Extraditing Snowden an unwise decision

Extraditing Snowden an unwise decision

Global Times | 2013-6-17 1:03:01 By Global Times

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For more, see Daily Specials: World reacts to Edward Snowden's leak

More than 20 public organizations in Hong Kong launched a demonstration last weekend, backing ex-CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden. In the meantime, Leung Chun-ying, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, has said that the government will handle it "in accordance with the laws and established procedures of Hong Kong." A poll initiated by the South China Morning Post shows that more than half the Hong Kongers surveyed are opposed to extraditing Snowden back to the US. But Beijing has not yet made an explicit statement.

Washington must be grinding its teeth because Snowden's revelations have almost overturned the image of the US as the defender of a free Internet. After losing this image, which has been abused by the US government to boss others around, there is no way it won't want Snowden to be extradited.

However, it would be a face-losing outcome for both the Hong Kong SAR government and the Chinese Central government if Snowden is extradited back to the US. Unlike a common criminal, Snowden did not hurt anybody. His "crime" is that he blew the whistle on the US government's violation of civil rights. His action supported "human rights" as defined in the UN Charter, and has been applauded  worldwide. 
Snowden believes in the democracy and freedom of Hong Kong. His whistle-blowing is in the global public interest. Therefore, extraditing Snowden back to the US would not only be a betrayal of Snowden's trust, but a disappointment for expectations around the world. The image of Hong Kong would be forever tarnished.

Diplomatically, Snowden has cast a shadow over the new Sino-US relationship right after the Xi-Obama meeting. The sooner the incident is wrapped up, the better the ties between the two countries will be.

Cyber attacks, a weapon frequently used by the US government, have turned out to be its own Achilles' heel. China is generous enough not to hype this incident in consideration of the Sino-US relationship.

The Chinese government has no responsibility to help the US quench the fire.

Sino-US ties have their own flexibility. On the one hand, under pressure from public opinion, Washington must have made preparations in case it can't extradite Snowden. On the other hand, Beijing needs to demonstrate it can't just be pushed according to Washington's wishes.

The consequences of extraditing Snowden back to the US would be more troublesome than the alternative, because the local reaction would bring more trouble to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

China's growing power is attracting  people to seek asylum in China. This is  unavoidable and should be used to accumulate moral standing.

The "no comment" attitude of the Chinese Central government and the ambiguous statements from the Hong Kong administration are the proper responses. China should follow public opinion and safeguard its interests.

You people are just too much!

How can you people blame our govt for the haze problem huh? Rightly Shanmugam has told the people to leave the govt alone. We are just a small dot and when our neighbours farted we are sure to kongsi the ‘ba ooh’ right. You people don’t be like dat lah. Everything also wants to blame the govt. And Vivian tried to talk to the Indonesians and kena slammed. Feel so sorry for him for trying to fight for our right and safety. If like that our airport may go out of business too. But still it is their domestic affair ok. Don’t anyhow go and kacho. Wait kena bokok then you know.

What happens inside our neighbour’s house is their business. They want to cook curry, eat durian, fried smelly toufu, and the smell comes over, just bear with it lah. Won’t die one.

Next time if we want to go nuclear, locate our nuclear plant in one of the southern most island or in the northern most island and tell our neighbours don’t kacho, it is our domestic affair also. And if our northern neighbor locate their nuclear plant just next to the Straits of Johore, also none of our business.

We shall all be good neighbours and fart for as much as we want. Think of the good stuff, free smoke, duty free some more. Don’t forget to say thank you.

Sinkie thinking?

• Ex-e2i Staff:


June 17, 2013 at 10:35 pm (Quote)

Until I left e2i in March this year to pursue my own venture, e2i had helped thousands of retrenched workers over the past 5 years. However, some remained retrenched and unemployed not because there is no job for them but because they are unwilling to face the reality that in their late 40s and 50s, they can no longer command the same pay they were getting prior to being retrenched.

• Many of you are saying you have friends who are very well qualified but still cannot get a job after so many years and their jobs are snatched away by foreigners.

Let me say this: There are many people who have gone through very difficult periods but got up from where they fell and rose again.

If you don’t have what it takes to succeed, don’t complain. Doesn’t mean that by virtue of being Singaporean you are entitled to a GREAT LIFE.

• Ex-e2i Staff:

June 17, 2013 at 11:07 pm (Quote)

And for goodness sake, please stop instigating Singaporeans to hate foreign workers.

The above are comments by this ex e2i staff in my thread on NTUC helping PMEs in more training posted in TRE. Reading his comments we can understand the few underlying assumptions or principles that he subscribed to and probably could also be the same beliefs and assumptions that he learned from his organizations.

1. A person who is in his 40s and 50s must expect to earn less

2. It is okay for citizens to lose their jobs to foreigners in their home country. Or as he put it, it is okay for foreigners to snatch away jobs from citizens

3. Singaporeans cannot expect anything more than foreigners in our own country. Yes, must compete with foreigners in a level playing field. Try to go to another country and see if they let you compete equally in their country.

4. And there is the assumption that foreigners are fighting equally and fairly for jobs in Singapore with Singaporeans. He has not heard of foreigners hiring their own kind and discriminating against Singaporeans. He has not heard of fake qualifications and experience.

5. Fighting for the rights of Singaporeans to have jobs in Singapore in preference to foreigners is anti foreigners. Singaporeans have no rights to jobs in Singapore vis a vis foreigners.

Could this person be a foreigner, a PR? Is he really a Singaporean? If all Singaporeans think this way, soon all Singaporeans will be out of jobs and their jobs taken over by foreigners.

What makes me angry about my country

The most annoying thing whenever I returned from an overseas trip and found myself at the checkpoints and had to face some foreigners sizing me up, looking at me with distrust and doubt as if I am a potential terrorist or a danger to my country. And to have them asking me silly questions as if they are the owners of my country and I a foreigner needing to appease them so that I can get pass the checkpoints quickly.

I am not sure how many of you share this same piss off experience as a Singaporean, completed our NS, trained to defend this country and now treated like a threat by foreigners. In my case I am even more angry as minding the safety and security of my country was once my business. Why must Singaporeans be frisked and checked out by foreigners on returning home?

Something is crazily wrong with this process. This is like hiring ex convicts to be security guards of vital installations. Singaporeans should be the ones at the checkpoints checking foreigners and worrying about the foreigners doing harm to our country and our people.

Then there are many govt bodies and institutions where Singaporeans ended up with some problems or issues and have to plead with foreigners who are employed to boss around with Singaporeans. Some even throw their weights around, looking at Singaporeans as pain in the arse or some pathetic forlorn travellers needing their help and mercy to make life less troublesome. Why are Singaporeans put in situation to be shafted around by foreigners employed to position of power and authority over Singaporeans?

In the name of security, in public and commercial places, many foreigners are employed to be security officers. Put a uniform on them and even a rapist or murderer instantly became a security officer. In shopping centres or outlets some of these jokers can even restrain customers and conduct personal searches. What is happening? And they could shoo Singaporeans at will, thinking and behaving as if they are the guardians of Singaporeans. What do we know of the background of these security personnel to push Singaporeans around and hustling Singaporeans as security officers in our country?

What do you think?

Singapore a green country?

The call for saving mother earth is gaining momentum around the world. And Singapore, like all young and impressionable kids, will rush in to join the crowd, to be part of the crowd, to be green. And we have done quite a bit in many areas and even won mentions in our conservation effort, green architecture, energy saving buildings, water conservation, and all the nice little bins around the island to save paper and plastic bottles and drink cans. Hope the cost of the bins is not more than the money saved from collecting papers and plastics. And we gave ourselves a pat for doing such great stuff to save mother earth. So is Singapore really a green country?

Every time I see young people picking plastic bottles trying to save a few pieces of plastic I start to wonder, how much could they save when the country is wasting so much resources unnecessarily? We try to save on plastic bags, on plastic bottles but on the other hand we are wasting and consuming unnecessarily beyond anyone’s imagination.

Our whole economy is built on wasteful pursuits, wasteful consumption and unnecessary consumption that need not be. Economic growth for the sake of economic growth is simply waste, wasting scarce resources of mother earth and in huge quantities. Economic growth, economic activities, particularly the excessive and redundant types, are destroying mother earth at an increasing rate that is unstoppable. Think the number of good cars and vehicles that can run for another 10 or 20 years but scrapped for newer ones! How much resources were wasted? Think of the pulling down of buildings/flats that can last for another 50 or 100 years but pulled down to rebuild! How much wasteful energy and resources were blown away? Think of the number luxury bags, mobile phones, apps, TVs, consumer durables that were used and thrown away when they were in good working conditions! Think artificial gardens.

Think of the crazy idea of increasing population for the sake of economic growth? How much resources and energy will be wasted just to feed the number of mouths, to clothe and house the number of bodies that are called growth?

And we are so happy about saving a few plastic bags, a few plastic bottles, a few drink cans? Go buy, spend, buy and consume for the sake of the economy.