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They're honourable, brave tribe of people with legendary bravery and loyalty in combat. A race of people with a strong identity. Tradition to serve overseas and return home. But world is changing - young everywhere from mid-east to american want their freedom and opportunities. Resistance...

Most people are materialistic, self-centred, want to be one-up because feels good. But at some point, as it gets too competitive, stressful, crowded, they become more aware how useless their efforts to get ahead are. This is different generation from those growing up in 50s or 60s when lives...

Most people have a sense of fairness and justice because it is programmed into our DNA. Even if only a few people have ever been arrested in this way, more and more may start feeling their pain (and be reminded of their own pain from some other injustice, whether from foreign competition or what...

Hindsight is 20/20. Anyone predicted TCB and TT margin is less than 1%? And made this prediction before nomination? And was sure of it? Even if TJS didn't run, won't more of his votes go to TKL than evenly with TCB? If TCB is "middle", and more votes from the TJS "left" go to him, also...

These rankings just reinforce in people which are the top unis. Beyond that, people just read whatever they want about the rest. All these criteria/ weightage are completely debateable. QS ranks and THE ranks very different, except the top few are still the same few (though slightly different...

That's a good analogy. And aren't the SG security leaders paid like Man U stars? SG probably also cannot absorb as much damage as the Isrealis. We're vulnerable. Is having tough laws providing only an illusion of safety?

The Chinese would be quite suicidal to fight the Americans (and the other way round also). Malacca Straits is of vital strategic interest (esp oil flow) of all these powers. Including SG, M'sia and I'sia. US relations with latter also pretty good and improving. China also. SEA wants to friend...

Healthcare & education services have large potential for growth in the region, where these are generally poor. Govt is already trying to capitalize on this. But devil's in the details. More eye surgeons, plastic surgeons etc will only enrich small group of these people. Short term gain...

Corroborate or not may not be black or white... many shades of gray. Room for the interrogator's own judgement and bias. But have several questions about this particular case: Not sure how a car with several people can be driven across borders without immigration noticing. Surely after an...

True he's a little late into the field at age 57, but so is Chen SM. Don't really see that as a problem. The name dropping of elderly UK academics is not doing him favours. Unlike in Asia, most people past 60-65 aren't taken seriously in the West unless they're really bigwigs. Does look like...

He lost two elections. In advanced democracies, losers are always painted as if they're imbecles by media, mainstream or otherwise. Not sure I'd discount him too much though. Newbie in politics. But it was a baptism of fire. There is without question a support base he has built. At least...

On one hand, making the calculation that it's not worth fighting the obvious winner is rational. Most detainees (of the 100-200) went that way. By extension, most SG apolitical, practical, live and let live. For ex-Coldstore detainees though, there was no option to fight another day. On the...

Guantanamo and its treatment of prisoners is deplorable. But note, US does not detain US citizens there (except for one American caught fighting with the Afgan Taliban, and only initially when he was mistaken to be non-US, transferred out later).

What does govt get in return if they do so? Would only embolden opposition, liberals.. but get nothing in return. Illogical for them to give in to this at this time... maybe later on before election. M'sia is in a different situation - polls coming, Najib in precarious position, riots, much...

No… what I mean is that humiliating, degrading, wrong things were done to all these people by their captors. That they all withstood this is indeed admirable. But there’re many more (100-200?) who were arrested, not just the few who spoke up / wrote books. Many made to sign confessions...

Not sure if children should be affected or blamed for their father's activities before they were born. But I think a roaring success of these operations has been the shame and silence, and maybe even guilt associated with them. Guilt of capitulating under duress, residual trauma like what...

Think the above are all very interesting thoughts. I think it's not whether they subscribed to communism in terms of broad ideology. But to the point of whether any of them were ever consistently implicated with violent insurgency, guerrila warfare, "terrorism" of the more militant wing of...

Facinating thread. Couple of questions: Didn't the British Archieves say these people were not communists? Obviously I don't know what happened exactly. But what causes a person to attempt suicide can involve many factors beyond a single fight or conversation. These people were under severe...

Agree. Expats are often a highly valuable source of talent and influence in this globalized world. The Israeli/ Taiwanese and other expat groups, for example, lobbied hard in the US for the benefit of their motherland. Many returned to fight / work in their homelands, bringing expertise and...

Agree. On Charlie Rose, LKY was asked what he'd advise young SG. Reply was to go out into the world, America, China, using SG as a base. As for NS, think that's a sacred cow. Absolutely no political capital (or any administrative reason) for govt even trying to clarify anything about getting...