Evidence of DunningKruger in Trump

Interestingly, there are Trumpeteers in Singapore - supporters of Donald Trump, who believes his talking points, who believes he is the best thing to happen to the US, and who is being persecuted by the Liberals and the Deep State.

There are over 3 years of evidence that he is not.

And over 15,000 of his lies have been documented and debunked (as at 16 Dec 2019, according to Washington Post, who is tracking the number of lies he has told. Update: Link to archived WaPo page provided by commenter. Thanks Mich.).

Here is just one example of Trumpslaining and the DunningKruger Effect:

OK Bumi

Two instances of Dr Mahathir making the news. By talking.

From 14 Dec on whether he would stay beyond 2020:

Malaysian PM Mahathir again hints he could stay on beyond 2020

14 Dec 2019 

DOHA: Malaysia's 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad again raised the prospect on Saturday (Dec 14) that he could stay in office beyond 2020, declining to give a definitive pledge to step down.
Mahathir returned to power last year after dealing a historic election defeat to the corruption-plagued coalition that he once led and which had been in power for six decades.

Biculturalism in Singapore, or the Importance of being polylingual or polycultural

I just realised I have not posted in over 2 months!

Not that I have not blogged. I have. I just haven't published.

Because, reasons.

Anyway, here is something I have been working on, off and on for a while - the Importance of knowing a second language, or at least more than one language.

We start with a joke. (Actually, it's all jokes. Not good ones, though. You have been warned.)

1) Chicken. Goat. Bag.

A Malaysian MP (or VIP) was kidnapped. The ransom was paid and the kidnappers allowed the MP to appear in a video to assure his family that he is alive and well. However, for some reason, the video had no sound, so the MP appeared in the video, and first carried a chicken. Then a goat. And then a bag.

When his family saw the video, they were overjoyed!

"He's coming back!"

Only Malaysians and Singaporeans may get this joke.

"I believe the Children are our Future"

That is of course, a truism.

And it is cute to see children stand up for their future.

And drive the "Youth Revolution" that includes saving the Earth from Climate Change.

Ever heard of the Children's Crusade?

And then there are the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting who became activists and lobbied for changes to gun control laws in the US.

Not to belittle their efforts - they made progress which had been impossible with the NRA and fanatical gun right lobbyists resisting change.

But... there are still mass shootings. Even as recent as August 2019.

Singaporeans, the Hong Kong situation, and Taiwan's

On FaceBook, whenever there is a story on the Hong Kong protests, there will be Singaporeans commenting about the protests. Or riots as some may prefer.

And they are not very sympathetic.

Because they are not very empathetic.

And they are rather parochial Singaporeans, who sees things from a Singaporean perspective, and do not understand the HK situation:

China - Boom or Bust?

The general consensus is that China's rise is inexorable. Inevitable.

And that the 21st Century would be China's Century.

And certainly, China's growth, development and emergence over the last 30 years or so makes the case for China's inevitable assumption of the dominant power and economy on the global stage, rather obvious.

In this first video, Kishore Mahbubani points out the obvious - China by sheer din of population just needs to achieve a per capita income of just 25% of the US, and it would be the number 1 economy, dwarfing the US (currently, as at Aug 2019, #1).



China's manifest destiny seems certain. Inevitable.

Coping with Climate Change in Singapore

[I began drafting this post some months ago, maybe even since late 2018 after the IPCC released its report of October 2018 for policy makers. What I got from the report and other commentaries on it, was that Climate Change was coming, all the talk and discussion about ameliorating or moderating the impact of climate change was just wishful and wistful thinking: Climate Change was happening, and NOTHING humans can do would avert it. Hoping SOMETHING we do MIGHT avert or just moderate the impact of climate change was wishful optimism not based on reality.

So, do we just roll over and die? 

Of course not. 

But what would Singapore need to do?

This was what this post was supposed to address.