Committee for Future Economy – CFE

It is very easy to make comments about the CFE reports. Just sit down and put a comb over it to pick put the white hair and the fleas and dust. It is also just as easy to make 7 or 10 motherhood statements about what should be done in the future. Just gather a few heads and within a day or two you could get all the motherhood statements you want. The big question, how real and how useful are these motherhood statements?

To gaze at a crystal ball, to foresee the trends, developments and challenges, is not the normal cup of tea for anyone not armed with the width and depth of intellect to look into the future. You need very serious thinkers and dreamers to make out something from nothing or from what we have today. Who would be up to it to make such great insights into the future and come out with workable recommendations to benefit from the changes? If only you can find someone who could make the right intellectual and educated guesses, this guy would be as good as God.

As a small little country with limited resources and limited aspirations, we need to be real and practical about what we want to do and what we can do. No doubt having big and wild dreams and wet dreams are ok, as these are just dreams. It is better to look at more realistic and practical targets and solutions like capitalising on our strength and how to fit into the changing world, and make the best of it. We have several good starts but due to the lack of foresight, the lack of dreamers, the lack of support, we let them passe. Sim Wong Hoo's sound card was at the fore front of the computer industry. Hyflux's water purification system too was well ahead of its time. Now they are just ordinary, one among many and fading away. If only the govt had invested and supported them in bigger ways, they could be the Samsung or the Xiaomi today. Samsung and Xiaomi did not have any proprietory products to start with. They simply copied and improved on what others have done and make it big time. We were the leading transportation hub for many decades but now going to be eclipsed too.

A more down to earth and more mundane model to understand how we have gone wrong and missed the opportunities, and missed the boat is public transportation, the train. When we laid the ground work for the first MRT, China was still an impoverished country. Transportation in China was Second WW train system, running like tortoises on coal. Today China is the front runner in high speed train system, an authority and a big mover in building international train network and infrastructure. They have developed many in house expertise and patents in every aspect of the train system, from design to manufacturing, turnkey projects to operations. They are building the train infrastructure for the future and for the world.

What have we achieved in managing our train network? What have we achieved for having a head start in mass rapid transport? Nothing. We are still struggling to make sure the train runs without fault daily. We did not have any expertise in anything concerning mass rapid transport. When a fault occurs, we start looking out for outside expertise for help, even stupid enough to pay for expertise from third world dysfunctional train systems calling themselves experts in modern train technology. We have not acquired any expertise in mass rapid transportation to turn it into a business except as an operator. After 50 years in the business, no experts in the business.

This example applies to practically every industry. Should not Singapore be exporting our expertise with our own experts in areas of air and sea port management and development? No, we are dependent on foreigners to run our ports, to manage our ports, to find new directions for our ports. We have zero expertise to talk about when we have been big operators for decades ahead of other countries. We are top air and sea ports but have no expert in these fields.

Look at the banking and finance industry. This is another joke. We are the financial centre of Southeast Asia and competing with Tokyo and Hongkong to be the top financial centre of Asia. Ask what kind of expertise we have, what kind of local experts and professionals we have that are sought after by other financial centres? It is a joke that we have to import all our top financial talents from abroad, even from the third world countries with rudimentary financial system and village banks. Soon there will be no local bankers left in the finance industry and all the top bankers would be foreigners. And I remember someone saying we are starting to develop our top bankers that would come on stream in 50 years time. No need to talk about the IT industry.

What is this CFE all about? Should we be bothered with gazing at the crystal ball of the future? How could such an exercise benefit the country and people when there are very serious challenges facing the country that no one could see or want to talk about? We may not have a thriving Singapore in another 30 years if we don't address the serious fundamental problems of the country and the shallow mindset that is supposed to be driving the country forward. We have happily awarded the contract to build the HSR terminal to foreign contractors when we should be building it ourselves and bidding for such contracts overseas like the Korean companies. Maybe we should start to bid in a big way for contracts in other countries to build hawker centres. This is about the last area of expertise we still have, but not for long. Is there anything that we are good at today to compete with the rest of the world?

Kishore - China bashing has to stop

Finally, after a year of absence, there is life in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to air an alternative view from the Rajaratnam School of International Studies. The China bashing must stop. Singapore is a price taker, so stop deluding yourself that Singapore could dictate the direction in international relations, to punch above its weight, to bash China happily thinking it is something that is untouchable by China. Kishore did not say it this way, that China bashing must stop but it is as good as it is in his article in the ST on 11 Feb 17 titled Treat China and Trump with respect in 2017. Oh, in case someone got ultra sensitive, in Kishore’s article, China bashing is done by the Americans, not Singapore.

Kishore started off by quoting an asshole in Washington by the name of Peter Navarro with his idiotic and psychopathic comment on China. 'The Chinese government is a despicable, parasitic, brutal, brass knuckled, crass, callous, amoral, ruthless and totally totalitarian imperialist power that reigns over the world's leading cancer factory, its most prolific propaganda mill and the biggest police state and prison on the face of earth.' No dignified man in public office would utter such stupidity but this man is the head of the New Trade Council in Trump's office. This is bad upbringing.

Anyone who knew what the Americans have been doing to the rest of the world would find his remarks an apt description of what the American Empire is today. It fits perfectly like a glove, a despicable parasitic country living on debt by borrowing from the rest of the world and trying to print fiat money to erase its debt, brutally killing Arabs leaders and their people using brass knuckles, crass, callous, amoral and ruthless in the murdering of the Muslims and Arabs, not counting the slavery of Africans in the past and the genocide of native Americans, and reigning the world with unspeakable prison camps without trial and abusing the prisoners that have not been proven guilty in a court of law with all kinds of evil and cruel tortures. That is the American Empire that this idiot Navarro refused to see and admit but pointing the finger at China.

The westerners, especially the likes of Navarro, chose to turn a blind eye to their crimes against humanity by misleading the world that all the problems of the world are caused by the Arab/Muslim worlds and by China. And I quote Kishore, 'Few in the West are aware that the West is responsible for aggravating turbulence among the more than two billion people living in Islamic and Chinese civilisations. Instead, conjuring up images of the two Asian hordes that Western minds fear most - two forces that invaded Europe, the Muslims and the Mongols...(The Mongols were not Chinese but invaders of China).

Kishore is using this quotation printed in the Guardian, a western media, as proof of the ugliness and untruth being churned out daily to feed the dumb and unthinking readers of which Singapore has plenty to go with, the so called bananas who would swallow such swill from any western media as the gospel truth. No need to question and see further than the words in print. Kishore said, 'Singaporeans are particularly vulnerable to be influenced by these negative Western biases against china since our newspapers reprint many articles on China by the Anglo Saxon media, without noting or highlighting that these articles are inherently biased and unbalanced...'

Kishore added, 'Anybody in Singapore who believes that the Anglo Saxon media is fair, balanced and objective in its reporting on China should have his head examined. It is biased against China on many counts.' If redbean were to say this, it is understandable that the daft bananas would swear at him and call him commie. I would like to thank Kishore for saying this out loud, hopefully a few bananas would wise up and clear the shit between their ears placed there by western media for ages and not resort to calling Kishore a commie as well. Again, stupidity cannot be cured and the stupid would stubbornly hug onto their stupid thoughts to their graves. For the uninformed, misinformed and the ignorant, it is time to know the truth. Go and read what Kishore has written on Saturday and do yourself a big favour, to be enlightened and to remove the blinkers placed over your eyes by the western media. Go google Kishore’s Harvard lecture on the topic When China becomes Number One to get a better appreciation of how the whole has changed.

Now that Kishore has spoken, would the content of our local media be different, to educate the readers fairly and objectively and not to blind them with cut and paste western garbage passed off as reliable news? Oh, would the MFA also change their tact in dealings with China, to show some respect as a small country, independent or not is subjective and irrelevant.

PS. Today’s media are flooded with articles about the fear of North Korea testing an ICBM as if the North Koreans are going to attack everyone, for what reasons I dunno. And the Americans and Japanese are crying wolf and wanted to take actions against the North Koreans. Would anyone want to ask why the Americans have an arsenal of more than 7,000 nuclear warheads with thousands of operation ready ICBMs? To save the world, to hug in bed? What are these missiles and nuclear warheads for if not to destroy the world many times over. Why no protest or screaming hell that the Americans must destroy their weapons but all the crying out loud when the North Koreans are testing a single ICBM and barely possess a handful of nuclear weapons? This is the kind of biased and shitty reporting that Kishore is talking about.

Trump's America versus Old America and the Establishment

Trump's America is all about American First, about shutting off illegal immigrants and about terrorists arriving in America to turn America into turmoil. The initial impression of Trump is that he is the 'Just do it' man, the man that fixed things. And the banning of 7 Arab Muslim countries is just the right thing to do, the right solution to protect and save America and American lives.

The commentators in mysingaporenews have rightly pointed out that Trump is missing the target by a mile and looking a bit silly, or did not know what he is doing. This is a very fundamental problem, to identify the problem, I mean the real problem, not wishy washy fabricated or self deluded problems like setting up your own strawman for target practice. If one does not want to look at the real problems, if one is silly not to know the real problem, and identify fake problems, then the solutions would be farcical and laughable to be kind. Can apply this to the CFE context. Ok, what are the real issues on terrorists attacking America? The guys here have rightly pointed out that the real terrorists or at least proven during the 911 bombing of WTO towers did not come from the 7 countries or at least the majority were confirmed to be from Saudi Arabia or Egypt. And the immigrants from these two countries were not banned! What is happening? Is Trump dumb, wayanging and not really wanting to solve the terrorist problem? Why the 7 countries and not those countries that are producing the terrorists? Not knowing the real problem means not knowing the real solution.

Then there is this US$21.6 billion wall to be built along the borders of Mexico. Can the wall really keep the illegals out? Can they come in by air or by sea? How deep is the wall to prevent them from tunnelling along the 2000 mile border? The relatively short border around Israel is already a huge hole to plug. Would Trump be building a Trump shield over the air and a marine net in the seas and hardening the grounds to prevent tunnelling? And the very open and big holes in the immigration check points, how to plaster them? The consolation is that building the wall is another way of creating jobs for the Americans.

Another big issue raised is the real ruler of the US. Who is running the country, the elected President Trump with executive authority or the judges in the judiciary? It is looking like the judges are running the country or at least ruling over Trump the President. Yes, should not the judges be dealing with legal and constitutional issues, on whether what Trump did were legal or constitutional and not about morally right or wrong. These are beyond the courts of law.

Trump was elected by the majority of the Americans just to do what he promised to do. That is democracy, the will of the people, but the judges are saying no to the American people. This is a strange development in democratic America. The judges are acting against the wishes of the people vested upon the president they elected. And it was rightly pointed out that the judges are not going to be responsible or to answer should terrorists blow up America. Trump will be held responsible. What an irony!

Another strange contradiction raised in the discussion is that the Americans voted for a President that wanted to champion American First. In Singapore, the people voted out a politician that wanted to champion Singaporean First. A logical conclusion is that a politician that contested on a platform calling for Foreigners First would likely to have a higher chance of winning an election in Singapore than one calling for Singaporean First.

This is turning into a mad mad world, or mad America and mad Singapore.

The Great Wall of Trump

I am wondering if this is something clever for Trump to do or something silly that only a dumb Trump could come up with. How much money is going to be wasted on this flimsy piece of scrap iron given today’s technology and destructive power of gunpowder. You only need a few pieces of dynamite or TNT to bring a part of the wall down. Even a bulldozer or tractor could do the job of pulling a section down or to create a big hole in it. Or is this Trump’s way of creating jobs for the Americans, to revive the long dead steel industry and other security industries?
 
Whose is going to benefit from this Simple Simon project? Who is making the steel, who are the contractors? How much steel and energy are going to be spent on this 2,000 mile wall? Or is Donald Trump out to build a monument to remember him when he is gone? It is now reported that a sum of US$21.6 billion will be needed for the Great Wall of Trump! Maybe Trump should consult the Chinese’s ancient technology they used to build the indestructible Great Wall of China.
 
Does any American out there smart enough to advise Trump about using cheaper modern technology to seal his border instead of wasting away resources on an ancient idea of erecting walls to guard the borders between states reinforced with electronics and cameras?
 
Dumb Trump or dumb Americans? China is building roads and rails to link the whole world and Trump is building walls to keep the modern day barbarians out of America?  China is building trade ties with the world, connecting with the world, and the Americans are isolating themselves behind a new Great Wall of Trump that is full of holes.

Who is the first elected President of Singapore?

WP raised this question in Parliament and if I am not mistaken the question was turned into an attack on Hsien Loong’s integrity for using Wee Kim Wee as the first elected President to compute when a minority president should take his place in the Istana. Correct me if I am wrong.  I think the formula used to calculate the time qualification for a minority president is quite interesting for discussion. I must say the govt is right and I am not questioning anyone’s integrity, not Hsien Loong’s for sure.

Let me just put down some facts here, copied from the Istana website and wikipedia.

Mr C V Devan Nair was elected President of the Republic of Singapore by Parliament on 23 October 1981.

Dr Wee Kim Wee was elected the President of the Republic of Singapore by Parliament on 30 August 1985.

Mr Ong Teng Cheong became the fifth President of the Republic of Singapore and the first President to be popularly elected by the people on 1 September 1993.

Below paragraphs are from wikipedia.

The Singaporean presidential election of 1993 was the first presidential election held in Singapore. Polling day was 28 August 1993. Former Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong became Singapore's first directly elected President.

In January 1991, the Constitution of Singapore^[1] was amended to provide for the popular election of the President. The creation of the elected presidency was a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history as, under the revision, the President is empowered to veto the use of government reserves and appointments to key civil service appointments. He or she can also examine the administration's enforcement of the Internal Security Act^[2] and Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act,^[3] and look into investigations of corruption.

By virtue of transitional provisions in the Singapore Constitution,^[4] Ong's predecessor Wee Kim Wee exercised, performed and discharged all the functions, powers and duties of an elected president as if he had been elected to the office of President by the citizens of Singapore, until Ong took office.

The govt is taking the position that Wee Kim Wee is the first elected president, ah, yes and no if you understand the above facts. Wee Kim Wee exercised, performed and discharged the duties of an elected president once the Act was passed though he was not an elected president elected by the people but elected by parliament in 1985. This is a legal point only the court can make an authoritative interpretation. He did exercise and perform the duties of an elected president but not an elected president elected by the people, only as if he was elected by the people. This could be a point of contention even if he is legally and constitutionally accorded the status of being the first elected president.

The other point is that when did he exercise and perform the duties of an elected president? I think it should be sometime in 1991 or 1992 after the Act was passed in parliament. It must be as the constitution does not have a people’s elected president before this date. Before this date he was not an elected president elected by the people but elected by parliament.

The amendments for a minority president election have a qualification time of 30 years for a minority president election to be called. This 30 year time frame should start from when, 1985 when Wee Kim Wee became president or when he exercised and performed the duties of an elected president in 1991 or 1992? Or should it start from the year the Elected President Act came into force in 1991?  If 1985 is the commencement date, then by 2015 a minority president election is due. If the commencement date is 1991/2, then the next minority president election should be due in 2021/2.  Correct or not, this is simple arithmetic.

So the big question is which year should be used to compute when the next minority president is due, 2015 or 2021? I think this merits some discussion and clarification. Would WP take this up to the court for a legal interpretation? If there is any doubt or ambiguity, the High Court should be the authority to make the clarification and interpretation. Seeking a court interpretation on this matter cannot be an attack or questioning anyone’s integrity, I think.