Kishore’s change of heart

It has been a while since Kishore last expounded his ideas on the pages of the Straits Times and it is refreshing to hear him again. The doyen of the Lee Kuan Yew School has returned and speaking again after a heart problem put him out of action for a while. What I thought would be another enlightening essay turned out to be a bit of a letdown. Maybe he had a change of heart, or a heart change, or was it a bypass?  This is not the Kishore of the past. His article in the ST on 22 Nov titled ‘Asean still the critical catalyst for China’s future’ was like he was out of touch of sort.  The Asean of today is passé, still a bunch of young punks trying to grow up, no longer the neutral Asean that could talk in one voice and with common interest and agenda, but turning into a barking dog of superpowers, dabbling in big power politics like it was some great player in the world stage and wanting to punch above its weight.

The whole of Kishore’s article can be described as someone looking into a glass bowl but forgot to look back at himself, that it was all about the object forgetting the subject and the subjective bias of self and introspection. It is like someone blinded to his own deeds or misdeeds and blaming on the whole world.

He pointed rightly that China used to have very good relations with Asean, China was generous towards Asean and Asean reciprocated.  He quoted many initiatives of China that favoured Asean and its members’ interests. Then he put the blame on China for the failing relations with Asean. It was all China’s fault for the disunity in Asean vis a vis the South China Sea. In his displeasure over China, he forgot that there was a bigger devil behind all the troubles in the SCS, in what Asean was doing, scheming against China and challenging China. He forgot that Asean was already divided by the bigger devil to take on China with all the fake claims of a UN backed Tribunal in The Hague when it was anything but UN backed and anything but an international court whose rulings are binding, like international law, but a kangaroo court in all counts. This ruse is today confirmed when all the pretentious western media that used to sing in chorus that The Hague Tribunal was ‘UN backed’ have now dropped this pretence. No more would they unashamingly tagged the label ‘UN backed’ to The Hague Tribunal to mislead the readers and to discredit themselves. Yes, they have dropped the pretence that The Hague Tribunal was a UN backed international court whose rulings are legal and binding even when the counter party refused to participate.

Kishore was puzzled by China’s action since Asean is still to him a critical catalyst to China’s rise as if China still needs Asean for its rise.  While Asean is still struggling to grow up, China is now the new super power sharing the same table as the Americans. And China needs to recalculate it’s actions in the SCS to improve relations with Asean? In reality it is Asean that needs to recalculate its actions, its collusion with the devil to corner China and to want to push China out of the SCS.  Kishore even quoted Deng Xiaoping’s advice to China to ‘hide and bide’ and ‘to swallow bitter humiliation’ as the thing to do.  For saying these, he contradicted himself without knowing it.

China has risen, the Number Two superpower, the Number One trading power since 2014 according to him, unless he is thinking of China being the Number One superpower and the world hegemon or else China has not arrived. China does not need that and does not want to be the new hegemon. Being the Number Two superpower, China has bided its time and no long has to swallow bitter humiliation, not at the hands of little puny states. This is how out of touch Kishore has been after being away for a few months.

He admitted that ‘China is one of the more rational geopolitical actors today, unlike the US and Russia. China’s geopolitical actions are not commonly driven by emotional paroxysms.’ Exactly!  How would he expect China to continue to swallow bitter humiliations from little states fronting up for the USA and wanting to seize Chinese islands? No? This is what Kishore said in the beginning of his article though he claimed he was puzzled by China’s seemingly irrational or emotional reactions to the Asean states. ‘It was inevitable that China would eventually lose its patience and lash out against perceived maritime provocations by Japan and Asean.’ Was’nt this exactly what was going on in the SCS contention and The Hague Tribunal?  The kangaroo court rulings and the provocations by naval gunboats sailing into Chinese islands were not provocations serious enough for China to act and risked being driven out by little states climbing on the shoulders of the Americans?

And the big question, who is the culprit in the breakup of Asean, in the disunity in Asean? China? In the whole article it was all China’s fault, including the disunity in Asean. Not a word was mentioned about the devil that was behind the whole fiasco.  The Asean that China worked closely together, giving favours to, was in the past. The Asean today is a broken house full of conspiracies and conspirators. And it rightly deserved to be broken up as it is now. No, not true, Asean is the little innocent angel of the past, neutral, principled? Pass him the magnifying glass please.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Hsien Loong on collision course with Trump

Hsien Loong is pushing ahead with the ratification of the TPP and it was reported in the ST that the legislation will be amended to bring TPP into effect next year, with or without the USA, with or with lesser members in the pact.  Hsien Loong’s position is very clear and very principled. The TPP is the magic to save Singapore’s economy and the world. It is about globalization, about free trade, free flow of immigrants, three principles that his govt stood for and will fight for.

On the contrary, Trump is against the TPP and vowed to kill it if elected. He said it yesterday that he would kill it on his first day in office. Trump is also against globalization, against free trade, against free flow of immigrants. The opposing principles of Hsien Loong and Trump are intractable. Both are very strong men with very strong heads and would not bend or make U turns when their minds are set. These are the stuff strong leaders are made off. Even if they make mistakes, they would stick to them and persevere.

We are going to see a contest of ideas between two great leaders of our time in Hsien Loong versus Trump. It is nothing personal, just about ideas, policies and principles.  Hsien Loong finally has a huge battle to fight and this will be a testing time for Singapore, if it can really punch above its weight, to show the Americans, or at least Trump, that Singapore’s ideas of free trade, globalization and freedom of immigration are more superior than that of Trump.

Who would triumph in this contest would be decided by latest when either leadesrship ends and whether TPP is still alive, with the Americans in it or dead without the Americans in it. A draw would be when the TPP is alive without the Americans in it, with Trump unable to kill it but keeping the US out of it while Hsien Loong successfully carries the baby with the remaining TPP members in it. In a way this is a battle of leadership, who is the better leader to carry this baby and the rest of the members along. Singapore could rise as the new leader in the Asia Pacific region with Trump continuing with the isolation of the USA.

Just hope this will be just a contest of ideas and does not turn personal and ugly between Trump and Hsien Loong.  If so, Hsien Loong would be at the losing end as Trump would be quite free with his flowery language while a decent Hsien Loong with his Cambridge root of aristocracy unable to match him. It is possible for Trump to show Hsien Loong his middle finger for that is what Trump is all about. But it is unlikely for Hsien Loong to return the rude gesture. It is just unacceptable in squeaky clean and correct Singapore culture for its god like leaders to do such a darn thing.

Maybe we will see Singapore sending a team of its best super talents to Trump’s office to explain to him how good the TPP is for the Americans and change Trump’s thinking that it is a disaster for the Americans. How could such a good scheme like the TPP be seen as so bad by Trump and so good for the Americans by Hsien Loong? Maybe they are looking at different sides of a coin or there are too many secret clauses that are not disclosed and Trump is still in the dark, and looking like an ignorant one.

Watch how this TPP show get its full run and how it will end with one of the two contestants turning out as the hero and the other a duck. This is a great opportunity for Hsien Loong to prove that he is a worthy successor to the Oracle and for Singapore to prosper to SG100.

F1 in doubt, Singapore ungrateful

This is as much as one could make out from the comments of Bernie Ecclestone. Singapore is not thinking of continuing to fund the F1 race here the F1 boss is unhappy, claiming that Singapore was just an airport before F1 and F1 has put Singapore into the world map of a ‘happening city’.  To quote him, ‘Singapore was suddenly more than just an airport to fly to or from somewhere. Now they believe they have reached their goal and they do not want a Grand Prix anymore.’

Are these the words of an unhappy man? A James Walton from Deloitte Singapore has this to say, ‘To turn around and suggest Singapore is ungrateful, that’s a no negotiation tactic, that’s a jilted person. To me this tactic is burning bridges.’

Ecclestone admitted that Singapore has spent a lot of money on the F1 and benefitted from it. But Singapore has had enough of F1 and not willing to throw hardearned public money on such luxury. How many countries in the world have so much easy money to throw, to waste, for a bit of publicity, for image?  Obviously there are not many silly countries willing to throw away so much money and the F1 boss is worried.  This proves another point that I had earlier put forward, who needs who more?  If it is F1 that needs Singapore more, then it is F1 that is getting the better return than Singapore and should be paying for the right to host in this ‘airport’ city that no one knows.

I hope Singapore organizers wise up and charge F1 for the right to hold such an event here, in this ‘airport’ city that turned out to be the crown jewel of F1 tour instead of paying what they demanded.  It is time F1 knows the value of this ‘airport’ city and pay to get the privilege to run their toys on our roads and enjoy the quality of our hospitality and strategic environment and the security and convenience of this handsome city.

What do you think? Should Singapore continue to throw away hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money on such an intangible and wasteful indulgence or should Singapore demand to be paid for the right of F1 to hold its races here?

The above was written yesterday. Today Ecclestone has moderated his tone by saying, ‘F1’s stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore. Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and (we) don’t want to lose Singapore.’ Malaysia has also announced that it is not going to waste more money on F1. So, should our boys grow up and say we don’t need to play with expensive toys anymore and no need to throw away hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money to make F1 organisers happy and very rich? If it is their grandfathers’ money then by all means, spend all they want, but when it is OPM, better be more careful and prudent.

No peace in this world so long as the hegemons and Neo-Cons rule America

No peace in this world so long as the Neo-Cons and hegemons rule America

Whether it is the Democrats or the Republicans in power they are all the same evil.. Both are aggressive hegemons and warmongers. The white Americans have been creating choas, instability and wars in every corner of the earth since the end of the Second World War.

It is necessary to know the psyche of their aggression and hawkish behaviour. They have been behaving like this since before and after their independence from Britain.They persecuted the Native Americans to almost extinction and took over their land to form USA. They invaded Mexico and Latin America and annexed almost eighty percent of Mexican land. By the end of the 19th Century they invaded and occupied Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam and other island kingdoms in the Pacific Ocean.

The psyche of American bellicosity is based on several gingoistic doctrines such as the Doctrine of Christian Discovery, the Doctrine of American Manifest Destiny, the Doctrine of American Exceptionalism plus the modern Neo-Conservatives doctrines of hegemony especially propounded by Paul Wolfowitz, one of the most aggressiive, millitants and and extreme Neo-Con proponents and exponents of the doctrines.

I had written about the first three doctrines in my previous articles. I will now focus on the Neo-Cons hawkish principles and policy. which consist of a number of articles each emphasizing on a specific or fundamental objective.

Article 1 : To prevent the emergence of a rival that poses a threat to USA dominance - power. Thus USA is trying to destroy Russia and China.

Article  2 :  To prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would under consolidated control be sufficient to generate global power.  USA destroyed Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Gaddafi of Libya to preserve US power in the Middle-East.

Article  3 :  USA fundamental goal is to deter or defeat attack from whatever source.

Articlle  4 :  To strengthen and extend the system of defense arrangements with other democratic nations together in common defense against aggression. A collective response to preclude threats and to deal with them as a key feature of USA regional defense strategy. USA tries to ease out China from the East China Sea and the South China Sea and Russia from the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea to preserve US power and hegemony in both Asia and Europe respectively.

Article  5 :  USA must convince potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role or pursue  more aggressive posture to protect their legitimate interests. This is utter impudence and arrogance of power. USA interest and security matters others do not .

Article 6 :  In non-defense areas USA discourage other industrial nations from challenging USA leadership or seeking to overturn the established political and economic order. USA must maintain the mechanism for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role.

Article 7 :  Unilateralism.  The doctrine downplays the value of international coalitions. USA will maintain that the world order is ultimately backed by USA which will be an important stabilizing factor.

Article  8 :  Pre-emptive Intervention .

The doctrine stated USA right to intervene where it is believed to be necessary to address those wrongs which threaten USA interest or those of its friends or allies.  USA has been intervening and conducting regime change in many countries in Middle East ,Asia , Africa , Central and South America resulting in endless suffering and disaster to the countries concerned.

Article 9 :  The Russian Threat

The doctrine highlighted the possible threat posed by a resurgent Russia. Russia remains the strongest military power in Eurasia and the only power in the world with the capability of destroying United States.

Article 10 :  Middle-East and South West Asia.

USA must remain the prominent outside power in the region and preserve US western access to the region's oil. USA must prevent a hegemon or alignmment of powers from dominating the region. USA must continue to play a role through enhanced deterrence and improved cooperative security.

Article 11 :  USA is committed to the security of Israel and must maintain qualitative edge that is critical to Israel security. USA-Israel strategic cooperation contributes to the stability of the entire region.

The above doctrines must be carefully studied and analysed in relation to USA politics and foreign policies and their implications for peace or war in this world..

The Neo-Cons consist of scores of hot headed hawkish politicians including the Jewish cabal the Zionist Rothschild Illuminati group entrenched in US centres of power in Washington, CIA, Pentagon, the financial big banks  and Wall Street. The Jewish cabal members include Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol, Richard Perle Elliot Brahms, Norman Podhoretz Dick Cheney, Carl Gershman. Jeane Kirkpatrick, John Bolton, Paul Bremer and many more others.

The main characteristics of the Neo-Cons is their tendency to see the world in terms of good and evil. America and democracy is good but communist and socialists are evil. They also have a low tolerance for diplomacy and are ever ready to use military force. They lay a strong emphasis on US unilateral action.





Southernglory1

Monday, 21st November,2016

Rogue govt, poor leader and bad ideas

Singaporeans have been warned of the potential of a rogue govt in the future. And very likely it will come in a package, rogue govt plus poor leader and bad ideas.  This is a standard package proven many times in history. The big big question is when will Singapore get its share of this package? It has to come, sooner or later, no country or civilization has been spared this fate. When is the delivery date?

So when will Singapore have to pay its due? Actually there is another point to consider. Historically, the people of the day, the leaders of the day, did not know that they had a rogue govt, a poor leader and bad ideas or policies. The govt of the day would think they are the best, of the best talents, led by the best and most clever leader, and the people believed so, and in the case of a democracy, elected them to be the rogue govt. A good example is the USA.  Oops, the US is a bit different. This time they knew they are going to choose between the devil or the deep blue sea, but because of the system they are picking the best of the worse.

The crux of the matter is that no one knows that there is rogue govt in charge, or the people did not know they had a rogue govt.  Oops, there are many angles to look at this point. It could be that the people knew but afraid to say so, and have no better choice to replace the rogue govt.  Or in the case of a dictator, the people just have no choice unless they could successfully remove the dictator.

Then there is the illusion or delusion spun around the rogue govt and poor leader and bad ideas. It is in another way like the story of the Golden Calf. The poor leader could push out a golden calf and called it God, or the best thing to have, the best idea or best policy. And the ignorant masses, without knowing a thing, just pray to the Golden Calf. And the poor leader is helped by the conspiracy of the elite who either knew that the Golden Calf was a fake, only gold plated, but went along, willing to compromise their integrity and honesty and intelligence to go along with bad ideas, praising the gold plated Calf as the real thing. When a poor leader is surrounded by sycophants or so feared that no one dared to oppose him or his stupid ideas, then everything goes, good idea, bad idea, silly idea, all will be carried through as best ideas. No one is wiser. No one will know that they already had a rogue govt, with poor leader and bad ideas.

When would Singapore be fated to meet this dreadful day of a rogue govt, poor leader and bad ideas? Thank God we are still having the most brilliant and talented men and women in the govt, with good leaders and good ideas. Pray that this will go on a bit longer or forever. Pray that Singapore will not suffer the fate of the forces of history, that a rogue govt is in place, a poor leader is leading the pack, and the ideas and policies are bad for the people and the people are able to stop this from happening.

Very likely, like the fall of Empires, things will change gradually, like boiling the frog and no one will be wiser, to know what is happening and Singapore will be history… one day. This is the inevitable truth of history, unavoidable, just when.