A Tribute To Good Old Forum Banter

[Boonsiong]

Nice

 

[Boonsiong]

Good

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

4h ·
After I have posted on the musing on the China's WWII Victory Parade, a friend messages me and indicated that President Xi has invited PM Wong to the parade during his official visit to China in June this year.
I didn't remember this invitation made by President Xi but my friend insisted that this invitation was made. He further said that according to his sources, Japan wasn't very happy about it!
I did a search through the official accounts and there wasn't anything mentioned about such invitation. But South China Morning Post (SCMP) puts up an interesting title for the report of PM Wong's visit to China
"Xi urges Singapore to join China on 'right side of history' as he meets PM Wong"
Well inside this news article, it refers to Trump's tariffs and "unilateralism". But to me, the Chinese likes to use phrases with "double meaning", 语带双关.
"Right side of History" could refer to acknowledging China's historical ownership claims on South China Sea or Taiwan as part of China.
It could also refer to the history of WWII as Japan was the aggressor.
Thus, it is actually quite possible that President Xi would have invited PM Wong to the 3 Sep WWII Victory Parade right in the context of "right side of history".
If that is so, more questions would arise. Did PM Wong decline to attend and that's the reason why SCMP didn't include Singapore in the list of ASEAN countries which will have their top political leaders to attend?
On the other hand, if PM Wong has acknowledged the invitation and prepared to attend the parade, then Shanmugam's Hacker Saga and LHL's Rising Sun conferment would make such attendence pretty awkward.
We are now caught in a very delicate situation if what my friend said is true.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1h ·
They are supposed to test out the "no barrier" carpark gantry system at the carpark next to Old Airport Road hawker center.
They had removed the gantry barriers initially, many months ago when they first started the testing. But now, the barriers are back in place while the system with the camera is still installed!
The initial intent of installing this new system is to do away with the barriers but I guess the testing has failed!
Another white elephant? Another useless expensive toy that failed?

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

22h ·
Hungry Ghost Month
It is a unique Chinese culture that we believe the dead ghostly spirits will leave Hell when the hell gate opens on the first day of the 7th month of Chinese calendar.
These ghostly spirits, regardless of "social status", will have 1 month holiday on Earth.
Well I guess many of those who died with vengeance will haunt those who have murdered them. That's karma and karmic relationship which outsiders should not interfere.
There are also those ghostly spirits who would go around pleading for help or mercy for their past deeds.
I will always try very hard to avoid all these help seeking spirits. It's also karma which others should not interfere. Unless you have the ability to help.
Some people may have their fair share of ghostly encounters, on and off Hungry Ghost Month. I do have some such encounters as well, though most of the time I don't really see any of them explicitly.
Having unexplained weird experience during Hungry Ghost Month can really give us the goosebumps. I just had a strange encounter right in the beginning of the first week of Hungry Ghost Month.
I was driving to my warehouse from home in the afternoon and suddenly the left front wheel of my car started to have a soft rumbling sound. I stopped beside the road to check but couldn't find anything wrong. I thought it was the bearings issue but I was not driving at high speed.
I decided to drive slowly towards the car workshop just a few kilometers away. The metalic rumbling sound continued. I took a turn into the wrong carpark and did a U turn to drive out. At that very moment, the rumbling sound vanished.
When I finally reached my car workshop, the rumbling sound was all gone and they found nothing wrong with the wheel.
Nevertheless, my car was long overdue for servicing as I was traveling overseas, thus I decided to change the engine oil etc. Well you know what, the workshop was giving SG60 discount for engine oil!
That mystery of the unexplained rumbling of the wheel wasn't solved but at least I was led to have a good deal in servicing my car.
Most likely the rumbling was due to some stone pebbles or metalic particles getting into the wheel's cover. That explained why there was a rumbling until those particles or pebbles just got off the wheel.
Well maybe some friendly spirit was trying to give me a friendly reminder that it's time to service my car and got me a good deal for doing so!
Whatever it is, we have to believe in karma. If you have done good all your life, even the ghostly spirits will help you or bless you during Hungry Ghost Month. But if you have been harming people, it would be just a matter of time those who have suffered from your bad deeds would find you.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

6h ·
A heart warming Teh Halia Kosong or Ginger Tea without milk or sugar in this chilling weather after lunch!
This is a special brew with freshly cut ginger and the top grade FBOPF Ex-Special Akbar tea!

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1h ·
US Tak Boleh, Boh Bakei!
It is extremely apparent right now that Zionist Israel is really the Big Boss that orders US around!
It has shown total disrespect of US when it just bombed dead those Iranians who were supposed to hold talks with the Americans, just 2 days before the meeting!
Then it just boss US around to help it bomb Iran into accepting truce when it could no longer withstand the missile attacks.
Now, it just ignored US guarantee of protection to all other Middle East allies by sending its fighter jets, intruding into their air space and bombed Qatar which actually hosted American military bases!
It is extremely clear to the whole world now that the Zionist Israelis has humiliated the Americans so blatantly that they are treating the Americans like their dogs!
They have absolutely Zero respect to the Americans because they have controlled the whole American political system!
This is actually a wake up call to all other countries, especially those Middle East countries which are having this delusional belief that US will protect them as it has given its "protection guarantee".
The Americans turn out to be a paper tiger and little puppet which the Zionist Israelis controlled with strings behind.
The Zionist Israelis do not respect International Law because just like what their political leaders have said, international law doesn't apply to them because they regard themselves as God's "Chosen People"!
If the Arabs are smart to see through that, they will realize they could no longer take US seriously anymore. They should not depend and be fooled by US empty guarantee. Its security guarantee and trust have bankrupted.
I predict that there will be an arm race in Middle East. The smarter ones have already started to cut their dependency on US sales of overpriced low grade or watered down military assets and equipmentz while looking for real deals from China.
How could anyone expect US to sell anything better than what they supplied Israel in Middle East?
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have made the right choice. Now they will have to convince China to sell them at least the second tier military assets to them.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

3h ·




https://www.facebook.com/stories/10...nWXPwBiFCKcjuep43QvArsnB5TIJm&__tn__=<<,P-y-R

Phoenix TV 鳳凰衛視​

4h ·
【中國叫停英偉達AI芯片銷售，黃仁勳：失望，但仍相信中國是全球最重要市場之一】
中國監管部門近日叫停英偉達芯片在華銷售，引發外界關注，中美科技博弈再度升溫。英偉達首席執行官黃仁勳回應稱，雖對業務動盪感到失望，但仍相信中國是全球最重要的市場之一。
據《金融時報》周三報道，中國監管機構已下令禁止字節跳動、騰訊和阿里巴巴等大型科技公司，採購英偉達專為中國市場設計的RTX Pro 6000D人工智能芯片。這一決定使英偉達這家全球市值最高的科技公司，再度站上中美科技博弈的風口浪尖。
針對相關報道，英偉達首席執行官黃仁勳在倫敦出席新聞發佈會時坦言，對當前在華業務所面臨的波動感到失望，並形容這種狀況“如同坐過山車”。黃仁勳同時重申了中國市場的重要性，稱中國科技產業充滿活力，英偉達已在中國深耕30年，將繼續支持中國政府與企業，同時也會配合美國政府在地緣政治政策方面的安排。
目前，黃仁勳正作為特朗普訪英代表團的一員，在倫敦宣佈對英國的AI基礎設施進行高達150億美元的巨額投資。
與此同時，美國方面作出批評性回應。美國眾議院議長約翰遜在接受CNBC採訪時表示，中國針對英偉達的舉措是適得其反的做法，中美之間本就存在一系列複雜談判，此舉可能令談判環境更加艱難。約翰遜強調，中美在人工智能等領域競爭激烈，當前的緊張局勢並非美國的責任。
然而，許多美國民眾對此並不買賬，反而在社交媒體上批評美國的雙重標準和甩鍋心態。有人諷刺稱美國一邊指責中國挑起貿易戰，一邊卻是先禁止英偉達芯片對華出口。如今中國擁有自主AI芯片後進行反制，美國卻反過來抱怨；也有人感嘆，美國把所有問題都怪到中國頭上，卻無視本國出口農業等產業的衰退。（鳳凰衛視 王騏）
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[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

8h ·
Should we withdraw our recognition of Israelis State just because they REFUSE to agree to the existence of a Palestinian State?

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1h ·
The Romance of the Four Powers Part IIIc- The Romance between US and China.
Since I have started this series of write up, there are a lot of developments in the dynamics in the global situations. However the general strategic perspectives from both sides have not changed.
Trump has recognized China as US major contestor for global power and influence since 2018. He has tried to contain China by imposing all sorts of sanctions. However, he was not ready to go on a full blown conflict.
In fact, Trump is still not confident to go on full blown conflict but he may not have a choice as time is running out.
US is technically bankrupt and the situation may get even worse. The amount of interests US Gov has to pay each year will only get even more if the current deficits and debts are to get larger. This is definitely not sustainable.
This is one of the reasons why Trump insists a reduction of interest rates.
Trump doesn't want to be distracted by other battles in Ukraine or Gaza. This is why Trump wanted to end the war in Ukraine and Gaza while focusing US naval forces in South China Sea.
US has conducted various war gaming with regards to conflicts in Taiwan and South China Sea and the results were stunning. They couldn't win in any of the scenarios.
This is worrying for US and they knew they couldn't possibly have multiple confrontations in Europe, Middle East and Asia all happening at once. This is the main reason for Trump's initial plan to end Ukraine war asap and forced to end Iran Israel conflicts with such abrupt and awkward way.
US knows they alone can't possibly fight China. Contrary to those military powers comparisons, China is considered as second most powerful country after US. Although in terms of numbers, US may have absolute advantage but US is fast losing its technological advantages.
In fact, after 3 Sep Parade where China has showcased "part" of its most advanced weaponry arsenal, it is obvious that China has superceded US in some technological aspects.
Furthermore, US troops are spread too wide too thin while China's forces are very focused on its own claimed turfs and borders in East Asia.
China will definitely have home ground advantage if the conflicts were to happen in Taiwan Strait or South China Sea.
For "foreign forces" like US, it will take 3 to 1 force ratio to secure an absolute battle advantage. However US alone won't be able to secure that advantage. It will need South Korea, Taiwan, Japan an Philippines to form up a combined forces.
However China is not alone. It has North Korea and Russia backing it up. The recent combined military exercise between Russia and China is actually quite significant in terms of strategic perspective.
The fundamental difference between US and China is that China has no interest to invade US or any other country except to ascertain its sovereignty over Taiwan and South China Sea. Unlike US which has involved directly numerous wars and conflicts all over the world throughout the decades since 1945, almost uninterrupted, China has been focusing on its immediate core interests surrounding its boundaries.
It's all about oil and other resources US is fighting for. The latest being Venezuela.
Although US may have the biggest and most powerful forces on Earth throughout the decades, but it is proven that this doesn't make it invincible at all. It has lost three major wars in the past decades, from Korean war, Vietnam War and Afghanistan war, while didn't manage to maintain its trophies in other battles or warfares which it has great advantages.
Among the three wars US lost, one was a direct conflict with China with the other 2 proxy wars with China.
It could only have an absolute upper hand when Russia and China were not involved as the sponsors of the proxy warfares.
My generation as well as many generations of Singaporeans have been brain washed by US controlled media and Hollywood movies into believing US military absolute supremacy but the Historical Truth is rather mixed.
To be continued...

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1d ·
As I have written earlier, this unprecedented meeting of over 800 US commanders is about preparing for World War 3.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

2h ·
Afternoon Tea @ 2112 Bakery OG
We ordered a big chicken pie, apple pie, cappuccino and English Breakfast tea
The top crust of the chicken pie is a bit too thick and tough but the fillings are excellent and perfectly balanced in taste. Apple pie is crispy and chewy with a balanced taste, not too sweet.
The cappuccino is well brewed. The tea selections does not follow a single brand, most probably the cafe owner has carefully tasted and selected the respective teas.
The English Breakfast tea from English Tea shop is good as it's from Ceylon.
The only imperfection is that the waitress didn't ask whether milk or sugar is required for the English Breakfast tea. The tea should be served with the milk/cream and sugar if requested.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

19h ·
The most satisfying moment is to have my wife sending me a message "好茶!" (aka "Nice Tea!") while I was out of house, after she tasted the tea I have specially made and brewed (yes, 2 processes)!
Keeping your wife Happy with a Cup of Tea will give you peace for the whole day.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

3h ·
Crutch Mentality
Singapore is full of this Mysterious Sense of Crutch Mentality. Whose fault? Of course it's PAP's fault of being F****** populist!
What is Crutch Mentality? Example, for an opium addict, he would say without opium, his whole life will collapse!
Over reliance on PAP MPs or even expecting Opposition to "help" people to find jobs, housing, write off summons, give goodies or angpao or CDC vouchers etc... all these are really Crutch Mentality. This is why Singaporeans will not bother about their medical rights, privacy rights, human rights, social justice, fairness or whatever, but just crutching on what you can "give them" or "help them"!
PAP has cultivated such a strong Crutch Culture for Singaporeans throughout the decades, until even many opposition members are just going along and even trying to "outdo" PAP in enhancing such Crutch Mentality! They might have enhanced such Crutch Culture unconsciously as they were the victims of such cultivation as well.
This is why I got so amused when Tan CJ hot mic slip of scolding WP MP of being "F****** Populist" because PAP itself is the Grand Master of Populism in Singapore!
Well, Singapore is really beyond salvation in this aspect. 病入膏肓.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

3h ·
US Sure Win!

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

5h ·
Visited The Dim Sum Place on a hot Sunday afternoon. I have heard of this Halal Dim Sum for quite a long while but this is my first visit (along North Bridge Road).
We ordered the usual Dim Sum as we would have done so in Chinese HK Dim Sum restaurants: Siew Mai, Hagao (steamed shrimp dumplings), Fengchow (fried & steamed chicken feet), Laosa Bao (custard buns) plus fried bean curd skin wraps. On top of these, we ordered a Beef Brisket Noodles with soup.
The Beef Brisket Noodles comes with a herbal soup (Chinese Angelica). The beef briskets are tender and soft while the soup has a medicinal taste. Although the noodles they used are authentic HK fine noodles but it would be better if it is Hazi mee aka shrimp flavored noodles.
The Siew Mai is surprisingly tasty considering it is stuffed with chicken instead of the traditional pork fillings.
The steames shrimp dumplings are tasty as well and the chicken feet are tender. It would be even better if the texture of the chicken feet is softer with more juice.
Overall, the food is above average. The only issue I have is the Jasmine Green tea. But that's quite usual in other Chinese restaurants in Singapore. Fortunately I brought my own Akbar Jasmine Rose tea which give a perfect food pairing taste.

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1h ·
Guess what brew is this tea?
It gives a Beautiful Ruby Red tea soup with a superb sweet after taste that lasted in my mouth for more than 15 minutes!
This is a very special brew using a unique technique.
How much does it cost to make this tea? Guess!
If you have tasted this tea, you would have thought it must be made from some exotic expensive Ceylon Tea!
Well...

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

1d ·
总统尚达曼在货币基金组织的演讲到底错在哪里？
在新加坡非常少有受人尊敬的政治人物，而尚达曼可说是其中一位。他的确是一位在他同时代的政治同僚中最聪明绝顶的人物。
所以可以肯定的是，我在这里所陈述的一切，他一定已经了如指掌。
身为一名优秀的经济专家，他肯定对国际贸易的本质有深层次的了解。国际贸易和全球化的最终目的是把世界有限资源的分配效率最大化。这是由自由市场经济理论为根基的效率最大化原则而推行的。
贸易理论的定律是自由竞争和相对比较优势而成的，以自由市场定价而决定哪一些国家对各种产品和服务有相对优势和竞争性而生产和出口給其他国家，促成贸易。
任何干预这个贸易定律和过程的国家就会被当成破坏世界有限资源有效分配的罪魁祸首，危害文明世界的利益。
这贸易理论当然是以一个理想世界秩序为前提，在现实世界里有一定的局限。
要达到世界资源分配效率的最大化也意味着各个国家都无可避免的需要互相依靠。这是国际贸易的“副作用”。
在中国与美国和其西方盟国的贸易和科技战中，欧美其实就是国际贸易的破坏者。他们在2018年时就率先对中国主导了科技制裁。
尚达曼在他的演讲中就美国主导对中国的科技制裁只是轻轻带过，说美国要维护它的科技上的优势而中国会“不停的追赶”。
但这论述与事实是有偏差的，而对中国存在潜意识的鄙视。
事实上，欧美之所以会在2018对中国华为执行科技制裁是因为他们已经感受到华为在5G通讯的领域已经超越了他们，而继续在6G领域对他们形成了严重的威胁。中国不是在“追赶”欧美科技，而实际上是已经超越了欧美，替代了他们在科技的领先地位！美国实际上是以科技制裁进行全面打压华为，试图防止它继续科技超越欧美。
华为在科技的创新上震惊欧美。于是川普以“国家安全”的借口进行全面封杀华为。
事实上，如果这只是美国安全问题，川普大可只勒令美国禁止进口华为的通讯产品。可是川普所推出的制裁，意在全面打压华为，要致华为于死地。他不止禁止华为产品入口，还提出所有盟国都在通讯设备上不准用华为产品，再加上对华为科技制裁，永久封锁对华为在晶片和软件的售卖！
这已超出了一般对“国家安全”理由所作出的制裁，反而更像是尽一切所能想完全打垮华为以防止中国在科技领域的突飞猛进，超越美国。
这完全是违反了公平自由国际贸易的原则！当欧美在公平竞争处于劣势时，就以各种不公平的方法打压，这是非常恶劣输打赢要的恶霸行为。
讽刺的是，尚达曼巧妙的凸显美国在维持国际贸易秩序的功劳，而对于美国这破坏国际自由贸易原则的恶劣手法却只字不提！
美国意图遏制中国在科技领域的前进已经扩展到人工智能，对中国实行AI晶片和半导体光刻机的出口限制，而这一些产品没有一件是美国制造的！
这就是以前所未有的科技长臂规管来制裁中国，而这根本上是腐蚀了他国的主权。
这是很明显的违反了所有以往美国自己为国际贸易秩序在世贸所定下来的规矩。
中国对这些来自美国的敌意制裁和破坏自由贸易原则的反制，是理所当然的。中国为了维护自身的科技与经济发展而加大力度投资于科技研究，以图完全脱离欧美科技的依赖，避免被“卡脖子”，这是非常正常的反应。我们必须正视中国其实是美国制裁的受害者而它是被逼走向自足自给消减依赖欧美科技的道路。
这是非常正当的自卫而非恶意回击的本质。
可是尚达曼的言论竟把中国正当的科技自足自给自力更生的自卫策略当成危害世界秩序的罪魁祸首！
这非常明显是他的偏执而也因此触及了中国网民的神经，导致群起攻击。
他的演讲似乎在把中国的自力更生自强不息的政策而可能走向脱钩当成导致国际贸易秩序动荡危机的原罪。
他完全避免谈及美国在这整场科技贸易战里主导狙击中国的因果关系。
当然，他这次所面对的听众都是来自美国和其西方的盟国。他就是缺乏了那份道德勇气去直接训示他们，必须负起这迫使全世界走向危险脱钩动荡形势的因果责任！
毋庸置疑的是，问题的根本就是欧美面对中国和全世界时，那自大又自卑的复杂心情。
虽然大家都心知肚明，欧洲已经从18、19世纪殖民统治地位最鼎盛的时期迅速大幅度衰弱，可是他们还是放不下以往殖民大国霸主的春秋梦，还执着于把自己看成世界上最优越的民族。
美国自居為世上唯一的超级强国，是把世界从二次世界大战拯救出来的救世主，也是主宰全世界秩序的世界警察（与强盗）。誰是好人壞人都由它說了算。它以石油美元和美元作為國際貨幣壟斷世界貿易金融與支付體系的优势，推进了前所未有的金融霸權操縱，濫用它的權力，肆意對任何對它不友善的國家或公司甚至個人實行金融制裁，罔顧國際法約和共識。
總而言之，很遺憾的，美國已經成為了擁有巨大權勢的國際惡霸，濫用權勢，而且已經到了失控的地步。它不僅沒有扮演好國際秩序的守護者和穩定者的角色，反而成為搗毀國際秩序的始作俑者。
當歐洲國家眼看中國在各個領域超越它們時，它們也只能無助眼巴巴的看著中國飛越，除非得到美國的加持領軍反撲，它们才会群起反击。
當美國面對東方之龍的崛起之际，它就全力發功，使盡它的霸權了壓制中國。但這“中國威脅論”是否理智和站得住腳？
除了中國統一台灣的意圖和它對自己領土和海域（尤其是南中國海）的關注以外，中國基本上對世界上其他國家區域都沒有野心或興趣。更不用說去攻打美歐國家了。
我只能斷定歐美對中國的恐懼是來自失去在世界科技和各個領域的影響力和主導權於中國，這導致他們以制裁中國的策略搗亂了國際貿易秩序。無論這對中國的恐惧理性與否或是出自它們自個的自卑心理，這將危害世界穩定。
從客觀條件來看，中國擁有幾乎所有能使它成為主導國際事物的世界超級強國。
單是中國的人口就已經大於美國和歐盟的總和。這意謂著從統計學角度來看，中國將有比歐美更多的人才精英。
美國的體制是比較有優勢，擁有比較高比例的精英人才。這歸功於它吸納了全世界頂尖的人才到美國淘金 。美國的龐大的市場和商機，吸引了這些來自世界各個角落的的人才 。
但是中國的人口是美國的四倍而現在中國更龐大的市場也開始提供更多商機。這也就是為什麼許多中國的精英人才也開始回流中國。他們也許在歐美讀書學習，但最終選擇回流中國。這些“海歸”精英，對中國的迅速發展起了一定的作用。
所以中國必然會在不久的將來，在各個領域超越歐美。這是由於相對大的市場和有效善治的必然結果。
回顧九十年代，美國以GPS導航系統威脅中國，歐洲國家也在2000年把中國排除在它們原本共同合作的地球衛星導航系統的項目之外，這也沒阻止中國在二十年後自主發展了北斗衛星導航系統！這北斗系統甚至在一些功能超越了GPS和歐洲伽利略系統。
美國在1998年把中國排除在國際太空站的發展。最諷刺的是，宿敵俄羅斯都被接納為國際太空站的項目，唯獨中國被排除在外。但最終，中國竟用了短短23年，在2021年成功把自主研發的太空站天宮一號放入軌道！
不管是從歷史事件或現時的形式看來，任何試圖把科技武器化來針對中國，都會不得其反。這只會逼迫中國投入更多的資源於科技研發，走向自食其力，自強不息的方向 。
所以尚達曼的論述是有偏差而錯誤的。他應該專注於說服西方停止把科技武器化，不然中國會被激發成更強大，它的龐大市場和眾多人才將會是它的底氣。
縱然華為被歐美恨打制裁，想置於死地，但華為非但沒有倒下，反而突出重圍，自強不息，還欣欣向榮。這是因為它有中國這龐大的市場做後盾，和培養了巨大數目的人才。
除了科技的迅速發展以外，中國發展以人民幣國際支付的替代體系也是被美國濫用它美元支付體系實行制裁所逼出來的。
所以只凸顯中國走向自主自給為世界秩序崩潰的禍害而不提出這局面的因果全面關係，這就難免會激起中國大陸網民發的猜忌和不滿了。
這就是尚達曼演講的最基本的問題所在。
若然李光耀還在世，他肯定會像以往一樣，一針見血的提供更全面的見解，提醒西方國家如果繼續以科技制裁中國，那麼這世界就無可避免的面對兩極化的危險局面。

 

[jw5]

Goh Meng Seng​

5h ·
This is one of the tea cups I have added to my collections recently. Beautiful tea cup with Tangka design. This particular tea cup has a special structural design that allows it to have its cover resting on the brim all by itself!