Friday, June 21, 2013

Secret Origins Of The Little Red Dot

The term "little red dot" gained currency after former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie put down Singapore in an article published in the Asian Wall Street Journal of 4 August 1998. It quoted Habibie's remark that he did not have the feeling Singapore was a friend, and had him pointing to a wall map, saying: "It's O.K. with me, but there are 211 million people (in Indonesia). All the green (area) is Indonesia. And that red dot is Singapore."

Ex-Foreign Minister George Yeo put on this spin during the launch of a book bearing the same sobriquet, "When President Habibie dismissed us as a little red dot, he was expressing his frustration at our refusal to do his bidding."

Face mask for politicians
who just won't shut up
The hard truth is that Habibie was piqued because Lee Kuan Yew had voiced aloud that the Indonesia rupiah would fall if Habibie became President. BJ Habibie was appointed the third President of Indonesia under section 8 of the 1945 Constitution after Suharto was forced to retire in May 1988 from the post which he had held for 32 years, under a hazy cloud of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

When Indonesian Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono bristled with contempt, "Singapore shouldn't be like children, (behaving) in such a tizzy" ("Singapura jangan seperti anak-anak, dalam kegelisahan seperti ini."), PM Lee's said it would not be "fruitful" to respond, choosing instead to "work towards solving the problem rather than exchanging harsh words." It sounded like an emasculated echo of Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa's own tough words on the issue, “The approach must be one of collaboration and partnership, not one of apportioning blame here and there. Let’s focus on putting the fires out.”

After the fires have died down and the haze dissipated, historians will try to trace the origins of the exchange of "harsh words". One plausible source of the combustibles has to be traceable to this Facebook post:
"This is now the worst haze that Singapore has ever faced. And no country or corporation has the right to pollute the air at the expense of Singaporeans' health and wellbeing."

36 comments:

  1. What about the history of the endless number of committees set up to deal with the annual haze problem from, say 1994? As some wise man said, if you do not want anything done, set up a committee.

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  2. Less Haze More Pace6/21/2013 10:35 AM

    Well you know there comes a time when Singaporeans must unite, regardless of their brand of politics. I hope he gets the grace and real breakthrough of actionable works for the sake of everyone's health and the earth's well being.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MM Lee planted one tree in holland village, and the entire forest burned in our neighbors villages.

    One fengshui teller quipped "Is a very bad Sha-qi". Sigh.

    No amount of good karma will come out when you make those sinful money.
    Suggest the govt put their money into the ground NGOs and get them to do their enforcement work for the world, instead of oiling the corrupted politicians who openly ask for no less than $1m bribe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://time2transcend.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/indonesian-court-rules-in-favour-of-palm-oil-company/

      Will it make any difference?

      Delete
  4. PSI 400.

    OK people. Don't wait for your leaders to tell you to act.

    Fact = This would trigger a health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected. So says the AQI standard.
    Stay indoor. Stop work order. Use your common sense.

    If you still can't find N95 mask, go to Gan kim yong facebook and blast his wall and tell him to put his money where his mouth is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. don't just try pharmacies. some hardware store has too. try.

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    2. So where are the 9 million masks supposedly in stock?

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    3. There are about 4.5 million old spare bras in Singapore. Cut each pair into two and you have the 9 million in stock.

      Delete
    4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cL1fem3Pfo

      空污危險級! 新加坡口罩大缺貨

      Delete
    5. 5.3m population. 9m masks.

      If every kiasu and kiasi singaporeans take 3 per person (like daily changing underwearor fashion statement liddat), then 9m also not enough right?

      Delete
    6. Old days: "Eh, you overseas ah? Buy for me some duty-free liquor leh!"

      Now: "Eh, you overseas ah? Buy for me some N95 masks leh

      Delete
    7. The new form of envy when seeing people on the road. "Wah.. She got N95 mask leh!"

      Looks like 3M is the most coveted brand than LV these days.

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    8. Amazon now provides free shipping to Singapore if orders are above $125, so go gather s enough orders. Don't bang on that 9m stock they claimed to have. Because if it's true, there would not be any shortage already. Most of our colleagues have asked each other, and many have ran to 5-7 places and all out of stock.

      http://www.amazon.com/3M-Dust-Respirators-8210-20-Pack/dp/B002AUVWSC/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1371812001&sr=1-2&keywords=N95

      Delete
  5. OMG.

    Cats and birds are dying. This is beyond just for ill, elderlies and children anymore. Everyone please duck. Remember, PM 2.5 particulate can embed into your body and skin, not just through inhalation. Please take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://on.fb.me/11QXdYh
      http://on.fb.me/12eQXbG

      Delete
    2. cats are dying????? @$#%

      btw, anyone know how the rupiah fared after habibie took over?

      Delete
    3. When LKY said ruppiah would have to fall, the ruppiah dared not rise against god's will.

      Delete
  6. If Sinkies fail to show VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE TO THE PAP in 2015/16, then accept that we as the People are fated to be ruled by useless leaders.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Singapore Smogs6/21/2013 12:26 PM

    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=81431&src=eorss-nh

    Think red dot is gone from the aerial map.
    This incident has shown how our enemy have discovered our strategic weakness, even without despatching a plane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you study the aerial map, the fires are located just upstream of the air currents flowing over Singapore. Me thinks there's madness in the intent - the Indons just want the extradition treaty ratified, and there's no ifs and buts about it.

      Delete
    2. About time LKY and son return the ill gotten Billions of $$ to the Indons.
      I am sure all the PAP stooges in parliament including our fake president will want the extradition treaty to proceed so they can finally breathe better, otherwise, I foresee the Indons sending even more smoke signals until the air in SinCity reaches the magical mark of 1, 000 psi....probably a world record itself.

      Delete
  8. Yes, the situation is critical now but that is no reason to lose your head now. It will not help the situation. Be rational. Use common sense. If you don't trust government's advice, make your own decisions. Don't wait for stop work order if you think you are affected by the haze. Pull your kids out of school if you this the situation justifies it. You can make better decision on the ground than those bureaucrats can from their air-purifier installed ivory towers. At the end of the day, it is you who has to bear with the consequences. So let it be consequence of your own actions than the incompetence of someone else.

    ReplyDelete
  9. In time of small crisis, keep calm and laugh.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYWtjwJxEPs

    ReplyDelete
  10. International news about Haze

    http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/973469.html

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQAE5eauZjg

    http://wapo.st/124ApHG

    http://aqicn.org/city/singapore/central/

    ReplyDelete
  11. The young and the old pay $10 when they see the doctor. The rest we die our business, is it?

    Which idiot came up with such a policy?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Indonesia is preparing for another financial crisis, the way the Indon govt bonds and rupiah are trading, looks to be repeat of history. While Thailand and S Korea have strengthend their finances, Indonesians ahve just borrowed more, although this time its the man on the street buying bigger kijangs while in 1998 it was the Indonesian corporates who got drunk on USD debt. In 1998, Habibie they didn't get what he wanted from red dot because the haze came one year too early in 1997. This time, have mastered the powers of "nature" and they are laying the ground work with a rehearsal, sort of like an SAF exercise for the real thing. As usual we are the sheeple who will suffer. And we thought spending $5b on F35s will save us, why don;t they just buy an entire fleet of those fire fighting planes, cost a tiny fraction of that cursed, expensive and unwanted F35.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In other words, you think VB will be making the following proposal

      - You want $10m, $100m or $1billion? Rupiah, SG$ or USD$?

      Gosh, he would be the best man for that.

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    2. Nope, the papigs will say "no" again, and just let you all die with lung cancer. Elites not worried, they have masks ready for chemical warfare or they take a few months off to the Riviera for theior french cooking "vacashion". They see this as their best chance to repopulate Singapore (with FT)just in time for the 2016 elections :)

      Delete
  13. Hey Tattler, I think Suharto was forced to resign owing to the Financial crisis in 1998.

    ReplyDelete
  14. one of the rare events that leadership is tested.

    If our President and Cabinet think that their job is simply attend ribbon cutting and meet the people sessions, well they are certainly wrong.

    Please dont go globe trotting and shaking hands and leave the island. YOur job role is here and right next door is the problem. After 25 years its still not fixed.

    Please do not say they have not signed.. its your job to persuade, cajole, bribe ( yes, bribe)
    negotiate, threaten, induce.. what the hell have you guys been doing?? eating rendang and soup buntut??..

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  15. and the ferries from S'pore to batam island, tanjung pinang, tanjung balai, tanjung batu, are still crowded, as always, on every weekends.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ST reported last nite 2 Indonesian companies based in Singapore Sinarmas (aka Golden Agri, favorite penny punting stock of rich speculating silliporeans) and Asia Pac Resources (aka Raja garuda Mas, RGE Pte Ltd and RGE Inc). Both indonesia families who owned these 2 vehicles need no introduction. They were part of Suharto's patronage chain and escaped 1998 post-Suharto purge, ended up hiding money in red dot. Former SAF Chief Defence Force Bey Soo Khiang is RGE Pte Ltd's director. And RGE Inc's registered address is same as Portcullis Trustnet, that money laundering machine chaired by ex-police commissioner and current Singapore embassador to Switzerland Tee TB! As for Golden Agri, Lew Syn Pau, ex garmen scholar, ex PAP MP, ex NTUC Comfort MD and ED of NTUC Fairprice etc etc. So red dotters you asked for names of burners, there you go, now stop pestering them and sort out your own backyard.

    Haha, pinkie and V bala will have a hard time fighting their own elites!! See these..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, big expose!

      Now the world is watching after we have smoked them out. Watch the space as they say...

      Delete
  17. SG is proud to be 'little red dot' - the govt has always used the term fondly.

    It is just like when someone calls you 'idiot' and you start referring to yourself proudly everyday as 'idiot'.

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  18. Will the PAPigs ever have the courage to declare it's too dangerous for workers to work outdoors?

    What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Has anyone seen the pussy PM or his ministars appearing in public so far, and with a mask on ?
      Frankly, I hope our southern neighbours save the best for 9Aug. together with a greeting card....Happy National Day! Remember to return our money !

      Delete