Military Spending

Jim Sleeper's article ("Blame the Latest Israel-Arab War on… Singapore?") created a lot of angst, although what he intended to highlight was the observation that Israel's actions since 1967 have prompted reactions and conditions which set the nation on a tragic course. In like vein, he infers Yale’s misadventure in Singapore can only have dire consequences further down the slippery road. My Hongkong friend has a Cantonese expression which says that when you draw a cartoon, you don't need to sketch in the intestines. But for some folks, we really have to keep it simple enough for a 4 year old to understand, with lots of pictures to illustrate.

One point came across without need of further clarification, Singapore and Israel top the list of the world’s most militarised nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC):

The GMI defines the degree of militarization of a country by, amongst others, the comparison of military expenditures with its gross domestic product (GDP) or other indicators, such as health expenditure or number of physicians.

While it may be convenient for the politician generals to argue that too little militarisation carries its own risks, there's such a thing as going overboard with the extravagance on military toys - at the cost of housing, transport and healthcare needs. On the latest Index,  Singapore is a mere 70 points below Israel's 877, and has been number two for every year in this century, except for the three in which Eritrea was number one.

And there are the neighbours to consider. If escalation is too cheem (Hokkien dialect for something that is profound or deep or intellectual) a topic to understand, perhaps we should listen to how Commissioner Gordon explained it to Batman: "What about escalation?  We start carrying semiautomatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds."

We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds.

Most democratic countries have an independent committee to evaluate military purchases transparently. Our minister in charge seem to have a book of blank checks. Tom Burbage, general manager of the F-35 program, reported on Fri Nov 9, 2012 that Singapore is showing increased interest in buying Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Unbeknownst to most of us, Singapore and Israel both have already pledged to contribute about US$50 million to the F-35 development effort. 

With the volatile situation at the Gaza strip, conversation should steer clear of the rattling of sabers. Talk instead about why a 4-room flat at Ghim Moh should cost $450,000 (without grant) and $435,000 (with grant), when they keep harping on the $60,000 grant available.