TR EMERITUS

By Ting-I Tsai from Wall Street Journal The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama began the first day of his trip here Monday, holding religious services for victims of Typhoon Morakot and sharing his thoughts on Taiwan and China's relationship, saying the two should develop "very close and unique links." The Dalai Lama spent the day in southern Taiwan, visiting the area devastated by the typhoon, which authorities on Monday said killed 602, with 81 missing. The Buddhist leader conducted prayer services and spoke with grieving family members. Although the Dalai Lama has denied that he wants to promote Tibetan independence, China has criticized the exiled spiritual leader for fomenting separatism and it strongly discourages countries from receiving him. Beijing has strongly denounced his visit, saying it could have a "negative influence" on improving ties between the one-time foes. The exile leader Monday again emphasized that his visit was non-political and purely humanitarian. However, he also praised Taiwan's democracy and encouraged Taiwan to preserve it. "In any case, Taiwan should have very close and unique links with mainland China, close of economy and close of defense," the Dalai Lama said, "But at the same time, Taiwan already enjoys democracy and economic prosperity … most important, you achieved democracy that you must preserve." As part of his efforts to sought to ratchet down the tensions resulting from the visit, the Dalai Lama on Sunday canceled the only press conference of his five-day trip and downsized the scale of a scheduled mass prayer ritual. He also expressed understanding for the decision of President Ma and other member of the ruling party from meeting him. "I don't want to create any inconvenience for anybody," he said. "No problem." Last week, Mr. Ma approved his visit, which was made at the request of opposition party members. They asked the Dalai Lama to come to comfort the victims of the typhoon, the worst to hit the island in decades. The 74-year-old, who is considered by many Buddhists to be a living god, was greeted Sunday night at Taoyuan railway station, where he was boarding a train to Kaohsiung, by protesters who favor reunification with China. The spiritual leader considered the protest as a sign of free expression. "No problem, I myself totally dedicate to the promotion of democracy," he said "I like it, I love that." The local media has reported that Beijing has slowed down its exchanges with Taiwan because of the Dalai Lama's visit. But, Liu Te-hsun, spokesman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said "Whether there is any negative impact remains to be seen." Sunday night, the Chinese government-run Xinhua news agency reiterated China's opposition to the trip. But it limited the brunt of its criticism to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party." "The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has ulterior motives to instigate the Dalai Lama, who has long been engaged in separatist activities, to visit Taiwan," according to a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, which was carried by Xinhua. "We resolutely oppose this and our position is firm and clear," the spokesman said. "The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on the relations between the mainland and Taiwan. We will keep a close eye on the situation." Source: WallStreetJournal EDITORS' NOTE: Temasek Review is a paid subscriber of Wall Street Journal  Read More →

From our Correspondent Much has been written on the economic impact of the uncontrolled influx of foreigners into Singapore. Little is known about the underlying political implications. While no studies have been conducted on the voting patterns of immigrants, it is likely that a majority of them will be pro-government, given that it is the government which gives them the opportunity to succeed in Singapore. To a Chinese or Indian immigrant family completely clueless about Singapore's political baggage or history, the PAP represents a sort of "savior" to them without which they will not be allowed to start life afresh here. Furthermore, the PAP-controlled grassroots organizations have been actively reaching out to the new citizens through hosting a variety of activities to help them "integrate" into the community to the extent of giving them positions in the Residents Committees'. With the number of new citizens arriving on Singapore's shores increasing at a frentic rate, they will form an influential voting bloc in future elections and the PAP is well aware of it. Besides the vote in their hands, new citizens also help to styme the development of the citizenry's political awareness indirectly. By keeping the median wages of the Singapore worker down and posing a constant threat to their livelihoods, it creates a siege mentality in Singaporeans that they will lose out in the rat race unless they continue working hard to earn a living. With their attention and energies focused completely on economic survival, they will be apathetic towards current affairs and local politics. There lies the ingenuity of the PAP. No matter how tough life is, it will ensure that nobody goes hungry in Singapore. Prices of foodstuff and living necessities are kept low to ensure that even the destitute and homeless get one basic meal a day. The middle class, with their endless fixation on the materialistic pursuits in life, will have little motivation to join politics to create "trouble" for the government which explains why most Singaporeans are generally averse to politics. A nonchalant and ignorant citizenry is a key to the continued hegemony of the PAP as recent events have shown. Despite widespread public disaffect towards the lossess suffered by Temasek and GIC, they are never really threatened. Political dissatisfaction is limited chiefly to cyberspace where it exerts a negligible impact on the rest of the enslaved population which is still unaware of its inherent political rights. All kinds of repressive laws were put in place to prevent the public expression of political dissent as it will have serious ramifications on the popularity and legitimacy of the regime. A new aristocracy is emerging with the new citizens becoming increasingly part of the PAP's core support base. In fact, some of them have already been co-opted into the regime and appointed as Members of Parliament. With no foreseeable opposition in sight, the system which is specifically designed to perpetuate one-party rule, will continue to keep the PAP in power for a long time to come, elections being a 5 yearly necessary "nuisance" in order to keep its democratic pretensions alive. Singaporeans can continue to complain for all they like. The power of their vote is being eroded gradually with each passing day as more and more foreigners take up Singapore citizenship. Either they toe the official line or ship out altogether. As the feebled opposition continues its ignonimous journey into oblivion, the PAP is quietly rebuilding its power base, slowly but steadily. With the new citizens firmly integrated into the PAP's system followed by years of indoctrination by the state propaganda machinery, we will see another generation of brainwashed citizens who are eternally "grateful" to the PAP.  Read More →

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's next leader, Yukio Hatoyama, fresh from a historic election win, faced the task on Monday of forming a government to tackle challenges such as reviving the economy and steering a new course with close ally Washington. Sunday's victory by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ends half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and breaks a deadlock in parliament, ushering in a government that has promised to focus spending on consumers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the power of bureaucrats. "It's taken a long time, but we have at last reached the starting line," Hatoyama told a news conference at his home in Tokyo on Monday. "This is by no means the destination. At long last we are able to move politics, to create a new kind of politics that will fulfill the expectations of the people." Financial markets welcomed the end to a political deadlock that has stymied policies as Japan struggled with its worst recession since World War Two. The Democratic Party and its small allies won control of the upper house in 2007. Media forecasts show the Democrats with about 308 seats in the 480-seat lower house, compared with only 119 for the LDP. The Nikkei share average hit jumped to its highest in nearly 11 months before easing back, while the yen rose to a 7-week high. The yen was boosted by the end of electoral uncertainty, though the cabinet line-up may not be decided for weeks. SPENDING WORRIES The untested Democrats, who will face an upper house election in less than a year, will have to move quickly to keep support among voters worried about a record jobless rate and a rapidly aging society that is inflating social security costs. Hatoyama is to set up a transition team to organize the change of government, but has said he will not announce his cabinet until he is officially elected prime minister by a special session of parliament, probably in about two weeks. Analysts say the decade-old Democrats' spending plans might give a short-term lift to the economy, just now emerging from recession, but worry that its programs will boost a public debt already equal to about 170 percent of GDP. Sliding retail sales show the weakness of the economy, although industrial production has begun recovering from a slide last year in the midst of the global financial crisis. The Democrats have vowed not to raise the 5 percent sales tax for four years while it focuses on cutting wasteful spending. "The problem is how much the Democrats can truly deliver in the first 100 days. If they can come up with a cabinet line-up swiftly, that will ease market concerns over their ability to govern," said Koichi Haji, chief economist at NLI Research Institute. The Democratic Party victory ended the "iron triangle" -- a three-way partnership between the LDP, big business and bureaucrats that turned Japan into an economic juggernaut after the country's defeat in World War Two. Support for the LDP, which has ruled for all but 10 months since its founding in 1955, has been on a downtrend for years, but charismatic leader Junichiro Koizumi managed to lead the party to a huge election win in 2005 with promises of market-friendly reforms.   Those reforms came under fire even within the LDP for worsening social and income gaps and were further attacked after the global financial crisis tipped Japan into recession.   In an essay published this month in the New York Times, Hatoyama railed at what he called the "unrestrained market fundamentalism" of U.S.-led globalization but at his news conference sought to allay any concerns raised by those comments.   "We are not saying that the (free) market principles are all bad ... But the current economic situation is one where there need to be corrections in areas where reform went too far," Hatoyama said.   A series of scandals, policy flip-flops and a perceived inability to address deep-rooted problems such as creaking pension and health care systems eroded the LDP mandate.   Voters, having taken a gamble on change, will want to see proof quickly that the Democrats can do a better job.   "It's going to be crucial how they spend the first year in office, so in that sense they have to get focused very quickly to get things accomplished," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. "Otherwise, the goodwill may dissipate very quickly and they may face a hostile upper house within a year." FOREIGN POLICY Hatoyama will want to have his cabinet up and running in time to attend a U.N. General Assembly meeting and a G20 leaders summit in Pittsburgh in September. The Democrats want to forge a diplomatic stance more independent of the United States, raising fears about possible friction in the alliance. They have also vowed to improve ties with Asian neighbors, often frayed by bitter wartime memories. "(Hatoyama) is basically articulating the idea that the U.S.-led Pax Americana era has come* to an end," said Sheila Smith at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "My sense of the DPJ is that they have wanted a little distance between Tokyo and Washington." Budgetary matters will claim much of the government's attention in its early days. Party leaders have said they might freeze or redirect some of the 14 trillion yen ($149.5 billion) in stimulus spending planned for the year to March 31, 2010. They may have to craft an extra budget for the current fiscal year to cover an expected tax revenue shortfall, and Japanese media said the party wants to have an outline of the budget for 2010/2011 by sometime in October. Source: Reuters  Read More →