We beg to differ.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent trip to China made me realise that he could be the world’s Number One troll. He leaves his critics baffled and his supporters surprised and awed by his statements. You can call him what you want – a former Filipino actress even called him a psychopath – but he definitely…
Read More “Philippine President Duterte is the world’s Number One troll” »
Schadenfreude: Substantiv, feminin – boshafte Freude über das Missgeschick, Unglück eines andern. (Translation: Noun, feminine – malicious pleasure over the misfortune, mishap of someone else.)* An elite class that is free to operate without limits – whether limits imposed by the rule of law or fear of the responses from those harmed by their behavior…
Read More “Schadenfreude of the Elites: People who want Duterte to fail” »
“No man is an island,” as the old cliché goes. On the back of that “wisdom”, it can be said that the Philippine government’s diplomatic posturings in recent weeks expose its people to the risk of being isolated — starved of the global trade and military umbrella they have grown dependent on for survival. But,…
Read More “To be an independent country, the Philippines needs to build an independent economy” »
It’s time Filipinos pause, step back, take stock, and ask: What is really going on here? If one would attempt to answer that question using the common frame of mind with which Filipinos have coocooned themselves within, the responses would be unsurprising, quite trite, and peppered with certain key words prevalent in mainstream discourse today:…
Read More “Filipinos should junk the 1986 People Power narrative in order to TRULY progress” »
The year 2015 was both a significant marker in the history of our Southeast Asian neighbor Singapore. It was the year of both the fiftieth anniversary of its founding as a nation (August 9), and the year Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), widely considered its founding father, died (March 23). Therefore, starting this year, 2016, Singapore…
Read More “Filipinos can only keep romanticizing about what Singapore has succeeded at DOING” »
Next steps, we are told, following the Philippines’ “victory” in the South China Sea dispute owing to the recent “favourable” Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling, is to initiate negotiations with China for peaceful resolution. It is quite baffling that this plan is emerging as the cornerstone of what the Philippine government plans to do…
Read More “To talk to China, Filipinos must first recall how the Chinese were once balut vendors” »
The recent vote by the people of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union (EU) has rocked the world. Many of my friends living in London, England have expressed their disappointment over the result of their referendum. There are lots of uncertainties and this has rocked the UK market as well as the…
Read More “#BREXIT shows that social and economic collectivism is a pipe dream” »
Democracy is a bitch when it doesn’t go your way. That’s pretty much the sentiment New Age mouthpieces in corporate media and the broader community of hipsters who parrot the politically-correct taglines of people “outraged” by the British vote to leave the European Union today (trending in social media under the hashtag #Brexit). One commentator…
Read More “#Brexit is an opportunity for Britain to re-learn what it means to be British” »