blame them when the foreigners have ended up being their bosses and bossing them around?

Socially, the foreigners also feel so free to beat up the locals at their whims and fancies and what did the locals do? Everyone turn the other way, very happy that the person being beaten was someone else. They are safe without knowing they could be next.

And the locals pledged themselves to serve and protect the country and the foreigners and their super expensive properties while they live in small but expensive public flats if they are lucky. If not, they would not even be eligible to buy public flats to live in. And more ridiculous, some locals ended up having to rent a room from the foreigners to stay. Brilliant inclusive policies that are Sinkies first, foreigners last. The daft Sinkies did not mind being discriminated in their own country. Sinkies with no homes because govt policies excluded them while foreigners are happily buying homes to rent out to them. Can you believe it?

Tell me, how daft can the locals be? The daftness is at the top or at the bottom, or at all levels?

Wah Lan, BTO making losses

We used to have one guy shouting till his throat went sore that housing prices were affordable. Of course no sensible person will believe him no matter how long and how loud he shouted. Then Khaw Boon Wan came in to try to hold down the prices and started to build flats for the people in double quick time. It was obvious that Boon Wan does not believe in the other person’s shouting.

Yesterday in Parliament Ellen Lee came out with statistics to proclaim that BTO schemes are making losses to the tune of several tens of millions per project. She quoted the HDB building 1016 units at a cost of $279m while the sales proceed was only $240m because of generous subsidies, thus making a loss of $39m. At the rate this is going I think HDB will go bankrupt soon and would not be able to pay its staff lavish bonuses like before.

The statistics must be real, the truth, no bluff one. Since there is such a good set of statistics being flashed in Parliament, it would be good if the breakdowns could be given to prove that HDB is indeed subsidizing the buyers. If that can be done then there is no need to keep shouting until face red red. And can stand up to scrutiny, no need to turn away when someone ask for transparency.

Parliamentarians should take this opportunity to ask for detail breakdowns of this set of numbers. Not only the opposition candidates. Those from the ruling party who have independent mind or claim to have independent mind and can speak freely will have a real chance to speak up on this issue.

Let’s see how many can be independent minded and will speak out for truth and transparency.