A Shinzo Abe joke, and other matters of interest...

An original (not mine) Shinzo Abe joke

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe will be coming to Singapore to deliver the keynote speech at a security conference, the Shangri-la Dialogue. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel will be here too.

Irene Hoe concocted this delightful piece of witticism and put it on her Facebook wall...

Abe arrives at Changi Airport and it is his turn to go up to the Immigration counter.

Name?
"Abe. Shinzo Abe."
Nationality?
"Japanese."
Occupation?
"No, I'm here for just a few days."

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What's the matter? Don't you get this joke?

It was really good (if you did not get the joke, you need to know the wartime history). I couldn't think of a witty riposte. I thought of something along this line but I doubt if it's up to par...

Just then, Mr Abe saw Mr Hagel, having already cleared Immigration, rushing to get to the nearest toilet.

Hey, Chuck, long time no see.
"Sorry, Shinzo, I'm in a hurry. Gotta Bomb Tokyo!"

I wonder how many of the postwar baby boomers (like me) remembered this politically incorrect term -- to Bomb Tokyo? I learnt it from my late father and older brothers. I checked with Tom (a "Pioneer Generation" inductee) but he was clueless. Angie knew it, though. She learnt it from her dad too (her mum has a less historically-laced variation: Going to the Bank to make a Deposit.)

I then did an online check and found an American link, by way of the Urban Dictionary:

Tokyo Bomb

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tokyo%20bomb

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Okay, the scatological part is done. This TODAY letter writer (May 27) makes a valid case in commenting on China's behaviour in the South China Sea. He seems to have done good research:

 
If this person is right, the bigger fish don't always eat up the smaller fish and everyone of them may still swim about peaceably (with the appropriate carrots and sticks in place?):

Of course, there is also the belief in an inviolable law, that of "bigger fish (eventually) eating up smaller fish"...

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I had blogged about "small fish" Taiwan possessing the biggest island -- Itu Aba (Tai Ping) -- in the Spratlys region of the South China Sea. Not many people (including, I suspect, folks in "big fish" China) knew this. But now they do! (ST, May 27)...

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Finally, poor Taiwan! A Canadian newspaper dragged it into Thailand's political mess...