Pink IC means Singaporean is a reckless and dangerous concept

 Citizenship is an identity of a nation state. The people of a nation is identified by its citizens. Originally, citizens of a nation state are quite uniform, homogenous and easily identifiable. The state is identified by its people. The people identified themselves as citizens of a state, pledge loyalty to the state, to defend the state and tie their survival and existence to a state.

When migration becomes freer, by choice of a state or by choice of an individual, citizenship becomes complcx. An individual no longer be easily be identified as citizen of a state by his physical appearance.  An Indian can be an American citizen. An American can be an Italian citizen, a rojak person can be a citizen of any state. But all has to pledge loyalty and to defend the state they belong to as citizens of the respective states.

In theory, an Indian who is a citizen of UK can be fighting an Englishman who is a citizen of India in a war between the two states. The conflicting forces of ethnic identity and citizenship would come to play in such a situation. This was most pronounce in WW2 between Japan and the USA. The Americans resorted to throw every Japanese looking American citizen into prison to protect themselves from harm and danger posed by the Japanese American citizens.

Today, the Americans are suffering from Islamophobia and Sinophobia and taking very crude and abusive executive actions, state persecutions against American citizens from the Islamic world and China and many others. Citizenship is no longer a criteria to be taken for granted in trusting an individual's loyalty to his adopted state of choice. The fear of the pull of racial, cultural, religious forces cannot be underestimated when national interests are at stake, when existential risks are involved. Only fools and idiots would brush away these primordial forces as unimportant, that the individual can be trusted for his words when he pledged verbally to be loyal to the new state.

In America, the so called free society, this problem of trust and loyalty is more pronounced given its diversed population from all over the world. This same problem is also increasing in the European states when reversed colonisation is taking place, when the subjects of the Empires, the colonised people, are flooding into the European states in masses and would soon be a majority in many of these ex Empire states. The issue of conflicting loyalties would become a major problem to the American and European states. American Exceptionalism would not exempt them from this problem either. 

The only state that would not be affected by conflicting loyalties is likely to be Singapore. Singapore is an Exceptional State that believed that all the new citizens would be loyal to Singapore and would not betrayed Singapore. This can be seen by the numerous appointments of foreigners, ie new citizens into top positions, sensitive positions, political appointments, with no fear of being supplanted by the trusted new citizens. The great trust of the loyalty of new citizens is also manifested in the lower rung of society where foreign workers, the illiterate workers from third world crime infested countries, brought in by the millions but behaving very well, very decent, never commit crimes like they did back home...turning themselves into very loving pets to be cuddled by the always trusting Singaporeans.

This is Singapore Exceptionalism as its best. Everyone arriving in Singapore, whether in suits and ties or wildlife, would quickly transformed into law abiding and meek Singaporeans. A testament to the low crime rate in Singapore. And these foreigners would be the basic pieces to build the Singaporean core. It is an amazing Singapore miracle, that wildlife and crime prone individuals would automatically turn themselves into law abiding citizens to keep Singapore as the safest city state in the world. I am also puzzled but impressed by this strange and wonderful social experiment.

Once a foreigner is given a pink IC, instantly he/she will become a Singaporean, act and behave like a Singaporean with complete loyalty to Singapore, will not betray Singapore or cheat on Singapore. Yes, too good to believe. But this is Singapore Exceptionalism, unquestionable trust in the loyalty of new citizens.

American terrorists threatening Iran not to retaliate against Israel...It would not work

 To think that the Taliban could defeat the mighty USA was an impossibility in theory. But the Taliban did win against all odds, just like the North Vietnamese. Withdrawal is nothing more than a defeat, whichever way they want to spin it. Calling Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires, is therefore no idle boast.

Giving the impression by warning that Iran will disappear from the face of the earth if it retaliates against Israel is really trying to build up the reputation of the two rogue states. That was the same warning given to Kim Jong Un. That small red button of Kim Jong Un may be puny compared to the USA's monster red button that Trump boasted of, but it fulfilled its purpose. Fighting fire with fire is the only way to show the two rogues that they do not always have their way in everything, not even defending oneself. Myths need to be destroyed, or else it will continue to be used to haunt the faint-hearted.

The USA thinks wholesale bullying is the only way for them to strike fear into anyone trying to go against its wishes. China was warned not to retaliate by Trump when he started the trade war. China retaliated, tit for tat. China is now also retaliating in the technology war. The USA expects everyone to let it slap the right cheek and then turn the other left cheek for it to slap as well.

The Europeans may have allowed themselves to be slapped left, right and center, but others are learning. Iraq and Libya were meant to be examples of what the USA can do if countries do not fall in line. That is not going to be happening going forward.

BRICS formation was a great move. BRICS started with two big geopolitical players, Russia and China and other equally important political players like Brazil and India. The USA could not do anything with them unlike Iraq and Libya. With further expansion of BRICS, countries that are members are well protected under the umbrella of Russia and China. BRICS is gathering more members while the USA is left with the G7 and a few Asian doggies lending support. Russia has no friends they shouted. Just look around and see the real situation, just like visitors travelling to China and being shocked seeing the real thing, not the propaganda trotted out by the West.

Anonymous

Ukraine War - Putin playing chess with NATO gangsters

 We do remember the Russians withdrawing from an area in Eastern Ukraine more than a year ago, in order to lure the Ukrainian military into the area and finished them off? And the Ukrainians were shouting themselves hoarse, claiming that they were winning the war. Is this another Russian trap set for Zelensky? Who can read Putin's calculative mind? The leaders of all NATO countries, all 32 of them, could not outthink Putin alone and what strategies have they got to venture into Kursk? Just to plant a flag?

Russia is now hunting the Ukrainians down in Kursk, picking them off at leisure like flies. Little Britain is again trying to strut its withered feathers to attract the world's attention by claiming to allow Ukraine to use its tanks in the incursion into Russia.

British Challenger tanks already failed miserably in Ukraine itself, having to withdraw into bunkers to protect them from Russian missiles. British tanks could not even fulfill its grand mission of changing the game in Ukraine. What could they possibly hope to achieve in Kursk, except maybe taking up another display space in Russia or provide scrap metal for building Russian missiles and other weapons. Russia has little use for such junks.

Annympus

USA - Painting everything pink and purple for November Election

 Building factories in the USA is akin to closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted. It is an exercise in futility. China controls the raw materials, the refining logistics and is expanding its domination. Investors intending to help to build the USA manufacturing hub will have to live with the possibility of losing their pants trying to compete. The alternative is moving their operations to China, simple and more realistic to avail themselves of the supply chains at hand. They can always produce to cater to the Global South market, not necessarily the USA or EU market.

From now until the election in November, every little news about the USA is going to be rosy or as pink as their swimmers at the Paris Olympics. The stock market is shooting up, jobs are plentiful, manufacturing is coming back to the USA, inflation is manageable, and a rate cut in September is likely to happen. All these are spins to give the Democrats a lift in November.

Money printing of about US$3 trillion was reported in 2020, providing the growth in every sector of the USA economy. Ask Professor Richard Wolff and he will tell you it is all a mirage. Most of that money goes into the stock market on Wall Street, not into productive endeavors. Today's printing is even more intense, with the USA making hay while the sun still shines for the US$ hegemony. When it ends, the story ends as well.

Anonymous

How the US usurp the role of the UN to control countries in the use of nuclear technology

The US has 24 active 123 Agreements, including with countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The agreements have to include nine non-proliferation criteria set out in Section 123 to guarantee that the partner countries use any information gained for peaceful purposes.

For example, nuclear materials must be physically secured and cannot be enriched, reprocessed or transferred without consent from the US. 

Countries must also abide by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s standards on the use and security of nuclear material.

The Department of State’s website said such agreements set the foundation for collaboration with the US on nuclear energy as well as related educational and technological transfers.

A 123 Agreement with the US also allows Singapore to work with other countries that use nuclear technology originating in the US. 

“This will allow us to work more closely with US institutions, as well as civil nuclear entities in other countries,” the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a factsheet.  CNA

The above explains why the USA is the self appointed controller of nuclear energy development and usage in the world, not the UN. Countries wanting to engage in nuclear energy and related matters must signed an agreement with the US to be given the authority to proceed. Without the US consent, no country can engage in the use of nuclear energy and development or be ostracised and sanctioned for doing so.

Why is the USA the authority on this and not the UN? Why is a country, infamous for using nuclear weapons against Japan, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, and everyday threatening to use nuclear weapons to nuke other countries be allowed to control who can or cannot engage in nuclear energy development? The obvious consequence of this usurpation of the role of the UN is that the US could decide only its friends can engage in nuclear energy development, including building nuclear weapons but its enemies are barred from doing so. The US can legally authorised the spread of nuclear weapons and technology as it pleased to its allies and crony states but obstruct others from doing so.

This role of the US must be withdrawn and given to the UN or a neutral party, not the world's number one terrorist state, the USA.