With this Little Red Dot in the middle of a rough neighborhood
that indulge in rivalries in one form or antoher, the old adage
that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"
- will still hold true
There is nothing to guarantee that the ST equipment sold to the
Indonesians will not be turned against us - not when the
community leaders that are elected into the National Assembly are
fickle and unprincipled, and when the people that elect them are
similarly as volatile and as fickled when
blind nationalism takes grip.
Should we let petty concern - that someone will claim
the product to be their design - to prevent an investment that
leads to longer term benefits and new opportunities ?
Claiming a product to be of one's design is not unfamiliar with
Singapore, when we are also skilled in making such claims ourselves
- which started with the AR-15 that was no more then the outright
purchase of a design that no one else was interested.
ST had even claimed the Swedish 'Visby' Stealth Corvette to
be a local design, and had even proudly displayed it as a
center piece at a local Defense Exhibtion - at a time before
the decision was made in favor of the La
Fayette Class from DCN.
In any case, the Terrex is not even a local design, as it was
an original development by Timoney Technologies from UK that
got ST interested to enter into a J V for the
potential requirements of the SAF and for exports.
The same Terrex is known as the "Yavuz" in the Turkish variant
that is manufactured under license in Turkey in a separate J.V.
with ST Kinetics.
If such a JV should materialise between Singapore and
Malaysia, this will serve as an ice-breaker that breaks up the
stubborn old frozen baggage carried over from the ill-conceived
Merger Days - which was a result of the vanity and
insecurity of ONE Man.
With a new leadership in PM Najib Razak, it will bring
a generation change in leadership to complete a full circle in
both countries; and such a venture will open the doors to
many more opportunities that will benefit both sides of the
Causeway.
ice breaker? try C4 explosive najib style.
anyway, i welcome JV with any ASEAN nation except
MALINGSIA....KNN chilli crab also claim theirs. work with them
,next time they claim your wife.
