Thursday, December 16, 2010

Singapore famous again, thanks to WikiLeaks

Kim Jong Il is but a flabby old chap who prances around the stadium seeking adulation

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew noted that the North Korean leadership has "no friends, not even Russia" and has not trusted China since the Chinese began cultivating ties with South Korea with an eye on attracting foreign investment.

Describing the North Koreans as "psychopathic types, with a 'flabby old chap' for a leader who prances around the stadium seeking adulation", Mr Lee said he had learnt from living through the Japanese Occupation that "people will obey authorities who can deny them food, clothing and medicine".

Mr Lee also said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's successor "may not have the gumption or the bile of his father or grandfather ... and may not be prepared to see people die like flies". China is calculating all these, said Mr Lee, who also expressed worry about the effect of North Korea on Iran.

Myanmar is too stupid to make use of their great natural resources

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said dealing with Myanmar's military regime was like "talking to dead people", according to a confidential US briefing on a 2007 conversation with US Ambassador Patricia Herbold and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen.

In the latest leaked cable, "Lee expressed his scorn for the regime's leadership", adding that they had "mismanaged the country's great natural resources".

MM Lee said China had the most influence over Myanmar's leadership of any foreign country and that Beijing was worried the country would "blow up" and thus threaten Chinese investments there, according to the leaked cable.

Japan is that stupid big fat loser with bad leadership and lack of vision, and India is just half in half out

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh allegedly described Japan as "the big fat loser" in the context of improving ties between China and ASEAN.

He attributed the relative decline of Japan's stature in the region to Japan's "stupidity, bad leadership, and lack of vision."

He also allegedly did not spare India and was equally merciless towards them, describing his "stupid Indian friends" as "half in, half out of ASEAN"

Mahathir has been stoning his replacement

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Ex-Permanent Secretary Peter Ho stated that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been "throwing stones" at his replacement, Abdullah Badawi.

"As for... Najib Razak, he is an opportunist. Although he has not been critical of Singapore, he will not hesitate to go in that direction if it is expedient for him to do so." the report quoted him as saying.

Malaysia is racist, Thailand is corrupted and the rest from China to India and all the way to Russia are just hopeless

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Ex-Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan allegedly quoted telling US Deputy Secretary of Defence for East Asia David Sedney in 2008 that, "the situation in neighbouring Malaysia is confused and dangerous", fuelled by a "distinct possibility of racial conflict" that could see ethnic Chinese "flee" Malaysia and "overwhelm" Singapore.

He supposedly also said: "A lack of competent leadership is a real problem for Malaysia".

Mr Kausikan was also allegedly critical in his assessment of Singapore's other neighbour, Thailand reported the Australian press.

He had supposedly said that Thaksin Shinawatra was "corrupt" along with "everyone else, including the opposition".

He allegedly continued to add that Thaksin "made a mistake in pursuing a relationship with the crown prince by paying off the crown prince's gambling debts".

He supposedly also said that the crown prince was "very erratic, and easily subject to influence," and warned of continued instability in Thailand.

He had supposedly said that Burma's neighbours, including China and India, are "more concerned with stability than justice" and they feared the Burmese junta's demise could produce "an Asian reprise of the breakup of Yugoslavia".

Also that he would be "more comfortable with a nuclear-capable North Korea, than a nuclear-capable Iran".

The report also finally pointed out that he had apparently said that Russia's economy is "Third World", its health system a shambles and its demographic challenges almost insurmountable.