06 December, 2011

Cannot be helped

Cannot be helped lah


Their belief, she says, is that a person suffering depression ought to be able to get help from church or family, rather than from state-provided professionals. "I told them," she says of her fellow legislators, "that when I had cancer, what I needed was a doctor. My family gave me support. My church gave me faith. But I still needed a surgeon."

06 December 2011

02 November, 2011

Silly Americans ?

Are Americans Silly ?

Americans are a silly people.

The tragedy is that not many Americans acknowledge their silliness nor how their silliness may affect the future of their country and the free world, possibly within their lifetime.


Government

The US political system is designed to provide checks and balances.  However, the result is sometimes an almost dysfunctional government that spends lots of time trying to get the required majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate to agree to pass certain legislation; sometimes the job is done after provisions are added or taken away to satisfy the personal agenda of individual congressmen or women but at other times, nothing gets done.

Even when the official U-3 unemployment rate is 9.1 per cent and the U-6 unemployment and under-employment rate is 16.5 per cent — meaning that almost one in ten people are unemployed and almost one in six people are unemployed or under-employed — President Obama's jobs proposal is languishing in Congress because the Republicans are adamant that they will not allow any increase in taxation and will not allow any increase in the national deficit or the national debt.  On their own, these are sound and prudent principles.  But what is more important — create jobs for the unemployed or financial prudence.  Will the creation of jobs not lead to a vibrant economy which will lead to higher tax revenues, lower national deficit and lower national debt?  Urgency has been displaced by party politics.

The Republicans have a point too — expenditure has to be reduced.  Wasteful expenditure needs to be weeded out.  Entitlements probably have to be reduced.

Nevertheless, it seems that nothing is more important to the Republicans than protecting corporations and the wealthy from tax increases — not defence, homeland security, education, essential infrastructure nor the economy.

Many billionaires are taxed at a rate lower than their employees.  Many profitable corporations pay little or no tax because of the complex tax codes and loopholes.  When the country has a budget deficit that causes its national debt to increase year after year, isn't it time for businesses and individuals who can most afford it to pay more taxes?

Occupy Wall Street was born out of the frustration felt by many people (and others who believed that they should not wait until something was affecting them personally to get out and do something about it) that inequality had gone on for too long.

Not surprisingly, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll showed Americans' deep distrust of their government.  89 per cent distrust the government to do the right thing, 74 per cent say the US is on the wrong track and 84 per cent disapprove of Congress.  86 per cent think the economy is fairly bad or very bad.  69 per cent think that that the policies of the Republicans in Congress favour the rich while 28 per cent think that the policies of the Obama administration favour the rich.  67 per cent disagree with cutting taxes for large corporations and 65 per cent think that taxes on the rich should be increased.

What is Congress doing?


Businesses

Businesses are investing overseas because it is cheaper for them to produce overseas.  Other businesses are simply buying from overseas suppliers.  It may be cheaper because of a myriad of factors.  The workers overseas may be working under conditions that may appall many Americans.  The factories may be operating under conditions that fail US environmental standards.  The companies may be using stolen American intellectual property or using inferior substitutes that may endanger the lives of consumers and others.  The foreign governments may be subsidising their companies by giving them cheap loans or tax concessions or turning a blind eye to the dishonesty of, or non-compliance by, corporations and individuals.

It makes economic common sense for a single US business to relocate or source overseas but when too many businesses do this, hundreds of thousands of jobs are exported and tax revenues fall and the country suffers.

American businesses don't seem to care because their respective bottom line is protected.

American consumers don't seem to care because they get to buy products that are cheaper.

Some economists argue that getting China to let the yuan appreciate significantly will not change things because American wages and other costs are too high compared to Chinese wages and other costs.  That may be true, but only to some extent.  It may be viable for some production to relocate back to the US.  Germany and Japan operate huge trade surpluses despite higher domestic costs.


National Debt

The result is a loss of production capacity, budget deficits and a ballooning national debt.

The flip side is that foreign governments have ended up holding US government securities, making them in effect the central banker to the US.  Chief among these countries is China.

US businesses and consumers are doing their part to enable China to grow economically.

China's growing economic clout has enabled it to develop its political influence and military power to challenge the US and the free world.  But many Americans do not believe, or do not want to believe, that China will one day overtake it as the largest economy and the number one military superpower.

The rest of the world sees it, although not many of its friends will say it.  China certainly believes that its time will come soon, economically and militarily.  But few Americans see or acknowledge it.  Many are preoccupied with making million dollar bonuses or making ends meet.  Some are focused on short-term politics.  Others believe they are helpless to change things.

It is a grave mistake.





02 November 2011

01 November, 2011

Hobby Time

Hobby and free to fantasize :-))


Box em

To make the game more exciting, we build-in constrains into the big picture. 80 boxes each of battalion/group size. Building an Army - only vital units (leave out the essential but non-vital for now).

You are free to fantasize but would be even more fun if you can bring some realism onboard.

for now...

01 November 2011

Soldier

i think this Tan Chuan Jin very good.

01 November 2011

22 October, 2011

Gaddafi and China

China and Gaddafi

China moved to embrace Libya's new government yesterday after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's death, updating its references to the former leader in state media from the "strongman" who defied the West to the "madman" whose time ran out.

Beijing initially refused to criticise Col Gaddafi or to support the rebellion, which began in February. As recently as late August, Col Gaddafi was described in relatively complimentary terms as a "Middle Eastern strongman" who defied Western threats and pressure.

Yesterday, however, state media outlets began referring to Col Gaddafi in disparaging terms not seen before.

"The death of Gaddafi concludes the Middle East's era of madmen," the People's Daily newspaper declared, while the website of the official Xinhua news agency simply captioned a photo of the former Libyan dictator: "The Middle Eastern madman Gaddafi".

Jettisoning any last vestige of neutrality, China's Foreign Ministry yesterday called for the rapid launch of an inclusive political process and economic reconstruction in Libya.

"At present, a new page has been turned in the history of Libya," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. AP - Todayonline

Apart from the right wing, we must be careful and discerning... there are many good people in China ...


Prof He Bin [Link]


22 October 2011

18 October, 2011

买国货

买国货 may be a temporary solution needed to bring back to balance this ... globalization. But alas, the "P" word is a dirty word to some idealogues.

18 October 2011

03 October, 2011

Universal Values

Some overseas chinese (including some Singaporeans of chinese descent) think that it is the West vs. China, especially now with the "rise of China". May i respectfully suggest that you pay a visit to the  晚晴园. If you have children, all the more we must bring them there !

民主 (Democracy) and 人权 (Human Rights) speaks of human dignity and they are not alien to the Chinese people.

The important thing is to discern between western "imperialist" hegamonic greed vis a vis universal values of human dignity, and again to discern between blind patriotism of the chinese people/diaspora (of a siege mentality) vis a vis universal values of human dignity.

They are playing us against each other, in this time and age, we must be very discerning. Our shared end is to achieve peace and progress for all 姓 (common man & women).


精神 (The spirit of nanyang)
03 October 2011

26 September, 2011

Hobby !

Fantasy - The Expanded ARMY

The 42 manoeuvre battalions

The Ties That Bind


Soldiers of the Malay Regiment in training for the defence of Singapore during WWII.



5PDA



Stay tune for more exciting Military hobby !
26 September 2011

16 August, 2011

Blood

La Grande Armee
by georges Blond
(translated by Marshall May)


Below i have included some scans of pictures from the book - La Grande Armee by Georges Blond (translated by Marshall May). It is a 'Tour De Force" historical account of the Napoleonic campaigns from Boulogne and Austerlitz to Spain and Moscow to the dramatic conclusion at Waterloo.

i will only refer to the start of the Russian campaign of Napoleon's Grand Army and end with their retreat "in a cold hell". And from there, i will pick only passages and pictures of interest to the medical military enthusiasts.

The campaign in Russia


Napoleon entered Smolensk at about 6am. This was not the first time that he had ridden into a conquered city through smoking ruins and dead piled high...In his progress across the city, the Emperor was constantly confronted by scenes of desolation. 24 hours would be needed before the streets could be cleared enough to allow the collection of the French and Russian wounded - those seemed to have a chance of survival - and once again, where should they be put? Fifteen large buildings were chosen as hospitals, according to the official reports; in fact, only a few houses were still standing. As usual, the sick and wounded were piled into them. Lacking straw, they were laid out on paper and parchments taken from the archives. 'In the hospitals of Smolensk,' wrote the Belgian surgeon Kerchove, 'or more accurately, in these cloaca of misery and infection, one could observe the impact of these putrid miasmas on the production of hospital gangrene.' For 24 hours, the wounded had practically nothing to eat or drink...

'In less than a month,' said Napoleon to caulaincourt, 'we shall be in Moscow and in ten weeks we shall have peace.' - chapter: The scorched earth of Russia (pg. 311)

On his arrival on 5 September, Napoleon had wished to take the Schwardino redoubt, the farthest west and the first encountered on the Smolensk road. His order was carried out, not without difficulty. It took three assaults. Next day ambulance crews passing by saw a ditch filled with limbs and bodies. Apparently, Larrey and his colleagues had been operating there the previous day. - chapter: The scorched earth of Russia (pg. 316)


Casualty evacuation: this scene, observed by Albrecht Adam at Smolensk in 1812, shows a common method of carrying a wounded man, using a musket as an improvised stretcher.



There was an immense cheer from the French side - 'as if from all the voices of Europe in every language' when the Three Fleches strong-point fell. It was heard by the surgeons and doctors who had established their ambulance in a coppice 50m behind the lines. Later they were ordered to bring it forward. 'We started to receive wounded Saxons, Westphalians, Wurttembergers and even Russians. They were mainly cavalrymen with deep wounds or crushed limbs. An unusually tall Saxon cuirassier had been wounded in the thigh by an explosion. The shattered muscles had exposed the femur bone from the knee to the great trochanter. The wound did not bleed. Wounds from tissue torn away paralyses the vessels, while wounds from cutting instruments bleed copiously. The Saxon was alert and said "My wound is serious, but i shall heal quickly as i am healthy and my blood is pure." The French were quiet and patient. many died before their turn came to be bandaged. - chapter: The scorched earth of Russia (pg. 320)

Officers and men at rest ...


Convoys from Smolensk arrived daily, but too often they brought nothing, having been harrassed and pillaged by the Cossacks en route. The escorts brought horrific tales of the makeshift hospitals set up between Smolensk and Moscow, sepulchres they are called. Their presence could be discerned from afar by the putrid smell and the piles of rotting corpses, excrement and mud, forming a frightful cloaca around the building. - chapter: Moscow - The horizon aflame (pg. 336)

The retreating Russian army remained invisible, but each day the French were harassed by Cossacks. Daily the advance-guard gained ground but lost men. Orders were to evacuate the sick and wounded to Moscow - but how? The orders did not specify and the advance-guard had no transport. Of the seven senior surgeons at the crossing of the Niemen, only von Roos remained; the others had stayed behind or were sick or wounded or in charge of one of the putrid hospitals on the road to Moscow. - chapter: Moscow - The horizon aflame (pg. 337)

Field surgery: Napoleon with Marshal Lannes, mortally wounded at Essling. At the left stands Dominique-Jean Larrey, chief surgeon of the imperial guard, who performed the amputation on Lannes' leg. 


They said they had seen mutilated soldiers on the devastated battlefield of Borodino, alive but incapable of moving, who survived inside the cadavers of horses from which they tore strips of festering meat. They were black and resembled animals. The arms and ammunition had been collected, but no one had bothered about these unfortunates...Segur reported that these abandoned wounded exhibited signs of cannibalism. - chapter: Moscow - The horizon aflame (pg. 339)

There were some 15,000 sick and wounded in the hospitals in Moscow. - chapter: Moscow - The horizon aflame (pg. 339)


The retreat ...


The wearisome nature of military marhes on campaign



Mojaisk was reached on the night of 28 October in a full-blooded snow storm and a temperature of -4 degree C. The town was a miserable collection of wooden houses, in varying states of dilapidation. They emitted a frightful stench and torch light revealed piles of decomposing corpses; these were the wounded from the Moskowa who had been left in intact houses and public buildings where they had died. In the abbey of Kolotskoi there were still 2,000 wounded; the doctors who had been left with them had no medicaments and could do nothing against typhus and gangrene. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 347)

On the morning of 29 October, the following order was circulated: 'Each regiment is to identify their wounded and to put those who can be moved into the carriages... The wounded were rapidly sorted out and those who were dying were abandoned; this was to become routine during the retreat. ...Soldiers and civilians had been able to see on the sides of the road the distorted bodies of French soldiers that looked as if they had been thrown there. And, in truth, they had been; dead, near-dead or even patients in reasonable shape were thrown out. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 347)

On the march in bad weather ...


It started to snow on the night of 5/6 November, but the temperature stayed at minus 20 degree C. The wife of a company barber of the Guard, one Madame Dubois, gave birth to a boy in a shelter of branches hastily constructed on the border of a wood. The company surgeon was present and the colonel donated his cloak to cover the shelter. He also gave the mother his horse which she rode, carrying her new-born in her arms wrapped in a sheepskin; she herself wore two claoks taken from soldiers who had died from cold during the night. The baby died from cold some days later; the sappers dug a grave with their axes. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 350)


The misery of war: a column of French troops on the retreatfrom moscow



Towards night the temperature fell again, with, as a bonus, icy snow. The horses began to drop in their hundreds...

In every war before armies were motorised, the horses had been the martyrs. The supreme crown of martyrdom should be awarded to the horses of the Grand Armee in Russia. Massacred (like the men) on the battlefields, wounded and abandoned (often, like the men) legs broken, bellies ripped open, dying by inches, pecked by crows while still alive, then on the frozen snow, eaten alive by the men.

Fallen horses were attacked even before they were dead; the frost would harden them too quickly. They were seen whinnying and shaking their heads as the butchers went to work. ...When a horse fell, and was being cut into, the gourmands went in quest of the liver, reputed to be the most succulent morsel, others cut the throat in order to collect the blood in their big cooking pots. ...men would cut steaks from a horse's thigh while the beast was still walking, harnessed to a cart. In the cold, the animal scarcely bled, continuing to walk, apparently without being aware of what was happening - a kind of local anaesthetic - at least temporarily, thanks to the cold.

When they left Moscow, the soldiers had some well-loved dogs. No dogs now - all eaten.

Sergeant Bourgogne has this to say: 'We fell in with some soldiers of the Line. ...they had seen some foreign soldiers (Croats) enlisted in our army, withdraw from a fire in a barn a roasted cadaver, which they cut up and consumed. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 351)

That was the evening when, shortly before reaching Smolensk, the surgeon Larrey saw a young woman push into a crowd of soldiers who had just disembowelled a horse. She plunged her hands in the animal's belly in order to tear away the liver. ...Some have it that she was a cantiniere, others, a colonel's wife. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 352)

The plight of the women and children who accompanied the army was sometimes desperate, most notably during the retreat from moscow.


Smolensk, its houses burned and churches become makeshift hospitals, presented a frightful spectacle. The so-called hospitals were virtually morgues; on entering one had to walk across rigid cadavers. But life continued. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 352)

Profiteering (increased GDP) but no $ for its people [Link] ? A German officer of light infantry and his staff. His carriage was full of sacks of tea. At the halts, having little to eat, he would brew up, and would allow his staff to do the same only using the tea-leaves he had already boiled. Another officer criticised this 'cruel parsimony': 'My dear fellow, if I can manage to get this tea to Germany I shall make a fortune.' ...[This] German [officer] lingered to have his tea. The Cossacks arrived and 'we have seen no more of him'.  - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 353)

The long march was resumed in a temperature of minus 28 degree C. ...the wounded... were under-nourished, verminous beneath their rags and psychologically in a deplorable state; each morning the frozen corpses of their comrades were left behind on the snow. Larry has described the apprearanc of these cadavers: 'The skin and the muscles exfoliate as in wax statues, the bone remaining exposed, the nose removes itself like a false nose and the hands putrefy and fall off.' - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 355)

On the road they had chosen, the town of Orcha on the Dniper... 600Km from Moscow. For cash or jewels they obtained shelter. The wounded who wished to remain prayed for lodging, as the hospitals at Orcha were already full. But they either had nothing to offer in return, or not enough: 'They were chased away, often falling and being trampled underfoot.'

These men who had marched for weeks in a white waste were now suffering from acute ophthalmia, aggravated by the smoke from bivouac fires and by the irritation caused from rubbing their eyes with filthy hands, or with snow - in the hope of alleviating the pain - but few of the blind reached the Beresina. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 357)

$$ ...a Westphalian soldier was sitting on the ground, holding in his hands a silver ingot, which appeared to weigh 15 - 20 pounds. He had carried it all this way and was now offering it in exchange for a loaf of bread. There were no takers and he was chaffed to 'eat his ingot'. - chapter: 1812 - Retreat in a cold hell (pg. 358)

Soldiers' pay !

Battalion Casualty Station and Field Hospital of a very modern army today ...

A 5 tonner truck convertible to a casualty station


The rear view of a mobile casualty station


But still the same blood !




16 August 2011

06 August, 2011

争 霸 - 开 始 了 (latest update 06 August 2011)

争 霸 - 开 始 了 Update

06 August 2011

i need a vacation

Singapore Armed Forces OPFOR Training Ground


By David Boey

Was pleasantly [emphasis mine] surprised to see that photographer Ang Song Nian was allowed to take pictures of the oil palm plantation on Pulau Tekong, Singapore's largest offshore island which is exclusively used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

I have yet to see such a direct reference between oil palm plantations in an SAF training area and those in Malaysia. The SAF also maintains rubber plantations on Tekong and mainland Singapore for its ground forces to stage war games.

The pictures will be part of an art show titled Imagine Malaysia.

The text of the Life! story reads:"Award-winning photographers Robert Zhao and Ang Song Nian both depict the uneasy relationship between the two countries through photographs laden with strong visual puns and symbols.

"Zhao's work features a lion and tiger while Ang's photograph diptych features what look like similar images.

"But one is a Malaysian oil palm plantation, the other is Pulau Tekong, the training site of Singapore's pool of soldiers in the event of war."


A comment from a reader:

They know. We know that they know. We pretend that they dun know that we know they know.

This main stream media article is not meant for malaysian's consumption. It's for "National Education" purpose and for a certain "BIG Country" personnel monitoring our main stream media.

The two, ... they are still at it? Good ...

06 August 2011

01 August, 2011

Parents' Love

Show of tanks: Mr Raysen Boo and his wife pose in front of Tank 25, driven by their 23-year-old son, Lance Corporal Boo Li Yan. The couple stayed faithfully by the Leopard 2SG until it was time for the tank to join the Parade Preview. All this while, they did not even get to see their son - such is the thing that parents do.
[Link]




Every parents love their children.  They will especially worry for their sons whom are drafted into National Service and more so for the sons who served in the combat vocation. It is natural that they will do their utmost to protect their children to the best of their abilities and resources, regardless of their stations in life.


Update: 12 August 2011

National Service: A Mother's Constant Worry [Link]

AS A mother of a full-time national serviceman (NSF) who is nine months into his national service and who has just graduated from the Specialist Cadet School, I feel the pain of the parents of Third Sergeant Ee Chun Sheng ('NSF on training exercise dies'; Aug 3).

Each day, since my son began fulfilling his NS obligations, I have lived in fear of the telephone ringing, or of a soldier in uniform calling at my house, to break some painful news.

We can live with the sores and cuts that he comes home with, but we fear the day we will never see him come home again.

Every year, thousands of our boys leave their homes, their studies or their jobs to fulfil their obligations to the nation. All they and we, their parents, ask for is their safe return two years later.

Why are there fatal accidents involving our NSFs almost every year? Why do they happen even after inquiries and investigations reveal that procedures were followed and safety measures were in place?

The Defence Ministry should correct this distressing record. Let us, the parents of current and future NSFs, live and sleep in peace.


and here we have ...

“These moronic ‘Singaporeans’, their code, their morals, their ‘loyalty’ and ‘patriotism’… all dropped at the first sign of trouble… just ask any of them if they want to be excused from serving NS and they will be the first to raise their hands… Require any of them to serve an extra month of NS and they will riot in Singapore… Ask them to fight a war, almost all will declare they are ready to pack up and run." - Rachelle Ann Beguia Riko (Singapore Foreign Talent)




In memory of ... (1973 to 1992). We will not forget you. Your mom and dad and younger brother cherished your memory. Your friends whom you go to school and junior college with i am sure they too remember you. We think of you from time to time. We will not forget, we will think of you in our memories till time catches up on us. 


Update: 15 August 2011


Anonymous said...

Derek, pls dun take it personally. From the first batch of NS conscirptees till today, ALL parents worry for their sons. Its just tht now they are more articulate. They write letters to forum, they blog about it but at the end of the day, they still "let go" (majority got no choice and connections and "know how" - like savvy to see a highly regarded professor to try to sift out some congenitor defeats where no captain/major MOs dare to contradict & the addr is in bukit timah) of their sons into SAF's hands.

From the Napoleonic war to the Vietnam war, young soldiers before they breath their last would often call for their mothers. This bond is even stronger than the rambo who try to act macho. Its no different whether one is in Pulau Tekong (bootcamp) or in the Ia Drang Valley (US infantry) or at Helmand, Afghanistan (British paras), these boys are isolated from their families. At Helmand, young paras shed tears for their fallen comrades, are they sissies? On the contrary! their OCs/CO know how to tape into their comeraderie and "emotions", to give time for grieve and this build cohesion and brotherly fighting spirit! Humans are emotive creatures, and the army who knows how to tape this "emotion" will have won half the battle

So on SAF day, we shd not forget the parents of these conscriptees.


Update: 22 August 2011


To The End Of The Land [Link]

a novel by David Grossman of a mother who tries to keep her son alive while he is at war by hiking the length of Israel, hoping that if she cannot be reached to be told of his death, he won't die.

Book Review

01 August 2011

28 July, 2011

Sin


"... As Christ hung on the cross being crucified, He cried out to the Father to forgive his persecutors. This sort of forgiveness isn't an act of forgetting or pretending that their sin didn't occur, it is ongoing as he made this plea, he was then being crucified. Rather, this sort of forgiveness feels, extremely keenly, the nails and the pains caused by our sin, but yet, even as Christ felt the excruciating effects of our sin, it is not a sedation of the experience of our sin or a deliberate amnesia, but it is the sort of forgiveness that acknowledges fully the realities of our sin and evil, and looking squarely at our fallen state while on the cross, says, "Yes, you are killing me, but that doesn't mean its over between us. I forgive you. I still love you."

Christ is saying here that His love can overcome the wrongs which we do, that his resources for love will never run out, that, it is strong to cope with our sin, to continue to build relationship with us, to create a future for us, despite our destructiveness. This sort of forgiveness is fully realistic about our sin and fallen nature. It looks at it fully, and says deliberately, yes, there can be a future relationship even after this, that your past, it will not impede my love, it will not cease my work of creating a new future for you.

And the Resurrection of Christ vindicates fully, that there is a future for us to have a relationship with God, despite us killing him, it cannot destroy his love, which returns to us from the empty tomb, and continues to forgive and love us.

This sort of forgiveness frees us to accept ourselves completely, without illusions and with wholeness. Guaranteed and assured by God's promise of a future, no matter our past, we are liberated from the need to explain or rewrite or forget our past, because we know that there will be a future, no matter what has happened.

This is also the sort of forgiveness that gives us hope, hope of a future, as God's forgiveness fully acknowledges and accepts our sinful past, and still promises that his love can create new dimensions to the relationship, new depths and new possibilities for the future. Which is why forgiveness is a matter of faith, a matter of belief, it is a trust that God can bring about a future, despite sin, and that he can continue to create and renew our relationship, despite the past. ..."

28 July 2011

26 July, 2011

争 霸 - 开 始 了

Hegamony - begins ...

'We do not wish to increase tensions with anyone, but we must let the world know we are ready to protect what is ours,' ... 'There was a time when we couldn't respond appropriately to threats in our own backyard. Now our message to the world is clear: What is ours is ours. Setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue.' - President Benigno Aquino [Link]






In his speech to the nation, Benigno Aquino III announced that he will increase the purchase of more weapons, including a patrol boat to defend the Spratley Islands. The Philippines will defend by force, in this case against China, and from his tones, will attack Chinese ships entering the area. China has to be careful of this rising military power and avoid sending its naval crafts as they will be attacked and probably sunk by the mighty Filipino Navy.

Aquino can talk loudly, while standing on the head of the Americans, waving the military treaty they have signed in the 1950s. While the Filipino patrol boats may be good only against fishing vessels, there lies, lurking in the dark and under the South China Sea, a mighty American fleet and submarines that are waiting for the Chinese ships. One can expect the Filipinos to fire at the Chinese fire to draw fire from the latter and the US jumping in to declare that China is bullying its smaller neighbours. And the White Knight will have all the reasons to flex its muscles and entrench their presence in the region.

The Americans may think that the Chinese will back
.
Comment from a reader to the above blogger:
 ‎"...Call a spade a spade. China has come of age - this is nothing more than 争 霸 (domination by force) as mentioned by LKY. Don't talk about maps or history, if so even Singapore (Temasek) was reflected on admiral Cheng Ho's map! If this is the road China chose to take, there will be war. i fear for the chinese people who have make a home in nanyang, for we have lived peacefully with the "bumis" and now if china behaves like this and certain section of the chinese population turn their allegiance towards China at a time of highten conflict, this will bring grave consequence to the largely peaceful and loyal chinese descendants whom have called nanyang home and nationhood had been forged (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, etc)...." - Anon.
i do not know what the majority of Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. think. If i imagine the worst, then we have failed in our nation building. If you declare yourself not yet a nation... then it leaves room to "capitulate", some space to manoeuvre, and wriggle yourself out of this. Will ASEAN disintegrate?  The "5 Power Defence Arrangement" cannot exist by then.
Or give in to China. Let her have her way and do whatever she fancy in this century. The chinese in south east asia can "plead" on behalf of the locals. China, on sentiments, as a 'big country', will not attack and annihilate the 'small countries' of the south east asian archipelagos.

America? She cannot even save herself. By then the US of A will have been torn apart and the American people betrayed by their very own elites...which they (the elites) will align with China's elite, because that is where the money is.
New World Order


What are we? To have a soul or just to survive ?

26 July 2011

Update 06 August 2011: We have to be decerning least we unintentionally harm the majority of Chinese people (in China) who desire peace.

China - The perpetual strawman for whacking

Comment from a reader of the above blog post.

 its not entirely true Mr Red bean. Moving into the 21th century, the lines between nation states are not quite as stark as compared to the cold war era. To keep a complex story short, it is about a faction of the USA against another faction of the Chinese communist, with lots of sub-plot and self-interest thrown in, messy stuff. These factions may not speak for the whole country, therefore citizens of either one. Governments of the 21th century see a weakening of their power vis a vis the super wealthy elites, aka The real players behind the scene. They move governments! Scary. My take is that China do not need to fight America...all they need to do is just cultivate the super rich Americans and they will eventually betray their own country and countrymen so as to preserved their wealth due to greed and align themselves with the right wing super rich of the chinese elite, and this in turn works for the interest of the chinese communist party. America will implode by itself. Sad. You know, we can say all the "bad things" about the western imperialist but the west was "naive" enough to believe in highfalutin ideals like democracy, one-man-one-vote, human rights, the rule of law, blah blah blah. Also, the fact that the western general public can move their government in a legit kind of way without having run over by T-72s speaks volume of the power balance equation, still giving a ray of hope in a rather pessimistic take of the 21th century. Singapore - for a tiny red dot, we are at ground zero.

There are many good people in China today, Chinese people with a conscience ...


Prof He Bin [Link]




06 August 2011


25 July, 2011

God & Slavery

Yawning Bread - Religiosity and income inequality hypothesis :

" ... It is not as mysterious as it may at first seem. It has long been observed that income inequality correlates with religiosity; the greater the inequality, the higher the degree of religiosity. Generally, the hypothesis is that those who are worse off economically seek succour in religion. It comforts them, it gives them hope that perhaps in the next life, things will be better. It gives them a sense of self-worth on the intangible values side to compensate for the humiliations they suffer on the material side (“I may be poorer than you, but I am a better person than you”). The name given to this explanation of the correlation is Deprivation Theory. The more deprived the bulk of the people are, the more unequal the society, the greater interest in religion.

A variant of the hypothesis incorporates a twist to it, known as Relative Power Theory: Income inequality correlates with religiosity because religion is also useful to the richer classes in maintaining their privileges. Consciously or unconsciously, the better-off classes use and propagate religion to inculcate acceptance among the lower-income of their inferior status. Religion tends to promote a fatalistic view of life, whether cast as “God’s plan” or “You’re not succeeding because you haven’t prayed hard enough”, thereby reducing popular demand for economic redistribution.  Additionally, the promotion of religion achieves buy-in by the lower-income classes of the conservative social values that religion often represents, thus channelling their vote-support towards rightwing parties which (surprise, surprise!) tend to champion free-market values — the very values that create and defend income inequality and oppose redistribution. The greater the inequality, the more the richer classes deploy religion to protect their interests. ..."


Slavery A Positive Good [Link]

"...  I hold then, that there never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other. Broad and general as is this assertion, it is fully borne out by history. This is not the proper occasion, but, if it were, it would not be difficult to trace the various devices by which the wealth of all civilized communities has been so unequally divided, and to show by what means so small a share has been allotted to those by whose labor it was produced, and so large a share given to the non-producing classes. The devices are almost innumerable, from the brute force and gross superstition of ancient times, to the subtle and artful fiscal contrivances of modern. ..." - John C. Calhoun (06 February 1837)



The Natural State Of Mankind is... freedom [Link]


Amistad

A Dramatic monologue by John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins): " ... This is a recent issue, and there’s an article in here written by a ‘keen mind of the South,’ who is my former Vice President, John Calhoun, perhaps, could it be? – who asserts that: ‘There has never existed a civilized society in which one segment did not thrive upon the labor of another. As far back as one chooses to look – to ancient times, to Biblical times – history bears this out. In Eden, where only two were created, even there, one was pronounced subordinate to the other. Slavery has always been with us and is neither sinful nor immoral. Rather, as war and antagonism are the natural states of man, so too, slavery, as natural as it is inevitable.’ Now, gentlemen, I must say I differ with the keen minds of the South, and with our President, who apparently shares their views, offering that the natural state of mankind is, instead – and I know this is a controversial idea – is freedom, is freedom. And the proof is the length to which a man, woman, or child will go to regain it, once taken. He will break loose his chains. He will decimate his enemies. He will try and try and try against all odds, against all prejudices, to get home. ... "



So what did God say about Slavery ? 

Some how, i shudder to know the truth. You lost all hope when you find that God is not on your side... but do we give up the fight ?  Or, Cannot be helped ?


25 July 2011

22 July, 2011

Sounds All Too Familiar

Peter Apps:

Britains love to lecture the world about integrity and the rule of law, but the News of the World phone hacking scandal has laid bare a web of collusion between money, power, media and the police.

Behind the façade of probity, London offers a haven for oligarchs and despots, a place where foreign media magnates have bought access to and influence over the govt….

In fact, it points to a bigger problem in British society – overly cosy relationships among elites that are ethically dangerous, even when they do not involve outright criminality….

“It is ….often a more sophisticated form of high level political corruption. It may not be strictly illegal – or it may be more subtle – but that does not mean it is not very costly for society or the economy,” said Dr Kaufmann, a former director of the World Bank Institute….If unchecked, “elite capture” of political systems can become “privatization of public policy”….

Transparency International published a report earlier this month titled Britain: More Corrupt than You Think, showing that the majority of people believed corruption was worsening in the country….”The long term result is likely to be a further erosion in the credibility of the British establishment, particularly the media and the police, in the eyes of the citizens.”

22 July 2011

18 July, 2011

Hard Truths ( like that also can ? ! )

Low Budget, no colour version... (not starring Tony Leung)



What went wrong? People with real grievances...




18 July 2011

15 July, 2011

The Great Singapore Swim (Soon to be an Annual event in the SAF Calendar)

Mollymeek: The Swim

Everyone is God's creation. We are created with gifts and is precious and unique in HIS sight. National Service is just 2 years, he has a whole life time to live and contribute. So what if he cannot fit into the SAF? Give him sometime, do not punish him too severely...


15 July 2011

12 July, 2011

一 山 还 有 一 山 高


With globalization -  there will always be people in the world willing to work cheaper than you and there will always be people in the world smarter than you. The question for the government of the day (as well as the citizens of Singapore) is, where do you draw the line? If we do not, we will see the disintegration of the social fabric of Singapore society.

My Singapore News: Time to take ownership

Dumped the whole lot of Singaporeans into the South China Sea, and when these current lot of "foreign talents" become old and expensive, also dumped them into the south china sea and then import some more younger and even cheaper "foreign talent" ? And then what ?


Dawn of globalization



12 July 2011

02 July, 2011

Hobby

Hobbies to keep one sane. Or a need for symmetry ?


 









Urban Warfare Close-Quarter-Combat







Fun! and a good distraction from real life.

02 July 2011