Singapore Thinks Asian Allies Corrupt, Incompetent: Cables

[caf]

I agree Desmond. Singapore bashers should perhaps do some more research or visit other asean countries and talk to people.

Of course one can criticise the democracy, press freedom, government appointments treatment of foreign maids etc but it is more a meritocracy than many countries

to put things in perspective look at the democratic countries treatment of wikileaks. they published embarrassing information it is true but the fault was with lack of control within the americam service. no info of a security / terrorist nature has been published

[caf]

Singapore is in a very strong position. It won't get "cut off".

Also it left the federation. it was not kicked out by any means

Politically it was kicked out though LKY and the Tunku shaked hands amicably....Malaysia then was making things difficult for Singapore as LKY wanted a Malaysian Malaysia...equal treatments for all races..whereas the Malay ultras strongly objected..they still think Malaysia belong to the Malays..and today the thinking is still there...

I agree in one sense. It was still a good decision to leave the federation. Singapore prospered. Has become strong. And has dealt better with multi racialism

[LaoPo]

Not sure what gives the singaporean government (or anyone in singapore, for that matter) the right to point their finger at anyone !

The singaporeans have been fleeced by their rulers for ages for the right to own a car, to hire a maid, to use the roads etc., so the singaporean government can sink billions of taxpayers money into Lehmann Brothers, AIS and others.

When it comes to moral integrity, the biggest joke of them all is singapore!

Agree 1000%!

My Singaporean friends would agree with this analysis and also add that freedom of speech in Singapore is worse than in countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, not that it is so good in them either.

From my earlier post:

""""

On the list:

# 136 Singapore

# 141 Malaysia

# 153 Thailand

Thailand is worse but that doesn't make Malaysia nor S'pore much better on the

Press Freedom Index 2010:

http://en.rsf.org/pr...-2010,1034.html

""""""

Ïn fact they're all bad....

LaoPo

[caf]

Not sure what gives the singaporean government (or anyone in singapore, for that matter) the right to point their finger at anyone !

The singaporeans have been fleeced by their rulers for ages for the right to own a car, to hire a maid, to use the roads etc., so the singaporean government can sink billions of taxpayers money into Lehmann Brothers, AIS and others.

When it comes to moral integrity, the biggest joke of them all is singapore!

Agree 1000%!

My Singaporean friends would agree with this analysis and also add that freedom of speech in Singapore is worse than in countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, not that it is so good in them either.

From my earlier post:

""""

On the list:

# 136 Singapore

# 141 Malaysia

# 153 Thailand

Thailand is worse but that doesn't make Malaysia nor S'pore much better on the

Press Freedom Index 2010:

http://en.rsf.org/pr...-2010,1034.html

""""""

Ïn fact they're all bad....

LaoPo

Interesting, Laopo; and good to see you posting

With their involvement in rendition and the current charges being brought against assange, sweden being joint first now seems a bit misplaced.

but yes some asean countries are very low on the list. none of them can be particularly proud

[LaoPo]

Singapore might have said that Asian Allies are corrupt, but I think they're forgetting they belong to the same ASEAN group of countries where Freedom of Speech is far....far away and the list according to Reporters Without Borders is not very encouraging.

I wonder what's more important: being less corrupt or having Freedom of Speech?

In fact the "most open" (if one can speak of open....) country is Indonesia on # 117

OUT OF A LIST of 178 COUNTRIES

# 174 - Burma

# 168 - Laos

# 165 - Vietnam

# 156 - Philippines

# 153 - Thailand

# 142 - Brunei

# 141 - Malaysia

# 136 - Singapore

# 128 - Cambodia

# 117 - Indonesia

From:

http://en.rsf.org/pr...-2010,1034.html

It's a bloody shame for ALL Asean countries having such a low listing..

LaoPo

Edited December 13, 2010 by LaoPo

[whybother]

“Bilahari was also critical of the Thai government in 2008, labelling then premier Thaksin Shinawatra as "corrupt" along with "everyone else, including the opposition.”

Funny, I thought Dr. Thaksin was deposed in 2006.

He wasn't PM, but he was still the leader of his puppet parties.

[peacefulwarrior]

All comments of the official 'liars' try to tame mistrust, envy and opportunism when it would be all the right reaction. But Singapore as in "Family run Dictatorship" showing to be paranoid, gimme a break. The country is ruled by a corrupt familiy clan for over half a century! And the rest of south east Asia if not the world shares the same inheritance, the Philippines, Indonesia et al, look at the families tie with Mafia, err, business and the ant-hive of bureaucracy.

Same B$ different country. If just WikiLeaks or someone would blow the lid on the families hidden treasures and off-shore bringing of 'common' wealth; before the I-net gets locked down, which is in the making! Hope they all hang one day. And then people will hopefully stop to elect 'leaders' and think, work and act for themselves. The whole concept of voting takes power away from the people. And who would have thought that power corrupts - & absolute power corrupts absolutely...

Edited December 13, 2010 by peacefulwarrior

[KeyserSoze01]

Singaporean diplomats think the leaders of some close Asian allies are corrupt, incompetent or stupid, cables from Wikileaks revealed Sunday.

The truth shall set you free!

Now tell us something we did not already know.

[saakura]

Perhaps if we were to look into the farce that is Singapore and peel away the petals of the Asian Rose you will also see more than what has been 'claimed' here. Would seem to me the pot calling the kettle black.

Yes, no mention of Singapore's bankers having no qualms about hosting the revenues from the Burmese ruling junta who obtained the money by pillaging that country's natural resources, facilitated by literally raping the minority populace. The Singaporean bankers also have a penchant for laundering the revenue from the regional drug trade.

Very true. Singapore is the conduit for all the money laundering by corrupt burmese generals and businessmen.

[caf]

Perhaps if we were to look into the farce that is Singapore and peel away the petals of the Asian Rose you will also see more than what has been 'claimed' here. Would seem to me the pot calling the kettle black.

Yes, no mention of Singapore's bankers having no qualms about hosting the revenues from the Burmese ruling junta who obtained the money by pillaging that country's natural resources, facilitated by literally raping the minority populace. The Singaporean bankers also have a penchant for laundering the revenue from the regional drug trade.

Very true. Singapore is the conduit for all the money laundering by corrupt burmese generals and businessmen.

only singapore ?

[whybother]

Very true. Singapore is the conduit for all the money laundering by corrupt burmese generals and businessmen.

only singapore ?

Do you have someone else in mind?

[caf]

Very true. Singapore is the conduit for all the money laundering by corrupt burmese generals and businessmen.

only singapore ?

Do you have someone else in mind?

i'm not being drawn

you think only singapore banks launder?

[whybother]

Very true. Singapore is the conduit for all the money laundering by corrupt burmese generals and businessmen.

only singapore ?

Do you have someone else in mind?

i'm not being drawn

you think only singapore banks launder?

I would expect that any Asian bank would probably launder, given that most of them have pretty high connections and the general corruption in the region. But I have read a lot about the Singaporean involvement in Burma, but no specific mention of other Asian countries.

[PingManDan]

Wonder if the statement about the 2008 Thai government and Thaksin is a misquote....Thaksin having been ousted in 2006 was not even in the country in 2008...however, still agree with the then and current government for that matter being corrupt

LOL you mean todays Government isn't corrupt The corrupt leading the blind

[Gonsalviz]

Singapore is not known for Freedom of speech / press are they?

It is freer than all of SE Asia as far as I know but it really depends on what you say about whom and the timing of that which you say. Free speech? No not really.

[SamritT]

Singapore is one of the world least corrupted country. In fact, there is so little, you can call in corruption free. Thailand on the other hand is free to corruption. Get it.

[Ulysses G.]

Singapore is one of the world least corrupted country. In fact, there is so little, you can call in corruption free. Thailand on the other hand is free to corruption. Get it.

That is hard to argue with. Thailand is more fun, but I much rather bring up a family in Singapore than any other country in the region.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[brahmburgers]

Singapore is in a very strong position. It won't get "cut off".

Also it left the federation. it was not kicked out by any means

Malaya changed its name to Malaysia in the hopes Singapore would be a part of it ('si' inserted at the end of Malaya)

[caf]

Singapore is in a very strong position. It won't get "cut off".

Also it left the federation. it was not kicked out by any means

Malaya changed its name to Malaysia in the hopes Singapore would be a part of it ('si' inserted at the end of Malaya)

I think that's a bit of an urban myth. Not seen any source to support that

[random]

what's the problem, the guy is spot on

[cdnvic]

Singapore is in a very strong position. It won't get "cut off".

Also it left the federation. it was not kicked out by any means

Malaya changed its name to Malaysia in the hopes Singapore would be a part of it ('si' inserted at the end of Malaya)

I think that's a bit of an urban myth. Not seen any source to support that

Actually, Singapore was already part of the federation when the name was officially changed, but it had been in use for over 100years.

The word Melayu derives from the Sanskrit term Malaiur or Malayadvipa which can be translated as "land of mountains", the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} The term was later used as the name of the Melayu Kingdom, which existed between the 7th and the 13th centuries on Sumatra.^[18] In 1850, the English ethnologist George Samuel Windsor Earl, writing in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, proposed naming the islands of Southeast Asia as Melayunesia or Indunesia. He favoured the former^[19] for the colonial reference. Following his 1826 expedition in Oceania, the French Navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville invented the terms Malaysia, Micronesia and Melanesia, distinguishing these Pacific cultures and island groups from the already existing term Polynesia. In 1831, he proposed these terms to The Société de Géographie. Dumont d'Urville described Malaysia as "an area commonly known as the East Indies".^[20]

At that time, it was thought that the inhabitants of this region could be designated by the encompassing term "Malay" in line with that era's concept of a Malay race, which contrasts with contemporary definitions in which "Malay" refers to an ethnic group of similar culture who speak the Malay language and live on the east coast of Sumatra, the Riau Islands, the Malay Peninsula and the coastline of the island of Borneo. The related term "Malay world" is used to refer to this extended geographical area.^[21]

In 1957, the Federation of Malaya was declared as an independent federation of the Malay states on the Malay peninsula.^[22] The name "Malaysia" was adopted in 1963 when the existing states of the Federation of Malaya, plus Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak formed a new federation.^[23] Prior to that, the name itself had been used to refer to the whole Malay Archipelago.^[24] Politicians in the Philippines once contemplated naming their state "Malaysia", but in 1963 Malaysia adopted the name first.^[25] At the time of the 1963 federation, other names were considered: among them was Langkasuka, after the historic kingdom located at the upper section of the Malay Peninsula in the first millennium of the common era.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia#Etymology

[DickFarang]

Singapore is not known for Freedom of speech / press are they?

It is freer than all of SE Asia as far as I know but it really depends on what you say about whom and the timing of that which you say. Free speech? No not really.

Yes, number 136.

See:

http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html

[cdnvic]

One post containing a personal insult and one quoting it deleted.

[TAWP]

Singapore is one of the world least corrupted country. In fact, there is so little, you can call in corruption free. Thailand on the other hand is free to corruption. Get it.

That is hard to argue with. Thailand is more fun, but I much rather bring up a family in Singapore than any other country in the region.

No, it is easy to argue with - to propose that Singapore is corruption-free is pure nonsense.

[TAWP]

Latest wiki leaks post by the Guardian has explosive revelations - Samak committed LM.

[jayboy]

Latest wiki leaks post by the Guardian has explosive revelations - Samak committed LM.

Superb! You have managed in your reference to Samak's alleged LM headlined the most uninteresting and least relevant of the revelations.

[Siam Simon]

Latest wiki leaks post by the Guardian has explosive revelations - Samak committed LM.

Superb! You have managed in your reference to Samak's alleged LM headlined the most uninteresting and least relevant of the revelations.

Yeah but it's not a bad excuse to try to take yet another thread offtopic and into Thaksinland.

[bonobo]

While it is acceptable to be critical of Singapore, country bashing is not acceptable as per ThaiVisa posting rules.  Posts have been deleted.

Further such posts may result in warnings/suspensions.

[SamritT]

Singaporean wet dream: Buy Phuket Island cheap from corrupted Thai politician.

[caf]

Latest wiki leaks post by the Guardian has explosive revelations - Samak committed LM.

Not really on topic of singapore but has genererted some posts in response

Yes samak is rip, should be no more comment on him now

anywat wikki was reporting only what a diplomat let slip