More remisiers needed?

SGX wanted to boost the strength of remisiers by another 1000. Several broking houses are in the market looking for another couple of hundred remisiers each. Aren't these going against the conventional wisdom that the stockmarket shall go online and there is no need for remisiers? There was a time when the mantra was that machines could replace the role of remisiers but now we are hearing calls for more remisiers. Wonderful! Does it work to have more remisiers? Looking at the volumes traded in the market, at times as high as 2 billion shares daily, many of the remisiers were waiting for their phones to ring. Long were the days when the phones were ringing non stop once the trading volume hit 1 billion shares. What's happening? And the past few days the volume dwindled to less than a billion, and yesterday was the lowest to date, at 788 million shares. What were the remisiers doing? Swapping mosquitoes? Now, if the volume is going to be so anaemic, what would the addition of another 1000 remisiers do to the market? More volume or the same volume divided by another 1000? I have written in the past that once the retail investors have been sent to the cleaners, the next will be the remisiers. And when the remisiers too are emptied of their pockets, the funds and trading houses will only be trading among themselves. And looks like this day is getting nearer than I anticipated. How did the market get to this pathetic state? What is wrong with the market or the system? Is the system healthy or sick?

Yes we are world champion!

The WTTF victory has generated many discussions in the media and cyberspace, including mysingaporenews. The main argument centres on foreign talents versus local talents. Let me take the issue a little further by asking why are we doing this? What are we trying to achieve and for what? Is the glory of being world champion something so important to us that we should devote so much energy and resources to recruit foreign talents to make us feel good? Is it about national pride or is there an economic angle to it? Or would someone say it is about nation building, or a way to motivate our future champions? In Europe, particularly in football, buying foreign talents is a big thing and big money. It is big business, a big industry that generates economic activities and income, jobs etc etc. It is a business that extends beyond national boundaries. We too are spending hundreds of millions to watch football. The bottom line is big profits. I think we are very far from that in table tennis. It is still a national cost, a big hole where money is being poured into it when it could be used better in other areas. Maybe we have too much money and this small sum is insignificant and we can do without. Even in football, when players are bought and sold like assets, when it comes to the World Cup, the players, or most of them, will return home to play for their national teams. Not many national teams would want to field non nationals or newly bought nationals to don their colours to win football glory. It is unthinkable for Brazil, Ivory Coast, India, Japan, Korea or even Malaysia, to flirt with buying foreign footballers to win the championship. Table tennis is exceptional because many countries are doing it, from the US, Europe, across Asia to Oceania, the Chinese are exporting their table tennis players to these countries who are willing to pay for them. To the Chinese, it is an economic activity, and also they have an abundance of talents. Any difference between football and table tennis? In football, it is the commercially run football leagues that are trading talents. In table tennis, what league, representing who? What are we in for? Why are we importing foreign talents in sports for?

A local talent's future destroyed

Ang Jun Heng is a straight As student from Raffles Institution. He intends to apply for a SAF Scholarship to read Engineering. His future is, or was, very bright. Now he is lying in the hospital with severe cuts and injuries to his whole body and hoping that his reattached 4 fingers could heal and return to normal. Jun Heng was one of the unfortunate victims of the brutal robbery and savage attacks on several people by some foreign workers from Sarawak. Though most of attackers have been arrested except one, and some facing death penalties, none of these will be able to return Jun Heng his normal life and his bright future. I hope the authority will come down hard, extremely hard, on these foreign criminals who were given a chance to make a good start here but instead brutally attacked our citizens and hacking their victims with knives like savages. There must be no mercy shown to them. I would advocate that there should be another harsher laws for foreigners commiting violent crimes against our citizens. We were so nice to them, welcome them to our homes, spent monies to organise parties to make them happy here. And this is our just rewards. This is not an anti foreigner article. The good and law abiding ones are still welcome. For those who resort to vicious crimes against our citizens, let it be known that the law will come down very hard, doubly hard, on them. They must not return our generosity and kindness by harming our people.

Big and little Empires and their rights

At the Shangri La Dialogue, the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates pooh poohed the cutting off of contacts by the Chinese military with the Americans on the ground that the US was selling arms to Taiwan. He proudly told the delegates that the Americans have been doing so openly all these while so why the big fuss? He should also tell the delegates that the Americans also have a treaty to defence Taiwan should it be attacked by China. And Taiwan is a breakaway island from China. He should tell the delegates that for centuries the colonialists have ruled over the Asians, Africans and Americans, so it is alright if they continue to do it, openly. What this representative of the Empire did not know is that the Empire can do anything it wants as long as the subject nations under the Empire are too weak to talk back. The point is that the Empire forgets that once a subject nation is no longer a push over, it is not going to be dictated by the one sided rules and terms of the Empire. The balance of power as changed. And he went on to tell the subject nations in the Dialogue that the Empire will look at more options to punish North Korea for the alleged sinking of the Cheonan. He took it for granted that the one sided investigation by the Empire and the evidence produced are final, and the rest of the world must accept them as the ultimate truth. This truth and evidence cannot be questioned. The Empire is the arbiter and the judge and the executioner. Was he cocky, ingnorant or still believes the Empire calls the shot? In the eastern Mediterranean Sea there is a little Empire telling the countries in the region who is the boss. They control the sea, the land and the air. They will police the region and will take over any ships, vessels or vehicles moving without their approval. The countries in the region will just have to live under the rule and authority of the little Empire. And this state of affair will go on forever until such a time when there are capable countries that could challenge the balance of power there. In the meantime, the little Empire shall call the shot, like it or not. The big Empire will look the other way, and the UN will simply disappear knowing where it stands. So will other little European Empires. They share the spoils and divide the areas of influence among themselves.

Protest against Telcos in Hong Lim

Football fans staged a protest at the Speakers corner to show their displeasure against Singtel and Starhub for the high prices for the World Cup matches. By next week the two telcos are likely to come up with their facts and figures to prove how affordable and reasonable these prices are, and the protestors just have no case. This is the correct Singaporean way of communicating with the people. And after that, case close, no more issue. With only two or three telcos here, and running as private companies answerable only to their shareholders for profits, the football fans shall count themselves lucky that the prices are so affordable. In fact any price is also affordable as long as there are fans who can afford to pay for it. What is the message that the protestors were trying to make? Is it a reminder to the super talented CEOs that they should not take the consumers for granted and that they can pay any prices only to pass the buck to the helpless consumers? And they can still make handsome profits knowing that the consumers just have no choice but to pay. I think we need more of such protests to register the point. If not, such reckless behaviour is bound to repeat over and over again.

SMRT graffiti

I must say that the graffiti was very well done. SMRT would have to pay a lot for it if it were to commission an artist to do it. And I think SMRT quietly told itself that they didn't mind and let the train go around the island with the graffiti on it. But a crime is a crime. Vandalism is vandalism. The culprits must be charged in court and sentenced to 2 weeks jail. They shall serve their jail terms in SMRT depots and made to paint more graffiti officially with SMRT's consent this time. And SMRT can pay that a token of appreciation for a job well done. Put the blame on the Olympic spirit of good sportsmanship since the YOG is in town.

The superficial MBA Oath

A meaningless and superficial MBA Oath is now circulating in some of the top universities around the world, including SMU. MBA graduates are supposed to take the Oath modelled on the Hippocratic Oath of the medical profession which too has become superficial in many ways. The MBA graduates theoretically pledged to be good boys and good girls, do no evil, do only goodness, do no harm to others, and to help the society rather than their own pockets. If this is the best that these highly regarded institutions of higher learnings can come up with to save the world from another financial crisis, I think a primary school kid will be able to come up with something more idealistic. The real problems which no one wants to see or admit is that the administrators and regulators are in cahoot with the crooks and allowing the crooks to do as they pleased, helping them to take advantage of systems and regulations to enrich themselves with not a care about the consequences to anyone. What is needed is to put a hangman noose on the heads of the administrators and regulators and make them say a pledge as below, modelled after the superficial MBA Oath. 1. You shall be hanged if you do not manage the enterprise with loyalty and care, and advance your personal interests at the expense of the enterprise or society. 2. You shall be hanged if you do not understand and uphold, in letter and spirit, the laws and contracts governing your conduct and that of your enterprise. 3. You shall be hanged if you do not refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or business practices harmful to society. 4. You shall be hanged if you do not protect the human rights and dignity of all people affected by your enterprise, and you do not oppose discrimination and exploitation. 5. You shall be hanged if you do not protect the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a healthy planet. 6. You shall be hanged if you do not report the performance and risks of your enterprise accurately and honestly. 7. You shall be hanged if you do not help the management to continue to advance and create sustainable and inclusive prosperity. But for the above pledge to be effective, an independent govt body shall be set up to monitor the administrators and regulators to check on their actions and compliance with the pledge. Self regulations or little regulation is the biggest bull that will make a farce of the pledge. The administrators and regulators must come under intense scrutiny if they are to do their duties diligently and objectively, and fairly. And they must know that the axe will fall on them if they don't do their jobs as expected in accordance with the above pledge. So far the administrators and regulators are acting as gods, passing judgements when in fact they are as culpable as the crooks that nearly destroyed the financial system. The sad part is that we were just given a rude warning and no one is taking heed, and the crooks are still at it daily, doing their damages with impunity, knowing that they have the administrators and regulators in their pockets.

Low Teo Ping for President

The contest for the President of SAAA is hotting up with Low Teo Ping throwing in his hat. I think we can't find a better candidate than Low Teo Ping given his sparkling track record in sailing. His team of local boys and girls are world beaters. These are 100% local bred. No need to buy from other countries. Low could repeat what he did for sailing in athletes if he takes over the helm. He should be given the post of Ministers for Sports to give him the authority to revamp the whole system that is increasingly relying on money to buy glory, buying foreing talents to carry our flag and fight our fight. Low Teo Ping is the man.

S$18,316,267,123,556

S$18,316,267,123,556 This is size of debt that could bankrupt US. The above front page headline is in mypaper today. I am still panting after typing the numbers on the keyboard. To me, the US is already bankrupt, not that the amount could bankrupt the US. How and when are they able to pay back when the debt is still mounting daily. The wars they are conducting, the huge military forces they possessed, the bases overseas, luckily they need not have to pay their politicians too well. But that could be their mistake and the cause of this huge debt. I thought if they sell their 6th Fleet and 7th Fleet to China they may be able to get out of their debt. Looks like they will have to sell much more to clear what they owed. The greenbacks are going bananas soon.

FT showing their true talents

Another aspect of the talents possessed by our foreign talents, oops, I mean foreign workers to be more specific, is gang robbery. A gang of 7 went on a rampage, killing one and wounding 3 or 4 within a few hours in the Geylang/Kallang area. It was the most outrageous attack ever launched by the foreign workers in one night, and with so many victims. Thanks to our men in blue, they were caught except for one still at large within a couple of days. So you guys better be grateful at our men in blue. They are good. Then another case of 5 foreign workers robbing 500k ringgits from two money changer couriers was also reported today. And they too were arrested within a week. This is kind of a record, to be able to crack such cases in a matter of days. But the important thing is that with the prosperity we have, and with the foreign workers trying to make ends meet, it is a matter of time before they become too daring and wanted to get rich quick. Armed robbery does not need too much talent really. When desperation pushes them to the wall, anything goes. This is the social price we will have to pay. Hopefully it is not too high and not too frequent.

Prompt, credible and impartial investigation

Hilary Clinton said that the US had agreed to a prompt, credible and impartial investigation on the Israeli attack on Aid Ship heading to Gaza. This is her response to the UN's call for an investigation. I am wondering why the UN did not call for a prompt, credible and impartial investigation. And I am wondering why the US, UK and the South Koreans went ahead on a partial investigation without any independent party involved. What is the difference between the type of investigation conducted by the US, UK and South Koreans and a prompt, credible and impartial investigation? Was it prompt, was it credible, was it impartial?

Praying for abundance

The City Harvest Church is in the limelight for the wrong reasons, and many quarters are pointing an intimidating finger at it. Some remarks were not very pleasant. I have heard a little about what CHC is doing and the very positive comments by the believers on what they are doing, and the wonderful pastor in Kong Hee. I look at CHC as a revolutionary church, one that is taking the Christian movement to a new age. When wealth is everywhere, there is no need for poverty. Yes, we should be praying for abundance, give more and receive more in return. Generosity will be rewarded. There is no necessity today to want to be poor, to live in a state of poverty as a precondition to go to heaven. Why should people who work hard for what they have be wrong because they are too rich, and theoretically should not be in heaven. This concept or belief will rule out many of the successful people from being in the company of God. Let's celebrate wealth and richness. Let's be rich and live a good life of abundance. Let there be no guilt for living well and wanting to live well. And with wealth, many good things can be done, to be generous and kind to the less fortunate. Without wealth, it is difficult to even offer help and assistance. Wealth and abundance are good. Many non Christians are practising this all their lives. My parents too have been visiting temples to pray for abundance. Many of other religions or no religion too have been visiting houses of worship to pray for wealth and abundance. I am no exception. Anyone think that it is wrong to pray for abundance and live in abundance? Anyone does not want to live a life of abundance and want to live like Mother Teresa?

Building a nation

Building a nation, they used to call it nation building, is not about setting up a business, hire and fire, pick the best and discard the worst. A nation is about a people with a share history, some common identity, and a share destiny. It is not about fair weather friends, come when the weather is fair and vamoose when things get bad or there are green pastures elsewhere. It is about sticking together, looking after the able and disable, yes, no one is left behind. And many more. The last thing about nation building is to clamour for foreigners at the expense of your own people. To disadvantage your own people and tell them they deserve it if they don't buck up and there are many foreigners queueing up at the door to replace them. There is this relationship, an unwritten bond, to stick together for good or for the worst. When leaders forget and think that the less able can get lost if they are unable to keep up and will be most happy to bring in fair weather foreigners, give them a pink ic and call them citizens, then we are not talking about nation building. We are just running a corporation, hire and fire, no misgivings, no gratitude, no attachments. The people don't owe anything to the govt or the country and vice versa. Just a business contract.

Kim Jong Il is a madman, also a genius

Kim Jong Il is a madman that runs a very poor country for more than 50 years from the time of his father. And the North Koreans are still not starved to death and could build nuclear weapons and maintain an army that could over run the south with the word go. And the status quo is only maintained with the presence of American troops and backed up by Japanese pledge to join in to defend the South. Could a mad man and a very poor country really to that? Oh he is also a genius. And there was ‘a thorough investigation showing that the North Koreans are responsible,’ for the sinking of a South Korean corvette Cheonan. This is the most concrete evidence so far. Beyond any reasonable doubt. And Kim Jong Il did this just to attract world attention to feed his ‘dangerous personality disorder – “malignant narcissism” …which involves “extreme grandiosity and self absorption”. Isn’t this what George Bush was suffering from? Ok, Ok, I did not make this up. The above information can be found in William Choong’s article in the ST yesterday. He is a senior writer. I am wondering why he is so sure that the information was true and factual. How did he know, or those people who have no contacts with Kim, know that he is mad, and also a genius? Did they diagnose him or treat him? And I also wonder why William Choong is so sure that the evidence on the sinking of Cheonan is not fabricated but the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Americans and South Koreans said so? There is another page on mypaper today showing satellite photos purportedly of the palace of Kim Jong Il and proclaiming that this is a man who lives a lavished lifestyle. Looking at the images, the size of it was nothing compare to the football stars or Michael Jackson's estate or much bigger than any residence of heads of states. The question is that why are we so obsessed with North Korea and so happy to read unsavoury news about that country? Do we have an axe to grind, do we have an agenda, are we anti North Koreans? Or are we just being fed by the western media to attack the North Koreans without knowing it? The West have an interest to paint the North Koreans as black and bad as they can to justify their political interests. Do we have such an interest?

Israelis raid on Aid flotilla

Israel conducted a raid on the Aid Flotilla heading to Gaza in international water. 10 of the Arabs or Turks were killed and several wounded. The US as usual expressed regrets! That's all. And they were asking for blood in Korea. The saddest part is that all the Arab world could do is to demonstrate and cry for revenge. And revenge is something they are incapable of. And an even saddest part is that they will be hit and hit again by the Israelis at will, any time, any place, and all the Arabs could do will still be demonstration and crying for revenge, beating their own chests and hurting themselves. China was in the same shit hole when it was weak and helpless. Today, see who dares to attack or hit out at China. The Belgrade Incident will never be repeated again. That was the last incident that the Chinese will accept without hitting back. The next time China will hit back. Iran and North Korea are getting stronger, and to think of hitting these two countries is a dicey thing. For the attackers will not know what would hit them in return. There is merit in being strong and powerful and being able to defend yourself. For the rest of the Arab world, enjoy your crying and demonstration. They can continue to do these eternally if they remain weak, divided, and helpless. The Arabs are the Sick men of the Middle East.

Why no condemnation?

When a Chinese vessel hit the Great Barrier Reef, there was immediate condemnation and even talks of criminal charges against the captain of the ship for destroying the ecological system. We had our own oil spill last week and there was an article in the Today paper asking the question, 'What if the oil spill here was really big? Does it really matter? The proper question to ask is who is spilling and destroying the environment. Look at what BP has done and still doing at the Gulf of Mexico? 19,000 barrels per day gushing out of its well and it is more than a month, and the oil is still flowing out, creating the worst environmental disaster in American history. Where is the condemnation? Where is GreenPeace? Where are the environmentalists? Thank god it is BP versus America. If it was China, war could have broke out. How could any country or company be allowed to let a disaster of this proportion go on like this and still taking its time to deal with it? And all the western journalists, environmentalists and govts are keeping mum. It's ok. Don't worry about what if the oil was really big. Ask who is the culprit.

Can Singapore become a casualty of sovereign debt?

Unlikely. We are very cash rich and have invested several hundred billions in a diversified portfolio and managed by some of the best fund managers money can buy. No way are we going to become the first sovereign fund to turn turtle. The billions that we lost during the subprime crisis is an aberration. It will not happen again. Not our fault by the way. The subprime crisis was not expected. So was the PIGS crisis. Unless the PIGS grow bigger and drag down a few bigger economies like UK, Germany and the EU. If that happens, no one can run, no where to run. Our hundreds of billions would become waste paper. But they are real money that comes from somewhere. Somewhere there must be owners who want their money back, to be repaid. That would be the day. But a collapse of Europe is just impossible. Don’t even think of it. It will not happen. So, for Singapore to become a casualty of sovereign default is simply unthinkable. Don’t worry. Go ahead and take the loan to buy that million dollar property. Everything is fine. If the impossible happens, pure speculation and imagination, what would happen to those with a million or half a million dollar mortgage to pay?

World Table Tennis Final, China versus China

The recently concluded World Table Tennis Championship in Moscow saw Chinese players representing China and Singapore competing. The Chinese players won, and Singapore claims glory. We are the World Champion in Table Tennis. There will be victory celebrations and we can tell the world how great our table tennis players are, and we have world champions living among us. I still can't find the slightest feeling of exuberance in this great achievement. But that is only me. I believe many will be celebrating our World Champion status, a midget country that has no resources except human talents has finally produced world beaters. Something to be proud of. For the rest of the Singaporeans, be happy that you have a chance to celebrate and cheer and clap your hands furiously for this great glory. Thanks to our foreign talent policy. This is proof that it is a successful policy and we need to do more to bring in more foreign talents and we can be happy everyday. They have lifted our standard of table tennis. And there are many fields that we need them to lift us to higher planes. Bring them in! In jobs and employments as well. Our productivity will also stand to benefit. And the rest of the Singaporeans can be happy clapping for them, never mind if some Singaporeans are jobless or have difficulties finding a decent job. From the big picture it is good.

Something right and something wrong

There is a letter in mypaper today by a Mrs Anna Lee on the good life of PRs in Singapore. When they completed their employment terms here, they take out all the CPF and go home to their big 'renovated luxuriously and comparable to a Good Class Bungalow here,' in the Philippines. And these are just the middle executives with incomes in the $2,500 bracket. With this kind of income, the exchange rate and low cost of living, their income here could multiply many times back in their home town. We can only boast of our great infrastructure and world class govt and world class lifestyle at world class cost of course. And the option is either or. We cannot have world class everything without paying world class prices. That is the only way and as they said, you can't have your cake and eat it. Our middle level executives with a combined income of $6000 to $8000 can at best live in a pricey 5 rm HDB flat. So, win some lose some. And for those graduates trying to find a decent job, maybe wait for a while to save enough for a 3 or 4 rm flat, and that would be quality living they can afford.

Can we afford to produce so many graduates?

We have three state universities and several local and joint universities in our little city. And each has been increasing their intakes of undergraduates rapidly. And we have several polytechnics as well. Then we also have students going abroad on scholarships or on their own to pursue that degree. In total, it is quite possible that 40-50% of each cohort will turn up with a degree and another 20-30% with a diploma. Can our economy absorb all these graduates and keep them usefully and meaningfully employed with reasonable jobs and income commensurate with their qualifications? Employing graduates in jobs that do not require their level of education is not satisfactory and not a desirable solution. In order to accommodate all these graduates, there must be a policy change to make it workable. The liberal policies of welcoming foreigners that are no better or even less well educated or trained as our citizens must be modified. If we are serious in wanting to raise the educational level and technical expertise of our citizens, we must have the capacity to absorb them into the system. The liberal policies of employing foreigners for middle executive levels and above need revision, including setting quotas for local versus foreigners. If the job market is to be lassez faire, the unfair competitiveness of foreign talents will only rule out the employment of local graduates and we will be building a little time bomb in the social fabrics of our society. There will be a political and social price to pay. Answering to the demands and expectation of parents and individuals to want a tertiary education is one part of an equation. Satisfying their higher expectations in jobs and lifestyle is the other. The first part is being accomplished with the availability of more university and polytechnic places. Looks like the second part of the equation is still unsatisfactorily managed and will build up more stress in our system. The young and unemployed graduates and the displaced PMETs will be a force to be reckon with.

A desperate plea from an honours local graduate

'...I sank into a mental depression and felt completely useless. There was a period whereby I can’t even afford to have a proper $3 meal outside and had to feed myself with instant noodles and plain water every day.' The above was from an article posted in Gilbert Goh's Transitioning.org. It is quite a long article by a local honours graduate who called himself Tan. He said he had just got an administrative job after 5 months of search, 11 months of door to door salesman, and another 4 months of search after he was retrenched from his first jobs of 3 months. Tan was expected to be the sole breadwinner of his family but his jobless status had forced his parents to continue with their odd jobs just to carry on. And he was also settled with a study loan to pay. Without a job, without an income, he ended having to borrow to clear his debt. This is the plight of some new graduates who are not lucky enough to have rich parents and could go on a long overseas holidays after graduating, and finding a job is secondary. Yes, some are not so fortunate. When graduates of tertiary education was only 3% or 5%, a degree was a passport to a good life with jobs aplenty waiting for them. When 30% or 40% of each cohorts ended with a degree, the equation changes. A degree is just a degree and many applicants are also armed with degrees. It is not a guarantee that one can land a job so easily. Then we have the talented foreigners coming in to take a share of the jobs available, and there are the retrenched or jobless PMETs begging for a job as well. Funny that this is a problem when technically we have full employment. Something is amissed. It will be a matter of time before our graduates start to drive taxis or be croupiers in the casinos, or as salesmen as saleswomen. Please lower your expectation even if you are a graduate as you will hit one by throwing a stone into any crowd. I wonder how much the parents will have to pay to bring up a graduate. And I wonder how much will be needed for these young graduates to start a home, to buy their first 3 or 4 rm flats. Forget about anything bigger or private. Those must come from the pockets of rich parents. Are we happy with the current situation? Are we doing it right or doing it wrong?

Can the Railway deal be derailed?

More positive comments are coming out from UMNO leaders, including Khairy Kamaruddin, the UMNO Youth Chief, who was the hottest head in fanning anti Singapore sentiment in the days of Mahathir. He too could see the logic and benefits of such a deal when the sky is clear and the wools were removed from his eyes. The benefits are so obvious and tremendous that only those who chose not to see would miss them. So far the glaring silence from the Mahathir camp and his erstwhile comrades in arms is the only notable thing in Malaysian news. They have kept quiet, including Mahathir. While things are looking well, Najib's path is still not smooth sailing as he is being challenged on his NEM, New Economic Model. Some UMNO branches are accusing him of selling out Malay rights. Najib's trump card is his father's reputation of being the champion of Malay Special Rights. One of the puzzling argument by his opponent is that some Malays are still not able to compete equally with the other races. Could any race have members that are all able and talented to be the best among the best? This is a flawed argument that is being thrown out as a justification to extend the NEP. In reality, every racial group will have its talents and not so talented and the latter will forever be left behind no matter what and how long it takes. It is just a natural thing. To expect all the Malays to be equally competitive is a false argument. Najib still has a big task ahead as he seeks to find new directions to take Malaysia to the future. And the danger of him being toppled and his plans discarded in mid stream are highly possible. Malaysian politics is very fluid and anything can happen except certainty. Nothing is firm or certain. Laws can be changed overnight, policies revoked, and master plans shelved. The only saving grace today is the urgency to want to move forward and achieve a developed country status. And a lot of money and resources have been expended on the IDR. Pulling back and pulling the plug will be very costly. There is no turning back in a way. But be not too sure on this. Is the Railway Agreement a deal done? The politicking has not started yet.

The evidence was fabricated

The North Koreans have strongly denied their involvement in the Cheonan Incident and claimed that the evidence was fabricated. The South Korean/US/UK experts claimed that the torpedo was fired by a Salmon class submarine and the North said that it was nonsense as they didn't even own such a submarine. How could the investigators cooked up such a story is mesmerising. And the words carved on the torpedo turbine was also claimed to be forged. And the western media was all clamouring that China is under intense pressure to punish the North. Really, would China be put under pressure to make a major decision against its ally on evidence that it was kept away from and which has a high possibility of being fake? I believe China will want to take its own time to study the evidence to confirm its authenticity. Given the reputation and knowledge of how the Americans and British have fabricated the evidence and information about WMD, it is only expected to doubt whatever the Americans and the British claimed with a big question mark. They are now world renowned for telling lies. Who would be so silly to believe in them? If the evidence was found to be fabricated, then China should call for a bigger investigation to find out the truth, who fired and killed the South Korean soldiers, and also bring criminal charges against those who fabricated the evidence. And how would the world look at the South Koreans and the Japanese who are so willing to take sides and support a war with the North? In the event of a war, who will be killed and destroyed?

High hopes and high expectations

There have been many positive comments on the milestone set by Najib and Hsien Loong and the expectations are high for more cooperations ahead. One big surprise is the reticence coming from the court of Mahathir. Or is he planning a long thesis on how foolish is this Najib move? The Najib magic is a direct slap on Mahathir and he should feel the most pain. During the tussle for power, he was still calling the shot in some ways when Najib was reported to have met him to discuss his future as the next PM of Malaysia. It was like Najib needed his blessing and support for the seat. All that has passed now and the first major international policy made by Najib was to dump all of Mahathir's venom into the sungei. While Mahathir is fuming and planning his next move, the Malaysian paper Sin Chew Daily commented on the diverse path that the two countries have ventured and the gaps that needed to be bridged to move along as equal partners. It summarised the policies of Mahathir and how these have held back Malaysia to its developing status while Singapore is running away in the developed league. It lamented that the lack of competitiveness, efficiency, corruption and racial politics would be difficult problems to surmount as the two countries try to get their acts together and move along as partners. The high hopes and expectations are positive but after 20 plus years of heading in different directions, it is not going to be easy, or can be overcame quickly, to get things on the same footings. It will take a long time for the two to be able to operate in the same frequency and enjoy the fruits of their new endeavours. It will demand a lot of patience and statemanship to bridge the gaps and set aside decades of bad blood and perceptions of each other. The people of the two countries can only hope that it is not a flash in the pan move and the subsequent leaders would be dedicated to keep the momentum going. Would this be another high hope?

Why only 70% believe?

The South Koreans reportedly conducted a survey on the sinking of Cheonan and was surprised that only 70% of the South Koreans believed that it was the work of the North Koreans. Why is it that there are still 30% of the South Koreans disbelieving the claims by their govt even with their one sided evidence? Given the overwhelming proof produced by the South Koreans, the American and British experts, there should not be any doubt to believe otherwise. So far the western world all believes that the North Koreans are guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. Even the UN Secretary General said so, and he believed everything that the South Korean govt said. And reading from the media, it is conclusive that it was the North Koreans who did it. Would a one sided evidence produced in secrecy by a gang of interested parties that have all the reasons to point the fingers at the North Koreans be admissible in court as valid evidence? And China is expected to take these evidences as the gospel truth. Though China and Russia have said that they would want an independent investigation on the evidence, how much can they differ if the evidence were expertly cooked for several months? The happiest person is the little girl who thought that everything has been sewn nicely and foolproof, that the North is guilty and no one can deny it. The possibility of it being a North Korean act cannot be ruled out, but the probability is low. What if it was a sinister plot by a third party to fan the tension and at the expense of South Korean lives, and the South Koreans swallowed it hook, line and sinker? Isn't that a shameful tragedy while the third party or parties quietly partying away for a great clandestine op?

The transition is taking place

Stephen Bernard and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writers, On Thursday May 27, 2010, 6:19 pm EDT NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks had another turnaround Thursday and rocketed higher after China reassured investors it doesn't plan to sell the European debt it holds. The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 285 points. Treasury prices tumbled as traders funneled money into riskier assets like stocks and commodities. China's show of confidence in Europe let the market resume a rally that stalled late Wednesday following a report that the Chinese government was considering cutting its European debt holdings. If that were true, such a move would have signaled that China didn't think Europe would be able to contain its debt crisis. The agency that manages China's $2.5 trillion in foreign reserves denied the report.... The above passages are signs that the world leadership is slipping from the fingers of the American and into the Chinese. A few words by China are enough to bring a rally in European and American stock markets while Timothy Geithner's visit last week yield practically not even hot air. The weight that China carries in the financial world is evident in contrast to the mess the Americans carved themselves into by the very best financial gurus they have produced from their best universities. These unethical selfish individuals are out there doing their best for their own pockets with total disregard to the ruins they are creating. Obama is trying his level best to put a lease on these crooks but unlikely to succeed as nearly everyone in Congress is probably being paid by these guys or their institutions. The bills may be passed, but the implementation is another matter. In the meantime the American financial system, including the Europeans, will continue to wind down and implode. On the military front, the hawkish and warmongering policy of George Bush of pre emptive strike comes under the limelight. This cowboy gun firing policy, the right to invade any country on the ground that the US claims that it is a threat is now being abandoned by Obama in name. In practice, the policy is still in practice as is seen in the Korean peninsula and the Middle East. Just brand the countries as a threat to American interests and it is up to the Americans to decide when to invade. The world must be feeling very disgusted with the evil Empire and Obama knows it. Unfortunately the little girl is still innocent about what she is doing and is waving the flag of war in Korea. More sanctions, more war games and provocative actions against the North on a charge backed up by evidences that are highly suspect, like the WMD evidences. She is still continuing with the Bush Doctrine of starting war everywhere. As the world wisen up to the deeds of the evil Empire and their bankrupt policies and treasury, I wonder when will they jump ship and let the boy to continue crying wolf and playing the pipe piper to lead the world in financial ruins and war?

North Korea's acts as baffling as ever

This is the title of an article by John McBeth in the ST today to describe the sinking of Cheonan. He could not find a sensible reason for the North Koreans to do such an act. And as national leaders, one must assume that they are thinking people and will act only when they are to benefit from it. There must be good reasons for them to sink the South Korean ship. But apparently there were none. The truth is that the sinking of Choenan has all the bad reasons for North Korea. And the evidence are all there to say that the North Koreans have nothing to do with it. Instead, the sinking are all in favour of South Korea and its allies and what they are up to. The AGENCIES reported that the South Koreans are monitoring and tracking the movements of the North Korean submarines. This is a Freudean slip in the first order. It reveals and admits that the South Koreans have all the while been tracking the North's submarines. And if there was one near Choenan, they would have known and would not have been knocked out by surprise. The South Korean's National Intelligence Service also reported to the President that the North did not do it. And they were arranging for a meeting between the two Presidents which made such an incident intolerable. The factors that are in favour of such an incident is exactly the above. The meeting between the two Presidents and the warming up of relations between the two Koreans must be stopped. Then there is the China element. China is gaining in building up closer relations with the two Koreas. The third reason is of course the American bases in South Korea and Japan. An incident like the sinking of the Choenan would strain relations between the two Koreas, raise tension and justify greater American military presence. And of course, it would drive a wedge between China and its closest ally, North Korea. China would be forced to take sides and whichever side it takes will hurt its relation with the other. Brilliant strategy! China is now in a fixed. North Korea is branded as the bad boy. America, Japan and South Korea are the good guys. And after months have passed, they expect the Chinese to examine the evidence provided by them for the sinking of the ship. During this time they were the ones meddling with the evidence and who knows what they had done to it. They had the chance to have an international and impartial body to examine the evidence but they passed it. China and North Korea should simply rule the evidence as questionable and not admissible as proof. Period.

Be tough to Singapore!

This mentality was stamped in the Mahathir era and has been embedded deeply in the minds of those who have worked with him. Anwar is no exception. And his immediate response to Najib's agreement with Hsien Loong was that Najib was soft. Any Malaysian leader that signed or come to any agreement with Singapore must be soft. Then what is being tough? Being tough means never to sign any agreement with Singapore. If Singapore asks for 10% Malaysia must ask for 20%. If Singapore asks for 20% Malaysia must ask for 40%. The greatest example was the price of water to Singapore. It was a few cents and Mahathir asked for $3 for a starting price, I could not remember the exact figure. And when Singapore tried to negotiate, the price was raised to more than $10 and even higher everytime Singapore try to negotiate for a more reasonable price. This is what tough meant to Mahathir. Actually it is not tough. It is sheer stupidity. It is an approach that says he would not want to sign any agreement unless it is on his terms. In any business or bilateral agreement, how could any party think that an agreement can be signed on a one sided terms. To go forward, to negotiate any deals, the premise must be that both parties are comfortable with the deal and see benefits in them in an equitable manner. And that was exactly what happened when Najib and Hsien Loong met. And a deal was done. So, in the eyes of Anwar and Mahathir, and those who have been programmed to be tough, Najib must be soft. How to go forward like dat? PS. The best part is that after signing every deal that they had thoroughly studied in details before signing, they will come back and say they had a raw deal. That they were cheated.

Anwar dismisses Najib for being soft

The Pakatan Rakyat defacto leader said that the agreement which was announced yesterday raised concerns that Malaysia is seen to be too “submissive” in catering to Singapore’s demands. “There is a tendency that in the policy of Najib, like in the case of Barack Obama, he seems to be too submissive, agreeing, and there is a lot of concern. “Why is it we have now a Prime Minister that surrenders too easily?” asked Anwar. The above paragraph was posted in The Malaysian Insider in an article. 'Anwar flays ‘submissive’ Najib in Singapore deal' By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal May 25, 2010 The impression I get from Anwar's comment is that Malaysian leaders must act tough and play hard ball with Singapore. Otherwise they are seen to be soft, unfit to be Malaysian leaders. This is the underlying confrontational mindset that is prevailing since the Mahathir's time and is still existing today. Anwar's words are a revelation, that within closed doors, they must have been telling each other so. Be tough to Singapore leaders. With this kind of confrontational and aggressive mindset, it is tough to negotiate and come to any kind of agreement. No matter how good a deal, how fair a deal is, any agreement will be seen as a sell out, as being weak. So how to go ahead? Signing any agreement with Singapore is weakness. Signing any agreement with Singapore is signing a bad deal and to their disadvantage. When will they be able to sign an agreement that is fair or to their advantage? When can they sign an agreement and be seen as being tough? Strange mentality.

Concerns of a Harvard don

Cheong Suk Wai interviewed Harvard business administration professor Robert Pozen on his take of the world financial system. The professor was an advisor to George Bush and also chairman of MFS Investment Management, a mutual fund of US$200 billion in assets. The professor came under criticism for recommending that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac ‘be given a good shake up’. When asked by Suk Wai on ‘What should we be focusing on to prevent, or at least anticipate, future financial fallouts’, these are his replies. 1. When there are very high levels of leverage in the system, that means everyone is running for the exit at the same time.(Spelt derivatives) 2. When you have foreign money supporting a real estate boom, that creates fragility because such money is always hotter than local money. (Be prepare for a quick cash out and a run on the property market) 3. Mismatches between assets and liabilities: If your financing is highly dependent on short term financing against long term assets, you’re vulnerable to liquidity crises. (Careful when taking big loans on properties and depending on salaries to pay) 4. Beware of financial innovations that grow extremely rapidly without proper supervision.(Spelt property bubbles, derivatives, CDOs, toxic products) 5. If you have fixed exchange rate, lots of pressure will build up to make it disintegrate in a short time as opposed to a flexible exchange rate, which goes up and down. The professor also commented on the need for truly independent and professional directors and that at most one should sit in 3 boards to be effective. The concerns of the professor are nothing new as the professionals, govt and academics are all privy to the indiscretions and the flaws existing in the current system. Our little system in paradise is also exposed to the same flaws and risks and it is just a matter of time before they explode in our faces. Do we have the political will and ethical responsibility to clean up the mess before it is too big to do anything about it? The only thing I disagree with the professor is point 5 on fixed exchange rate. The pressure building up is caused by the manipulation of speculative funds and govts like the US who are thrashing it to hide the weaknesses in their own system. A fixed exchange rate under the present condition is much safer and stable and would not be attacked by unscrupulous big funds. It also allows govts to manage the exchange rates purposefully and orderly.

Land Acquisition Act

Mahathir thought he could squeeze Singapore's balls by letting the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to rot and be the eyesore in the heart of Singapore's business district. He forgot that the govt could throw the Land Acquisition Act on it and take it back with a little compensation like what it had done to acquire land for HDB flats and other infrastructure projects. If it was done, what Malaysia could get, going by the going rates for land acquisition will be peanuts. Of course nothing was mentioned on this option while we were still dependent on the water supply and water collection plants in Skudai. Now that this is no longer a trump card, and we could do without, using the Land Acquisition Act could be a matter of time. For good bilateral relations, it is good that we don't have to come to that and create more bitterness and animosities. Now we have a good ending to a fairy tale and they live happily ever after.

The dynamic duo of Ah Huay and Ah Lian

I can still recalled the infamous maiden speech of Ah Lian in Parliament about digging jamban and pangsai. If I am not mistaken it was to tell the opposition that this govt is not one that would wait for people queuing up to pangsai then start digging jambans. This is a highly strung govt of super talents, far sighted, proactive and always planning ahead, to anticipate problems before they appear. I would like Ah Lian to propose that Ah Huay make that speech again to remind everyone that this govt is still the same govt that would not dig jambans frantically only after people screaming to pangsai. And Ah Lian should also suggest that the speech be framed and hung on the walls of Parliament to remind everyone what this govt stands for. The combination of Ah Huay and Ah Lian can be a powerful act to make sure that nobody falls asleep in his job.

Magic Najib , awesome!

No one would believe that Najib was able to pull the Malayan Railway relocation project off so easily and quickly. For him to reach an agreement with Hsien Loong is like David Copperfield performing his majic and his audience staring in disbelief. The Malayan Railway was Mahathir’s pet subject in how to skin Singapore. Mahathir knew how badly Singapore wanted that piece of land for redevelopment and irritatingly refused to come to any agreement no matter what. It was simply no go. Najib has only been a PM for less than a year. And on the home front he has made many overtures and decisions that would give Mahathir a big nightmare. With Mahathir breathing down his neck and watching him like a hawk, and with a team of ultras in his cabinet waiting to pounce on him to prove that they are bluer than blue, any PM would be walking on trip wires. The agreement with Singapore, no matter how attractive and beneficial, is bound to come under attack before the ink is dry. For Najib to be able to walk away with it and smilingly is a sign that he is in control, whether by persuasion or sheer leadership, he must have his cabinet behind him. The agreement can be the most attractive and favourable to Malaysia in many counts, but if the cabinet is not behind him, it will never be accepted. If the cabinet is still stuck with the baggages of Mahathir, no Najib magic will work. I am still in a state of shock and disbelief that it is happening. And this bodes well for bilateral ties and economic cooperation between the two countries. It is a gigantic step forward and both sides can only benefit with more cooperations and joint ventures, bilateral or springing into the international arena. When both sides are willing to put aside the historical baggages and look ahead, there will be many more magical moments to come. There will be no need for any formal loose federation when the spirit of cooperation is there. Many of the unnecessary barriers could be lowered or remove to facilitate mutually beneficial activities. In Najib there is a new vibrancy in Malaysia. His mind is set on moving ahead rationally, for economic growth and development instead of fighting the shadows of past animosities. The unfruitful and unproductive politicking of the past is history. He has many tasks ahead and is wasting no time to kick start Malaysia into another economic powerhouse. If he is successful, he will easily outdo what Mahathir had done in the last 30 years in a fraction of that time. Now that the agreement has been signed, Najib is going home to face his doomsayers and the recalcitrants who would be pulling all the plugs under him. Would he be strong enough to stand on his feet and carry his dreams forward, intact?

From missionary to mercenary

Historically we have seen many beans answering to a calling to become missionaries. Many stayed that way throughout their lives, living frugally and accepting whatever that was provided for them. The monks lived off the alms while the priests lived off the parish or the church. These are devout believers with a heard of gold. Modern days have changed many things. Even monks who took vows to abstain from material comfort and wealth could defend their lavish lifestyles on grounds that things have changed, values have changed. Modern living and the pursuit of material well beings are compatible with monks and missionaries. Men and women with hearts of gold easily succumbed to modern lifestyles and became men and women with minds for gold. Charitable organisations, religious or secular, are not spared. The missionaries could not resist the temptation of greed and turn themselves into very rich mercenaries, and still claiming to be to a calling. They still wear their robes and badges of honour like the early missionaries who toiled for a cause without asking for more. Indeed time has changed, people have changed, moral and ethics have also shifted to new grounds. Hearts of gold are now minds full of gold.

Intelligence Report: US authorised sinking - By Freeman Cain

A classified independent intelligence analysis of a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship concludes that the US authorised the torpedo assault, according to senior officials who cautioned that the assessment was based on their sense of the political dynamics there rather than hard evidence. The officials said they were increasingly convinced the US ordered the corvette Cheonan sunk to help secure the continued presence of American soldiers in South Korea and their bases in Okinawa. An official involved in the assessment said: 'There is very little doubt, based on what we know about the current state of the American leadership and the military.' Both the conclusion and the timing of the assessment could be useful to the US as it rallies world support against Pyongyang....Another WMD justification in the making. So far, the US and South Korean leaders have been careful never to link Mr Kim in public to the attack, which killed 46 crews. Officials said that was partly due to the absence of hard evidence, but also largely to avoid playing into America's hands by casting one of the worst attacks since the 1953 armistice as another piece of lore about the Kim family taking on South Korean and the West to justify the American presence. The American's propaganda surrounding that imagery has been used to sustain two generations of American military presence in South Korea and Japan, and the leading theory in the independent intelligence community is that the Cheonan's sinking was part of an effort to extend the American military presence. North Korea has denied involvement despite the presentation of forensic evidence last Thursday - including parts of a torpedo found in the wreckage - that experts from three countries said established the torpedo was launched from a North Korean submarine. Although officials would say little about what led them to conclude the US was directly involved, one factor appeard to be intelligence that Hilary Clinton was in Japan on a closed door discussion with the Japanese on the sinking. Both have vested interests to raise the tension in the Korean peninsula to justify the continued semi colonisation of South Korea. PS: The above article is an adulterated version of an article by David E Sanger in NYT and reprinted in the mypaper today. I just replaced words like North Korea and Kim Jong Il to the US, Americans and Clinton. How could an intelligence report coming out at this time and based on nothing but gut feel deserved such a prominent exposure and to be read by the gullible readers? _________________

I am Marxist, declared Dalai Lama

When the Dalai Lama unashamely called himself a Marxist, believing in the goodness of Marxism which he said, 'has moral ethics, whereas capitalism is only how to make money' it heralds a new tomorrow on the ascend. The moral degradation and irresponsibility of western Capitalism is acknowledged by the premier institutions that manufactured countless numbers of production line MBAs that are helping to destroy the world's financial institutions. Harvard's admission of guilt and wrongdoing is their planned introduction of a hippocratic code mirrored along the medical schools. It is meant to remind their graduates that making money immorally, indiscriminately and devoid of ethical considerations is simply bad. But many laughed at it as another meaningless gimmick that would not change the direction of things. Hippocratic code or hypocritic code, the message is clear. The western model of Capitalism and the western institutions of learning need a thorough revamp and what is sorely missing is the element of moral responsibility or ethics. When the Asian financial crisis hit, the western overlords landed in their shining chariots from heaven with a cane in their hands. Asian govts were treated with disgust as simpletons who could not manage their own finances, and harsh words and actions were the order of the day. But they say all things come in full circle. Now we have seen how the Americans messed up their country and the world despite the strings of top financial institutions churning out the 'best' financial gurus and working for the system. Now we have the European financial crisis when they mismanaged at a scale no less than the Americans and much worst that the simpleton Asian govts. What was noticeable is that there were no harsh words and forcing the sick govts to sign on the dotted line for recommendations to treat their woes. And the best part is that they are only pushing their problems to their future generations to pay. The bad part is that they have nothing to pay except for a few who strike black gold in the North Sea or the Gulf of Mexico. The Asians were lucky as countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines have abundant natural resources to pay for their temporary excesses. For naive Asian countries that swear by the western economic model, it is time to wake up and reassess where they are heading. It is like the communist doctrine of thesis, anti thesis and synthesis. Western Capitalism was the anti thesis of Communism. A new anti thesis to western Capitalism is needed to reach a synthesis. Blind following and apeing of the western model is inviting the same danger and awaiting the same fate.

The Missionaries

As Dr Goh's body lays in Parliament House awaiting a state funeral, the people came from near and far to pay their last respects and tributes to a great and honourable man who had done so much for so little for his country. All the words were of the works that he had conceived and done. They remembered the times they met him when he was serving as a minister and busily doing what he had to do. And words would not be enough to describe all the things that Goh Keng Swee had done in his ministries. One word was starkingly absent. No one mentions anything about sacrifice. No one tells how men of his time, including senior civil servants, slogged through days and nights just to get the job done. If I can recollect, even when he was a minister, he had never complained about the sacrifice he made for the people and country. For he did not need to justify for himself or what he was doing. There were plenty of works to be done and they went about it like missionaries. A calling, a duty to the people and the country. And they did a damn good job for it without the glamour and the trappings of extravagant rewards to go with it. They were men and women on a mission. Dr Goh was an exceptional missionary.

Twisted logic of high finance

Attacking a country’s currency, stock market or financial system, if done by a country is tantamount to a hostile act, an act of war. Done by a bunch of fund managers, it is ok. They can bring down the currency or financial system of a country and it is considered legitimate, part and parcel of investment strategies! And sovereign countries allow this to happen and could not do anything about it. Who are these fund managers? A bunch of crooks, or are they a cloak and dagger operation of some govts? The latter seems easier to handle while a bunch of crooks are free to do whatever damage they could to bring a country to its knee, to bankrupt countries. And the US is accusing China as a currency manipulator for controlling the exchange rate of Yuan. They want China to free the Yuan to allow the crooks to manipulate it under the guise that if it has a weakness they have the right to bring it down. With the crooks operating as an irresponsible wolf pack out to destroy countries and their financial system, it is better that countries return to the fixed exchange rate system to protect themselves. Mahathir in this sense has done the right thing. China is also doing the right thing to protect itself. Let the West and their freedom to act, irresponsibly, to destroy themselves at their own time. But Obama knows that this is wrong and trying to curb the madness in the finance industry inside the US.

How much did we subsidise tertiary education?

In my article yesterday, the British universities are charging EU and their own citizens a flat fee of 3,290 pounds and international students at 21,400 pounds. In our case, we charge our citizens $7000 against $11,000 for international students. Two points to make from this comparison. The cost of education in British universities are much cheaper than ours as relatively their cost of living are higher. The second point is that they make international students pay 7 times what their citizens paid. This means that if the cost of education is double what their citizens are paying, guessing only, then each international students could be subsidizing 50% of the tuition fee of 5 UK/EU students. It is a case of looking after their citizens first. Let's take a look at the tuition cost and subsidies as published by the NUS website. For an Arts and Social Science course, the grant or subsidy is $19,000. This plus the $7,000 fee the students are paying will make up the full tuition cost, ie $26,000. And if we apply the same formula for the cost of education in the UK, the British are actually charging international students the full fees, with practically no subsidies. What about our international students. If the full cost is $26,000 and our international students are paying $11,000, then they should be receiving a subsidy of $15,000. According to the NUS website, the full fee for international students is $30,000 and they too get a $19,000 grant. I am not going to quibble why the full fee between citizen and non citizen has a $4,000 difference. But why do we need to offer international students a $19,000 grant? Could we charge international students a little more to subsidise our local students like what the British are doing? Of course we can't charge them the same 21,400 pounds or about $42,800 pa. We may also be world class but no foreigners will want to pay the same for a Singapore education if they could get a British one. Still we could raise it to maybe $15,000 or $20,000 if our education is really world class, and at a 50% discount to what the British universities are charging, it must still be a bargain. We could then charge our citizens much lesser, subsidised by international students instead of the govt subsidising international students to a tune of $19,000.

Time to arrest the big fund managers for treason

I just read this from the Telegraph. From Telegraph “Germany’s ‘desperate’ short ban triggers capital flight to Switzerland” A year ago, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned that the toxic debts of the country’s banks would blow up “like a grenade” once hidden losses from the credit crisis caught up with them. An internal memo at the time showed that BaFin feared write-offs might top 800bn (£688bn), twice the reserves of Germany’s financial institutions. Nobody paid much attention. But the regulator’s shock move on Tuesday night to stop short trading on banks, insurers, eurozone bonds as well as a ban credit default swaps (CDS) on sovereign debt has left markets wondering whether the slow fuse on Germany’s banking system has finally detonated. BaFin spoke of “extraordinary volatility” and said CDS moves were jeopardising “the stability of the financial system as a whole”. It is unsettling that the BaFin should opt for such drastic measures a week after EU leaders thought they had overawed markets with a 750bn rescue package and direct purchases of Greek, Portuguese and Spanish debt by the European Central Bank. BaFin’s heavy-handed move seems to proclaim that the rescue has failed.... The big fund managers think they are very smart in shorting the Euro or any stocks or currencies in a big way to make money. Such action is an equivalent to a run on the banks. It is a deliberate attempt in creating fear which could precipitate into a crisis while govts and regulators are trying to solve the problem. Those involved in such activities should be arrested for treason. The sentiment in the stock market is now so bad that everyone is staying out. The cumulative actions of the big speculators will destroy the world's financial system if not put to a stop. They are criminals!

How much is our world class education?

Singapore citizens pay about $7000 tuition fee per year at NUS for year 2010/11. International students pay about $11,000. We consider ourselves very lucky to receive a tertiary education in one of the top universities in the world. The tuition fee for Imperial College of London, the top 3 university in UK and ranked 5th in the world by Times is 3,290 pounds for UK and EU citizens. For international students the fee is 21,400 pounds for an Engineering course. Am I right to say that a UK or EU citizen is paying lesser for a world class education in Imperial College than our citizens in NUS? The exchange rate is S$2 to a pound. In fact practically all the universities in UK is charging the same tuition fee for UK and EU citizens.

Going after short and naked sellers

If you are short and naked, and a seller in stocks, the German Stock Exchange will ban you from trading. You can be short but not naked, or naked but not short. Or better to be tall. The action by the German Stock Exchange to curb wild sellings led to another rout yesterday. Edward Krudy reported in New York that the SEC was treating the symptoms instead of the cause of the failures of the stock exchange. The stop gap measures of having circuit breakers are not dealing with the cause of the big plunge in the market. They must go after the high frequency traders. All of them are treating the symptoms and not the cause. The real cause is the problem of being too big. In the past, local syndicates were considered too big to manipulate the stock markets and were watched like a hawk. They were monitored and policed very closely to prevent them from doing mischiefs and harm. But these syndicates are like a little mouse compare to the hedge funds and investment banks with their billions to thrash around. These are the biggest threats to the stability of stock markets, currencies and countries. They could ruin them by their concerted effort to sell down markets or currencies and destroy a country and its economy. Then the investors have suddenly realised that Goldman Sachs was making billions of profits while their clients were losing billions following their recommendations. Why? It's elementary. Conflict of interest. Investments banks must not be allowed to make recommendations and trade for themselves and their clients. Period. All the regulators must wake up from their stupor to rein in the big funds and banks from their destructive selling and buying activities. The big funds have a huge unfair advantage and are hundreds of times more dangerous and destructive than the local small syndicates. Would anything be done? I doubt so. And stock markets across the world will continue with their roller coaster rides, dictated by the big funds. And the victims are the small innocent investors.

MRT jumpers, a cheap and easy solution

Another jumper missed the train, or the train missed the jumper. The jumper was on the track but train stopped in time. Jumper hauled up and sent to hospital with minor injuries. Looks like the jumpers are ever ready to smash at the train as long as the sophisticated screen doors are not installed. The multi million dollar system is still waiting for full delivery, or maybe SMRT are monitoring its effectiveness before commissioning the whole works. Actually a cheaper and easier solution can be found and be implemented instantly. Why can’t the trains be made to slow down to a speed that would not kill as it near the station? Is that so difficult to implement? How much time will it lost, 10 sec per station? The little time lost can be made up with a small increase in speed on its way to the next station, and no time would be lost at all. And once the jumpers know that the train speed is slow enough not to kill, they would not risk jumping down to get injured only to live. See, no need to spend multi million dollars and complicated system. And there is a high recurrence and maintenance cost to foot in the long run. Just a little procedural change and training were all that is needed. This is common sense and the same principle is being applied to road speed. Why so many roads are limited at 50 kph and the expressways at 90 kph? Safety, and to minimise road accidents of course. A slowing down of train speed before hitting the station could solve the jumper problem so easily and cheaply. They better pay me for consultancy fee. I don’t offer ingenious ideas for free.

The shame of the diplomatic corp

Is Silviu Ionescu a typical example of the character and integrity of a diplomat? If he is, then the whole diplomatic corp is a sham. How could a man of such low integrity and despicable conduct be chosen by a country to be their representative? And presumably he is the best that Romania can find. It is either their system is so flawed, or the quality of their civil servants is suspect. And if they do not bring him to justice it will reflect very badly on what Romania is all about. On the diplomatic corp here, what are their views and stand on this Ionescu incident? So far they have been very quiet. It would be nice if the head of the diplomatic community take a stand to distance themselves from this obnoxious man whom they wined and dined and embraced as one of them. If they still think that Ionescu is one of them and a good one, then the diplomatic corp will become a joke in town.

The MTL Debate

The debate continues. Actually it is a very healthy exercise to talk about this issue as it affects practically every school going child and the parents. And the outcome will have a very significant impact on the future of the generations of children to come, and what Singapore will be. At the moment the tussel is between those for and those against MTL with some in between. Both camps have strong reasons to argue for their cases. In between there is a middle camp that accepts MTL but wants it to be made simpler or easier. Ng Eng Hen and his team would now have to sweat it out to come out with a compromise solution to appease the parties. I doubt that in this case they would dare to use the compulsory sword and just decide and make the people accept it like CPF Life, Medisave, Minimum Sum etc etc. Taking such an option will be very costly politically. Whatever the final decision on this, let's hope it is a wise one. The unfortunate thing is that not everyone is going to be happy about it no matter how it turns out. This is clearly an area that is not white or black. Maybe he can fall back on his policy as a long term one as the consequences of the policy will take generations to bear fruits, be it sweet, sour or poisonous. Only the future will tell.

Notable quote by Goh Keng Swee

"A system may arise in which the dominant minority... arrogate to itself not only the openings to the seats of power, but also the avenues by which individuals can fit themselves out for such positions of power. The dominant minority is thus able to point out those outside of the charmed circle just do not have the necessary qualifications to be admitted to the elite group." Dr Goh Keng Swee I copied the above quotes from Loh Chee Kong's article posted in Corporate Observer. In the same article there are several quotes that are worth readin, to freshen up from the staleness of the new mantras that violate the wisdom of the old. Reading his speech and the quotes gives one the impression that he had seen it coming and was warning us of how things could turn out in the future. His reticence after retirement could say a lot.

CPF threatening to sue and fine

I read Gilbert Goh’s post about CPF demanding him to pay for the shortfall in his Medisave account for a sum of $16,600 as his contribution for being self employed. All self employed, regardless of age, must contribute to the Medisave for as long as they are alive and working. Isn’t this a cock policy when people are starting to collect their CPF savings at 55 and some delayed till 62? Why should people who continue to work after 55 be expected to contribute to the Medisave when they are in a better position than those who have retired and not working? These self employed are economically active and earning an income to support themselves and no need to draw down or depending on their savings to support themselves. According to the Medisave Act, there is no exception. So if one is working at 100 years old, the old hag must still contribute to his Medisave. How outrageous. But no one is complaining. Like the story goes, when they came for the Jews, I kept quiet coz I am no Jew. When they came for the Christians, I kept quiet, coz I ain’t no Christian. When they came for the Commie, I kept quiet coz I ain’t no Commie. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to speak up for me.

In Goh Keng Swee's time

Those were hard times. People lived in tiny cubicles, many people inside a room, one room for a family and often more than a family, with share common kitchens and toilets. Goh Keng Swee went out to move these people to HDB flats, where a family or maybe an extended family could live in a flat of 3 rm or 4rm. The strange thing then was that no one ever mumbled or complained that the flats were expensive or not affordable. That was a non issue. The flats were simply affordable. No argument, no need to put one's foot down to insist anyway. Today, the flats are affordable, still. Because the govt said so. But the people don't think so. And the argument is pissing off a lot of buyers who could not afford the flats. But they have to accept the govt's argument that the flats are indeed affordable. That settles the argument though deep inside the people's heart they knew that the flats are very expensive and very unaffordable to some. And it is still an outstanding issue that is going round and round. This is the real difference between the govt of Goh Keng Swee's time and the govt of today. They did what was necessary and what was right, and the people believed and were grateful to the govt. And no need to argument until the face turns green, with statistics, when deep down the people knew what is and what is not affordable. Housing was a success story. Can't really say of the present as the consequences of high prices will only tell some way down the road. Buying a flat then was a happy thing, a roof over the head. Today, buying a flat comes with a big debt and big worries. PS. I am talking about buying a HDB flat. Buying private or landed property is a happy thing. The buyer will simply plonked down his millions in cash. No need to worry about big mortgages to pay.

Defying conventional wisdom

The financial crisis started in the US led to the revelation that several of the financial institutions in the US,including AIA and investment banks, were too big to fail. When their turns came to fall, trillions of dollars were pumped in to save them. Then the wise men in the US got wiser and pronounced that the mantra of being big and strong is dangerous and these giants need to be dismantled. It is another case of putting too many eggs into a few baskets. Obama and his boys are working hard towards a new direction, the breaking up of big financial giants and regulating their activities, including manufacturing of toxic notes and products. Today there is big news that Prudential is mounting a historical take over of its Asian rival AIA to the tune of US$35.5b. It is billions, not millions, and would probably create another giant that is too big to fail. And the good news or encouraging news is that eager beavers are queueing up to have a stake in the proposed takeover. Such juicy news is always greeted with excitement than with suspicion and caution. Below is a quote from TimesOnline, ‘A number of large Asian investors are believed to be waiting in the wings to bankroll Prudential if its existing shareholders get cold feet on the deal.' Thiam is believed to have been offered personal assurances from the Singapore government that the state investment funds GIC and Temasek are willing to provide billions of pounds. I am deeply concerned that the funds lining up for a piece of the cake are Asian funds and not Western funds. Why are the Western funds shying away from such a lucrative investment? Is it that they did not have the dole, or did they know things that the Asian funds did not? When the too big to fail American institutions were in deep shit, they had the US Govt and the American public to foot the bill. In the event that an international institution like PruAIA is in deep shit, who is going to do the bail out? Asian Govts? A deal that is too good to be true must always look at with guarded skepticism. It is only a good gamble when one has a lot of money to place on the table, and can afford to lose.

From Ah Beng to Jason and then Jayson

Jay Chou is so famous that his concerts are fully sold out and the black market price goes as high as $1,500. His fans are going gaga over him and his song writing skills. He isn't that good looking, they admitted. Neither does he write or sing in English. His is an mandopop icon and have millions of followers snapping up his albums and posters. Jay Chou is a beneficiary of our MTL programme. This is also applicable to the Malay and Indian pop idols. Without the MTL, the fans would not be able to know what he writes or sings. The fans would probably be chasing after Linkin Park or Michael Jackson. But with their understanding and appreciation of another language, they could follow him and want to be like him. Without MTL, the Asian pop culture would at most be within a smaller circle in China, Hongkong and Taiwan. Our Channel 8 would eventually lose its viewership. It is a vicious cycle. It feeds and grows on one another. The fans of pop culture willingly and happily wanted to learn the language and sing the songs. Many English educated professionals are enjoying their learning process to read Chinese characters when they croon Mandarin, Hokien and Canto pops in the Karaoke joints. When learning is fun, when there is a desire and motivation to learn, there is no compulsion to make them want to learn MTL.They willingly want to learn. The MOE may want to include pop culture as part of the learning process for MTL, make MTL cool and fun and enjoyable, at least at the primary and secondary school level. This would give the young a good foundation to start with. Trying to learn MTL using traditional method and ancient poems or literature may not be that attractive to the modern young. A different approach to learning MTL may change the mindset.

The mentally challenged

I am not talking about the academically less inclined students, and neither am I talking about those who have to struggle just to pass their MTL. I am freakish by those that are mentally unsound and living in our midst, our close neighbours. The worst kind, and waiting to destroy the lives of the innocent neighbours, are those that are prone to violence. There have been many cases reported, while many suffered in silence, fearing that reporting will only make things worst. Many live in constant fear of how a mad man could strike them or their children in the corridors, or may burn down their homes. So far we have not seen many ugly incidents yet. The worst were killer litters that sent a few to hospitals. Some came to blows and some got stabbed, and likely some could have been dead. The spate of child killings in China is a stark reminder to those responsible not to take the mentally challenged lightly, that they were just a nuisance. Killer litters were also a nuisance. Getting hit by a falling litter is as good as hitting jackpot. A confluence of timing must be so perfect to make a hit. Living near a mentally challenged person who is proned to violence is a different proposition. The likelihood of a strike is so much real, only waiting to happen. Who is responsible for allowing residents to live in fear and in danger of being beaten or maimed by a mad man? The MP, the police, the town council or the resident’s committee? Or it is the responsibility of the residents themselves to be alert and keep away from harm themselves? Anyone bother to take a proactive look into such situations and take steps to prevent them from happening? Or are those responsible waiting for things to happen before they will act, just like the killer incidents when skulls were fractured and the victims in the critically ill list? Or are they waiting for a killing spree before they wake up from their sleep? Having a mentally challenged person who is violent next door is more dangerous then a walk in the jungle.

The callous use of a simple word

The Straits Times headlined, Passing of a Spore titan. And many other local media also reported on the passing of Dr Goh Keng Swee. The same news is being reported by overseas media but treated in a little careless or callous way. And their headlines read, Dr Goh Keng Swee dies, Goh Keng Swee dies, Dep PM Goh Keng Swee dies, …. There is nothing wrong or incorrect to say Goh Keng Swee dies. But reading it gives one a different feel of the event. He dies, you die, instead of he passes away, departed, called home to be with the Lord, you see, the latter sounds so different or at least polite. Imagine the media starts to report the king dies, the president dies, so and so’s father or mother dies, or the king is dead…. I still like to use more pleasant and civil terms like pass away, passing away and better still, called home to be with the Lord.

Of frugality, thrift and poison

In the MediaCorp tribute to Dr Goh Keng Swee broadcast over the its channels yesterday, three words stood out prominently to describe this giant of our founding fathers. He was known to all as an economist and steep in the values of thrift and frugality. He was saving cost everywhere and in everything, even in his own personal ways. He was said to prefer to walk several blocks to save a couple of dollars which people may find it amusing in a time when spending tens of thousands for a cooking class in Paris is just a weekend past time. Maybe the country had underpaid him at a time when money was not easy to earn. Maybe he too did not see it right to pay himself as much as he would want it to be. Maybe when he was around, extravagance was frown upon to the extent that permanent secretaries were spoken highly of for driving around in a small Japanese jalopy. That was the ethos of the years of Goh Keng Swee. He spoke about watching out for poison in investment and economic enterprises. Would he be worried looking at how we invited hedge funds and big investment banks to steam roll into our financial industry, adopting controversial systems that the Americans knew were dangerous and have started to curb these practices? Would he be angry with the poison that the people were fed in the forms of toxic notes and worthless papers called derivatives? Would he allow these to go on through repackaging and not called poison but something else, and let the people have it as long as they know the danger, that the danger is explained to them? With the passing of Goh Keng Swee, would we be bless with another careful thinker to guard our national interests and remove or keep poison out of our system? The unfortunate thing is that history does not throw up great men too often for the benefit of human beans. Often, after the passage of a blazing meteor it is followed by a long interval of darkness. Singapore has the exceptional good fortune of having a cluster of good men during its early years of independence. With the passing of Goh Keng Swee, we have yet to find another equally able and gifted group of individuals of their calibre to sustain our good run into the future.

Dr Goh Keng Swee

Dr Goh passed away this morning at the age of 91. He was famed for being the architect of Singapore and for laying a sound economic foundation that allowed Singapore to be what it is today. And many people now can claim credit when the tough part was done by Dr Goh and his generation of leaders. He was a great mover of people and resources. One minute silence for this grand old man of Singapore.

Paying more in advance

So the Medisave minimum sum will be raised from $32k to $37k. The reason, Singaporeans are living longer and healthcare cost are going up. So who wants to live longer? What this Medisave thing is about is that Singaporeans who are strong and healthy will have to pay first, to the amount of $37k. Whether they use it or not is a separate matter. Any statistics to say how many will use it? But this is a good policy. No one will know when they will fall seriously ill and need money to pay the expensive and ever increasing medical bill. I would like to recommend that the amount in the Medisave be raised to as high as possible. Then no one will complain that they cannot afford to pay their medical bills or that hospitalisation is too expensive. With a big saving in the Medisave, hospital bills will definitely be affordable. No need to worry about how medical cost keeps going up. Just make sure to top up the Medisave Account.

More kicking around

Asia Media Journal, 13 May 2010 Hong Kong – Singapore’s future as a regional media hub is under threat as a result of new government rules for the pay-TV industry, said the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), which represents the interests of 130 content producers, pay-TV platform operators and equipment-and-service suppliers across 16 Asian markets. The above extracts showed how a stupid decision could snowball to bigger problems and requiring ever bigger intervention by the govt. And this thing is not going to stop and the international players are not going to say, 'Enough, let's move on.' Maybe the three telco should be merged into one to avoid more problems coming our way.

Before Utopia

The communist ideology talks about an utopia in the horizon waiting for the workers. All workers will be paid almost equally in that place where the fruits of labour will be equally shared by everyone, from the top to the bottom. But such an utopia will never happen given the fact that human beans are flawed and will never overcome the seduction of power and greed. What would happen before utopia was not explained in the communist bible. It just assumed that utopia will be next. We have seen how China and Russia and other communist states are progressing. What Marx could not imagine is that before utopia, the greed and power crazy communist leaders would have usurped power and wealth for their own benefits, and more shocking is that they will take to the path of capitalism. The worker leaders will still boast of their humble working class background, to give the impression that they were workers too, before. What they did not say is that they are now rich beyond the workers imagination. They have actually turned themselves into rich capitalists and landlords, the very people that the workers chopped their heads off during the revolution. Before utopia is capitalism where the capitalists and landlords will amass wealth and fortune as in a capitalist system. Income gap will continue to widen to a point of no return. And this will set the stage for another communist uprising and head chopping. And the cycle will go on and on. Utopia is only an ideal state that is never achieveable given the nature of humankind. Communism will lead to capitalism and capitalism to communism. It is a vicious cycle.

Let's do away with mother tongue

Why force our children to struggle to learn a foreign language? The language is foreign since my dad and my ah kong had given up using it at home. We are truly native English speakers. Yes, many Singaporeans are truly using English as their mother tongue. And Chinese, I am not sure about Malay or Indian dialects, is really a foreign language. It is better to do away with this foreign mother tongue. The whole country will benefit from such a change definitely. There is a lot of economy of scale and savings not having to repeat and translate so many languages all at the same time. First thing to do is to remove all the signboards with different languages. This should be easy. And we do not need so many translators, especially in Parliament. As for MTL teachers fearing the loss of their jobs, have no fear. The tourist industry is booming, and there are two casinos, and they definitely need a lot of translators and interpretors. Let's see how and what the change will bring about. Our children need not read all those funny tales from dunno where which they cannot relate to. They can truly and happily enjoy Cinderalla, Snow White, and sing London Bridge is falling down. And the youngsters will be glued to classics like Robin Hood and King Arthur and Merlin the magician. What Wu Song and Pan Jin Lian? Never heard of, so uncool. And yes, there will be Davy Crockett, Buffalo Bill, Superman and Batman, all great classics. Not forgetting Harry Porter and his little friends. As for the well heeled and educated adults, talking about Shakespeare or Italian opera will not draw a blank. They will be so comfortable when all the sophisticated citizens sit in the Theatre at the Bay to enjoy a night of high class performance. No noisy wayang and wayang kulit to annoy them. Their taste for good quality entertainment could be well satisfied with the casinos bringing all the world class acts from New York and London. I am already feeling so high and sophisticated just writing this stuff. And the schools should just simply teach English. Such an easy language to learn and oh, so marvellously English. As for second language, let the parents choose an easier language if MTL is too foreign. I think French is equally easier and fun to learn, and so romantic when in Paris. Media Corp could save some money by closing down the rest of the Channels leaving just Channel 5 and CNA. Mike Lee and Jack Neo and all the pretty Channel 8 ladies can go to Taiwan and Hongkong or China to sell their skills. Gurmit and his gang no longer have to labour to try to please the uncool Channel 8 viewers. They can be truly themselves acting in Channel 5, and no need to speak funny. But there still need to have more changes when we do away with MTL. All those difficult to pronounce names like Tekka, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Choa Chu Kang, Sungei Buloh, Tekong etc etc must change to something like riverdale or morningdale, these simply sound so good. We can have Chicago for Choa Chu Kang, Houston for Hougang, Tennysee for Toa Payoh. Wow, I stay in the town of Manhattan East. Where is that, oh, it used to be Gu Chia Chwee, but since torn down and rebuilt. And what kind of name is Changi Airport? How about Kennedy Airport? No this one taken. Obama International Airport will do. And stupid names like ECP, AYE, PIE, etc can be renamed, Ellington Highway, Arlington Expressway, Parkingson Expressway, hmmm, so nice. With a change of policy in MTL, we can change the whole society dramatically to whatever we want. And yes, our children will be happy calling themselves Megan and Oregan. And all the people from Asia will flock to this new city/country called New York or Paris of the East, to learn English and enjoy being a little like Europeans and Americans. I think we have a good case to do away with MTL.

Reactions stronger than expected: PM

This is the headline of an article in the Today paper. Does the govt expect a less robust response to the red herring, or was it a red herring? The reaction from the public was serious enough for Hsien Loong and Eng Hen to call a press conference to explain the govt's stand. And what is the stand, no change is weightage but change in methodology to cater for different abilities of the students. This is the tricky part. How to implement a system that does not change the weightage while accepting that the grades will be different. Would all be given A grades but at different standards? Or some will still fail and some will still score? And how will the standard and weightage be maintained? We can expect a lot of changes coming this way and possibility more reactions from the public.

Death penalty saves lives

When I posted my view on the death penalty I expect many people to disagree with me. Fair. There is a very nice young man waiting in the gallows and many are pleading that his life be spared. I too would want to plead for him as well. We are after all human beans and do understand what is compassion and what it means to take the life of someone and how their loved ones feeling the grief and pain. Am I that ruthless and wicked? Sometimes the saints are more deadly and wicked. And in this instance this is exactly so. Saving one life may lead to more adventurers taking their chances here and destroying more innocent lives by exposing them to the destructive nature of drug addiction. As AuntieLucia has said, we must think of the judges' position as well. It is not an easy job to put the hangman's noose on anyone. They too are human beans. The death penalty is not put up to kill. It is put up to protect our citizens. Yes, if our loved ones got into such a fix we will have to talk softly and not take such a tough stand. This is called vested interest or having a stake in the issue. But when one is a disinterested party and looking at it objectively, which is a better alternative? I still stand to support the death penalty. As for people being fixed up, let the court find out the truth. So far death penalty is given only to those that are found guilty without an element of doubt. That is the job of the court. What I would want the govt to do is to use a loud hailer and tell the whole world, without fear nor apologies, that drug trafficking means sure death in paradise. Make it absolutely loud and clear to make sure that no one can miss this message. And the airlines be made to made an announcement about the death sentence before touching down at Changi. And this can be followed by an advisory for those carriers or traffickers to dump their drugs into the toilet bowl before exiting the aircraft if they do not want to be hanged. Let that be their last chance. The same procedure can be applied in all the check points. Let the whole world knows that we mean business. I think this will be a kinder thing to do. The death penalty will end up hanging no one. But once we get soft, we may end up hanging many more and seeing many of our citizens destroyed or harmed. Our message is simple. No drugs.

I support Shanmugam and the Govt's position

I have no issue with Shanmugam and the Govt's tough stand on the death penalty for drug trafficking and kidnapping. Everyone coming into Singapore must know that death is what they get if they play with drugs and kidnapping. The other crime that demands a death sentence is terrorism. The terrorists, the drug traffickers, the kidnappers, are not nice people playing with toys and water pistols. They are out to destroy lives. I can understand the little softness in a human bean to want to be kind. But make sure kindness is given to the right people. People who show kindness to the evil and wicked, the killers, including drug traffickers, are evil without knowing it. They think they are kind and all goodness without knowing that their kindness is going to cause more evil and more suffering. There must be zero tolerance for such crimes here. Period. Let the whole world knows that this is what we will do to such crimes and let those who know and still want to dabble with it here know, without a single doubt, that death will follow. Only then will this island be freed from such crimes, or at least minimal occurrence. The criminals who chose to commit such criminal acts came with their eyes open. They knew what they are in for. They chose to play with fire and they must know that they will be burnt by fire. PS. Any compromise or softness on this tough stand will only encourage more criminals to try their luck here. The people who are fighting for the cause of such criminals are encouraging more to come. They are in a way accomplices, advocates of such criminal acts.

Yes, we got the message!

Haven’t you Singaporeans got the message? What message? Alright let me tell you all in plain simple Singlish,’No Govt cannot do.’ Yes, all the so called privatization for efficiency, competition for the good of consumers, are plain bullshit. Singapore needs the Govt to run all the major services, from hospitals to telecommunications, to transport, childcare and burial services. If you need further proof of how important and effective the govt is in providing fair and affordable services, without being held at ransom, just look at the recent World Cup fiasco will do. If the telcos were one, if own by the Govt, we would not have to pay through our noses, paying more than anyone else, and Fifa standing there, high and haughty, telling us take it or leave it. Let’s petition the Govt to take back all the organizations and services that have been privatized. We need the Govt to run this place efficiently and cheaply. Unless you think the hospital fees are cheap, public transport are cheap, watching football is cheap…HDB is also privatized and you know the story. Just claiming that it is affordable does not mean so. Take back HDB and return it as a statutory board. The HDB of the past was a pride of Singaporeans, providing the people with cheap and good housing. Singaporeans are forever grateful to the HDB when it was a statutory board. Need more reasons why we cannot do without the Govt running this place? Need more reasons why privatization is bad, why competition is bad?