What we Cannot Defend Do Not Belong to us.

A Singapore Lesson

Déjà vu 2002.  A young Singapore National Service Army Reservist (NSman) packed his uniforms and military gear into his car, ready to report and fights the war for which he had been trained for and been on standby for over 15 years earlier.  He had hoped that war will never come; but he remembered Sun Tzu’s 1^st Principle in The Art of War - “Do not assume that the enemy will not come, but be prepared for his coming”.   

2018 last week, 16 years on; the sons of Singapore’s earlier NSmen braced themselves as they stood their ground for the potential armed conflicts which none of us actually wanted but prepared for.   

In 2002, a Malaysian gunboat had intruded and dropped anchor in Singapore waters in the vicinity of Pedra Branca Island where Horsburgh Lighthouse stands.  This unannounced provocative action followed Malaysia’s arbitrary claim of sovereignty and ownership over the Island and the Lighthouse, which was built by the British in 1851, without producing any basis for her purported legitimacy. Singapore had operated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the granite island for more than 130 years without protest from its neighbour Malaysia (formerly Malaya), who actually acknowledged in a 1953 letter that “Johore (Malaya’s Southernmost State) does not claim ownership of Pedra Branca”.

For over more than a few days in 2002, the Singapore Navy encircled the Malaysian gunboat as our elite Commandos secured the Lighthouse, on the soccer-field size Island, with machine gun positions and other defensive weapons.  The standoff was tense and intense.  Elsewhere, 14 km away on the Singapore mainland, I had enjoined several thousand other NSmen readied to be deployed for the Mission which we were operationally-ready and trained for – to protect and safeguard the sovereignty of Singapore.

Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew knew that the Petra Branca situation should not be allowed to fester and remain.  A Malaysian political party had already called for the invasion and occupation of the Island and Lighthouse.  PM Lee ordered the Malaysian gunboat to leave (by a specified deadline) or “be sunk”!  The ultimatum was quickly relayed through diplomatic channels to Malaysia.  To shorten this narrative, the Malaysian gunboat left long before PM Lee’s deadline as promptly as its unwelcomed arrival.  Everyone knew that PM Lee was a man of action who meant every word, warning and threat.  And sovereign is not a game to ‘play, play’ (in Singlish) or to be trifled with.

“WHAT WE CANNOT DEFEND DO NOT BELONG TO US!” – The Key Lesson.

The dispute over Petra Branca was finally resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in 2008.  The ICJ recognized and ruled that Singapore has sovereignty over Petra Branca.  Status update: In February 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ to overturn its 2008 decision, citing new “facts”.  Malaysia subsequently withdrew her application in June 2018, after these new “facts” were examined and found to be immaterial and irrelevant to support any review of the 2008 ICJ decision.   

Fast-Forward 16 years to October-November 2018.  Malaysian Government vessels, presumably including some armed naval ships, blatantly and deliberately intruded and violated Singapore Territorial Waters off Tuas on more than 14 occasions.  Like in 2002, the latest intrusions were not responding to any Singaporean provocations.  They followed the 25 October 2018 unilateral Malaysian official declaration to extend her Johor Port Limits arbitrarily beyond even their 1979 self-declared maritime boundary into our de facto, longstanding and established Singapore territorial waters.

The extension of Johor Port Limits makes no economic or rational sense and is a deliberate provocative action since Johor Port activities had also slowed down and reduced considerably because of the recessionary Malaysian economy due to domestic unrests, falling palm oil and petroleum prices.   So, why the need to increase the Johor Port Limits?      The 2 Johor Ports of Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Pelepas also handled less than 9.5 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEU) compared to Singapore’s 34 million TEU, which is second only to Shanghai’s 40 million TEU.  Even so without the Port volume, Why Extend Them Into Other Country’s Territory?

In fact since 1999 or earlier, all ships of every nationality, including Malaysia, have recognized and respected Singapore’s territorial jurisdiction of the violated waters eg regular patrols by the Singapore Navy and Police Coast Guards, and seeking our permission to enter them.  The shipping community was therefore baffled and confused by the 11 Nov 2018 Malaysian Port Circular and 22 Nov 2018 Notice to Mariners.   

Like in 2002, Singapore protested the Malaysian intrusions through the usual diplomatic channels, but the provocative intrusions continued unabated almost daily.    The Singapore Navy intercepted the Malaysian vessels and warned them to leave our territorial waters.  

Singapore declared at a Press Conference on 4 December 2018 that the unilateral and arbitrary extension of Johore Port Limits “violated Singapore’s sovereignty”.  Several Singapore Ministers, all NSmen themselves, including the Defense Minister, have also publicly warned Malaysia to “cease and desist” her provocations or face their natural consequences from the full might of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).   

“WHAT BELONGS TO US, WE WILL FIGHT AND DEFEND AT ALL COSTS!” 

– The NSmen Response.

There is no ambiguity in a unified Singaporean response to the latest Malaysian provocations and violations of Singapore sovereign territory.  Even the leading opposition political party in Parliament, many also NSmen themselves, issued a Press Statement in full support of “our men and women in all our security and enforcement agencies who have been activated to deal with the incursion of Malaysian vessels into Singapore waters”. 

The Singapore Port Limits are now extended to the boundaries of our own Territorial waters.  Know that more than 1,000 ships use the Singapore Port on a daily basis.

Last Friday, even after Singapore’s public warnings in all the news and social media, at least 3 Malaysian ships made further illegal incursions in violation of our waters.  Lucky for them, they were spared from total annihilation within seconds by our Harpoon Missiles only by the well-disciplined restraint of the Singapore Navy.  

Malaysians and Singaporeans must understand that the return of Dr Mahathir as Malaysian Prime Minister a few months ago means also embracing the baggage of Dr M’s past bitterness with Singapore during his first tenure as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003.  In addition to his own failure in building a better Malaysia, Dr M's personality and feelings of lower self-esteem and inferiority to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew explain his driving motivations when dealing with Singapore.  We should not be stupid or foolish enough to be suck into any war due to someone’s inability to adapt and adjust to his current surroundings.   

In Sun Tzu’s 2^nd Principle in The Art of War, he said: “When the enemy attacks, he must be met (or crushed) with unassailable and invincible force”.   Singapore wants to be a friend to all countries.  We have always regarded Malaysia to be a close friend and often good neighbor.  DO NOT MAKE US YOUR ENEMY.

Tin pot dictators with tin can brains

The western media are having a field day demonising and discrediting China and its BRI projects as one that would turn countries into debt owing to China and in worse case surrendering the projects to China in the end. It is all China’s fault and it is all China’s scheme of things, to make these countries in debt?
 
Is this true? How many countries and their leaders would want to be debt ridden willingly without a gun pointing at their heads and with all the time in the world to use their best men and best brains to negotiate a project to their benefits? China’s BRI projects and infrastructure investments in foreign countries are projects that were negotiated between two willing parties that have seen the goodness of the projects to go ahead. Only sick and idiotic leaders would sign away their national interests to China willingly. The terms and conditions of such projects were carefully negotiated on an equal paper terms.
 
This is unlike imperialism and colonialism of the West when they came, they saw and they conquered. The locals and natives have no say. The West came and decided what they wanted and took everything they wanted, even enslaving the natives and ruled over them. How is this compare to the present China BRI and infrastructure projects? China bullying the unwilling partners into submission, into debt? How many fools believe in this western myth?
 
Every leader of an independent country that agreed to participate in the BRI or infrastructure projects went in with their eyes wide open and has carefully thought through before signing on the papers. China can only offer to invest, to build and to finance at terms that are favourable to the other party and the projects must be seen as beneficial to the other parties.
 
The western poisonous narrative is that these leaders are idiots, cannot think and easily duped by China or simply blind. So they were taken for a ride by China. There are some other possibilities like corrupt leaders that think of their own pockets first and country last. There are also tin pot leaders or dictators with brains made of tin cans, empty and making a lot of noise when rattled. When you have leaders with a tin can brain, can you blame China for failures in the successful management of the projects or failure to finance the projects they wanted and signed with China?
 
Big infrastructure projects involved big capital commitments and these can only be recoverable over many years or decades. In China, many projects would be loss making initially and would only breakeven over several decades. Not many countries can build huge infrastructure projects and finance them with ready cash. It is like buying a property, it has to be financed over 30 or 50 years. And there are projects that would at best breakeven but their real contributions are in other areas and industries like highways and railroads.
 
The logic and reasoning of Mahathir over the debt of Malaysia incurred by Najib are simply hogwash. These projects are meant to be long term and financed over the long term. And the benefits are there over the long term, especially the Malacca port that would serve the same purpose as the Gwadar port in Pakistan and Piraeus port in Greece. It benefits Pakistan, Greece and China. Only tin pot leaders would think China or any country would pour in money to build and finance projects that would benefit other countries and not China or themselves. Najib’s big plan could be compromised by the falling oil prices as that was where his money was coming front to finance these projects. Did he have other contingency plans should oil prices fell drastically and unable to finance his projects? Did he over budgeted?
 
The cancellation of the east coast high speed train would scuttle the reasons for the Malacca port and the huge train manufacturing plant in KL. They are all inter related as part of the BRI. Pulling off one big piece would bring down the whole plan. Tin pot leaders would not be able to understand the complexities of big plans except one at a time. They called this single factor analysis. They cannot grasp anything more than 1 when they have tin cans as brains.
 
So, is it the fault of China or countries that failed to do their sums right to have joint projects with China in the BRI? Or is it the fault of tin pot brain leaders? Even tin pot leaders would not be stupid enough to willingly sign contracts with China or anyone else that would not benefit their countries, unless their arms are twisted, beholden and a colony or semi colony like Japan and South Korea and several others of the American Empire.
 
Indonesia and the Philippines are going ahead with multi billion dollar projects with China and clearly know the consequences to avoid a debt trap. This can only happen if they did their sums and financing right. They cannot come back and blame China latter when they mismanaged or done their sums wrongly in the future. At this moment both govts are very happy with the deals with China, fair and square. How else could it be for them to sign if the deals are not favourable to them and did meet their needs and interests?
 
But the West would be sounding for alarm that these two govts are running themselves into debt traps set by China. Are these govts made of fools?
 
PS. After the foolish Mahathir cancelled China’s high speed train and other major projects linked to the BRI, Malaysia has gone back to China for help to make Malacca the port of call for China’s merchant fleet and be the centre of the BRI in the region, replacing Singapore. This is after the recent spat with Singapore over the sea dispute. Would China say yes when the other projects that were part of the BRI were cancelled that would make the Malacca port irrelevant, a misfit? Tin can brains and tin can thinking.

Sino American War - Opportunity for Singapore

The Sino American War has been racheted a notch higher with the outrageous arrest of a Chinese citizen, Meng Wanzhou in Canada. The Americans are bent on fighting this war with China at any cost. The Chinese leaders are still sleeping, thinking that they could talk reasons with the rogues in the White House and appearing meek and accommodating would win the day. They might as well go down on their knees and beg Emperor Trump for mercy.

Trump is no different from the neocons. It is about the American Empire and ruling the world. China would not be allowed to challenge the American Empire and must be brought down on its knees. Hear that, China. Wake up and open your eyes to see what you are dealing with and their intent. There is not going to be any niceties. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou in the midst of a trade negotiation in Buenos Aires is the American's way of telling the Chinese that they could do anything to China and China would meekly accept its fate.

The whole world is watching at how China reacts to the American attacks, especially the American allies like Japan and Europe. China's meek and inaction have led them to a conclusion that China has lost the war and would be swallowed up by the Americans. Japan has read the situation and jumped in to not only ban Huawei from entering the Japanese market but also ZTE. To Japan, China has lost. Period. This is the prize China is paying for being weak and meek when attacked by the Americans. More American allies would join the pack to ban Huawei now. China brought this upon itself and deserves to be attacked, just like the invasion of China in 1937 by Japan. When you are weak, you deserves to be attacked. China has not learnt its lesson and it is being given a second lesson on not to be weak.

However, the most serious consequence for China is that top Chinese businessmen would fear to travel out of China as they are easy target for kidnapping by the rogue American regime and its mafia allies. How would this affect China as the next world leader and Chinese in the eyes of the world community?

Would Singapore join the American allies and ban Huawei's 5G from entering the Singapore market? This is crisis time and also an opportunity for Singapore to seize the moment, to be with China or against China. Huawei's 5G is the future technology and would transform Singapore into a truly smart city. Singapore could go along with Huawei and move ahead while the Americans and the West struggle to find their way to develop their 5G technology, maybe another decade. This is time on Singapore's side to be at the forefront of technology and be a model city for the West and the rest of the world and to win China's confidence to work with Singapore in the various projects Singapore is proposing in China. This could be the litmus test for Singapore and its well being in the future as the trading and transportation hub of SE Asia now that China is abandoning Malacca, Malaysia that was to replace Tuas, Singapore.

What would Singapore choose?

China should stop talking and act

Today is the 8th day of the disgusting arrest of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei, and China is still talking and asking for her immediate arrest. Are the Chinaman really that stupid? This treacherous act by the uncivil whites is part and parcel of their act to contain and attack China, planned for a long time, and they are doing this blatantly. China still thinks being nice and polite and reasonable would be able to appeal to the senses of the mischievous whites that have been using their power and force to bully China and countries of the world for centuries.

China would have to act tough, arrest a few Canadians if they want the release of Meng. Otherwise they would continue to be slapped by the West and little USAs left and right and be seen as a useless foolish country, unable to protect its citizens from rogue regimes and the savages and barbarians in suits and ties.

China cannot run away from a fight or it would lose all credibility as a rising power in the eyes of the people of the world and to its own citizens. It cannot aspire to be the world leader if little countries can belittle and humiliate China whenever they want to.

China must stop talking and return an eye for a eye if they want such mischief to end immediately. Nothing else will do. As for the provocations in the South China Sea, it is time that China drag a few intruding warships home if it wants to stop the provocations. The whites only understood might is right. Stop being civil to the barbarians.

PS. Even Singapore is standing up to Malaysia. China cannot stand up to Canada? Unreasonableness must be met with unreasonableness.

What is a post turtle?

The above post was sent to me by a friend. I am amused by the uncanny accuracy in the description of what reality is all about. The turtle did not get up there by itself. Neither does it know how to come down. It needs help to get up and needs help to get down, safely.