US lawmakers rip into Hu Jintao

MR HU GOES TO WASHINGTON: ‘MONSTER’:Members of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs did not hold back as they focused on human rights abuses in China under Hu Jintao’s leadership By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in WASHINGTON Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) came under an unprecedented personal attack at a US congressional briefing on Wednesday at the very same time he was being welcomed with a 21-gun salute at the White House. Members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs referred to him as a “monster” and the committee chair, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, said that it was estimated that his regime was holding close to 7 million people in labor camps. “It is as if the entire population of Switzerland were being held behind barbed wire,” she said. It is highly unusual for visiting heads of state to be subjected to such biting criticism while they are guests in the same city. However, analysts said that feelings were running so high about Hu’s human rights record that some US lawmakers simply couldn’t contain themselves. Representative Christopher Smith, a Republican who on Tuesday held his own conference on Chinese human rights abuses, said: “Who is Hu Jintao? In 1989, just a few months before the massacre in Tiananmen Square, Hu was Beijing’s iron fist in Tibet.” “This was the man who ordered the savage beating of Tibetan nuns and even children were pummeled to death. He presides over a gulag state — clearly a dictatorship. He has been directly responsible for the systematic detention and torture of millions of Chinese,” Smith said. “Cattle prods are put into prisoners’ armpits and at their genitals.” “I believe Hu ought to be at The Hague being made to account for his crimes rather than being treated with a state dinner,” Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, said. “We should not be welcoming the world’s worst human rights abuser to our White House. It is wrong. We should not be granting respect to this monstrous regime,” Rohrabacher added. “I think the Chinese have a hidden agenda — world domination. We seem to be helping them in their goals. We just don’t seem to get it,” said Representative Albio Sires, a Democrat. “There is this monster developing right before our eyes.” The American lawmakers think that they were the saints of modern history. I am wondering how many of those named above were descendants of slave owners and Injun killers? Or were these small town law makers descendants of the Jeremiahs or the hill billies? Does anyone of them remember Kunta Kinte?

The 3 blind men and China experts

Every time I read an article from the China experts it never fails to remind me of the 3 blind men and the elephant. Yes they all claimed to know the elephant very well, a kind of expert. They have touched the elephant and smelt the elephant. One claimed that the elephant was like a tree trunk. Another professed that it was like a snake. And another swore that it was like a rope with loose ends. The beauty of it all is that they all believe that they were right and the elephant is what as they described. If only they could go pass beneath the skin of the elephant, if only they could look at the whole picture. But China experts are plentiful and of different degree. Then again, most of them are just like the 3 blind men. The betterer part is that they are propounding their theories of what China is all about and trying to con everyone of their expertise. Put it in another way, how about a Malaysian asking a Singaporean who visited JB once on where to buy cheap and good Malaysian local products? And the Singaporean happily went about explaining like an expert of Malaysian local produce and where to get the best deal!

Bodyguards and Assassins 2

The movie has many angles to look at, and lessons to be told. The Qing Dynasty was decadent and had lost the mandate to rule. But the Dowager was bent on keeping the Dynasty going for as long as possible, and with all means and resources available. Suppressing the opposition at all cost was her only way. The Dynasty had run out of ideas on how to rule the country. The country was in disarray and controlled by foreigners. The foreigners were calling the shot. It was a pathetic scenario, even in modern society, should the foreigners ended calling the shot in a country. The dangerous part about this ‘foreigner’ thing in modern history is that they could pass themselves off as citizens by simply acquiring a citizenship. And overnight people believe that they are one of them, no longer foreigners. Instant trees and instant citizenship have their merits and dangers. The Qing Dynasty was oppressive and deadly. They just killed off any opposition. Under such a political culture, when the rulers were ruthless and ready to demolish anyone trying to stand up to voice their opposition, the patriots could not hope for a peaceful change of the power elite. They were compelled to meet force with force, a rebellion. But for such an endeavour to succeed, there would be many sacrifices of lives. For every martyr that was taken down, more must stand up to replace the fallen. It was a bloody time. The unassuming doctor in Sun Yat Sen stood up. And so were many pen pushers, academics and students, all wanting a new China for the people. Many were mowed down by the soldiers who wielded the sword and the gun. The pen pushers provided the leadership and ideas, the brain. And the soldiers provided the muscles and the brawns to take on the ruthless Qing regime headed by an ageing Dowager. The rest was history. An empire of several hundred years, with all the elite in power, with guns and money, was overthrown by the will of a desperate people. History repeated itself. No empire can survive forever, no matter how powerful, how long it stayed in power, and how ruthless is the suppression of the people’s will. There will always be a new dawn and a new era.

Bodyguards and Assassins

I like this movie. It was set at the dying days of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat Sen was a rebel, outcast by the Govt in Beijing. The movie was about his visit to Hongkong to organize a revolt against the corrupt and decadence Qing Govt. And HongKong was a British outpost occupied by foreigners and foreign talents. The Qing Govt was dead against the rebels challenging its authority to rule but closed an eye while the foreigners flourished in the country. The Qing Govt might not love the foreigners, but it was a case of not ruffling feathers. As long as the foreigners were doing their own business and not involved in the politics of the day, the Govt could live with it. Curbing the rebels and their cause was the main priority, to extend the rule of the Manchus. The Qing Govt sent a band of Imperial Guards to assassinate Sun Yat Sen in HongKong. The Imperial Guards were led by a devoted and loyal Commander called Yan XiaoGuo. His loyalty and conviction to the Govt of the day was unquestionable. He sincerely believed that exterminating the rebels was the right thing to do. His zeal was admirable if one does not make any subjective judgement on which side was right or wrong. Civil servants of such nature were exemplary and deserved every cent paid to them. And the Qing Dynasty was able to extend its corrupt ways for much longer than necessary at the detriment of the country and its people. The change and overthrow of a corrupt govt was made to take a much longer time with more bloodshed, misery and loss of life. Thanks to such loyal civil servants that pledged blind loyalty to the dynasty without question. In the case of Yan XiaoGuo, his loyalty was not blind loyalty but full of conviction that the Govt then was legitimate and good for China. Overthrowing the Govt was against the mandate of heaven. He died for his belief and in the execution of his duty as a loyal civil servant. But his zeal and devotion to his master nearly killed a patriot and prolonged the decadence of a bankrupt dynasty. And in the cause of following the ruthless order of his masters without questioning, many citizens were killed or maimed as a result.

Human rights a major issue in Hu Obama Summit

With billions of dollars of chips on the table, the most important issue to the Americans will be the jailing of Liu Xiaobo. The Americans are pulling their hair off their heads at the dismal human rights record of China. And they are flabbergasted that the Chinese were unable to clear up their human rights problems after so many years of pressure from them. Obama may want to help the Chinese by giving Hu a recipe on how to clear up the dissidents once and for all and don’t have to look back again. The two worst human rights violation in the history of America that outshone the rest of the world must be slavery and the genocide against the true natives of America, the Red Indians. What Guantanamo? What Abu Ghraib? And the Americans handled these two problems so well that the survivors of these two abominable human rights violations against humankind are living happily without protesting. I am not too sure how the African negroes have been appeased and no longer pursue the violation of their self respect and rights as a human bean, but how the Americans dealt with the Red Indian issue were all well documented in the history books and the movies of Hollywood. From what I have read, the recipe to ensure that there will be no protest or grievances from those whose human rights were violated is very simple. Execute a ruthless campaign of genocide, make sure that the wipe out is as complete as possible. The Americans were extremely successful in exterminating the Red Indians that not many survived the ordeal to become dissidents today. What ever few that were left, send them to the reservations in no man’s land. With several millions of the Red Indians, young and old and womenfolks included, shot by the US cavalry, the human rights issue of the Red Indians is history. There must be a complete whitewash, and not to be spoken of again. The second part of the recipe is exactly this. Just keep attacking other countries’ human rights record so that they have no time to think about what had happened in America. Yes, the arrest of Liu Xiaobo is an earth shaking event that must not be forgotten and must be taken out regularly to be aired. Ssssssh, don’t say a word about the abhorring human rights violations against the Blacks and the Reds in America. No one must know or remember. How about Hu Jintao raising a wine glass and toast to the Blacks and Reds in the state dinner? The nation with the most abysimal record of human rights violation is chiding the China for human rights violation!

Santa Claus coming to America

Or shall I say the wise men from the East coming to visit America and bringing gifts for the baby? Hu Jintao is in America on a 4 day visit and a summit with Obama. And he does not come empty handed. In his wagons were loads of gold and silver, all ready to be dispensed to the hungry Americans. Several hundred millions have already been given and more to come, to the tune of billions, if America is willing to be a nice boy. Even before the visit there were threats and threats from the American elite, including Hillary Clinton. And the stupid woman still rabbled about human rights in China and that the Chinese must change their social and political system to suit the Americans. Why should the President of another country go to the US to listen to someone complaining about his domestic affairs and how to run his own house? Maybe China should do more homework and insist on talking to the Americans about compensation to the Red Indians and the descendants of former slaves. Actually, there is no need for China to indulge in the same gossips as a housewife. Go to the White and talk politics, about bread and butter and guns. If the Americans insist on talking about human rights and all that nonsense, just pack up and go home. No need to waste more time on unproductive and destructive distractions. The important issues are economics and how to give the people of both countries a better life. The gangsters and the Al Capones can go on and talk to whoever they want about gangland warfare. China should rise above the occasion and avoid being dragged into gangsterism. Santa Claus does not have to pour out his bag of goodies if the children misbehaved.

Low TFR, foreign talent help needed

Our Total Fertility Rate has sank to a historical low of 1.16 last year. This is way below the replacement level of 2.1. We need help and foreign talents are needed in this area. Yes foreign talents will increase our population to sustain our economic growth and also improve our gene pool. What is the problem with our men, or our women? Is it their problem or is it the social cost that is too punitive for them to reproduce? If it is just biological, the problem can be solved much easily. If man is the problem, set up a sperm bank, get the virile men, local and foreign also can, and start inseminating our women. If woman is the problem, maybe a little tweaking in our laws may help. Allowing the men to have more wives would solve a lot of social problems, including single old maids. SDU would not have to work that hard. Allowing men to have more than one wife due to infertility problem has historical and cultural precedents. Our Muslim comrades have understood this problem since time immemorial and the religion has a provision for it. If the problem is social and financial cost, then the problem needs to be addressed at the national level. If young couples find it prohibitive to raise children, whose fault is it? Many young couples are thinking people and know how costly it is to raise kids in this high cost hot house. How about the govt taking over the role of bringing up kids, only the financing part? The last Parliament there were talks of govt taking over the care of children from parents who could not afford to bring them up properly. So why not take this further and make it a national service by the govt? I am very sure productivity will go up so high that the govt will have to put in stops to prevent couples producing too many children. It is all about being able to pay for the upbringing up children, Watson! No need to think too hard. The young couples have thought through the whole process and understood what it cost. And for being thoughtful and responsible, they are punished for not producing. And the thinkers and planners are still lost as to why they don’t produce. On the contrary, the irresponsible and unthinking will keep on reproducing and the govt has fallen into the trap of raising their children for them. Come on, do the simple thing. No need to covet for foreign talents and their bodies. Just provide the finances, and of course all the rulings about how many children will be supported, and the children will come. No need to kpkb everyday that our TFR is going lower. Stare at the problem. Don’t look away, don’t look outside our borders. This is the same attitude as in bringing in foreign talents to replace our healthy, well educated local talents.

It’s a big gamble

Goh Eng Yeow wrote an article about Bold Ambition and Big Gamble in the ST last week. SGX is taking a big gamble to turn itself into a New York or London in the finance industry. It is pulling all the stops, all the strings, putting money where it is to bring in the giants, the big funds and their big machines, high speed computers, to turn SGX into a world class bourse. In his comment he said, ‘The SGX has wagered a lot of time and money with no guarantee it will pay off.’ He concludes by saying that ‘the greatest irony of the SGX approach: For all its initiatives and innovations, the fate of its ambitious strategy now rests with the aussie politicians.’ Another irony that I may add is that the aspiration also rests on the small pool of small investors waiting to be eaten up by the big funds and their mean machines. The question I like to ask is whether Singapore has a big enough base of investors, with the dough, to be a world class stock exchange? Or does a world class stock exchange need a pool of small investors or just the big funds and their machines will do the trick? Another question of moral responsibility. In the madness to be big, are there considerations and systems put in the protect the small investors. Or the small investors are just collateral damages for the goal of being big for the sake of being big?

The Crooks accusing a Whistle Blower

A Swiss whistleblower, Rudolf Elmer, will be charged in the Swiss court for breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws. Rudolf will be turning his compilation of bank data showing money laundering and tax evasion to WikiLeaks. The data is proof of the banks misdeeds and those of its officials and their customers. Rudolf was the COO of Julius Baer bank in the Cayman Islands but was fired for stealing the information. This is what he said. ‘The one thing on which I am absolutely clear is that the banks know…that money is being secreted away for tax evasion purposes, and other things such as money laundering.’ The bank’s reply is that Rudolf’s aim was ‘to discredit Julies Baer as well as clients’ by spreading “baseless accusations” and passing on “unlawfully acquired” documents to the media and WikiLeaks.’ If Rudolf is speaking the truth, then we have a bunch of criminals suing an innocent man. Accepted technically that he breached the banking laws, but what if the laws were abused by the banks? Would that absolve Rudolf of his crimes? The second part is that the bank has taken the position that Rudolf is lying and falsifying documents. The bank has thus taken a stand and can be hanged for it if it is found to be telling lies instead. The other frightening thing is that states could pass anything as laws, in this case banking secrecy acts, so that they can do criminal and immoral things. And breaking the laws becomes a crime. How neat. It is an open secret that many criminals and robbers parked their money in Switzerland and are protected by these laws. Who should be hanged then? When laws are for wrongful purposes, then the laws are a crime in itself.

Perfect solution to the stock market farce

Asian stock markets are being coerced to cut down their lunch breaks, and better, no lunch breaks to increase their productivity and facilitate cross border trades. The latest victim is Hongkong halving its lunch break from 2 hours to one hours. Tokyo too will have its lunch break cut. Singapore is contemplating of doing away with the lunch break completely, which is likely to happen on 1 March. One of the solid reasons given is to reduce the advantage/disadvantage of differences in trading hours. By doing away with lunch breaks and to extend the trading hours, stock exchanges will now operate with at least similar trading hours or overlapping hours. That will ease off a lot of the disadvantages. To me this is a little foolish. As long as the stock markets across the world are operating at different hours because of the different time zones, no amount of time adjustment or no lunch breaks can be of any great help. The advantage is minimal but the price paid by the stockbrokers is not small. There is a perfect solution to all the farce about different trading hours and trying to bring them as close as possible. Actually there are two answers. One is to operate stock markets on a 24 hour basis. The second is to use Greenwich Time and all stock markets shall operate at the same hours. See, all the farce will go away. Stupid problems need to be solved by stupid solutions. Red herring problems can be solved by applying twisted logics.

We need more cooling measures

The latest bout of cooling measures to curb property prices is touted as a very well thought out plan. The previous three measures thus must be not too well thought out. And if this one does not work out, the next betterer thought out plan will be rolled out. Curbing high property prices is not the only area that needs cooling measures. We need cooling measures for COE prices, university tuition fees and of course medical fees. There were some hints of curbing high legal fees in the private sector. That is also an area that many cannot afford to pay to the top legal eagles. They are so good that they could even demand an arm or a leg from their clients. And affordability is never an issue. So far the only real cooling measure that works is the salary of workers. Real cool man.

NTUC Dental Care

Lee Wei Ling wrote an article in the Sunday Times today complimenting Singapore doctors for not doing unnecessary medical tests and cutting down medical cost. I had an experience last week at NTUC Dental Care when I was coerced in a way to have two Xrays taken or else no treatment. I went just to repair a tooth filling that was chipped off. A simple removal of the existing worn filling and refilling it with new amalgam should do the job. The dental surgeon insisted that two Xrays must be taken as evidence of the state of the tooth and should the hole be too big and necessitate a root canal treatment, then she would be protected in case I complain that it was her fault. I want to say 'f'. This really pissed me off. I was at the verge of sitting up and walk out of the clinic. But I held back as it was a small matter and did not want to waste more time since I had already made the appointment and sitting on the dental chair. The reasoning for the extra two Xrays was unacceptable as it was done for her own protection against complaints by unhappy customers. Here she assumed that I would be an unreasonable customer, that the hole in my tooth could be bigger and required canal treatment, and I would complain against her. So I kenna paid for two Xrays for her protection just in case. At the end, after the treatment, there was no big hole that required canal treatment except a big hole in my pocket that was unnecessary but for her own good. And now, I am complaining for a different reason. I actually did not want to raise this minor issue until Wei Ling's article reminded me of how medical cost can go up for all the wrong reasons. And if my experience is the norm, then many NTUC members or NTUC Dental Care customers must have been made to pay for unnecessary tests. NTUC being an organisation to protect the welfare of workers should rethink this stupid practice and save the workers some money. No, I am not going to complain to Swee Say about this. Too tedious and time consuming. But any NTUC leaders or members reading this may want to take note and bring this up to him. It will save the workers some money and avoid being abused by such arrogant attitude of some practitioners.

Singapore University Education quality up

The tuition fees for Singapore universities and polytechnics will go up in the next academic year. The reason given is that the cost of providing quality education is going up. The fee hikes range from 3% to 6% for universities and 2% to 3% for polytechnics. The increases for NUS and NTU were 4-6% which are higher than SMU’s 3%. At the rate it is going the quality of education in NUS and NTU will improve tremendously over that of SMU. And I can presume that SMU will have to improve its quality next year by higher fee increases just to catch up. Students in NUS and NTU will be celebrating in the increasing quality of their education. Students in polytechnics will have to make do with only 2-3% improvement. If university fees were a guide to the quality of the education provided, then the fee increase must be accelerated. Then it will only be a matter of time when the quality of our university education be betterer than the top universities in the West. And students who can afford to pay more for quality education will be flocking to this education hub for world best university education.

What high COEs will mean

If a taxi cost another $50k, you can bet the taxi will go up accordingly to cover the extra cost. If school bus is also in the scheme, you can bet that bus fees will go up. At $50k more and a 7 year life span for a taxi, it simply means $7k more to write off a year or $600 pm more to charge to the commuters. The school bus will have to apportion the increase to the 20 to 40 kids in a bus. The goods and delivery vehicles will have to be cost in which means ultimately everything will be cost in. Don’t think it will only affect the car owners or ex car owners. The multiplier effect will quite widespread. And anyone buying a $100k car will not park it in the car park for show. It is too costly to waste away. And insurance companies will be laughing to the banks with car values going up. More people changing to public transport means the public transport system will have to take on heavier load. More buses and trains, more sardines, and more cost. Somehow, whichever way, the cost is still up. Why like that? COEs, ERPs, public transports, no matter which button is pressed, commuters got to pay more and bear with bigger inconvenience.

A brilliant American analysis on rift in China leadership

A REUTER report quoting Pentagon official’s comment about the maiden flight of China’s stealth fighter aircraft is simply brilliant. It said that Hu Jintao and other top Chinese leaders did not know about the test flight, implying that they were kept out of the loop. So there is possibility of a rift in the Chinese leadership, between the civilian leaders and the top brass in the military. I am impressed with the quality of the analyst and the value of this report. The readers must now all believes that the Chinese leadership will soon fall apart and a coup is taking place. My simpleton layman observation is that Hu Jintao and his comrades were too busy with their preparation for Gate’s visit and all the briefings they were given were forgotten, or they did not pay any attention to them. Or perhaps the reports were all on their tables but they got no time to read as they were thinking of how to make Gates happy during his visit to China. So no miscommunication. Just a slip of the mind, or too busy. I think my analysis is equally brilliant in a way. But the Americans and the western media can keep on hoping that China will collapse or a leadership struggle will take place and breaking up China like the Soviet Union. PS. This American view is news worthy woah.

What is good leadership in govt?

There are many aspects about govt and leadership to talk about. Let me just say a few things about what good govt and good leadership mean from a micro perspective or from a single factor. A good govt leads by bringing the people with them, through persuasion and education. It educates the people and encourages them to think, to make rational decisions for the good of people and country. A govt that does not educate, talk down on the people and threatens the people with all kinds of negative scenarios, gimmicks and abuses the law is never a good govt. It is more like a dictatorship, a kingship or a totalitarian state. Mature and democratic countries must not only have democratic institutions but also a mature and educated people who are ruled by reasons and persuasion and who participated actively in the politics of the country. A nation of well fed people but unable to think independently, unable to decide what is best for themselves but being dictated and controlled in all ways is nothing but like a fat bird in a cage, feeling very well and comfortable materially but empty in spirit and restrained in freedom. What kind of leadership and society are we living in or do we want to live in?

The most stupid question being asked

With the US crying foul, that China is developing carrier killer missiles and stealth fighters, the most stupid question being asked over and over again is this, ‘What is the intention of China?’ And this question is not being asked by the layman but by military top brass, strategists, professoris and China experts. My answer is very simple. China is manufacturing them for fun. Or maybe China needs them so show to the world that it has come of age. Or the Chinese leadership, like the North Korean leadership, just wanted to fight to prove its manhood. No, not good answers. So what should be a good answer? Maybe asking the Americans why are they spending half of the world’s defence budget would be indicative of what is the real intent of China. Actually the silly question being asked reflects how stupid the questioner is. Then many will quickly jump to the conclusion, China has aggressive intention. China is preparing a war with the US. Another silly thought. Today, war between the super powers is obsolete. Only monsters and maniacs would ever think of a war between the super powers. The destructive powers of their arsenals are unbelieveable and when unleashed could wipe out both countries and the world together. Superiority in arms, whether on the side of the Americans or the Chinese or the Russians, has become meaningless. For any one of them can inflict enough harm to the other party to keep them away. Even the reckless and irresponsible nut called George Bush Jr would not dare to start a war with China when he wanted most. There will be no winners or survivors. This is the stark reality of super power warfare. So what is the intention of China’s military build up? The answer is simple. It is to prevent war, to prevent adventurers from attacking China. The fate of Iraq and other lesser nations are evidence for China to build a strong military to avoid the same fate. North Korea is doing the same and is saved by its nuclear weapons. Would the crazy Americans, South Koreans or Japan dare to strike the North Koreans? The Americans might at this moment, if they believe that the North Koreans are unable to launch an ICBM to American soil and any hit will be at the expense of Japan and South Korea. The latter two would be foolhardy to think of having a war with the North Koreans. As long as China maintains a military force that can wipe out the US should it try to do it to China, China is safe from war and foreign invasion. The thought of China building its military force to start a war with the US is mischievous and childish. For China to do so is courting its own annihilation. So, would anyone still want to ask the silly question of China’s intention? The only reason for asking such a question is to be mischievous, to create fear and to tag China as a war monger. Period.

Straight A1s everywhere or is it inflation?

The recent O level results must have made many parents very happy. The students themselves no need to say, must also be very happy with the fruits of their labour. The teachers and schools too must be proud too that their efforts in educating the students were a scintillating success. And the MOE too can tell the world that our education system is the best in the world. Maybe the students in Raffles, Hwa Chong and the other SAP schools would have a different kind of feeling. They have been robbed of a chance to own a piece of certificate that says, 10 A1s or 9 A1s. If they were to sit in the same exam, they may even get A1 stars. Being the crème ala crème of the cohorts, the MOE perhaps should devise something like an honorary certificate for them. If the students of these top schools were also graded, we could literary throw a stone in a crowd students and hit a 10 A1s. There will be so many 10 A1s to the country proud. It will be another feather in the Guinness Book of Records for the number of 10 A1s and 9 A1s in an O level examination. And every year we can aspire for the record to be broken. And we don’t have enough talents and need more foreign talents to improve our stocks. Aren’t our straight As students in the world’s best education system better than foreign talents from other countries? Maybe not. Many of the top students O level students are from foreign countries too.

Case against minimum wage

This seems to be a hot issue in Parliament yesterday. And it is obvious that there will be one camp against one man. After hearing the reasons given, I am on the side of the camp. One dangerous principle of minimum wage is that an organization may be forced to pay some donkeys sitting there and not wanting to work. The examples brought up were short of hilarious. Workers did not want to work in kitchen because it is too hot. I have heard of cleaners complaining that their jobs were too tough, people find midnight shift intolerable. Basically complaints of all kinds about jobs. May I then offer to aircon the kitchens, make all the jobs soft and cosy, no midnight shifts, or provide restaurant meals and gym membership to the workers to make working a pleasant past time? Look at the other extremes, the politicians. Ask them to wake up at 5am to flag off a marathon, they will say yes. Ask them to go walkabout to shake every stranger’s hand, they will say yes. And they have full time job from 8 to 5. And in the evening they are everywhere, attending wakes and wedding dinners, community events, MPS, board meetings etc etc. By the time they got home they would have put in a 25 hour day work. And they are not complaining. Some work so hard that they did not even have time to attend Parliament or have to force themselves to stay awake if they did attend. And their hairs are prematurely turning white. Poor buggers! They are the best examples of exemplary work attitude. Never say no, never complain. Just work and work. Workers with such good attitude would not need to ask for minimum wage. The organizations will automatically pay them more.

Signs of rising intolerance

A Maureen Foo wrote a letter to Today paper yesterday complaining about noise in the HDB void decks. And her complaints included children cycling and rollerblading in the walkways. These are signs that the intolerance level of overcrowding is beginning to get to the nerves of the people. When space is aplenty and one needs not bang into another so frequently, community living is a joy, or at least bearable. When one starts to bump into one another in every corner, the nerves are likely to flare. When have people become so irritated with the aunties and uncles spending their time at the void decks or children playing in the HDB estates? Such problems will keep on increasing as the population grows. Those crazy people who want a 10m population here need to be sent to the firing squad. Oh, I just say this figuratively hor. Even husband and wife will get onto one another’s nerves when the novelty of marriage life starts to wear. The little irritating habits when repeated or accumulated and prolonged can be unbearable. This paradise will soon be turned into an inhabitable place when neighbours will start to give hostile stares at one another, commuters punch ups in public transports or people fighting in hawker centres or on the streets. The white mice effect is about to erupt if we are still complacent and think it is ok.

I disagree with Temasek Review

I disagree with Temasek Review, or more specifically with an article titled, Buoyant property prices a sign of rising debt as opposed to rising wealth? by a Singaporean. This is what I disagree with and I quote the first paragraph, With property prices escalating into no man’s land, we see paper wealth rise with the proportion of debt. This is brought about by loose housing policies coupled with the loose granting of Permanent Residence to foreigners, this diabolic formula creates a surge in demand, and inflates prices way beyond their actual value and affordability. Ok, I disagree only with the last phrase which I have highlighted in bold. Who says our property prices are way beyond their actual value? Our property prices are exactly what they are, determined by the market of course. And no one can fight or manipulate the market. It is real market price. And secondly, who says they are beyond Singaporeans’ affordah..bility? I read everywhere in the media and in official speeches that Singapore property prices are affordable. And the govt is ensuring that they are affordable. So they must be affordable. Period. Ok, I must agree that high property prices mean high debt. High debt means high risk and can be turned into a nightmare for the debtors. I pray they don’t have to jump off their market value and affordah…ble properties when a crash comes along.

What is bucket shop?

Those trading in stocks and shares or in financial products are quite familiar with the term bucket shop. The term is often not look at kindly and smell of distrust and a con job. They are supposed to trade in commodities like coffee bean, sugar, oil, wheat, pork belly etc etc. The general impression is that new investors often were attracted by the good returns and also tended to make money in the first few trades. Subsequently they will lose their pants, lock, stock and barrel. They have a similar modus operandi. They make sales talks of good returns to their potential customers. And whatever trades they ‘executed’ in the early part of the game often ended in big winnings. Then they will advise the investors to put in more money for bigger wins. Most investors obliged thinking that it was so easy to make money. And they will pump in more money and will receive monthly statements of winnings that will make them smile. The catch is that they cannot withdraw whatever money they put in. Their brokers will try all means to prevent them from withdrawing their money. These could be sweet words of good returns or more schemes to keep their money in. And if they fail to persuade the investors from withdrawing, the investors will be hit with their first shock, losses. All their trades will now be reported as losses and big losses. And any withdrawal will be less than they put in or even nothing left. In worst cases, they even owe money to the bucket shops from big losses. The trick of bucket shops is to keep asking their clients to put in more money and more money and to generate glowing reports of profits in their monthly statements. And the clients will be very happy just looking at the reports. What they did not know or did not ask is whether there is really any money left. Often actually not a single cent is there. The money is all gone except on paper, printed in the monthly reports sent to the clients, to make clients happy and to encourage clients to put in money into a bottomless pit. In short, this is what bucket shop is all about. Put in money and don’t expect to see it anymore.

TOC to be gazetted as a political association

Just read this from the TOC site. They have received an email saying that the PM will be gazetting it as a political association. By this it means that it cannot receive financial and other support from foreigners. My crystal ball says that in the next election TOC may go all out to be a political party and contest the election with its own slate of candidates. And my feeling is that their candidates could be as worthy as any candidates to be field by the rest of the parties. This is an interesting development in the politics of Singapore. Go for it TOC.

More caring MPs

Several hot issues were raised in Parliament yesterday. High COE price was expected to be in discussion. Though the outcome was that measures have already been taken to prevent speculation, the most crucial part that contributed to the high COE price was left untouched. The present system is flawed in the sense that a bidder can bid any astronomical price without having to pay for it and only pays at the lowest successful bid price. If nobody can see that this is a big flaw and should be removed, nothing else needs to be said except to live with this brilliant system. The MOE scholar’s involvement in child pornography was another hot issue. Lee Bee Wah suggested that schools should divulge more information on scholarship applicants for the ministries to make more comprehensive assessments before granting scholarships. This is definitely a good suggestion. I have a better one. Parents must also declare the misdeeds of their wards applying for scholarship. You just don’t know what they did at home or out of school. See, all areas covered. Sure no more errant scholars. Another interesting issue was on parental responsibility in raising children. Parents who are unable to take good care of their children will have their children taken away. Let’s welcome 1984 with open arms. Now we can have another kind of police squad calling on the homes to take away children. And the state should take over the responsibility of raising these children. Sylvia Lim and Halimah Yaacob were against such an idea as it may break up families. And rightly, as they said, who is better to provide parental care other than the parents. Another MP suggested educating the parents on how to bring up children. I got a better idea. No one can get married unless they attended and passed a course in parenthood. A Parenthood Certificate will be the pre requisite to register a marriage. Without proper education, once married and children are born, it will be too late. Rice is cooked. Let’s prepare the rice first before they are cooked. Wow, I am coming up with so many brilliant suggestions for free.

China could win the war with the US without fighting

The stealth fighters, the carrier killer missiles, the anti satellite missiles, have changed the picture of American dominance in the military theatre. They were once untouchable. They were once the only one who could attack any country without being attacked. That was how powerful and formidable the empire was. Now the balance of power is changing. No doubt the Americans are still Number One. But it is so cheap to send 20 carrier killer missiles to sink an aircraft carrier and 7000 crews and a few hundred aircraft plus munition for desserts. How could China win a war with the Americans without fighting? Just read the panic in the American Defence Dept on China’s revelation of a stealth fighter and you will know what I mean. Yes, the Chinese is very far behind in military technology. But there is fear in the Americans that the Chinese are getting closer. And they need to run faster, much faster. They, I mean the Americans. Their military doctrine is all about unmatchable superiority in fire power and technology. They want to keep at a far distance from the rest of the world. What does this mean? They need to spend more to be much further ahead of China or their nearest competitor. And all China needs to do is to keep on the chase. For every dollar the Chinese spent, the Americans will be spending ten thousand times more. At this rate, the American economy will simply break down. They don’t have the dough and cannot afford it. Keeping up will mean bankrupting the Treasury faster. The Americans will revolt when they become the new pauper of the 21st Century. They will not believe that they cannot afford to buy cheap Chinese made toys for Christmas. When that day comes, which is very soon, they will break up into several independent states. China should just keep pushing the Americans to bankrupt themselves. That’s the way to do it.

What the govt forgot to upgrade

More upgrading projects in the GRCs! And each upgrading is in the tune of a few hundred millions. All in all, the number could come up to several billions. And the residents rose in approvals. They loved it. I am not sure if they asked for it. How many of these upgrading projects would really affect the residents? The beautifying of the infrastructure is just like women cosmetics, costume jewelry and pretty dresses. Fine, all looks fine. It is belly good to have all the upgradings, like it or not, coming from the govt. No need to bother about who is paying for them. Can the govt allow or ask the people what do they want? Why give things that many may not be interested in? Shouldn’t the upgrading or Christmas present be given according to the needs of the people rather than what the govt thinks the people want? There is one area that really needs an upgrading. Given the spiraling cost of living and the emptying of the people’s savings, what is really needed is an upgrade in the people’s bank accounts. The billions that are going into all the cosmetics and costume jewelry would be better received if they go direct to the people’s pockets. Hey, the people’s pocket is all that counts. Didn’t someone say that hitting the people’s pocket is the most effective means of getting the people to respond to any govt initiatives? Maybe taking is easy, giving and putting back into the people’s pocket is difficult. After all these are monies taken from the people and rightfully should go back to the people. And to be meaningful and really appreciated, it is better to stuff them into the people's pockets.

Conquering the world

China’s Vice Premier Li KeQiang is in Europe on a 4 day tour ‘to bring coal in a snowy winter’. China has been on an offensive of a different kind, bringing loads of cash to help cash strapped European countries to manage their financial debt. It kinds of steam rolled Spain by promising to buy up all its debt to boost confidence in Spain and its financial market. It signed trade deals worth billions to increase trades with Europe when it needed most. In the meantime where is America? America is steely bent on conquering the world in another way, to build an empire. While China does not have a single soldier involved in any war, the Americans are everywhere fighting wars and starting wars. War is the only profitable business that is driving the American economy and without wars, the American economy will run aground. It is reported by the Washington Post that the American defence budget is US$550b, equivalent to what the next 19 nations in the world spent, or ‘nearly half of the entire world’s defence spending’. It is a misnomer to call it a defence budget. It should rightly be called a War Budget! It is a budget to conduct offensive wars. And America is accusing China of spending too much on its defence budget and that China is an aggressive nation. And its allies also chimed in to brand China as irresponsible. Who is the more responsible power? Who is helping the world and who is starting and fighting wars are all there for those who want to see. Those who want to remain blind and swear under American propaganda can continue to do so. The Americans wanted to conquer and dominate the world by sheer military might. China is ‘conquering’ the world by economic ties, trades and developments. Who is the irresponsible nation? Who is helping Europe when it needed help most? Who almost brought down the world’s financial system and who stepped in to save the system?

Defying folk lores and traditions

Human beans have survived several thousand years and have progressed in many fields. Advancement in science and technology, knowledge and information, have led the human beans to discard many age old beliefs and superstitions for the better. The next lunar new year is the year of the Rabbit. It is a more agreeable animal and hopefully a less traumatic but amiable year. Wedding bells will be abundant looking at the bookings in the posh hotels. There is also the dragon baby to look forward to. The young of today are not only adventurous and financially comfortable, that is before they are robbed of a few hundred thousands to buy that property and the car, and would want to splurge for the best on that special day in their lives. Among other things, they want it to be memorable, and different. Yes, that day must be different from anyone else. The wedding is a very important event in the life of any human bean across all cultures. The Chinese is very particular about this event and have developed a long list of do’s and don’ts to abide by. A wedding is like a red letter day, a red occasion, a joyous occasion, and everything must be red as humanly possible. Red dress, red packets, red pigs, red beddings, red candles …. One taboo colour is black. Black symbolises everything that is contrary to red, darkness, sadness, evil, mourning etc etc. I have seen several weddings in black! At the wedding dinner, the groom wore black, black table cloth, black eating utensils, all for wanting to be different. A friend of mine had a black wedding dinner for his son. Of course he could not object as the young have their own ideas. His business went down hill after that eventful day and everything he touched he lost money. Coincidence, maybe. Those in touch with the gossip circles must have heard of more dreadful stories that followed after a black wedding. My advice is never defy traditions for the sake of being different. And having a red wedding or any colour except black is not going to cost anything more. The young should not be too adventurous on their wedding day. You would not know what is installed in darkness, or who will come along to attend a black wedding. And a little more, everything must be in pairs. Numbers must be even and not odd. Odd numbers but in even quantity eg four ones or threes are acceptable. Just be careful, huh.

Where is Jack?

A loan shark runner was sentenced to 5 years behind bars and 24 strokes of the rotan. Thanks to District Judge Jasbendar Kaur for a deserving punishment. This runner burnt cars, set things on fires outside innocent dwellers in HDB flats, threatening and targeting innocent people when he could not get to his real targets. The damage he caused were more than $100k in cars burnt. He did all this to repay the loan shark called Jack whom he borrowed $3000. Good that he is behind bars and waiting to be caned. But where is Jack?

I have failed…

Yes, I have failed in my mission to bring down medical cost. Over the last four years, instead of bring down medical cost, they have spiralled by very substantial amounts. I am talking about increases of 50% to 90%. I must thank Salma Khalik for her data to confirm, without any doubt, that I have failed very badly. I think I should from now on stop talking cock about medical cost and how to bring it down. And now for the good news about rising medical cost. Salma Khalik has interviewed Boon Wan and these are some of the good news and developments in the medical field that partly contributed to the high medical cost. 1. Don’t worry, despite the big hospital bills, the patients have no difficulties paying them. Isn’t that comforting? 2. And there are the wonderful 3M schemes to pay the bills, some up to 100%. So no need to pay more cash, maybe $3 only. 3. And the bills could be even more if not of the brilliant scheme to move not so sick patients out of hospitals to community hospitals and nursing homes. Big savings there. 4. Day surgery also plays a big role in cutting down the overall bills. 5. The hospitals have also been very customer oriented, to ensure patient satisfaction and allowed them to choose non standard items that are not subsidised. So they cannot complain about higher bills. And definitely they are happy to pay more to be better satisfied. 6. The best part, the bottom line ‘We have good high standard public hospitals that are affordable because of 3Ms. Ok I have failed. On the other hand Boon Wan has done a terrific job and we have a very high standard of medical care at very affordable prices. This reminds me of HDB flats affordability. The only difference is that HDB you got to pay. In medical bills, no need to pay, or pay very little, because 3Ms pay for you.

Buying up Singapore

The Malaysians are getting more aggressive in their forays into foreign business. In economic terms, being aggressive is ok. The Malaysians have a big picture and a new ball game to play in Singapore. With everything on the table for sale, the Malaysians are making hay while the sun shines. First they bought over GK Goh Stockbrokers, now they are buying Kim Eng Securities. In Singapore, the stockbroking business is seen as a sunset industry, dying. So Singapore stockbrokers have been advised to sell off this dying business. In Malaysia they must have been advised otherwise. They must still believe that it is a golden goose that will lay more eggs into the future. Who is right and who is wrong only time will tell. In the Malaysian big plan I think they will not stop at just buying two broking houses. Next could be one of the big banks. DBS should be very attractive when the price is right. How about SIA? This will be the apple of their eyes to replace MAS. And if they can buy over PSA, there is no need to worry about Gelang Patah. They can even promote PSA to the fullest and export all their goods through Singapore. And they would probably need a 3rd and 4th links. There are many more worthy assets to buy over. Keep the momentum going. This is simply brilliant. While Singapore is strategizing on how to integrate into Malaysia, Malaysia has its own idea on how to integrate Singapore into Malaysia.

Changing values and changing morality

Not too long ago there was this brilliant businessman with an equally brilliant idea to profit from his trading business. Oh, they don’t called businessmen brilliant then, but astute. Today they will probably tagged them as super talents if they can come up with devious schemes to max profits, even if it means fleecing their customers. What the businessman did was to simply corner the rice market, a monopoly or a cartel, and then control the demand and supply of rice. He could then determine whatever price he wanted. Nothing spectacular, and no need a Ph D to come up with such a scheme. But making huge indecent profits at the expense of the customers was not an acceptable thing to do, then. The govt immediately swung into action. It needed to protect the interest of the people. That was the morality and value of the day. A govt importing agency was set up to counter this move. The businessman was outsmarted and lost, his scheme was not allowed to become a reality. And the people’s interest was safe guarded. Morality and values have changed. Today, anyone with any idea or scheme to fleece their customers and max profits for the organization will be treated like a hero. They will ascend the ladder to super talent status. Take the staple rice as an example again. This time round, if someone is to come out with an idea on how to profit from this item, I think he would be patted on the back and say ‘Good work’. The idea could be something like this. Ok, first the moral justification. This must be put right first, even if it is rubbish. But must still make it sounds right. Rice is a staple food, and a scarce resource. People should not waste rice. Importing rice is also a drain on our foreign exchange. With such reasons in place, now the brilliant scheme can be enforced. Because rice is so important and cannot be wasted, people must be encouraged to eat less rice and waste less rice. How to do it? Hit the people where it hurts, their pockets. The price of rice shall now be double. Profit immediately doubles. But this is not enough. Each household is rationed at 2 kg of rice per month. Household consuming more than 2 kg shall pay a surtax of 30%. What is this for? How to justify this? Elementary, this is to educate the people on the importance of rice and not to waste rice or eat too much rice. See, more profits coming in. Wow, with such a brilliant idea, I am even thinking betterer than the professors from the best universities in the USA. I think I shall award myself the title of Eminent Professor of Economics. And Wally will say, hehe : ) And Matilah will say don't talk cock, so and so has written this in his book in year 1955.

Another frightening article on market pricing

This article is on the front page of Today paper called ‘Missed opportunity in parking policy’. It was written by a smart professor, a foreign talent of course, called Paul Barker. Actually it does not need a professor to think of market pricing for car parks. I can do better, not bluffing, if my intention is to rob the motorists. The gist of the article is that car parks should be priced according to demand and supply, using market mechanism. I couldn’t help laughing. Applying it will just go the HDB way, the ERP way, the COE way. When supply exceeds demand it will only mean one thing, UP! Imagine what parking fees will be in the CBD if parking is charged according to market mechanism? Bee tang to the operators! Our physical constraints make market mechanism impractical. It is suicidal to go that way. Market mechanism cannot be blindly applied to housing, cars, car parks, medical services, and many other things here!

Stupid Bank

My friend related this incident to me. His rich Malaysian client came to Singapore to open a joint account with his daughter. The client has already an account in this stupid bank. You know what? They made him wait for two hours before attending to him. He got so frustrated that he even closed his existing account and went to another local bank to open his account. And the service was simply swift and efficient. The stupid bank simply lost a big customer and not only that, its bad service will be spread by this client to his friends. And better still, this stupid bank is in the process of doing something unproductive, like checking on old records of clients and if the photocopies of ICs in their record are not to their liking they are asking their clients to make another copy for their records. They think the clerks in the banks have nothing useful to kill time but their high net worth clients will have time to take the trouble to make photocopies of ICs to send to the stupid bank. Instead of doing business or making things easy for its clients, it chose to irritate clients with its stupidity and arrogance. Ridiculous but the stupid bank will claim that it is efficiency and the right thing to do.

The difficult and unspoken truth

In politics, some truths are just too uncomfortable and difficult to be spoken. It is not that they are difficult to understand. It could be the simplest thing, a common knowledge, and like the proverbial elephant in the classroom, no one admits that it is there. Take for example the Gang of Four in China during the Cultural Revolution. Whenever the Chinese mentioned the Gang of Four, they would put up five fingers. The fifth finger stood for the unspoken truth. We have our own version of unspoken truth. In fact we have many unspoken truths. Internet and blogs have allowed some to surface and spoken brazenly as they really are. However, in the old media or in cocktail gossips, many would just look at one another in the eyes, perhaps with a little smile or an obliging nod when the unspoken truth happened to be the topic. Singaporeans are not dumb. They just pretend to be stupid or innocent, or even naïve by not talking about the unspoken truth. Take the issue of the disappearing savings of the Singaporeans, their hard earned savings all these years, who have robbed them of it? Singaporeans could have a lot of money saved, in the CPF or in their bank accounts. Why are Singaporeans feeling so poor, with their savings gone? Some may say the savings are transferred, from cash in the savings accounts to assets. So Singaporeans have some expensive assets like housing and cars and pieces of paper called COEs. Could Singaporeans continue to own their properties and cars and still have a lot of cash in their savings? Possible? If the answer is yes, then someone must have robbed them of their savings? The answer is in the difficult and unspoken truth.

When Regulators violate their own rules and principles

Below is part of an article I copied from Yahoo. Investing Dying as Computer Trading, ETFs & Dark Pools Proliferate On Tuesday January 4, 2011 There's an old Wall Street adage meant to inspire investors that goes "it's not a stock market, but a market of stocks." Consider that dead. Computer trading, dark pools and exchange-traded funds are dominating market action on a daily basis, statistics show, killing the buy and hold philosophy still attempted by many professional and retail investors alike. Everything moves up or down together at a speed faster than which a normal person can react, traders said. High frequency trading accounts for 70 percent of market volume on a daily basis, according to several traders' estimates. The average holding period for U.S. stocks is now just 2.8 months, according to the Crosscurrents newsletter. In the 1980s, it was two years. "The theory that buy-and-hold was the superior way to ensure gains over the long term, has been ditched completely in favor of technology," said Alan Newman, author of the monthly newsletter. "HFT promises gains are best provided by holding periods measuring as few as microseconds, possibly a few minutes, or at worst, a few hours." The problem is only made worst by the proliferation of exchange-traded funds, traders said. The vehicles, which make trading a group of stocks as easy as buying and selling an individual security, passed the $1 trillion in assets mark at the end of last year, according to BlackRock. This is probably why all ten sectors of the S&P 500 finished in the black for two consecutive years, something that's only happened one other time since 1960, according to Bespoke Investment Group. "The capital raising stock market of the past hundred years has morphed in just the last 10 years into a casino," said Sal Arnuk of Themis Trading and a market infrastructure expert who advised the SEC after last year's so-called Flash Crash. "Who is doing the fundamental work analyzing stocks? In the end, we've greatly increased systemic risk." Another factor jumped into the fray in December: dark pools. Off-exchange trading accounted for more than a third of the trading volume in December, says Raymond James. While these trades are eventually reported to the public markets, they further damage price discovery, an essential element for a fair securities market, investors said. "This was a record high market share for off-exchange trading and we believe the SEC will ultimately be forced to react to support the price discovery process by limiting off-exchange trading for all traces except for large block trades," wrote Raymond James analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy in a note to clients yesterday. "This destroys capital markets," said Jon Najarian, co-founder of TradeMonster and a 'Fast Money' trader. "Hidden trading venues, where some participants get to peek at the orders as they are entered so long as they agree to 'interact' with a minimum percentage, is not an exchange, it's a license to steal."....

Romancing the gangsters

The front page of Today paper has a full page advert on a HBO movie, ‘Boardwalk Empire’. Words like Dazzling, Rich & Cinematic, Golden Globe Nominations, Best Television Series etc etc. The movie is all about politicians and gangsters with infamous names like Nucky Thompson, Jimmy Darmody, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano etc etc. These were the ‘great men’ of the day, controlling money and all things illegal. Even without looking at the movie, one can easily guess that it will be about the glorification of the gangsters of days gone by. And they will be well dressed, well mannered, even ill mannered will be in a style of its own, and they called the shot. They make the lives of the people around them sweet or painful. And they could do it by wielding power and money, plentiful of money. Today such gangsters are probably still around in China, India, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. Maybe some still exist in Asean countries. In Singapore, if we allow the neighbourhood kids to grow up unhindered, and carrying their parangs around, we will have some golden days to come, especially with the two IRs acting as the backdrop. They will graduate from burning cars, painting doors of O$P$ and slashing kids in shopping malls to greater things. In ten or twenty years’ time, we could also produce great gangster movies of our own. But the names will be different. It is cool to be gangsters. The moral of the story is that crooks can be turned into legends.

Calling all robbers and pirates

Do robbers and pirates have a heart? I mean a sense of compassion and charity? Would robbers and pirates, after robbing everything from their helpless victims, turn around and throw money to charity, to do community services, helping the poor? Historically many have done so in the past. The irony of robbers and pirates turning philanthropists have been written into story books, and some even made into movies. Some, after becoming very rich and successful, took on a clean image of very nice businessmen and socialites in high societies. Modern day robbers and pirates don’t seem to want to do much. They are more concerned with their own well beings than those they have robbed. Their greed is boundless. Or maybe they have not robbed enough. Even then, it is good to give a token back to society. Have a little heart, or pretend to have a little heart. It won’t hurt that much. No need to give the fortune away, just a few crumbs will do. The crumbs could mean a lot to those who have nothing or have little. And definitely the poor recipients will be very grateful for the charity. And I can assure them that it is a damn good feeling to give. But that is only the intangible part. For the believers, the more they give the more they will receive. Give until it hurts. Don’t worry, the return will be in many folds, 10 folds, 50 folds or 100 folds, just give, no need to think. I do want people to think who they are giving to. Don’t ever give to the rich or people who are in the business of profiting from your giving to become richer. Does that ring a bell?

Robbing the silly Singaporeans

The silly Singaporeans, still thick in the head, did not know what had hit them. One year of inflation and hike in COE price have robbed them of at least one or two hundred thousand bucks. And yes, they are still oblivious of the fact and all are so happy. Oops, oops, if they are property owners, never mind, sitting on fat paper profits and belly feeling rich, feeling like a millionaire. For those who have to buy that car or that flat, they are as good as being robbed. How long does it take for the average heartlander to save $100k or $200k? How long does it take to save $50k to pay for that COE which is still going up and up? Maybe I am wrong. Singaporeans, including the heartlanders, are so filthy rich that another $50k or $100k is ‘sup sup suay’. Just pay and be happy to own that flat or that car. Hopefully their income will rise accordingly to make up for the losses due to inflation. Yes, inflation is the culprit. Don’t anyhow blame anyone hor.

More happy news abound

With the GE around the corner maybe it is not surprising that we are reading more happy news in the media. The most serious problem, one which many people are very angry with is over. The high housing price is slowing down man. It is not going to run away, unstoppable. The govt, or to be specific, Mah Bow Tan, has done a fantastic job in reining in the high housing price. The curbs are working! Last year resale price rose to a near record high by 13.3%, or near 14% by another main stream paper. And the good news, the rise is slowing down, wow. Just like the COEs, it is getting nearer to $100K, but slowing down. So it will be high but not running away. What a fucking relief! Cars will be affordable, and housing will be affordable too. No more worries. House hunters can now breathe a sigh of relief. The prices will still go up, and hopefully less than their annual increments. Time for celebration, time to pop the champagne. And they better appreciate what the govt has done to curb the rising price and say a big thank you to Mah Bow Tan. He is the hero, the saviour who prevented housing prices from going higher. Hurray, the ground is sweet and time to call the GE.

Why no population forecast beyond 6.5m?

A forumer, Ng Ya Ken, wrote to Today asking why there is population projection beyond the 6.5m mark. He quoted Hongkong projecting a population of 8.89m in 2039 from its present 7m. Let me venture a few guesses. One, the 6.5m is our target and we will not go further than that. So there is no need to talk about anything more than that. Two, our planners forgot to plan further, or they are still planning and have yet to come out with a new figure. Or any number bigger than this will scare the daylight out of the people? Should we stop at 6.5m or can we go beyond 6.5m? Stopping at 6.5m is a disaster as our economic growth depends on population growth. Without population growth there will be no economic growth as our productivity growth is negligible. The special jab from the two IRs will also be over by then. We will go into a steep recession once our population stops growing. On a more realistic thought, I think our planners are not sleeping and 6.5m is not the target. Just project on a continuous growth of 5% per annum and that would likely be the way to go forward. This could simply increase the population by 50% in 10 years or thereabout. Isn’t it frightening? Maybe it is so frightening that no one wants to talk about it. Would anyone want to tell us what will be the future? A population projection is the easiest thing to do unlike projecting demands for housing, and the numbers must be there. No? Please tell us, please.

QE for Singapore

Ben Bernanke has had his first Quantitative Easing by printing US$600b for the Americans. And in his plan there are six more QEs to come. Go figure how many more billions or trillions would be printed by the time he got to his 7th. If America can keep on printing banana currency to spend, my new year wish is for our Govt to do something similar at least for once. Why trade our currency and assets for banana currency? Why not join the fun? It may be opportune for the Govt to just do it and make everyone rich for once. Just create $300k for every CPF account holders so that everyone can feel rich for once, to buy a property or for retirement. With 2m Singapore citizen CPF accounts, this will come to a mere $600b as a one time pay out. There is no point in being thrifty in a world when everyone is printing money. We will end up the losers, holding American banana notes and losing our savings and our pants. It is pointless, meaningless, and worthless to give each citizen a couple of thousands which can’t really do anything for them. It will not change their lives or improve their lives well beyond one week. Do something meaningful and real. A couple of thousand is like a cheap morphine shot and the craving will be back in no time for more. The erosion of the people’s savings by inflation is serious and something more than a few thousand dollars is very necessary to combat this disease. Since our people have caught the disease of inflation, it would not make things worst by spreading the disease around in a heavier dosage. Some conditions must be attached to the QE. It should not be a stupid and mindless giveaways to all citizens regardless of new or old. Citizens with at least 20 years of residency shall get the full amount. New citizens will get a pro rated sum based on this 20 year formula. The payout shall go to the retirement accounts but can be used for home buying and hospitalisation. Going into the retirement accounts will ensure that citizens have a nest egg to live through their twilight years in some comfort. And it will not cost the Govt a huge sum immediately but delayed over a long stretch of time, depending on the age of the recipients. No more need for questionable schemes like CPF Life or other compulsory schemes. Citizens may then not feel so threatened and stressed when admitted to hospitals when there is this money to fall back on. The hospitals will be equally happy to know that the people can afford the high medical fees. The sum will also come in handy for young and potential home owners to buy their first home and solving the problems of high property prices for first time buyers. It will surely defuse the anger and anti govt sentiments and comes the next general election you can be sure of a clean sweep for the ruling party. Printing money can be very helpful to all parties, good for the people and good for the govt. Perhaps a bit of wishful thinking: )

My new year wish

Nothing is worst than high inflation. It means that the money you have is getting smaller and smaller, but you think you are rich because you have plenty of them, your bank account looks big, your CPF statements make you think that you are rich. All that is illusion. Simply a deception. Everytime there is a big hike in inflation it means one gets poorer without knowing. A young couple could have save $100k to buy a flat. But if the price goes up by $100k, it is as good as they being robbed of the $100k. Yes daylight robbery and no one is stealing or being blamed. CEO price up by $50k. It means the poor motorist wanting to buy that car will have to work one whole year for nothing. This applies to all goods and services. The inflated HDB prices mean nothing to many as they cannot sell and translate them into wealth unless they want to pitch a tent in the park, and risk being arrested and make made homeless. This inflation animal is no joke. It makes many people poorer without knowing about it. And a big chunk of one's money just disappear daily. All the savings just go to waste. The more serious consequence of inflation is that it will destroy the competitiveness of our labour. America is feeling the heat now and is in deep shit. Some economists have asked why should American labour be paid so much when others can do the same job for a penny? It will come to us and our workers will be jobless too. It is happening, when the foreign workers are willing to do more for less. Our workers could not as the cost of living is eating up every cent they have. They need to be paid more for a decent living. Ah, some jokers will say if the foreign workers can, so can the Singaporeans. Yes, agree, live like a foreign worker. Apologies for the grumbling on the first day of a new year: )

Asian countries up in arms against foreign attacks

The world of high finance is characterized by huge funds, mammoth funds, steam rolling into small financial markets around the world. These big funds take full advantage of their size and will flatten anything in its path leaving behind ruins and destructions. The currency markets, stock markets and commodity markets are helpless victims in the face of these financial gangsters and pirates of modern times. The central banks of Taiwan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia etc etc are all stepping up efforts to reduce volatility of their currencies caused by these funds and the banana currencies they are bringing in in exchange for the higher yielding Asian currencies. The attacks by these huge funds are only the beginning and the damages inflicted are only the tip of the iceberg. More serious consequences would come along if the big funds are left unregulated and free to do as they want. For the moment they are the only worthwhile export that is generating real income to their home countries. The Asian capital markets are for the time being addicted to the liquidity these funds are bringing in and looking at them as gods. Many have let their defensive instinct down and welcome the funds with open arms to rape and loot their investors of their hard earned money. These funds are merciless and must be kept in a tight rein. They have to be cut down in size and cannot be permitted to thump down everyone with the weight of their banana notes. Ignoring the dangers posed by these funds is simply irresponsibility at its height.

The last Christmas present for the year

HDB households will get up to $190 in utility rebates starting in January 2011. A second tranche will be paid in July to offset the hike in electricity tariffs. 1 roomers could get as high as $190 while those in Executive flats will get $45. Interviews conducted show that HDB dwellers are very thankful for this money falling down from the sky. Not many countries in the world will have govts giving money to their people to offset hikes in prices of goods or services. I believe this will go down well with the people and will be a good point to raise in the next general election.

Electricitiy tariffs hike

Electricity tariffs will go up by 3.3% for Jan to Mar 2011. Data reported in the Today paper shows that there was a 5.4% hike for Jan to Mar 2010, 3% for Apr to Jun, 2.42% for Jul to Sep, a fall of 3.3% for Oct to Dec resulting in a total hike of 7.5% for year 2010. It was also reported that the decrease of 3.3% was due to oil price falling from $102.35 to $95.41 in the third quarter. Since then oil prices have been hovering around $90 or below. Oil price for the last few days maintained at $90 but not exceeding $92. This is still below the $95.41 high in the third quarter. If oil price is holding below the $95.41 mark, why is there a need to raise it by 3.3%? Funny right? I am a little confused.

The paradox of political change

Jeffrey D Sachs, Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University has an interesting article in the Today paper titled, America’s political class struggle comes to a head. The key points he raised in the articles were about how deep America has dug itself into the abyss of self destruction. Yes, America did it all by itself. It all boils down to ‘America’s corrupted politics and loss of civic morality.’ Nothing new and very familiar. For once, an American professor is talking about corruption in America and in high places. Thought corruption is only a hallmark of Asian countries like India and China. He said, ‘The level of political corruption in America is staggering. Everything is about money to run political campaigns, which have become incredibly expensive.’ He also said that ‘Amazingly, the richest 1 per cent of American households now has a higher net worth than the bottom 90 per cent.’ I think this could also be true in paradise. And the govt is going for more tax cuts for the rich to protect the rich and their wealth. At the same time, the govt is wasting huge money fighting ‘useless wars in Afghanistan’ and unnecessary weapons systems, but cutting education, health, and other benefits for the poor and the working class. ‘With their backs against the wall, I(Sachs) predict, poor and working class Americans will begin to agitate for social justice.’ He added that, ‘If this continues, a third party will emerge, committed to cleaning up American politics and restoring a measure of decency and fairness.’ Though he admitted that it would take time, he fell short of saying that America is ripe for a Communist Revolution where the poor working class will rise to over throw the elite class. It sounds ridiculous, unbelievable, but if the greenback turns into banana currency, if the working class Americans could no longer afford even to buy cheap goods from China, who knows what will happen. A Communist America and a Capitalist China by the mid 21st Century! Can you believe in that? Anything is possible. The Sick Man of Asia is now the main contender to be the Number One super power and is the main financier of America, and also giving loans to save Euro zone countries. And America is deep in debt that it knows it cannot pay except for printing more money. And this will naturally lead the way to a banana currency. $200 buck for a bottle of coke is on the way. Viva la America!

Loan shark country as told by the victims

I can’t believe my eyes to read this in the forum page of the ST. Amine Delage’s family has been the victims of loan sharks harassment for 6 long years. And their only crime was to buy a HDB flat whose previous owner owed money to loan sharks. For 6 long years they suffered verbal abuses and defacement of their flats. And nothing could be done! Yes, the law could not apprehend the loan sharks. And now we have this public appeal for help! In the meantime they have to leave their children in the homes of their in laws for fear of harassment or harm. Unbelieveable but true. It is real! I lower my head in shame to think that this is first world country.

Western thinking in a Chinaman’s head

China is the most irresponsible emerging power for its failure to rein in the belligerent North Korea. It did not punish North Korea after the sinking of the Choenan as told by the Americans. (In this incident the West has already convicted the North Koreans of the crime but not allowing it to defend itself. The North Koreans have admitted the firing into Yeonpyeong but denied its role in Choenan and wanted an independent investigation to view the evidence. The South Koreans and its allies who conducted the one sided investigation pointedly refused to let them. There is no reason why the North Koreans needed to deny the shooting if they did it. There is no reason to deny an independent investigation if the evidence is convincing.) Every country wants to be friendly with China but it was China that is behaving aggressively. All Asian countries are viewing China’s rise with suspicion and fear. And China is rapidly beefing up its military forces and getting more aggressive in its disputes with its neighbours. The above is standard western American and western views. But inside many Asian heads, including the heads of WOGs and westernized Chinamen, this is the prevailing view that coloured their thinking process. Oops, I meant whiten their coloured minds. No one questions the role of the Americans, Japanese and South Koreans in provoking the North Koreans. No one wants to know the truth in the sinking of the Choenan. No one wants to know how the Americans have been orchestrating and creating the tension in the Korean Peninsula. No one wants to tell the South Koreans to stop their war mongering war games in the front yard of the North Koreans. Now that the Americans has given the green light to unleash the monster of the WW2, to allow Japan to rearm and become another military power, this idea will be accepted as the correct way to go by these Asians with western thinkings in their heads. The remilitarization of Japan is a very dangerous development. The beast in the Japanese people has not gone away and will resurface itself to terrorise the Asian countries and people. Is America just a peace loving country? A sweet darling to sleep in bed with? Nicholas D Kristof has an article to describe the modus operandi of the Americans which he titled ‘Military force is not effective at solving modern problems’. This is what he said, ‘The US spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It says we spend more than six times as much as the country with the next highest Budget, China. The US maintains troops at more than 560 bases and other sites abroad, many of them a legacy of a world war that ended 65 years ago….The US will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spend on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican American War, the Civil War and the Spanish American War combined.’ Is this a benign and friendly super power? Why does it invest so much money and resources in the weapons of war and keeping so many military bases? For tea parties? This is the way the Americans choose to deal with countries that do not tow its lines. It will use force to deal with them. And it will do it again and again, as it has the monopoly of power. Ahh, the aircraft carriers and their fire power! But the silly Asian heads, thinking American or Western, took all this for granted as the order of the day. The flexing of American military muscles and starting wars is a peace loving thing. It is America’s right to instigate and start wars. America is a benign and peaceful power. China is a belligerent power. When America schemed and orchestrated the tension in Korea, it is China’s responsibility to defuse it. By not doing anything, China is irresponsible! What kind of silly heads will think like this?

Child abuse in Singapore?

A letter by a Neo Leng Hui appeared in the Today paper appealing to the MOE to start primary school later. And with full day schools, shouldn’t this be easier? Whatever the ‘f’ reasonings, efficiency, convenience, parents can fetch the children before going to work, blah, blah, blah, the current system demands that many primary school children will have to be up by 6am or earlier to get to school on time. The consequences of a system that compelled young children to wake up at the wee hours of the morning cannot be good. Those hours are meant for nocturnal animals. Even adults will have problems waking up in those hours. But clever adults think that it is ok for little children! Waking up at those hours to rush to schools would mean that the children will have difficulties trying to eat their breakfast. The body system may not be ready to consume meals. And rushing food into the body can be a problem too. Very likely the children will have to pack their food to eat when they arrived in schools in more humanly hours. It is not an uncommon sight to see little children slumping at the lift doors or the gates as they were barely await and trying to go back to sleep again. Some parents have to carry them all the way to the cars or buses where they could knock off again. These are terrible sights and a terrible thing to do to our little ones. But the experts in childcare and schoolings may think otherwise. There are social problems too, in the dark hours of the day. Would the parents feel good and comfortable bungling their little ones out of their way to schools? Would it be more sanely and better for children to spend some decent times together during breakfast instead of rush rush and rush, or when the children were all half asleep? Are we abusing our little children for their own good, to go to schools? The efficient tickling of the economic system is more important than the welfare of the little ones?

Wen Jia Bao’s visit to India stirring a storm

Reading from articles originating from India, the visit by Wen Jia Bao seems to have created a storm instead of bridging relations between the two countries. Even George Yeo could not miss the unfriendly vibes in the Indian media that kept blowing up the differences in the two countries, from border disputes to super power ambition. Both have many similarities, ancient, populous and corrupt in their own ways. One is already a super power and another pretending to be one. There is no need to claim who is more successful or who is a bigger power. There is no need to claim who is number one in this or that. The truth is all out there. India has historical claims over territories that it claimed was hers, and so does China. How this dispute is going to be resolved or can be resolved in the near future is anyone’s guess. India is claiming that China is getting more belligerent and aggressive and is responding by reinforcing its border military forces, including beefing up its air force. It seems that war is the only solution in the Indian cards. One far fetch drama is the belief that China is encircling India by helping to build sea ports in the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. The concept of containment originated from the Cold War between the West and the communist states. This has been proven to be ineffective as no states the size of China or India can be contained in any way. The Americans failed to contain China and at best only to restrict China’s relation with the American allies. But sooner or later, the allies, if they are independent countries, will have their own interests to look after as these are above the interests of whichever super power. Actually what China is doing is to thwart the efforts of the Americans and the West and also to expand its economic and political space. India is hardly in its equation for at least the next 30 years. In many areas, there is simply no contest and India should not think too highly of itself. It should just go on developing its economy and infrastructure. The influence and stature of a country will be accompanied by its economic strength, backed by a strong military. There are many interstate and strategic differences between the two countries. India should learn from the way China break out from the stranglehold of the Americans by economic development and advancement in technology. There is nothing the Americans can do to contain or restrain China short of an all out war. America has failed miserably by wasting its resources in military prowess and hardware and allowing China to grow by leaps and bounds in the economic field. India can do like wise, develop its industries and technology. No matter how much it aspires to be a super power, it cannot be one if its rockets keep falling out from the sky despite having no problems with its design. Get the basics right, strong economy and military, and all things associated with super power will fall into place. Having a noisy media talking nonsense and creating more animosities would not turn India into a super power. Militarily the US is still the undisputed super power. Economically it is a bankrupt super power. It is in a very precarious state where it could not produce enough to pay for all its adventurism except by printing money. The G2 is not coined for nothing. It recognizes that at the top of the heap there are two super powers. The Chinese may not be as powerful as the Americans militarily. Financially it is the undisputed super power. It helped to ward of the financial crisis of the late 90s. Today China is the most sought after Santa Claus of the financially strapped countries. The US is a pauper, Japan is not the Japan it once was. So is Germany or any other European country. No need to mention India. Only China has the financial muscle to pull the sick European countries out of the quagmire. Even if there is a property bubble burst in China, which the West is hoping everyday and eager to say I told you so, the incompetent Chinese can never manage their economy, the huge cash reserves will pull them through. No need World Bank or IMF. The rest of the poor ‘rich’ nations are equally impoverished to be able to lend a helping hand even if they are willing. This is what China is today. No need to claim super power status. The European knew who has the dole.

Singapore logic tak pakai elsewhere

The supreme Singapore logic is unquestionable inside Singapore. This simple and clear logic only Singaporeans can understand. Some examples like privatized companies are run privately with no govt interference are easy to understand. The HDB, privatized govt hospitals, transport companies, are all run under commercial disciplines and using the logic of profits and nothing else. The banks, stock exchange, universities, national newspaper etc etc are independent from the govt. They make their decisions based on their own commercial and business interests. When the same logic was applied in other countries, somehow they could not understand how our logic and reasoning worked. They kept messing up by insisting on believing that our govt linked companies are part of our govt and controlled by our govt. In Thailand, our purchased of their telco from Thaksin hit a wall. They claimed that their security was compromised by us. How ridiculous. Then there is Australia who could not separate our Stock Exchange from our govt. They did not like the way our govt functions and implicitly thought that our exchange is less worthy too since it is associated with the govt. And in Indonesia, just because shares were held by two Singapore owned companies, they simply lumped them together as one entity and accused us of collusion, monopoly and all that jest. Now their courts even ruled to confiscate the assets of our companies. Luckily our head offices were not informed and they can’t do anything about it. If our head offices had been informed, they would have taken everything away, legally of course. Is this an issue of misunderstanding or a kind of difference in perception? Or is it culture and different way in thinking? Or is it because of different world and different world view?

Government is serious business

The communist countries have their best men and women in govt services. The western democracies have their attractive and good looking men and women in office. One selects the best based on their intellect and abilities. The other uses popular votes to vote in the best looker or talker to look good on TV and make lovely speeches. Singapore modeled its govt on western democracies but deviated by choosing the ‘best’ men and women to be in govt. This has served the country well for many decades. But the problem of getting the best in govt is hitting many road blocks. For one, not necessary the best will want to stand out for one reason or another. This has resulted in the ‘best’ being the best of the willing. Another major problem that marred the selection process is the dearth of political talents and leaders. The consequence is that many have no choice but duty bound to stay on even when they are not in the best of condition, physically. Some could be hard of hearing, walking or even making a speech. But they sacrificed themselves for a noble cause. Some even have to take less money home. Pathetic is the word. On the other extremes we may find children in govt as well. These must be very exceptional talents to be selected and elected by the people to serve them and the country. They are bright and clever but may be lacking in experience and wisdom in some cases. Experience and wisdom do not come about by reading books alone or an inborn thing. These are the mistakes and adversities one encountered, directly or indirectly, over time that make a person wiser, more circumspect, humbler and able to appreciate the problems and difficulties and meanings of life and living. Govt is not child play and we need the best of the best to govern the country and make life better for as many as reasonably possible. We cannot have half ins and half outs in the govt. Agree that the best means many things and different things to different people. The people and the quality of their life shall be the best to judge what is best or betterer for them. A big contradiction in this quest for the best to serve the country and people is to have part time MPs but with a pay that is not part time. No matter how talented, when a job is part time, it is part time.

Sick Man of Asia playing Santa Claus to Euro zone

The PIGS countries in Europe are counting on the Sick Man of Asia to bail them out of their financial woes. While America is spending its financial resources starting wars and fighting wars, China is extending financial aids to countries that asked for its help. And China has obliged the Euro zone by promising to buy up their bond issues. China will come to their rescue to nurse them back to economic health. Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain will be the first of Euro zone countries to benefit from China’s huge reserves. More Euro zone countries will soon be queuing up in Beijing for their grants. While this is taking place, some western analysts are writing articles about the impending implosion of the Chinese economy. They do not believe that the Chinese is capable of running their economy in the pink of health. It must collapse and this is imminent. China will soon become the Sick Man of Asia once again. And Europe shall rise, together with the US, to be the economic powerhouses once again. And they live happily together again. And they are pointing fingers at China as an irresponsible power. When will the responsible powers like the US, Europe and Japan coming to the aid of the PIGS?

Media fuelling India China rivalry unhealthy

Kolkata, Dec 21 (IBNS): The world would benefit from cosy ties between India and China and pitting the Asian giants against each other is detrimental to the global economy, Singapore's Foreign Minister said here on Monday. "There is no profit in the India China antagonism," minister George Yeo said at an interaction organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Aspen Institute of India. He rapped the Indian media for plotting a negative image of China. "I don't think the media's view is neutral," Yeo said. He said, "China has its quirks, but so does India and so does Singapore."…. Another way to build that trust is to get to know each others countries. He said the knowledge about the other side on either side of the border between India and China was "woefully insufficient". The above was copied from washingtonbanglaradio.com. George Yeo has pointedly lashed out at the sinister motive of media and the destructive influence it has on international relations. What the Indian media is doing is similar to what the western media is doing to North Korea, by painting it as an irrational and backward country and a regime change American is good for the country and its people. It conveniently chose to remain silent on the right of interference in another country’s domestic affair while accepting the connivance and forceful invasion of countries by America as an acceptable behaviour. The latest nonsense is that the Kim Jong Un is just like a young head hunter coming of age and he needs to cut off some heads to prove his manhood. Thus he has to conduct a war with the South Koreans before he can become a man. Such silly western views reflect how stupid and low down the western journalists and so called academics are prepared to go and compromising their credentials for their own personal aggrandizement. The daily provocations by the South Koreans are there for all to see. It is a nation consumed in madness and thinks that war is a party, and Lee Myung Bak and his soldiers are all smiling. They are oblivious to the next phase of development, when many will become dead soldiers. And their families will be mourning and wailing for their return in one piece and alive. The irresponsible media continues to cheer them on to provoke a supposedly ‘evil regime’, yes, an axis of evil, and they were the innocent and good boys being threatened by the North. The media would not tell them of their stupidity and the destruction of lives and the country should war breaks out. War is good and should be encouraged.

Were we done in by the Americans

The MFA had commented that ‘One purported meeting did not even take place’ and ‘Records of what was spoken differ,’ in response to the WikiLeaks revelations. What did these comments imply? Did the Americans concocted their reports and identified Singapore as the source when nothing of the sort took place, or they twisted the words to fix Singapore? It sure looks like we have been done in by our good friends the Americans. If true, it shall warrant a formal protest to the American govt and those being offended parties be duly informed. Unfortunately, even if it is true, it only concerns two cables, one that did not take place and another being altered. Then what about the rest of the cables? They must be true. Then what? Or was it an early Christmas gift? Do we need to say thank you to the Americans or return a gift in kind? Or an apology from the White House is warranted?

Merry Christmas and a Leaky New Year to everyone

Quote from Mah Bow Tan

“While the challenges in the next phase will be different, the HDB’s core mission of building homes and bring hope of a better life for hardworking Singaporean families remained unchanged. With the continued support of other agencies, community leaders, and residents, I am confident that we can build an even better home for all – one where ‘we’ll build our dreams together. Just like we’ve done before. “ Mah Bow Tan The above quote is copied from the Today paper.

Just musing

Is it possible that a 5 rm HDB flat costs less than one year’s combined income of two young graduates? Young graduates refer to those working less than 5 years after graduation. And this could also be extended to mean any two young executives with the same income. Definitely. At one time a 5 rm flat cost only $27,500 in Holland Village. If the couple were earning $1,500 pm each, that’s $3k pm or about $40k pa inclusive of bonuses. I know some of you are shaking your heads. KNN. How could this be possible when we are supposed to better off than before? Those people then could pay off the whole $27k with less than a year’s income and with plenty to spare. And they could set aside some money as savings in their CPF or in their bank accounts. Better still, with that kind of price, today the same flat could have appreciated and may be valued at $600k! Damn nice feeling huh. Using the same magic formula, a $400k flat today could well be valued at $8m in the future, using a multiple of 22 times. But things are not that easy now. In the first place, an average young couple would have a combined income of $6k pm or an annual income of $90k. This would not even be enough to pay for half the price of a 3 rm flat. So it would be a no go to begin with. Buying a 4 rm flat will probably eat into all their CPF savings for the next 20 years, leaving very little as savings. Can things be the same again? Can they really believe that their $400k flat be worth $8m in the future? The catch is that many workers, especially the CBF workers, would not be able to see their salary go up in leaps and bounds to be able to pay for a 4 rm flat. Who can afford an $8m public flat? If a public flat is selling at $8m, then a plate of char kway teow would likely cost $100 and an average young couple should be paid like $30k pm. Maybe, just maybe, when everyone is using banana currency.