Singapore to acquire 8 more F-35B fighter jets, growing fleet to 12

The Singapore Armed Forces will also upgrade its training with virtual reality technology and a new digital range, as part of its 2040 vision.

Davina Tham

24 Feb 2023 

SINGAPORE: The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will acquire another eight F-35B fighter jets, growing its incoming fleet of the fifth-generation fighters to 12.

Singapore will take delivery of the eight jets from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin "by the end of the decade", Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in Parliament on Friday (Feb 24).

In 2019, Singapore announced the acquisition of an initial four F-35Bs, which are on track for delivery by 2026. The purchase was worth an estimated US$2.75 billion, according to a US government press release.

Secrets of Singapore's Success - Part 1

Ask most Singaporeans about the one critical factor for Singapore's success, and many (if not all) would probably answer: Lee Kuan Yew.

But THAT is a simplified answer for a complex answer. Because LKY did a lot of things. 

The reason people asks for the "Secrets to Singapore's Success" is because they (might) want to replicate Singapore's success. "LKY" is not a good answer, because they can't have LKY. 

Not because we are selfish and don't want to share LKY. But because he's dead.

Anyway, someone asked our Ambassador-at-large, Tommy Koh (formerly our representative at the UN) what was the secret of Singapore's success.

He diplomatically sidestepped the question, then asked 50 of Singapore's leaders in the civil service, past and present, for their take on it, compiled their essays into a book, and made bank!

What makes Singaporeans happy (from 2010)

Jan 7, 2010

By Tambyah Siok Kuan & Tan Soo Jiuan, For The Straits Times

THE media gives some insight into what makes Singaporeans happy or upset.

Singaporeans are happy when the Government rolls out a family-friendly Budget. Singaporeans are annoyed by service staff who are not passionate about their work or cannot speak English well. Depending on the performance of their investments, Singaporeans may love or loathe coffee shop talk about the stock and property markets. 

Lee Kuan Yew and the American Society of Newspaper Editors - Press Freedoms and the Role of the Press in context.

"Press Freedom" is one of the go-to criticism of Singapore. Reporters without Borders rank Singapore 139 (out of 180 states) in 2022 - just above Somalia, and below United Arab Emirates. This is an improvement! Previously, Singapore was ranked 160th! Surprisingly, UAE (ranked 1 position above Singapore has 2 journalist currently in prison. Singapore, being 1 position below UAE must be worst right? So... 3 journalists in prison? Nope. 0. Somalia has 1 media worker in prison... So... who knows how Reporters without borders rank these things. Without borders, without boundaries, and without logic, perhaps?

New American Century

With the fall the of the Soviet Union, the US became the sole superpower and without a rival to compete and challenge the US started to reduce its military investments... until Sept 11 2001.

NATO was losing relevance, Trump was trying to extricate the US from its commitments to NATO, and so were other members of NATO... until Feb 24, 2022.

[Video: Can the US continue to be the Police of the World - Visual Politics EN]

COE hits $114k (in open Category -- 20th July 2022)!

COE - the world's best voluntary taxation system. 

[Taxes are usually mandatory. You cannot CHOOSE not to pay it. COE is VOLUNTARY. *I* don't pay COE, because I CHOOSE not to own a car.]

Chicken Feed

Fifty BILLION chickens are raised for meat (just for meat, not counting the chickens raised primarily for eggs!) each year, so approximately 136 million are slaughtered each day for meat.