Conversation: Lee & Lee vs Lee

"Wah liao eh. If  the Old Man is still alive, he must be dem disappointed in his children, man!"

"I also say."

"And say until like that - that they have no confidence in their brother. I dunno what that even means! So they have no confidence in him as their brother, or they have no confidence in him as the PM?"

"Aiyah, this is just a family argument made bigger because the brother is the PM, and the father is LKY. And of course in a family fight, everything becomes bigger, and more important. So, the brother is not just trying to challenge the father's last will, he is betraying the values of the father. It is the exaggeration of a soap opera."

"I read also dunno what to believe. Can say until like that, meh? Then say that he can use the house for politics? How? If the grandson want to go into politics, all he has to say is that he is grandson of LKY. Whether the old house is standing or demolished will not make him not LKY's grandson, what!"

Who knew?

On Wed (April 26, Washington DC), US Senators were brought to the White House to be briefed on the North Korean situation,

Although the briefing was sobering, it was not revelatory, some of the participants said.

“There was very little, if anything new,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “I remain mystified about why the entire Senate had to be taken over to the White House rather than conducting it here.”

Conversation: State-Assisted Funeral for Othman Wok

"Another Old Guard pass away." *sigh*

"Encik Othman Wok. He was a good man."

"Yeah. I remember when... That time... aiyah! Si lah. I must be getting old. I don't remember why he was a good man."

"Don't look at me. I too young to remember. I HEARD he was important in helping Lee Kuan Yew get the support of the Malay community in the early years. "

"Ah! Yah! Something like that. I remember something like that. That time there were quite a few riots and trouble about race. We needed strong people to hold Singapore together. Yeah. Mr Othman Wok was very important. It is right that we give him a State Funeral."

Conversation: A Reserved Presidential Election

"Oi, you heard or not? Tan Cheng Bock asked the govt to make the next Presidential Election an "Open" election so he can run. He said they count salah already lah, it is not time to reserve the Election for Malay candidate. He says the govt is just trying to keep him from being president!"

"But we have not had a Malay President since Yusoff Ishak in 1970. That's more than 40 years... Almost 50 years."

"Cannot count like that, lah! The rule is supposed to count the last 30 years of Elected Presidents. But Presidents were elected only from Ong Teng Cheong. But they count from Wee Kim Wee! Who is not an elected president! How can liddat?"

"But still, we haven't had a Malay President since our first President. And our country is 52 years old already. Surely it is time to reserve... you know? You are right. If the rule is 30 years or 5 Presidential terms, then we should follow the rules. Anyway, I don't think our "racial harmony" is enhanced by 'Reserved Presidential Elections' for minorities, every now and then."

"Wah? You agree with me then?"

"Yes... but while I don't think it is a good idea to have a Reserved Election for minorities, it is better than what we had the last PE."

"What did we have the last election?"

"A de facto reserved PE for 'Tans'."

Seeking Asylum elsewhere

So apparently his 15 minutes of fame has not run out.

Or the media continues to give Attention-Seeking, Banana Boy more "15 minutes of fame".

His latest stunt is to seek asylum in the US.

I grew up understanding "Asylum" to mean "mental institution" (See "Arkham Asylum"). So my first thought was, "this is appropriate". :-)

Lady Liberty and the Merlion

So the US has the Statue of Liberty, with the Torch, and the words,

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”



Singapore has the Merlion. Spitting water.

Juvenile Speculations - War in the South China Sea?

From a Washington Post news article:

On Monday [23 Jan 2017], new White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States would prevent China from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea.
His comments were widely interpreted as doubling down on remarks by Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, on Jan. 11 that the United States would not allow China access to islands it has built in the South China Sea, and upon which it has installed weapons systems and built military-length airstrips.

The adult in you should be horrified at the prospects of another war. With the two largest economies. And so close to home. To be clear, China doesn't want a war. Does the US want a war? With Trump, who knows?

The juvenile in you (and me) may just want to speculate: Can China successfully defend those islands they reclaimed and the facilities they built on it? Will the US (under Trump) be able to take the fight to China?

How will this impact the rest of the world, and specifically Singapore? More importantly, who will win such a war or any lesser confrontation? Or if not "win", prevail?

(The juvenile in you is the one who still thinks questions like "Superman vs  Green Lantern - who will win?" is a deep important philosophical question.)