The farcical Hague rulings on SCS is dead

 

The Philippines did not want to talk about it. Vietnam too is quietly staying away with Chinese investment pouring into Vietnam. Malaysia, after Najib being attacked by the Americans, is also distancing itself away from the kangaroo court rulings. Brunei is smart enough not to be used as a clown by the Americans and the Japanese and embroiled in a dispute that would only drag it into a shit hole.

Who else is still clamouring about this farce? Who is still whipping this dead horse, the farcical Hague rulings? Who else still has an agenda and a special interest in wanting to drum this stupid ruling from The Hague when the claimant states are no longer interested in the scam? The believers of this farce did not believe that a similar scam could be used to turn against them in the future if the rulings of a kangaroo court is seem as just, fair and legal.

Which country is still having sleepless night and an obsession over The Hague rulings and wanting it to be in the headlines, refusing to let it die? The big question, why? Why are these non claimant countries beating their drums everyday about The Hague rulings when the claimant states have already let it passed?

China is of course furious and would kick the ass of Japan if it dares to conduct joint patrol in the South China Sea. This is a red line that China would not allow the Japanese to cross as it would invite the herd of hyenas from as far as Australia, France and Canada to think it is ok, China is too weak to resist, to join the fray. Are there any idiotic leaders with no claims in the South China Sea but want to join the Americans in joint patrols and think sitting on the head of a tiger means they can shout at China?

Which leaders are silly enough to put their country and people at risk of war with China when they have no business in the SCS? Freedom of navigation? China is a threat to freedom of navigation? What is China doing with the One Belt One Road project, to curb freedom of navigation? Who needs more freedom of navigation? Who is the biggest trading nation in the world that needs freedom of navigation?

Silly boys and girls are easily conned to believe in lies and will swallow everything, hook, line and sinkers. Anything the Americans said is golden truth.

Singapore is entangled in a dispute with China over its role in the Non Aligned Movement. Singapore had vehemently denied that it was the devil pushing the SCS agenda. It was all Asean working as a group pushing it. If there was anyone pushing this dead horse, it would not be Singapore. Singapore is innocent.

Below is a quote from an article in The Singapore Daily supposedly by an old man of unknown identity. In this old man’s view, Singapore has all the reasons and intent to want to flog the dead horse to protect its interests as a small state, on grounds of principles, to protect the rule of law, international law, and freedom of navigation. And by the way things are happening, the rest of the Asean states are unprincipled, did not see the need to protect the rule of law, to protect international law and freedom of navigation. Their national interests do not coincide with such principled positions.

Here are the reasons what this unknown old man said of Singapore’s position. True or not, Singapore’s position or not, this is his view of why Singapore has to speak up, to keep whipping the dead horse.

‘It needs to come out strongly and defend ASEAN as a regional grouping that has a voice, and a unified voice at that, against any country that dares to thumb down the region.

It is to the interest of the grouping that Singapore speaks up on the SCS issue, not play it down. If Singapore allows China to walk all over it over the South China Sea issue, what’s to stop any other great world power or regional bloc from doing the same?

Singapore is the leader of Asean and has assumed the role of protecting Asean and the hapless and weak Asean states. The Asean states are so blessed to have Singapore to protect them and their interests. Perhaps Singapore could conduct joint military patrol with another big power, India, in the South China Sea. That would definitely scare off China.

F1 final curtain call?

 

11 races gone by and nearly $2b spent with the govt footing 60% of the bill, would the F1 race continue for another chapter? No doubt there are values generated from such high profile event to add some oomphs to this once labeled dull and lifeless city. With the changes in govt policies and the two casinos, cruise centres, Sentosa, the Zoo and Night Safari, would there be a need to continue to splurge a few billions for an event that, based on the latest race, losing its glitters? Attendance had fallen to a record low of 73,000 from its height of 219,000.

The bill of $150 million to organize such an event is real. The returns of $150 million incremental receipts is as good as extrapolation from a lot of intangible accounting. How much of the receipts would be translated to actual profits to offset the $150m of cost has yet to be added up. Assuming 30% was profit, that was only $45m, a far cry from the cost of $150m. A $150m receipt is NOT $150m profit!

The Singapore Race is now dubbed as the ‘crown jewel in F1’ by Ecclestone. Iswaran added that ‘there is a clear appreciation of the value that Singapore brings to F1, not just as a venue but in terms of the larger position of the sport and also as a business…’

Singapore has added value to the F1 event. There is no other place like Singapore to hold such a glamour event, safe, clean and efficient and convenient. Should not the F1 organiser be paying Singapore a fee instead of Singapore paying them a helfty $150 million? The big question should be who needs who more, who contributed more to the success of the event?

It is time Singapore appreciates its own value and not continue with the self deprecating thought and policy that we need them, like the foreign talent myth, that Singaporeans are daft, and trust that they need us more. Just hang up the phone and wait for them to call back. The worst case scenario is for Singapore to save $150 million that could be used for better things.

What do you think? Should Singapore continue to behave like the unthinking glory seeking adolescent, begging to be invited in, to be given a seat, and to pay whatever they asked, because papa got money to throw?

Grow up Singapore. You are not a third world little country that needs to pay for superficial glory, for a bit of noise on the streets. It is $150m a race to organize. It is public money that must be accounted for and carefully spent.

CPF – Coffin money kena tangkap

 

This is the most cruel thing to do to anyone. The coffin money is what a person has left for his last journey, to have a decent burial. When one accuses another of robbing his coffin money, it is a very mean and heartless thing to do. Some called it ‘or sim kua’ or 黑心肝.

Going back in time, anyone remember what was the purpose of CPF savings? Yes, it was a simple saving scheme for old age, for retirement, a kind of coffin money. Over time, when the savings got too big, someone decided that housing was also very important, having a roof over one’s head was a basic need. So some CPF money was allowed for the people to buy a home. $7k or $10k, quite affordable and would not erode the savings. Still a lot of money left for retirement and to buy a coffin. Then HDB prices gone up, $30k, $50k, now $300k, $500k, $1m, and still some donkeys said very affordable. But after paying for a home, what is left in the CPF for retirement and for a coffin? Hardly any, barely any left. Don’t talk about the hare brain scheme of allowing 90% of CPF money to play the stock market. That is another pathetic and heartbroking episode to many oldies.

Now, did anyone put their savings into their CPF to buy medical insurance? What is that? Never heard of! The CPF is about retirement and coffin money. Who wants to save to buy insurance with their retirement and coffin money?

How much of your CPF money has been ‘tangkap’ and set aside for medical and insurance? When has the CPF been turned into a medical insurance scheme against the wishes of the people? Do the people, the savers, have a say in their money? Why is the money now gone, to pay for insurance, to pay for medical insurance whether you need it or not?

What happens to the main objectives of retirement savings, of coffin money? Where is my money for retirement? Not enough, why not enough for retirement? Who has been robbing me of my CPF savings? After saving a life time, at more than 50% of one’s income, still not enough for retirement, not enough for coffin money?

Who has been so cruel to dip into the people’s coffin money?

China transforming the world

While the Americans are preoccupied with creating tensions, inciting wars, building military alliances and selling weapons, China is using its new found wealth to rebuild, reconstruct and transform the world strategically that has caught the Americans and the western powers dumbfounded.  Hundreds of nation states would be involved and participating in this new infrastructure development. Ever since the expansion of European and western powers through colonialism and imperialism, the world was built and revolved over old concepts of deep and warm water ports.
 
The British Empire went all over the world to seize, build and control maritime ports, to control the sea routes for trade and military supremacy. Controlling maritime choke points was the way to extend influence and military power. Other western powers followed but with lesser success. Countries with deep water ports benefitted from international maritime trades with their fleet of ocean going ships. Container ports and VLCCs  carrying oil further reinforced the importance of the sea and shipping as the favoured and most important means of transportation other than by air.
 
China’s strategic concept of One Belt One Road is about to change the world and how international trade and trade routes would be reorganized, revamped, managed and conducted. High speed trains crisscrossing the Asian continent linking Europe and Africa to China, and with the prospect of linking North and South America to Asia by rail was never thought possible but now a reality waiting to happen. Europe and China are already connected.
 
In one stroke of the pen, shipping and the importance of deep sea ports become relatively irrelevant. Landlock countries in Asia, Africa and Europe could find a new life line for the transportation of goods and services and no longer restrained and limited by the lack of a sea ports. The land routes benefitting from high speed trains are much more efficient in all ways and cheaper in the long run.
The ports that straddled the eastern coast of the Atlantic Ocean, both sides of the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean, would diminish in their utility for trade. The concept of cutting the Kra Isthmus to save a couple of days is obsolete when weeks could be saved travelling direct between Europe and China, Africa and China, by rail.  It is even more important that the Isthmus of Kra remained intact not to disrupt the flow of high speed trains.
 
Whither the fortunes of the maritime ports in Southern Asia. Singapore in particular will face serious challenges when the land routes are fully operational. And the nightmare for Singapore would be a rail link between West Malaysia and Sumatra and linking direct to Java. Indonesian goods can travel by rail to China and Europe and vice versa.  New transportation hubs would sprout from sleepy little towns like Malaysia’s Port Dickson and Dumai on the Indonesian side. The Tuas port could become a white elephant.
 
The world map of commerce and trade would be totally unrecognizable in another 2 or 3 decades. Fortunes would change for the sea faring ports. New trading centres would rise in Central Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. The One Belt One Road project when fully developed would see the rise and fall of fortunes of new and old cities and transportation hubs. This is the biggest game changer of the 21st Century.

Some Asean countries are thinking of snubbing China and wanting to opt out of the OBOR project. Is there an opt out option? Sure, if Singapore, or even Malaysia were to opt out, the rail line would end in Thailand and a Thai port would become the new transportation hub and international commercial centre for goods plying from China, East Asia and Europe. That would be the end of the story for Malaysia and Singapore as flourishing trading hubs if they chose to opt out of OBOR. 

Tharman in panic mode

This is the first time Tharman has lost his cool and furiously trying to defend himself all because of a survey commissioned by Yahoo and conducted by Blackbox. And The Independent Singapore posted this comment, The Independent Singapore social media site said this, ‘We asked our readers on Sunday (4 Sep) who should be the next Prime Minister of Singapore. As at 12pm today (6 Sep), we have had 2,316 responses to the poll – and most (1882 votes) voted for Tharman Shanmugaratnam to lead Singapore into the future.’
 
The report saw Tharman desperately denying that he wanted to be the PM and that he was not suitable to be one. Such modesty and humility are rare in Singapore, that a people’s choice candidate had to dispel such a notion or chattering in the political grapevine. This was what Tharman said, 'Just to be absolutely clear, because I know of this talk that's going around, I'm not the man for PM. I say that categorically. It's not me. I know myself, I know what I can do, and it's not me.'
 
The big question now is whether what Tharman said is good enough for him to have a peaceful sleep at night. Or would he be so bugged by it, or would he think other people would not leave him in peace, to keep calling him to take his rightful place as the next Chosen One?  Maybe he should make a public statement, a pledge or something like that, to say even if offered, he would reject the PM post. Now that would be something. And I am sure he would then be able to sleep in peace.
 
This episode is looking quite funny and quite scary. This is the greatest honour bestowed on a man by the people, telling him that he is their choice, but driving the man into panic mode, not wanting to be the Chosen One is just strange. It is not a death warrant! It is a great honour.
 
Of course the polls would be quite embarrassing to those Chosen Ones to know that they ranked so low in the eyes of the people.  It is like what Shanmugam said, if one cannot get the majority votes of the people, it would become a joke. All PMs to be must enjoy the popular votes of the people to be able to stand in front of them to talk to them as their leader.
 
And Tharman is the man but is running away from the call of duty. He would have dug a hole to hide himself literary.  No agencies should anyhow conduct polls like this one. A lesson learnt I hope.
Poor Tharman.