Japan continues to provoke China

Japan again arrested a Chinese fishing boat for illegal fishing 210km off Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands. If I am not mistaken, the economic zone of a country is 200km from its coast. In this case, the boat is in a disputed area claimed by both countries.

This kind of provocations has been going on for years. China can no longer sit still when it claims that Diaoyutai Islands belong to her. The Chinese fishing boat was thus inside Chinese territory. China would have to act or lose its credibility in claiming the Islands.

China may hold back from firmer action as this act could be an intended one to provoke China to act. And the Japanese would then escalate the conflict to drag in the Americans. Or it could be a plot by both the Americans and the Japanese to push China over the edge and then to tell the world that China is an aggressive and belligerent country that is willing to resort to use force to settle territorial dispute.

China may do a similar act by arresting some Japanese ship on a tit for tat. Perhaps arresting a Japanese Coast Guard vessel would up the ante and see how far the Japanese and the Americans are prepared to go.

Hugo Chavez – the man that shuts the Americans out

President Hugo Chavez death at 58 is a big lost to the Venezuelans and also to the free world, I mean the real free world that is free from American dominations and interference, and American instigated war. Chavez was well loved and respected by his people, much more well loved than the North Korean leaders. The whole nation cried on his death. He was their leader and national hero.

He freed Venezuela from American domination and control. He was instrumental in shutting the Americans from interfering in Latin American affairs. The Latin Americans have formed many associations, unions and groupings with the USA excluded. And they have peace. Yes, without the Americans, they have peace.

Chavez was only an ordinary soldier, a paratrooper. He did not have all the accolades from the academia. He was a patriot, a man who loved his country and people. He was a champion of the ordinary people. This is what he said,

“We must confront the privileged elite who have destroyed a large part of the world.“

- Hugo Chávez, September 2002



How many leaders today can match the things this man did for his country, his people, and for Latin America and for the free world? He was targeted for assassination many times and the Venezuelans believe that his death had a lot to do with the Americans. But he will leave behind a legend, a socialist revolutionary that defied the biggest super power on earth, the USA.

His death is a lost to the free people of the world.

Janil Puthucheary – best speech in Parliament

Janil’s call for free public transport at pre peak hours was touted as the best speech in Parliament. Many MPs are out in full support of his suggestion that between 7am to 7.45am travelling in public transport should be free to ease congestion. I also support free transportation. Who doesn’t?

But this is a very bad idea, an idea that is floated without much thinking. Do the MPs know that even before 7am the trains are already full, may not be as jam packed as peak hours, but with very little room for more? I am not sure about buses. This only shows that the MPs are all living in lala land.

What could happen when travelling is free as proposed? All the foreign workers will jam up the train as it would mean saving or earning another dollar or so, which is big money to them, for being earlier by half an hour or one hour. Who would be the victims, our school children, especially the girls. With the trains packed with foreign workers because it is free, the sex starved foreign workers, in big numbers, are likely to behave wildly. Just for this reason alone, the idea should be stuffed.

The rest of the commuters who tried to wake up earlier to avoid the crowd will end up being squeezed like peak hours. It defeats the whole purpose to encourage people to be a bit early to beat the crowd. The pre peak hours, when free, will be worst than peak hour rush.

I know I shoot and post with very little thinking. But this proposal is a sign of lack of thinking, no thinking at all. I would suggest to the MPs to take the train before 7am and check out for themselves and then think how it would be like when it is free.

The best suggestion in Parliament actually came from Baey Yam Keng. While all the MPs are caught up in the foreigners taking over our PMET jobs, he was so cool to talk about food as a unifying factor for unifying the people. Cool. Definitely this idea is better than free travelling in pre peak hours.

Tan Chuan Jin, the man in the mirror

Tan Chuan Jin is the man in the right place and the right time. He could come out a hero or be totally messed up by the shitty situation that has caught up with him. He is in a position that is no different from Boon Wan when he volunteered to clean the housing shit. Unfortunately the problem was too big for his half hearted measures and property prices are still running out of control with more genuine buyers sucked into the property sink hole with all their savings and future incomes. The hole is getting bigger and unplugged still.

The job market that victimizes and discriminates against Singaporeans and favouring foreigners did not happen yesterday. It was allowed to grow in strength for years, and the problem is not going to be solved by a battalion of men. It is an enormous mess of discrimination, victimization, questionable qualifications and experience, fake qualifications, phantom employees, quota bashing or cheating, etc etc. And there is a whole ging gang of players all feasting on a system that has gone haywire. How many hundreds of thousands of foreigners are now employed here and how many should not be here? How many have deprived our own citizens from having decent or good paying jobs through foul or unethical means? How many of our citizens have been cheated? How many vultures are laughing themselves crazy at the stupidity of our system or no system that allows them to do as they pleased at the expense of our own citizens who have lost their jobs?

Tan Chuan Jin has a plate full in his hand. And he needs all the help and resources to clean this mess up, not on alone, but with the support of several ministries and the cabinet. The situation did not reach this level of complexity and enormity for no reasons. Just like the housing problem, it is not easy to step out of this quagmire that was allowed to be there in the first place. How did it happen? How did the housing problem happen? Dunno leh. It just happened.

Can Tan Chuan Jin do anything to change the situation? All the eyes are on him. He is in the spotlight and the chances of him being dragged along by this tsunami are greater than he staying afloat to claim the prize at the end of this rough ride. He not only needs to undo the mess but to restore the job market to support our citizens, to favour our citizens, to strengthen the core of Singaporeans in Singapore. It is a mammoth task awaiting him. His plate is full. All the Singaporeans are looking to him as a savior of jobs and to reclaim our country from the foreigners.

The baton changes hand in China

Another decade passes, another few good men giving way for new leaders to take over the leadership of China, to continue a long and arduous task of bringing a people, 1.3b to be exact, to enjoy a higher standard of living, to live in peace and prosperity, to be safe from foreign aggression and exploitation, to be equals among equals in the community of international citizens.

China has been blessed with having good and honest leaders to be in charge since the early and tumultuous years of reviving and modernizing an ancient country and people. The years under Mao Zedong, the pioneering leader that reunited a broken nation were marked by big experiments and changes that swayed the country from extremes with deadly consequences. But things got better after Deng Xiaoping took over, from the remaking of a country to the rebuilding of a nation and uplifting the lives of its people. It was no sheer game playing. It was a serious endeavour that could make or break a country and its revitalized people and an emerging new nation rising from abject poverty.

Following Deng came two able leaders in Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji to continue his work. They did what was necessary and handed the baton to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. The flame of a new China continues to glow in greater brilliance under their charge. They could achieve more, though there were still much to be done given the immensity of the task.

Now these two meticulous and no nonsense leaders are stepping aside for another two new leaders in Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang to carry on. On hindsight, the most serious and dangerous task of Hu and Wen must be the removal of Bo Xilai from the top leadership. It could be disastrous for Bo to take over the helm given the mess he and his wife got into. China could have fall back by several decades if corruption and abuse of power when dishonourable and dishonest men were put in charge. It was a close shave as Bo was slated and in contention for the top post.

China is now in good hands again, and with two able and honest men in charge and ten more years of continuity, stability and growth.