What is a soldier?

This has never been an issue even when ours is a conscripted army. The soldiers are soldiers. They are the men and women who will die fighting for the country. They will take orders and just do it even if the orders are bad orders. Soldiers take orders and responsibilities seriously. They don't go AWOL. They may have official working hours, but soldiering is unlike any other job. A soldier is a soldier on call, on duty 24/7, without overtime pay. At anytime he is called, he puts on his uniform and is back to camp. And when one is on duty, you do not go off your watch until the next shift takes over officially and properly. The duty must be handed over and no one just leave his job comes 5pm. And if the next shift fails to show up, the soldier will carry on until he is relieved. Where got such nonsense as 8 to 5 you are on and then you are off? Or perhaps the doctrine has been changed over the years. Our soldiers are now working according to the official working hours. And we will tell the enemy to fight us from 8 to 5. Outside those hours they will have to wait as we will be off. Or because everything is measured in monetary terms, soldiering will be paid according to the hours worked. And the pay of the soldiers is computed based on 8 to 5. If the army wants them to work longer hours, the pay scale will have to be changed to acknowledge the longer hours needed. Soldiering is a whole life affair. Now I may be wrong, outdated and lose touch with what a soldier is in a modern army.

It's lucky that Corporal Tan won

Jan 16, 2009, The Straits Times Breaking News

Family wins suit By Selina Lum

THE parents of a former full-time national serviceman, comatose for more than three years after an incident in camp, have won their lawsuit against the Defence Ministry. The High Court decision paves the way for the family of Jeremy Tan, now 26, to seek disability compensation and medical benefits from Mindef.

On Aug 3, 2005, Mr Tan, then a corporal rostered as duty storeman at Seletar East Camp, was found unconscious at the foot of a building where his bunk was located on the third-level. The ministry classified Mr Tan's injuries as non-service related and stopped paying for his medical treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital from March 2007. But Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled at the end of a four-day hearing that Mr Tan's injuries were 'attributable to service' and he was therefore entitled to a payout.

The case hinged on the interpretation of a provision in the Singapore Armed Forces (Pensions) Regulations, which provides for payouts to disabled servicemen. Lawyer Lau Teik Soon, acting for Mr Tan's parents, argued that when he was found with injuries at 6pm, Mr Tan's tour of duty had not ended. But government lawyers argued that even though Mr Tan was performing his national service, he was not doing anything related to his duty at the time. He was not at his place of duty and was last seen resting in his bunk. But Justice Tay said that the words 'attributable to service' can cover injuries caused while a serviceman is on standby duty and was not doing any particular work.

If Pte tan were to lose this case, can we conclude that our soldiers' working hours are from 8am to 5pm? I think Mindef needs to take a stand on this and spell it out clearly that a soldier is a soldier and not a clock watcher. Once he is in uniformed he is on duty and subject to military discipline even when he is on his way home. I could not believe that this case could reach a civil court for justice. What is going on man? We are going to depend on our soldiers and NSmen to fight 24/7 365 days a year and now we are quibbling when he is on duty and when he is not.

When did all these bonkings started?

The bonkings of the shameless poor, those people who cannot afford to pay for train fares and cry father and mother every time there is an increase of 10c of anything, could be traced back to the naming of quitters. Quitters were the first to bonked by the elite until it became fashionable to bonk the losers. The bonking reached its orgasmic peak when a young school girl told a loser to get out of her uncaring elitist face. And there was no need for apologies for the girl was only telling the brutal truth. This was short of telling the losers point blank that they were shit and that it was kind not to say it to them too loudly. And the losers took it in their stride, eagerly waiting for an opportunity to strike back. This came with the golden tap and peanut affair. The losers went to town to tear away the facade of elitist infallibility. It was time to bonk the elite. Mas Selamat was another great episode for the bonkers to go berserk. Since then we have seen this bonking of elite taking on more steam and on every opportunity that begs to be bonked. The minibond fiasco and the financial crisis are equally dealt with. The bonking has taken quite a dramatic turn and the original bonkers are now the hunted. Would the bonking of the shameless poor continue or the other way round?

The Bonker's Years

The last few years can best be described as the Bonker's Years. This thing about elitism, about super talents and super pay, about telling the brutal truths to the losers, were getting a bit too far. I think it has reached a point when the people are angry and feeling disgusted with such attitude. It is not just cockiness, but to live it and mean it, is not cute or funny any more. The divide between the haves and the have nots is looking very stark and very ugly. And we got people paying $46k to learn cooking in Paris when people are losing their jobs and incomes. It is time for some soul searching and to embrace the people as one people by actions and deeds. If the elite cannot empathise with the people but seen as being aloof, uncaring, cocky and thinking too highly of themselves, that they are the only worthy human beings and the rest are unworthy human beans, anger can be turned into hatred. Instead of throwing shoes, more vicious acts could be committed. Time to heal the rift by coming down to earth to be really caring and sensitive to the plight of the low down human beans. Cockiness and talking down to the people is becoming a curse and will not be tolerated anymore. It used to be 'Oh, so cute!'

Don't push the gov't to act

Rights groups call for tighter regulations to prevent exploitation of migrant workers This is the call in TOC. It is trying to do something for the helpless foreign workers. But I think TOC is doing more harm to the cause than helping them. The govt will not be presurised to action. It is more comfortable doing its own thing in its own pace and when it wants to. It does not like to be presurised or seen to be presurised to do things. The TOC may be more effective if it posts it in Reach as a plea or seeking for govt help. That will get things moving faster.

Jobs available - Coming full circle

After 45 years of independence, it is surprising that many of the oldies are coming full circle to where they had started as far as occupation and working for a living are concerned. Many were in the labour trade 45 years ago, the unskilled or semi skilled trades, the waiters, doormen, sales assistants, the maids or chambermaids, the security guards, the cleaners etc etc. They started at a time when getting a job was difficult and any job will do. They had no education and little skill. 45 years later they still had little education and little skill. And they are still out in the job market hunting for that elusive job that will only pay them enough to get by. Some things or people just would not change. The taxi driver that committed the vicious crime again Seng Han Thong is a living example of the living fossils of the past 45 years. They did not change or will hardly change while time slips away under their noses.

Guessing where is Mas Selamat

It is almost a year since this magician escaped from the cage. Now the question is where is he? All the theories of yesterday are still hanging in the air. He is alive, he is dead, he is here, he is not here, he is everywhere. Everyone is still guessing where he is and no one has a clue. Somewhere out there a party will be held to celebrate the first anniversary of the Mas Selamat Escape. And we got to thank god that nothing untowards has happened. Let's pray that he will not reappear again.

41,000 jobs available!

In the ST today, 41k jobs available. 20k in hospitality for croupiers, butlers, doormen, chefs, waiters, retail assistants and animal trainers. Health care has 6k jobs for nurses, assistants and physiotherapists. MOE is also looking for teachers and teaching assts. There are 4k retail jobs for sales assts and cashiers. And security officers and auxiliary police need 3.5k people. Singaporeans need not worry about being jobless when so much jobs are available.

Beggar Sect - Income distribution

Over the weekend I was watching the Condor Heroes again. This is a series of novels by the great Jin Yong. I don't think there is another equivalent in the western world of authors of this calibre. Ok, the story was a side issue. I was quite impressed with the organisation of the Beggar Sect and the way they distributed their income. The lowest few levels were the foot soldiers that went out to collect donations. This will then be pooled and distributed among the rest of the beggars. There were altogether 9 ranks in the sect, excluding the lowest and the chief. Each level was denoted by one pocket attached to the torn and tattered shirt. The most senior rank had 9 pockets. The distribution of the collection was thus very simple. One dollar to each pocket. 9 pockets $9. I am not sure how much the lowest rank, without pocket with get. Neither do I know how much the chief would get. He had no pockets. With 9 levels of sharing, the ratio is 1:9. The amazing thing is that our national income distribution based on official statistics is very similar to this. The lowest ten percentiles earn less than $1K while the top ten percentiles earn $10K. This is about right if we use the Beggar Sect's formula for income distribution. How more fair can we be?

The plague of big hospital bills

"Since Mindef's payments ceased in February 2007, his parents have chalked up outstanding hospital bills totalling $133,000 " - Today 13 Jan 2008. The parents of NSman Jeremy Tan Chia Whee have taken Mindef to court to pay for his medical bill. Jeremy was found unconscious in camp and the issue is whether his injury was incurred while in service or not in service. Under normal circumstances the issue could have been settled long ago by his parents IF the medical fee has not ballooned to this sum. This is the new plague of our first class medical services. The price tag is also first class. Sure, you want first class you must be able to pay for it. Maybe it is time the govt should ask the people if they want first class and whether they can afford to pay for it. Even with mean testing in place, many people would still not be able to pay this kind of ridiculous fees. Progress and compassion are very expensive things to pay for.

Improved healthcare for subsidised patients

'....I do know many private specialists who have big hearts ( and I am proud to call them "friend" )and who treat poorer patients at reduced rates ( or even waive charges). Sometimes we put on leotards and become Robin Hoods. We in private practice, often try to find ways to beat the Private hospital system in order to reduce patients' charges. The more obvious means include pleading with the hospital for discounts ( for patients) or even going to cheaper hospitals. Other ways cannot be divulged publicly.....' The above is an extract from Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan's blog, nofearsingapore.blogspot.com. He has written an appeal in the media's forum and copied to MOH to suggest on cost reduction and improvement in medical practice. If we have more medical professionals to step out to stamp this ridiculous and incessant rise in medical fees, they will definitely make an impact. For a start, private hospitals can price some services or ward charges lower than govt hospitals to show that it can be done. This will definitely rattle the conventional wisdom that medical cost must always go up. A case in point is Perfect Dental Clinic in Ghim Moh. I believe its charges are very competitive and should be a role model for all dental clinics to emulate. If he can charge at those competitive rates, why can't other dental clinics do so with the same facilities and qualifications for the same treatment? Private hospitals should take the lead to cut cost and blow its trumpets loudly. This is a social service and a social cause that they can together do for the average citizens.

Smiles in English signboards

Cocktail lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR. On the main road to Mombassa, leaving Nairobi: TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE. On a poster at Kencom: ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO WE CAN HELP. In a cemetery: PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES. Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations: GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED. In a Tokyo bar: SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS. Hotel, Yugoslavia: THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID. Hotel, Japan: YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID. In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY. Hotel, Zurich: BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. A laundry in Rome: LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Citi and Morgan Stanley merging brokerages

The two giants are merging their operations in the face of the financial meltdown. The brokerages and their staff will have to shrink in a shrinking business. How would this affect the local brokerages? Will our brokerages shrink as well given the shrinking business in stock trading? Stockbroking, buying and selling of properties, insurances are the last few professions that allow people who can't find employments or do not want to be employees to be self employed. Of course there is taxi driving but this is a very difficult trade with the recession hitting the economy. When these three professions start to retrench, more will be out looking for jobs. The last frontier is to start your own business as entrepreneurs, provided you have a few hundred thousands of spare cash to play with. It is no longer possible to sell kueh and goreng pisangs along the corridors. It is against the law. But one can take the risk of selling pirated VCDs if one does not mind being handcuffed when caught. The loanshark business is still thriving and they need more midnight graffiti painters. Maybe the casinos can provide more jobs for those who are not bound by their religious and moral righteousness. For a start, Boon Wan has offered several thousand jobs in the medical industry. Just go for retraining.

Eerie silence in the world of elite

Are there any talents, thinkers and concerned individuals in the world of elite? Obviously there are plentiful. Do they have a view or any view on how our country and society is progressing and the direction we are heading? I think they must have. Do they agree with all the policies and what is happening? I think they do. That is why there is a total silence coming out from that world. Nothing will affect them or move them to say something. They are just too comfortable and too entrenched in their own world of luxury that nothing else is important to them. How long will this eerie silence last?

When the wheel of fortune stopped turning

2008 ended with the wheel of fortune stopped turning. The first financial crisis that hit the people was the minibond. The bigger financial crisis hitting the people without much fanfare was the collapse of stock prices. The losses were in hundreds of billions. Came 2009, the year started with mean testing. What does it mean? The first answer probably is the torching incident. Now the country is staring at a bigger crisis, recession and job losses, unemployment, defaults in paying mortgages. We are only in the second week of the new year. What more lie in store for us and how bad could things be?

The Seng Han Thong Incident

With sentiments and emotions calming down, lets take a second look at the Seng Han Thong Incident and the reactions in the media. The main media's reaction was quite expected, shock and awe and condemnation. The reaction in cycberspace was distinctively different. The immediate response to the incident showed a lack of sympathy, more of a it was coming and to be expected. Some went to the extent of rooting for it, that it was deserving. There was a kind of release of anger and frustration, not necessarily to Seng Han Thong in particular but to the govt as a whole. The mood in several of the forums were very negative. Here we had an MP being set on fire and these people were taking it in their stride, like a protest against the govt. This is definitely an unhealthy development and would set the party thinking why? The oldies were the party's strongest supporters all these years. The violent act was conducted by an oldie. The reaction in cyberspace came from a bigger spectrum, from oldies to the youngies. Could this be a little indication of bottled up feelings that need an expression and the incident was just it? Could more outlets for kpkb and letting off steam help to release the pressure along the way leading to less explosive actions? Suppressing expression of anger and frustration could only keep the feelings under the lid. When the heat gets too high, suppressing them will do more harm. Maybe the new year angpow could soothe some nerves and let the incident pass quickly as another unfortunate incident, to be forgotten. It was a shocking incident that was totally unexpected in a first world country. Perhaps many of the people are still of the third world with their world habits and mentality.

MP set on fire

This is the headline news in the papers. Seng Han Tong, and MP, was set on fire by a disgrunted 70 year man who is also a patient at the mental hospital. This kind of things is unheard of in our history. The background of the attacker suggests that this is an isolated case and should not be seen as an increase in social violence. I believe our MPs and ministers would still be able to walk the streets without being harm. Violence has not been in our culture, or political violence has not been a part of our lives since the 1950s. Poor bugger. He is hurt very badly for public service.

How useful is Talking point?

Last week CNA put up many reminders on the programme Talking Point to be aired last night at 10.20pm. The topic to be discussed was the AIMS' recommendations and the govt's responses to them. It must be an important event for CNA to keep reminding the viewers about it. I was reminded to tune in. There were two co hosts, a lady whose name just slipped out of my amnesia prone memory, and PN Balji. This gave the programme some recognition. You don't put in two hosts to tackle a programme unless it is worth the while. Two invited guests, Cheong Yip Seng, Chairman of AIMS and Gerald Giam of TOC were also present. The four should give a meaningful treatment on the important AIMS paper. After all it was commissioned by the govt. The whole programme last not more than 10 mins. In fact 8 minutes. How could 8 minutes do any justice to an important issues with 4 participants. Each could only have 2 minutes if the time is distributed evenly. Balji followed up with an article this morning in Today. His message is this, 'By now, the likes of Mr Giam should have known how this Govt behaves and operates. It cannot appear to be pressured to make changes; it will change at its own pace and comfort.' This is very plainly put by Balji. Don't expect too much. The mountain does not come to Mohammed. Bloggers are not significant bodies and must to go the mountain.

Running out of ideas

Malaysia is a one idea country. They only know how to build roads and bridges to collect tolls. Every other thing that they tried was a wash out. So they will keep on thinking of building bridges everywhere, the more the better. Existing bridges or connectors should be demolished to justify building new ones. They are going to build bridges to Sumatra, maybe Vietnam as well. The Americans are also running out of ideas. Since the computer chip revolution, the laptops and handphones, there is nothing new in the pipeline that can create so much mass appeal. They tried financing products but turned out to be the biggest fraud in history. Paradise too is running out of ideas. Other than raising fees and charges, what else could it come out with? The latest twist is recycling. They have done recycling of old buildings by demolishing them and building new ones. Now they are recycling jobs and old bodies. Old jobs are recycled with new fanciful names, everyone is a president. We have more presidents than the countries in the UN. Now the old hags are being recycled. The Dad’s Army in civilian clothes, the grandpas and grandmas are to work again. But this is a bit tricky. The parts are getting old through wear and tear. Practically every part and organ need to be changed. They can’t do it like they did to old buildings. They can’t scrap them like cars. How to make them work like new, strong and nimble, see and hear clearly, and think and do as being told? Until a new drug is developed to alter all the cells into young cells and not ageing cells, it is going to be difficult. Genetically modified cells may be a starting point. They can do it to plants, definitely possible with human beans In the meantime recycle as best possible, with redesigning of jobs to cater for slow and fumbling hands and cloudy minds, failing eye sights and weak limbs. Recycling worn out bodies is going to be big business in paradise

Resigned still caught and answerable

The Satyam bosses had resigned after the fraud was disclosed. But India is not the US or paradise where one can simply pat his backside and resign when wrong doings are discovered. Rubin, the advisor of Citigroup has also resigned. For the moment, many of the failed American financial institutions were due to mismanagement or honest mistakes, so it is difficult to find faults with the directors and top management. In Satyam case, it is fraud, like Madoff, and they have been arrested by the India authority. Madoff is still walking around happily like a free man. There must be a higher expectation of accountability for paid executives whether as top management or board of directors. Walking away by resigning is too easy a way out from accountability. If people are brave enough to take compensation from organisations they must be brave enough to answer for the mess created during their watches. Honourable people must do what is honourable.

How much must be earned in a life time

How much must be earned in a life time to live in paradise? Take an average 4 roomer two kids family. In his life time he must spend these money other than the normal living expenses. His flat will cost him $500k or more when fully paid up. His Medisave that he cannot touch will be at least $30k. His two kids, if lucky enough to get into university locally, total cost for each upon graduation would easily be $300k. GST at 7% for a $4k monthly expenditure for 50 years will come to $148k. S&C at average $50 pm for 50 years will be $30k. And if he owns a small car, changing one every 10 years, or 5 cars in his lifetime, he will spend at least $300k at $60k each. The above adds up to a cool $1.6m. Even without owning a car, the amount is $1.3m. This he must have in addition to what he needs to live daily. At a simple $3k pm for 50 years it will add another $1.8m to his total budget. So an average Singaporean family will spend $3.4m in their life time. A very conservative number. And he could count himself lucky if he does not need to be hospitalised. One entry could empty his Medisave or more. The cost will go up for those who bought bigger houses and cars. A job and a steady income is crucial to keep an average Singaporean alive. it is amazing that we could go on for so long and still aspiring to be more prosperous and to pay more for our standard of living. Singaporeans born today would easily need double or triple that amount to get by. Would the system be able to pay them that kind of money or would Singaporeans still command that kind of premium in a competitive world market of the future? When I look at our Ah Beng, Ahmad and Muthu, and their counterparts in other countries, they are not much different. And when they put out their best to compete with us, either their income will go up or ours will go down. A new level will be found. Would ours still defy the odds and move up or will the law of diminishing returns drag us down?

Frugality by choice

To live frugally by choice and not by circumstances is a very pleasant concept. It is like people desiring to work for life, by choice and and not by circumstances, and even with the choice of what they want to do, not to become cleaners or dish washers. To live frugally is like being thrifty, to spend on when there is a need to, no extravagance, is an age old virtue. Individually, it is a good value to live by. At the national level, it is too a good policy to preach and to practise, or maybe not. The contradiction between preaching something and doing the reverse is quite obvious to many. While on the one hand people suddenly got enlightened that there is goodness in frugal living, there are people and even the govt, exhorting and extorting the people to spend. Our govt's policies have never been about frugality. Think COE and car scrapping. Even in times like this, Chok Tong is asking people to spend away on little comforts. Boon Wan has just introduced mean testing to make sure that people pay according to how much they have and not what they want. Ask Raymond about ERPs and transport fares and he will tell you it still must go up, but very affordable. Then Mah Bow Tan just whacked the home buyers by $200k increase in the Pinnacles. Who else, or which ministry is going to raise their fees or rentals? Can the people afford to be frugal? Even if they want to, the policies of ever increasing fees will make sure that they don't. The wheel of our economic machinery must go on running and must be fed by the people's money to keep it going. Otherwise it will grind to a halt like the ferry wheel. And a big rescue operation will have to be mounted. The economy is built on a model of growth. Without growth means recession and depression. The rich can romanticise on being frugal and live happily ever after. The poor at best is a way of life. The country cannot exist on a frugal diet. The country demands that the people must spend and spend to keep up the image of growth and prosperity. So, would the people be allowed to be frugal?

Child labour is bad

Little children working to earn a few dollars is bad. Their feeble limbs and frail bodies would not take the rough and tough of labour in the factories and sweat shops. Their ignorance will expose them to dangerous situations which they would not know how to avoid. How about the frail bodies of the aged? Is aged labour good or bad? Their frail bodies, lack of nimbleness and dexterity, slow in responding to danger, will put them in unnecessary risks and difficult situations. We need to protect the young from exploitation and unfavourable working conditions. Do we need to protect the old hags? I think exploitation of old labour is just as bad and should not be encouraged. Why are we so happy about getting the old hags to work till they die and not allowing the children to work till they die? We feel sorry to see children put to work. Do we feel sorry to see old hags toiling in their twilight years? Why are grandpa and grandma working?

Boon Yang's leeway on political films

The easing of ban on political films by Boon Yang is another step towards more liberalisation of media and film broadcast in the otherwise media phobic state. Thanks to AIMS and the strong push by Cheong Yip Seng for a freer and bigger space for social and political discussion and dissemination of news and views. The concerns by the govt are well understood by the public through its obsessive regulations and articulations over the years. The govt has also come to understand the revolution of information technology and its futility to continue its vice like grip on critics and alternative views. It has also reluctantly come to terms with a highly educated citizenry that is not going to take this control forever. And perhaps it has concluded that it is time to release the build up pressure now rather than later. To continue to do so in an environment where cyberspace is there to air the misgivings, cynicism and displeasure will only worsen the divide between truth and official truth to a level of incredibility. Hail the new leeway towards more media freedom in cyberspace and alternative means of expression. The liberalisation and more engagement between the new media and old media will pave the way for more healthy discussions on social and political issues affecting the people. It will lead to a buzz that has long been desired but absence for obvious reasons. Now is to wait and see if the buzz will go on buzzing.

Save Asia from child labour

Asia must act to prevent growth in child labour: expert 12 hours ago SINGAPORE (AFP) — Asia must act quickly to prevent millions of children dropping out of school to go to work as the global economic crisis worsens, a rights expert has warned. June Kane, an independent adviser to the United Nations and national governments on child rights, told AFP the crisis was a chance for authorities in the region to tackle child labour by giving parents incentives to keep minors in education. But she warned that authorities in Asia -- the biggest employer of the world's estimated 218 million child workers -- must act now to provide help to parents who might otherwise be forced to send their children out to work.... I happen to see the above posted in the TOC. It is a noble cause to push for, to help the children of poor countries and poor families from being made to earn a living at a tender age when they should be in school. But this is well said than done. Many are staring at poverty in their faces and helping out to earn a living is their way of getting an education in life. The country is poor and so are the parents. I was a child labour before. There were child labours in Singapore at one time. At one time many of our womenfolks were maids too. And getting a job as a labourer in the construction site was good jobs and good money. We have progressed over the years. We cannot mismanage and slip back to those days when everyone was poor. When aspirations of parents were for their children to become clerks. Even before I was in primary school, I was helping my mother in a godown, sorting coffee beans, picking out the debris and rotten seeds and repack them. The work was simple. Just sat on a large piece of mat, coffee seeds poured into the centre of the mat and the whole family sat around it, picking seed by seed, to earn a few cents a day. Quite comfortable actually. No sweat and not under the sun. No torture or abuses. Just working. And many parents were very happy when their wards failed the PSLE. They could start work earlier, working as kopi kia or walking the streets knocking on a piece of bamboo, kock kick kock, to peddle bak chor mee. It was a phase of our development and our social history.

Keep seniors at work longer

Just a few years back, not very long ago actually, there was this 40ish CEO whose message was to get rid of the oldies and replace them with all the beautiful and fresh recruits. I was wondering where did he got this cock idea from? Creating jobs, getting people employed is a major issue and problem in any country. Only imbeciles will think of destroying jobs and getting rid of employees purely because of age. Now working to death is the new mantra. Personally if I can afford it I will stop work and enjoy my life the way I want it. There are many great things to do in life than just working to keep once self fed, just to carry on living. Unfortunately many people are caught it this trap, to work to be alive, nothing more, nothing less.

Satyam, the truth is out

The doctoring of corporate accounts has appeared to be a common practice among big corporations across the globe, from America to Europe and Asia. I could understand how it could be done over the years without being discovered in backward countries without the due process of auditing. But it should not be whether renowned international auditors are engaged to do the job. Under the western model of corporate governance, the auditors play a very big role in checking the accounts of public listed organisations, and are handsomely rewarded for this task. Apparently due diligence in this role is much to be desired given the prevalence of this malpractice. In fact it is a text book fraud that all auditors must know and look out for. This is the first time that the regulators are thinking of looking at the role of the auditors to see if they are culpable to the misdeeds, whether through negligence or even being accomplice to the crime. More auditors must be hanged to give notice to the importance of their role in preventing corporate frauds. But I still remember that it was said some where that it was not their role to discover corporate frauds. So their role must be simply going through the motion of checking and submit a report to confirm checks have been carried out, without any responsibility. Other than the independent directors, the next level and most effective defence against corporate frauds must be the auditors. And they are paid to do the job. They are professionals.

Would NWC bark up the same old tree?

The high power NWC is again tasked to review the wages of workers, this time when the economy is in a tail spin. In good times, it is in a happier position to quarrel about how much increases to give to the workers. In bad times, it is going to decide how much to cut or not to give to the workers. Hard times mean tough times for the workers, the convenient whipping boy. The workers is always at the fore front when cost cutting is needed. They either lose their jobs, got their salaries cut, or lose their increments. This is the standard recipe with its standard recommendations. Didn't we know that labour cost is only one small part of the whole equation of operating cost? Would the NWC do a bit more and look into areas like land cost, rental cost, govt service cost and other cost before slicing through the workers pay packet for once? And don't forget about top management cost. Any further cuts or lowering of increments are going to hit the workers real hard. All the other costs are going up and we are expecting the workers to bite the bullet and tighten their belts further. Are we demanding too much from the workers? This single perspective approach to tackling the operating cost problem has to be addressed differently. The cost of other services and goods must be brought down if the workers are to survive this crisis with further restraints on their wages. 80% of the workforce will fall into this trap of rising cost of living and lower income. We need a more enlighten NWC to do something differently instead of just going through the motion like yesteryears.

NWC's unenviable task

The NWC will have to make its recommendations on wages soon. This time it is very likely on how to cut wages or reduce wage increases. Bet with you the people who is going to get the wage cut or wage freeze will be the workers. We will likely see how the use of absolute sum and percentages at its best. Some will be affected by a fixed sum and some by percentages to the benefits of some and disadvantages of others. The message is likely to be belt tightening to save jobs.

Myth 204 - The rich pays for their wants

This is a long embedded myth that people have forgotten to question and accepted as the truth. In reality the poor pays for everything, including what the rich is enjoying. And the poor pays for them in blood, sweat and tears. The poor is the one that does everything. They work, do, build, make, move, carry, climb, run, walk, practically everything to make goods and provide services. The only think that they do less is think. In the case of the rich, they make the poor pays for everything and at a huge profit. They pay the poor workers less if they employ them. They take as much as they can for themselves when they are the boss. Then they spend as if they were paying for it. No, it is the poor workers that are paying for it. The rich took the wealth created by workers leaving the workers poor and insufficient while they have abundance to spend away.

$46k for French cooking course

A top civil servant reportedly spent $46k for himself, wife and son to study fine French cooking. He took 5 weeks of annual leave, flew to France to learn this exquisite skill. Normally this is a thing that the rich and famous will do and will not raise an eyebrow. In this case, cyberspace is riled by such flaunting of wealth. Should it be? Why can't a man who earns an honest living spend his money the way he wants it? Put it in the proper Singaporean context, here is a case of someone that is overpaid, paid too well, that he could spend big money on niceties. The best part is that he is a public servant and his money is paid from the taxpayers' money. It is a good example of a very well paid civil service and that the people is ired by it and any flaunting of wealth by this group of public servants will definitely invite criticism. The top civil servants and politicians are increasingly being viewed as being overpaid, and not ending. More pay rises will be on the way as there is now no cap to how much they should be paid given an unique formula that could literally pay them hundreds of millions when the condition is right. This case proves that they have more money than they need and are finding creative ways to spend them. Any justification for more pay rise at the top level is going to get rotten tomatoes and rotten eggs. It is difficult to be frugal when you have too much money.

Cannot afford to be frugal

How could it be that people cannot afford to be frugal? Frugality used to be a fad in the era of the hippies. Scions of wealthy families went around in torn and tattered jackets and jeans and looked scruffily poor, like children of working class. It was not that they had to be frugal. They were just making a statement. They were dissociating themselves from their wealthy background as if it was a shameful thing, They were denouncing the decadence lifestyle of the bourgeoisie. Then there was the legendary Tan Kah Kee, probably the richest man in the island whose daily meals were plain porridge, salted peanuts and vegetables. He died penniless after giving away his wealth. He was frugal to a fault. The financial crisis has made some of the affected rich to cut down on a holiday or two, drink cheaper wine etc. There is no need to be frugal but a little less lavish living. For those who were living quite comfortably or just getting by may need to be frugal to save a little. Life will go on practically unchanged. But for those who have been making ends meet, whose income are stagnant or falling, the rising cost in everything will make frugality a meaningless word. They cannot afford to be frugal. There is nothing left to be frugal. To them, living frugally is not about making a statement. It is poverty in a rich oasis.

Time to be credited.

Many of the bloggers here are still using anonymous to post. Increasingly there are more who are using a nick to represent themselves. This is year 2009 and we have seen how the internet has evolved over the last few years. The quality of the postings are getting better compare to the early years when it was a lot of battering just for the sake of battering one another. We are seeing many respectable people in the cyberspace using their own names to express their views and make their points, not necessarily anti establishment or to bring down the establishment. The discourse in the internet is far ranging, very informative and challenging. Many views are expressed ingeniously and artfully. It is time that bloggers should be credited with what they post. It is not necessary that they should use their real name or identity. A pen name, like many authors or even journalists did will be good enough. It will be a cyberspace identity that will grow with the author and may become part of the author. I strongly encourage all the bloggers to use a nick of whatever that they fancy to post. It will be more meaningful for everyone. Cheers.

Peanut spitting monkeys

I went mountain climbing, or hill climbing, at Bukit Timah one weekend. As we drove into the car park we could see the monkeys lining up at the car park fringe waiting for us. When we alighted they came dashing towards us, anticipating some peanuts from visitors. We gladly obliged and threw a few in the air and they went jumping all over the place. Hungry monkeys. There was a weekend that we went to the zoo. We brought along packets of peanuts for the monkeys as well. We went from one beautifully landscaped confine to another watching the monkeys. One thing we noticed was that the monkeys were not as energetic as those at Bukit Timah. Even when we threw the peanuts at them some even refused to move. Over fed monkeys! Then we heard the zoo keeper telling the visitors to be careful not to disturb the monkeys. When angry they would spit out peanuts at them. They were so well fed that they stored the nuts on both sides of their cheeks. It is not easy to get them excited over a few peanuts anymore.

Paying less to workers to pay more to management

How is that possible? One of the ways is like what Wall Street was doing. The top management just pays themselves crazy. But this is not serious then as the financial institutions were churning up big profits and the workers were small in numbers. Put this into the context of manufacturing companies or any large organizations with a big worker base. The amount paid to the top management must come from the general pool of money available for payout. The more being paid to top management, the lesser will be available for the workers. Yes, it is a zero sum game. In the same way any organization that pays big bucks to the top must get the money from somewhere. Normally it comes from paying less to the workforce in general. Organisations that pay their top executives big salaries must find ways to boost up the kitty every month. It either comes from higher cost to their products or services, or from paying the workers less. As simple as that, unless money can appear in mid air. The consumers pay for everything. The workers indirectly pay for the top dollars of their management. True or not?

The internet is YOU!

Below is an extract of a fairly long article posted in TOC by a KJ. It is very good reading for those interested in seeking alternative views other than from The Old Media. ....The Internet is not the perfect mass medium, and it need not be. Being an excellent one is enough for its purpose. Its inconsistency, unpredictability, and dilettantism are precisely its strengths. Its excellence and political potency cease only when individuals no longer blog, participate in forum discussions, forward that incriminating email, access a plethora of info-news websites – professional and amateur, local and foreign – and continually comment, debate, and quarrel, post pictures and put up videos and form communities. Its potential for political change is anywhere and everywhere. But political activism is neutered at its heart when individuals forget that change comes not just from the arena of parliament and street protests, but also from the sitting and thinking individual. The personal is the political, and the political is in the quotidian and in the everyday. Action originates from one’s thought, conscience, and consciousness. An impassioned thought is in itself activism. Taken together, they constitute the truer citizen, one that perpetually questions received wisdom, rips up underlying assumptions, and resists and unmasks the artifice, injustice, and sophistry emanating from those enthroned in the white chambers of power. Taken together, you rebuff the vacuous regurgitation of propaganda by those indoctrinated ones, and you expose their shallow, hollow, and spurious patriotism.... Since the Straits Times has abdicated its role as the paramount purveyor and conduit of critical, independent thought, then the Internet should attempt that role. As long as you have something original to say, the keyboard is yours....

We have failed to progress

After so many years of trying to restructure our society, we have failed miserably in the most important quarter, the purpose of life. Today the front page news is about saving jobs, create jobs, create employments so that people can work until they die. And everyone is singing this tune mindlessly. This is a sick society alright. In paradise, a true paradise, there is no need for people to work for a living. That must be the goal of all societies. The more prosperous we are, we should need to work less and enjoy our lives the way we want it. We have forgotten. I still remember that some 10 or so years ago we were trying to restructure our society to eradicate jobs. We were on the right track then. Now we are so confused with the purpose of life. We think working to death is the only thing in life. Slave drivers! We have the technology to give humankind the freedom from work. We can mechanise, automate, use robots, use the computers to think, plan and do everything for us. Humankind deserves better, to live life and enjoy life of plenty, without worries and without work. Shouldn't that be the goal for working so hard? Have we gone crazy? Creating more and more jobs to work the people? We should be planning on how to pay people a million a year without having to work. Then everyone can spend their time flashing around in their newest personal commuter or personal jet. And for those who still enjoy blogging, they can continue to do so without a worry, 24/7 sitting in front of their latest model personal entertainment system. What is the point of having the IRs, the flyers, all the theatres and fine restaurants and facilities when we have to work and no time to enjoy them? Do we pay millions to super talents who can only think of creating more jobs to work the people to death?

My tummy ache is more complex

I used to visit the dentists quite regularly in the past. Today I see them less frequently. Not many teeth left to give problems. But I still have tooth ache occasionally. The same tooth ache I had 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago. And my tummy ache is no different today then 50 years ago or 40 years ago. So were my flu and sore throat. And I think this goes with many other sicknesses, migraine, heart attack, artery blocks, piles, or whatever that our bodies can inflict on us. I protested to my doctors and dentists. Why are they charging me 10 times, 20 times or 30 times for the same ailments? The panadol and vitamins are still the same except for the branding. After repeated protests the doctors finally gave in and explained. He agreed that they were all the same. He agreed that the only thing that was different was the bill. And he said the medical condition probably made up 10% of the bill. The rest were other costs. At least now I know that my medical conditions are not more serious, not more complicated, not more complex, not more heavenly that require a medical maverick to heal them when the ordinary doctor of the past could not. And I pay more.

The new Singapore success story

Ting Kah Ting is a very happy man. As a contractor his income is inconsistent. He had problems paying his mortgages for his 4 rm flat but HDB was understanding, agreed to stretch his payments in smaller amounts and at one time allowed him to postpone his payment for 6 months. Today he has no more outstanding loan. Peace of mind. He sold his 4 room flats for a tidy profit and downgraded to a 3 rm flat and live happily with his 4 children age 11 to 21. The morale of the story is that Singaporeans can live a happy life if they know how. The trick is downgrading. Singaporeans are downgrading from bigger flats to smaller flats. And the demand for smaller flats is exceeding supply. HDB is rushing out a programme to build more 2 and 3 rm flats. The other kind of downgrading for a happier life is downgrading jobs. Many Singaporeans are finding a new life, new contentment by going for training to acquire new skills that can fit them into lesser paying jobs. And of course the lifestyle needs to change a little. Take public transport or buy a smaller car. Eat more at foodcourts or hawker centres instead of restaurants. Life will not be the same again, but without worries. An anonymous blogger here posted that many young girls are earning more than $10k pm. These are real. And many more are earning 6 figure salaries per month, too big that they don't appear in the statistics, just like when you type in 10 zeros into a calculate, it cannot be shown. The calculator cannot capture too many zeros. Some are even more fortunate. On retirements they were given directorships that pay them double or triple or quadruple their incomes when they were fully employed. And all they need is to attend a board of director's meeting once a month. But the best goes to those who retire with a pension good enough to buy a private property every year. But the pension is only the appetiser. They will be moved from running a full organisation to one that practically does nothing and continue with full pay plus pension. Now that is the real success story. They can now live life to the fullest, enjoy what they missed as little children and buy the Porsche or Ferrari that they dreamed off in those fairy tales. Singaporeans have different success stories.

Why be mean when no need to?

I have spoken enough of mean testing. But I must say it again and again to show how detestable is this thing called mean testing. By the way, how many of you think that mean testing is an acceptable and decent thing to do to another loser? If you think it is ok, then you must be prepared to be mean tested when your turn comes. Not everyday is a sunny day. There will be cloudy days, raining days and thunderstorms. Your sunny day may be over without you knowing and thunderstorm may be here tomorrow. The idea of mean testing is simply that the poor can be humiliated, that they can be paraded in public, to any strangers to prove how poor and what a failure they were in life. This kind of thinking can only be present in the minds of the rich and powerful who have no qualms in treating the downtrodden as useless bums, deserving to be abused. It is an elitist concept. It will not happen to me because I am rich and successful. And I will not be a loser. So it is ok to line up the losers and subject them to despicable acts of verifying how poor they are. Make them show you how miserable are their incomes, open up their bank account books to reveal that there are only a couple of dollars left, make them reveal how useless their fathers and mothers were, all losers. Then give them a pat and say ok, you poor bastards, you deserve the handouts. It is a sad day if our elite show this lack of compassion and kindness and subject the poor to such disgraceful acts in the name of kindness and compassion. Oh this is in place to catch a few cheats! I regard this as a failure of good policies. A good policy should be able to do it without the humiliating experience. It is totally devoid of human kindness.

Market Pricing and market economy

I have posted many times, and most of you are aware of my views and orientation with respect to market pricing and market economy. I always believe in moderation, market pricing with a little govt interference without allowing extremism to push things too far. The pricing of HDB flats, medical fees, and all kinds of services are gradually moving towards full market pricing in a market economy and it is something I don't agree and don't feel comfortable with. My position is that the govt must always work for the betterment of the people and a market economy running along market pricing is only as good as long as it is good for the people. If it is good just to make more profit at the people's expense or causing more hardship to the people, then it is not good no matter how fair it is claimed to be. The govt must always be for the people. The profit made must also be for the people. The money made from the people must not be excessive. There is no point in hoarding a huge reserves when the reserves are not managed for the interest of the people. As the govt edges further and further towards a full market economy, many policies will eventually be market driven. Good or bad is not an issue. Here we have a govt that makes it very clear of its philosophy and policies. There will be people who agree and support such philosophy and policies. There will be people who don't agree. It is good that the govt takes on such a position, clear and transparent. It allows the people to understand how such policies will work out and how they will be affected in the process. The people can then make an informed choice of whether this is what they want. And it will be good if there are alternative parties presenting alternative models for the people to choose from. For the dogmatic and party loyalists, they may want to view the alternatives as a for me or against me ala the idiot called George Bush. This is a very narrow minded way of how a country and its people should evolve. In a democracy, it is the people's choice and not a matter of you are my friend or my enemy. I am not sure how many of you are in favour of this trend of market pricing. I know that some are for it and some are against it. While we are discussing such issues, let's be more objective and mature and avoid behaving like kids. It is not a crime to disagree with the policies of market pricing. Neither is it a vindication of goodness to support it.

The Hippocratic Code

This is one of the most honourable code of any profession in modern society. I believe those who swear by it still believe in it and would like to uphold this code of conduct. The Code upholds the value of life, not money. What is happening to the medical profession is that it is being turned into a money making machine, a very efficient and ruthless one at that, by the people running it as a business. Today, being admitted into a hospital, even a privatised govt hospital, do not be surprised with a bill that goes above $30k or $100k or even more. The amount to be paid for a month or two in a hospital is enough to buy a 3rm HDB flat! The question is whether the medical professionals who swore by the Hippocratic Code have any say in how the profession is being turned into a money making machine in direct conflict with what the Code sets it out to be? The doctors were very highly regarded as honourable men with a noble passion to save lives and heal the sick. It will be very sad and disappointing should their reputation be tarnished by this madness to milk as much money as possible from the sick and helpless. These are people who are in a desperate state of medical and mental condition that made them highly vulnerable, and money is no longer a factor to them. To slap these people with an exorbitant bill beyond their means is cruel by all counts. The medical professionals should wrestle back the control and management of their profession from the business minded and money minded people and restore honour and respect back to them. Other industries can go to the dogs, but not the medical profession. It is the last bastion of human decency that needs to be defended by none other than the selfless and passionate medical professionals themselves.

Are there saints running corporations?

Bankers Can be victims, too! Everytime a Singaporean makes a frivolous investment claim against a bank, he undermines thousands of genuine fide cases Dec 31, 2008 This is the heading of an article posted in www.littlespeck.com. The gist of the article is that bankers are also innocent victims to unscrupulous customers. And the bigger picture is that most organisations, including banks, are run by highly righteous and honourable people. What a myth. In my experience, many organisations are headed by unscrupulous thugs. This is the kindest word that I can use. Anyone think otherwise, that there are saints running organisations? Of course there are a rare few that still believe in a little virtues and moral standards and responsibilities. In the name of profit, survival, politicking, all kinds of unspeakable things were done for self preservation. Anyone working in a corporation would have experienced them personally, seen them in practice or been a victim of such thugs. Am I telling the truth a bit too hard?

Market practice in govt privatised hospitals

Means testing starts today Those in B2 and C class wards will be asked to consent to checks on their income By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent Patients are free to refuse income checks. But this will mean they automatically get the smallest subsidy: 50 per cent for treatment in a B2 ward and 65 per cent in a C-class ward. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM PATIENTS warded in B2 and C class wards in public hospitals from today will be means-tested to determine the level of subsidy they will get. They will be asked upon admission to give their signed consent to grant hospitals permission to check their income. I would like to suggest that the hospitals introduce market practices with respect to demand and supply, cost and charges like what HDB is doing. That is the fairest thing to do. Then there will be no need to mean test anyone. Anyone going to the hospital shall pay accordingly, at market prices. Cannot afford don't go. The hospitals are privatised hospitals and need to operate for profit and be answerable to the shareholders. We no longer have govt hospitals whose main mission is to provide affordable medical care for its citizens. There is no need for hypocrisy. Privatised govt hospitals shall run and operate like a private hospital. Otherwise it will defeat its purposes of being privatised and be unfair to its shareholders.

Going forward in 2009

As we move forward into 2009, the accepted wisdom must be caveat emptor. This catch phrase shall be the guiding principle for how we live and engage in all transactions and human interactions. Caveat emptor is the fairest principle to live by. Anyone got cheated is his own fault. He is expected to know what he is doing. We have the best educated population and we can't expect them to be stupid and be cheated so easily. There is no longer a need for institutions that check or audit corporations. There is no need for regulators. There is no need for rules and laws. We can save a lot of unnecessary business cost and time. Every transaction shall go by the buyers beware code, check yourselves before getting into a transaction. Oh, no need for the legal professions too. Contractual laws can be thrown into the dustbins. It will be the survival of the smartests. We shall call ourselves Caveat Emptor country. And we can laugh at all the silly people who got cheated or got rip off. It is simply their own faults. Life will be much simpler.

2008 A year of Rip Off

The most memorable part of 2008 is the Rip Off of people's money around the world with America taking lead. America was the shining example of how the financial system was hijacked by a bunch of crooks and ripping off practically every American and people across the globe of huge sums of money. Many of the victims were driven to the point of bankruptcy. Fortunes were wiped out over night like a nightmare. But this rip off is not only confined to the people ripping off people, but to the govt ripping off the people as well. The American govt was involved in the biggest hoax of history and using it to invade countries and wars. Lives were lost and billions of the tax payers money were wasted. We were not spared by this Rip Off. Many of our innocent people were ripped off of the little money they had. Some lost their retirement fund or coffin money. The Rip off was not confined to just corporations. We see with our eyes wide opened, how the people were rip off, and the funny thing is that Singaporeans think that all the rip off is fair. Some rip offs were even proclaimed as the fairest thing to do. Singaporeans deserved to be ripped off.

You don't have to agree!

Make 2009 a different year. For a start, tell yourself that you don't have to agree with everything other people say, especially politicians. When the politicians say it is good for you, double check, triple check, to see if it really is. If the politicians say it is fair, do the same, many times over. And if they say this is the best solution or policy, don't simply take their words for it. And don't just disagree, say it out, make it loud and clear. And if the politicians is talking cock, make sure he is reminded of it. Let him or her knows. This is what all the world class education that you are getting should mean. It should make every educated one a thinking person with a mind of his own. Not sheeples without a brain. Make a difference in 2009!

Rescue Pack 2009

Come 20 Jan 2009 a rescue package is expected to be unveiled by the govt to help the people from the financial crisis. There are high hopes of new year angpows to tie in with the Chinese New Year a week later. This is going to be a tough CNY if no windfall is coming from somewhere. The govt is not expected to fail the people and will deliver like it did many times in the past. There will be handouts. But through past experiences the handouts must be squeezed out from somewhere. There is no free handouts and the people should also know better. This time it is going to be a bit tricky for the govt as the economy is also in technical recession and trade is contracting. Then the investment vehicles are not expected to do well. The known high profile investments in western banks are bleeding profusedly. What the people have yet to be told is the bigger picture of all the other investments by Temasek and GICs. They too can't be doing well when all the best fund managers in the world are going broke. If it is going to proclaim another profitable year, you can expect people to think of Madoff. But the govt is going to find the money to help the people. Where will this money come from?

Who is richer?

Things are not what they are today. What you see is not really what you get as many factors come into play. A person in Malaysia or Indonesia may own 2 or 3 houses but each costing $100k or $200k. A Singaporean may own just one HDB flat with a value of $700k. Who is richer? And the picture could change if the person owning 2 or 3 houses actually got them fully paid up or owes the bank a small loan. The Singaporean could be tied to a $500k loan and need a steady income to service that loan. And add to this, the cost of living in the neighbouring county is relatively that much lower than here. A dollar there could buy so much more. Who is richer?

What is Sinking Fund for?

Quek Soo Beng’s letter in the Today paper yesterday asked some pertinent questions about the Sinking Fund and the Town Councils Act and role with respect to the fund. For all intent and purposes, the money collected from the residents in the form of conservancy charges etc and placed in the Sinking Fund is for the purpose of maintaining the estate. It was never meant to be used for investment purposes. Should the Town Council intend to invest the money, the main concerns will be capital preservation and not risking it for higher returns. The provisions of the Town Councils Act may be give the wrong impression that it is expected of them to use the Sinking Fund for investment. This unintended function of the Town Council may lead to situations where the main function of the Sinking Fund be forgotten and with the residents contributing unnecessarily more money to it. When the Town Council sees its role as investing the money collected, then there is no limit as to what is enough in the Sinking Fund. And when there are profits from investments or when the Sinking Fund is bloating with excess, there will be no requirement to return the extra fund to the residents. And for all purposes, the residents may be expected to contribute more and more, for investments and more returns, and for the building up of a bigger reserve. It is therefore very important that the purpose of the Sinking Fund be made very clear, ie., to set aside enough money to maintain the estate. And when the amount is sufficient, then it should stop collecting or increase the conservancy charges. The collecting of conservancy charges is not for fun or for the purpose of keeping for rainy days or for investment. When there is a need for more money for estate management, the fees may be raised accordingly. For expediency and contingency purposes, Town Council may want to set aside a little more as a reserve. This amount too must be spelt out. Otherwise the reserve can be for 20 years or 100 years.

How I wish....

With so many frauds being disclosed, with so many people losing their fortunes, it is sad that the only person they could point the finger at is Madoff. What about all the thieves that have enriched themselves all these years in the financial industry? The auditors, the regulators, the CEOs, etc etc? Are they all innocent? How I wish America is a communist state today. You know what the communists did to the thieves that plundered and stole the people's money? They either decapitated them or shot them in a firing squad. But with a justice system that pays big money to the lawyers to find someone guilty or to defend the thieves and make them innocent, there will be no natural justice but the justice of money and power.

National pride versus national honour

Watching the football match between Vietnam and Thailand was like watching two nations battling for honour and national pride, and not just for money or for personal glory. These are the simple things in countries that are still 'backward' and not ruled by money. The people will do anything to defend the honour of their countries without asking how much is in it for them. There are money involved for sure. But they will not trade national honour for money in such a game. Sometimes for sophisticated and modern countries like ours, we tend to sneer at their simplicity. We may even find it amusing for them to be sweating their guts out just for some national glory but not for the millions which they could demand in view of their talents. These talented players should join the commercial leagues where all the monies are and their talents be duly rewarded. The rich countries will be most willing to pay for their talents to play, to win or lose depending the the bets on the table.

Time to cash out

HDB is building more 2 rm flats for the baby boomers who are hitting the 60s. Nice thought and nice planning. Since the late 60s till the 80s, HDB probably have built flats for a whole generation baby boomers and see them grow, settle down, raised families and now time to retire comfortably into their golden years. The baby boomers were the most successful generation of self starters, stepping out from a time when poverty was the norm. Many are living in bigger HDB flats and private properties. With children having their own families and leaving the roosts, some may want to cash out and live on the gains from their inflated assets. Typically they would have bought their HDB flats for between $20k to $40k and could now sell them for $400k or more. Neat profit. If a 2 rm flat costs $150k, there is still plenty of money to live by, provided they qualify for the purchase if they have not used up their two bites of the cherry. The good news is that there will be many of these bigger flats available for the young to pick up. The bad news is that these young couples did not have the same opportunities as the baby boomers, where the prices of flats were relatively low to their income. The cost of flats to the baby boomers was about 20 or 30 times their monthly salary, on one pay packet. A $400k flat today will be about 400 times that of a $4k monthly income or 200 times that of a $8k combined income. It looks like HDB lives on one cycle, taking care and planning for the baby boomers. The subsequent cycles or new generations will have to take care of themselves. Or maybe they are being taken care off by having better quality flats to suit their sophisticated lifestyles.

2008 is and will be a great year

In 2008 I am pleasantly surprised that I could create more than 200 myths. When I first started on this thread I was doubting myself that I could even write 20 myths. Then 100 went pass and then 200. Now I am even toying with the idea of the 1000 myths of Lion City. The best part of it all is that the most mystifying myths are being debunked as tooths or, now what am I saying, is it the most indestructible truths becoming myths? Anyway, it was mystifying. Everyday we are challenging the conventional wisdom and the great tooths of the day and seeing one by one falling by the way side. But don't be despair, more tooths will be proclaimed and more myths will come or way. It was also a year of great education. The Singaporeans were being educated everyday with each crisis getting more serious and nearer to home. But I bet with you, the Singaporeans have yet to learn a thing. They are still as complacent as before, as silly as before. They would not want to think and would live their thinking to other people. And they have great faith that all will be well if they just see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and do nothing. God will be there to watch over us. And god will be kind and bless us to eternity with good fortunes.

Wishful thinking or wicked intent?

In March this year the official figure given was that Temasek was managing $185b of assets. If these were in equity or equity related assets and stocks, my guesstimate is that it would have lost 50% of its value at least. But the figure will be much better if kept in fixed deposits or less risky assets that are saved from the financial crisis. If the loss is in the 50% region, I said if, the loss must be made up from somewhere. I fear the money in CPF. Would the minimum sum and Medisave be further increased? Would the withdrawal age be further delayed? Would there be new measures to shift the goal posts? There are now more reasons to wish that our investments are intact, that the talented fund managers are doing well to keep them growing or at least not losing. There are more reasons not to change the govt so that the talents and the continuity will help to safeguard our assets and investments, and our future. The CPF is like a sacred cow. It is the people's hard earned money and must rightfully return to the people for their own benefit at the earliest possible time. Definitely not till they are dead or near death. This is simply bad. I have all the time this bad feeling, and I can be totally wrong on this, that there are people with designs on our CPF money. To keep the CPF for as long as possible to enable them a cheap source of fund for their own investment schemes. I hope I am wrong. I hope the real reasons to keep the money for as long as they can is really for the good of the people, in the interests of the owners. But should anyone really have wrongful designs, they must know that the designs are wicked and will do them no good. The first is the intent to 'sapu' money. No one should ever think of it as the CPF money rightly belongs to the people and depriving the people from getting it back is already sinful, if not criminal. Decent and honourable people who believe in not doing evil should never harbour such thoughts. The second intent to use the money for whatever schemes or things, may include thoughts of returning the gains to the people, if there are gains, may have some mitigating factors to lower the ill effects of the first intent. But if it is just to exploit this cheap source of fund with no regards to rewarding the owner of the money, it is unforgiveable. Seeing it in any other way is still a dirty thing to do. Do I sound like preaching or delivering a sermon? The rights and wrongs of such acts and intents are difficult to dispute or wish away. Do not have designs on the people's hard earned money for private interests. If there are, it is better to let the owners know and seek their permission and forgiveness. Do not temper with money that is not yours.

Cox pressured to ban short selling

Christopher Cox complained that he was under intense pressure from Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke to ban short selling in September 2008. Now, why would Paulson and Bernanke deemed it necessary and urgent to ban short selling? Both must have known the dangers of short selling and the damage it could have done. They were key players in short selling before, or at least Paulson must have been, being a fund manager. Many hedge funds blamed the banning of short selling for losing their pants. For it is in short selling that they have an edge against the normal small time investors. When the funds longed a position, it is very difficult to sell at a profit as the small investors will be reluctant to buy high or higher. They too will be waiting to sell. On the contrary, for shorting a stock, it will attract more investors to buy as the stock becomes cheaper. The trick by the hedge funds is to sell and push the price even lower to force out the long positions. And the funds don't sell in the thousands, they sold in millions to drive down a stock price. Short term investors will run for their lives as they cannot hold and will cut their positions. Long term investors too will liquidate for fear of something really wrong with the company. Those who pledged their shares will have their positions forced out by the banks. So will margin traders. It is a vicious cycle and the stock will keep going down with increasing momentum. That's when the hedge funds make their money by buying back at rock bottom prices. It is a very destructive method of trading stocks to make money. It destroy stocks, companies and stock exchanges and of course the investors. Trust me, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke knew what they were doing. Cox is just another cock that could not see the danger of his inaction. And there are many cocks like him around.

A niche stock market?

The world is increasingly interconnected with businesses and money flow all intertwined in a complex web. The pulling of one string will affect every corner of the web. Talking about a niche market maybe a nonsensical whim and fancy proposition. It is better to be like everyone, be everything, and be part of a big web. But being in a niche market in the midst of a bigger complexity is nothing new. Every small biz is trying to differentiate itself, to find their own niche. Can our stock market differentiate itself and find its own niche instead of being a little flotsam that drifts with the tide and taking directions from everyone? In recent years our stock market has been a non player for all its worth. It is lost in an ocean that is too big for its own good. Now is the time to reflect and seek a new direction as to its role and reason for its existence. Forget about being everything or like everyone else. Carve out its own niche and find a path for its own existence. The interdependency is there. The world's economy will affect everyone and us. The money flow will still affect the tide. Here calls for the exceptional talents of supertalents to be different, just like being a safe haven for funds to be parked here. We need a stock market that can shield itself from the tsunamis, be resilient and stay afloat for its own reasons. Small can still be beautiful and useful in its own ways. We can select our own stocks, dictate our own rules, play a game that is designed for our own good, or be lost and perished in the ocean that we have no control. Under the present crisis, the funds managers must be looking for exactly such a market for safety. Unfortunately there is none around. If our stock market is seen as a safe haven, we would have provided the funds a way to safety in trouble times.

Star gazing at the Pinnacles

Come next year there will be a big announcement that all the units at the Pinnacles Duxton have been snapped up at the new market price. This will vindicate that the pricing is correct, that there is real demand for such units even at higher prices. And there will be interviews with the happy and successful proud owners for being so lucky to own them. More such flats will be built in the future to cater for the growing demands, at market prices of course.

Singaporeans could be a happier lot

Yes, with so much wealth, a disneyland like environment, Singaporeans could all be much happier, more contented if there are less criticism and cynicism of the ways things are. If only Singaporeans just count on their blessings and be happy with what they are and do what they are supposed to do, this will be the dreamland of happy people. The people who are supposed to sweep the floor or wipe the tables, be happy doing it. The workers work and do their best, the food courts serve their best dishes, the businesses do their roaring businesses and the let the politicians run the country as they are supposed to. How nice things can be. The fault lies with all the critics and cynics. They should stop all the gripes and kpkb. Let all and one perform their fated roles in life and all will be fine. There is really no big problems here. Everyone has a job, a roof over their head, clothing and enough food to eat. It is a real paradise. Just look at the beautiful parts of everything around us. The future can only be more beautiful.

Incest in Wall Street

Was Wall Street a victim of incestuous relationship? All the evidences pointed towards that direction. The regulators not doing their job to regulate, the auditors slept on their job or not doing their due diligence and got away with murder, and the con men allowed to con their way through, duping all the Americans, including foreigners, rich and poor. And they did what they did for years. In the meantime everyone was celebrating the greatness and genius of these supertalents. This is the other part, other than incestuous relationship, the state of delusion. The madness of idolizing the big earners who were cheating all the way by paying themselves crazy was seen as good, all worthy of their huge pay packets and demanding more everyday to justify their worth. The combination of incestuous relationship and delusion is a potent concoction. The former prevented the checks to be conducted expeditiously by the people tasked with the jobs, the watchdogs afraid to bark for fear of being muffed, and the law enforcers turned a blind eye thinking that supertalents cannot be wrong. And every year end would be time for their big bonus handouts, everyone laughing all the way to the banks. And despite the fraud being exposed, they are still laughing all the way to the banks. The delusion is still unshaken. The same formula of success is still intact. The supertalents will still be paid their supertalent salaries and bonuses. And in the New Paper SEC's CEO Christopher Cox regretted for banning the short selling of financial stocks which he might think would have saved the market from falling. His position, a very familiar one, was to do nothing. "What we have done in this current turmoil is stay calm, which has been our greatest contribution - not being impulsive, not changing the rules willy nilly, but going through a very professional and orderly process that takes into account unintended consequences and gives ample notice to market participants." This kind of non action is only good when the system is sound and not flawed. When it is flawed, when there is non regulation or closed one eye regulation, when there are frauds, it is the surest and shortest cut to destruction. And exactly because of his non action that Madoff could pull off his con job for so long. The kind of mess that minibond would have caused, and more serious if not abruptly exposed, to our investors. It will happen to our stock market and financial system too if we do not repair the damage to the system and pretend that everything is fine and do just nothing, like Cock. Oops I mean Cox.

The ridiculous nature of cyberspace

It is so ridiculous that cyberspace has now been use to its best to ridicule officialdom. Any dignitary, thoroughbred, infallible or otherwise supreme talent that once was sharing sermons of wisdom is now the convenient target of ridicules if he/she reveals his/her true self too often. The weapon of ridicule is perhaps the most power weapon available at this point in time to netizens. I think netizens know that there is nothing that they can do to engage in a real discussion with officialdom. They know that they will be ignored for good reasons. So, at best, they will make a silly statement looks even more silly than it really was. But would it matter? I think no. Officialdom lives in another world and there is no engagement. The hardcore netizens swear that they will not read the old media or main stream media. Likewise officialdom will not waste time in cyberspace to read the ridiculous postings. Officialdom will simply say what they want to say in the old media and that's it. It is official. When shall the Twains meet? Or will ever the Twains shall meet? Actually I got this feeling that they met but pretended not to meet. And cyberspace will remain as ridiculous as it can get while the old media will remain as official as it can get.

Investing $billions or $millions

The key questions in everyone's mind today is risk in investment. How much risk to take and capital protection. Would the investment lead to a total wipe out of the capital put in. In the minibond case, many were looking at long term bond or fixed deposit equivalent that have very little risk of losing their capital. They are looking for a little better than the pathetic interest rates for fixed deposits with minimal risk or no risk at all. Then in the case of Madoff's ponzi scheme, many of the investors went in for a consistent and respectable return for their money on the track records of Madoff's company and Madoff's reputation. A lot of assumptions were taken for granted eg SEC regulations, audit checks were expected to be in order and no fraud was expected. There were risks but none of the investors would have considered them or have sleepless night over them. They could lose some money if the investment climate changed but neither would they ever thought of losing it all. Then again investing in an institution like Madoff's and in a normal situation would be like walking into a bank to buy unit trust, a long term investment that could not go too much wrong. When a financial crisis is brewing, when a major financial institution is in financial trouble, or any big corporations in need of fund to survive, the need for due diligence is much heightened. Putting money into a crisis organisation is like putting in good money after bad money. How bad is the situation and how high is the risk must be the major considerations before committing millions or billions into it. And when millions and billions are concerned, capital protection must be vital. This is not placing bets in a casino where one is prepared to lose the whole bet. This is investment, investing huge sums of money with calculated risks and knowing how much to lose. Going into such high risk investments in a risky situation is different from investing in a Madoff fund or even a minibond equivalent. Here the risk is very high and very real, an organisation about to turn turtle. People cannot go into such critical investments using huge sums of money without protecting their investments and risk losing everything. We have pumped billions of public money into distressed banks and financial institutions recently. Were the risks carefully evaluated and the capital protected by some conditions or agreements without having to lose all or a major part of it? Or were the people deciding on these investments prepared to lose everything without protecting the capital? We are losing a lot of money, public money, and some bets could end up losing everything. High risk high return is as good as gambling in the casino. Investing is not about losing but managing loss and maximising returns. If losing everything is not a factor in the decision making, then it is a highly dangerous adventure. Maybe the risk of losing is computed from the total sum of funds under management. If one is managing $100 billion, taking a calculated risk to lose $10 billion in a single investment is risking 10% of the whole and acceptable. This may be what some fund managers would think. But think again. If the funds are public money, and the 10% is in the billions, it is not a peanut monopoly game. It is risking real money, substantial amount of money. I believe all the supertalents who are paid supertalent salaries must have weighed all these factors carefully before they made the decisions. They are paid good money and are expected to do their due diligence.

Redbean suspended from TOC!!!

I just try to visit TOC and this message greeted me. This account has been suspended. My goodness! What have I done to be suspended from TOC? I hope this is a technical error. My mind is running wild with all kinds of possibilities. TOC may want to explain to me quickly.

Trying times, trying A Team

The last one and the half years are trying times and have put the A Team to its test. Did they come out with flying colours? From the comments and discussions and criticisms in cyberspace, they don't seem to have done well. In contrast, the old media would probably run accolades across their pages if they were to write about the great achievements of the a Team. From the moment the news broke on the elitist and uncaring face, the NKF, Mas Selamat, CPF Life, Medisave, HDB market pricing, ERPs and public transport fares, electricity tariffs, GST, investment of reserves, minibonds etc etc, the solutions or the way they were handled fell far short, very short, of the expectations of what an A Team can do. Some may disagree and still have great faith in the A Team and would think that these are the best we got and the best were done. For those who expect better, they may want to look for a better A Team, one that pays $10 mil each instead of the present paltry sum of $2m to $4m. We should be looking for rocket scientists, the best legal minds from Yale, the best economic minds from Harvard or whatever to become politicians. We can pay for them. After all we have paid so much just for a few pieces of medals from the sports arena. The money will be well spent for a better A Team to run the country. Unfortunately my reservation is that God has his own plans. God does not endowed an Einstein to be a great scientist to become a politician. Making an Einstein a politician will make the human race lose a great scientist and gain a mediocre politician but paid a great scientist income. It also goes for a Bill Gate. We would not have MicroSoft but a very average politician who will be very unhappy that he did not make his multi billion income and scheming everyday to make a few millions more. A rocket scientist or the brightest mind in any profession is not a sure formula for a great national leader. You need one with a heart in the right place. There may be some freaks in history that are great in the profession as well as in leading a nation. But freaks don't appear often. One swallow does not make a summer. Is the A Team formula a right formula?

Support Raymond Lim's idea of free transport

After reading the discussion in TOC, I am also convinced that we should support Raymond Lim's idea of a 1.5% GST increase and free transport for all Singaporeans. And if we continue to charge the same price for PRs and non foreigners, maybe no need 1.5% increase, 1% maybe good enough. Let's all support this brilliant suggestion. Assuming if a household's expenditure is $4k, 1.5% will be $60 pm. A family of 4 will probably save $200 or more a month with free public transport. OK, no deterioration in service must be a pre condition. A family spending $2k pm will only add another $30 pm. And everyone can travel freely all over the island any time of the day and year. It will be good socially and for all businesses. The rich who spend big sure won't mind paying a little more. Or they can take some back by taking public transport and park their cars at home. Good for reducing traffic jams too. Give the man a Tiger, man!

Junk stocks

Goh Eng Yeow wrote in the ST yesterday about the deplorable stock market, a stock market of penny stocks or worthless stocks. A stick of cigarette costs many times more than many of the stocks which are selling for less than 30c, some even less than 5c. Worst, companies dare not list here for they know that there will be very few subscribers. Imagine a stock market when companies are finding it difficult to raise money? And some are still sitting in their ivory towers thinking that we have the best stock market in the world and trading activities are still very good. We need a thorough revamp to save this stockmarket before the karang guni men move in to pick up the leftovers. Many stock exchanges have enforced a ban on short sellings which wiped off the hedge funds and their destructive activities against stocks. We are still merrily sleeping and wining with the hedge funds and allowing them to do their damages to the stocks. In the mean time our stocks will remain as penny stocks. Any up movement is just a respite, like the fattening of the lambs for the slaughter.

Losses in CPF Investment

Half of CPF members who invested in stocks and other financial products lost money. And those who have liquidated their shares lost less while those that are still holding onto them stand to lose more as the future of stocks and shares are bleak. How could that be? Statistically, historically, based on past records, anyone who invests in stocks for 25 years will see his returns doubled or tripled. These CPF investors should take a long term view, maybe keep their money invested for another 20 or 30 years. After all they are all going to live till 85 or 100. So stay invested and the losses will turn into profits in a matter of time. Just be a believer and all things will be fine. In the meantime just keep your fingers crossed and pray.

Myth 203 - Transport fare is linked to oil prices

This myth is destroyed for good. There is a link, but indirectly, to oil price. According to Transport Minister Raymond Lim, "This is because the public transport fare is not directly linked to the oil prices. We link it to national factors, like the inflation level in Singapore, and the wage level in the whole of Singapore." So be careful when your wage level goes up. It will only cause transport fare to go up. Maybe another kind of market pricing like HDB, not related to cost of producing the goods or services.

No need foreign talent!

Then we have Mardan Mamat. Now we have Lam Chih Beng. Chih Beng won the Volvo Masters in Bangkok. These are our local talent heroes. Shall we continue to spend millions on foreign talents or use the same money to groom our own local talents?

Upgrading your citizenship

Singaporeans are feeling that the value of their citizenships has been violated. For the more sophisticated international citizens, they are constantly upgrading their citizenships to a better one. From a third world citizenship, the first stepping stone is to go for one that is easy and fast to get. This is the citizenship from paradise. The paradise citizenship is a passport to many better countries. A few years in paradise, plus working experience, and maybe upgrading the educational qualifications as well, these new citizens will be ready for their next upgrade, likely to Australia. And they will keep on upgrading, to UK and finally to US. This is the prized citizenship. Once they have attained this high level of citizenship, they can than ship around the world as the privilege citizens of the world’s superpower. They will call themselves Americans and may revisit their roots, their country of origins, as the successful entrepreneurs coming home. Or they may return to paradise as PRs while keeping their American citizenship for protection.

Jokers in Macpherson

Why would the residents of Macpherson asked for free public transport, free travel in MRT and buses! What kind of mindset is that? It shouldn't be asked at all. And Raymond Lim was right to tell them off. Running the trains and buses cost money. If free, then money must come from somewhere to pay for it. The people must be sensible when asking for help. Better not to actually if they have a choice. Any money given to help must be taken from somewhere. When someone is being helped, someone else has to pay for it. The $200b reserves cannot be used for charities unless the situation is so bad. No one can anyhow spend the reserves to help the people.

The devil and Bernard Madoff

By Spengler Now that the whole horrible truth has come to light, I have no more reason to conceal my true identity. I am Bernard Madoff. Well, not really. But I wish I were. Few Americans have done more to punish stupidity, pretension and complacency than Madoff, whose apparent US$50 billion swindle calls to mind the caper by Mephistopheles in the second part of Goethe's Faust. The fictional devil persuaded the emperor to issue paper money against buried treasured yet to be discovered.... Most gratifying is the fleecing of the rich and famous - director Steven Spielberg, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, and even actress Uma Thurman's financier boyfriend Arpad Busson got stung, along with a list of supposedly savvy investment firms. The man deserves a medal. Deplorable, to be sure, is the ruin of hundreds of families who entrusted Madoff with their life savings, not to mention charities and school endowments. Call them collateral damage.... The very rich believe what F Scott Fitzgerald said about them, that "the very rich are different from you and me". Serried ranks of lawyers, accountants and financial advisors surround them and keep them from harm. Madoff proved otherwise, making a few of them into paupers and humiliating a very large number of them. Not because of what they do, but because of who they are, the very wealthy consider themselves above the fate of ordinary people. They know the right people, they join the right clubs, and they have access to the right advice.... Madoff has given Americans a lesson in humility that is cheap and painless by comparison. America's elite - the people characterized as "one-trick wizards" who lived off leverage (see Obama's one-trick wizards, Asia Times Online, November 25, 2008) - turn up as a self-satisfied, feckless gang of incompetents who could not spot the wolf within their own sheepfold.... If that sounds deluded, what shall we say about hedge-fund investing for the masses, who believed that American home prices would double every 10 years, as the National Association of Realtors continues to claim in television advertisements? Perhaps they should call themselves Sur-realtors. Madoff offered small change compared to Mom and Pop America, who put 10% down on a home that appreciated 10% each year, for an annualized return on capital of 100%. I copied the above from SingaporeKopitiam and have deleted parts that were irrelevants. The leftovers are pertinent points that we cannot afford not to know before another MadeOff happens here.

Who is the devil?

Singapore-in-crisis The new heroes In these times, it is not the elites that that deserve mass public accolade - but the simple food hawker who keeps his fare down. A tribute to them from Seah Chiang Nee. Dec 20, 2008 IN TODAY’S crisis, what group of people do Singaporeans most likely accept as their regular heroes – politicians, company CEOs or bankers? Answer: None of the above! I believe it is the simple food hawkers who keep their prices low in adverse conditions, something that exerts a major, repeated impact on every family. Let me explain my choice. Recently, I was attracted by a queue in front of a suburban hawker stall that was selling breakfast at a price I thought had long been extinct in Singapore. An overhead sign reads “Economic Beehoon (rice vermicelli) @ S$1.60”, a simple, nutritious dish that included a fair portion of vegetable and an egg. During these harsh times, with the cost of living at a 26-year high, vendors who sell food at this price are few and far between. They have become Singapore’s new unsung heroes... The above is part of an article posted in www.littlespeck.com by Seah Chiang Nee. When the hawkers can think of holding down their prices at times like this, mind you, they are talking about saving a few cents, taking a little lesser from the people, how would this compare to the $180K price hike of Pinnacles Duxton by HDB? And HDB said it is fair, the fairest! And many Singaporeans agree that what HDB is doing is fair. Unbeliever, but that is how these Singaporeans believe in. The only reason for people to think like this, is that they must be benefitting from the inflated prices in some way. Just ask a simple question. Who is the main cost of high inflation and high cost of living?

Take a break

Sunday is a good time to take a break. God also takes his break on Sunday. Take the family to church or welcome all the children and grandchildren home for a family lunch. Go to the beach, to the parks, read a book or indulge in a little hobby of doing something just for the loveof it, for a little pleasure, not for money. Allowing oneself to unwind, to be free from the mundane and repetitive daily chores and struggling, it is the same everywhere, in a 800 sq ft HDB flat or in a 30,000 sq ft sprawling bungalow. It is a little moment of release from the material world. Looking at the sky without purpose, looking at the trees or the birds, sharing the sight and creation of nature. Won't it be nice if Sunday is everyday? Far from the maddening crowd? Leaving all the pursuits of material comfort to the following week when the mind is put to the gruelling threadmill of making more money, of surviving. How many people can take a simple break like a quiet Sunday, free from worries, free from the problems of this materialistic world? You be surprised that many are still caught in their own mess, unable to untangle themselves from the financial woes they have stepped into. And many are worrying themselves to death. Freeing oneself from worries seems so easy, so effortless. But not really. Our lives are not really ours to take charge. Other people are planning our lives everyday of the week, how we live, how much we have, and how much to take from us, especially our savings. In the end, many ends up with very little for themselves and have to spend their Sundays worrying how to make ends meet. And the best part is that all the hustlings to take your money away, or to make you spend or empty your pocket is for your own good. The old saying, if you have friends like this, you do not need any enemy. Has anyone ever wonder whether the people who are claiming to be helping them, who are doing all the things for their good, are the people who are killing them, slowly, like hanging heavier and heavier millstones on the people's necks? Give the people a break.