Hsien Loong - Rising international stature

Hsien Loong’s state visit to the US is a sign of his higher profile in the international arena and also the growing importance of his views. The Americans are listening at least. He made two important calls to the Americans. One, he told the Americans to use trade instead of military means to engage Asia. Two, he told the Americans to support their country’s initiative, the TPP. In the case of his first call, would the Americans be saying, oh yes, we are using trade for sure. We are selling military weapons to the Asian countries. But to do that we need to create some tension first, maybe a little localized war. The second call is needed probably because the Americans were not heeding Shanmugam’s call in his earlier visit. So Hsien Loong needed to make this visit to convince the Americans one more time.
 
The Americans are funny, or is it the Singaporeans. The TPP is started by them and they are not supporting it and it needs Singaporean leaders to go all the way to the US to explain to them how important it is to the Americans. If they finally listen to Hsien Loong, it will mean that Hsien Loong’s view carries more weight than Obama.
 
Another point Hsien Loong said was to Abe in Japan. He told Abe to forget about WW2 as it is causing tension in Asia. Let me guess what Abe would say to him. What WW2 history? There was no WW2, no Rape of Nanking, no comfort women, no Japanese soldiers killing the natives of Asia and SE Asia, no Sook Ching in Singapore. Abe would probably be asking Hsien Loong what WW2 history was he talking about.
Maybe Abe will also say he is suffering from dementia. And many Sinkies too have forgotten about WW2 and Sook Ching, particularly those who were not affected by it, who have no one in their family being shot by the Japanese firing squads in East Coast, Punggol, Changi or Blakang Mati. It is so easy to forget and move on for these people.
 
Why is Abe finding it so difficult to forget and keeps arguing with China about the Rape of Nanking and with the Koreans about comfort women? Ask Aquino, he too cannot remember the massacre of Pinoys by the Japanese when they were invaded.
 
To be able to tell the Americans what is best for them, to be able to tell Abe what is good for Japan, these are good signs that Hsien Loong is now acting like a senior statesman, in the same class as his father. He speaks, the world listens.

Kopi Level - Green

MH370 – Between facts and myths

After more than 3 months of agony and shooting blanks, the MH370 saga is still muddled by myths than facts. People are still guessing and extrapolating from myths and not wanting to know the facts and starting on another wild goose chase based on their beliefs and gut feels.
 
What is really important now is to go back to facts, what was known, from the ground and on radar and radio. What were the last know contacts, I mean seen by the controllers on the radar screen and not by someone who believed he had seen something that might look like MH370 or they believed could be so. The radar contacts will be the most important primary source of where MH370 was before disappearing, its location, heading, height and speed.
 
The next important information will be the radio conversation between air traffickers and the captain or co pilot. And it will really be good if the military radar stations could come out with positively identified radar contacts and not some fabrications. Stick on to confirmed radar blips and information and then work on from there.
 
Based on the reports in the papers today, the aircraft was flying into the Indian Ocean. If that was so, which radar station had positive contacts on their screens? Forget about the Immarsat handshake as it did not have any positive location of the aircraft. If there was anything of real value, it was only the initial handshake. After that, all the arcs were unreliable but just extrapolation.
 
The investigators must get real and positive radar identification as proof that the aircraft was heading into the Indian Ocean. Do they have any? If the aircraft was flying over the Indian Ocean, the Indonesians were the best people to pick it up. The Indians could possibly pick up as well in the Andaman region. If both countries did not, then why? The Australians were unlikely to see anything.
 
The search in the southern Indian Ocean is likely to be extrapolation and nothing else and the reliability is very low. Unfortunately, based on what were reported, the known facts were very limited unless the Indonesians and Indians could offer more. If both could not show anything, the Indian Ocean theory is as good as fabrication.
 
When the radars failed to provide more new evidence, the best people to be able to unravel this mystery or conspiracy will be the intelligence people, working on the paper information available and their sources. The technical experts could not go any further than 100km from the last know sightings on radar. To believe that they could guess where the aircraft could be, thousands of kilometers away, is as good as believing where God is. And I think believing in God would have more credibility than believing in these technical experts when real information was so few and so limited. There are real limitations on what the technical experts can do if the only thing they knew was the location of the aircraft in the South China Sea and nothing else.
 
It is unbelieveable that the Australians are rehashing the same plot that the crew were all suffering from hypoxia and were not in control of the aircraft. So were the passengers and none of them knew what was happening and were unconscious all the way, at the same time. The fact was that the crew could turn make a U turn which required tremendous conscious effort but following that they were unconscious after switching the aircraft to auto pilot and point it to the Indian Ocean. Why would they want to point to the Indian Ocean? Another best, no radar station picked up any blips from the aircraft on their radars. They expect the whole world to be stupid enough to believe in this story.
 
Well some do, and some pretended to do so, and are mounting another huge search operation in the Indian Ocean. And all of them are not boy scouts but adults, professionals, but doing things that innocent and ignorant boy scouts would do, wasting millions of dollars and resources on a wild imagination.

Kopi Level - Back to Green

60 year old sacked by FT

Below is a letter by a Wei Yi to TRS.
 
‘My father was terminated last week as a senior waiter by his Pinoy supervisor for no apparent reason. He had been working for the hotel restaurant since the 1990s and is well-regarded by both his colleagues and bosses....
 
The worst part is that this was only 2 months after the new Pinoy joined the hotel as the F&B manager. My father had complained to HR which then did an investigation but then the supervisor said that he was too slow and this did not give the hotel a good image….
 
Although I have long heard of middle-aged Singaporeans getting replaced by foreigners, I cannot actually believe how suay that it would happen to my own dad. Worse, I work for the HR industry and an increasing number of Pinoys have joined the industry.
 
With a target of 6.9 million, it seems that less than 50% of our population will be native Singaporeans and the only jobs for them are in the government sector, NS as well as taxi drivers. It would really be damn disastrous if we don’t act fast and kick the PAP out.’
 
This is the new normal. But fret not. My advice is for the sacked employee to go for upgrading training. Then he can get a new job as a table cleaner in the foodcourts or hawker centres. And the upgrading training is heavily subsidised, maybe free some more. '
 
The 60 year old uncle can then work with dignity until 80 or maybe 90. Be grateful and say thank you for being a citizen. The Govt will take care of him all the way.
 
If not happy, can go and see Gilbert Goh for some pep talks. Sinkies are really so lucky.

Kopi Level Yellow

Tharman is making me nervous

This is quoted from a post in TRE on what Tharman had said about the CPF money. ‘…Temasek Holdings, TH, need a source of cheap funds, Tharman had said there are many other sources of cheap funds besides CPF.’ Now you see why I am nervous?
 
Think, why would a fund manager borrow from a more expensive source when other cheaper sources are available? And he is like saying he is doing CPF members a favour. Is he a philantrophist? If one is to know how generous a philantrophist is in giving, would you want a philantrophist to manage your money? Frightening or not?
 
I would rather Tharman go and borrow from a cheaper source that has better terms than from CPF. I can’t say he is stupid to die die must borrow from CPF when it is more costly.
 
Now you see what I am driving at? If I were to put money in a fund, I would not want to put into one where the fund manager stupidly go and borrow from a more expensive source when they is no need to. Or is he hiding something, that overall this more expensive source is providing many many advantages that he is not telling us, like pay back only when you want to, can afford to, or take your time, for as long as you like, no need collateral or track records?
 
Is CPF members getting a good deal or the Govt?
 
What do you think?

Kopi Level - Yellow again

Mistrust of the Govt is the new normal

I can think of a few more mistrusts or distrusts. CPF is your money, CPF is not your money, CPF is your money, CPF is not your money.... Now my head is spinning. Which statement to trust or mistrust or distrust?
Your CPF savings is very safe, 100% safe. No one is going to rob you of your CPF. Who to trust? Can I have my money back? Now, who is taking hold of my money and not returning?
 
Singapore belongs to everyone here. Is this true or false? I am scratching my head.
We are listening to you. Please give us your feedback. Ok, here is the feedback. No 6.9m population. Can trust this will not be the case? But mistrust of the govt is the new normal, so no need to worry if 6.9m will be a reality.
 
More foreigners mean more good jobs for the citizens. To trust or not to trust? So govt is not bringing in more foreigners. Can trust or not? Then again, mistrust is the new normal, so anything can.
Knn, dunno can trust the banks when you put your life savings with them? Don’t worry, mistrust is the new normal. How could life go on living under the shadow of mistrust as the new normal?

Kopi Level - Yellow for two consecutive days.