Downgrading the quality of living

Without any hassle or hullabaloo, Singaporeans are downgrading their quality of living and paying more for it. In my personal view, a family of 4 hardlanders, their lives are not much to talk about anyway, but they should deserve a living space of at least 1000 sq ft or 90 sq m. They are human beans too. But this is subjective. Some may think that 600 sq ft should do the trick and some may be more generous and think 1500 sq ft should be more decent. It all depends on what one would consider decent and comfortable. I think going anywhere lesser than $1000 sq ft is going down to living like dogs in a kennel. We are human beans and we need some decent space to live reasonably comfortably. I would suggest that the govt should use this as a guideline in their estate planning and as a yardstick for decent living. And not to forget, the people should not have to strife a life time to pay for such a small space. Yes we have limited space. So don't crowd it by bringing in more foreigners, aspiring a 6m or 8m population. A family of 4 in less than 1000 sq ft is bad. Anyone who thinks that it is good should be prepared to live in one. Please don't use Tokyo or Hongkong as a reference point. They are bad examples. And please don't use Africa to say how lucky we are. We need to live better and in bigger and better space, not in smaller and more expensive space. Call it the people's dream, or aspiration. Does the govt share the people's dream?

GIC profit - another version, another truth

Thursday, September 24, 2009 Who is responsible for GIC's profit? (A tale of 2 news paper report.) Who is responsible for saving GIC's hide? Lee Kuan Yew and his team of fund managers or Barrack Obama and his team of advisers? If the US govt decided not to approach GIC to convert to common stock in Feb, do you think they would have recouped their losses and managed a profit? Their original conversion price was $26.35 not the $3.25 they received in Feb. The Straits Times is bragging that GIC had the foresight to invest in banks that were too big to fail. That is very dangerous- betting on what the Federal government decided to do instead of market and company fundamentals. GIC was lucky this time. But what about UBS? Is it making a profit? GIC should thank their lucky stars that Lehman collapsed before Citi. The sudden collapse of Lehman made the Federal govt realise that they had to intervene and bailout the banks.... The above was copied from an article posted in http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/. It presented another version of the truth.

China's spokesman said...

China will never let Singapore draw away Chinese gamblers to the island. China's spokesman Steve Wynn said this when addressing the press on his IPO listing in Hongkong. Below is the detail of the AFP report. Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Wynn: China & Macau Govt Will Never Let Spore Draw Away Chinese Gamblers AFP HONG KONG — Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn said Wednesday that China has relaxed travel curbs for Guangdong residents visiting Macau, giving a boost to the Hong Kong listing of his casino group next month. "It is a macro-economic consideration by the central government," he told a press conference. Asked if he was concerned that Singapore, which will see its first casino project open by end of this year, will draw Chinese gamblers away from Macau, Wynn said it was unlikely. "Will the government of Macau and the government of China let it happen? I don't think so."

Obama's speech in UN on corporate excesses

This is the gist of what Obama said at the UN on corporate excesses, cheats and corruptions in high places. 'And that means setting new rules of the road and strengthening regulation for all financial centres, so that we put an end to the greed, excess and abuse that led us into disaster, and prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.' We have been copying corporate America like a little twin. Would we continue to copy America and start to tighten our regulations, or we are in such a comfortable position that we can sail along as it is? Maybe we can. We don't have that kind of excesses and corruption in the scale of corporate America. We don't have bankers paying themselves hundreds of millions. We don't have banks and insurance companies going down. We don't have a housing crisis. I think we are doing very well. Carry on.

GIC proven critics wrong

Splashing across the front pages of our major newspapers is the news that GIC has made $2.3b profit after selling half of its stakes in Citigroup. And it is sitting on a similar profit on paper, maintaining its 5% share in the bank. 'GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song said the "good outcome" was down to judgement calls which "turned out to be right".' Other anaylsts are also showering praises on how GIC managed to turned around and '...getting out of jail free.' All the critics who disparaged GIC and Temasek for buying high and selling low will now have to eat their own words. They have been proven wrong. The strategy and investment decisions of GIC and Temasek were well conceived and right from the beginning. And with more profits coming in, it is time to make more investment decisions.

Whose view matters?

The govt, or Mah Bow Tan said in Parliament that HDB flats are affordable. HDB also said so and explained why they are affordable. The Straits Times went one step further with its reporters making in depth analysis and reports on why HDB flats are affordable. And in today's Editorial, it again confirmed that they are affordable, and those who insist that they are not affordable have only themselves to blame. They are unyielding, selfish, suffered from an odd mentality that new towns are 'ulu', insensible, obstinates and quirks. On the other side of the fence the voice of unhappiness and grief is getting louder. And there is now a petition by the unhappy, insensible, obstinates and quirks calling for signatures to support their perceived grievances. The petition now has more than 900 signatures. The HDB flats being affordable side is obviously right according to their logics and reasons. And they are getting very annoyed by these unreasonable demands of the people. Are the unhappy voices unreasonable and illogical? Officially it is. So, no matter how many signatures were collected, their cause is a lost cause. Their views, their interest, their unhappiness are not important. They don't matter.

Petition on high HDB prices

There is an online petition seeking support and signatures at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/lower-hdb-valuations-or-build-more-affordable-hdb-housing-for-singaporeans More than 850 signatures have been collected over the last few days.

So many complaints about high HDB prices!

It is so pathetic, so ridiculous, for Singaporeans to be complaining about high HDB prices. They cost only a few hundred thousands, so cheap, so affordable. Why are Singaporeans making so much noise for cheap quality housing? I just visited The Sail over the weekend. A unit with the equivalent floor area of a 5rm flat is asking for $3m to $4m. And all sold out. What is a few hundred thousands by the way? Singaporeans should know the real market prices of quality housing and be grateful that they are getting HDB flats at such affordable prices. Incidentally when I was there, there was hardly any hardup Singaporeans in sight. Oh my host was one of the rare Singaporean specie that could afford to buy a unit there. Be grateful huh.

Ah Mah and Ah Kong's Singlish

How many of you have been entertained by the Singlish of Ah Mah and Ah Kong? It is hilarious if one is kind, difficult and irritating for the less tolerant, and outright outrageous and stupid for the Anglophiles. For the latter, Ah Mah and Ah Kong are simply idiotic, can't speak simple English. They should be kept away from the polished crowd of sophistication and well cultured WOGs. How much different is Ris Low from Ah Kong and Ah Mah? I am waiting to read more letters to attack Ris Low for her poor command of the English Language. Let the campaign continues to drive Ris Low into hiding. Make her feel ashame, huh? We are the sikit atas Singaporeans. We spaek good Inglish. If you cannot spaek good Inglish, stay away from us. I shall use my control of the blog/forum to attack such poor Inglish speakers.

Notable quotes by Teo Chee Hian

'Religion is a force for good, and it's important that it does not become exclusive and that it reaches out to other groups and communities to build strong social cohesion.' Teo Chee Hian I also say the same truth everyday. So do many believers, that religion is good. This is the conventional truth, a populist belief that ignores the empirical and historical evidences of how evil and destructive religion was, is and can be. Anyone who thinks that religion is all goodness, please read the content of the scriptures and at historical records on what religion actually did to the non believers and also to their believers. Heard of the Inquisition and the role of religion in the conquest of the world of savages? The truth is ugly and it is better not to tell the truth.

Top brands offering subsidies

Pravda, Blurberry, Lois Vittoon, Armaine are selling so well that they could sell their products at any price. The market demand is so good that using market pricing mechanism will mean astronomical profits. The higher they priced their products the greater will be the demand. As a goodwill gesture to reward their unthinking and faithful followers, they are going to sell their products at a discount. But discount is a bad word. So they are going to adopt a different promotion strategy. They cannot sell their products at lower prices of course. It will affect the value of their products the buyers will feel like suckers. So they are going to call it 'subsidy'. For one month only, all their products will be sold at subsidised prices. The huge price tag will remain, or inflated higher, to give their customers a feeling that they are getting more subsidies. This promotion is only available in paradise island.

A $10 million solution

The govt is spending $10m to integrate new citizens and PRs into our system. With such an expensive approach to solving this problem it is only a matter of time before the newcomers find themselves being embraced by the locals. And if $10m is not enough to resolve the issue, maybe another $20m or $30m should do the trick. For the govt to spend so much money on an apparently non issue is puzzling. Or is there genuine problem in the integration of the newcomers? Or the locals are not accepting them or the newcomers not making any effort to integrate with the locals? I don't think the govt of the past bothered or spent a cent more to integrate the early migrants when they arrived. Everyone would have to find their way to survive and live with the locals or early arrivals. There was this natural tendency to live and let live, to adapt and accommodate each other with the least resistance. And those migrants were mostly poor and illiterate. Maybe poor and illiterate are easier to please. Today the migrants were talents, well educated and highly praised. Would these be the source of their problems in adapting and integrating with the lesser talented locals? Or maybe the locals could not meet the expectations of the new talents or feel inferior to them. So, how should the money be used to get the two to be nice to one another? Give treats to the new to make them less snobbish and be kinder to their less able locals? Or to give to the locals to be nice to the new migrants? For the latter, maybe a reward system will expedite the mixing of the two groups. $100 for making a new friend of a new citizen. $1000 for 10. And an award of $10k for the most friendly local who have made the most new friends among the new citizens. Can we really expect people to make love with each other overnight just because the govt says so? We are having so many foreigners in our midst and the novelty of meeting people from other countries is turning into an irritation to some and a pain to others. A few at a time may not present any problem and the locals may go all out to make them welcomed, out of curiosity and being helpful. When the newcomers come in hoards and become almost a nightmare, everywhere, the feeling is indifferent and uncomfortable. And if the newcomers are overbearing or demanding, they can only expect the locals to reciprocate, not necessary violence, but keeping a cold distance. It is not uncommon for the locals to feel that they are being invaded by aliens in the trains or buses. And the aloofness or unfamiliar characteristics or traits of newcomers may rub the wrong way. I think more money will definitely help to resolve this problem.

HDB's version of subsidy, affordability and fair prices

Today's Sunday Times has a little article to explain how HDB determines the prices of flats and I believe this must be HDB's version. I quote, "A new flat's equivalent market price is first determined by looking at the recent transacted prices of resale units nearby. Adjustments are then made to account for factors like location, finishes of the flat and other attributes The price reflects the flat's value at the point of purchase and is what people are willing to pay on the open market for such a unit. The HDB then sells it at a significant discount, which is the subsidy given by the govt. The HDB sells flats base on market price instead of cost as this is the fairest way of pricing new flats. A market base pricing approach ensures that all groups of buyers enjoy similar discounts to the market and would be fair to those who are buying other HDB flats today...." There you have it, the definition of fairness, subsidy and market pricing are all there. And this is not only the HDB's definition, it is also the current govt's definition. They have meticulously come to these definitions as the fairest and best for the citizens. Like it or not, agree with it or not, you just have to accept it. I wonder if they ever consider that the high prices of resale flats is also contributed by some who got a windfall from enbloc sales, by foreigners and by some who are urgently in need of a flat? Would any other worthy political party offer another set of definitions as their party's stand to challenge these definitions in the next election? Any change to the present definitions must only come from an alternative party. So far the alternative parties are not offering anything on this as far as I know of. The people just have to live with the govt they voted in and accept what the govt considers as the best it can offer. The sad thing is that we don't have a worthy alternative party with a clear set of party manifesto to offer to the people, yet. Or a group of passionate leaders with fire in their belly to contest the election to serve the people's best interests that is different from the current govt.

The Bizarre Behaviour of Singaporeans - V2.1

The Bizarre Behaviour of Singaporeans - observations made by a German national who has lived in Singapore for 9 years. This same article which I posted on 11 Aug 09 in this blog is now posted in Tan Kin Lian's blog and attributed to a German national who has lived here for 9 years. I tried to insert a comment in Kin Lian's blog but it was not shown. Anyway, Kin Lian, if you are reading this, you may want to correct the slight error. Cheers. PS. I am Singaporean and not German.

The assassination of Ris Low

It started of as a guise, projected as good humour and clean fun to poke at the way Ris Low, the newly crowned Miss Singapore World, speaks English. It was so innocent and with good intention, that Ris Low should speak good English or else.... Now part of the deception is off. The campaign to assassinate her continues. The ST reported that 40 letters were received on Ris Low's poor command of English and wow, 11 writers were quoted. I am now wondering how many letters were written to ST on the high cost of property prices. But 40 letters must be a big sampling of the voices to support the case Ris Low is not fit to represent Singapore. On face value this is a lot when all national issues probably got a handful of letters. But of course no such statistics were given except for this case. ST is just doing its objective role of reporting the groundswell. Who is mastermind behind this character assassination? What is his true intent or identity? Is speaking good English a criteria in this beauty contest? If it is, then this requirement must be stated clearly from the start and contestants must be interviewed to screen them out of the race. Obviously not. If I can remember, contestants from non English speaking countries can choose to have a translator. Ris Low can ask for a translator and speak in Mandarin or dialect or Singlish and get it translated. Why not when Japanese, Spanish, or whatever contestants can do so? Anyway, what's so big deal about a beauty contest when the contestants won by default as the true beauty of a nation will never stand out to be chosen? It is just a little fun and fancy contest. And I agree with what Woffles Wu said as quoted in ST. Go for it Ris Low. Be yourself and not what the pretenders expect you to be. The way you speak is what you are. And if you want to speak the best you can, choose the medium that you are comfortable with and not be forced to use a foreign tongue. I hope the nasties will not continue with the attack and go after her schools, teachers and her families. The vibes are disgusting. Hiding behind the veil of good intention to destroy another person is low down behavior. Will the mastermind behind this saga owns up?

Temasek's Report card briefing

Loh Chee Kong's front page report(Today paper) on the Temasek briefing highlighted one pertinent point. Temasek's investment is for the long term, for the long long term, and it should be judged on the long long term. How I wish Temasek can park a few million with me for long term investment. The other point is Temasek's defence on not fully disclosing its financial position to avoid exposing itself to its competitors. So, how much of the numbers are real if there is this 'hidden element' in its report? Is the total sum disclosed as under Temasek's management, all $172b, the true amount or the full sum? How much is Temasek really managing since the truth cannot be disclosed? I also read Alvin Foo's report in the ST. It pointed that the worst drop in value in Temasek's holding was contributed by the 10 largest Singapore listed companies. This amount was $30b out of the $55b decline. This was huge compared to the $18b lost due to the top 10 foreign listed companies. My suggestion is for Temasek not to invest in local companies as the risk is so high. Sell off its local assets, like selling off the power stations and invest in foreign assets which are statistically safer and the loss would be smaller.

A big challenge today!

Malaysia has staked its claim on 5 popular dishes as Malaysia' national dishes. These include Nasi Lemak, Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh, Chilly Crab and Laksa. It was like the British claiming that they founded Singapore. Ok, now that the heat is on, let me claim something for Singapore before they are claimed by other countries. I hereby stake these claims, and without exceptions, unconditionally, that these are our national dishes: 1. Mee Goreng 2. Mee Rebus 3. One Ton Mee 4. Roti John 5. Rojak 6. Satay And for deserts, 1. Chendol 2. Bo Bo Cha Cha 3. Ice Kacang And for drinks, 1. Teh Tarik 2. Teh O 3. Kopi O 4. Kopi C 5. Ice Kosong Oh, maybe I shall defer Teh Tarik to Malaysia since they have experimented it in space and made it world famous. I was thinking of adding Bubble Tea but Li Ao will call us stupid again. And how can I forget Mee Siam. This must be truly Singaporean. No one would dare to challenge this unique dish of ours. I will find some time to write a piece and submit it to Wikipedia to make it official. Now, what is so challenging about this challenge of the day? I am hoping that someone will make a more hilarious claim than mine. My only concern is that this may trigger a diplomatic spat.

Calibrating benefits for citizens

It may be a bit late but better than never. Vivian is taking the cue from Hsien Loong and will be looking at the benefits that citizens should have over non citizens. And yes, membership will have its privileges. And all the ministries and stat boards will also be looking into it to make citizens feel worthy of being citizens, recognition of their responsibilities and sacrifices. Who says kpkb in cyberspace has no use and the govt will not listen? The voices in cyberspace will only grow louder if they are ignored. Any govt that believes in serving the people cannot ignore the voices in cyberspace and just listen to their own contraptions and feedbacks. Like it or not, the noise in cyberspace is real, though at times unpleasant to the ears. We are hurt! Oops, I mean heard!

Boon Wan blogging in MOH blog

This looks like for real. Now we have a real minister blogging to share and exchange views in cyberspace. According to the report, Boon Wan is going to blog regularly, not blogging just for show. Given his busy commitment, it will be quite demanding on him to reply to the issues that will pop up in the MOH blog. I think he will cope. The cyberspace, blogging etc is the most effective means of communicating with the masses and vice versa. And handling it well, it can achieve a lot of goodness and goodwill. Goodbye to snail mail and writing to the media forum and hoping it will be printed. The main medium does not have the space to provide a meaningful two way communication which is something cyberspace is best designed for. Look at the number of letters on HDB prices that are filtering out into the main media forum and you can extrapolate how many have written in but unable to see the light. Welcome to cyberspace, Boon Wan.

Obama fighting sophisticated thieves

When the thieves landed in Wall Streets, the regulators and administrators were awed by their sophistication, confidence and rich manners. They promised to generate a lot of businesses and wealth for all, including the regulators and administrators of course, if they were allowed to do what they wanted to do, freely. In other words, deregulations or little regulations, and a free hand to write their own rules of the game, print their own money or worthless papers to be sold for hard cash, and also write their own pay checks. This went on and on until the Lehman and subprime crisis. And all is history. But history is repeating itself. The same game is being played again. The thieves are loading themselves with huge sums of money. When they piled themselves with all those ill gotten gains, someone must pay for it. The money must come from somewhere. Obama is not going to be duped by these thieves like those bright eyed and eager beavers in Wall Street. And he has no reason not to stop them as he and his team are new and their palms were not greased by the thieves. So you can expect Obama and his team to come down hard on these thieves. And you can expect the thieves, their lobbyists and those regulators and administrators in their pockets, including congressmen and senators, to be stand up against whatever regulations and control that Obama may want to impose. When the regulators and administrators are on the side of the thieves, nothing will change. The robbing of the ignorant masses will continue and the thieves will get richer and more blatant in their acts. No regulations is good for them. No one is learning the lesson. No one.

Only two letters in the papers!

Two letters, one by See Leong Kit and another by David Soh Poh Huat, were harping about the high cost of HDB flats. If there are so many flat buyers in the island and only two bothered to write to the media, then it is concrete proof that it is not a problem. The minister and HDB are right. HDB prices are affordable and the people are happily buying them. See Leong Kit raised the issue of the real causes of high HDB prices which nobody wants to know or talk about. High profitability, market pricing and unrevealed cost and what else? David Soh quoted a case about why people could not afford to pay high COV. But this is only one odd incident. Not counted. The minister and HDB are right. People can go flat shopping for the best deal. No question about it. And if they cannot afford a 3 rm, go for 2 rm. If still cannot afford, go for rental. See, no real problem. All imaginations or people trying to live beyond their means. Hardlanders are basically losers and should not aspire to live better or in bigger flats. Be happy and grateful for a roof over your head. Many third world people don't even have a thatched roof over their heads. Would the hardlanders take my advice? Do they have a choice or any choice?

When uncaring, aloof technocrats take over

We have seen some measures taken to curb the property bubble. But such piece meal reaction to a dangerous trend that could make and break a person's home is nothing to cry about. There is a need for a deeper thought on what housing is to the people. We are a country and a nation in the making. Housing is an essential component that welds the people to the country and call it home. If housing is turned into another commodity of exchange, going to the highest bidder, the natural law of a free market will see the rich grabbing all the good properties and leaving the poor at the bottom of the heap. This will only breed discontent and undermine the foundation of this country as a nation of people. From the excuses uttered, I find them all rubbish. Shallow and selfish and arrogant. Young people want to get married, go and register and queue for a flat that will be ready in 3 years time. Are people just machine and getting married is something that can be methodologically programmed 3 years in advance? There are many instances of people deciding to get married over a drink or over dinner and you expect them to wait for 3 years for a place to make babies. And you complain not enough babies when these people are forced by your policies to delay making babies? And another reason, don't pay the price asked, or don't pay COV. Go shopping around for the best price. So easy mey? What kind of silly comment is that? When the supply is not there, or 3 years away, and when the buyers, for some reasons, cannot wait, they are price takers. With limited land, and a growing population, the think tank must start working to redefine what is the housing need, and the important role of housing in nation making. Public housing must not be a commodity of trade. For those who are speculating in properties, the developers, the bankers etc, the more expensive property prices are, the better for them. What about the losers, the people who cannot afford and have to keep on tightening their belts to keep a decent roof over their heads? Property speculation is a zero sum game. Can the speculative element, the investment game of properties be taken out of the formula? Can the govt treat property as an essential item for the citizens, and to provide good and cheap properties for the citizens to bind them to the country, to root them here? There are many areas and industries to speculate and make huge monetary gains. Just leave property out of the game. Building flats in anticipation of needs and demands like in the past is not necessary a bad thing. The citizens need a home, a good home, not just a pigeon coop that is getting smaller and smaller. Other luxuries are secondary. Give the people a good place to live in and bring up children without breaking their banks, or their backs.

More palliative care in the pipeline

And those who can pay will have to pay. Now, what would I want to spend my life counting beans, drawing little circles, painting little red dots, or walking on a ramp, and pay for it? What kind of living is that? Do I want to look forward to 85 or 100?

If we don't do anything now....Obama

This is what Obama warned the Americans in his medical reform speech. If the American govt does not do anything now, the insurance premiums will continue to go up. In our home front, if the motorists don't do anything now, they must be prepared to pay higher premiums. Period. No one sees any urgency in trying to curb this excessive and unreasonable rise in motor insurance fee. And we all know why it is going up. Anyone responsible or looking into this matter? Oh, forgotten liao. That's the fact here. KPKB for a while and all will be forgotten.

A new fad in town

It is damn great fun to own a media agency or a blog or forum and use it to ridicule or malu other lesser beans. It is funny and very effective and you can cheer on others to join the ridicule game. I heard a girl by the name of Ris Low, or something like that, was made fun of in the media. I must qualify here, they did not ridicule her but all made in jest, just for fun lah. And I like the spirit of making fun of others, no matter how insensitive it is. Maybe it is another way to teach people why they must spaek good Inglish. This girl did not speak good or perfect English and became a very convenient and funny target. The more she speaks, the more funny she becomes and more ammunition for attacking her. Oops, I mean making fun of her in jest. No hard feelings. Language is just a skill, like dancing or playing football. Given time and effort, one should be able to pass off quite reasonably. Stupidity is acquired or born and not easily removed by effort and training. For people who were speaking a language for a long time, as a primary mode of communication, or educated in the west, it is easy to laugh at those who are new to the language. It is as good as an entitlement to sneer and ridicule those who can't speak as well as them. I wonder how these jokers will sound if they were to speak to Ris Low in Teochew or Mandarin? Would their dialect or Mandarin sound just as ridiculous? I love to hear them speak something they are not familiar with and use it to ridicule them to the max, in this blog/forum. Let's start a campaign to ridicule people who can't speak English well, just for fun lah. Then we can follow up with a few more campaigns to ridicule those who can't speak their mother tongues. Like they said, orang china bukan china or in different variations to suit the different races.

The Ten Commandments(for the corporate world)

In his article on the global meltdown of yesteryear, Robin Chan listed down ten of the evils that led to the fall of corporate giants and threatening the collapse of the economic world order. His 10 points are: 1. The housing crisis was boosted by a booming stock market and low interest rates, leading to a housing bubble. 2. Financial derivatives of mass destruction like CDS and CDOs which the bankers called ingenious financial products were good for the industry. In reality these were highly leveraged debt which were restructured and layered and were not more than a house of cards. 3. The lack of rules and regulations, or deregulations, allowing financial thugs a free hand to structure secret or shady deals. No regulation is good for the market was the mantra of the day. 4. Irresponsible rating agencies operating under conflicts of interests and aiding the process of tradings in high risks products by giving them AAA ratings. 5. Fair value or mark to market pricing, allowing the market to determine the value of assets rather than its underlying value, believing that the market is the best judge of the value of an asset. 6. Reckless bonus payouts and huge salaries as an acceptable norm to corporate honchos which led to high risk taking for short term gains. 7. Big is good and big banks are better than small banks. The bigger the better. What happened was that the banks and pseudo banks became so big that they could not be allowed to fold no matter how big were their debt and mismanagement. 8. Curbing financial innovation is bad. Innovation is the way forward to creating wealth and profits. The CDS and CDOs are ok and they should not be blamed but for the lack of understanding what they were that led to the demise. 9. To save the economic systems, countries printed money and more money to pump the system, to encourage spending, leading to a disproportionate debt that itself becomes a problem for the future generations to bear. It created a new problem to save an old problem. 10. The death of the theory of efficient market, believing that an efficient market will take care of the loose ends. It failed miserably. The sad thing today is that the above 10 causes and consequences of the financial crisis are still there and kicking, alive. Nothing very much were done to tackle these problems and they are coming back, taking a new life of its own with renewed vigour. In order to stamp out these corporate sins, we need a Ten Commandments to deal with them. 1. Thou shalt not create a housing bubble. 2. Thou shalt not allow high risk derivatives and products to flood the financial industry. 3. Thou shalt not allow thoughtless deregulations to run the financial system and the economy. 4. Thou shalt hang irresponsible rating agencies and financial institutions. Actually should prosecute the CEOs. Amend this to, Thou shalt not bear false witness or tell lies. 5. Thou shalt abolish fair value or mark to market pricing of assets. 6. Thou shalt not cast lustful glances at your neighbours huge bonuses or lusting for them. 7. Thou shalt not allow banks or financial institutions to grow too big. 8. Thou shalt regulate the so called 'financial innovations' and make sure they are safe. 9. Thou shalt not print money and increase public debt. 10. Thou shalt not blindly believe in the goodness of an efficient market to self regulate and heal the evils in the system.

It is political, it is documentary, it is...

Coming hot on the heels of the reclassification of the 'Demons' In White to be not dangerous anymore, not enemies, we are seeing the reclassification of Martyn See's Singapore Rebel from a political film to a documentary film. See how outrageous things can be? It is political, no it is not, no it is,... depending on the tide and wave, I think. When is a person a good person or a bad person is also dependent on the situation and timing, and also which side one gets up from the bed. But the truth will still be the truth and any truth that has not surfaced will surface in a matter of time. The only issue is that it is not time, or the timing is not right. Will we see a new history to write something good about JBJ or Chee Soon Juan?

Property bubble to be raised in parliament

MPs are gearing up to raise questions on the buying frenzy for new properties and the escalating of property prices, both public and private. Would it be a concern all for nothing? Mah Bow Tan has said many times that HDB prices are affordable. So has HDB with their repeated explanations in the media, and today it came out with a detailed table to show how affordable the HDB flats are. The figures speak for themselves and why are people refusing to listen and accept the fact that HDB prices are affordable? A 3 rm flat at $150k only needs $460 pm to service. Very affordable for a household income of $2000. No need cash I think, just use the full CPF contribution. And a 5 rm flat at $330k needs only $1189 pm with a little cash after using all their CPF. The report did not say whether the repayment is 30 or 40 years. Anyway, very affordable, without much CPF left. While critics are embroiled in the issues of affordability and mark to market pricing, they tend to forget that maxing the used of CPF will mean compromising on the key role of CPF savings for retirement. No one is asking about the real cost of the flats and why pricing to extract the most from the buyers and eating up all their disposable income. This is public housing afterall and keeping the price low will allow the buyers to use their income in many other ways. The danger of a subprime crisis in our midst cannot be ruled out as the conditions are quite similar, low interest rate, liquidity, full employment, an economy that is still ticking. With such high leverage and big loans, a little flu in our economy will hit these high leverage buyers badly. When the price of a flat is dependent on mark to market pricing which is highly volatile and can go crazy, when a flat costing $150k can be sold for $300k or $500k, it can come tumbling down when the demand is not there. Would it not be better for a little intervention to moderate the craziness and not letting the bubble to expand to catastrophic proportion before bursting? Let the market forces or free market mechanism do its job? Where is the moral responsibility to be prudent and avoid plunging into a tragedy? Caveat emptor good enough?

She is rich, at least worth $300k!

Most Singaporeans owning a HDB flat is worth at least a couple of hundred thousand bucks. An owner of a 3 rm flat should be worth about $300k. Now that kind of wealth could make the person live like a rich gentry in many countries. In paradise, some of these people are living the life of vagabonds, scrapping a living collecting tin cans and scrap boards. This is real, no imagination. There is such an old woman shown on video. What she needs is to get a financial adviser to manage her wealth, turn the piece of asset into an income and live better. Or maybe she was just trying to keep herself fit and collecting scrap boards is just a form of exercise.

Anti Jews tattoo

Malaysia has its cow head stomping incident. We have our 'Anti Jews' tattoo incident. In our case it was a guy with a tattoo 'Anti Jews' done on his face. And he was charged in court for hitting a Jew. He really did that. Such anti racial or religious acts did not happen out of the blue. The govt has a prominent role to send the right message out, that it would not tolerate such acts and behaviours. Any govt that takes a partial attitude towards such infringements will only encourage and breed more of such behaviours. Any infringement of such a nature must be nipped in the bud and the law coming down hard on the culprits. The message must be loud and clear. By the way, how could someone wearing such a tattoo on his face in Singapore and get away with it? Nobody notices it? It is good that the Malaysian govt has taken action to charge those who were involved in the cow head stomping incident. If they continue to protect the culprits, more racial hatred will flare up. Now the whole community will be watching the case and see how partial or impartial will be the court's judgement.

The Age of Demonising over?

During the cold war period the western powers and their media went on a tenacious campaign to demonise anything Communist, Russian or China as bad, demons, devils, destructive, terror, evil or whatever that is negative. This went on for more than half a century till today. There is a little easing off lately with the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a capitalist China. The demonising is still going on. The events following the publishing of the book Men In White could be an indication that the Age of Demonising your enemies or opponents is slowly coming to an end. Or will it be? Our general election is around the corner. The opposition political parties are not in the same league of the Communists and the Barisan Socialists. They are more like any other ordinary citizens. Would they be subject to the kind of demonising to discredit them as reasonable people unworthy to be elected as the people's representatives in Parliament? For that matter, why are cyberspace and alternative media being regarded in the likes of dissidents or anti establishment parties, an evil force that must be watched like a hawk and if possible nabbed and put into cold storage? I seem to have this impression, rightly or wrongly, that this is the sentiment. Is it true or just my imagination? Are they that dangerous, that destructive? By the way, alternative parties are just groups of individuals offering an alternative to run the country and not gangsters or mobs or triads or demons. They need to be treat respectfully as any deserving citizens, in fact better, for their noble intention to serve the people and nation. There are thugs, rogues and scoundrels in their midst, possible. In fact these undesirable elements are present in all corners of society, among the elite as well. Will we see the passing of the Age of Demonising? Or calling people names, branding people as bad, etc etc is still a way of protecting ones own self interest. They are bad, we are good!

The fragility of our stock market

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the SGX and it was all celebration and a job well done. Everyone was given a pat on the back for their contributions to the success and growth of the SGX from 500 companies to more than 700 companies. And we are now recognised as a serious international player. The success of a stock market depends on many factors, the system and administrator, the products and the players. I have dealt with some of the problems of system flaw in the past, especially the uneven playing field which I still find it unacceptable and unfair to the small players. I will now briefly touch on the products and players in the market. Other than our local companies, we have introduced stocks from some 20 companies as proof of our progress in internationalising our stock market. I wonder how many of these stocks are being traded and worth the cost of having them listed in our market. The more glaring issue is the S Chips. These came in to replace the Malaysian CLOB when Mahathir threw in the spanner. Are we better off? Or are the investors better off? Do we get more money for the investors or more outflow of our hard earned money with a net loss due to frauds and misrepresentation? What is the bottom line? The players in our market are the big foreign funds, local broking houses, small and big local investors, and the increasing role of remisiers own trading. The foreign funds come and go, some short term, some trading furiously like the small traders or worst, with programme trading to scalp whatever they can from the market. Both the funds and broking houses are taking full advantage of their low cost, ie, practically no commission to trade against the small investors. Who will win in such a game is obvious. With commission dwindling to a level that it is no longer worth the risk exposure, many remisiers are resorting to their own trading. Why risk thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars for a $20 or $200 commission. The mistakes are very costly and so are bad debts. Not many people understand the role of remisiers and how unfair is the system towards them. With a small population of active investors, the market is just unsustainable without the remisier acting as a multiplier through their role as the guarantor and money lender to the investors. No banks will take such risk and exposure with minimal or no collateral. The alternative is not to allow such risk and exposure in the system, which means the market will practically come to a standstill, with negligible trading activities. There was a myth that with the introduction of internet trading, there is no need for this middleman. This has proven drastically wrong as the cost to maintain such a system negates the pittance returns from the traders. How many employees can actually trade online when they are working in their offices? The big players have no time to stick to a computer terminal when a phone call is all they need to do. How long can the remisiers continue to trade on their own and to make money out of the system is an issue that will soon play itself out. The recent mini bullrun is an aberration. In most instances, the remisiers are losing their pants because of the uneven playing field and programme trading. Now there are things like dark pool, preview of trading data, speed trading etc which all favours the big players. Assuming that the pool of remisiers find that they cannot win in such a market and call it a day, assuming that no contra trading is available as there is no remisier to be the middleman to act as guarantor to pay for the bad debt, how active can our market be? Will the big funds still be here when the small investors are no longer there to be scalped? Is our market sustainable in the long run with such a small pool of traders and with increasing number of stocks and derivatives being introduced into the market?

Myth 210 - Singapore Govt's money is not the people's money?

Letter To The Wall Street Journal, 8 Sep 2009 Correcting Temasek Misperceptions We wish to correct some fundamental misperceptions in your Aug. 31 editorial "Temasek's Revised Charter." First, Temasek is an investment company set up as an asset owner to seek returns by taking investment risks. While our sole shareholder is the Singapore government, we are not a "fund," and do not manage Singapore "citizens' earnings." It is factually wrong to imply that Singaporeans have no choice but to "keep their money with the fund." The above is part of a statement by Temasek's MD Corporate Affairs to the Wall Street Journal. To be specific, it says that it manages Singapore's govt's money and not Singapore "citizens' earnings". I am not sure if Singapore "citizens' earnings" is the same as Singapore citizens' money. As a layman, I think the citizens of Singapore will think or believe that the Govt's money is the citizens' money. But many in the forum have told me that this is not true. I think the Govt's money are money from the Govt's income, including taxes, rentals, sales of land and properties, services etc. Technically, they are not the citizens's earnings but the Govt's earnings. Let me offer another example to clarify this explanation. If I lend $1k to A and B lend the $1k to C, C is right to say that he is not spending my money. Cause he borrows it from B and is accountable to B. So Temasek is managing the Govt's money, not the people's earnings. Right.

Notable quotes by Jim Rogers

"They have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I'm not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this." Jim Rogers Who are these incompetents and crooks? These are people who churned out corporate profits in the billions when the organisations are technically bankrupts. And mind you, they are the supertalents from the top notch universities. And they do not know that they have done wrong. And they are demanding the same crazy pay and bonuses again. You don't need crooks and robbers when you have them around. And they are much more greedy and deadlier. They have no shame, no sense of moral justice. They only demand a ransom from the organisations and shareholders.

SCCCI broke its silence

The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry has joined the debate over the lack of linguistic skills of foreign immigrants working in the sales industry. Many forum letter writers have written to the media to complain about this lack of English Language skill and some even suggested that people who can't speak English should not be allowed here. Ah, it brings back memories of the good old days when a pass in English is the key condition for a job in the colonial civil service. I think it is a good idea to make English proficiency a criteria for employment here. Maids, construction workers, sales staff etc and who else to include in this category? Employers must be fuming mad. It will give life to a new industry in language learning, and more private language schools to come into this new business.

Resurrection of the 'Demons' In White

The book Men In White has the inadvertent consequence of bringing together the political foes of our freedom fighter generation. These were the people who fought the British for independence and later fighting among themselves for political supremacy. There was a contest of will, political ideologies and beliefs. They fought and threw punches at each other, or they fought, and one side received all the punches and black eyes, and were demonised, captured or fled the country. Many never ever dream of a homecoming unless they recant their 'wrong doings'. Yesterday many returned. For those who were biting their nails and waiting to see these men with horns on their foreheads, they were disappointed. They came and appeared like ordinary men, with a tie. There were no signs of the terrorists or rugged guerilla fighters left in them. Fighting for political powers in those days were really fighting for life and death, unlike today when fighting for more money, status and power was the order of the day. It is good that old men and women should put down their swords and cudgels and shake hands and call each other friends. It is good to let the bad memories fade into history. Yes, bury the hatchet and embrace one another as old friends. If we can embrace strangers and new immigrants as one of us, there is no reason not to welcome home our brothers and sisters of the past to live among us. A first step forward to more graciousness. The next question is whether the political climate and rules of the game be changed as we move forward. Or would it be just a flash in the pan and things will return to normal, and the weapons be strapped back around the waist, the cudgels in hand, ready to deliver the next deadly blow?

CPF Life the best scheme

The CPF Life annuity scheme is the best scheme that the govt can think of. I won't disagree with that. For many who are unable to manage their forced savings, they definitely need another forced annuity scheme to carry on the trend of being forced to look after themselves. With so many enquiries, the CPF Life scheme is expected to robe in many more contributors, especially with the carrot of a $4,000 bonus for those who are not forced to sign on. I will encourage all those who need someone to manage their money to sign on too. This leaving your money to other people to manage is becoming a Singaporean habit, a Singaporean trait. For me, no way. I will never sign on anything that has a 'forced element' in it. I am very capable of taking care of myself and my money. It is such a great feeling to touch the money inside your pocket and say, 'Yes, it is my money. It is real. And I can do whatever I want with it, any time any place.' Mine is just a personal preference. Actually, with such a great scheme, if it is that good, people will be queuing to sign up, like property launches. No need compulsion. They will queue over night for it too. Community Clubs can help by providing buses to fetch them to CPF Board. Maybe not necessary if they can sign up in the Clubs themselves. Should CPF Board try this and see how many will queue to sign up for this great scheme?

Do banks have the ammo to fight frauds

This headline in the ST reminds me of the realisation in the European community of the real robbers that are robbing the people. Before I go on, the article in the ST was about banks trying to curb credit card frauds and limiting the liabilities of card holders. The European concern that was taken up by their Finance Ministers at the G20 was about the disproportional ransoms that the bankers are extorting from the banking industries. They reminded the ministers at the meeting that even before the financial crisis is over the bankers are paying themselves the crazy bonuses that they were getting before. And the Americans are not going with the Europeans as the main culprits are the American bankers themselves. These robbers are robbing their shareholders of hundreds of millions each, individually and annually. How on earth could they justify their abilities to earn that kind of money? With or without them, with a new team in charge, their banks are going to do just as fine, or just as badly. Many were managed to the brink of bankruptcies, or were bankrupts and needed govt and public funds to save them. The read fraudsters that are cheating the minority shareholders are the bankers themselves, and the CEOs of MNCs where the minority shareholders are helpless while the management just write their own pay checks, and pay themselves crazy. Do we need to look anywhere for fraudsters? Oh, pardon me, I am referring to European and American bankers and MNC CEOs, those who took tens or hundreds of millions. And it is not just the CEOs, it is the whole management team and board of directors. All are in it. It is a case of I pay you and you pay me, I approve your pay and you approve mine.

Bird watching

I went on a bird watching trip recently, armed with binoculars and camera, to watch and count the number of birdies in our little island. Many of the old birdies have disappeared. The merboks, the magpies, the Mynars, the nectar feeders etc. Even the sparrows, the most populous and in every roof corners, are hardly seen today. We were briefed that the bird population has grown with more sanctuaries being set aside as protected territories for migratory birds to nest here. So we counted all day long. As usual, the mynars and sparrows were few. But the numbers of crows, egrets, green pigeons, herons and many that were rarely seen in our island, non residents, are setting roots here and making our sanctuaries their homes. A thought came to my mind. One day we may see Singaporeans lugging their binos and digiphones in the city looking for Singaporeans and counting Singaporeans. The Singaporeans have gradually become a rare specie, and it takes effort to find them in the crowds of foreigners. There may be conducted tours with well informed tour guides leading groups to look out for Singaporeans. They will be armed with knowledge on Singaporean behavioral patterns, eating habits, slangs, dressing and their favourite haunts, what to look out for to separate them from the foreigners or new Singaporeans. And I think this will become a new industry. Conducted tours for Singaporean watching, and counting.

The wooden story revives

‘I was a block of wood. So? It was the truth.’ This story is immortalised in the Men In White book. How many political leaders would take such a comment in a public address standing up? Chok Tong did, standing 6 ft 4in tall. And he not only admitted that he was wooden, he could joke about it too. That is the kind of leader we have and the people love him for it. His ministers continued to support him. He is the most likeable PM so far. And because of the public dressing, he became a better man, more uninhibited and improved on his public image and public speaking. In other words, less wooden. And he got LKY to thank for. In LKY is another quality of leadership unseen anywhere. His lecture is always well regarded by friends and foes. Chok Tong became a leader and his own man and accepted the comment though stunned for a while. Recently we have another grateful recipient of his lecture in Parliament. After his robust reply to newbie NMP Sadasivan, the latter was thankful, like a student attending a lecture in the university once again. And we can see him learning and gaining from it and become a better man in the future This is the unique quality of LKY. He can tell anyone off and the recipients felt very grateful for the lesson, for he meant well. ‘He’s not a man to slam you for nothing. He was never personal.’ Said Chok Tong. Imagine another leader coming out and make such a comment on anyone, the reception is not going to be the same. There were several instances, some in Parliament, and I don’t think the recipients were grateful for the dressing down. Maybe some PMs may learn this trick from LKY and make public assessments of his cabinet ministers in the future, if he is LKY calibre. Anyway, what’s wrong with being called wooden when there is real substance. The number one golfer’s official name is Woods, Tiger Woods. And no one is disturbed by that name. Who knows, the next headline when Tiger wins another tournament may be ‘The Wood is on top again!’

"Affordable" in inverted commas

The ST reported on the new launch of another condominium in the Gillman Height site and the "affordable" prices that are being offered. A 2-rm 75 sq m unit is priced at $700k or about $1000 psf. When words are bracket by inverted commas, it is clear that the meaning is suspect. Affordable or affordability is now a misleading term, depending on who is using it and the listener. It used to be the belief that when something is said often enough and repeated loud enough, people will come to accept it as the truth. Unfortunately these two words have developed into some kind of ill repute. People no longer believe in them. What if affordable is mixed up with heavy subisidies, with willing buyer willing seller, with market pricing? How believeable and affordable can it be? Could the people uttering affordable really and sincerely believe in what they are saying? I do. Anyone who cannot afford to pay $700k in their lifetime(two incomes) for a roof over their head is unfit to live in paradise when people could easily earn $1m in a year. There is a spurious outpouring of unhappiness over the usage of the word afforable and the basis or formula use to define what it is in the ST forum today. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. We do not know how many letters have been sent to the ST before a few were printed. And the angry cries in cyberspace would probably not be heard, so not counted. As long as the affected people chose to keep quiet, the few voices heard would be read as too little to warrant any serious attention. Unless the voice is loud enough, spoken often and with more anger, no one is going to listen and people will conclude that 'see, no protest, so no problem'. The affordability index is so perfectly calibrated that the people are happy with it. And the properties, private and public, are selling like hot cakes. The demands are evidence to prove that it is right. Does anyone ask how many of the visitors in property launches are paid to be there or how many units are actually booked by the agents themselves to give the impression of strong demand? And how many are booked by speculators?

Myth 209 - Fiction of succession planning

We are renowned for our ability to plan a head. And corporate succession planning must be a piece of cake. Failure to work out such a simple plan will be sorely felt and seen as simply incompetent. Or is there a better expression, inability to plan, forget to plan, dunno how to plan, or simply no time to plan, but pretend that it was all planned? We have seen many several CEOs departing and then we hear a big announcement, the organisation is searching around the globe for a successor. And the process will take another few months or years. What is succession planning? Didn't the CEO has someone standing by that can take over should he gone missing? Or our organisations are so dearth of CEO potential that whenever a CEO departs, someone outside must be brought in? This has been the case, it seems. All the bullshitting about succession planning are now laid bare for all to see. There is no succession planning, or there is no one within the organisation that is fit to succeed the CEO. What a pathetic state of affair!

The reassurance Singaporeans needed

Catherine Lim's question to LKY during the dialogue at the LKY School of Policy inadvertently led to the revelation and reassurance of the resilience and ruggedness of our political system and govt infrastructure. This will be PAP's legacy and achievement for the people and country. In his reply to Catherine, LKY assured her that in the event of a freak election result that threw out the PAP, the army will not move in. The second assurance is that we have an excellent checks and control system underpinned by our elected President system and this will protect the country's reserve from a scoundrel govt. Feeling better already. The other assurance that was implicit is that our political system will withstood any changes of govt, and even if an opposition comes into power, the political system and govt will continue to run. It will be tragic if after operating a govt and political system for 45 years the country will turn into turmoil just because a new political party is elected into office. A democratic electoral system and govt must be designed for govt change, peacefully by the electoral proceses. And PAP has ensured that the system holds. This is just like succession planning. An organisation must be able to continue to run when the leadership is changed and not collapsed. Any responsible CEO must always prepare the next man to step into his shoe should he need to vacate the position for any reason. Sadly, many big organisations are failing in this area. And when the top guy falls, there will start running around looking for a successor. What a joke. Back to the resilience of our govt and political system. With the assurance given, does it mean that the electorate can now be confident to go ahead and elect a new party to power? Does it mean that the system will still work and will not collapse? The assumption of course is that the electorate is also smart enough not to elect a bunch of idiots or scoundrels to form the govt. Assuming that the opposition parties are able to put up a slate of professionals, I mean professionals and respectable individuals, no need scholar calibre, and they be elected to govt, will the change be just a normal process without big upheavals? Japan has done that and its system is holding, it is not collapsing when a new and inexperience team of politicians are taking over. We will have to see whether the strength of our system is real or a myth when that day comes.

Proud to be a Malay Singaporean

This is an article by Khartini Khalid who is pursuing a master's degree in international relations at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. The Fletcher School is renowned for International Relations courses and to be there is itself an accomplishment. I can understand why Khartini felt proud, as an individual and as a Malay Singaporean. She has proven that the Mahathir Myth that Malays are less equal than other racial groups wrong. Khartini told the story of her research project which took her to a Malay village in Negri Seremban. In those few days she discovered how different the Malays in Singapore were from the Malays in Malaysia. The social and political space they live and operate were distinctly different. In Malaysia, different races still live in their own communal quarters while in Singapore, the official policy is to mix the people to avoid a concentration of races in their respective corners. Malaysia and Singapore race relations have developed from these different footings and we can be proud that racial tension has eased off in our case but remains more or less the same in Malaysia since 1969. The whole social/economic and political system in Malaysia revolves around race and Malay dominance, and a govt that promotes superiority of a racial group. In Singapore, racial equality is in our constitution, though an aspiration, nonetheless, the govt takes tremendous effort to prevent race biased tension among the people. Which is a better system is subjective. But one point I like to comment on is that our system will fail miserably if the govt goes about promoting and protecting the interest of one racial group or the majority against the interest of the minority. In fact the govt takes pain to play down on the dominance of the majority group and will come down hard on the majority should it try to exert too much influence or disadvantage the minority. This is the crux of our successful formula. All things being equal, the majority must take a step back to accommodate the minority. The reverse is true in Malaysia and this has resulted in the majority exerting more and more pressure on the minorities with implicit support from the govt. The latest issue of the stamping of the cow's head during a demonstration and the govt playing down the infringement as a non issue is a case in point. Such blatant disrespect of the minority sensitivity will not be tolerated here and the govt is likely to come down hard on the guilty party. We have taken different paths in our social, economic and political development of our people. Only time will tell whether ours is a better or poorer model for the people.

Circular reasoning to the rescue

The appointment of Piyush Gupta as CEO of DBS has apparently been warmly received if the reports in the media are to go by. But the underlying sentiment that was not reported but can be sieved through by reading between the lines tells a different picture. This foreign talent fad or infatuation must have stirred the hornet nest of talented locals who see their aspirations being squashed once again. So there must be some way to explain away this great acquisition of a foreign talent that is deemed better than all the useless local talents. Siow Li Sen wrote that for those who are criticising the recruitment, let there be no worry. Piyush Gupta will become a citizen soon. So he will become a local talent, a Singaporean. How many will lap up this kind of excuse? And the better part, we went around the world, with high expectations and specifications for the most qualified candidate, with great talent and experience, only to claim that no change is needed in the new job. 'DBS does not need fixing'. No need to take needless risks. Then why can't a local be good enough? Oh, at home, he has to tackle a mountain of deposits to make them work and to regain Singaporeans' trust in the structured notes fiasco. Do you need a foreign talent to tackle these local issues? But, like it or not, the die has been cast. Now more analyses and reports on how good this move to hire a foreign talent was will be churned out. The spin doctors will be put to work to appease the hurt ego of the locals. In the meantime, it is better for local talents to find employment in foreign banks to prepare themselves for such jobs. Decorative kois are for display only. My bet is that our decorative kois are any time of higher quality than these foreign talents if given the opportunities. At least, while in schools and universities, our local talents would have outshone many of the foreign talents. What our local boys lacked are opportunities, exposure and experience. If we don't give these to them, who would?

Landslide or freak election, Army will not move in

Catherine Lim asked LKY yesterday if he would send in the army should there be a freak election. And the answer is no. So opposition parties can feel safer now, that the army would not do the unthinkable, or no one would do the unthinkable. LKY's reassurance was based on the serious thought that this govt had put in to design a near perfect system with the President as the last man to protect the money in the reserve. The President will be there to block any attempt to spend the reserve, as if this is the only threat to the nation should an opposition party comes to power. The underlying assumption is that the President is infallible, a man of unquestionable integrity and will not change side and join the new govt to loot the country's coffer. I am not referring to the incumbent President. There are many Presidents that will come our way. Should Singaporeans sleep well, that this assumption is good enough to save the country when that day comes? If Presidents are immortals or demigods, I think everything will be fine. The only problem is that scoundrels can come and pass themselves off as saints. Maybe sending in the army is a more pragmatic option.

DBS netted a Foreign Talent again

Champagne popped yesterday and another round of celebration as DBS announced that it had successfully searched and found another foreign talent to helm the bank. The appointment of Piyush Gupta, a PR, was welcomed as another great achievement and would do DBS a lot of good in its banking business though it also announced that nothing would change and business as usual. There were happy faces everywhere. The appointment of another PR in the number one govt bank is, sad to say, another confirmation of our failure in nurturing and developing our local talents for the big league. And we have been doing this over and over again for the last few decades and still repeating the same formula without any wiser. Our local talents that were sent overseas to the best Ivy League universities in the US and Europe are still unfit to be the CEO of a local bank and many of our big organisations. And they will never be, if things are not changed. Our formula is simple. Send our best to foreign universities with a long string attached. On completion of their 4 years of studies, pull the string and haul them back to our little ponds to be fed and grow fat, like the kois. Big and beautiful to look at, full of fat. And when we need marlins, sharks and whales to swim in the oceans, expectedly none will be fit for the job. So we will forever be dependant on foreign talents to fill jobs that require exposure and experience in the international arena. Our mandarins are experienced only to swim in the little fish ponds. Maybe the 4 years of exposure to the local lifestyle will equip them with enough knowledge to buy kindergartens, theatres, hotels and landed properties. Maybe football clubs with be next. In contrast, India and some other countries allowed their best to stay on in America and Europe, join the big league MNCs, and grow with them. They were sent to swim the seven seas, brave the storms, and survived, fit and all muscles, to take on the world. It is thus not unexpected for our local organisations with big dreams of going international to be dependant on foreign talents, and forever, if our policy on nurturing and developing our own talents is not changed. We will continue to breed ponds of beautiful and fat kois, but no marlins, no sharks and no whales.

How China will destroy your retirement

Below is an article by an American and spreading with the help of unthinking Singaporeans to show how bad China is. The fact is that our retirement has been destroyed by America in their subprime fiasco and the financial crisis they have created. Now they are pointing the finger at China. For goodness sake, stupid Asians and Singaporeans. Think, use your little numbskull before they expired. How China will destroy your retirement The Shanghai index just laid a horrible egg. Wall Street fainted and investors world-wide took to the hills. How could this happen? 1. Loan growth at China’s central bank fell by 80% in the last 30 days. 2. After a spate of frantic buying this spring, China has stopped stockpiling raw materials, which it bought for pennies on the dollar. The Baltic Dry Index has plunged 25% since late July. 3. The massive amounts of cash that Beijing has pumped into its economy has not been properly absorbed. It has hemorrhaged into speculation. That’s why, although profits for China companies are DOWN by 30%, the Shanghai index is UP 80%. Can you spell BUBBLE? 4. It’s not just stocks, either. The most expensive housing in the world is now in China. Yes, that is correct. The ratio of property prices to income is now SEVEN TIMES HIGHER in China than in the U.S. It looks like the Japanese land bubble in the ’80s, but with one billion people involved this time around. Can you spell CRASH? 5. On October 1, the China Communist Party holds the 60th anniversary of Mao’s Long March. Expect Beijing to Band Aid this Ponzi scheme together until October. But, as the last few days have shown, the lie cannot last much longer. WE HAVE 30 DAYS—TOPS. Urgent You Act I’m Dick Young and I am convinced that China’s Ponzi Scheme will not work for much longer. And when it crashes to the ground after October 1, look out, because Wall Street goes with it. Don’t bother looking for your retirement plans in the rubble. They’ll be pulverized. It does not have to be this way. Indeed, my subscribers have a different plan. We will be very busy over the next 30 days, but it is work that will set us up for life.

We have this great bull story in the media again

We are short of talents. Companies cannot find enough of accountants and finance professionals. And recently we even bragged so loudly that we are recruiting doctors and medical professionals in big numbers from all over the world. My take is that either our tertiary institutions were are sleeping and not producing enough qualified candidates to feed the needs of the economy, or that our graduates were of no talents and not good enough for the industry. So either we don't have the head counts or plenty of useless, half baked and unemployable graduates. So, the lack of local talent must be true. All the statistics and surveys say so. What are we going to do about it? Apply the instant tree formula and go and recruit from all over the world, including graduates from third world and universities ranked lower than our esteemed local universities. Why did I get this feeling that something is not right? How could world class universities not producing graduates that are considered as talents and graduates from less than world class universities are grabbed like hot properties, great talents? If our universities are producing non talents, then we might as well close them down and save the money. And forget about the 4th university.

Foreign or local workers not an issue

I am tempted to agree with Lim Swee Say that foreign worker local worker divide should not be an issue. It is productivity. We need productive workers to do the job well at the lowest cost. This is like white cat black cat, no issue. Just catch the mice. I must clarify here that when Deng Xiaoping said this, foreign and local workers was not an issue in China. He was talking about Chinese workers only. And I believe Swee Say would also have said that whatever, citizens must come first. In our context, we may also claim that we are different. We are small and cannot be isolated. We are immigrants from the start. So living on the entrepreneur skills and hard work of foreign workers should be a part of our secret formula to success. And lazy and less productive workers cannot get away with it. They may be citizens, so what? They have done NS, big sacrifice, so what? They need to be competitive and productive and be better and cheaper than the foreign workers if they want to be counted. We have to be real and not be bogged down by citizens and non citizens. This is the real world. Singaporeans must work as hard as the foreign workers. There are many schemes to help them to be productive and to earn better incomes. But if they do not want to buck up, it is their own fault. We are competing in an international environment when all barriers to entry have been removed. Every country is buying talent. Our non talents can go elsewhere and be foreign talents and be welcomed. The above is just for discussion. It is meant to be provocative, to stimulate thinking out of the box.

Public housing is affordable

HDB has reiterated its position that HDB flats are heavily subsidised and affordable. Let me for once agree that HDB flats are indeed affordable. The heavily subsidised part I will leave it to everyone to make their own conclusions. Now, did I say that HDB flats are affordable? I did not say it without reasons. HDB flats are indeed affordable to everyone. You just buy one according to your own financial position. But that is not all. As long as you have money you can buy a HDB flat. The only difference, don't quibble, not nitpick, is that the money you have will buy you a smaller flat as days go by. Still affordable, definitely, only getting less for what you pay for. And paying longer and longer. Actually the people buying public housing should be very contented to have a roof over their heads. Be grateful. That is what public housing is all about, affordable and cheap. If you want good and big, go and buy The Sail or something like that. Those buyers are not complaining and are happily paying for what they get, good value for money.

Landslide in Japan

The 21st Century seems to be a century of landslide victories for opposition political parties that have for years been seen as no hopers. Malaysia shook the ruling UMNO by delivering several states to the opposition, something so unbelieveable. UMNO, with all its machinery and state organisations and power, could just watch as the opposition chips away at their territories. Every by election seems to be an opportunity for the opposition to wrestle another constituency from UMNO. Last night we saw another landslide in Japan. After more than 50 years of domination in Japanese politics, the Japanese grew tired and disillusioned with the ruling party. The LDP seemed to be running out of tricks from its bag and was soundly trumped by the DPJ. The winning margin was unimaginable. And we are witnessing another historical event and a new beginning, and the end of LDP. If this is the trend to be, we will probably see a similar landslide here in the next GE. Many may sneer at such a thought or suggestion. The ruling party has been in power for so long, with all the right and highly qualified candidates, with all the machinery and achievements to show how good it has been. And the opposition is still unable to find the right candidates to make a little dent on this formidable machine. Who knows what will happen or what will come next. There are plenty of qualified and able Singaporeans waiting in the fringe for the moment that could change the course of our history. To get 80 good men and women to stand for a general election is not a difficult task when the time is ripe. The landslide may come earlier than expected. The seemingly uphill task may not be that impossible when the chips are down. Would we see a landslide in two years? I know that many are laughing at such a possibility. At this point in time, it seems clearly impossible, no way. Who knows?

MIW or Men In White

It is an uncanny coincidence to release a book called Men In White in the Chinese Seventh Month. The Seventh Month is well known for the release of souls from the forgotten nether world, all in white of course, to have a feast before they are returned, back to where they come from. The book, Men In White, will see the return in spirit of the men who were living with us once. But many may not have the privilege to return to this land they once called home, and will remain as wandering spirits in all corners of the earth. They will not be welcomed as PRs or even tourists. These Men In Wilderness have returned in a way to fill a gap in our historical records of our founding days. The effort to hear their stories and get them printed is a very enlighten process, and a gracious one, to let our stories be told from a different perspective. And Singaporeans are fortunate to have this side of the story told now than to wait for another century when memories would have been washed clean of whatever historical correctness, for the benefits of our descendants. The permission to allow such a process to take shape and become a reality should be acknowledged. There are many perspectives of the Singapore Story and there are many eye witnesses who have life testimonies to tell. Some may have already written but waiting to be published when the climate is more conducive. Some may have forfeited the chance to tell their stories. With the passing of time, more revelations will be served in the book shelves. The Men In white is a story told by the defeated in a political struggle to run this country. Most of these men and women were steeped in idealism, aspiration, political beliefs and conviction for a social and political cause. Many could have been very successful and eminent dignitaries today if they have not joined politics or have abandoned their chosen cause. They paid a very heavy price for what they stood for. They never regret or recant or complain about their sacrifices. We could, in the future, read books from the second and third waves of defeated and banished politicians in the wilderness. We could also read autobiographies from the discarded Men In White living in our midst, with their versions of bitterness and dissatisfaction with the way things were. These will be interesting read, like kiss and tell novels. Until then, the Singapore Story will still be written like fairy tales, with princes and princesses and an ending that says they live happily ever after.

Say only the good stuff

Last week I wrote about the prices of properties in relation to the income of the average workers and the reports and comments by industry workers that property prices today are affordable. The statistics from the industry said that the cost of a mass market flat is equivalent to 20 years income of the average Singaporean, median or mean in this case will not make any substantive difference. This means that it will take 40 years to service the mortgage from a single income or 20 years from dual income, the latter amounts to paying 50% of the double income to the loan. Subsequently some forumers wrote to say that normally a borrower will use 30% of his income for such purposes as living requires a lot of expenses in other areas. This would mean that it will take virtually the whole life time to service such a loan. Accepted that incomes will grow and things will be better along the way. Today we have further clarifications by the professionals as to their reasonings and methodologies for concluding that today’s prices are affordable. I think this is only expected as they have vested interest to talk up the market and get the crowds rushing in to buy. Would anyone in the industry be objective enough to tell the other side of the story, that the prices now are way too high, unrealistic, and unsustainable? Reports on new launches for 99 year lease are talking about $900 to $1100 psf. This means a 500 sq ft studio is going to cost about $500k. Whether this is affordable or not is relative. But the fact that it is going to cost a bomb relative to the average income of the workers cannot be changed. Could it appreciate higher? It could if the income of the buyers are going to keep going up. Of course the professionals will cautiously mentioned about a bubble in the future, unsustainable in the future, but not now. It is affordable. Buyers beware if you are going to listen to the sales pitch of people with vested interests to want to sell the properties.

It takes a girl to defy the whole establishment

I have avoided posting about this story in case it will affect her chances against formidable foes. But her case was mentioned yesterday and I thought things have worked to her favour and her steely guts to defy two powerful authorities should be acknowledged. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno faces off the Muslim clergies and the Malaysian Govt and defy them to cane her in public. Yes, she broke a religious law, forbidden to drink alcohol, in her case, a glass of beer. And the punitive sentence was caning, 6 strokes. And she stood on her high pedestal and told the authorities, go ahead, cane me in public, get it done with. Her case was prominently reported in many newspapers and media and becomes an embarrassment to the Malaysian Govt. This is a govt that is torned between trying to be secular and trying to be Islamic at the same time, one day clenching their fists shouting Allah is Great and another day calling for moderation to avoid being branded as another radical Islamic state. Kartika's caning was postposed in view of Ramadan. And the Home Affairs Minister Hishamuddin in a press interview declared that his ministry did not have the expertise to do the caning. PM Najib advised Kartika to appeal against the sentence. And to date she refuses. She is still calling the religious authority to cane her in public. I dare you!. And to complicate matter, in order to cane her they had to imprison her, which added to her punishment. Now the Malaysian authority is caught with over punishing her for a minor crime. To go ahead with the caning would put Malaysia in the same league as radical Muslim states. How could Malaysia, a model of modern Islamic state be seen to uphold an infringement to a religious law by a woman, for drinking beer, and deal with her so harshly? Would Malaysia take the moderate path or push ahead with its religious laws? That is a tricky question. And Kartika is still standing tall, as the little girl that takes on a govt and a religious order run by powerful men.

Sad As Ivan was demolished!

The dust has settled after the big demolition job in parliament last week. Peering through the smoky haze, I am still trying to figure out if Sadasivan is still standing there. Or has he been bashed and scattered everywhere like dust, or sprawled on the floor? How sad that a greenhorn NMP should have to take that kind of blow on his maiden speech in Parliament. Or was it an exercise, like the Chinese proverb, literary translated as ‘putting on a formidable impression while dismounting from a horse?’ By the way, any speech can be nickpicked and made to look like anything else one wishes it to be. IMAGOD has been doing it to all my postings lately. I am luckier as he is not God though he claimed to be one. What I see in Viswa Sadasivan is a golden opportunity for the members of parliament to engage in a good dosage of discourse, to do battle with ideas and words, instead of throwing detonators and explosives. Viswa is eloquent and can deliver a speech as good as anyone else in parliament. What would be interesting is the follow up, the attack and defence of positions put forth by him with the other wise gentlemen in parliament. Unfortunately, it was never to be. I don’t think we are going to hear much from Viswa anymore. I hope nobody regrets his appointment as a NMP. I hope he will rise up from the ashes and make a more solid presentation in his next speech, and be prepared and ready to meet the steam roller at full speed. The first round he lost, demolished, for he did not know what was coming, and was hit unprepared. He could be wiser the next time and prepare to take on whatever comes his way. Or he could be like dust, blown away, here today, gone tomorrow.

Muhyiddin Spoke The Truth, Says Mahathir

August 26, 2009 22:25 PM Muhyiddin Spoke The Truth, Says Mahathir This is the heading in a reply by Mahathir on what Muhyiddin said. So, did Muhyiddin spoke the truth? Muhyiddin said two things. 1. He was persuaded to supply water to Singapore. 2. He said Lee Kuan Yew threatened to go to war with Malaysia if the latter did not supply water to Singapore. Mahathir said 1 is correct and 2 is false. Can I conclude that Muhyiddin said the truth for 1 and did not say the truth for 2? For Mahathir said that if LKY did threaten war with Malaysia, he would be the one to stop supplying water to Singapore. And that is vintage Mahathir and he would do it. Plainly, LKY would be diplomatic enough not to threaten war with Malaysia. Unbelieveable! Read the Bernama report below for the truth or half truth. "KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has admitted that he had persuaded Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to supply water to Singapore when the latter was the Johor menteri besar. "Tan Sri Muhyiddin spoke the truth about my persuading him to supply water to Singapore but Lee Kuan Yew did not threaten to go to war if we did not supply water. If he had done that, I think I would have stopped any further supply," Dr Mahathir said in an article posted in his blog on Wednesday. Dr Mahathir was commenting on Muhyiddin's statement on Aug 19 that he (Dr Mahathir) had summoned him to attend a meeting with the visiting Singapore prime minister then, Lee Kuan Yew, over gas pipeline and water supply issues in Kuala Lumpur. Muhyiddin had said that during the meeting between Dr Mahathir, the then finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, Lee and himself, Lee had pressed for adequate water supply to the republic from Johor. "Lee said Singapore was ready to go to war if Malaysia did not want to supply enough water and expressed his regret over the stalled water supply project from Sungai Lingu. "I said we did not have the money and Lee said Singapore was willing to bear the cost and, when completed, the assets will be owned by Malaysia, so Singapore had merely footed the bill," said Muhyiddin. Muhyiddin said this at a ceramah in Tanjung Putus, Bukit Mertajam, during the campaign in the Permatang Pasir state by-election to clarify allegations by the opposition that he (Muhyiddin) had sold a piece of land to Singapore in connection with the water treatment plant in Sungai Lingu, Bandar Tenggara, Johor. Dr Mahathir said in his article he did not know about the sale of land to Singapore but as it was agreed that a treatment plant be built by Singapore in Johor, land would have to be made available. "We were at that time trying to be friendly with Singapore in order to solve several problems. Although raw water would be supplied at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons, the understanding was that in future only treated water would be supplied when our treatment plants would be ready. "We would also not buy any more treated water from Singapore at 50 sen per thousand gallons when our new treatment plant in Johor is ready. "When we no longer needed to buy treated water from Singapore we could raise the price of raw water to Singapore without Singapore being able to raise the price of treated water to us. "However, when we concluded the water supply agreement, Singapore raised a lot of issues regarding our railway land, the CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) at Tanjong Pagar, training flights by Singapore warplanes over Malaysia and the Central Provident Fund. "At that stage, I realised that being friendly with Singapore did not pay," Dr Mahathir added." -- BERNAMA

Of Race, Religion and Nationality

These are the most common identity tags that people wear on their chests. They are either Chinese, Indian or Malay, Taoist, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist, and Singaporean or other nationalities. It seems simple enough until one claims to all three and there are forces tugging them in all directions. In the context of a country, race is probably the easiest to deal with as ethnicity is always subordinated to nationality. Regardless of race, one is a citizen of a country. So we have Chinese Singaporeans, Malay Singaproeans, Indian and Eurasian Singaporeans. This is similar to European Americans, Afro Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans. And as citizens they enjoy the same rights and privileges. The exception is Malaysia where race is supreme over nationality. Malaysians do not enjoy the same rights and privileges unless they are Malay. Nationality may be an artificial construct but it is legal and well defined, with specific boundaries, rules and laws, and rights and responsibilities. All citizens are constitutionally equal. And they are known by their citizenships. So in China you have Han Chinese, Hui Chinese, Mongolian Chinese, Manchurian Chinese, Uigher Chinese and Tibetan Chinese. And they are equal under the constitution. The more troublesome part is religion. The believers believe that they are under a superior being with a superior set of laws. And if they don't abide by the law of a country and want the religious law to be above secular law, then you have a problem. In many countries, you have kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers kneeling before a religious head who could be just another Ah Beng in a robe. The Ah Beng could be delivering his great message from his gods and the ministers could be sitting there quietly listening to him. And Ah Beng may not even pass his PSLE. But he is the representative of his gods. This is good. The trouble starts when they identify themselves as one and transcend across national borders. Then we have Turkish Muslims demanding the right to represent Uigher Muslims in China. Then we have Muslims from across the world helping their Muslim brothers to topple the secular govt in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand and other places. And they never see it as wrong as their superior doctrine and god are not restricted or confined to any man made borders. The world will be more muddle and chaotic when race, religion and nationality are messed around like rojak. _________________

Kudos to Tan Kin Lian

The formation of an independent watchdog group is a great leap forward in the protection of the small people that are often left in the lurch. The Financial Services Consumer Association(Fisca) is a welcome move. Tan Kin Lian has done it again, for the small and helpless people. We need more of such organisations for the good of the people. What such associations need is more clout, say professionals especially in the legal profession, to take up their case at minimal cost. In our expensive legal system, the small people without money often fell victims to the rich or the faceless corporations. The next thing that is needed is a channel to air their cases. I think as time goes on, as they become more vocal, the only reliable and dependable channel is still the cyberspace. The cyberspace is the friend of the small people as it is free and truly neutral and will print anything for anyone. Good work, Tan Kin Lian and friends, of the people.

Another dangerous proposition!

I was greeted by an article in ST by Salma Khalik suggesting insurance coverage for the 85 and above. With all good intention, she made many good reasonings and suggestions on why this group needs insurance coverage and how it could be done. Why is this frightening? Money flying away again. This kind of help, is asking people to take your money for your own good. Please, no more help of such kinds. Please, I am screaming, shouting, no more compulsion or any kind to take the people's money away. I know my kpkb is in vain. This is a sounding board to test whether the docile masses will bite or protest. If not, be prepared, another scheme may come your way. Compulsory insurance scheme for the above 85s. Great, all grounds covered. More money in the lockup. For goodness sake, if one is 85, prepare to leave. Our body is not built to last forever. We are not meant to be here forever. What the shit does one want to live that long for when nothing works? Want another pair of corneas, another pair of lungs, another heart, another stomach? At that age, people shall be contented to live the remaining part of their lives peacefully, with minimum pain. For those who have everything and all the money, please insure all you can and live for as long as you can. Change all the parts if you can afford it. For the average human beans, any day longer is suffering, pain and misery. And the suffering is not only to themselves but to their children and caregivers. What is more merciful? To prolong the pain and suffering, the misery, or to depart when the time has come? Another high faluting idea?

Making sense of statistics

Today paper reported that the 60% sandwiched class had a reprieve for price increases in the first 6 months of the year. The increase in CPI for this group of people is 0.7%. The ST highlighted that the poorest or lowest 20% was the worst hit as the CPI rose 1.6% for this group. Both used the same set of statistics from the Dept of Statistics to report a different thing. So one group should be celebrating and another group, the poorest, should be crying. But these are just statistics. Look at the shopping centres, foodcourts, the property launches, and the mercedes benzes in 2 or 3 rm flat car parks, then you may wonder whether the people are really suffering. You don't see the overt and abject poverty around the public housing estates. Yes there were the occasional soft drink can collectors and a few lonely souls browsing the rubbish bins instead of the internet. They are the exceptions. Prosperity is in the air. I just recall the happy faces at the NDP and the hundreds of thousands of merrymakers out for a good time at the Esplanade, the Marina Bay and the Padang area. So where are the poor or the poorest? If our poor and poorest are still able to have a good time in the worst economic crisis we are faceing, and with the CPI running away, than things cannot be so bad. Time for celebration again. For the top 20% they can open that $500 or $5000 bottle of champagne, the middle 60% can open the cheap red from ShengSiong or FairPrice. And the lowest 20% can either go for some cheap beer or toddy. Celebrate within your own means. This is paradise, the modern day Eden. (Jaunty going to scold me now.)

Loan shark country II

Just when you think it is over, just when the men in blue declared war and successes in napping a few runners, they struck again. Saw the news last night that residents in some part of the country have to put a layer of plastics over their doors, windows and walls to avoid the paints that will come in the dark of the night. The loan sharks are quite fearless. Or are they sending out a message, that this is their country and they are the law or above the law, or the law is nothing to them? Yes they can defy the law, and what can the law do to them? The thing is that our reputation as loan shark country is growing and spreading, and loan sharks with deep pockets are sending their funds here from neighbouring countries. Soon we will earn the badge of being the number one loan shark country in the world. Another feather on our cap.

A new lifestyle

Singaporeans have many choices of lifestyle they wish to live by, at a cost. Take visiting families and friends for instance. A family of two adults and two children making social calls is not a cheap thing. The fortunate will drive to their destination and the immediate cost is the petrol. The road tax and car already paid for. Just the recurring cost, $10 for petrol and $5 for parking. And if they choose to park illegally, maybe another $30 to $80 if kenna caught by our superbly efficient parking attendants. The alternative is public transport, either by cab or train/bus. A two way cab fair is going to be at least $20 or more, depending on the distance. Even by mass transport, $8 may be the cheapest. Hey, leading a socially active life is not cheap and not free anymore. What can happen down the road is perhaps virtual visiting. Everyone hook on a webcam and sit in front of a PC or laptop to chat away, by the fingers of course. In visual contact but nothing physical. Now that is futuristic. For those with mother in law phobia it is the best thing to happen. Now I am wondering why is social life or family visit a thing of the past.