Singabloodypore

Causing a military coup in Thailand is not a big problem, then what in the name of all that is holy would constitute a 'big problem' in George Yeo's land of 'lah-lah'?

The Nation

SINGAPORE - Singapore's ongoing diplomatic spats with neighbours Thailand and Indonesia "are not big problems" and relations overall remain good, Foreign Minister George Yeo said.

"Our foreign relations are on the whole very good. We have excellent relations with all our major partners, with the US, China, Japan, India, Europe and Australia," Yeo said in a speech to his parliamentary constituency late Friday.

"We have some problems with Thailand and Indonesia but they are not big problems. Generally speaking, our overall relations with Thailand and Indonesia remain good."

Bilateral ties with Thailand were strained when the family of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold a 49 percent stake in Thai telecom giant Shin Corp to Singapore's state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings in a tax-free deal in 2006.

The deal angered the Thai public and led to months of street protests which sparked the military coup that overthrew Thaksin in September.

The sale also handed Temasek control of Shin Satellite, Thailand's only satellite operator, prompting calls from Thai coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin for a return of "national assets."

Sonthi voiced fears Singapore would use the Shin telecom satellites to spy on Thailand, and has ordered military officials to use walkie-talkies instead of cell phones to prevent eavesdropping.

Relations further deteriorated when Thaksin was allowed to hold a private meeting in the city-state with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar despite objections from Thailand.

The latest irritant to Singapore-Indonesia ties came from a decision by Jakarta to ban the export of land sand, a key ingredient to produce concrete used in the island-nation's booming construction industry.

Environmentalists have said sand mining in several areas, especially in the Riauis lands near Singapore, has led to the extinction of several fish species, destruction of coral reefs and the disappearance of a number of small islands.

Singapore has expressed disappointment at the ban and has disputed Indonesian claims of environmental damage and the potential impact on its boundaries.

And from another article found here, we have the idea that Shin should somehow rebrand itself. I wonder why? Seriously though maybe Singapore and Temasek should rebrand itself. Like the recent fiasco around rebranding Marina Bay as Marina Bay. Lets just stop all the pretense that the People's Action Party is not in a nepotistic embrace with Temasek and call the entire country - Temasek Corp. What's in a name? that which we call a Nepotistic Despotic Regime By any other name would smell as rancid;

Bankers close to Shin Corp say that an asset-disposal plan will be capped with a change of name. "Shin needs a rebranding, and a change of name will help shed the baggage the group is carrying," said a financial executive close to Temasek's Thai partners.

Agence France-Presse