tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post112331978539530236..comments2023-10-30T22:31:03.398+08:00Comments on Singapore Rebel : 9 Aug 1965 - Suddenly, Singapore was out .. And gained independenceMInghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00812324746322990767noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post-1124112967541172342005-08-15T21:36:00.000+08:002005-08-15T21:36:00.000+08:00But who really cares? It was a fantastic PR opport...But who really cares? It was a fantastic PR opportunity, they used it, and even better, it worked. Spontaneous replacement? Planned replacement? All that's needed is the belief of spontanenity, and there persists the myth. The fun thing about this is that the majority of people won't penetrate the illusion - that is, the illusion worked - and anyone who sees through it is just going to seethe, oh my god, these people are evil and manipulative! While everyone else doesn't actually listen. Or care. Oh, sure, some do, like the Vast Internet Hordes, but no one's actually /concerned/ about it - they have better things to worry about like, oh, is that an income tax cut I see? Yes it is!<BR/><BR/>Well.<BR/><BR/>The doctrine's been realpolitik for a long time. Realpolitik isn't nice, but it's very effective, if pulled off properly. Unstable - Wilhelm II took power, the kaiser's an idiot, Bismarck fell out of favor, Everything Rapidly Went To Pieces, and we all know what happens next. But while you have an effective government that, mind you, hasn't apparently arrested anyone for political subversion yet recently, it's a very practical doctrine to follow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post-1123952864455785232005-08-14T01:07:00.000+08:002005-08-14T01:07:00.000+08:00Hey I've heard u've made a Chee Soon Juan film. Re...Hey I've heard u've made a Chee Soon Juan film. Really admire ur courage. I also have plans to make a JBJ documnetary for my school documentary project. I doubt the school will allow it. At the same time, I'm not sure whether I will kena hunt down by Lee Govt if I really made one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post-1123761196316761262005-08-11T19:53:00.000+08:002005-08-11T19:53:00.000+08:00If you are alone, call this number 800-211-9293. C...If you are alone, call this number 800-211-9293. Connect with Real Singles from your local area instantly for only $0.99/min with a $4.99 connection fee. A true Match is only one phone call away 800-211-9293. Meet people with common interests and desires now. Check it out. 800-211-9293Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post-1123679471560205192005-08-10T21:11:00.000+08:002005-08-10T21:11:00.000+08:00Thanks for dredging these things from the archives...Thanks for dredging these things from the archives. I doubt any of us would get to read them otherwise.Agagoogahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11427912904378599921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9272856.post-1123650103509295932005-08-10T13:01:00.000+08:002005-08-10T13:01:00.000+08:00http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/09/news/edbowr...http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/09/news/edbowring.php<BR/><BR/>Singapore and Malaysia: friendly rivals <BR/>Philip Bowring <BR/><BR/>WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2005<BR/> <BR/>KUALA LUMPUR <BR/><BR/>Forty years ago this week, Singapore was kicked out of the Federation of Malaysia by Prime Minister Abdul Rahman, who believed Lee Kwan Yew's politicking was stirring up racial animosity. It was a stunning rebuff to the relatively young Lee, who just two years before had led the island into Malaysia in the teeth of opposition at home. But Lee and Singapore rose to the challenge of independence. The rest of Malaysia did, too. It has prospered and has remained intact, confounding skeptics who viewed mostly non-Muslim Sabah and Sarawak as unnatural additions to the Federation.<BR/> <BR/>So, what seemed to many a disaster, a new source of instability in a Southeast Asia still beset with Communist insurgencies and Cold War divisions, has so far had a reasonably happy result. <BR/> <BR/>The 1965 split was in practice quite gradual - the two countries had one currency until 1973 - but time has eroded the shared experiences of their British-trained elites. Malaysia and Singapore remain joined at the hip by geography and history, but their different evolutions over those 40 years are crucial to the survival of a working relationship.<BR/> <BR/>A few random observations may shed some light on these issues. The Malays of Malaysia should be a lot less defensive now than they were in 1965. The non-Malay percentage of its population, once more than 40 percent, has been declining because of the much higher Malay birth rate. Malaysia's overall population is growing faster than Singapore, which has one of lowest fertility rates in the world. Malaysia's economic growth may have been slower than Singapore's, but Malays now have a significant role in an economy once controlled by Chinese and foreigners.<BR/> <BR/>But if Malays have gained confidence, they have also drifted apart socially from non-Malays on both sides of the causeway that separates Malaysia and Singapore. Religious practices imported from Arabia and Iran, such as ubiquitous head scarves for women and enforcement of dietary and other social rules, have changed the face of Malaysia. The more sensual, fun-loving ways and artistic traditions that date from Malaysia's pre-Islamic past are increasingly hidden, in contrast to Indonesia's more relaxed, plural society. Singapore's secular puritanism, for its part, grates against the rigid Islamist aspects of Malaysia. <BR/> <BR/>Malaysians as a whole, however, do share a certain pride in the country's greater openness of political debate, the existence of thriving opposition parties and the degree of democracy within their governing party, which they contrast with Singapore's tightly controlled politics and treatment of opposition figures.<BR/> <BR/>Although ties are still numerous, non-Malay Malaysians have also drifted somewhat from their Singapore counterparts. For 20 years, Chinese in Singapore have been encouraged to speak Mandarin. In Malaysia, Hokkien and Cantonese are still the norm. <BR/> <BR/>Malaysian Chinese fret about the commercial and educational disadvantages they suffer in the name of creating racial equality in wealth and education, which can often degenerate into corruption. The institutionalized discrimination introduced in Malaysia after 1969 has no overt equivalent in Singapore. Yet many ethnic Chinese businessmen find it easier to make money in Malaysia, even after paying for Malay participation, than in a Singapore economy dominated by politically protected government corporations and by foreign multinationals that are often offered tax concessions. The traditional entrepreneurial talents of overseas Chinese may find more space in Malaysia than in Singapore, where diplomas and formal skills are the key to advancement.<BR/> <BR/>Malaysia has sacrificed some economic growth for racial wealth distribution. Singapore, with its huge compulsory savings program, has sacrificed economic freedom on the altar of investment-led growth driven by state-controlled enterprises. In both cases they have ended up, via different routes, with stock markets that are dominated by huge government-linked companies.<BR/> <BR/>Malaysia has borrowed many ideas from Singapore and in doing so has raised its own levels of competitiveness, for example in attracting multinationals and competing for port and aviation business. At the same time, Singapore has been forced to realize that its prosperity depends on its neighbors' success at least as much as its ability to be a player in global finance or electronics.MInghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00812324746322990767noreply@blogger.com