South China Sea gunboat diplomacy – A divergent establishment view

We heard Bilahari and Ong Keng Yong’s view, one official and one personal, attacking China for trying to divide Asean in the South China Sea island disputes. Last Saturday, the ST published a divergent establishment view about the South China Sea, this time giving it another spin. Instead of a dispute between a few South East Asian countries, claiming islands and coral reefs in the South China Sea, the veil was dropped and the naked truth was exposed. It was an open contest for control of the South China Sea by the Americans, to reinforce its hegemony over the region in the name of Freedom of Navigation.

Leslie Fong, the former editor of the ST, an establishment men, or used to be a part of the establishment. His views must still be a reflection of what the establishment is thinking. But he put it that what he wrote was not his views but the view of a Taiwanese lady by the name Ms Oh Beigong through a letter to the Japanese Admiral in charge of the American Pacific Fleet by the name of Harry Harris. A yellow banana for sure, very like the Singaporean banana, but a very dangerous one.

In brief, Ms Oh Beigong, or in Hokien Ms Black White Said, the Americans were just pretending about Freedom of Navigation but using it to pick on China while the American allies like Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam have been doing exactly what China is doing but no Freedom of Navigation to their reclaimed and militarized islands were conducted by the Americans.

The bottom line, in Leslie’s article, through Ms Oh Beigong, is this. ‘Might is right. The US is out to stymie the rise of China and prevent it from challenging American dominance, if not hegemony. We get that. So do us a favour, please stop talking about high principles and international law. However, if you wish to regain at least a modicum of respect from clear sighted people in this region, here is something you…can do. In the name of asserting freedom of navigation and upholding international law, send your destroyer or whatever to an atoll in the Philippine Sea which the Japanese call Okinotorishima and claim as their territory….the atoll lies 1,700km south of Tokyo, …but less than 500 km from Taiwan itself.’

The American hypocrisy in the South China Sea is exposed by this dear letter to the American banana now called Harry Harris, no Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It is all about gunboat diplomacy, about control of the South China Sea, about American hegemony.

What shit is the talk about splitting Asean countries by the other side of the establishment? What is the real issue? China claiming the islands, Asean countries claiming the islands, or the American claiming the whole South China Sea?

Thank you Leslie Fong. Oops, thank you Ms Oh Beigong.

Americans and American Exceptionalism – Some quotes

Below are some quotes on American Exceptionalism from the information clearing house that are self explanatory. In a few words, they are saying that the Americans are the overlord of this world and can do anything as they like. They are above the law.

In the case of the United States, seeming high-level leadership self-perceives that the U.S. is “exceptional” (i.e., unusual or unusually good in possession of the ability to act) and does not need to conform to normal rules or general principles. In worldly terms, the U.S. exits the brotherhood of nations and is empire among middling servant states.  see http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44743.htm

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts -- not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." Abraham Lincoln

"When the representative body have lost the confidence of their constituents, when they have notoriously made sale of their most valuable rights, when they have assumed to themselves powers which the people never put into their hands, then indeed their continuing in office becomes dangerous." --Thomas Jefferson

"The people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberties. In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy . . . Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone." --Thomas Jefferson

Nurture local talents to become global talents, says who?

When I heard this over the news I thought it was someone quoting the old guards. The newsreader said this was Lim Swee Say’s call. To me it was a wake up call, a wake up call in the sense that a minister has woken up to realize that it is important to nurture our local talents to compete internationally, to become global talents. Have we been doing this? There have been so many news and complaints that the govt has been spending billions to nurture foreign talents and telling our local talents to fend for themselves, got money go overseas to get the degree of their choice. No money ask papa and mama to sell homes to finance them, and all ended up in debt.

And to take it one step further, the govt has been blowing their trumpets about how many foreign talents they have attracted to our shores to replace our degenerating local genes. Just open your eyes and cannot miss the foreign talents everywhere, in GLCs, in ministries and in Parliament.

What would happen to our local talents if this process continues unabated? What would happen if no minister is going to speak out about nurturing our local talents? Or what would happen now that Lim Swee Say is saying it? Would it matter, would it make any difference? Would the no need to grow our own timber policy continues?

Take a step back to some 30 years ago when the policies of the old guards were still in place, that was, to nurture our own local talents. If that policy was not in place then, ministers like Lim Swee Say and many other ministers, our CEOs in the GLCs, permament secretaries, deputy secretaries, generals, commissioners, judges etc etc, would they be where they are today? Or would their places be filled by foreigners and they be like the PMETs of today, being replaced prematurely by clever foreigners and have to be retrained to be cleaners or security guards? Or would they be self employed, be their own bosses as taxi drivers?

How many of our ministers and natural aristocrats benefited from the old guards’ policy of growing our own timber, nurturing our own talents to be our own leaders and head honchos? Why would those who benefited from the nurturing own talents policy turned around to say, better to nurture other people’s talents and fill our top positions with foreign talents? Why are they so ungrateful, that after crossing the bridge they cut the bridge, to say our local talents no good, no need to nurture them?

Is Lim Swee Say the proverbial one swallow in winter, or was he making a politically correct statement and with no intent to follow up? Would there be other ministers coming to say the same thing and then come up with policies to nurture our own talents for real?

Just wait and see.

Lawrence Khong – Belief versus Conviction

It is a message to the Church that we must arise and move as one on our convictions regarding personal purity and public morality, Marriage and Family. Howard Hendricks said: “A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for.” This was quoted by Lawrence Khong in his sermon on the LGBT.

I am not going to discuss Lawrence Khong’s crusade against the LGBT in Hong Lim Park and the wear white movement, to wear white as a sign of purity, as a sign of support for the PAP, family and morality and all the jests. I will just touch on the difference between belief and conviction as quoted by Lawrence Khong. He rightly said that a belief is a belief and is something that is for people to argue about. A belief is never the truth and you can argue till the cow comes home, it is still a belief.

What is important is a conviction, something that one can die for. One can have a conviction to want to defend a country like being a Singaporean and believing that this island belongs to Singaporeans. On the other hand one can have a contrary conviction that this island belongs to anyone that comes here. There are thus two elements, believing and conviction. Of course conviction is more important. If Singaporeans only believe but do not have a conviction to want to defend this island, the island will go to those who are here to take it. And the job would be much easier if the Singaporeans are willing to give the island away, or happily inviting the foreigners here to share their island.

One can also have a conviction on the right to free speech and may even die for it. One can have a conviction against gambling or any kind of crimes and wanting to fight and die for it. And of course one can have a conviction for a belief and wanting to die for the belief, like the crusaders and the IS believers.

The important thing is the conviction, not the belief or the cause one believes in. No conviction there will be no cause, no belief to die for.

China warns G7 to stay out of South China Sea dispute

The G7, group of nations comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are meeting in Japan, is told to stick to their economic agenda and stop meddling with China’s affair in the South China Sea. Co incidentally, the G7 countries, other than Canada, were the same mafia group that invaded China and splitted China into concessions under their control after defeating the Manchu Dynasty. And these same countries are telling China to observe the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes without commenting on the Americans’ provocations in sailing warships to within the 12 nautical miles of Chinese islands. The European Council President Donald Tusk even said, ‘the G7 should take a “clear and tough stance” on China’s contested maritime claims.’ Is he suggesting that the G7 should launch another invasion of China like the 8 allied powers under the pretext of the League of Nations, invading China in 1901?

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the G7 to ‘adopt impartial and fair positions, and not apply double standards or strike alliances, and especially not take actions to escalate or provoke regional tensions’. He should remind them of their crimes against China of the 19^th Century and that China would not forget this evil deeds. China would not tolerate a repeat of their gunboat diplomacy.

Under Obama and Abe, the G7 is being led to challenge China and thinking war with China is a good game to play. Abe and the Japanese have not learnt a thing about the tragedies of war despite the recent reminders of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the sufferings and pains of the young Japanese victims of the atomic bombs. The Japanese only think that they were the victims of the atomic bombings and wanting the Americans to apologise but totally wiped away the memories of the millions killed by them and the many more millions that were wounded and suffered under their brutalities.

Abe and the Japanese are preparing for war and eagerly wanting to go to war. The only few Japanese that regretted the war were those victims of the atomic bombs who felt the pain and saw the pain. The rest of Japan still think war is a glorious thing and are tearing away their pacifist constitution and getting ready for another war.

They are so wild and crazy that they did not know the world has changed. The victim countries of WW2 are no longer hapless and weak. If Japan is to start a war, these countries, particularly China and the two Koreas would be landing in Japan to exact the revenge of their forefathers that suffered under the Japanese brutality. They would do everything the Japanese did before and more. No Japanese would be spared. There will not only be Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and all the big Japanese cities would experienced the fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japan and the Japanese must repent and not indulge in another war. Make peace and live peacefully with their neighbours. Do not remind their neighbours of the Japanese barbarism and give their neighbours a chance to inflict the same on the 100 million Japanese of today. Make peace, not war.