Captain Erebus in the case of SIA/SilkAir unforunately the government of Singapore owns the airline as well as the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. Add to that the fact that ICAO does not engage in enforcement activities. The result becomes in the case of SIA/SilkAir a boot leg operation as far as safety is concerned.
The sad part is people guage SIA/SilkAir by the great cabin service only. Award after award after award.
In a year or so myself and a senior NTSB official (retiring this month) are publishing a book on these matters. This will hopefully get the publics attention from a different angle away from the politics of government to government red tape.
My goal in the somewhat future will be a movie/documentary on MI 185.
Stay tuned for safety details as presented to the Federal Court in the US.