TR EMERITUS

By Oris Lewis from Reuters, 5 June 2010 Israel was prepared to intercept another ship bound for Gaza carrying aid and activists Saturday, increasing fears of more international tension over its blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Israel faces an international outcry after its naval operation Monday in which nine Turkish activists were killed on a ship bound for Gaza. Israel says its blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after Hamas seized the territory from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, is meant to prevent arms and military supplies from reaching the territory's Hamas rulers. In Washington, the White House said Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable but urged the Gaza aid vessel to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence. "We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Friday. "The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement. The Irish-owned Rachel Corrie -- a converted merchant vessel bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003 -- pressed on despite the earlier ship's violent interception. One of the activists on board, Irishman Denis Halliday, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general, told Irish radio on Friday they expected to reach the Israeli-imposed exclusion zone overnight and aimed to continue toward Gaza in daylight. Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza." The Israeli military declined to give prior details of what it planned to do in the event the navy had to intervene. In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said in a statement: "Those on board the Rachel Corrie have indicated that they are ready to accept inspection of their cargo at sea, prior to docking in Gaza." GUNSHOTS AT CLOSE RANGE Autopsy results on the nine dead Turkish activists from Monday's raid showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close range, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said. Turkish-American activist Fulkan Dogan was shot five times from less than 45 cm (18 inches) away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the paper said. In addition to those killed, 48 others received gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing. In his angriest rhetoric yet, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the Jewish state Friday of violating its own biblical commandments. "I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?" Erdogan said in a televised speech to party supporters. "I'll say again. I say in English 'you shall not kill'. Did you still not understand?. So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh'." Turkey, Israel's only Muslim ally, has threatened to rethink its entire relationship. Thousands of protesters sang Turkey's praises at demonstrations in Egypt and Lebanon Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a forum of senior ministers Friday to discuss the arrival of the Rachel Corrie and actions to be taken following the international criticism Israel faced after Monday's events. A foreign ministry statement said Israel wanted to avoid confrontation and invited the Rachel Corrie to dock in Israel's own port of Ashdod, where its cargo could be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza if it contains no contraband. "We in Israel have no desire for confrontation ... If the ship decides to sail to the port of Ashdod in Israel then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it," foreign ministry official Yossi Gal said. "Israel is prepared to receive the ship and to offload its contents and after an inspection to ensure that no weapons and/or war materiel are on board, we are prepared to deliver all of the goods to Gaza." - Reuters  Read More →

The long suspected truth is finally out - that the PAP has been giving out Singapore PRs and citizenships to foreigners like toilet papers. According to a Straits Times report today, an application for PR or citizenship takes only "four to six months to process." This means that a foreigner can potentially become a Singapore citizen in less than a year. The state media reported last year of a Chinese national Zhang Yuanyuan who obtained her Singapore PR within 2 months of application. She later returned to China and participated in its National Day Rally. There appear to be no QC on the foreigners being granted Singapore PR - even construction workers, cleaners, masseurs and prostitutes were given PRs relatively easily. The lax criteria for Singapore PR is in stark contrast with the stringent requirements laid down by other countries. For example, applicants for Malaysian PR "must have resided in the country for a continuous period of not less than five years under a valid entry permit preceding the date of application." In Australia, prospective migrants "must have an occupation that is listed on the Skilled Occupation List if they are not sponsored by a state or territory government." They also need to pass an English proficiency test known as IELTS and reside three out of five years in Australia before they can even apply for its PR. There is no minimum residency period for Singapore PR. Neither do applicants need to pass an English proficiency test. As a result, Singapore has been swarmed by large number of PRs and new citizens who are unable to speak a single word of English. Due to the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. Faced with a potential backlash from the voters at the coming elections, the PAP is cutting back on the inflow of foreigners to appease the public. Singaporeans should not be deceived by the latest political gimmick by the PAP again. During the recent May Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for the "understanding" of Singaporeans to accept a greater influx of foreigners in the near future. Unless Singaporeans send a strong message at the next election, they will surely be relegated to being a second class minority in their own country pretty soon.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

By Yoong Siew Wah True to his disingenuous character, the Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew always has something up his sleeve which he would foist on the unsuspecting public, ostensibly to score a point. The latest is his baffling disclosure on Singapore's separation from Malaysia which he made in his eulogy to the late Dr Goh Keng Swee at his state funeral. It was anybody's guess whether the distinguished audience at the funeral was taken aback by his enigmatic disclosure that it was the late Dr Goh who decided on his own, after discussions with Tun Abdul Razak, the Malaysian DPM and Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the Minister of the Interior to have a clean break. In other words it was Dr Goh alone who made the decision to secede from Malaysia and later told PM Lee Kuan Yew about it. The Chinese have a proverb: Behead first and report to the throne later (xian zhan hou zou). From events at that time and what MM Lee Kuan Yew said in his memoirs it was the Malaysian PM Tunku Abdul Rahman who decided to expel Singapore from Malaysia, choosing to "sever all ties with a State Government that showed no measure of loyalty to its Central Government". Lee Kuan Yew was adamant and tried to work out a compromise but without success. He was later convinced by Goh Keng Swee that the secession was inevitable. Lee Kuan Yew's Malaysian Malaysia adventure against the Central Government exacerbated by race riots in Singapore caused immense alarm to the Malaysian leadership, in particular Tunku Abdul Rahman. He came to the inevitable conclusion that he could not resolve the crisis and decided that separation was the best solution. Singaporeans have been taken for a ride once too often by the highfalutin MM Lee Kuan Yew and it is about time he shows some civility and rsponsibility in enlightening the public as to his motive, whether good or evil, in portraying Dr Goh as the protagonist of the secession, especially when DR Goh is no longer around to question its truthfulness. It shows Dr Goh to be a man of gross impetuousity, making a decision on his own on a grave matter affecting the destiny of millions of Singaporeans. Is this a fair reflection on a statesman on whom the innumerable tributes show him to be a man of sound principle and not one to have acted on his own on such a grave matter as secession? Well, the ball is now in MM Lee Kuan Yew's court. There is another appropriate Chinese proverb: He who ties the bell round the tiger's neck is the one to untie it (jie ling huan shi xi ling ren).   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →