In 1990, the tiny Arab state of Kuwait was invaded by its much larger neighbour. The latter’s leader claimed that Kuwait was stealing its oil, destroying its economy, threatening its security and was a part of its territory until the British drew arbitrary borders following the fall of the Ottoman Empire post WW1.
Back in 1990, civilised societies throughout the world didn’t buy those excuses from a murderous dictator and almost unanimously condemned his actions. That included most Arab states, China and the USSR. Only a few nations or organisations supported Saddam. Yes, Yasser Arafat’s PLO was one of them. Calls to liberate Kuwait were overwhelming and the global community took decisive action to punish the aggressor. Sadly, the civilised world today seems to be considerably smaller. Where have all the good guys gone?
People with an opinion can be defined by what they like and what they hate; what they support and what they oppose. March 2025 has been a tough month for those who lack nuances. I hate to categorise them, but by virtue of their stubborness and fixation with certain “heroes”, some people deserve to be categorised. First, the Trump haters. There are many of them. In the West, they are mostly the left wing, woke and pro-Palestinian folks. The fellow believers in the East are likely to be CCP fans. Things were simple for them just a few years ago. Trump started a trade war with China during his first term and blamed China during the pandemic. At the same time, Chinese propaganda was painting Ukraine as a threat to the China fans’ Papa Putin. Not surprisingly, you would have found a lot of anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia content on douyin. The Chinese authorities called for peace in public but in their own backyard, social media posts celebrating the defeat of Ukraine in advance were rampant and allowed to go viral. These were the Trump and US haters, China and Russia supporters. They were all eagerly looking forward to subjugating Taiwan with equal ease. What an exuberant display of Machiavellianism.
Of course, the Sinophiles aside, most people with any sense of morality and reality would condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as what was then the civilised world condemning Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait. Even though the Biden administration had some strong words against Putin, most haters of dictators and aggressors expected America to play a bigger role in in punishing Putin for initiating a move that needlessly killed thousands of innocent people on both sides. Most people predicted a quick fall for Ukraine against powerful Putin. A very flamboyant American entrepreneur came to the rescue of a badly battered Ukraine. Where have all the good guys gone? Well, here’s one Overnight, Elon Musk gained numerous fans on the pro-Ukraine camp.
Not long after Ukraine was invaded, war erupted in the Middle East. When the Palestinian militia which comprised Hamas and other masked men carrying AK47 assault rifles attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, deliberately targeting civilians. 6,000 Gazans breached the border in 119 locations into Israel. Over a thousand people in Israel (including foreigners who attended the music festival) were killed and about 250 civilians and Israeli soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s response was brutal. Gaza was eviscerated to take out the tunnels and rescue hostages, causing extensive collateral damage and high casualties numbers deliberately magnified by Hamas leaders who used Gazan civilians as human shields. Left wing media like BBC and CNN gleefully reported on all the atrocities committed by the IDF. Chinese propaganda amplified it to provide ammo for the haters. Meanwhile, some of my friends here in Singapore who have been following Chinese propaganda like the Global Times and CGTN, have been condemning Israel and sympathising with the actions of Hamas. These folks became US and Israel haters, Russia and Palestinian supporters.
Since they have been cosying up to Iran and Afghanistan, it’s quite natural that China would regard the Taliban, the Houthis and Hamas as the good guys. censoring news of Chinese nationals getting hurt or killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. Incredibly, more and more Westerners who are guilty about being “racist” in their “previous lives”, are engaging in self-obliterating penance, to the extent of playing apologist for radicals and even terrorists. As Piers Morgan wrote in his book Wake Up, the world has gone mad. Not to be outdone by their Chinese compatriots, the woke in the West staged numerous disruptive protests in the free world, sometimes with chants that even they didn’t know are genocidal against Jews. Many became fearlessly and shamelessly anti-semitic with a total disregard for historical facts. Return Gaza? To whom? Egypt? A 2-state solution? Wasn’t that rejected by the Palestinians who from the beginning until now, are adamant that Israel has no right to exist? Ideally, Israel should take a calibrated and carefully calculated approach towards an enemy that is bent on the Jewish state’s destruction. In reality, it is impossible to be nice and on your guard at the same time.
But then, while the woke in the West is almost always pro-Palestinian (including the LGBT who are clueless about what they will face under Hamas), most of them are also pro-Ukraine. They boycott Russia and are aware of Putin’s nefarious deeds. They also hate Trump. This group would be Trump and Putin haters, Ukraine and Palestinian supporters.
Fast forward to 2025. Trump got elected as POTUS again! Some folks were celebrating. I didn’t see as many protests as during Trump’s first inauguration. Maybe it had something to do with everyone’s hero, Elon Musk being appointed to a powerful position. Trump wasted no time in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and demanding the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Otherwise, all hell was going to break loose. It seemed like a decisive move towards peace that even the Trump haters didn’t mind. In stark contrast, Trump called for a ceasefire in Ukraine without any demands made on Putin.
I’ll skip to the most dramatic part. Zelensky in the Oval office. Trump called for Zelensky to accept “the terms” and settle for a ceasefire. He even made it sound like it’s Zelensky fault that Ukraine is in the mess that it is in now. It’s like saying that the US is responsible for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Even if Zelensky accepted the terms, who can guarantee Ukraine’s safety when Putin is one who can sneak up from behind and break all promises?
Trump is not stupid. He knows that if Israel gives up the fight, there will be no more Israel. That’s why he talked tough to Hamas. He couldn’t have not known that if Ukraine gives up the fight, there will be no more Ukraine. Obviously he cares a lot about Israel and very little about Ukraine. He knows what kind of a person Putin is. Appallingly, he sides with Putin and insults America’s allies. Even the Ukraine supporters’ Starlink hero Elon Musk seemed to have changed sides.
Trump’s stand was shockingly clear. He was perfectly OK with the war ending in Papa Putin’s favour just as Roosevelt agreed to Stalin’s terms at Yalta. All the sacrifices that Ukraine had made to defend its territory would have been in vain. Imagine the Poles watching Ukraine being carved up like what happened to them in accordance with Stalin’s fancies.
But wait. How are the Putin fans in China going to look at Trump now? Is he one of the good guys now? Is he actually on their side? What about the Ukraine Starlink hero Elon Musk? Far from being that champion of the victimised, he revealed himself to be a megalomaniac who could also have struck some kind of a deal with Putin. Actually, I’m not surprised by Elon Musk’s behaviour after his “performance” in China. Many people still regarded him as their hero back then. Not me. I’ve always known him to be a Machiavellian businessman and his stand depends on whose pocket he is in. Suddenly, all the Putin fans got fired up to mock heroism and praise Machiavellianism.
Meanwhile, the pro-Russia folks remain pro-Russia. They just don’t know whether to love or hate Trump now. China supporter Prof Tay Kheng Soon has been sharing fake news on America politicians receiving bribes from Ukraine on his Facebook. I guess he must belong to some chat group that shares pro-China, pro-Russia, anti-American stuff. What if I change Ukraine to China and Russia to Japan? Would Prof Tay support Japan’s invasion of China? What about the Singaporeans who are Putin fans? Would they have cheered when Japan invaded Singapore? What has become of the civilised world I knew? Folks who are pro this and anti that may not be very different from me. We all have our beliefs and principles. But people who idolise Machiavellian folks for their principles are bound to be disappointed one day.
Tan Kin Lian the Putin fan. As usual, Mr Tan is naive and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he’s aware of the horrible waves of destruction that Putin had unleashed on innocent Ukrainians, would he still think that Putin should be rewarded? If he’s not ignorant, then I wonder where his morals are. Machiavellianism is the order of the day.
Meanwhile, the murderous regime in Myanmar just received a warm handshake from Putin himself. Today’s Saddam Hussein would have many friends and supporters. The civilised world has indeed shrunken.