Firstly, how politically motivated is this barring of the 27 activists? The KTM would argue that it's not politically motivated. The Garmen is just trying to hold the "perfect show" for these ang mohs to see and no "mistakes" will be tolerated. It's all typical Singaporean kiasu-ness in not wanting anything to go wrong.... people dun remember how many NDP rehearsals we seem to need meh?

Some smart alecks claim that Singapore cannot allow them to come in and hold outdoor protests 'cos it will spoil market, i.e. that if we let these foreigner hold outdoor protests, then the Garmen cannot justify not letting Chee and Co do their song and dance. This the KTM also knows, but even if the Garmen let's these fellas come in, you think they will be allowed to hold outdoor protests ah? Considering how much manpower is being devoted to this silly event, how hard is it to have these 27 fellas tailed individually and arrested on the spot if they do anything that vaguely infringes our dunno what rules of public assembly. No, the KTM takes that back. We don't arrest them. We just invite them to some Police station so that they can be interviewed voluntarily about the security situation (Nowadays got a lot of crazy terrorists running around out there, we need to protect our honoured guests).

Secondly, the IMF meeting has nothing to do with how democratic or non-democratic we are as a nation. The KTM has no idea what the 27 barred activists are trying to champion, but it is very likely that they are not trying to champion for human rights or democracy in Singapore. In any case hor, whether Singapore got human rights or not is none of their business also. Like we cannot take care of our own business.

The fact that Chee and Co are using this IMF meeting as an excuse to get media publicity is not a surprise. It doesn't take a genius to guess that Chee will try to get himself arrested again. Since he's already a bankrupt and has nothing to lose, why not? However, people should wake up their idea and get it clear in their heads that the IMF meeting is not a domestic political issue. The KTM is quite comforted that none of the other political parties attempted to milk this event for political mileage. This demonstrates that there's some level of maturity in the credible opposition parties. Indeed, we are making some headway as a nation.

Thirdly, the KTM strangely finds himself agreeing with Andy Ho over his commentary, "Activists shooting themselves in the foot" (ST, 18 Sep 2006). The KTM wonders what these CSOs are doing also. Are they truly interested in fighting for their causes or are they chow kay pohs like the KTM. Seems like it's the latter -- but it's also pretty irrational to the KTM. So in this light, the Garmen does have an excuse for not being able to predict the reactions of the CSOs. It's a miscalculation that the 27 activists don't matter 'cos the CSOs have bigger fishes to fry. Of course, it turns that this is a bad assumption, but who would have known? :-)

Fourthly, these ang mohs should get it into their heads that it is our sovereign right as a nation to decide whether or not to let these 27 blacklisted activists onto our soil. Is this the Republic of Singapore or the Republic of IMF huh? Who is this Wolfowitz to tell us what to do?

Finally, let's remember our place in the world. We are a little red dot. Our economy is so darn small that nobody really cares about what we do. We are at the mercy of the giants. We only have friends because people think that we might be useful ('cos we do have some spare cash in the piggy bank), NOT because they find us particularly endearing.

For the people who worry that this event will mar our dunno what international reputation, the KTM says to them: yah, yah, Singapore is already ranked dunno what 147 in press freedom. How much lower can we go? You tell the Americans that you come from Singapore, they will ask you about two things -- public caning and chewing gum ban. These two things were not unknown when the IMF decided to hold their meeting in Singapore three years ago hor. How endearing do you think the CSOs are to Wolfowitz? Of course, in a vacuum, our friend can spout all the nonsense (like the KTM) about how much he loves the CSOs. If you let the protesters come and throw eggs at him and spit in his face, you see if he will change his tune. Cheh, talk is cheap hor.

As a interesting thought experiment, the KTM invites the reader to state where the IMF meetings for the last 2 years were held. Personally, the KTM doesn't know and doesn't care to know. Do people even know that IMF holds a meeting before the Garmen started putting these ads on TV telling people to smile more? Well, Singaporeans aren't really that much dumber or more ignorant than our foreign counterparts. What makes us think that foreigners will care and how many will actually know that the IMF meeting is held in Singapore this year? :-)

Will this fiasco affect our future as a dunno what Mice destination? Who knows? But hor, people dun hold conventions so that they can promote democracy in the host country hor. They choose a country to host conventions 'cos the travel is convenient and the infrastructure is available. For all the fluff about dunno what human rights ah, democracy ah, most decisions in life boil down to money. (In a couple of years, these fellas can even come and gamble their lives away at our two IRs some more.... )

We need to remember that we are less important than we think we are to the rest of the world and most of what's happening today or over the next week isn't really going to matter to most people in the rest of the world (or to Singaporeans for that matter). When these ang mohs leave, our army of dedicated workers and cleaners will sweep up the mess they leave behind and life will go on like it had been before it got disrupted no thanks to IMF.

There are two things that are quite regrettable in this whole fiasco in the KTM's opinion.

First, there are many, many people who have dedicated many moons to making this event happen and it is a pity that it blew up in their face. The KTM salutes the many, many police officers who man the various checkpoints and who patrol the streets and MRT stations. Also, there is this army of liaison officers, flower pot movers and drivers who have dedicated their time to this event. The KTM salutes them for being our ambassadors to the world (and for their somewhat forced smiles to the IMF delegates).

It is a pity that our nation has been divided by those who seek to political mileage over this fiasco and we are unable to put up a cohesive front during this time when our nation's sovereignty is being questioned.

Second, it is regrettable that, again, Singapore yielded to international pressure and reversed its decision on 22 of the activists. If indeed, it was a question of security, then that fact will not change just because one ang moh farts and all these CSOs cow pei (die father). Reversing our decision is not a sign of respect. It is a sign of weakness. Then again, it's not the first time, so it's not a surprise. Remember the two-stroke discount we gave to Michael Fay to give face to Bill Clinton?? Deja vu. *sigh*

The KTM doesn't understand why the Garmen fails to remember that when Bill Clinton is no longer the most powerful man on Earth, the PAP Garmen is still around. Similarly, when Wolfowitz is gone, the PAP Garmen will (probably) still be around. Just smile at these fellas, and tell them, "that's interesting, we'd consider it seriously....." (But as we all know, serious consideration takes time mah.... only two weeks.... If we give immediate answer, it means that we don't take them seriously enough and think hard enough) Then hor, the meeting will be over and we can say, "After due consideration, we think you have a really good point.... oops, too bad the meeting is already over. Nevermind huh, next time you come again, we'd fix this...." When they come again how? Hehe. What you think leh? :-P

Singapore needs not only to have the courage to stand up to local political pressure, we also have to stand up to these ang mohs and not let them push us around. :*-( It's true that we're small and insignificant. But hor, we should have some pride (not too much, just a bit will do).