The Mahathir Dilemma

After half a century since he wrote the Malay Dilemma, today Mahathir is faced with a new dilemma. Everyone knows that he has an axe to grind against Singapore. Now he also has an axe to grind against Chinese investments in Malaysia, deals that were signed by his foe, Najib Razak. He has so many reasons to pick on these projects and to tear them to pieces unless he could renegotiate new terms to his benefits. Oops, I mean to Malaysia’s benefits.
 
Now, why would these two axes become a dilemma to Mahathir? The Singapore axe is simple to understand. He cannot tahan Singapore’s success and be better than Malaysia, putting personalities aside. He had done many things in the past to cripple Singapore’s progress, like the crooked bridge, not selling sand and water to Singapore even when water is falling free from the sky, and sand dredging from Malaysian rivers would have served dual purposes beneficial to Malaysia. No deal if things benefit Singapore even if Malaysia stands to benefit as well.
 
Now look at what China is doing in Malaysia. The grand plan is to make Malaysia the new transportation hub to replace Singapore, his arch enemy. Malacca or Port Klang would be developed to replace Singapore and become the most important and busiest port in this part of the world. Would that be nice?
 
But the Chinese plan was negotiated by Najib and all the benefits and credit would go to Najib as well. Killing the plan would be good to Singapore as the net effect would be to kill off the competition from Port Klang and Malacca as the alternatives to Singapore. But not killing the plan would mean he has to go along with it, with Najib’s initiative to court Chinese investments, sanctioning the work of Najib. Though this would make Malaysia a new trade and transportation hub as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, he could not gain anything from it. People would say it was all the contribution of Najib.
 
There is also the HSR to Singapore. Mahathir may also want to drop this project as it would benefit Singapore more than Malaysia, allowing Singapore to be in the link of the BRI. To him, just like selling water and sand to Singapore, as long as it benefits Singapore, it is no go.
 
The Mahathir Dilemma is to support the Chinese BRI that would have transformed Malacca or Port Klang as the biggest and busiest port in the region, to replace Singapore, or to kill it and let Singapore to continue as the transportation hub in the region, with Malaysia playing second fiddle. This way, his action would actually benefit Singapore instead of killing Singapore. What would he choose, to kill the BRI and Chinese investments, or to kill Singapore?
 
This could be the making of his new book, The Mahathir Dilemma.
 
Mahathir has many other dilemmas to deal with and to write about. What about his pro bumi Malay Malaysia and his new Malaysian Malaysia slogan?

Singapore severely constrained by space – Lawrence Wong

Singapore constrained by space? I thought I heard many wise men and wise women talking about Singapore big enough to accommodate 6.9m people, some said 10m, some said 15m and some said even more. Now we only have a miserable 5.6m and Lawrence Wong is saying in Parliament that Singapore is severely constrained by space, so cannot anyhow extend the lease of HDB flats. Who is telling the truth, who is spreading fake news, who is lying? Or all of them are telling the truth?
 
When Lawrence Wong said Singapore is constrained by space, what was his basis? Based on 5.6m, 10m or 15m?
 
The extention of HDB lease after the expiry of 99 years is a complex problem. There is a big problem of not enough land for public housing in the future for our children and grandchildren. He went on to say ‘The govt must grapple with these questions, study the matter and do the responsible thing.’ What responsible thing? Like bringing in more foreigners to increase the population to 6.9m, to 10m or more?
 
What action is responsible and what is irresponsible? What action would lead to a severely constraint in space for public housing? And who is the irresponsible one to cause this severely constrained problem for Singaporeans?
 
Can this problem be avoided? Is it so difficult to prevent this problem?
 
I am now so confused? Really ah, got severely constrained space problem ah? How can that be when so many wise men and wise women are advocating a population of 6.9m, 10m or 15m or more? Who is talking rubbish?
 
How convinced and convicted is Lawrence Wong about the problem of severe constraint in space? If he believes what he is saying, should not he be telling Parliament to stop the influx of more foreigners into the country immediately and also telling those that are peddling for 10m or 20m population to have their heads checked? Or he does not believe in what he was saying, so say say only. No need to take any action because it is not true?
 
What is the truth?

Kim Jong Un - An international statesman

Donald Trump called him Rocket Man. He returned the compliment by calling Trump dotard. And they grew to respect each other. Before this the West and western media had a field day calling him all kinds of vulgarities. But a great man, a great leader would not be dumped just by a few silly remarks or silly press.

Donald Trump, the President of the USA, has to travel across the Pacific Ocean to meet Kim in Singapore. Kim is not going to fly across the Pacific Ocean to meet Trump at his beck and calls. Neither would he have to wait outside his bedroom for an audience while Trump read bedside stories to his granddaughters.

Both men are going to meet as head of state of two independent countries and as equals. Kim is not going to come bearing gifts to please the emperor. Instead, he is going to ask Trump how much, or what can Trump offer him, for giving up his nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons do not come cheap and Trump has to pay for it.

The stature and respect of a statesman or leader is not about how much he earns or his wealth. It is how other leaders view him and treat him. Kim has met Xi Jinping as equals in Beijing. Now he is going to meet Trump and the whole world is in awe. A 73 year old man meeting a man half his age and talking terms, trading deals while the whole world watches in silence.

How many world leaders have this kind of privilege or attention from the rest of the world? Trump, know how arrogant and conceited he is, is not going to waste time talking to anyone. Here, before this meeting, Trump is telling the world of the great things he and Kim are going to do together.

Kim Jong Un has arrived on the world stage not as a Rocket Man. Trump is going to shake his hand, perhaps gives him a bear hug, and called him President Kim. Kim will respond in kind, as two leaders met and normally do.

Now who is going to say this man is mad or whatever, irrational, murderer, womaniser and what not?

But things took a turn in the last few days. Kim is threatening to call off the summit with Trump after calling off all contacts with South Korea. The silly West rose in rage with their stupid arguments that the North Koreans are like that, unreliable, full of trickery, trying some ploys to get a better deal. The silly colonised Asian minds also repeated the same kind of stupidity, without thinking except to repeat what the West were saying.

Never would these stupids ask the real question and look for the real answers. They simply stereotyped what the West said. Have they noticed what Kim Jong Un had done during the prelude to the summit? Sending athletes to the Winter Olympics, exchanges with South Korea, meeting with Moon Jae In, stopping missile tests? And these were followed by the willingness for denuclearisation, return of American prisoners, inviting journalists to witness the destruction of nuclear testing sites, willing even risking his life to meet in Singapore to meet Trump!

Were these gestures and moves not sincere? Compare them to what the Americans did. What did the Americans did in return? Nothing. Zero. The Americans still continue to conduct wargames to simulate an invasion of North Korea, repeating threats, sanctions, increasing pressure without relenting, demanding that Kim send all his nuclear weapons to the USA to be destroyed, full inspection of nuclear facilities in North Korea, not a single gesture of goodwill!

The Americans think that Kim is a naive little boy, to be bullied, that he would give up all his nuclear weapons unconditionally, so that the Americans can do a Saddam Hussein or Gaddafi on him, invading North Korea once they could confirm that it has no more nuclear capability, and murder him and his family? The insincerity of the Americans is unbelieveable. But the West and the colonised Asian minds cannot see this, blinded by their stupidity.

They think that every Asian leader would jump to joy, wet their pants, just to have a chance to meet with the American president. No way, Kim Jong Un is no ordinary stupid Asian leader that goes gaga with an American president. Trump and the Americans must show their sincerity to meet him, as equals, both heads of states of their respective countries, and to talk terms that are beneficial to both countries on equal terms, not one sided.

The Americans are expecting that Kim would go down on his knees, willingly gives up his nuclear weapons and begs for mercy. This is how arrogant the Americans and the West are. They still behave like bullies. Other Asian leaders may like to be bullied, but not Kim Jong Un.

The best part, if there is one leader Trump would like to meet up, it is Kim Jong Un. Trump is willing to travel half way around the world to meet him, Kim Jong Un. And Kim may not want to see him.

Reckless evil Empire and fake news

This piece is about fake news, distorted news, mischievous news and fabricated news, to demonise a country, to con the readers to think what the devils behind it want them to think, without thinking.

Read the extract of Yahoo News on the recent barrage of attacks against Iran, painting Iran as the demon that should be attacked and invaded, by the devils of course. Read the points raised and ask if they are true, really or fabricated.

"TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Latest on fallout from U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal (all times local):1:20 a.m.

The White House is condemning Iran's "reckless actions," accusing the country of "exporting destabilizing influence throughout the Middle East."

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has issued a statement citing actions in Syria and Saudi Arabia. She is calling on "responsible nations" to pressure Iran to "change this dangerous behavior."

An Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights prompted an Israel attack Thursday on Iranian targets in Syria. Saudi Arabia is accusing Iran of providing missiles that Yemeni rebels have fired toward Riyadh.
Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May Friday. The White House said both condemned the rocket attacks."

Iranian troops are in Syria to help fight ISIS. And they stupidly lobbed one or two missiles into Syria, for what I dunno, to give Israel a reason to attack them with massive forces, several times, and killing a lot of Iranian soldiers on the ground. Why would they want to invite the Israelis to attack and kill them when they were happily destroying the ISIS and rebel forces in Syria? Logical? Or were the supposedly missiles fired into Israel were fabricated, false flags, to allow Israel to use them as a pretext to attack them? And for the Americans to brand them as reckless?

Now, were the attacks of Iranians in Syria by Israel reckless? And the scheme by Israel and the USA and now dragging in the Brits, to attack and invade Iran reckless? Iran is not going to be like Iraq and got hit and invaded without hitting back. This the Russians are also in Iranian soil. Remember the murder of Kim Jong Nam in KL and the poisoning of ex Russian spies?

This reckless scheme of the unthinking in Washington, Tel Aviv and now London, is going to bring about a war that they cannot stop and the Middle East would be on fire. Israel may foolishly think that they and the Americans and Brits could hit the Iranians and the latter could not hit back. But if they miscalculated, Israel will be in smokes when Iranian missiles landed in their soil. An attack on Iran would bring in Russia and China and others into the conflict.

The reckless evil Empire must be stopped to start another war with their own fabricated news. The UN must stop the reckless Americans, Jews and Brits from starting World War 3. What to you think the UN is doing now? Nothing, absolutely nothing, because the lawless Americans are not going to follow international laws and norms. They decide when to go to war and against whoever they chose to.

The Americans, the Jews and the Brits are the reckless ones, not the Iranians.

See how dangerous is fake news, fabricated news, mischievous news and how dangerous is to read news without thinking and taking them at face value.

See how aggressive the evil Empire and the West, the Jews are in their pursuit of war!  They are the warmongers, but many silly Asians believe that they for peace and would want to invite them to be the policemen of Asia. They are only peaceful when every country becomes their colony and say, yes masters.

Ministerial statements for discussion

Minister Masagos: Singaporeans become very wealthy in record time.
Minister Ong Ye Kung: The poor should help themselves.
 
I happen to see the above two statements in thestatestimesreview and find them very interesting as they would draw a lot of views from Singaporeans. Let me start with Masagoes. Which group of Singaporeans was he referring to that became very wealthy in record time. Not me of course, and not many Singaporeans that I know.
 
And in the article he asked those Singaporeans who got very rich to contribute to charity. I like that. Now those Singaporeans that got very wealthy and very fast, please be charitable, don’t be shy, just contribute some of your riches to help the needy Singaporeans. I like his targeted approach instead of those charity shows where they expect the poor working class Singaporeans to dig deep into their empty pockets to donate. How about Masagoes and his very rich millionaire ministers start the ball rolling?
 
And Ong Ye Kung’s comment that the poor should help themselves. I fully agree, if only the poor could write their own pay cheques to help themselves with OPM. Instead, their CPF savings are helped ‘to help themselves’ into buying insurance schemes that they did not ask for, maybe no need for, and they could not help themselves to say no. And some are still trying to help themselves with more of the poor Singaporeans’ CPF savings ‘to help’ the poor Singaporeans to help themselves until they don’t have enough for retirement.
 
Some may interpret this help themselves as asking the poor to work harder. I believe many are working very hard, to be taxi drivers, security guards and cleaners. But in such professions, no matter how hard they try, they are unlikely to make enough to pay for the high cost of living here.
 
Like that how ah?
 
What are your views?