1st of all, I have to marvel at the SHOCK exit of Germany from the 2018 World Cup courtesy of the gritty South Korean team! One has to put it to destiny as Germany had so many shots on goal that mathematically a few of them had to go in. But, nah. It is not meant to be! So, kudos to the South Korean team and goodbye Germany!
Another SHOCK, though of a different kind, is HOW MUCH things linked to Najib, the ousted PM of Msia are WORTH! RM1.1B!! Amazing or most shameful hoarding of material things?
Finally, the ex-top diplomat of S'pore, Bilahari Kausikan, has WARNED about S'pore not to succumb to or sucked into China's binary choices in public diplomacy.
Some joked that it is this type of public revealing of S'pore diplomacy that got our Terrex carriers being detained in Hkg SAR for a while when it was NEVER a problem for more than 20 years!
Bilahari is pretty proud of the fact that he is known as the 'most undiplomatic diplomat' and also an inspiration for his x-boss and current Foreign Minister Vivian who said: 'We call a spade a spade!'
Well there is NOTHING WRONG about being truthful and accurate with facts. At the same time, when uttering the same accurate facts in public to an indecisive friend or even foe when a quiet by the side chat can clarify about exact intention and if there were any other alternatives are EXACTLY what diplomacy is all about. Yes?
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how China will react to this current ADVISOR to our Foreign Ministry comments.
The Kishore's brand of diplomacy is out of favour as can be seen from his early retirement from the LKY School of Public Policy and the fate of some of his staffs in the last 12 months. Kishore can be undiplomatic and blunt too during his heydays as the favourite of late LKY. He tried to share with PM Lee and the current government that Sgp is still a little red dot with significance. Just that without the status of late LKY, we just have to be a little bit more DIPLOMATIC and call a spade a spade in private discussion with our friends or potential foes UNLESS the critical issues are on the table before calling a spade a spade in public.
Sgp is a sovereign country. No country CAN take that away from us. If our legal rights are trampled upon with totally disregard despite our softer approach, there is always a hard line to take backed by our trillions of national reserve. There is NO NEED to shout out at the very 1st sign of trouble making by friends or potential foes. Really!
Another SHOCK, though of a different kind, is HOW MUCH things linked to Najib, the ousted PM of Msia are WORTH! RM1.1B!! Amazing or most shameful hoarding of material things?
Finally, the ex-top diplomat of S'pore, Bilahari Kausikan, has WARNED about S'pore not to succumb to or sucked into China's binary choices in public diplomacy.
Some joked that it is this type of public revealing of S'pore diplomacy that got our Terrex carriers being detained in Hkg SAR for a while when it was NEVER a problem for more than 20 years!
Bilahari is pretty proud of the fact that he is known as the 'most undiplomatic diplomat' and also an inspiration for his x-boss and current Foreign Minister Vivian who said: 'We call a spade a spade!'
Well there is NOTHING WRONG about being truthful and accurate with facts. At the same time, when uttering the same accurate facts in public to an indecisive friend or even foe when a quiet by the side chat can clarify about exact intention and if there were any other alternatives are EXACTLY what diplomacy is all about. Yes?
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how China will react to this current ADVISOR to our Foreign Ministry comments.
The Kishore's brand of diplomacy is out of favour as can be seen from his early retirement from the LKY School of Public Policy and the fate of some of his staffs in the last 12 months. Kishore can be undiplomatic and blunt too during his heydays as the favourite of late LKY. He tried to share with PM Lee and the current government that Sgp is still a little red dot with significance. Just that without the status of late LKY, we just have to be a little bit more DIPLOMATIC and call a spade a spade in private discussion with our friends or potential foes UNLESS the critical issues are on the table before calling a spade a spade in public.
Sgp is a sovereign country. No country CAN take that away from us. If our legal rights are trampled upon with totally disregard despite our softer approach, there is always a hard line to take backed by our trillions of national reserve. There is NO NEED to shout out at the very 1st sign of trouble making by friends or potential foes. Really!
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