the Typhoons on the APVs and PVs are probably meant for anti-surface duties....

 

They can knock-out sucide boats at close range.

 

 

Hi,

 

Actually I think Singapore is pretty well armed for its size. It is good that we have a conscript army which means that we can have a huge 'reserve' to be called up in times of war and at the same time doesn't have to maintain a large standing army.

 

If you look at the size of our neighbours' navy vs the amount of coastlines they need to patrol/defend.... we are very well armed indeed...

 

If you expand the meaning of "purchase". I would like to say that the best SAF 'purchase' is the cohorts of NSFs that got enlisted everyday....

 

Why NSFs are the best 'purchase'?

- Paying them peanuts save the money to enable the SAF to buy those nice 'toys' listed about...

- Having the huge bulk of of them provided the SAF the manpower to build a ORBAT that is larger then what our small country can afford

- After the purchase are 'refunded' back to society, provide the SAF with a ready-pool of large manpower to man the expanded war-time ORBAT.

 

 

Salute to our all NSmen pass and present....

 

 

If you expand the meaning of "purchase". I would like to say that the best SAF 'purchase' is the cohorts of NSmen that got enlisted everyday....

 

Why they are the best 'purchase'?

- Pay them

 

 

 

 

 

Salute to our all NSmen pass and present....

 

 

If you expand the meaning of "purchase". I would like to say that the best SAF 'purchase' is the cohorts of NSmen that got enlisted everyday....

 

Why they are the best 'purchase'?

- Pay

 

 

 

 

 

Salute to our all NSmen pass and present....

 

 

If you expand the meaning of "purchase". I would like to say that the best SAF 'purchase' is the cohorts of NSmen that got enlisted everyday....

 

Why they are the best 'purchase'?

-

 

 

 

 

 

Salute to our all NSmen pass and present....

 

 

Hmm.... the F5E Tiger II way back in the 80s???

 

It gave the RSAF a "supersonic" fighter... and still going strong after the upgrade 20 years+ after it first entered service....

 

 

Hmm.... the F5E Tiger II way back in the 80s???

 

It gave the RSAF a "supersonic" fighter... and still going strong after the upgrade 20 years+ after it first entered service....

 

 

When we bought the E2C in the 1980s, there wasn't that many selection for AEWs.... other the the eastern bloc solution, there is only the E3 AWACS (super expensive) and the E2C... I think the IAF was operating E2C also...

 

The E2C is carrier capabable and the USN needs a platform that can operate off the CVNs... and hence the upgrade program....

 

there are now solutions whereby the platform is based off a commerical a/c.... this will definitely result in lower operating cost (in terms of airframe and engines etc etc)....

 

 

if both of u are on the same page... then it is ok that u have a NSA relationship....

 

however, if not, then a nsa r/s is not advisable....

 

 

same page, means that you guys can define what you mean by a nsa relationship.. does it mean that you can date other people? or what??

 

Are you both in the same state of mind... in that both parties know that it is 'impossible' long term for both of u... or is one party harbouring thougghts or getting back with each other...

 

also have the both of you thought about what to do when one party found another partner... and want to be exclusive to her/him?

if u can both agree to the above..... then nsa is 'wonderful' and is the most ideal solution.

 

Actually... for 130,000 troops mobilized.... which is what i got a saw on the web... there is only 110 helicopters... something on another posters...which is a very lousy ratio...

 

I am not saying the SAF is better then the PLA... please! it is like saying an ant is stronger then an elephant!...

 

but the PLA is suppose to be modernized.... and become a '3G' type army with modern equipment... but from the soldier hiking article, it is largely still a "foot" army... with 'leg' infantry....

 

maybe only a very very small elite force is heli-capable.... the rest are still 'leg' infantry or 'motorized' only.

 

I think probably the 101st Air assualt division will have more heli-lift then the entire 'rescue' effort.... of 110 copters...

 

another likelihood is that the central govt is not really mobilizing all their forces... and is reserving their strategic reserve for other contingencies....

 

I doubt the chinese govt will 'accept' help in the form of Chinook helicopters from sgp or any other govt.. it will be a loss of 'face'...

 

actually, you can see the US, Indian or Russian military planners... to see how crippled the PLA is when the roads are destroyed.... what they have on their mind...

 

 

 

 

actually, if nothing else it shows how poorly equiped the PLA is... man-pack water to disaster area???

 

Would you rather man-pack or lift with a chinook?? or air-drop from a C-17?

 

50km is split range for a helicopter....

 

I

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6547/mgb.html

 

The RSS DRAGON was not listed somehow? overlooked by jounarlist?

 

 

How come only 5 MGBs listed on the news? I thought there are 6 MGBs?? Was the sixth MGB retired earlier? To provide manning for the new FFG?

 

 

RSS Sea Wolf

RSS Sea Lion

RSS Sea Tiger

RSS Sea Hawk

RSS Sea Scorpion

hmm... actually if you remove all the sensitive electronics, can probably sell to our neighbours? like Indonesia or Philippines?

 

I don't think singapore can afford to have an orbat that uses 'man-portable' mortars... I am not sure how many men you will need to service one mortar but I don't think it will be less then 8. 8 men to 1 mortar is too much...

 

as to over dependency on the 120SR, i agree with you. But given the reality of the situation (lack of manpower), this is the optimize solution... not ideal but the best situation we can have given the reality that we are in.

 

I don't think singapore can afford to have an orbat that uses 'man-portable' mortars... I am not sure how many men you will need to service one mortar but I don't think it will be less then 8. 8 men to 1 mortar is too much...

 

as to over dependency on the 120SR, i agree with you. But given the reality of the situation (lack of manpower), this is the optimize solution... not ideal but the best situation we can have given the reality that we are in.

 

I don't think singapore can afford to have an orbat that uses 'man-portable' mortars... I am not sure how many men you will need to service one mortar but I don't think it will be less then 8. 8 men to 1 mortar is too much...

 

as to over dependency on the 120SR, i agree with you. But given the reality of the situation (lack of manpower), this is the optimize solution... not ideal but the best situation we can have given the reality that we are in.

 

Hi,

 

When I went to San Diego for holiday a couple of years ago, i had the opportunity to look a the US naval base from the sea... I went for a whale-watching tour and the boat that we are taking have to sail pass the naval base....

 

There are many chips berthed there and the surprising thing is there doesn't appear to have strict security.... and the whole atmosphere is very casual.... if i had a large rock, I can probably throw it and hit a Aegis destroyer.

 

So the US do treat their platform casually, I am sure if they really really to get these platform operationally ready, for eg possible blue-water conflict with the PLAN... they will put in the budget and resources to get the platforms ready.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Interesting.. after the hoo-hah on the china beer ladies, the local papers published a story about a RJC "scholar" working as a waitress....

 

I think we should not CONFUSE the issue. For talents such as below, Singapore should welcome them.... if they decide to stay on and contribute after their studies, it will be helpful to the country.

 

However, why should we encourage/allow companies to bring in china ladies to sell beer in Singapore! Who is the idiot will approve their work visa... if there is a loophole in the system, we should address it. But it looks like the govt does not think of this as a problem!

 

 

 

 

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080508-64116.html

 

China girls: Future job threat or asset? <!-- TITLE : end--> <!-- Story With Image End --> <!-- CONTENT : start -->

FOR four months, she became the face of the younger version of the China-born beer auntie mentioned by Minister Lim Boon Heng.

She would work from sundown to the wee hours of the morning, serving drinkers and drunkards, and cleaning up puke.

But there is one major difference: Unlike the China coffee shop beer lady story which sparked a debate over whether she is unfairly competing with Singaporean beer aunties for the same job, Yvonne Gao Yuan comes with impressive credentials.

The pretty 19-year-old is a straight-A student from Raffles Junior College, has scholarship offers galore, and has snagged a place to study at one of the top universities in the world.

Could she be the face of the competition faced by young Singaporeans in the future?

Or should her story be better seen as a wake-up call for young Singaporeans.

Miss Gao, from Shenyang, China, will head to Oxford University to study physics in September, most likely on an A*Star scholarship.

For a person whose favourite subject is physics, a subject grounded in logic, waitressing may seem to be the most illogical of holiday jobs.

While her junior college peers aimed for coveted internships after their A-level exams, she applied to be a server at jazz bar Bellini Room at St James Power Station.

So why not be an intern in a field related to physics, or in research?

Miss Gao said that she wants to be an 'all-rounder'; and a nightlife job would help give her new perspectives about life.

'It's different from my time in RJC,' she said eloquently, and with perfect diction, 'where everyone pretty much had the same background.'

In school, she always got 'encouragement and compliments'. Everyone was always 'nice and formal'.

She wanted to see what it is like as a waitress - a plankton in a rowdy nightclub.

'It was the first time in my life (that) I felt inadequate,' said Miss Gao.

'There was so much to learn. How to serve, how to talk to people, how to placate angry customers.'

DIDN'T WANT TO STAGNATE

Hardly the type of job for your precious, studious daughter alone in Singapore?

Not so for Miss Gao, the only child of parents who earn an estimated monthly income of $10,000 in China.

Six years ago, she arrived from China with her mother, who quit her job as a lawyer to oversee her daughter's pursuit of a better education.

It was not a smooth start. Miss Gao changed schools twice in two years 'because the competition was not there and I did not want to stagnate', she said.

Having achieved the best possible results of six A1s for her O-levels, Miss Gao enrolled in RJC, ending the tiring process of finding a competitive school environment.

In RJC, she was not all about textbooks. She played saxophone in the school band and was a member of the school's debating team.

When Miss Gao finished her A-levels, her mother returned to her job in China, leaving the teenager to support herself in Singapore.

She juggles giving tuition, teaching swimming and working at an events management company to pay her $350 rent every month.

'It was a decision on my part to be financially independent,' said Miss Gao.

Did her fellow Singapore servers at Bellini resent this foreign-born talent?

One indication is the cheeky tank top Ms Gao wore to the interview with The New Paper.

It carried the words 'The Bellini team are like bras. They are close to your heart and they give support'.

The tank top was a farewell gift to her by the Bellini Room team on her last day of work.

The girls in the service team cried in a huddle that day.

The captain of the service team, Ms Nadine Michele-Alaynna Frances, 37, said: 'Yvonne is a very hard-working and humble worker. I was surprised when I found out more about her background.'

Added Miss Gao: 'When I applied to be a server for the Bellini Room, my interviewer asked me what I was doing here.'

Customers were similarly taken aback when they discovered that she was more than a pretty face.

'But it was fun,' said Miss Gao. 'I got to meet people when they let their guard down and when they talked freely.

'Working in Bellini Room taught me as much as working in a lab.

'In the future, the skills I picked up (as a waitress) may not contribute directly to my research, but they will contribute to my life in general.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on May 7, 2008.

How do you define "fail" or "failure"?

 

I cannot imagine a "casino" making a 'loss'... it is a matter of whether it earn more or less money.

 

The casino is here to stay, the concern is that it will increase the amount of sleaze in the country...... and lead to moral decay.... If you define that as a 'failure', I wish the casino success!

 

Do you know that in the Russian carriers, although they operate fixed wing conventional a/c, it cannot take off with full bomb load... as they use ski jump and not catapults.

 

Therefore they are more A/A rather then A/G platforms as their bombload and external fuel payload is limited.

 

 

The Aussie are on the F-35 platform. They are problem thinking of the S/VTOL version of the F-35.... to operate on their new LHD.......

 

 

As for flying Hornets off USN CVs, it might be to gain some experience operating fixed wing but they might not actually operate Hornets off their new platforms.

 

 

I wonder how this episode will 'end' if they can't find him...

 

Will they just simply call off the search? The current process is not sustainable. At some point, have to stop....

 

Right now they already said that he doesn't have any 'help'.... that means that it is only a matter of time he gets caught... but if he is not caught, then how???

 

We just cannot have massive jams at causeway and police and SAF manning checkpoints and bashing through jungle on a continual basis?

 

It is interesting that a man that is NOT an imminent threat is detained for so long under the Internal Security Act.

 

If he is not dangerous... then just let him go! Why bother to lock him up?

 

You got a good point... it is time for the PM to show some figurehead roles and show his face and say something...

 

It doesn't matter whether what he say will 'help' the situation or not... if this is something that concern singaporeans... and with almost the entire country mobilized to track the fugitive down, surely this merit a crisis??

 

Shouldn't he come out and show some leadership?