As Russia goose-stepped into Ukraine, Singapore reached into its toolbox of foreign policies for small nations and rolled out the chi hua hua doctrine. Tiny that they are, chi hua huas often put on an aggressive stance with noisy barks as a way of territorial protection. Singapore is one of the first countries in the world to unilaterally sanction Russia. The agitprop for the day is small nations like Singapore must stand behind international laws as a defence against illegal invasion by a stronger state. Like the chi hua hua, the announcement to sanction had to be bold and highly publicised. A high fallutin speech at the United Nations earned our UN ambassador an appreciative hug from the Ukrainian representative.
My immediate thought was it was all meant for domestic consumption. Too many issues that have political undercurrent have infested, such as CECA, Parti Liyani case, the pandemic, persecution of Worker's Party, rising cost of living, etc. It is opportune time to remind the population of the precarious situation of a small country. A standard prescription of distraction is what the good doctor recommended in times such as this.
My immediate thought was it was all meant for domestic consumption. Too many issues that have political undercurrent have infested, such as CECA, Parti Liyani case, the pandemic, persecution of Worker's Party, rising cost of living, etc. It is opportune time to remind the population of the precarious situation of a small country. A standard prescription of distraction is what the good doctor recommended in times such as this.
By now it is very evident, Singapore goes to bed with the globalist elites. The pandemic frustrated the 2021 World Economic Forum that was to be held in Singapore, which would have marked the first time it was ever held outside Davos, and of great significance to hold up the Lion City as a shining example of what an open global city can achieve. Does Singapore act to the bidding of the globalist ? Singapore's rush to judgement and sanctions reminds me of the wide-eyed fawning student that sits in the front row, ever ready to put up a hand to whatever the teacher wanted.
I wonder if there is an inner cabinet that sits to discuss such serious matters before the Foreign Minister is allowed to broadcast the sanction against Russia. It would be nice to be the spider on the wall. Difficult times like this is when elder statesmen step out to share their views and offer their wisdom. Others step up to clarify and support the government decision in the face of domestic criticism. Prof Tommy Koh wrote an op-ed in the Straits Times The war in Ukraine and the laws of war 18 Mar 2022. It's an ivory tower legalistic piece and of course Russia broke every law that Koh could dig up. Kishore Mahbubani he is not, and of course as ambassador-at-large, Koh understands well he who pays the piper calls the tune.
The two personalities that I deem are the rare thinkers of Singapore are Kishore Mahbubani and George Yeo. It should not pass without my highlighting that both these deep thinkers seem to hold views not aligned with the government in this Russo-Ukraine conflict. Back in June 2021, Kishore had candidly warned against siding with Nato in their attempt to inject themselves into the Pacific Region. In his article 'Asia, say NO to Nato' Kishore reiterated "The Pacific has no need of the destructive militaristic culture of the Atlantic Alliance". In his recent 19 Mar 2022 brilliant opinion article 'Ukraine War : Where are the peacemakers?' Kishore agreed Russia acted illegally and ought to be condemned. He said "Since geopolitics is a cruel game and follows the cold and ruthless logic of power, we must be cold, dispassionate and hard-headed in our analysis. The only iron law of geopolitics is that it punishes those who are naive and ignore its cold logic." It is his 'Power looks down from the barrel of a gun' analogy, and with the ever subtlety of a veteran diplomat, Kishore let's you guess who are the 'naive' he refers to.
George Yeo, on the other hand, simply shared a video that leaves no doubt his sentiments are at odds with the Foreign Minister who now warms the same chair he once sat.
Suddenly everyone is an expert on the Russo-Ukraine war. I wonder if the ordinary guys see it as war amongst brothers and cousins. Since the Middle Ages when the Norsemen or Vikings from the Scandinavian region came south into Central Europe, all the way down into the Caspian Seas and do battle with the Byzantine Romans, they and the Slavic peoples, Tartars, Huns, Turkic Khazaars have their DNAs churned in cauldrons over the centuries, it is difficult to say who really owns the Land of the Rus. Throw in a huge diaspora of Jewish people if it is not complicated enough. I don't pretend to know their history and I don't see how one can dissect the truth from the filth that's coming from untrustworthy press and funny tik-tok videos. I merely wish to share a few points for a more learned perspective of the official Singapore position.
George Sorros asked the world to get on board the Ukranian side. What I know is, when the Devil ask to do one thing, we should be doing the exact opposite. The CIA, Nato and people like Sorros have been playing Ukraine for decades. It is difficult for the West to infiltrate Russia, or USSR in the past. The only way they could do so was through the Stasi network, the Nazi secret police organisation in Ukraine. This network remained very powerful to this day, and even has its own Azor Battalion, an extreme far right military detachment that terrorises its own citizens. The German Strafgesetzbuch section 86a bans pro-Nazi organisations and the symbolisms, but the CIA and Nato work with the Ukranian neo-Nazis. The Swastika flags fly all over Ukraine. Is Putin wrong to say he wants to de-Nazify Ukraine?
In 2010 Victor Yanuykovych was elected president. This displeased Nato and President Obama as Yanuykovych was pro-Russia. Sorros' Open Society poured in money to fund social activism. Together with CIA, the west engineered the Maidan Revolution of 2014. The US ambassador Victoria Nuland (currently Biden's Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs) was on video seen handing out donuts to demonstrators in the streets. Petro Poroshenko was installed as President in 2014 and happy days were back again as Obama had his man in place. US aid money poured in, Hunter Biden got his cut which he shares with the "Big Guy" sitting in the White House today. I suppose the Singapore government in 2014 shared the jubilation of the US, never the worry of Putin who saw an enemy worked a successful regime change in a country next door.
John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Bidens, Nancy Pelosi, Clintons and George Sorros have two things in common. They all had their hands in the Ukrainian cookie jar and they all want other people's sons, husbands, and fathers to go fight and die for Ukraine. In 2014, after the Maidan Revolution and President Yanuykovych had fled to Russia, John Kerry (as Obama's Sec of State) visited Ukraine and offered the new government US$1b aid. Kerry's chief fundraiser Devon Archer, visited Joe Biden (who was Obama's front man for Ukraine) in the White House. The Veep then made a trip to Ukraine, following which Devon Archer and Hunter Biden both joined the board of Burisma, the Ukranian oil giant. (Devon, Hunter and John Kerry's stepson Chris Heinz, are all in Seneca Rosemount, the private equity firm swinging deals with the CCP). Mitt Romney's top aide Joseph Cofer Black, who also worked in CIA under Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, also served on Burisma's board. Nancy Pelosi's son Paul Pelosi Jr was on the board of Visoil, getting paid thousands for a window executive job. As for the Clintons, they received millions for the Clinton Foundation over the years from oligarchs like Victor Pinchuk and Igor Kolomoisky. Sorros betted huge on Hillary Clinton and taking over Ukraine via control over their gas and energy industry. He poured in billions, and lost when Trump won the 2016 election.
Trump presented a major problem for corrupt US establishment politicians and Sorros. He had to go. The fake Russian Collusion had many plots that originated in Ukraine, funded by several US billionaires including Sorros, and executed by Democrat operatives, supported by US deep state. It was some Ukranian fake dossier that put Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort behind bars. The story is still unfolding as John Durham's indictments work its way through the courts. What is clear is Ukraine, beholden to Obama aid money, allowed itself to be played to interfere in another country's election.
One wonders whether our Foreign Minister Vivian Balakhrisnan, had all the intel on Ukraine to make a right decision. Or is our government being played, or even worse, Singapore is a partner in the globalist agenda.
There are some praises for Singapore government making a brave and cold hard decision to sanction Russia. It was doubtless a cold hard decision, made easier by the fact Russian-Singapore trade is minuscule. Just wondering out loud what would the decision be had Russia been our say number 5th trading partner? Cash register has a way of making hypocrites out of folks.
As for Singapore Airlines which jumped in quickly behind the government to ban flights to Russia, it was an easy decision since the bottomline of SIA doesn't make one bit of difference to CEO Goh Choon Pong's multi-million dollar remuneration. SIA was quick to assimilate the kind of Western cancel culture that is, well, killing Western culture today.
Small nations try to garner strength in numbers through international alliances. Singapore has mostly expressed neutrality through the Non-Aligned Nations organisation and Asean. The hasty sanction against Russia without consultation with the two associations may have irked some. If one groups the countries, it does seem the rich and developed countries are pro-Ukraine. Singapore voted with the rich. This has certainly not gone un-noticed by our neighbourhood poor and developing countries.
The aftermath of the Russo-Ukraine war will never be business as usual. There will be teutonic geopolitical shifts. The world has seen through the 'militaristic culture' of the globalist elite leadership of the west, the meddlesome US, the western press propaganda, and how financial and economic institutions are weaponised. The world now understands that no one holding western assets are safe. The Russia-China suggestion of a new multi-lateral grouping without the western-axis countries seems appealing. Will a bi-polar world emerge -- a Western axis countries facing off the rest of the world possibly led by Russia/China. The Yuan is definitely not capable of taking on the role of world reserve currency in the short term, but the future of US$ as reserve currency is dead. The trust is gone forever. Will the world gravitate towards China for world leadership is a question that depends very much on how the CCP handle the Taiwan debacle. If it capitalises on US weakness and takes over Taiwan militarily, it will be viewed as a similar Russian invasion of Ukraine. If it does not, the CCP will gain tremendous respect.
The teutonic geopolitical shifts will see various new economic and financial initiatives and groupings. Singapore may well find itself unwelcome at worse, and at best, a mere participant with no over-sized role. Take for example, the Artic Council. The melting ice cap will open up new shipping routes in the future which will substantially impact our importance as a maritime trading post. With good foresight, Singapore had joined the council as an observer, and recently upgraded to full member. It was thought Singapore has the finance, development, and ship-building expertise to offer as the Artic countries began building the infrastructure for the new trade routes. With much of the route passing along Russian coastal lands, will there be Singapore Inc projects in Siberian ports? Another example is the question of a more reliable world reserve currency. The US$ is dead meat in the long term. Whatever may replace the US$, will there be a role for Singapore to sustain our position as a leading financial market in the world?
Just a sobering thought. When all the dust is finally settled, will Singapore find itself on the wrong side of history?
The two personalities that I deem are the rare thinkers of Singapore are Kishore Mahbubani and George Yeo. It should not pass without my highlighting that both these deep thinkers seem to hold views not aligned with the government in this Russo-Ukraine conflict. Back in June 2021, Kishore had candidly warned against siding with Nato in their attempt to inject themselves into the Pacific Region. In his article 'Asia, say NO to Nato' Kishore reiterated "The Pacific has no need of the destructive militaristic culture of the Atlantic Alliance". In his recent 19 Mar 2022 brilliant opinion article 'Ukraine War : Where are the peacemakers?' Kishore agreed Russia acted illegally and ought to be condemned. He said "Since geopolitics is a cruel game and follows the cold and ruthless logic of power, we must be cold, dispassionate and hard-headed in our analysis. The only iron law of geopolitics is that it punishes those who are naive and ignore its cold logic." It is his 'Power looks down from the barrel of a gun' analogy, and with the ever subtlety of a veteran diplomat, Kishore let's you guess who are the 'naive' he refers to.
George Yeo, on the other hand, simply shared a video that leaves no doubt his sentiments are at odds with the Foreign Minister who now warms the same chair he once sat.
Suddenly everyone is an expert on the Russo-Ukraine war. I wonder if the ordinary guys see it as war amongst brothers and cousins. Since the Middle Ages when the Norsemen or Vikings from the Scandinavian region came south into Central Europe, all the way down into the Caspian Seas and do battle with the Byzantine Romans, they and the Slavic peoples, Tartars, Huns, Turkic Khazaars have their DNAs churned in cauldrons over the centuries, it is difficult to say who really owns the Land of the Rus. Throw in a huge diaspora of Jewish people if it is not complicated enough. I don't pretend to know their history and I don't see how one can dissect the truth from the filth that's coming from untrustworthy press and funny tik-tok videos. I merely wish to share a few points for a more learned perspective of the official Singapore position.
George Sorros asked the world to get on board the Ukranian side. What I know is, when the Devil ask to do one thing, we should be doing the exact opposite. The CIA, Nato and people like Sorros have been playing Ukraine for decades. It is difficult for the West to infiltrate Russia, or USSR in the past. The only way they could do so was through the Stasi network, the Nazi secret police organisation in Ukraine. This network remained very powerful to this day, and even has its own Azor Battalion, an extreme far right military detachment that terrorises its own citizens. The German Strafgesetzbuch section 86a bans pro-Nazi organisations and the symbolisms, but the CIA and Nato work with the Ukranian neo-Nazis. The Swastika flags fly all over Ukraine. Is Putin wrong to say he wants to de-Nazify Ukraine?
In 2010 Victor Yanuykovych was elected president. This displeased Nato and President Obama as Yanuykovych was pro-Russia. Sorros' Open Society poured in money to fund social activism. Together with CIA, the west engineered the Maidan Revolution of 2014. The US ambassador Victoria Nuland (currently Biden's Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs) was on video seen handing out donuts to demonstrators in the streets. Petro Poroshenko was installed as President in 2014 and happy days were back again as Obama had his man in place. US aid money poured in, Hunter Biden got his cut which he shares with the "Big Guy" sitting in the White House today. I suppose the Singapore government in 2014 shared the jubilation of the US, never the worry of Putin who saw an enemy worked a successful regime change in a country next door.
John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Bidens, Nancy Pelosi, Clintons and George Sorros have two things in common. They all had their hands in the Ukrainian cookie jar and they all want other people's sons, husbands, and fathers to go fight and die for Ukraine. In 2014, after the Maidan Revolution and President Yanuykovych had fled to Russia, John Kerry (as Obama's Sec of State) visited Ukraine and offered the new government US$1b aid. Kerry's chief fundraiser Devon Archer, visited Joe Biden (who was Obama's front man for Ukraine) in the White House. The Veep then made a trip to Ukraine, following which Devon Archer and Hunter Biden both joined the board of Burisma, the Ukranian oil giant. (Devon, Hunter and John Kerry's stepson Chris Heinz, are all in Seneca Rosemount, the private equity firm swinging deals with the CCP). Mitt Romney's top aide Joseph Cofer Black, who also worked in CIA under Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, also served on Burisma's board. Nancy Pelosi's son Paul Pelosi Jr was on the board of Visoil, getting paid thousands for a window executive job. As for the Clintons, they received millions for the Clinton Foundation over the years from oligarchs like Victor Pinchuk and Igor Kolomoisky. Sorros betted huge on Hillary Clinton and taking over Ukraine via control over their gas and energy industry. He poured in billions, and lost when Trump won the 2016 election.
Trump presented a major problem for corrupt US establishment politicians and Sorros. He had to go. The fake Russian Collusion had many plots that originated in Ukraine, funded by several US billionaires including Sorros, and executed by Democrat operatives, supported by US deep state. It was some Ukranian fake dossier that put Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort behind bars. The story is still unfolding as John Durham's indictments work its way through the courts. What is clear is Ukraine, beholden to Obama aid money, allowed itself to be played to interfere in another country's election.
One wonders whether our Foreign Minister Vivian Balakhrisnan, had all the intel on Ukraine to make a right decision. Or is our government being played, or even worse, Singapore is a partner in the globalist agenda.
There are some praises for Singapore government making a brave and cold hard decision to sanction Russia. It was doubtless a cold hard decision, made easier by the fact Russian-Singapore trade is minuscule. Just wondering out loud what would the decision be had Russia been our say number 5th trading partner? Cash register has a way of making hypocrites out of folks.
As for Singapore Airlines which jumped in quickly behind the government to ban flights to Russia, it was an easy decision since the bottomline of SIA doesn't make one bit of difference to CEO Goh Choon Pong's multi-million dollar remuneration. SIA was quick to assimilate the kind of Western cancel culture that is, well, killing Western culture today.
Small nations try to garner strength in numbers through international alliances. Singapore has mostly expressed neutrality through the Non-Aligned Nations organisation and Asean. The hasty sanction against Russia without consultation with the two associations may have irked some. If one groups the countries, it does seem the rich and developed countries are pro-Ukraine. Singapore voted with the rich. This has certainly not gone un-noticed by our neighbourhood poor and developing countries.
The aftermath of the Russo-Ukraine war will never be business as usual. There will be teutonic geopolitical shifts. The world has seen through the 'militaristic culture' of the globalist elite leadership of the west, the meddlesome US, the western press propaganda, and how financial and economic institutions are weaponised. The world now understands that no one holding western assets are safe. The Russia-China suggestion of a new multi-lateral grouping without the western-axis countries seems appealing. Will a bi-polar world emerge -- a Western axis countries facing off the rest of the world possibly led by Russia/China. The Yuan is definitely not capable of taking on the role of world reserve currency in the short term, but the future of US$ as reserve currency is dead. The trust is gone forever. Will the world gravitate towards China for world leadership is a question that depends very much on how the CCP handle the Taiwan debacle. If it capitalises on US weakness and takes over Taiwan militarily, it will be viewed as a similar Russian invasion of Ukraine. If it does not, the CCP will gain tremendous respect.
The teutonic geopolitical shifts will see various new economic and financial initiatives and groupings. Singapore may well find itself unwelcome at worse, and at best, a mere participant with no over-sized role. Take for example, the Artic Council. The melting ice cap will open up new shipping routes in the future which will substantially impact our importance as a maritime trading post. With good foresight, Singapore had joined the council as an observer, and recently upgraded to full member. It was thought Singapore has the finance, development, and ship-building expertise to offer as the Artic countries began building the infrastructure for the new trade routes. With much of the route passing along Russian coastal lands, will there be Singapore Inc projects in Siberian ports? Another example is the question of a more reliable world reserve currency. The US$ is dead meat in the long term. Whatever may replace the US$, will there be a role for Singapore to sustain our position as a leading financial market in the world?
Just a sobering thought. When all the dust is finally settled, will Singapore find itself on the wrong side of history?
1 comment:
The real geopolitical battle is between the US and China. The US made a strategic error in pushing Ukraine into escalating the separatist war in the Dunetsk and Luhansk region. They did not expect Russia to invade Ukraine to rescue the separatists. By doing so Russia has thrown a hugh spanner in the US scheme to derail China's rise as numero uno. They are now too preoccupied with the Ukraine war to go after China. So much so they had to leak a document about the new Supreme Court support for throwing out Roe v Wade as a distraction. Kishore is of the view that the Ukraine war has resulted in uniting EU against China. I disagree because EU will be so weaken by its self destructive sanctions to be a threat to China.
In my view Singapore is on the wrong side of history by supporting the west in this conflict. We may be history if we continue to do so.
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