My Blog

Mahathir, the Mad-man of Asia

........ and his recent disputes with Singapore

Some rantings from the mad-man in the recent news :-
..KL rejects Brussels date, ST 5th Jan
..1st studies "show adverse effects", ST 5th Jan
Immediate response from Singapore to Mahathir's remarks; shows that the Malaysian government are disorganized hypocrites and contradicts what they have claimed previously. 2 more moves to checkmate, baby (let's see how they try to weasel out of this now!) and do try to get your act together :-
..Agreement can be signed anywhere, CNA 5th Jan
And, related humour ..Smack-down on the water issue


I think that Malaysia does not have a case going for them at all, if they submit to the ICJ for arbitration, either the water agreement and/or the dispute over Pedra Branca island. They have chosen to renege on previous verbal understandings between Prime Ministers when they have met previously and also MOUs that have been signed. Instead, they have decided to play their version of hardball recently with Singapore. Perhaps the Malaysian government decided to do this after they were ill-advised at that time, by trusted morons, in order to cater to lunatic domestic politics.

If Mahathir had any intelligence (which perhaps he may still have some), he would realise that the ICJ would surely rule in Singapore's favour for both these disputes. Pehaps that is why they are now hesitating and trying to blame Singapore for delays, when Singapore was ready all along to sign and submit these disputes for arbitration with the ICJ. This is because we knew all this time that legally, we are correct in what we have done in the dealings with the water agreement and in administering the Horsburg Lighthouse on Pedra Branca island that obviously belongs to Singapore.

Malaysia just has no legal case to their advantage in these 2 issues, and are starting to behave illogically, childishly and to hint about war, since they probably figured out by now that they would suffer the humiliation of defeat in international court! Some of the more legally savvy among them would realise at once that the very similar situation and the legal precedant that allowed Malaysia to win the recent ICJ judgement on the "Sipadan & Ligatan islands" dispute with Indonesia would work against them this time, in the case of the Pedra Branca dispute with Singapore.

In the water agreement with Singapore, it is quite clear cut that whoever was administering the agreement on their side, was just a lazy good-for-nothing who probably did not read or unable to understand the agreement properly, and was just trying to cover up his oversights later. The Malaysians have missed the boat in this instance (and also did not keep track of time and of what was going on, not once but twice), and are just trying to weasle out of their mistakes in not making the proper requests for price adjustments at the appropriate times as spelled out clearly in the agreement. It is as simple as that, but the whole deal has been blown out of proportion by a bunch of idiots.

I just hope that Singapore can be self-sufficient sooner in their water-desalination and Newater filtration projects, as well as the piping of fresh water from nearby Indonesia's Bintan Island and the local rain-water collection projects. We shall then not have to rely on the water from the Tebrau River in Johor any longer, and the Malaysians can then keep it for themselves. However I do not think that they will know what to do with the extra water, since they have major challenges in processing and managing their own fresh water supplies anyway. The Malaysians may instead end up buying fresh water from Singapore in future! This is what they have been doing all along in certain areas of Johor anyway, as they do not appear to have the ability to process and treat drinking water there, and actually buy water from Singapore's water-works located in Johor to sell to their own people at a healthy profit.

Even if the Malaysians think that they can bully "little Singapore", if it came to a fight they would be sorely beaten by Singapore in any kind of battle or war. They are certainly no match compared to us in any negotiation or contest of will. After all the Malays need to have "special advantages" in order to survive in their own country as they are unable to compete with the other races otherwise, due to perhaps being mentally disadvantaged in some way, I suppose. How are they then as a country, able to survive internationally in competition against others I wonder?

Singapore has been ready to defend itself and to attack anyone or country that would be a threat to its well-being for more than the past 20 years. Yes, Mahathir, we are ready and prepared to take you on, baby!

Here is my post (reproduced in full) that I placed in the
Singles Connect Forum Page today, in case it gets censored or removed by the Singapore authorities. We all know how paranoid they are about freedom of expression and free speech.


Yes, I was right. Looks like the people "in charge" did not like the way that the thread was going, and it has been removed after just a few hours of life. Also in the light of last night's accident at sea near Pedra Branca island between the Singapore Navy APV ship SS Courageous

< SS Courageous, badly damaged aft

< ANL Indonesia with only minor scratches

and the Dutch registered tanker ANL Indonesia, with loss of life of at least one of the female crew members on board the SS Courageous. This is late breaking news extracted from the Straits Times online today :-

The body of one of the four women trapped in the aft of the RSS Courageous has been found. It was wedged between two beds in the sleeping quarters of the anti-submarine patrol vessel.
The ship, now at Changi Naval Base, is still being drained of water to allow rescuers to search for the other three women who are full-time specialists in weapons and equipment.
The Singapore Navy anti-submarine ship that was rammed by a container vessel close to midnight on Friday was towed back to Changi Naval Base earlier on Saturday.


Indeed shocking news, and it is described as the worst incident in Singapore's short naval history. I did not know that they had so many women on board Singapore Navy ships, as by tradition they bring bad luck on board ship and kelongs. Certainly very bad luck for the ship's captain at least, as he'll most likely face a court martial for not keeping a proper watch and getting his ship damaged plus having his crew killed. Imagine being hit by another ship just by sailing around in the open sea; the crew on duty must have been all asleep and not alert to what was going on around them. What then would have happened with Muslim suicide bombing terrorists and enemy boats bent on actually attacking us? At least this incident will put everyone on their toes from now on, and the Singapore Navy will also be more alert for real enemy threats as well. Anyway, the word "Pedra Branca" is now linked to even more high profile news from today onwards at home.



The contents (that used to be) from the
Singles Connect Forum Floor/Singles Chit Chat/ subject:Pedra Branca or Batu Putih :-

Politicians the world over are all mostly talk and no action.
This is only what they are capable of anyway, no matter what they try to tell the people otherwise especially during election time.

Even when it comes to the economy and war, the politicians will leave the hard work and killing to other people, and try to derive personal benefit (if they are able to) from what they have engineered.

In recent years, due to their envy of Singapore's success and inability to improve the situation in their own country, some in the Malaysian government have outdone themselves in their confusion. This is clearly evident in their "negotiations" with Singapore on the water and other issues, and on Pedra Branca.

Perhaps politicians should just remain harmless and keep to saying alot but not mean anything intelligent or maybe just try to confuse everyone with their speeches. After all, many of them (referring to those across the causeway in this instance) are either useless lay-abouts, lacking in intelligence, are slightly senile or about to retire because of their advanced age after spending many years in politics and in the government, living easy, comfortable and protected lives.

Maybe the presidents and prime ministers as commanders-in-chief of their armies nowadays will change their talk of war if they had to lead their armed forces in the front line of battle like the "warrior kings" of the old days such as Caesar, Alexander, Hannibal and Genghis Khan.

Imagine, Mahathir, Bush and Blair suddenly realising that they had to be leading the charge on horseback and be in the thick of battle and bloodshed if they were going to have to wage war on anyone! They would then quickly change their minds and start thinking of peace instead.

If what I have written is too controversial or inflammatory for some, please feel free to edit. After all I do realise that the pen or mouth is sometimes mightier than the sword.

-- end of the Singles Connect posting, dated 4th Jan 2003