CNA:S'pore Needs Strong SAF To Ensure Continued Survival:LKY

[Vulcann]

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1202160/1/.html

 

S'pore needs strong SAF to ensure continued survival: Lee Kuan Yew

Posted: 18 May 2012 2338 hrs

 

[Vulcann]

Really suay ku first time heard of Temasek Society....

[Blackyv]

Really suay ku first time heard of Temasek Society....

 

Yalor.. Only know temasek review hor...

[Vulcann]

Yalor.. Only know temasek review hor...

 

Hey you behind time liao lah bro.

 

You forgot there is an E-marry-tus behind [laugh]

[Stevelim82]

OH no. He is really missing the point. The problem is we are force to do NS not we accept it. Accept it will means volunteer. Nobody will want to risk their Son life for NS. Y should we do it when PR have the priviledge to escape NS while they local have to suffer.

[Holdenutessv]

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1202160/1/.html

 

S'pore needs strong SAF to ensure continued survival: Lee Kuan Yew

Posted: 18 May 2012 2338 hrs

 

[CKP]

Military expenditures can be exceptionally high

 

but not guarantee a strong credible armed forces.

 

[Joseph22]

Military expenditures can be exceptionally high

 

but not guarantee a strong credible armed forces.

 

when the military expenditures is low you start seeing those local small company closing up.

[XenonWhite]

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1202160/1/.html

 

S'pore needs strong SAF to ensure continued survival: Lee Kuan Yew

Posted: 18 May 2012 2338 hrs

 

[CKP]

when the military expenditures is low you start seeing those local small company closing up.

 

 

It is a question of trade offs and efficiency of allocation of resources.

 

If the expenditures are high, deterrence is low and it prevents small companies from going under,

 

I suggest allocate the resources away to another area (new companies would grow).

 

 

The whole point of spending on defence is not to support local industries but to build up a credible defence.

 

If the first goal is not achieved, forget about the second spin off benefit.

 

[Pain]

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1202160/1/.html

 

S'pore needs strong SAF to ensure continued survival: Lee Kuan Yew

Posted: 18 May 2012 2338 hrs

 

[SimonTan]

Hear what he said I already really KSLPCB hot.

The locals keep the security climate, to allow the FT/PR to come here to enjoy.

Right or wrong, I don't know.

 

[Kiadaw]

An army is always needed, especially in our context. I feel a lot of us have been living in peace time all our lives & forget that peace is not constant feature. Just look at history.

 

Without an army, there is nothing stopping a rogue army from sending their troops to raid our nation.

 

It is the duty of every citizen to defend the nation (any nation) in time of war, in some capacity.

 

What we need is to rethink who we can adapt to the "new" Singapore, as our military manpower shrink compare to the overall population, as well as make NS less disruptive.

 

I had suggested that basic military training (similar to NCC) be taught to all (yes, include our princesses, but less intense, maybe more on first aids stuff), focusing more on physical fitness (integrated with P.E), drills & basic knowledge, as part of CCA or something.

 

Then there is a possibility to reduce NSF to maybe 1/2 year to 9 month, since a lot of time is spend on physical training & drills.

 

 

[Vulcann]

"Have you ever wonder

 

Why we must serve

 

'cause we love our land

 

And want it to be free

 

To be free YAAAAH"

 

If we don't, nobody else will do it for us....

 

 

[Good-Carbuyer]

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1202160/1/.html

 

S'pore needs strong SAF to ensure continued survival: Lee Kuan Yew

Posted: 18 May 2012 2338 hrs

 

[Lurpsexx]

An army is always needed, especially in our context. I feel a lot of us have been living in peace time all our lives & forget that peace is not constant feature. Just look at history.

 

Without an army, there is nothing stopping a rogue army from sending their troops to raid our nation.

 

It is the duty of every citizen to defend the nation (any nation) in time of war, in some capacity.

 

What we need is to rethink who we can adapt to the "new" Singapore, as our military manpower shrink compare to the overall population, as well as make NS less disruptive.

 

I had suggested that basic military training (similar to NCC) be taught to all (yes, include our princesses, but less intense, maybe more on first aids stuff), focusing more on physical fitness (integrated with P.E), drills & basic knowledge, as part of CCA or something.

 

Then there is a possibility to reduce NSF to maybe 1/2 year to 9 month, since a lot of time is spend on physical training & drills.

 

I think we are all missing the forest for the trees here.. Old man is just saying we need to maintain a strong army... To defend the country blah blah blah is just a smoke screen...

 

The army is the bedrock of his legacy.. If u see how the top army posts are allocated, in the undercurrents , you would notice a subtle hand guiding their appointments.. The appointees owe a chip to this shadowy figure, and in time to come when these appointees are called upon to repay that chip, then who do you think the army will come out fighting for? If u see the current trend of ministers coming from the armed forces ranks, and which political party they are indebted to, you will see a spider web of connections between this political party and the armed forces ( this is also true of the security forces too)

 

Do remember that the old man once stated publicly, that if The opposition captured singapore's govt or would lead it to chaos, he would rise from his grave and the army would come in . Come to think of it, which army would be at the beck and call of 1 politician? To save his political party if the Opposition wins the majority of the govt at the wishes of the people, and his own party loses? What makes him think the opposition will lead Singapore to chaos? Are these opposition parties not made up of Singaporeans too? Unlike his own party now which inducts many foreigners and immediately place them into the elections to take up political appointments thereafter, I would say his party is the one endangering Singapore by putting newly minted citizen ( who can be a foreigner just 2 years ago) into positions of power which can affect Singaporeans lives.. Do we want the army to preserve this kind of political legacy when he dies, and which is detrimental to have foreigners rule over singaporeans?

 

As last resort, if an opposition government plunders hard-earned reserves. Possible?

By Seah Chiang Nee., litterspeck.com

Sep 24, 2006

 

AS he ages in the midst of an undercurrent of political pressures, Lee Kuan Yew seems to become more concerned about the safety of Singapore's US120bil (RM454.4bil) reserves accumulated over four decades.

 

His worry is two-fold; firstly, the rising popularity of opposition that he said could result in 'freak' defeat for his ruling People's Action Party (PAP), and secondly, corrupt opposition leaders squandering the nation's wealth.

 

He had earlier warned that PAP must not take for granted that it will always win.

 

Lee had valid reasons to worry. There's a political wind blowing across the land and politics may be entering - helped by the Internet - a less predictable era.

 

In the May election, the PAP's popular vote fell from 75.3 to 66.6% with no sign of reversing.

 

If it erodes further, more Singaporeans will hop on to the (currently weak) opposition's bandwagon.

 

The new recruits could include the bright and honest, but also crooks and self-serving people with an eye on the nation's riches.

 

In an interview with a Harvard University professor last week he hinted that in case of a plunder - and the elected president could not or would not prevent it - then "in two or three years" the army would step in to stop it.

 

His talk of possible military intervention - no mention of coup - caused a stir among Singaporeans.

 

Ironically the warning came only three days before the military coup in Thailand.

 

Singapore is one of the richest countries when it comes to reserves per capita. Lee once promised to 'rise up from the grave' if future leaders lead it into chaos.

 

Before he resigned as PM in 1990, Lee created 'a second key' to safeguard the reserves, an elected presidency that could stop the Cabinet of the day from spending money it had not accumulated during its own five-year tenure.

 

No government could dig into funds earned by previous governments without approval from a public referendum.

 

But this is the first time Lee has spoken of 'military intervention' if the elected presidency was absent or captured by the opposition, to save the nation's billions.

 

Educated Singaporeans, however, have often discussed the prospect of a military coup here if PAP loses an election, not to protect national assets. Lee probably sees the two as connected.

 

In 1984 when the PAP suffered a 12.4% vote decline - a mini-crisis to him in those days - a small think-tank committee set up by the newspaper that I edited had discussed this possibility.

 

Lee had angrily accused young voters of being ungrateful when so many turned against a party that did 'so much for them'.

 

We discussed what would happen if something worse were to happen like losing an election: Would Lee stage a military coup to stay in power? Almost to a person, we dismissed it for several reasons.

 

Firstly, the United States, Singapore's powerful trading partner, would come down hard on it, foreign investors could dry up but more crucially, Singapore's army and people - unlike others - would strongly oppose it.

 

It would even split the PAP. In short Singapore could not survive the impact.

 

Besides, the full-time army is a small one. Singapore's frontline soldiers are overwhelmingly made up of 'reservists'.

 

This would have meant that if the country voted out the PAP, these soldiers - sons, brothers and husbands - were likely to have voted along with it, so a coup against the elected leaders was far-fetched.

 

The army here is vastly different from the Thais, Vietnamese, Filipinos and other coup-marked countries. Its value comes from its colonial British 'no-politics' traditions.

 

So how seriously are Singaporeans taking Lee's coup warning? Most dismiss it as next to impossible.

 

If it wasn't possible 20 years ago, it is even less so today as the society has become more sophisticated.

 

"It will be a sad day if it is attempted. One coup will lead to another and start a culture," said a businessman.

 

Besides any takeover general would probably enjoy power too much to want to return to the barracks."

 

Nothing could then prevent them from plundering the reserves themselves, the very thing Lee wanted to stop.

 

So far none of the other PAP leaders or rank-and-file has echoed Lee's sentiments, so it is far from being a party position. I don't think it was seriously discussed.

 

To put it into perspective, Lee did not condone a military takeover but probably mentioned it as a last option if everything else failed to stop a corrupt government.

 

Instead he advised Singaporeans to preserve the present political arrangement, which could also mean - to his critics - 'don't vote in an opposition' or "don't introduce a multi-party system."

 

In his interview with Prof Lawrence Summers, Lee said: "Once you break that, by military intervention, you have destroyed a system which works on the basis of who was voted into office," he said.

 

There are, however, some old-timers who believe Lee never says anything flippantly and that he must have given it much thought.

 

So where can an out-of-office PAP, assuming the scenario were to unfold, get the troops to grab power from the (corrupt) government other than the 'people's' army?

 

Singapore is a small island that doesn't take much to start a coup.

 

Imaginative Singaporeans believe the PAP may one day launch a highly paid Presidential Guard-type unit, while others say a battalion of Gurkha troops now used for security duties could be used.

 

Lee, however, insisted his goal was maintaining the present governance. "My ambition is not to preserve the PAP," he said.

 

[Vulcann]

Let's outsource the army to FT.

 

Sure why not?

 

So it will be units such as 3SPIR( 3rd Battalion Singapore-Pinoy Infantry Regiment) or 43SIAR (43rd Battalion Singapore-Indian Armoured Regiment) ai mai?

 

[laugh]

[Vega]

LKY greatest worry should be the willingness of its citizens soldiers to fight. U can buy the best hardware but no the will of the people. Only time will tell.