In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce a Singaporean television journalist and talk show host, Lily Ong. Her attempts to discuss geopolitics in a Singaporean talk show and radio show contained pro-Russia and pro-China peepotalking.
1/17
Lily Ong spent her education at the Raffles Institution and then took her masterals in IR at the Fletcher School.
She also took her PhD at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which is run by Russia's MFA headed by the infamous Sergey Lavrov.
2/17
Moreover, Ong indicated that she is a "Track I-II Diplomat" with an experience working with the "US-Russia Mayors' Summit", as well as a "travel-loving geopolitical analyst".
She added that she produces online and television talk shows on "geopolitics and current affairs".
3/17
Ong is the host of a Singaporean talk show named "Geopolitics360", which ironically contains a lot of topics that are unrelated to geopolitics.
Moreover, some geopolitical topics in the talk show contain Ong's interviews with Russian officials.
4/17
As the host of Geopolitics360, Ong chose to interview a few major Russian political honchos, including Oleg Malginov, Dmitry Zirnov, and Nikolay Kudashev.
5/17
Note that the three Russian political honchos Ong chose to interview are known for trying to justify Russia's actions in Ukraine with pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.
6/17
In the 2017 Russian Kauai Conference at Hawaii, Ong interviewed Zirnov x Malginov, who said something like "US history won't be significant without Russian influence".
Then, Ong asked Oleg Malginov if "Hawaii could be the Russian Republic of Hawaii" and if "Kauai...
7/17
...could form sister-city relations with Russia".
Although Malginov replied with "it's hard to imagine", Ong said "...I'm hearing talks of forming a sister-city relationship with Russia already."
Then, Zirnov said "...this is gonna be an important event".
8/17
When Ong interviewed Kudashev, a combo of pro-Russia x pro-China peepotalking remarks were present. He "blamed the West for trying to militarily surround Russia and China".
Then, Ong agreed and said an "Asian NATO" should be avoided, and then she "blamed the West for...
9/17
...pushing Japan towards remilitarisation".
Then, Kudashev discussed about the "importance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union" and "the multipolar world", in which Ong congratulated him for "making a positive outlook".
10/17
Lily Ong appeared as a resource speaker a few times in a Singaporean business x finance radio station named "Money FM", in which she attempted to discuss about different IR topics.
However, one episode had Ong spewing a lot of blatant pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.
11/17
During a 2022 "Money FM" episode, Lily Ong blurted out an infamous pro-Russia "NATO expansion" peepotalking remark, claiming that "NATO forced Eastern European countries to join the bloc". Then,...
12/17
...Lily Ong showed pro-Russia whataboutism when she said something like "the Russians defeated the N*zis in WWII, so they were the good guys, and the Americans dropped the nukes in Japan, so they were the bad guys" and "America's the bad guy coz what it did to Iraq".
13/17
Then, Ong spewed more pro-Russia peepotalking remarks when she parroted Putin's call for a "special military operation to de-N*zify Ukraine".
She added that "Ukraine has a N*zi problem", criticising Zelenskyy for "sending foreign troops to Ukraine".
14/17
Moreover, Lily Ong attended a couple of seminars taking place in Russia even after February 24, 2022.
One example can include SPIEF 2022, an economic seminar in St. Petersburg in which Putin made a speech about "Russia being resilient despite sanctions".
15/17
Two more examples include a Russia-ASEAN seminar in 2022, in which Ong was a speaker on the "importance of multipolarity", and a Russia-Singapore Business Council seminar in the same year.
16/17
Moreover, Lily Ong was also present as a "foreign guest" at the same Valdai Discussion Club event with infamous Putin fangirl Connie Bakrie.
For more info about Bakrie, you may refer to this #dailysoup entry:
In today's #dailysoup, let's go back to the SCS dispute as I'll introduce a disputed oil-abundant reef complex, the Luconia Shoal.
It is known for being a hotspot of maritime disputes between Malaysia, China, and Vietnam.
1/20
Malaysia's maritime EEZ, just located beside the western shores of Sarawak and Sabah, is overlapped by the EEZs of the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, and China.
This houses precious oil fields, as well as the Luconia and the James Shoals.
2/20
The Luconia Shoal is located near the Kasawari Gas Field, which was discovered in November 2011. It appears to contain three trillion cubic feet of gas resrouces, now being operated by Malaysian oil company, Petronas.
In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce Indonesian writer, academic, and political analyst, Simon Saragih.
He's best known for being one of the so-called Indonesian "academics" tagged by @RadityoDharmaP as "those showing pro-Russia views".
1/19
During the 1990s and the 2000s, Saragih served in various positions, including field journalist, international desk editor, and as a member of the research and development department of notable Indonesian media outlet Kompas.
He is now serving as a senior journalist.
2/19
Saragih is also an author of biographies of a Dutch seminary teacher, a Dutch missionary, an Indonesian composer, as well as the biographies of Putin and Obama.
Meanwhile, he is also known for articles containing pro-CCP and pro-Russia peepotalking.
In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce a Singaporean geopolitics x defence blog, Defense Politics Asia and its managing editor, Wyatt Mingji Lim.
They are known for excelling in mental gymnastics and anti-West x pro-Russia peepotalking.
1/27
Defense Politics Asia, based in Singapore, is founded by Wyatt Mingji Lim and an unspecified "partner" in 2017. He is serving as its "managing editor" since then.
Before I discuss about Defense Politics Asia, let's briefly tackle Wyatt's background.
2/27
During much of the 2000s, Wyatt served in the Singaporean Armed Forces, with his last military rank being a "First Sergeant".
Hence, he said in an interview that he is "just interested in geopolitics and military stuff".
In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce an Indonesia-based Chinese-American podcaster, soc-med influencer, and historical revisionist, Carl Zha (@CarlZha).
He's known for his "Silk and Steel" podcast, as well as his anti-West, pro-CCP, and pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.
1/27
Zha was born in Chongqing, China, which he labelled as his hometown. Sometime during his adulthood, he spent some time in the United States, especially to study engineering at Caltech, but he eventually returned to China afterwards.
2/27
After spending some time in China, Zha married an Indonesian woman from Bali named Anindita (@BaliEarthSoul) in October 2020. Since then, Zha became a Chinese-American based in Bali, Indonesia.
In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce Indonesian journalist and academic, Smith Alhadar.
He's best known for being a so-called "expert academic" spreading anti-West and pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.
1/19
Alhadar serves as a journalist x professional at an NGO named "Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies".
Moreover, the profiles of Alhadar claim that he is also an executive director of a think-tank called "Institute of Democracy and Education Indonesia".
2/19
Despite claims in Alhadar's profiles pointing to his position as "executive director of IDE Indonesia", I didn't see his name in the list of executive board members in IDE Indonesia's website.
In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce Malaysian political analyst, activist, and NGO head, Chandra Muzaffar.
He's best known for heading Just International (@justworldtweets), which is flooded with blatant anti-West, pro-Russia, and pro-China peepotalking remarks.
1/23
Chandra's daughter, Samirah Muzaffar, was charged in 2019 for the "murder of Nazrin Hassan, the CEO of a Malaysian company, Cradle Fund". Three years later, in 2022, Samirah was acquitted of the murder charges.
2/23
Before his career in handling Just International, Chandra became one of the founders of "Aliran Kesedaran Negara", a multiethnic reform group in Malaysia established in 1977 aiming to address ethnic and democratic issues among Malaysians.