- India, Singapore to Undertake Third Review of Free Trade Pact
India and Singapore will initiate the next round of review of their existing free trade agreement tomorrow with a view to further promote commercial ties between the countries.
Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu, who is here on an official visit, held discussions with Singaporean counterpart Chan Chun Sing.
"Both India and Singapore are looking forward to launch the third review of India-Singapore CECA on September 1. This will provide further momentum to the growing collaboration between our two countries," Prabhu said in a series of tweets.
New Delhi is trying to increase sharing of its resources and skilled manpower in the region. Singapore has emerged as Research & Development hub at its universities.
-- timesofindia
The above quote was posted as a comment in my blog and I think this is a very important development that requires more attention. Most Singaporeans would not have heard of it just like when they first signed the CECA and only after several years before it was exposed.
The CECA is a very important agreement between India and Singapore and must not be taken lightly by anyone. Recently when the MOM was trying to tighten the inflow of Indians into our island, the Indian govt threatened to sue our govt for violating the CECA. I think our govt must have softened the tightening as the Indian govt did not call on Sue. and everything quiet down. Just my guess. See how important this is, opening our govt to be sued with this agreement?
India and Singapore are both praising how great and good this CECA is to India and Singapore of course. It not only promotes more Indians coming here but also more trades and more jobs and is good for our GDP and bilateral relations. Singapore can also depend on India to defend the country if it is attacked, given the Indian's interest in our well being they would send in their mighty navy and air force to our defence. Singapore will have another strong military world power to depend on when it punches above its weight again.
Other than the Indian Singaporean ministers, the strongest supporters to improving India Singapore relations and to upgrade CECA must be Chok Tong and George Yeo. Chok Tong has proudly claimed credit for starting the Indian fever. And George Yeo was reported to try to convince LKY to invest in India in a big way. He was instrumental in raising funds for the Indian Buddhist University and was appointed the Chancellor for a while for his great financial contribution to the University.
Given their backgrounds and strong fondness of India and Indians, they should automatically be nominated to head the negotiation team to upgrade the CECA with India instead of Chan Chun Seng. The Indians would be more comfortable with them. Time to bring back George Yeo.
In brief, the CECA allows a few hundred professions from India to be recognised and Indians to work here with no conditions as to the qualifications and reputations of their universities or colleges. I dunno if this is applicable both ways or only one sided. Can Singaporeans of the same profession work in India as well? In a way, the CECA provision recognises all Indian qualifications per se, or on par with our world class universities and colleges like our NUS and NTU. This puts Indian universities above the universities all over the world, including the Commonwealth countries and the USA where not all are recognised here.
The nearly automatic transfer of staff or relocation of staff from India to Singapore offices is also a privilege that no country enjoys except India. Oh, it also applies to the automatic transfer of Singaporeans to offices in India. It works both ways. Singapore is very happy with this term. This provision is the main reason why many Indian companies in Singapore are almost 100% staffed by Indian nationals and Singapore companies in India would be likewise, I believe.
With the prospects of the terms of the CECA being improved, I think Singapore should officially recognise all the universities and colleges in India instead of an implied recognition under the current CECA, ie not said, not written but all the same, all recognised.
The next important thing is to allow more Indian talents to work in Singapore, to be given citizenship and to head ministries, stats boards and GLCs. Then all the ministries, stats boards and GLCs would be as well managed as DBS and as profitable and reputable as DBS world wide. This is the greatest contribution of the Indian super talents in Singapore and Singapore will be as rich, powerful and prosperous as India. And can sell or rent properties to the Indian nationals here.
Oh, I almost forgot, allow Singaporean students to study in India en mass or bring in the Indian education system to replace our inffective education system that is good sounding in brand but cannot produce talents or trained graduates for the economy, and everyday complaining that we have no talents. If our universities were to run like the Indian universities, then we would not need to hire so many academics from India as our local graduates would then be just as good as those from India.
In the upgraded CECA, I am anticipating the new developments, Singaporeans could move freely to work in India and Indians could do the same in Singapore. Singaporeans could happily earn rupees and send them back to support their families in Singapore. Indians could also send back Singapore dollars to Indian to support their families. This is only fair. And with India recognising all our universities and colleges, Singapore should likewise recognise all the universities and colleges in India. This is also fair.
If this really happens, the Indians may build temples to worship Chok Tong and George for solving India's unemployment problem and making India rich and prosperous. Singapore could also build a few monuments of Indian leaders to recognise their great contributions in providing jobs for Singaporeans and helping Singapore to prosper.
What do you think?
9/04/2018
CECA is good for Singapore and must be upgraded
9/03/2018
Square pegs, triangle pegs, odd shape pegs, are all round pegs.
How can square pegs, triangle pegs, odd shape pegs be round pegs? Very simple, just take a hammer and bang them into a round hole and proclaim, see they all fit. This is about everything Seah Kian Peng wrote in his facebook about PJ Thum, Teo Soh Lun, Jolovan Wham, Kirsten Han and others accusing them of not wanting Singapore well. I will not want to waste time explaining what he said or tried to say. What caught my interest is this part about what Barker said during independence.
'When moving this constitutional amendment in Parliament, our first Minister for Law, and the author of the Separation Agreement, Mr EW Barker, said that “in the methodology of the destruction of a nation by its foes, war by force of arms is not necessarily the only means employed. The independence of a nation may, by more subtle means, be subverted.”
He also said: “The seductive blandishments of foreign agents must not be allowed to succeed.”
Quite right and I am sure Singaporeans will agree with that.' Seah Kian Peng
Just take note of these two points: One, The independence of a nation may, by more subtle means, be subverted.' and two, 'The seductive blandishments of foreign agents must not be allowed to succeed.' In point one, think about the flooding of the island with foreigners and giving away citizenship freely to make the original Singaporeans a minority and with the foreigners stealing the jobs of Singaporeans. In point two, I would just say that the destruction of a country need not be by foreign agents but by Singaporeans acting for foreign agents or foreign interest that are againt Singaporean interest.
The foreign agents are dangerous and they wear a badge telling you they are foreign agents. The more dangerous ones do not wear foreign badges but tell you they are your friends, they are one of you, they are doing it for you, they are here to help. You would not have any clue that they are selling you away or robbing your money.
I would leave the readers to ponder over what I said and not be misled by red herrings.
This morning's thenewpaper has more to add to the controversy. Shanmugam correctly said that no foreigners should be invited to intervene in our domestic politics. The accused should wait for Mahathir to retire then ask him to apply for Singapore citizenship and become instant Singaporean. Never mind where his loyalty is, as a new Singaporean he can then interfere for all he likes in Singapore's politics in our foreign talent scheme. Just a caveat and I quote, Thum was quoted to invite Mahathir to 'take leadership in Southeast Asia for the promotion of democracy, human rights freedom of expression and freedom of information.' Is there any difference in this and inviting the Americans here to be the policeman of SE Asia?
Another point raised by Seah Kian Peng is that Thum's rejoice on Malaysia Independence Day 'does not wish Singapore well.' Everyone Singaporean must take note that they shall not participate and rejoice in other country's independence day or political celebration, and not to allow foreigners to celebrate their independence day in Singapore. Also, no one shall talk about joining Malaysia or become part of Malaysia. This is treason.
These are the new points that came out today and I am still pondering over them, whether they make sense or pure hogwash, or contradictory.
PS. If Singapore becomes part of Malaysia, it would lose its independence. If Singapore is taken over by foreigners, it would also lose its independence, or the original Singaporeans would lose their country.
'When moving this constitutional amendment in Parliament, our first Minister for Law, and the author of the Separation Agreement, Mr EW Barker, said that “in the methodology of the destruction of a nation by its foes, war by force of arms is not necessarily the only means employed. The independence of a nation may, by more subtle means, be subverted.”
He also said: “The seductive blandishments of foreign agents must not be allowed to succeed.”
Quite right and I am sure Singaporeans will agree with that.' Seah Kian Peng
Just take note of these two points: One, The independence of a nation may, by more subtle means, be subverted.' and two, 'The seductive blandishments of foreign agents must not be allowed to succeed.' In point one, think about the flooding of the island with foreigners and giving away citizenship freely to make the original Singaporeans a minority and with the foreigners stealing the jobs of Singaporeans. In point two, I would just say that the destruction of a country need not be by foreign agents but by Singaporeans acting for foreign agents or foreign interest that are againt Singaporean interest.
The foreign agents are dangerous and they wear a badge telling you they are foreign agents. The more dangerous ones do not wear foreign badges but tell you they are your friends, they are one of you, they are doing it for you, they are here to help. You would not have any clue that they are selling you away or robbing your money.
I would leave the readers to ponder over what I said and not be misled by red herrings.
This morning's thenewpaper has more to add to the controversy. Shanmugam correctly said that no foreigners should be invited to intervene in our domestic politics. The accused should wait for Mahathir to retire then ask him to apply for Singapore citizenship and become instant Singaporean. Never mind where his loyalty is, as a new Singaporean he can then interfere for all he likes in Singapore's politics in our foreign talent scheme. Just a caveat and I quote, Thum was quoted to invite Mahathir to 'take leadership in Southeast Asia for the promotion of democracy, human rights freedom of expression and freedom of information.' Is there any difference in this and inviting the Americans here to be the policeman of SE Asia?
Another point raised by Seah Kian Peng is that Thum's rejoice on Malaysia Independence Day 'does not wish Singapore well.' Everyone Singaporean must take note that they shall not participate and rejoice in other country's independence day or political celebration, and not to allow foreigners to celebrate their independence day in Singapore. Also, no one shall talk about joining Malaysia or become part of Malaysia. This is treason.
These are the new points that came out today and I am still pondering over them, whether they make sense or pure hogwash, or contradictory.
PS. If Singapore becomes part of Malaysia, it would lose its independence. If Singapore is taken over by foreigners, it would also lose its independence, or the original Singaporeans would lose their country.
9/02/2018
3 British ministers resigned on policy disagreement
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, is the third minister to have
resigned from the Theresa May’s cabinet. The other two were Brexit
Secretary David Davis and junior Brexit minister Steve Baker.
Within the May govt there are pro Brexit and anti Brexit ministers and MPs and they are standing up for and against Brexit on grounds of principles and ideas. In this issue May could not use the Whip to whip them into a corner to agree with her. This is British democracy where the MPs and ministers could take positions based on their beliefs and principles that may be against the majority of the govt or the PM.
Could such events happen in the Singapore govt? Would our ministers or MPs have the guts to stick to their principles and beliefs or the interests of their constituents to go against the majority of the govt or the PM? Unlikely as the Whip here is very strong and cannot be challenged. Any MP or minister thinking of going against the Whip to make a point would likely be asked to leave. The best they could do is to hide in the toilet.
Another big factor that is preventing MPs and ministers from going against the govt or PM is the big salary/income at stake. How many would sacrifice the millions just on the ground of principles, disagreement or to fight for their constituents against policies and decisions that were contrary?
Would the British ministers be so gung ho if their salaries/income were in the millions to resign like Boris Johnson and his two peers? It seems that the high salary of our ministers and MPs has become a stumbling block for ministers and MPs to act independently, to act on their conscience and the interests of their people. Or maybe not as they all agreed with the party and PM. So they are all in it together, for the party, for the PM.
So it is safe to say that they have been acting according to their conscience and beliefs and principles and the interests of the people by supporting every policy and decision of the govt and PM? Can this be the case? They all believe that all the govt policies and decisions are good and aligned to their principles and beliefs and so have no reason to vote against them or to resign?
What do you think? Is there a conflict of interest between high salary and principles and beliefs? Or they bo bian because of fear of the Whip? Or is it the loss of million dollar income?
Within the May govt there are pro Brexit and anti Brexit ministers and MPs and they are standing up for and against Brexit on grounds of principles and ideas. In this issue May could not use the Whip to whip them into a corner to agree with her. This is British democracy where the MPs and ministers could take positions based on their beliefs and principles that may be against the majority of the govt or the PM.
Could such events happen in the Singapore govt? Would our ministers or MPs have the guts to stick to their principles and beliefs or the interests of their constituents to go against the majority of the govt or the PM? Unlikely as the Whip here is very strong and cannot be challenged. Any MP or minister thinking of going against the Whip to make a point would likely be asked to leave. The best they could do is to hide in the toilet.
Another big factor that is preventing MPs and ministers from going against the govt or PM is the big salary/income at stake. How many would sacrifice the millions just on the ground of principles, disagreement or to fight for their constituents against policies and decisions that were contrary?
Would the British ministers be so gung ho if their salaries/income were in the millions to resign like Boris Johnson and his two peers? It seems that the high salary of our ministers and MPs has become a stumbling block for ministers and MPs to act independently, to act on their conscience and the interests of their people. Or maybe not as they all agreed with the party and PM. So they are all in it together, for the party, for the PM.
So it is safe to say that they have been acting according to their conscience and beliefs and principles and the interests of the people by supporting every policy and decision of the govt and PM? Can this be the case? They all believe that all the govt policies and decisions are good and aligned to their principles and beliefs and so have no reason to vote against them or to resign?
What do you think? Is there a conflict of interest between high salary and principles and beliefs? Or they bo bian because of fear of the Whip? Or is it the loss of million dollar income?
9/01/2018
Patnaik is not going away
The main media is also dabbling in this Patnaik saga. Guess where they
are coming from. It was reported that there are two camps on this
episode, some finding the employer’s action too harsh and some
disagreed.
I can think of a few camps and their views according to their vested interests and their backgrounds and their agenda. For the foreigners here, especially the Indians, their stand needs no introduction. They would be in the same boat if they have done the same and therefore would like Patnaik to be handled with tender loving care. Too harsh, a counseling and warning would do. Understandable.
In the Singaporean camp two groups stood up. The PGs or older Singaporeans, brought up with the idea of nation building, built the nation, served NS the hard way, raising the flag every morning, would not take kindly to any disrespectful acts against the country and flag. Their stand is that the sacking is appropriate, nothing more, nothing less. To them Singapore is a country, a home for Singaporeans they were taught and trained to protect and defend.
The younger generations, the millennia, are likely to look at things differently. These young people have had a good life, never experience hard times and how tough and painful it was to build a new country that they can call home and for their children. They inherited a country built by their parents and grandparents. And after years of being subject to brain washing, that foreigners are talents and here to help them, as long as they have their hamburgers and night outs and good time, nothing will shake them. Even if a million foreigners are brought into this island they would not see anything wrong with it.
In the Patnaik case, so what, small matter lah, don’t over react. Buy him a beer and all will be well. They did not call this generation the marsh mellow, or strawberry or whatever generation for nothing. Life is good and fun. They have not got into the cauldron of fire. There is no fire in their belly.
Patnaik is just having a bit of fun as far as the millenia are concerned. What flag? Just a harmless act lah. They could not see the importance of a national flag and its symbolism. They may use it as a table cloth or a mat to sit on, just a piece of cloth. The trampling and burning of a nation's flag is a very serious matter.
What about those people that everyday tell you how good the foreigners are and treating the foreigners like their darlings, calling them locals? Be nice to them, bring them into your homes, they are very nice people, never commit crimes? Be careful of this group of people. Don’t make them angry. They cannot be trifled with especially when you are unkind to their darlings, the so called locals.
Let’s closed this chapter quickly and move on.
PS. Is Patnaik still in Singapore? His PR still not revoked and looking for another job here? What about the rest that did the same thing? Only one scapegoat?
I can think of a few camps and their views according to their vested interests and their backgrounds and their agenda. For the foreigners here, especially the Indians, their stand needs no introduction. They would be in the same boat if they have done the same and therefore would like Patnaik to be handled with tender loving care. Too harsh, a counseling and warning would do. Understandable.
In the Singaporean camp two groups stood up. The PGs or older Singaporeans, brought up with the idea of nation building, built the nation, served NS the hard way, raising the flag every morning, would not take kindly to any disrespectful acts against the country and flag. Their stand is that the sacking is appropriate, nothing more, nothing less. To them Singapore is a country, a home for Singaporeans they were taught and trained to protect and defend.
The younger generations, the millennia, are likely to look at things differently. These young people have had a good life, never experience hard times and how tough and painful it was to build a new country that they can call home and for their children. They inherited a country built by their parents and grandparents. And after years of being subject to brain washing, that foreigners are talents and here to help them, as long as they have their hamburgers and night outs and good time, nothing will shake them. Even if a million foreigners are brought into this island they would not see anything wrong with it.
In the Patnaik case, so what, small matter lah, don’t over react. Buy him a beer and all will be well. They did not call this generation the marsh mellow, or strawberry or whatever generation for nothing. Life is good and fun. They have not got into the cauldron of fire. There is no fire in their belly.
Patnaik is just having a bit of fun as far as the millenia are concerned. What flag? Just a harmless act lah. They could not see the importance of a national flag and its symbolism. They may use it as a table cloth or a mat to sit on, just a piece of cloth. The trampling and burning of a nation's flag is a very serious matter.
What about those people that everyday tell you how good the foreigners are and treating the foreigners like their darlings, calling them locals? Be nice to them, bring them into your homes, they are very nice people, never commit crimes? Be careful of this group of people. Don’t make them angry. They cannot be trifled with especially when you are unkind to their darlings, the so called locals.
Let’s closed this chapter quickly and move on.
PS. Is Patnaik still in Singapore? His PR still not revoked and looking for another job here? What about the rest that did the same thing? Only one scapegoat?
8/31/2018
Mahathir – angry old man in rage and in a hurry
The news of Mahathir banning any foreigner from buying properties in
Forest City came like a thunderbolt for the owners and buyers and
potential buyers of this city rising out from nowhere. This decision by
Mahathir is going to shake the confidence of all foreign investors in
Malaysia. Who would dare to put money in a country run by an
unpredictable old man that has no respect for law and integrity? This
may be the main reason why he came home empty handed from Japan. He must
have told Abe of his plan to cut down on all the mega projects by China
by changing the laws as he wished. The Japanese must have cold sweat
when asked to pump money into Malaysia knowing what could also happen to
them when this raging old man decided to turn against them.
What is pushing this old man to do what he is doing today? Is the failure of his crooked bridge got anything to do with his anger and vindictive acts today? His pet project to build an unnecessary and crazy bridge to replace a cheap and efficient causeway, wasting money for nothing and rightly stopped the moment he lost political power could be the answer to what he is doing today. He must be telling himself, these buggers brought down my favourite foolish billion dollar project, now is my turn to take revenge on them. ‘I will destroy everything they planned and built to make sure they could not outdo me. They removed my monument, I will remove theirs.’
This seems to be the key motivation driving this old man into his rage. How daring for these people to destroy my dream of a crooked bridge? Now all their dreams and pet projects must also go the way of my crooked bridge.
In his rage he does not care how the world looks at him and his Malaysia, a whimsical untrustworthy country with unreliable and unpredictable leaders and changing policies. Who would dare to invest in Malaysia anymore? And he thinks he could get away with it, tearing down all the multi billion dollar mega projects without having to pay compensation. The developers are likely to sue him and make him, not him, Malaysia, to pay compensation for his reckless decisions. They are not going to walk away without claiming back what they have put into Malaysia.
The next big project to go or close down would be the massive train factory in KL. With all the train projects gone, there would be no need to build trains and other parts in Malaysia anymore. The massive Port Klang project to replace Singapore would end up like his crooked bridge, hanging half way in mid air, half complete structures left to rot. Forest City would answer to his wishes, becomes a jungle, overgrown with forestation, with no resident.
Is this man doing good for Malaysia or is he out to destroy Malaysia, destroying everything his predecessors built out of spite? Without foreign investments, Malaysia is likely to hit negative growth or the lowest growth among Asean countries. Mahathir the savior of a corrupt Malaysia would instead become Mahathir the destroyer of Malaysia, destroying all the reputation, trust and confidence in the Malaysian govt. Malaysia is going to look like a dictatorship run by a tinpot unpredictable old man. Is this what he is doing to Malaysia?
Would Mahathir be chasing out all the foreigners that have bought properties in Johore, in Iskandar and other parts of Malaysia and staying there recently? How far would Mahathir go to rid Malaysia of foreigners who have bought properties and staying in Malaysia?
For the moment the Malaysian narrative is that Mahathir can do whatever he likes, even tearing up commercial contracts and causing parties to lose hundreds of billions without recourse. The Malay Mail even wrote a condescending article that Mahathir’s dilly dallying was his way of trying to save the Chinese face from the cancelled projects.
The Chinese leaders might have agreed to Mahathir’s request and on political ground accepted the cancellation of the mega projects. But commercial considerations and contractual obligations would not be swept under the carpet. The compensation clauses would be taken up by the Chinese companies. Even the Forest City developers could take the Malaysian govt to court, I mean ICJ if necessary, to claim compensation for the change of govt policies.
Mahathir may blame Najib for stupidity. The Chinese developers are not so stupid to plough in hundreds of billions of dollars into Malaysia without protecting themselves from controversial political decisions. Mahathir would be served with claims for hundreds of billions as compensation for these projects if they are aborted. If Singapore is firm enough to demand compensation, why would China threw away hundreds of billions and gets insulted by a vindictive old man? Mahathir has all the cards to play and China has no cards to play and has to walk away losing their pants? A political decision would not take away the contractual and monetary obligations in such cases.
My bet, all the projects would be reinstated when Mahathir found out that he has no money to pay for the compensation.
What is pushing this old man to do what he is doing today? Is the failure of his crooked bridge got anything to do with his anger and vindictive acts today? His pet project to build an unnecessary and crazy bridge to replace a cheap and efficient causeway, wasting money for nothing and rightly stopped the moment he lost political power could be the answer to what he is doing today. He must be telling himself, these buggers brought down my favourite foolish billion dollar project, now is my turn to take revenge on them. ‘I will destroy everything they planned and built to make sure they could not outdo me. They removed my monument, I will remove theirs.’
This seems to be the key motivation driving this old man into his rage. How daring for these people to destroy my dream of a crooked bridge? Now all their dreams and pet projects must also go the way of my crooked bridge.
In his rage he does not care how the world looks at him and his Malaysia, a whimsical untrustworthy country with unreliable and unpredictable leaders and changing policies. Who would dare to invest in Malaysia anymore? And he thinks he could get away with it, tearing down all the multi billion dollar mega projects without having to pay compensation. The developers are likely to sue him and make him, not him, Malaysia, to pay compensation for his reckless decisions. They are not going to walk away without claiming back what they have put into Malaysia.
The next big project to go or close down would be the massive train factory in KL. With all the train projects gone, there would be no need to build trains and other parts in Malaysia anymore. The massive Port Klang project to replace Singapore would end up like his crooked bridge, hanging half way in mid air, half complete structures left to rot. Forest City would answer to his wishes, becomes a jungle, overgrown with forestation, with no resident.
Is this man doing good for Malaysia or is he out to destroy Malaysia, destroying everything his predecessors built out of spite? Without foreign investments, Malaysia is likely to hit negative growth or the lowest growth among Asean countries. Mahathir the savior of a corrupt Malaysia would instead become Mahathir the destroyer of Malaysia, destroying all the reputation, trust and confidence in the Malaysian govt. Malaysia is going to look like a dictatorship run by a tinpot unpredictable old man. Is this what he is doing to Malaysia?
Would Mahathir be chasing out all the foreigners that have bought properties in Johore, in Iskandar and other parts of Malaysia and staying there recently? How far would Mahathir go to rid Malaysia of foreigners who have bought properties and staying in Malaysia?
For the moment the Malaysian narrative is that Mahathir can do whatever he likes, even tearing up commercial contracts and causing parties to lose hundreds of billions without recourse. The Malay Mail even wrote a condescending article that Mahathir’s dilly dallying was his way of trying to save the Chinese face from the cancelled projects.
The Chinese leaders might have agreed to Mahathir’s request and on political ground accepted the cancellation of the mega projects. But commercial considerations and contractual obligations would not be swept under the carpet. The compensation clauses would be taken up by the Chinese companies. Even the Forest City developers could take the Malaysian govt to court, I mean ICJ if necessary, to claim compensation for the change of govt policies.
Mahathir may blame Najib for stupidity. The Chinese developers are not so stupid to plough in hundreds of billions of dollars into Malaysia without protecting themselves from controversial political decisions. Mahathir would be served with claims for hundreds of billions as compensation for these projects if they are aborted. If Singapore is firm enough to demand compensation, why would China threw away hundreds of billions and gets insulted by a vindictive old man? Mahathir has all the cards to play and China has no cards to play and has to walk away losing their pants? A political decision would not take away the contractual and monetary obligations in such cases.
My bet, all the projects would be reinstated when Mahathir found out that he has no money to pay for the compensation.
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