Perfect Host (The Summit), with Gurkhas

Singapore, 3 June 2018

Security. Security. Security. 
         Without the very best guarantee this upcoming Summit here could not take place at all. Which other more or less neutral country could provide it in spades like the Republic of Singapore? Elsewhere flying in sufficient personnel for the US President would look like an invasion and could not be acceptable to the North Koreans. One can only imagine the exercises and drills out at Bartley Ridge here in Singapore presently.
         “Gurkhas - Kidnapped!” was written after an exploration of the Gurkha compound in 2015. Here it is again for background to the Kim – Trumpet Summit.

Gurkhas – Kidnapped!

An hour to circumnavigate the perimeter of the grounds. Full sixty minutes of the clock. First reports a week ago were revised downward.
         How could the Gurkha Housing compound in contemporary, present-day Singapore possibly amount to a dozen high-rise towers, ten or more storeys each?
         How was that possible?
         Beyond belief. What was going on here? A hidden Nepalese community in the mix in Singapore a couple of generations post the British withdrawal; post-independence and the dawn of the new Republic.
         Very difficult indeed to credit. Stretching credulity.
         Nepalese regiment of this order to police the cleanest, most peaceful and orderly island nation that has ever existed on planet earth?
         A middle-aged fit hard-body taking afternoon recreational exercise on the other side of the wire provided the number to the author and his companion: Two thousand ready and loyal troops.
         There was no language barrier. Chap concerned friendly and decent, spoke a crystal-clear Queen's English. 
         Two thousand—three zeroes—troops alone.
         A prospect through the fencing on a little rise showed something that looked like an ice-cream cone pictured in faded colour under the ridge of a roof.  Vanilla. A rude little drawing, too high up for child's daub.
         We had developed a thirst by then. There were no vendors visible.
         ….No. Not ice-cream…. The penny did eventually drop.
         Of course!
         Chomolungma in Tibetan/Sherpa; Sagarmatha Nepali.
         Better known in our parts as Everest!
         The mighty totem from the land of the forefathers; king of mounts reaching the heavens. Here a reminder for the foreign troops of the snowy peaks of Home Sweet Home.
         The chap on the footpath was immediately recognized as of Sherpa stock. His great uncle had gotten Hillary to the top of the peak, every likelihood in advance of the great Kiwi hero himself of course.
         The visa arrangement for these soldiers was long-term; not the usual seven years for the construction sector for example. 
         The Sherpa great-nephew had chuckled providing the correction: Long-term; effectively until a man attained the age of forty-seven, whereupon he retired on his savings back home—pension scheme unlikely in this arrangement—and his son sent out on the next stint if he was lucky.
         Who would have thought?...Remarkable. Many thanks to the pleasant, helpful informant.
         ....Were there truly so many billionaires, so many corporate heads, foreign dignitaries and trade delegations winging it here to Singapore in order to justify two thousand reliable and independent troops? Would Sing' keep such a force of such a scale cooling their heels and exercising in the yards so many decades merely in the event there was another outbreak of rioting like the one fifty years ago in the mid '60's?... Was that possible in the usual labour arrangements and work contracts here?
         Doubtful in the extreme.
         Doubtful too that the matter was covered in the voluminous memoirs of Mr. LKY that lined the shelves of the stores and better class homes here. Yet what to say on the indubitable evidence before one’s eyes here on Bartley Ridge?Incontrovertible.
         Ah! Luckily Gabriel had brought a water flask. A coconut palm stood nearby against which to rest, slake our thirst and ponder this site before us. (An elevation of sorts for the community of mountaineers.)
         Wondrous indeed. Under his Queenslander floppy minus only the hanging corks, the angel pondered long and hard, together with the author.

        
....In the morning after the return from the trek, another added surprise, and not unrelated.
         The poor old dear mum of a local tycoon, kidnapped only 24 hours prior on that very same terrain we covered further up the track beyond Bartley. What?!...
         After the refreshment under the palm off we had trotted along the Seletar River on the Park Connector, drawing the fine air and observing the bird life on the water. Spitting distance almost on the very same day, the anxious tycoon son, fretting about his mum, was high-tailing out with the bag of cash to free the precious darling.
         No cruel dalliance with the reader: not to worry, mum safe and sound; villains captured red-handed and cash restored.
         The whole drama had taken place under the very noses of the explorers almost, completely unbeknown to them.
         The Straits Times delivered exceptional coverage, the story bolstered by compelling footage: darling mum permed; mogul with the hair-part above the left ear. The Honda & VW driven by the villains. The very tree too under which the bag of moola was deposited. The notes looked like lavender twos. In fact $1000s that had not been sighted to date here. (GULP! Nearer to town and Orchard Road the ATMs presumably dispense.)
         Initially the ask for the restoration in one piece of the poor mum was $20mil. The former pig farmer turned supermarket mogul had not made oodles without a nose for bargaining. 
         Following negotiations two would do.
         All's well that ends well—except for the damnable perpetrators, facing either the noose, or life if they were lucky. Caning in addition for the younger.
         The point here: Mr. Lim Hock Chee, risen from pig-sty to serious platinum, was ranked at No. 35 — net worth $US515mil. — on Forbes Singapore's 50 Richest the year prior.
         Gurkhas must have been on stand-by even as the two wayfarers were skirting the perimeter of their encampment the previous day. Had there been a suspicion of Abu Sayyaf, straight into action without a doubt.
         Two thousand troops. Add say another five-six for family. Small price to pay for any eventuality.
         Presumably the first one hundred and fifty Forbes can look forward to A Grade double plus government assistance. Add the extended First Family, hangers-on, Corp. heads &etc. &etc. Plentiful occupation for sturdy, reliable hill-climbers.


NB. Late news on the street, omitted in the newspaper and no time to verify properly. The said mogul who was the victim of this dreadful affair pretty nicely connected it appears: daughter married to the PM’s nephew. No doubt a small platoon was busy there too.