Kausaikan and his personal thoughts about Asean - Russia relations

Subject: Kausaikan and his personal thoughts about Asean - Russia relations

In "TODAY" paper, Thursday,30th June, Kausaikan wrote an article on "Fulfilling the potential of Asean - Russia relations." The article is an exercise in frivolity. Separately each Asean country or Asean as a whole will never be able to influence the big powers action and behaviour How then, does Kausaikan think he can influence Russia's policy in East Asia and South China Sea in the way he thinks Russia should do? Personally I see nothing commendable and positive in his writing. He has given me and perhaps the public at large the impression that he relishes in creating more choas and turmoil  in East Asia and the South China Sea.

He said he was once an ambassador to Russia. All the more he should not denigrate himself with outrageous speech and frivolous writing. He should be more circumspect as he is part of the govt. What he says and what he writes should best avoid offending the big powers as the repercussions may adversely affect  his country and Asean.

He regrets that Asean-Russia relations do not develop far enough into a strategic partnership.He slights at Russia for wanting to hold an Asean-Russia summit in Sochi with no purpose but just because other powers have been holding summit meetings with Asean.

He wants to know how Russia relation will fit into his Asean plan and vision. As his article drags on it reveals his agenda of trying to drive a wedge between the good and friendly  relations of Russia and China. He looks at the good relation between Russia and China with jaundiced eyes. It reveals his prejudicw  ill feelings toward China. He  claims that Western rebuffs of Russia has caused Russia to be driven thoughtlessly into the arms of China, " locking Russia into a subordinate relationship with China and an essentially passive regional role."

He is very clever in veiling his dislike for China with nuances and insinuations. I quote what he writes on Russia's stance regarding the South China Sea issue. "Some signs of this are already discernible.China recently appropriated Russia's position on the South China Sea. Russia's stance on this issue is in fact more nuanced than China made it out to be , but Moscow had to bite its tongue and did not clarify its position. But fortunately the situation is not yet irreversible." Here he reveals himself that he still harbours his insidious thought that it is not too late for Russia to turn against China in the South China Sea issue. Why would he want to take such a stand? Is this his personal view or the position of Asean.

Did he really want Russia to play a strategic role in South China Sea issue so that Asean can manipulate Russia vis a vis China and USA?  I quote him, " Russia as an active and autonomous participant in regional diplomacy will widen our scope for manoeuvre, particularly , as I think will occur sooner or later , the US and China reach a new modus vivendi over South-East Asia." He thinks of nothing but using Russia to disrupt the modus vivendi between USA and China.  Kausikan should show his bravery in the front line if war breaks out in the South China Sea and not talk bravado in the cool comfort of his airconditioned room.

He wants Russia to concentrate its strategic military in the East against China rather than in Europe against the West. I quote, " But the Western security system in East Asia is no longer directed against Russia, unless Moscow makes it so by its position on  the maritime disputes in the East and South China seas. Moscow should not let anger with the West drives its policy in East Asia." and again,  " The West in particular USA , must encourage Moscow to make this differentiation in its interest by itself differentiating its approach to Russia in Europe from its approach to Russia in  East Asia.The current blanket systems of sanctions against Russia only promotes Moscow's dependence on China by depriving it of alternatives." These comments are openly very unfriendly to China. Again  is this his personal view or that of Asean?

He wants Russia to play a security role in East Asia as casually uttered by US Defence Secretary Aston Carter.He says it is in Moscow's interest for Russia to make "a new articulation of Russia's position on the South China Sea and clear support for United  Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea when the Arbitral Tribunal reaches a decision on the legal issues that the Philippines brought before it."

He further asks, "Will these conditions be met? Only one is within Asean's control. The most important decisions are clearly going to be made in Moscow."

He thinks he is influential enough to guide Russia to make decisions which are anathema to China. He gives the public readers of his article the impression that his antagonism towards China is so deep that he is blinded by the fact that The Tribunal has no legal right at all and it is nothing but a farce. Anyone reading his article will know where he is coming from. He is openly against China and for the USA. If this is said in his personal capacity, fair enough. If this is the stand of Asean fair enough. If not, Asean should comment or distance itself from Kausikan's views?

Kausaikan is intentionally ignoring the basic facts both historical and legal that  the South China Sea islands and reefs have been China's sovereign territories since centuries before him. The big question, what is Kausikan's motive or agenda?
  
Southernglory1

Monday,4th July,2016

My experience with a Dental Clinic

The govt has started to scrutinize the claims made by clinics under the CHAS scheme.  Two dental clinics had been suspended and more are under investigations. I had an experience with a dental clinic sometime last year and it gave me mixed feelings.

It was nice to seek dental treatment under the CHAS/Pioneer Generation Scheme and came out without having to pay a single cent. Wow, wasn’t that nice?

It was something else when the dental surgeon hardly did anything to your teeth. I asked for a broken filling to be redone but was told it was still ok. It has been chipped and breaking down in several parts and would only get worse. But that was it. The dental surgeon did think it necessary to do anything. I was not pleased.

The other strange feeling was that I did not received any receipt or statement as to the treatment done and how much it cost, how much was the subsidy and how much the dental clinic would be claiming on my treatment.

This is unacceptable as a dental patient would not know, and need not care how was the billing done and whether that was the treatment done. This big hole must be plugged, with the patient receiving a statement on the treatment he received and the cost of the treatment as a check on the clinic involved.

Hope this violation of a govt subsidy scheme is not abused too widely and public money not wasted unnecessarily. Let’s wait for more audit reports and scrutinizes to know the whole truth.

American’s use of warships to control the South China Sea not disturbing

A typical western set piece by AGENCIES with the title “China’s use of fishing vessels in Indonesian waters to assert claims ‘disturbing’” was reported in the Today paper on 23 Jun 16.  The first para, ‘China is using its fishing fleets with armed escorts to bolster maritime claims in disputed territory, a senior United States’ State Department official warned yesterday, calling China’s behavior “disturbing’ and, “I think it’s a disturbing trend to see Chinese fishing vessels accompanied by coast guard vessels, used in a way that appears to be an attempt to exert a claim that may not be legitimate,” said another US official to journalists in SE Asia.

What is not disturbing is the Americans moving more of their military hardware into Asia and SE Asia, sailing their warships and flying their warplanes and conducting military exercises in the South China Sea.  Let me rephrase what the US official said and see if it is disturbing? ‘I think it’s a disturbing trend to see American aircraft carriers in the South China Sea accompanied by more naval vessels, used in a way that appears to be an attempt to exert a claim that may not be legitimate.’ The silly Asean country leaders are blinded by their greed to try to seize a few low hanging fruits in the Chinese garden and did not know that the Americans are surrounding the Chinese garden, including their own gardens, and are taking over all of them.

The Americans also claimed that the Chinese fishing boats were accompanied and escorted by Chinese coast guard vessels. If that be the case, how could the Indonesian frigate be firing at the Chinese ships without the Chinese coast guards firing back?  Or the coast guards were not there in the first place?

The western media have been repeatedly pushing out articles to poison the minds of the readers to hate China. There is also an article by a Nick Frisch from the local Yale Law School asking whether it is worth looking back at Tiananmen after 27 years. This is another way to revive memories of the Tiananmen Incident. I would also like to ask whether it is worth it to looking back at the 200 years of African slavery in America and the genocide of 70m to 100m native Americans, depending on which American historian’s figure?  Or those incidents happened too long ago and better not to be remembered. Why were there no Slavery Day to remember the enslavement of Africans in the USA? Why were there no Genocide of Red Indians Day to remember the millions killed, murdered and slaughtered by the Europeans? Too few Red Indians left to remember? Or no one dare to remember them to offend the White Americans?

I have not read the article yet. Maybe I should and write an article about the white man’s conscience.

The dangerous precedents to be set by The Hague

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has announced that a
decision will be made on the South China Sea island dispute filed by the
Philippines unilaterally without the consent of the counter party, China.
Those parties on the side of The Philippines are eagerly rubbing their
hands for a judgment in favour the latter, dreaming that it would favour
their attempts to make claims in the South China Sea against China. The
provocateur or mastermind behind this theatre of course will be smiling in
glee at the puppets fighting among themselves without a clue of what are
in store for them. Have no doubt that the puppets could only see as far
as their nose, and would end up being slapped by the same insidious act they
supported blindly or for short term interests.
The Asean states wanted and are praying very hard that their wishes would
be granted. Let me remind them that before their wishes come true, they
better reflect on the implications of the farcical decision or the
political statement that The Hague is going to make. The case violates many good
principles of law and order governing international relations. In this case
there is an international institution, a court that chose to preside over
a territorial dispute that it has no jurisdiction to hear. And they are
arrogant enough to want to make a judgment despite objections by the
affected party and without hearing its side of the story, ie in
abstentia. This is not about a criminal case or a dispute between citizens
of a country where the court has the legal right to sit and hear the case
and the citizens have no grounds to object. This is an international court
and the parties are sovereign nations that owe no obligation to the court
and could choose to tell the court to lump it. The decision or judgment
thus has no legal standing and is not binding to the party that chose not
to oblige.
How would a decision by The Hague be important to the Asean countries and
other countries of the world? Many countries, including those within Asean,
have territorial disputes with their neighbours. Take the case of the Philippines and Malaysia as an example. If Malaysia were to take the
position that China must abide by the 'judgment' made by the Permanent
Court of Arbitration, would Malaysia also do so should the Philippines,
with the support of the same mastermind, filed a case to claim Sabah
despite Malaysia's objection and refusal to participate should the Hague
ruled that Sabah belonged to the Philippines? This can also apply to
Singapore Malaysia relations when the latter is still harbouring the idea
that Singapore belonged to Malaysia. Likewise, Malaysia could unilaterally,
with the support of the same mastermind, if it behaves well and to the
liking of the mastermind, filed a case to take over the four Muslim southern
states of Thailand. Would Singapore or Thailand abide by the rulings of the
Hague in its decisions when they refused to participate in the hearing and
refused to make their defence?
The Koreans also have island dispute with Japan. China and Russia also have
similar disputes with Japan and so are many other countries. Would any of
these countries fall victims of a similar scam when they offended the
mastermind and have the international court making judgment against their
territories and would they accept the farcical decision?
The Hague decision is going make a very dangerous precedent that would
affect many countries around the world. A big power could connive and bribe
or coerce an international court to judge against any country with or
without their objection or without their participation. Is this what Asean
countries and the world at large think is a good thing, a good way of solving inter state territorial disputes?

When your PC or laptop is hacked?

I had this dreadful experience when this loud angmoh woman’s voice blasted out from my speakers. It went something like this. ‘Please call this number if you want to get your data in your computer back…something like that.’ And a window popped out from the screen with a phone number starting with 800-xxxxx, could not remember the rest of the digits. I quickly switched of my laptop.
 
This happened last Sat, 25 Jun 16 when I was reading TRE site. Shit! Then the screen went blank. I knew that I was hit. I turned on my anti virus for a full scan and no virus or malware was found! But when I logged on again, I could not access the internet. The indicator went swirling when I clicked on the Chrome icon but nothing happened. Tried several times to confirm what I did not want to know. My photo files were still ok. But my Word’s files were unreadable. A window popped up when I tried to read a file with a Window Word initial and the following sentences. Your Word program needs a converter to read file correctly. This feature is not installed in your system. Please click to install program or something like that. And there were two buttons, Yes and No to click. I refused to click suspecting the worst. My files are held at ransom.
 
The only thing to do is to seek help. I also bought another PC for immediate use. My friends in mysingaporenews blog were very pessimistic. Big trouble, gone case. Spoke to a computer sales guy. He too said serious and costly.
 
I asked another guy who told me to reset laptop to factory setting would help. I nearly tried but hesitate as I would lose all the apps loaded. Thought of doing a full saving, lock, stock and barrel, but still hesitant.
 
Then I tried another way. Eureka, it works. I can now gain access to the net. And I also found a way to read my Word files. Alright, not to alarm the hackers or leak out the secret, I am not going to divulge what I did in this blog. But anyone who wants to know can email me for my solution if they have been hacked. It did not cost me a cent. But I don’t guarantee that it would work in your case but very likely it will.
 
Redbean – Normal service has been resumed.