4/04/2013

The oppression of a civilization



The world was turned into an ocean of colonies of subject people during the few centuries of ‘friendly’ European conquest. The Africans were turned into slaves, the natives of both Americas massacred. The ancient civilization of China was crippled and dismantled into pieces. After the Western powers brought down the decadent Qing Dynasty with the might of modern firearms, the Chinese civilization was turned into a pariah race of nothingness by the invaders in their country. The foreigners did not bring anything good but oppression, bullying and raiding China’s wealth and dignity by all kinds of deceptive means, and by the barrel of the gun. The Japanese joined in and even thought of conquering and ruling the whole of China as their colony.

There was a moment of salvation when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and declared war on the Western power. China and its peasant soldiers were needed to open another front to sap the fighting power and resources of the Japanese. A large part of the Japanese Imperial Army was held down in China by the peasant soldiers. History would not be the same if the Japanese could run through China without resistance and conquer the whole of Asia.

After the war there was a brief moment of equality for China as a key member of the Allied Forces that fought against the Japanese. Chiang Kai Shek was seated with the Allied leaders like Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt in Potsdam and Cairo to divide the world among the victorious Allied Powers. China was lucky to have its lost territories back. Chiang was more like a flower vase, inconsequential, and would not be deserving of any war loot. His presence among the leaders of the big powers was a consolation that gave China a little recognition as a big nation.

This little moment of dignity did not last long when Mao Zedong defeated Chiang and China adopted communism as a state ideology. This turn of event led to a renewed and concerted Western effort to brand and condemn the Chinese civilization as peasants, rogues, dumb, uncivilized, aggressive and the pariahs of the human race, a good for nothing race that was lack of talent, unproductive and unimaginative, and unfit to join the advanced nations of the West. This was the hopeless China painted by the West. They kept repeating the misinformation daily in all western media, like they are doing to North Korea today that the whole world simply believed so. Chinese are useless, Chinese are lame, Chinese are bad.

Cold Wars, containment policies, encirclement, depriving China of its rightful seat in the UN, blocking China from joining international organizations like the WTO and the Groupings of rich nations, were history now. In the last 40 odd years, China came storming back on its own despite all the sanctions and barriers and threats against its rise as a nation and the Chinese people as a civilization, old, ancient, but not useless and remote of talents.

Throughout the two hundred years of Western oppression and suppression, the Chinese civilization was not allowed to surface, no opportunity to break out and be the equals of other nations. The Chinese civilization was down and out, the Chinese in despair. Many Chinese had doubts in themselves, and were ashamed to be Chinese. The Westerners reinforced this belief by sneering at them, contributing negative literature furiously to debase the Chinese, discriminated against them in practically every human endeavour and industry. In the USA there were racist laws forbidding the Chinese from higher skill jobs. The image and perception of useless and untalented Chinese became a self fulfilling prophecy. The Chinese civilization was a joke, a condemned race that was lacking in industry and innovation.

On its own, slowly and steadily the Chinese rebuilt their nation and their civilization, with little foreign talents and assistance, China has over taken Japan and is closing in on the US as the number Two world power, economically and militarily. They have proven that they could match the West in every field of industry. The oppression and suppression of a civilization have failed, and a revitalized China has assumed its rightful place as a proud nation among nations. The Chinese civilization is no longer to be spitted at, to be kicked around by the Western powers or by teeny weeny little Asian states. It is now a force to be reckoned with and to be respected on its own merits.

The tag of being the Sick Man of Asia, a semi colony of the West, a broken country with nothing, no inventions, no modern industries, no talents except poverty and all the trappings of a poor and backward third world country vanished over a few decades. There is renewed pride as a people, a nation and a civilization in the new China. A phoenix has risen from the ashes. There is no turning back. The Chinese have found their way back and will leap frog over the West in science and technology and in all things, while the West are still trying to restrain their advances by hook and by crook.

Today, the overseas Chinese are also starting to rediscover themselves, their pride and dignity as a respectable people. They too find some renewed confidence that they are not rubbish and useless as the West wanted to hole them in, to be bullied by even little third world people, to be told to go home in western countries. They too share the pride of an ancient civilization seeking a second chance in renaissance, to achieve in whatever they seek to do, to be a respectable people and civilization on par with the best in the world. They no longer lower their heads in shame as they go about their lives. They are standing tall, heads and shoulders to the Western civilization with the knowledge that they are just as good if not better. The Chinese civilization is reviving and will no longer be oppressed and suppressed again.

Tessa Wong defends her position in facebook


Tessa Wong, the ST journalist that wrote an article on xenophobia last Saturday came under attack by many netizens. In her facebook posting she tried to explain that her position was quite balance. In the Saturday article she called on the Singaporeans not to discriminate against foreigners, not to be xenophobes.

I still think that her article was very one sided, that the xenophobes were only Singaporeans. I hope she would balance out her position by doing some investigative journalism and fish out those companies and CEO/HR that discriminated and victimised Singaporeans for jobs. Companies and such individuals that hired their own kind at the expense of Singaporean PMEs are xenophobes and must be exposed.

If Tessa Wong could put up a piece to show such discriminations against Singaporeans, she could turn the table and be seen not only as fair and balance but also a Singaporean speaking for Singaporeans and fair play. If she fails to do so, then it is likely that the netizens will go after her more furiously.

We cannot chastise Singaporeans for just airing their unhappiness and protect the foreigners for having committed the such crimes. In fact the Singaporeans were just reacting to the discrimination and victimisation practised by the foreigners. The Singaporeans are the victims and wanting to fight back. The foreigners are ganging up in a concerted effort to ease out the Singaporeans from good jobs here, in Singapore you know.

I hope Tessa reads this and do the due diligence as a professional Singaporean journalist that believes in fairness and transparency. Get the culprits into the open. MOM should have details of the transgression they committee against Singaporeans. Interview Tafep or Tan Chuan Jin, they know.

Hsien Loong and Obama 4 eye meeting. Ampat mata.



What I have written is strictly fictional. It is called humour, ok? It is like turning on the tap for pork soup. Now that you are in the right frame of mind, let me let my imagination runs a little wild, and here it is. In the Oval….

Hsien Loong: ‘Hi BO, I see you got a little problem.’

BarackObama: Sheepishly, not trying to keep his act tough image in his private office, ‘Bad news travels far and wide yah!’

Hsien Loong: ‘No worry. I brought my cheque book along. How much do you need?’

BarackObama: Face lighted up. ‘That’s cool baby. We are so bloke that we can’t even sail a decent size boat to the South China Sea. But we were lucky, as that Captain sailed it into the reef. Embarrassing, so embarrassing!’

Hsien Loong: ‘Heh heh, you should let our boys sail it. We know the ground.’

BarackObama: ‘Yah, you can laugh. The Chinese are laughing too. Damn Marines could not even keep its boat afloat. I think it is safer to sail into Singapore, deep water port, no coral reef to make the Marines looked like Georgie boy.’

Hsien Loong: ‘Again no worry. We will take good care of your boys. We will tow the boat into harbor to make it doubly safe. Our shipyard will fix it like new.’

BarackObama: ‘Thanks a lot. We really appreciate the special relationship we have with Singapore. Now cut it short, how much have you got?’

Hsien Loong put on the biggest smile he could. ‘How much do you need? Fed can print, we can print too.’

BarackObama: ‘As much as you put into Citibank and all the other banks combined. We need to save this F35 project from sinking.’

Hsien Loong: ‘That bad huh?’

BarackObama: ‘The Fed is not going print more money, Congress is not going to approve for more, our bank accounts are empty, the Chinese, the Japanese and the Arabs are not going to buy more T bonds, and we promised the Americans the best aircraft money can buy and a very affordable price tag. Now we don’t have money left to get it off the ground.’

Hsien Loong: ‘What are friends for? Just tell me how much and you can have it.’

BarackObama: ‘You really fixed my problems.’

Hsien Loong: ‘Just a minute. I have a little problem to fix too. After the buying the rotten banks I am now told to be extra careful by Tony. He is the guardian of our reserves and very experience now. He did not want me to put the money down for rotten aircraft like the rotten banks. No haste. The advice of Jim Rogers is invaluable. You know, Tony is the President, and very wise now.’

BarackObama: ‘Oh, tell Tony all is well. No worry, trust US. We have no control over the banks. But for the aircraft, if they don’t fly, we will make sure they fly, 5 years or 10 years later, they will fly. I give you my words.’

Hsien Loong: ‘That’s very assuring. How about two for the price of one?’ And can I pay you in T bonds?

4/03/2013

From tolerance to intolerance



This is a personal journey of an average Singaporean, like all Singaporeans. The changing mindset of a very tolerant Singaporean towards foreigners is very likely to be shared by all other average Singaporeans. Actually the word tolerance towards foreigners was never an issue, never appear in the Singaporean vocab. Most Singaporeans are or were very hospitable and warm to foreigners in this island. Most foreigners in the past left with a very pleasant experience of a very friendly people during their sojourns here. It is very unusual for a visitor or those who have worked or studied here to have had bad memories of a unfriendly people and ugly experiences because they were foreigners.

Things are changing so rapidly that the tolerance for foreigners is becoming intolerance. Some have broken out into out right anger. It used to be a little inconvenience taking public transport that was often a bit squeezy, and finding a seat a little lucky. The experience of taking public transport today is to have strangers, clearly foreigners, stuck to your sides, front and back, rubbing or knocking at you, breathing down your neck or yakking away at the top of their voices. Their unfamiliar and often unpleasant BO, with their arms stretched across your face cannot be fun but must be most unpleasant and irritating.

Fighting for a seat with the foreigners becomes a game of being ungraceful or disgraceful. What really troubles the Singaporeans must be the huge presence of foreigners and the deprivation of a better life for the citizens. When many Singaporeans are out of jobs, in between jobs, under employed, unemployed, while foreigners are fully employed, many taking up cushy and high paying jobs, things will turn a bit ugly. No one is complaining so much about foreign workers who are needed and tolerated here as transient workers.

And when foreigners flooded the housing markets and driving up housing prices, pushing them beyond the reach of citizens, and also the favourite item of car ownership becoming an impossible dream to many, tolerance will become intolerance.

Tensions will build up over time and over many unhappy incidents. The last straw, when Singaporeans become a minority, when they are victimized, discriminated by foreigners, you expect Singaporeans to continue to be meek and selfless and continue to put their arms up wide to embrace the foreigners? The elite in their little palaces can talk cock about sharing with the foreigners when they could hide in the comfy enclaves and move around in private cars.

The danger is that the rot will get worst and will affect the children of Singaporeans in more adverse ways in the future. This little piece of rock is home to the Singaporeans, the only thing they have. This little rock cannot be traded away for fiat money. The developers with their money motive will be happily bid for land at higher and higher prices to feed the foreign frenzy, with money from all over the world. The Singaporeans cannot afford to compete with the rest of the world on an ‘equal’ basis as many are much richer and able to buy up everything and replace the Singaporeans in everything, everywhere.

This tolerance and intolerance issue cannot be spoken in void. There are lives involved. There is country and citizens involved. It is not a simple economic number game. There are also many intangibles of being a people, a country and a nation. Yes, I am getting more intolerant to foreigners when they crossed my path, cut into my way and deprive me of things that I used to have as a citizen in my country.

Having one or two foreigners can be fun, a novelty. When the citizens become the one or two, and the foreigners swarming all over us, it is no fun anymore. It is intolerance, and this intolerance will grow in intensity and will be felt by more and more Singaporeans. It is a road that spells trouble.

Is Hsien Loong really trembling?


'Pentagon chief reassures a worried Lee Hsien Loong about US military commitment towards Asia-Pacific against growing Chinese threat

Turkish Weekly, 2 Apr 2013

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday reassured Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the U.S. commitment to rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region.

Hagel "made clear the United States and the Department of Defense remain committed to the rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region and that in the future there will be even more opportunities for closer collaboration between the United States and Singapore," the statement said....'

The above is culled from an article in TRE. Pentagon chief assured a worried Lee Hsien Loong of US military commitment? Is this what Hsien Loong is in Washington all about, that he is worried that the Americans will abandon the Asia Pacific region because of a Chinese threat? How did the Americans got to know that Hsien Loong was worried of the Chinese threat? Did Hsien Loong or someone from Singapore whisper to the Americans about this? Or is it a red herring that the Americans are sowing to create a divide between China and Singapore?

With this disclosure, that China is what Singapore is afraid of, and Hsien Loong so worried to make a 4 day official trip to Washington, would China keep quiet about it? Would China stop inviting Hsien Loong or LKY to Beijing, or would some top level visits be cancelled?

Now, would the MFA come up with another clarification that the Americans were putting words in Hsien Loong’s mouth, that there is no such thing, that there is nothing to fear about China? We are friends of China, we welcome all the big powers into the region peacefully and we are not American lackeys trying to contain China’s influence in the region. We are not part of the American scheme of things to balance China’s position in the region. Singapore needs not worry until China puts a claim on Pedra Branca. And if the Americans did not correct this misinformation, would Singapore continue to buy the F35s?

Is there any truth in the reported statement, or someone misquoted Chuck Hagel. Maybe it is true and that is why Singapore is going to buy the F35s to defend against a Chinese air attack, or to fight on the side of the Americans against the Chinese.

Seriously, I think it would be better to report this comment as an April Fool joke. It is reported three days late.