First sign of a blow up in the South China Sea

One week after Obama made his hostile visit to Asia, signing defence pact with the Philippines and warning China it would go to war to defend Japan, tension has gone up several notches today. Vietnam has challenged China for drilling in the South China and provoking China to fire water cannon at its sea guard vessels sent to the Chinese rig. And the Pinoys have resorted to what they knew and had done best in the past by arresting Chinese fishing boats. It has been crying as if it was the victim of Chinese assertiveness but has gone back to its wild and wayward behaviour with the full support of the Americans. It is openly challenging China. The Pinoys had killed a Taiwanese fishing boat captain and have in many occasions arrested ships from Taiwan and China. This time with the American navy fleet engaged in a major exercise in the area, it found it opportune and embolden to arrest a Chinese fishing boat and its crew. The Taiwanese and Chinese have never done such a thing to the Pinoys.

There is no doubt that China would take these provocations lying down. All its diplomacy and attempts to avoid a confrontation with the Americans were in vain. The Americans have made it in no uncertain terms that it is going into open military conflict with China. China is now forced into a corner and must hit back. Running away from the Vietnamese and the Pinoys is not an option. It is going to be hard knocks and the Americans are going to show their allies that they would back them up militarily, force with force.

With the Americans wanting to show they are still the big time gangsters that called the shot, with the Chinese refusing to take the blows, the situation is all set for a full blown naval and aerial showdown. Both sides would be rushing their military hardware into the region to bolster their forces. China would have to made careful assessment if it is able to take on the Americans at this stage of its military build up.

Obama does not come for peace. The USA has never been for peace but about the use of force. Both parties, China and the USA, are not going to back down this time. The Americans have been working for this day and China has been preparing for this day knowing that it will come, sooner or later. They would hope it will come later, but it is not going to be one day late. It would start with the Vietnamese and the Pinoys attacking Chinese ships only to lure the Chinese to retaliate and the Evil Empire will say, ‘I told you, China is aggressive and will use force to deal with its neighbours.’ And here is Uncle Sam to the rescue. Uncle Sam is for peace. The use of force is not acceptable. Uncle Sam will observe International Laws to resolve dispute by the use of force. But Uncle Sam was the one behind all these tensions and inciting and provoking wars.

Now who is the evil one? Would China be up to it militarily to take on the Americans, or would China play its economic clout and exert pressure on the Americans in other areas?

Kopi Level - Green

Petition rigged?

William Lim’s online petition asking the PM to resign and hoping to reach 100,000 signatures is likely to be a failure. I think the counter is rigged. I remember that this happened to my online survey in mysingaporenews. The first few surveys worked well. Then it happened. Whenever the response hit a certain level it will fall back to a lower level. It kept repeating and would not hit anywhere above this ‘blocked’ level.
 
Yesterday when I read about the petition I went to the site to take a look. The number of signatures was 1329. I know as I have the number typed into the draft of a post that I was preparing. One hour later I went back to the site and the number was 1296. How could it be? A few hours later I checked again and it was creeping up. So I thought it must be a glitch but things are normal.
 
This morning the number was higher but nothing to crow about. It was inching up. In the afternoon I went in to take a peep. The counter stood at 1879 while 3 new names appeared indicating 3 more signatures. But the counters did not move. I waited for a few minutes and nothing happened. So I did a refresh and the number changed. From 1879, the new number was 1835. Can you believe it?
 
Then, after 15 minutes, it was 1841. Something is just not right. And I suspect there are more things that are not going right. Something fishy is going on.
 
Good luck to William Lim and his petition if he can get any satisfactory numbers.

Sewol Sinking – Unbelieveable video clip!

It was on Channel News Asia, a video clip showing the arrival of South Korean coastguards in their powered dinghies to save passengers in the sinking Sewol. The ferry was listing very badly, on its side, and the ferry’s crew, including the captain, slid down the side of the ferry into the recue boat. Other than these few people, there were no signs of other passengers floating around or crawling around the ferry waiting to be rescued. It was like a sinking oil tanker with only a few members of the crew to be rescued.
 
What happened to the 300+ passengers, teachers and children? They were still waiting inside their cabins as instructed by the crew, waiting to be rescued. It was so unbelieveable. The captain and the crew should be organizing the evacuation of the ferry but instead were disembarking without doing anything. And the passengers in the sinking ferry, inside their cabins waiting for their orders to evacuate. It was a non event.
 
There was so much time available for a full evacuation but nothing was done. No one thought it right or opportune to get all the passengers out of their cabin into the deck. What were in the minds of the captain and his crew, that the passengers in the sinking ferry were safe and no need to evacuate while they left the ship leaving them sinking with the ferry?
 
And the coast guards were equally lost as they could not find anyone to save. Didn’t the captain and his crew told them of the 300+ passengers trapped in the ferry? There was no urgency to do anything as if there were no passengers in the ferry? It was so unreal!
 
This could be Sampan Version 3.0

Kopi Level - Green

A Petition asking Hsien Loong to resign

A William Lim wrote that he was interviewed by a German media on Hsien Loong’s comment at an India New Year celebration. The controversial statement to those present is here, “Singaporeans, new arrivals, people who are on permanent residence here, people who are on employment pass here, all participating in one big family…So that we feel that this is a place which is special, which belongs to all of us and where we all celebrate one another’s festivals and happy events together.”
 
William Lim is a 37 year old taxi driver with a Bachelor in Business and Finance. He graduated in 2001 but with no ‘experience working in the finance industry he tried applying for a job, ‘I was asking a gross salary of only SGD$2000 per month, willing to learn from the seniors, willing to work long hours and willing to travel if necessary.’ He didn’t get even an interview. So he is now happily self employed as his own boss, as a taxi driver, a job that some people said is an occupation of choice, a preferred job for experienced and highly qualified Sinkie PMETs that no one wants to employ.
 
Below are two of the several questions asked on the PAP govt and its immigration policies.
 
‘1) What was your reaction to Lee Hsien Loong's comment about Singapore belonging to everyone who lives here?
Ans: Disappointed, a leader of a country shouldn't be making this kind of statement. What kind of message is he sending to the citizen of Singapore?
 
Foreigners coming to Singapore to work or tourist, we Singaporean should show them the hospitality as they are our guests in our country. To tell us that Singapore belong to them too, It's telling us foreigners own a part of Singapore too! It's the most absurd statement that I have came across.
 
Being a male citizen of Singapore, we are required serve my national service in the form of joining the Army, Police or Civil Defence Force. We serve the nation is to protect our country, our family. If Singapore do not being to Singaporean only, why should male citizens serve to protect the country while foreigner owning a part of Singapore do not need to protect Singapore as well? What kind of logic is this?
 
2) Why did you decide to start the petition?
Ans: A leader making this kind of statement is not fit to be a Prime Minister of Singapore! Together with a number of miscalculated policies like the 6.9M Population White Paper, the opening of floodgate for foreigners to come to work in Singapore etc.’
 
One blogger by the nick ‘theonion’ in mysingaporenews.blogspot.sg commented that it was an over reaction, that netizens are making a mountain out of a molehill. His explanation, it was just a feeling, and he said one must read the whole sentence in full, ‘we feel that this is a place which is special, which belongs to all of us’. So according to him, Hsien Loong was expressing a feeling and the part about ‘belongs to all of us’ should be read as ‘feel this island belongs to all of us’ and nothing more to it.
 
I think a grammar teacher could cut and split the sentence to make different meanings and interpretations out of it. My reply to him is not so much as what Hsien Loong said, or what theonion chose to interpret, but how the people, the general public read it or interpreted it. Apparently many people chose to read it differently and felt offended by it, rightly or wrongly. And now there is this petition in the air.
 
So how, theonion, what are you going to do about it? Your interpretation may be right, perfectly right to you, but other people don’t care a damn how you read it or explained it. Now, would Hsien Loong or his press secretary issue an explanation to clarify what he said? Or is all the hooha just making a mountain out of a molehill and there is nothing to bother?
 
In politics it is the perception of the people that matters and not what you said or what you think you said. Would this be a flash in the pan? Inadvertently this has become a controversy out of the blue, another unnecessary storm in the teacup perhaps.
For a while I thought this petition thing is so unreal. Could be a hoax?. So I went to this link, https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Singapore_Prime_Minister_Lee_Resign_from_Office, and sure enough there is a petition. The last count, 1658 have signed the petition.

Kopi Level - Green

CPF – Where would the deceased money go to?

In my earlier posts I raised several questions as to how the balance of a deceased member be paid out. It was always in cash to the beneficiary. Then someone said he received a sum of $40k in his Medisave Minimum Sum Account from his deceased wife. He was startled and angry. He spent a fortune on his wife’s medical fee prior to her death. The $40k could come in handy to settle some of his expenditure but now almost untouchable, stuck in his Medisave Minimum Sum Account.
 
How did this come about? I have checked with the CPF and they have confirmed that those who opted under the previous scheme would receive a cash cheque. But for those who have opted for the Enhanced Nomination Scheme, the beneficiary could receive the payment in different ways, into their CPF accounts like Special Account, Retirement Account or Medisave Account. In the ENS case, the money will still be in the CPF but in the beneficiary’s account. This is the enhanced part of the new CPF scheme.
 
So, when you make your nomination, be very careful and sure that you make the right nomination under the old scheme or under the ENS. If you are not sure, please check with the CPF. You can change your nomination anytime you wish. It is your choice to leave the money as cash to your beneficiaries or to their CPF accounts.