Vlad the Impaler
Bye …
- Boris (just)
- Mario (now)
- Olaf (next)
- Brandon (soon in November)
Italy PM Mario Draghi tendered his resignation but the country’s president Sergio Matterella has refused to accept it. A no-confidence vote looms.
Putin’s curse strikes again
Helen Ang 
The title of your comment is most apt. ” Clash of Civilizations ” which was first highlighted by Professor Kennedy of Harvard.in the early 1990s. Through the Ages, empires have come and gone but 2 Civilizalions remained, India and China. Russia had an Empire for many centuries until she met with an unfortunate hiatus of her own making and had to eat the humble pie until now with the Ukraine War. Surprisingly, it was the generosity of Uncle Sam after the Fall of Communism due to the Cold War ( 1948 – 1989 ) which gave the Strength and the Will back to Russia to do what it wanted to do in Ukraine today. Despite the many ‘think-tanks’, Uncle Sam’s generosity to its former enemies. Russia and China knew no bounds with President Clinton’s 1992 speech, ” Globalization. Free Trade. Human Rights”. By the mid-2000s, the US think-tanks were becoming restive at the rise of the DUO, Russia and China ! The BRICS grabbed at this hand-out at the expense of impoverished but rich Singapore which garnered much ( US$ 350 billions? ) with its Cold War Trades ( 1948-1989 ) as blessed by Uncle Sam to sustain Singapore as a US strategic partner in South East Asia which may be part of Plan B of Lee Kuan Yew’s grand design to leave Malaysia on his own terms. But media-wise, the onus of the 1965 Separation was placed squarely on the good Tunku’s shoulders ! .As history is the finest Arbiter of the Truth, Malaysia was not only a fall guy as designed by Singapore in the eyes of the World, she was also Santa Claus who gave all Sovereign assets free of charge except for 2 things left, to Singapore. Man proposes. God disposes. The double whammy of the Covid-19 and the Ukraine War and more crises to come have stripped Singapore absolutely naked which the Malaysians Sovereign assets are incapable of overcoming. As Putin has shown the West that in today’s World, sanctions are ineffective and may back-fire. The controversial visit of President Biden to Israel and Saudi Arabia reflects the ‘ad hoc’ nature of America’s Foreign Policy today versus 2 monolithic and authoritarian giants, Russia and China. India with her ancient wisdom will not be drawn into this conflict created by America to be the World’s sole hegemonic Power. All bets are off, with Putin having a good laugh at the reluctant European Allies of America and their different interests. The disrupted once orderly World will never know when all these are going to end. And for countries which rely on fakes, pretenders and clowns to rule the country on auto-pilot, the elephant of all Crises is already in the drawing room. Inflation will rise with every hike of the interest rate concomitant with the depreciation of currencies against the US Dollar compounded by the sharp fall of commodities prices which have been bolstered by ZERO INTEREST RATES SINCE 2008 ! These will add up to the much talked about RECESSION which has not reached the Government Statistics Dept. yet ! The present day World is NOT FOR AMATEURS ! Finally, would Putin be surprised and have a good laugh, when the British Prime Minister is an Indian and the US President too ! And impoverished but rich tiny Singapore ?
(1) ‘Clash of Civilizations’ — Prof. Samuel Huntington @ Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
(2) If the UK is blessed with an Indian PM, it’ll only be payback for the British Raj looting the subcontinent (and sending Banglas to Arakan).
You experienced the very tail-end of Empire, Uncle, right over there when ’Britannia ruled the Waves’. :-)
As a boy in Bombay, November 1945, ( we were waiting for a ship to return home ) I saw the first signs of Indian Revolt after the end of World War II, 15 August 1945, It was a squadron of P-47 Thunderbolts of the Indian Air Force flying in a line abreast across high in the Bombay sky. The Tommies were war weary and wanted to return home in haste to ye old Blighty. There were also ‘hartals’ during the War years. This was also the reason why the British cowardly left the Palestinians without any space in justice and fairness. The British paratroopers ( a Malaysian was one of them !) lost out to the Jewish terrorists, the Haganah and the Stern Gang.. These two shameful acts, one which caused the deaths of over 1 million souls in India without planning and Palestine which festered to this very day, are not to be applauded as the curtain felled over the sunset of the once, ‘the sun never sets’ British Empire. This happened to the once riding high ‘ rugged’ Singapore too. It does not pay to be haughty. Yes ! I was wrong on the author of ‘the Clash of Civilizations.’. Professor Huntington’s illuminating essay was published in the respected American ‘Foreign Affairs’ Journal. My humble apology for the oversight..Finally, kudos to the British for avoiding their cowardly mistakes or pitfalls in India and Palestine in the structure the of the 1957 Constitution of Malaya after taking heed to the protests led by the Royal Sultans against the proposed Malayan Union at the end of 1945. With history, we can see how leaders who should know better, may have misled others by the MINORITY shouting ” Malaysia for Malaysians” or ” Reformasi. Reformasi !”
There is no necessity for “Reformasi. Reformasi.” in our beloved Malaysia at all. What we require is just a super Normal Malay Leader with Integrity, Common Sense and a Splendid Record to head the existing Administrative System for 2 years which has been abused and screwed up through neglect or fun and games since 2003. Presto ! Inflation falls. The ringgit appreciates. Jobs aplenty. All Rakyat happy as Punch. And we are on our way to be one of 4 important small countries of the World being the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland. Malaysia! Why not ?