TR EMERITUS

Protesters in Myanmar are concerned that they are being monitored by Chinese facial recognition technology, as spiraling violence and street surveillance raise concerns of a "digital dictatorship." According to human rights organizations, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor peoples' movements poses a "significant threat" to their freedoms. Security forces have concentrated on suppressing dissent in towns such as Naypyitaw, Yangon, and Mandalay, where hundreds of CCTV cameras have been installed as part of an effort to strengthen governance and reduce crime. Human Rights Watch has expressed "heightened concern" about public cameras equipped with AI technology that can scan faces and car license plates and alert authorities to those on a wanted list. On Feb 10. The Justice for Myanmar online page posted a photo of riot police officers armed with TRD's Orion 7 anti-drone gun. After coming under fire over photos of Burmese security forces using drone-killing weapons, a Singaporean manufacturer admitted it sold them to Myanmar. It is one of many Singapore companies accused by coup opponents of siding the military regime through material support or collaboration. The same extremist Burmese military that committed genocide, battles with every ethnic minority, owns vast conglomerates and murky financial interests, has now taken complete control of the government. The majority of Burmese clearly do not want this. It's clear that India, Russia and China see little problem with selling advanced weaponry to this terroristic military. Israeli companies were not squeamish either. When does the world impose serious sanctions on military companies? Yes, I understand how the top military brass have taken over so many sectors of the economy that the coup was to protect their economic interests. This lucrative network made the coup possible and those serving the military untouchable. But the armed forces also draw a vast and secretive income from their sprawling military-run business empire. The country’s natural resources are located in areas inhabited by ethnic groups, that the Tatmadaw seeks to control. The real misfortune is that governments use a particular control logic. Malaysia, once Singapore's largest producer of sand, outlawed the sale of sea sand used for land reclamation in 2018. Cambodia made a similar move in 2017, while Indonesia blocked exports to Singapore in 2007, resulting in a "sand crisis" that nearly halted construction activity. Myanmar sand has been even more in demand after the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam almost entirely stopped exporting sand to Singapore. The military sounds like it is starting to adopt some of the brutal tactics of other militaries in the region like the Khmer Rouge. Sadly, each of those historical precedents ended with immense loss of life because the international community could not find common incentives for intervention. I have a feeling that history will repeat itself in Myanmar. It is true that, the country has been fighting separatists for decades. Some are backed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, some by United Wa State Army, Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, and some independently seek greater autonomy, Karen National Union. It’s certainly been a nightmare for them to try to form a peaceful, unified country when so many powers seem intent on seeing the country splinter. What if western countries start a war against Tatmadaw like NATO bombing campaign in Serbia in 1999 or Kuwait invasion in 1992 to kick out Saddam Hussein? However, this is unlikely because what happens in Burma, an inconsequential country otherwise, is not of much significance to western countries, even though Tatmadaw will fold like a house of cards if they face professional western army since it has NEVER fought a war against a professional army. Intervention can many times be costly whether monetarily or militarily. It can be hard to persuade Americans to care about something that is happening on the other side of the world and to invest time and money (taxes) into it. Especially if there is no perceived benefit to the States for doing so. And rarely does it benefit the US and also the other country for the US to intervene. Countries that value democracy have plenty of moral, economic & even cyber suasion at their disposal, if they act in a coordinated manner, to pressure such regimes. Military intervention should be a last resort. The testament that Burmese are typically known for their poise, gentleness, friendliness and patience is overwhelming. At the same time, I am astonished by the bravery of those protesters, at how bravely the majority—the public—are standing up to the tiny minority of goons with guns. Is there a way to empower and encourage countries, specifically the average citizen, to be their own police and humanitarian for their country? I suspect that if there is a way to do the latter then more countries would be stable.   Sojourne Shen      Read More →

The western media reports said that China is practicing genocide and also putting the indigenous Uighur population in concentration camps. China has rebutted these allegations as lies and fabrications. Instead, it has produced videos and statistics to show that the indigenous population had grown and the living standards have improved remarkably over the past decades. Which side is true? My common sense tells me: a. There is a need for China to act against the spread of terrorism and separatism, especially when foreign parties are suspected to be instigating the unrest. b. China probably encourages the indigenous population to go for job training and be economically productive. Most of these training programs are attended voluntarily by young people who wants a better future. They are not "concentration camps" or "forced labor". The "imperialist" countries probably wants Xinjiang to separate from China as it has vast mineral resources. I believe that the narrative from the western media may have some element of truth but are mostly exaggerations and outright lies for malicious purposes.   Tan Kin Lian      Read More →

Mr and Mrs Teo State media mouthpiece TODAY announced on Monday that Josephine Teo’s husband, Teo Eng Cheong, had been appointed as the head of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City and Investment Development Co (SSTEC). Strangely they omitted to mention his connection to the Manpower Minister, Josephine Teo. SSTEC is a 50-50 joint venture between Singapore and China, with Keppel representing  SIngapore. The actual corporate structure and business model is unsurprisingly opaque. Keppel Corporation was one of Temasek’s earliest subsidiaries and was listed in 1975. Temasek reduced its shareholding to just above 20% though. while remaining the biggest shareholder, and last year made a partial offer to take majority control but pulled out when Keppel breached one of the pre-conditions. However Temasek’s and the Government’s influence over Temasek is much greater than its 20% shareholding would suggest. Its Chairman, Lee Boon Heng, is a former Minister and its board is packed with former MPs and civil servants who hold directorships at other Temasek Group companies. Josephine Teo’s husband was last in the news when he resigned abruptly and unexpectedly as CEO of Surbana Jurong after Parti Liyani, the foreign domestic worker who was employed by Surbana’s Chairman, Liew Mun Leong,  was acquitted in September 2020. The shockwaves from that judgement claimed the scalp of Liew Mun Leong. Curiouser and curiouser, to use a phrase appropriate to the PAP’s looking glass world where greed is self sacrifice and meritocracy is appointing your relatives and spouses to gorge at the public trough, was the resignation of Teo Eng Cheong a few days before the judgement was officially announced. ( I wrote about it in The Curious Case of Josephine Teo’s Husband’s Resignation from Surbana Two Days Before Liew’s Maid Was Acquitted) I said there that there were important questions to be answered that were brushed under the carpet with Teo’s resignation. Parti had made a complaint to MOM about illegal deployment in 2017. This was resolved in 2018 with MOM only issuing a caution to Mrs Liew and an advisory to Karl, who as the black sheep of the family seems to have accepted the role of fall guy for his dad. I questioned why Mr Liew, as the employer was not prosecuted (which would have resulted in him being forced to step down as Chair of Surbana). I also pointed out the egregious conflict of interest in the fact that Josephine Teo was Second Manpower Minister from May 2017 and full Minister from May 2018 and thus would have been in a position to influence any decision as to what action to take in the case of Parti’s illegal deployment. At the same time Liew Mun Leong was the Chairman and thus in a position to decide her husband’s position and remuneration. While it cannot be proven that Teo Eng Cheong’s resignation was directly linked to the Parti Liyani case, it certainly looks like it. It also begs the question as to why there were no repercussions for Josephine Teo. Any interruption to the power couple’s star earning power from public funds was short-lived however as Mr Teo has bounced right back landing not only on his feet but with his mouth connected once more to the overflowing teat of the Government cash cow. I hasten to add that this cash cow of inflated salaries and perks is only for PAP Ministers, MPs, spouses, relatives and assorted cronies and hangers-on. This gushing state cornucopia is in stark contrast to the austerity inflicted on ordinary Singaporeans in the name of preventing welfarism and the lies and subterfuge about the reserves. I remember Goh Chok Tong in a National Geographic documentary from some fifteen or twenty years ago saying that JBJ had to be crushed because he advocated greater welfare for the people. Furthermore, as everyone knows from my father’s fate and that of other dissidents like impoverished blogger Roy Ngerng, if you dare to oppose the PAP the Government will do its best to use its totalitarian control over the economy and society to deny you the means of making a living. Goh Chok Tong even took to Facebook recently to taunt me on my brother’s appointment to the Supreme Court.  Reading between the lines, his post was clearly meant to highlight the rewards of not criticising the PAP and a warning of what will happen to you if you do. From the PM’s appointment of his wife as CEO of Temasek, on a secret remuneration that is rumoured to be $100 million p.a. and her occupation of the post for sixteen years despite mistakes that would have seen a private sector CEO dismissed a long time ago to countless other examples of PAP couples and relatives with mediocre qualifications occupying top positions, even the pretence of meritocracy has been abandoned.   Kenneth Jeyaretnam   About the author: I’m a Singaporean economist who became an opposition activist. I blog to provide an alternative to the porkies that the Pinkies tell. It just so happens that my alternative is the truth. That’s why I’ve never been sued in any civil or criminal court no matter how hard hitting my criticism. I’m quoted and interviewed and asked to speak across the world but largely censored in Singapore in an effort to silence my political opinions. The left hate me because they think I split their vote and because I eschew their outmoded economic models. Models that don’t work. The Right and the Conservatives hate me because I’m a liberal. I’m not sure what the middle think of me. I don’t think there are more than a handful of people in the middle, here in Singapore. I’m a Singaporean born and bred, dual heritage, my parents Singaporean established here before the State of Singapore was created. I’m not Eurasian. I read economics at Cambridge and could be broadly described as from the Keynesian school but I believe in interventions. I was formerly a successful hedge fund manager. After economics and politics my greatest interests are history, film and Makan. I run but I run so I can eat like a Singaporean.      Read More →