The title of this post is derived from 三十六计 (the 36 Chinese Stratagems). This stratagem, 声东击西, is the number 6 stratagem, contained in the first book of the 36 Chinese Stratagems.

The relevance of this stratagem in recent weeks became rather apparent to me after tracking the developments of Singapore affairs in the local news in the past couple of months. There was the dropping of the increased GST bombshell, followed by an announcement of an increase in the pay of civil servants. Then, SM Goh suggested a possible review of ministerial salaries, which was then followed by PM Lee’s announcement of “treating citizens better” by scaling back privileges for foreigners. Most recently, in the past week, some ministers have been quoted by the media as saying that the time is appropriate for the restoration of the employer CPF contribution to 16 percent.

What has all these got to do with this stratagem? It seems to me that this stratagem is being employed to distract Singaporeans. In its classic formulation, this stratagem’s deception is rather simple. Since this tactic is now widely known by most people, for it to be effective, the execution of this stratagem must be creative, instead of the linear style of the classic formulation. Since the chief aim of the stratagem is to make the enemy unsure where the attack is coming from, a more creative spin to the classic formulation would be to constantly alternate the raising of a ruckus in the east and making small attacks from the west to completely disorientate the enemy.

Given the string of announcements of popular and unpopular news, it makes me wonder if this stratagem is being employed. I am not sure what the major “offensive” is, though (I think it’s the GST but I could be wrong). Nonetheless, with such a series of announcements, Singaporeans are likely to be thrown into confusion and it will be easy to get things done during a state of confusion because people usually can’t think straight.

In fact, confusion is one of the best situations in warfare. There are another two more stratagems in the 36 Chinese Stratagems devoted to confusion in enemy ranks, which are 趁火打劫 (to commit robbery when there’s fire) and 混水摸鱼 (to touch a fish in murky waters). A fire and murky waters indicate a state of confusion where it is easy to rob and touch a fish respectively.

Of course, I may be reading too much into things. Perhaps it’s the cynical side of me reacting, see the developments in a state of half glass empty rather than half glass full. I think I’ll just wait and see. In anycase, there is always a saving grace no matter what happens. The last trick in the 36 Chinese Strategems is 走为上计 (to escape is the best strategy). According to ancient chinese wisdom, if the previous 35 tricks fail to work, you always have the last option. :)