How long does it take to admit a silly mistake?

A few people came to me shaking their heads just to ask why it took 6 long years and wasting so many precious hours of unproductive time to realise that the no lunch break is a total failure from the start? The promise and optimism of some half baked logic that longer hours with no lunch break meant more business,  would increase trading business by 10%, were at best be good for a laugh. Only someone not in the industry could think that such an idea would work when anyone with a couple of years in this business and with a little grey matter would know how silly it was. And it took a whole solid 6 years to admit that it was all an expensive mistake, an unproductive farce.

Then I also heard some clowns still saying that it was a great idea and it did not fail, it was a great success. The no lunch break farce gave SGX a big advantage over other bourses that have to close for lunch. The clown even bragged that if one bought one share in Timbuktu and the market crashed, the buyer of that one share could sell it in SGX without missing a bid while other bourses were closed for lunch.

I must say that I agree with the clown's clever reasoning. We could boast to the world that we have a market that opens a whole full day, so efficient and so convenient for all the traders of the whole wide world to trade here. I would also agree that if the market is open 24 hours, better still, then our aunties and uncles and ah mahs could trade in all the markets all over the world any time they like. They can even wake up in the middle of the night after having a good tip from their dreams to buy shares, and the Singapore market will be there waiting for them.

Come to think of it, the failure of the no lunch break would not have happened if they open the market 24 hours a day non stop. (Oops, I know some disagreed that it was a failure and would still swear that it was a great success.) And business would boom and everyone in the business will be laughing to the bank and no one would be complaining of no business or a waste of time. It must be, 8 hours of business, now 3X8 hours would mean business would triple. As they said, want to do something well, go all the way, no half hearted measures like no lunch break.

Many are cheering that they are having their lunch break back. Please forgive these people for they did not know what they missed and how good it would be, how good it could be, if the market remains open 24 hours a day. The only reason for these folks to be happy for a miserable lunch break, I think, is that they are not talented so unable to appreciate how good no lunch break is for the business. A child in the kindergarten would also be able to work out the arithmetic. The idea is so simplistic! But that is the brilliant part and even simpletons would know that it would work. How can anyone say it would not work or it did not work?

Maybe we need to engage a foreign talent to teach these simple folks how good it is if a market has no lunch break, or better still operates on a non stop 24 hours basis. Give it more time to succeed, keep the no lunch break. 6 years is too short a time for this great idea to bear fruits. Please don’t throw out such a clever idea.

Stupidity has no cure.

A consolation is that the market still has many great innovations that would keep it flourishing and in the pink of health. I particularly like algo trading, computer trading, smaller bid size, can trade one share at a time to improve liquidity and cheaper for children to play with their piggy bank savings. $1 can buy 100 shares. Now isn’t that nice? And main board shares some more. More than 2 billion shares are traded daily, and will be bigger tomorrow. Don't pray pray. See how healthy is the stock market or not? It is growing from strength to strength.

It is such a pity that they are bringing back the lunch break. Now business will surely be adversely affected.