TR EMERITUS

Iran’s full membership in BRICS, announced by Putin, signals a potential shift in global power dynamics. Amid ongoing U.S. sanctions and regional tensions, Tehran is now backed by BRICS—a bloc comprising 46% of the world’s population and 36% of global GDP. Iran aims to leverage BRICS trade channels and non-dollar transactions to sidestep Western isolation. Is this the dawn of a new world order? Watch as Iran’s strategy with BRICS unfolds.    Read More →

Lee Hsien Yang (LHY) has declared himself a political refugee from Singapore, the land of his birth. The land his father and his team had built up. UK is currently the land he seeks protection from. He has gone back to his colonial masters for refuge. “I sought asylum protection in 2022. The Singapore Government’s attacks against me are in the public record. They prosecuted my son, brought disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a bogus police investigation that has dragged on for years.” “On the basis of these facts, the UK has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution, and cannot safely return to Singapore.” Well, the optics will divide the minds of Singaporeans, left and right. Perception is everything. The glasses we wear determine what we want to see, and confirm what we want to believe in. Everyone has a pair, and they vary in degree, literally. Some take the time to do regular check up to keep the lenses in focus on the details that matter. Others prefer lenses that are long due for adjustments because they have already decided on what they want to focus on. The dark side of success is that you risk a society being divided into those who will not question you and those who will not stop questioning you. Suspicion is the soil that nourishes the later, and devotion is the soil that nurtures the former. Either extremes risk destabilising society. It’s the difference between dry matches ready to light at the touch of heat and wet matches that stay unlit even in places most humid. Human nature embraces equality. They are at rest when their neighbours are no better than them. They are restless when they have reasons to compare class and status with their neighbour and suspect special patronage. Look at the countless numbers of sibling rivalries and you get more than a glimpse of what I mean. It is the same with success, for it is fiercely exclusive. The accumulation of it transforms the leadership to become skittish and protective. It can turn a leader into a nervous wreck. Status quo is a cursed condition, especially when it has been one-party dominant for more than half a century. It does not fit into our idea of what is frank and fair election or transparent and honest leadership. Perception is infinitely elastic, volatile; reality is grounded, largely unseen. Like the deep secrets of the Order of the Knight Templars or the exclusive gatherings of King Arthur’s round table knights, there is just something lurking in the cabinet, a secret hidden in political catacombs, as perception goes. Going back to LHY, for context, he is what you would call an all-rounder. He would have been the perfect son of Singapore. He is a scholar. He studied in the best universities (Cambridge and Stanford). At a commanding height, he led SingTel as CEO, Fraser and Neave as non-executive director, and CAAS as its chairman. And to top that all up, he was a brigadier general. Schools, army and workplace, you name it, LHY has done it all and scored a perfect 10. He could have retired more than comfortably embracing what the status quo had enabled him to achieve. But after a passing and a death wish denied, he and his sister left a place of perpetual rest to a place of perpetual unrest. Alas, he lacked nothing, but one. It’s what money cannot buy. Neither status nor titles can bankroll. He will struggle to find peace again. Whether he is running away from his ghosts or from a brother he thinks has an axe to grind, I suppose every year he will be watching the NDP from afar (he will still be with family though). And he would recall a time the place of his birth was his home. A safe refuge. It has given him so much. Now, the only person left is someone he deeply distrusts. To him, his home is now no more than a dry empty husk.   Michael Han * The author blogs on Facebook.    Read More →

Ever since PAP came into power in 1959, party which had fought for "Democracy" has actually turned into the Demonic Monster of Democracy. Most people have lost count of total number of Political Detainees and Refugees (who have seek refuge or asylum elsewhere on Earth) but I have seen a whole list of ISD political detainees prepared by Function 8. I believe even this list isn't exhaustive. As for Political Refugees, there are many unaccounted for but there are just a few prominent ones in my era: 1) Tan Wah Piow 2) Francis Seow 3) Tang Liang Hong 4) Lee Hsien Yang For a tiny little country like Singapore, I believe we have a very high number of Political Refugees per capital. PAP gov has always tried to defend itself from the negativity optics arise from the "confirmation" of Political Refugees status by other countries. However, when we are getting so many registered as political Refugees, most of us no longer find it strange that dissidents would be granted such status. The implications of a foreign country granting Political Refugee status to prominent individual like Mr Lee Hsien Yang is actually enormous. It is basically a big slap on PAP Gov when a country like UK which is supposed to be one of our traditional allies, has basically agreed and confirmed that PAP Gov has literally "persecuted" the son of the ruling party's founder, LKY! This is the reason why I find it shocking. By granting LHY the status of Political Refugee based on the reasons he has put up, it basically means that the UK Gov has agreed that all these legal matters could be regarded as part of deliberate political persecution. Most Singaporeans of my age or older would not find it difficult to accept political persecution as part and parcel of PAP rule but it is time for us to reflect, rethink and decide whether we should allow such "norms" to continue. A Norm doesn't mean it is Normal or acceptable. It's Time To Change. Yes We Can.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →