TR EMERITUS

Recent events has led one to reminisce about those 'kampong days' where "red/yellow fleshy, juicy" rambutans used to grow gloriously in someone's compound and also in abundance by the waysides, though delightfully colorful, are almost impossible to be eaten, really damned sour. “What’s this?” someone candidly remarked, pointing to a bunch of red fruit with spikes, sagging on branches by the waysides. The leader checks to see what he's pointing to – the colorful fruits about the size of red hairy eggs. “Ngaw,” he tells him, carefully enunciating the word. And then adds with displeasure, “rambutans" in English. Everyone's trying to expand their vocabularies but left without getting to taste the red/yellow tempestuous fruits. Moral of the story: A sour rambutan has to look more exotic. Zhao Xiaozhuo: “...the Shangri-la Dialogue, as a forum, (is) dominated by the United States and its allies, serving the interest of the United States and its allies. And also the topics discussed often point to differences, rather than cooperation, and the divergence rather than convergence.” Dr Ng Eng Hen: “Sometimes it's a matter of taste, I can imagine that people from the (People’s Liberation Army) come here and find this raucous, a bit rambunctious, (that) this is the Western liberal mode of many ideas, and from this, you're supposed to gain wisdom and they go back and say it was thoroughly discombobulating. That’s entirely understandable. There is no coercion for you to attend.” Talking about geopolitics, Kishore Mahbubani says, "I know that diplomacy succeeds best when you don’t insult other countries. Indeed, the definition of a diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you feel that you’re going to enjoy the journey to hell. Diplomacy is about subtlety and sophistication. The most effective diplomats are those who avoid insulting other countries and instead always talk politely." I have been working on a "foreign policy model" and I shall test a sketch of it in the case of Singapore or the Republic of China. Here are some preliminary findings: I. Suggestions for China. Make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the right medicine or treatment. (a) Secure a "brutally objective" definition of the situation. This would include deep and realistic understanding of Sun Tzu's dictum: "Know yourself, know your adversary." Contrast: Review the "fantasies and unrealistic" ideas. (b) Figure out the most effective responses to the situation. Guiding principle: "Do what is right and just." Not mere words but actual implementation of the decided policies. (c) Proceed with plan and keep the options open and maintain strategic adaptability. II. Suggestions for Singapore. (a) Build up a strong economy without being overly dependent on the PRC. (b) Build up a strong defense without inadvisable provocations to PRC. Secure support from "allies or nations and leaders favorable to Singapore. (c) Relationships with PRC -- cooperate when it can, retreat when necessary, advance or make counter movements when opportunities are available. [Russian Field Marshall Mikhail Kutuzov said in Tolstoy's War and Peace: "There is nothing stronger than those two, patience and time, they will do it all."] Let me add: Perseverance, when your cause is right and just. So my takeaway for Zhao Xiaozhuo's next visit, is to bring his own rambutans for the host, not from his garden but preferably from those that 'grew by the waysides' and tell the host, the name, placing the accent on the final syllable: “Ram-bu-tan’!” I say. That's what I would call, political subtlety and sophistication.   Sjorne Shen      Read More →

* The following is a long comment posted by our Techie, Andrew in an ongoing discussion with a fellow reader in a thread about Iris Koh, the founder of HTD, edited slightly for clarity. Since it is mostly a true narrative  of the path that TR Emeritus (TRE) took in its over a decade of existence, we think it is more appropriate to escalate it into an individual post for the information of all our reader. The opinions expressed are entirely his own observation, but mostly concurred by the team. *** Start *** I have been in TRE long enough to know that If TRE had wanted to make a nice profit out of our website, there are plenty of options. Initially, TRE could raise US$20k in a day under a certain doctor. It was then, a no holds barred and anything goes website, reader support was overwhelming. When the doctor owner was “taken care” off [sic] in 2011 because a certain editor couldn’t keep his dicky in the right place and got caught by a reporter from TODAY, those who were left decided against that mode of operation and we went down the responsible, not anyhow "cheong" path. That probably turns our readers off, being so “timid” as some would describe it. But that did not stop us from keeping TRE alive to continue to  provide a platform for fellow citizens to share, cry father cry mother. We prefer to think of the current TRE as an outlet for pent-up hot air, a platform for your voice, not some cowboy town and certainly not some anti-government website. We are neutral, if you have an article praising You Con, we will print it, you have another praising the supposed mole Rashid, we will also print it, as long as it is not against our AUP and TOS. So it can be said that we are neither left, right or center, with everyone entitled to their opinions, no matter how childish or crazy it may seems. Everyone is encouraged to agree to disagree as mature adults. From my observation, most Sinkies love martyrs, that can explain why it is so easy for Roy, Leong and even Terry to raise almost a $million combined. The more they are perceived to be “bullied” and “oppressed”, the more the easier, and the donation is not to really help them per se, its to send a message to the supposed bully, “the more you bully him/her, the more we will support”, so the ‘bully’ lan lan. It’s all human nature, it’s natural to love weaklings, can’t fault them for it. After the doctor, TRE was never ‘bullied’ (probably because we went ‘timid’ and don’t anyhow cheong), so can explain why we never did managed to raise our intended target in ANY round of crowdfunding. We simply don’t appeal to the masses because most pay to want to watch a show, which we couldn’t stage, i.e. "cheonging". We don’t get the intended funding because these donors (of course there are genuine ones, but limited supply) do not get to ‘slap’ the supposed bully, so to them, it would probably be a waste of time and money. But no regrets, we believe in changes, we want changes and we do believe that there are some policies that can be improved upon to make life better for fellow citizens, but knowing the party that (don’t listen), we continued to provide a platform for feedback, it may be years or decades before the party starts listening and the daft wakes up, but we persisted and never gave up (until recently when the team felt that we are not achieving anything and financially, we could no longer support the platform). Bottomline is, it is not our belief that “cheonging” is the best option to get things done, it will hurt a lot of people and ourselves. Look at ASS, TOC,  etc etc etc. And now look at Iris of HTD. The team believes in “communication and respect” (refer to my comment on what happened to WP). We all have families, if we are “taken care of”, then who provides for them? We are not martyrs (not afraid to admit) and never will we be. We can only do so much and seeing how divided the society is right now, even HTD that supposedly shares the same goal as TRE in the unvax JR thingy, went actively all out to hamper TRE’s crowdfunding efforts for the Judicial Review against discrimination of the unvax. Iris is running the HTD like a business, and probably she prefers to milk her cult members for herself  (noticed how almost everything on HTD is paid?). Anyway, we saw how WP refused to work with the other oppos because they think they “don’t share the same dream” so much so that when Rashid the supposed mole tried to sink the party, all the oppos kept quiet. The WP is/has been acting like the PAP Team B, most of us in TRE know that, since we have witnessed how the party “grew” since JBJ. That’s the situation as it is, in Sinkieland, IMHO. Pathetic and ironic, right? *** End ***   *Techie  Andrew is the only 'surviving' member of the original team since the website was "Wayang Party". He has been with TRE for over a decade, keeping the platform functioning and alive.      Read More →

I will contribute my 2 cents worth of feedback sought by the Ministry of Finance on changes to our GST. To begin, a very large majority of our citizens have the mistaken impression that our GST is going up by a mere 2 %, ie, from the current 7% to 9%, ie, 1% next year and another 1% in 2024. In order to have any meaningful discussion on our GST amendments, this mistaken notion must be set right for everybody and the government has a duty and responsibility to widely publicise and educate Singaporeans that the increase will be 28.5% and not 2% in real percentage term. Any discussions short of complete intellectual honesty, total transparency, full understanding and appreciation by all about the issue is a total waste of everybody's time. (Please read this paragraph again). With just the GST increase announcement ONLY, F&B prices, retailers' prices and many many more across so many other sectors of our economy have alearly seen price adjustments upwards, some reasonable and many more unreasonable. So many of our people, especially those middle lower, lower income earners, their families and retirees are alearly struggling like frogs in slow boiling water, struggling in silence. I seriously wonder how many million dollars earning pap ministars, their mayors and MPs are truly capable or even bother to empathise with the majority of our struggling heartlanders. I consider a 2 stage GST increase as prolonging the agony and giving businesses 2 golden opportunities to fleece their customers. This, to me, is clear poor political judgement or the work of amateurish politicians. Nothing, not even one's mentality, long held beliefs or policies should be craved in stone. Ideally, I would like to see a few things happen. All blue Chas card holders to enjoy GST exempt medical treatments at all government hospitals, polyclinics, GPs and their medicine purchases too. Safeguards such as the requirement to produce their identity card in order to prevent abuses must be made a mandatory requirement. Lower grade everyday groceries such as baby milk powder, rice, milk, canned food, diapers and many more items to be exempted from GST. Off peak hours, sundays and public holidays public transport fares to be made free for our seniors. We are after all a fast aging population living in a very expensive country. Strongly encourage the public to report profiteering and reward them upon the conviction of unscrupulous business operators. Relevant laws must be enhanced and enforcement efforts must be sustainably stepped up otherwise it would be nothing more than another wayang toothless tiger. U-Save for HDB flats of 3 roomers and below to be made a permanent feature. For bigger flat dwellers of up to HDB executive flat to be given at a declining rate and all private property dwellers will not enjoy it. Although the $100/ CDC vouchers is welcome and they offer some help, I consider it to be an insult to the recipients. In case pap ministars have forgotten, it is very expensive Singapore that we are living in and not some cheapododo country. To put it bluntly, we have a totally financially able but very unwilling to do more for the citizens government. (Please read this paragraph again). With GST increase from next and the following year, I hope to see this government gives all Singaporeans aged 18 and above $1,500/ cash over 12 instalments in each of the 2 years to help them adjust and breath better. I invite my fellow netizens to contribute more. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →