The debate on the Ministerial Salary has started. A brief description of what I heard and read is that everything about high ministerial salary is for the good of the country and people. There is nothing about self serving.
The island needs strong, good and capable leaders. And how to get them is through paying them well. The ministers and MPs are arguing for more money not for themselves, but for the country and the people. Bad leadership will turn the country upside down overnight. They are preparing the groundwork for future able leaders to come on stage.
Bad leaders are likely to be corrupt and self serving. Only more money can keep them from being corrupt and self serving. Like the gardener, pay him less and he will help himself with the apples to make himself richer. It is human instinct, natural human traits.
The choice of not comparing with foreign leader’s salary is that they are getting much more in undisclosed perks. Ours is clean and everyone knows how much our leaders are getting, from the types of allowances, the number of months of bonuses, the other appointments etc etc. All their income is clean and transparent. These are nothing compare to what foreign leaders are getting in other kinds of perks.
Pegging them to the top 1000 income earners has a logic, not arbitrary. We need people from this group of high income earners to step forward to serve. Never mind that this group of people are high achievers and not really in need of additional money to live on. Many would have been comfortable for life without having to earn another cent. But there is a need to be fair to them, to their families, that their lifestyle is not affected by stepping forward to serve the people and country. The high salary is for this purpose, to attract these people, to tell them that they will not lose out in monetary terms.
Not all people are altruistic and selfless. We got to be pragmatic and realistic. People who made a lot of money are motivated by money. And it is good to provide more monetary incentives to motivate them to work better which will end up better for the people. Bonuses, variable bonuses will be a good start to lure these people into public service, like bait in a mouse trap. We used to have daft and selfless people coming out to serve the country. But that generation of leaders is over. We are living in a brave new world where the ethos is self first. We must accept this and the high salary for ministers is really a recognition of a new reality.
The people must support this high salary recommendation. It is good for the country and people as we go forward. We are talking about the future leadership, about the well being of our children. There is nothing self serving to support such a recommendation.
1/17/2012
The Civil Service is the backbone of the country
The obsessive attention on the politicians and their political pay package has distracted the people from the vital role the civil service plays in the running of the country. The politicians come and go, by choice or by being ousted by the people when they are no longer trusted. The civil servants are career employees who will be there to serve whichever govt that comes to power. They will only have to leave with the politicians should they be compromised or be beholden to the incumbent political leadership and leaving is the only option when the benefactors depart.
The core of talents of the govt is in the civil servants. They are really the talented ones, the scholars. They will do a very good job under good and dedicated leaders. They will only go astray under misguided leadership or compromised to work for politicians instead of the people.
A politician is a politician. The honourable and selfless ones will devote their energy and effort to serve the people. The less honourable ones will be less for the people and more for self. They will keep telling you how much sacrifice they have to take to serve the people, loss of privacy, loss of income, lower quality of life etc etc. It is always about themselves and their own interests. There are plenty of examples in history of good and bad political leaders.
What in my view are good political leadership? A sense of commitment to serve country and people. For these, you don’t need rocket scientists or top surgeons or top lawyers or top money earners. What is needed are people with a heart in the right place and good or above average intelligence to know what is good for country and people. Too clever people with the heart in the wrong place, in their pockets, are unsuitable for political leadership. There must be honour and moral righteousness in people assuming political leadership. Nothing less.
A good political leadership can always count on the pool of top talents in the Civil Service to do the meticulous work of running the country. And they are there to set the right direction for the people and country, not for themselves. They are there also as the guiding light, to lead by examples, to control the civil servants to do the right things. They can only do that when they are upright and honourable, and above money and rewards.
Yes it is about leadership, lead by examples. The idea of paying leaders to motivate them is rubbish, ludicrous. Leaders don’t need to be motivated by monetary rewards or any rewards. They lead the way, they show the way. It is ridiculous for leaders to ask for rewards to do better. Unbelieveable! They can even be paid lesser than the civil servants who are professionals in their work who are there as career employees, not someone parachuted from somewhere, without a clue about govt or the technical abilities of specialised ministries and starts to act and behave like experts.
Political leaders are decision makers, acting on the advice and recommendations of the professionals, the civil servants. Their main concerns are nation and people’s interests, the good of the people and country. They are the checks and balance on the civil servants. The civil servant may be ruthlessly efficient in their jobs, cold and calculative, living by every rule in the book. It is the politician that is there to make them more compassionate and people centric. The decision making process is important and the self serving may argue that this is more valuable, money wise, than just getting the work done. Agree. But such thought already disqualify a political leader from leading as the thought is self serving, greed.
It will be good for political leaders to be as technically competent as the civil servants, but not a pre requisite. In reality it is not always possible. But a good mind and a good heart will lead to good decisions. A misplaced heart will never lead to good decisions, but self serving decisions.
The civil servants and the politicians have different roles, complimentary and also in contrary to each other. They support and assist each other as well as checking on each other. When the interest of the two merges, for the good of people and country, things will be well. When their interests merge for their own good, then there will be chaos and the interests of people and nation compromised.
It is vital to preserve and maintain the integrity and independence of the Civil Service from politicians and vice versa. When the two are in cahoot, the people and nation will fall victims to their self serving schemes and policies.
The core of talents of the govt is in the civil servants. They are really the talented ones, the scholars. They will do a very good job under good and dedicated leaders. They will only go astray under misguided leadership or compromised to work for politicians instead of the people.
A politician is a politician. The honourable and selfless ones will devote their energy and effort to serve the people. The less honourable ones will be less for the people and more for self. They will keep telling you how much sacrifice they have to take to serve the people, loss of privacy, loss of income, lower quality of life etc etc. It is always about themselves and their own interests. There are plenty of examples in history of good and bad political leaders.
What in my view are good political leadership? A sense of commitment to serve country and people. For these, you don’t need rocket scientists or top surgeons or top lawyers or top money earners. What is needed are people with a heart in the right place and good or above average intelligence to know what is good for country and people. Too clever people with the heart in the wrong place, in their pockets, are unsuitable for political leadership. There must be honour and moral righteousness in people assuming political leadership. Nothing less.
A good political leadership can always count on the pool of top talents in the Civil Service to do the meticulous work of running the country. And they are there to set the right direction for the people and country, not for themselves. They are there also as the guiding light, to lead by examples, to control the civil servants to do the right things. They can only do that when they are upright and honourable, and above money and rewards.
Yes it is about leadership, lead by examples. The idea of paying leaders to motivate them is rubbish, ludicrous. Leaders don’t need to be motivated by monetary rewards or any rewards. They lead the way, they show the way. It is ridiculous for leaders to ask for rewards to do better. Unbelieveable! They can even be paid lesser than the civil servants who are professionals in their work who are there as career employees, not someone parachuted from somewhere, without a clue about govt or the technical abilities of specialised ministries and starts to act and behave like experts.
Political leaders are decision makers, acting on the advice and recommendations of the professionals, the civil servants. Their main concerns are nation and people’s interests, the good of the people and country. They are the checks and balance on the civil servants. The civil servant may be ruthlessly efficient in their jobs, cold and calculative, living by every rule in the book. It is the politician that is there to make them more compassionate and people centric. The decision making process is important and the self serving may argue that this is more valuable, money wise, than just getting the work done. Agree. But such thought already disqualify a political leader from leading as the thought is self serving, greed.
It will be good for political leaders to be as technically competent as the civil servants, but not a pre requisite. In reality it is not always possible. But a good mind and a good heart will lead to good decisions. A misplaced heart will never lead to good decisions, but self serving decisions.
The civil servants and the politicians have different roles, complimentary and also in contrary to each other. They support and assist each other as well as checking on each other. When the interest of the two merges, for the good of people and country, things will be well. When their interests merge for their own good, then there will be chaos and the interests of people and nation compromised.
It is vital to preserve and maintain the integrity and independence of the Civil Service from politicians and vice versa. When the two are in cahoot, the people and nation will fall victims to their self serving schemes and policies.
1/16/2012
Singapore is a big city indeed
It takes about 13 hours to be in London, or if one drives, about 5 hours to be in KL. This woman and her two teenage daughters took more than a day to walk from Yishun to Tampines. They took a break in Chai Chee at night, sleeping in the void deck, and prepared to walk another 6km to Tampines.
She had recently gone through a divorce and has no place to stay. They were walking to seek help from a relative living in Tampines. And with all their personal belongings they dragged themselves, on foot to Tampines.
They could not even afford the really affordable public transport that Singaporeans are all shouting cheap, cheap, cheap. Or they were trying to save every dollar, perhaps for their meals. Or did they have their meals at all?
In super rich city state of Singapore, there will be those not too clever and maybe like some said, irresponsible and messed up their own lives for not knowing how to take advantage of the pro business culture and system, to grow rich. Some of these successful jokers think that everyone is born the same, with the same opportunities, with parents that are rich and influential, or with a good brain, to earn millions and drive around in Ferraris.
No, in life, not everyone is dealt the same hand of cards. Some may be even have very good DNAs, but the circumstances made it difficult to find a way out of the shit they are in. Some are just too unfortunate to be given a bad hand of DNAs and just simply stand no choice at all. To the uncaring and elitist mindset, these losers have only themselves to blame, for being lazy, stupid and not wanting to work. There are plenty of jobs available.
Life is not always kind to everyone. For those who are better blessed, they can afford to be unkind to those that are not too blessed. It is their good fortune. Enjoy while they can. Spit at the downtrodden, lazy and useless buggers who could not make it, and enjoy that sense of achievements.
I do not know the fate of the mother and daughters. One MP, Tan Chuan Jin, had offered help and was walking with them part of the journey. But the poor too have dignity and pride. They refused all help. It was said that finally they took a ride from a police car.
Life can be tragic and pathetic even in a land of millionaires and roads paved with gold. And to some, their only means of transportation is their pair of legs. This is real! The public transportations may be cheap for the cheapos, but not cheap enough for a few laggards.
She had recently gone through a divorce and has no place to stay. They were walking to seek help from a relative living in Tampines. And with all their personal belongings they dragged themselves, on foot to Tampines.
They could not even afford the really affordable public transport that Singaporeans are all shouting cheap, cheap, cheap. Or they were trying to save every dollar, perhaps for their meals. Or did they have their meals at all?
In super rich city state of Singapore, there will be those not too clever and maybe like some said, irresponsible and messed up their own lives for not knowing how to take advantage of the pro business culture and system, to grow rich. Some of these successful jokers think that everyone is born the same, with the same opportunities, with parents that are rich and influential, or with a good brain, to earn millions and drive around in Ferraris.
No, in life, not everyone is dealt the same hand of cards. Some may be even have very good DNAs, but the circumstances made it difficult to find a way out of the shit they are in. Some are just too unfortunate to be given a bad hand of DNAs and just simply stand no choice at all. To the uncaring and elitist mindset, these losers have only themselves to blame, for being lazy, stupid and not wanting to work. There are plenty of jobs available.
Life is not always kind to everyone. For those who are better blessed, they can afford to be unkind to those that are not too blessed. It is their good fortune. Enjoy while they can. Spit at the downtrodden, lazy and useless buggers who could not make it, and enjoy that sense of achievements.
I do not know the fate of the mother and daughters. One MP, Tan Chuan Jin, had offered help and was walking with them part of the journey. But the poor too have dignity and pride. They refused all help. It was said that finally they took a ride from a police car.
Life can be tragic and pathetic even in a land of millionaires and roads paved with gold. And to some, their only means of transportation is their pair of legs. This is real! The public transportations may be cheap for the cheapos, but not cheap enough for a few laggards.
Rogues in uniform
The ST reported several cases of Singaporeans travelling overseas and were detained for months in foreign jails and treated by criminals. And their crimes were due to some rogues in uniform and their wild imaginations. They arrested them on grounds of suspicions or when they were under some kinds of hallucination that a family could be involved in human trafficking or trying to sell the children they under their care.
Civil Engineer Shirley Too and her husband were arrested in Dubai. They were heading to Rome for the blessing of the baby she was conceiving and ended up in a miscarriage because of the wrongful detention of nine months in Dubai jail, and not allowed to contact the Singapore Embassy staff. Her imagined crime was the four boys, three teenagers and a 12 year old, whom the rogues in uniformed imagined were to be sold by them. A simple inquiry would have resolved such a misunderstanding or false accusation. They were many cases of worst accusations involving drug trafficking when the ulterior motive was bribe money that the rogues demanded for the release.
There must be international laws to punish such rogues if, for any reason, is to protect the innocent from the injustice, cruelty and nightmare that they had to put up with. Children were not spared by such criminals in uniform. Where is the UN when such blatant acts of violating human rights were so prevalent? Could they not do anything?
In the Shirley Too’s case, not only an apology will be adequate. The Dubai govt must be made to pay compensation for the time under wrongful detention and the miscarriage. The release of Shirley Too or other Singaporeans under wrongful detention is not enough or acceptable. The rogues must be punished and their victims compensated. Only then could such incidents be reduced. It is frightening and torturing to be put through such an ordeal for anyone, adult, woman or child.
How many animals are in uniform and given authority to abuse the innocents and could simply get away with their crimes?
Civil Engineer Shirley Too and her husband were arrested in Dubai. They were heading to Rome for the blessing of the baby she was conceiving and ended up in a miscarriage because of the wrongful detention of nine months in Dubai jail, and not allowed to contact the Singapore Embassy staff. Her imagined crime was the four boys, three teenagers and a 12 year old, whom the rogues in uniformed imagined were to be sold by them. A simple inquiry would have resolved such a misunderstanding or false accusation. They were many cases of worst accusations involving drug trafficking when the ulterior motive was bribe money that the rogues demanded for the release.
There must be international laws to punish such rogues if, for any reason, is to protect the innocent from the injustice, cruelty and nightmare that they had to put up with. Children were not spared by such criminals in uniform. Where is the UN when such blatant acts of violating human rights were so prevalent? Could they not do anything?
In the Shirley Too’s case, not only an apology will be adequate. The Dubai govt must be made to pay compensation for the time under wrongful detention and the miscarriage. The release of Shirley Too or other Singaporeans under wrongful detention is not enough or acceptable. The rogues must be punished and their victims compensated. Only then could such incidents be reduced. It is frightening and torturing to be put through such an ordeal for anyone, adult, woman or child.
How many animals are in uniform and given authority to abuse the innocents and could simply get away with their crimes?
Ministerial Salary - Day of reckoning
Monday 16 Jan 2011 could be the most significant day in the history of Singapore politics. It is a day when the grossly overpaid compensation package of the ministers, a world record that belittles all other records in the Guinness Book of Records, will be put under the microscope. It could be expected that every single dollar paid under the system will be questioned. But one thing for sure, the world record will stand at least for another 4 years.
What is important is that the ruling govt will have to defend its position and justifications for the high salary at a time when its credibility is under question. It is also a time when there are more than 2 opposition party MPs sitting on the opposition bench, and with everyone of them equally and professionally qualified, to challenge the crème de la crème of Singapore’s hard nose elite.
The whole bunch of PAP MPs will be closely watched on what they say, what they defend, what they stand for and their value system. This will be a day when the truth of what they represent will be hung up for all the people to see. How real are they will determine their fortune in the next GE if they are still around. Who knows, some may feel so embarrassed and may be pricked by their conscience to want to quit prematurely than to go through it till 2016.
What is of great concern is that the people will also be watching the opposition MPs closely. Will they measure up to the PAP? Are they meticulous and reasonable in their disagreement with the high salary recommendations? Are they good enough to form the base for a bigger opposition in the next GE and even to win the next election? They have a tough job and a heavy responsibility to prove to the electorate that they are worth their trust to represent them and are as good as the ruling party in intellect, and better morally, to be the next govt.
The media, mainly the professional reporters and journalists, have an arduous task of keeping the people informed of every pertinent things said by every MP in Parliament, to provide a clean, objective and unbiased account of the debate in Parliament. They too are being watched.
This is the Battle Royale the people are waiting for, with an equally sensitive and emotionally charged agenda on the table. But the people must accept that the battle is strongly against the opposition MPs in numbers. The only big gun they have is the conscience of PAP MPs and the power of the people who will be gunning for justice and equality and will not be forgiving if the PAP MPs proved to be a disappointment. They will be judged by the people, not by any KPI the PM handed to them at his discretion. It is the people’s KPI, the people’s expectation of what is a good MP and what the people want, not what the PM wants.
This is the real KPI that is under scrutiny, the KPI that counts, would not pay them more bonuses, but the electorate will reward them with another term, or they are fired.
What is important is that the ruling govt will have to defend its position and justifications for the high salary at a time when its credibility is under question. It is also a time when there are more than 2 opposition party MPs sitting on the opposition bench, and with everyone of them equally and professionally qualified, to challenge the crème de la crème of Singapore’s hard nose elite.
The whole bunch of PAP MPs will be closely watched on what they say, what they defend, what they stand for and their value system. This will be a day when the truth of what they represent will be hung up for all the people to see. How real are they will determine their fortune in the next GE if they are still around. Who knows, some may feel so embarrassed and may be pricked by their conscience to want to quit prematurely than to go through it till 2016.
What is of great concern is that the people will also be watching the opposition MPs closely. Will they measure up to the PAP? Are they meticulous and reasonable in their disagreement with the high salary recommendations? Are they good enough to form the base for a bigger opposition in the next GE and even to win the next election? They have a tough job and a heavy responsibility to prove to the electorate that they are worth their trust to represent them and are as good as the ruling party in intellect, and better morally, to be the next govt.
The media, mainly the professional reporters and journalists, have an arduous task of keeping the people informed of every pertinent things said by every MP in Parliament, to provide a clean, objective and unbiased account of the debate in Parliament. They too are being watched.
This is the Battle Royale the people are waiting for, with an equally sensitive and emotionally charged agenda on the table. But the people must accept that the battle is strongly against the opposition MPs in numbers. The only big gun they have is the conscience of PAP MPs and the power of the people who will be gunning for justice and equality and will not be forgiving if the PAP MPs proved to be a disappointment. They will be judged by the people, not by any KPI the PM handed to them at his discretion. It is the people’s KPI, the people’s expectation of what is a good MP and what the people want, not what the PM wants.
This is the real KPI that is under scrutiny, the KPI that counts, would not pay them more bonuses, but the electorate will reward them with another term, or they are fired.
$125m elevation map
'Elevation map that can help fight flooding may cost up to $125m
Data from such mapping can be used in a computer model to predict floods, experts say
A map that can show the height of land across Singapore and help fight the flooding problem could cost up to $125 million.
Users of the map, accurate to within 10cm, would have a better idea of where rainwater would flow during storms. The data, plus information on land use and rainfall patterns, would be a good fit for a flood-prediction computer model which does not now exist….'
This is the headline and first two paras of a report in the main media. $125m for a map is cheap. I got mine for $2 at the petrol kiosk. At least it is a fraction of what was brooch sometime back that it would cost at least a few billion bucks to have a computerised signalling system for the trains to travel faster and keep the trains apart from 3 sec to 2 sec, safely. I am wondering how many trips will the train company have to run to cover the cost of a few billion bucks and how many years, to break even. Only tin heads can even consider such a proposal as worth mentioning.
But a $125m map is different. It will help the engineers and planners to know where the rain water will flow and can then come up with a precise and effective drainage system to prevent ponding. Funny that until today, with all the flooding, they still did not know where the water will flow and where the floods are. So far all the great recommendations would come to billions of dollars for infrastructure works and a sophisticated monitoring system. Wonder if the damages at Liat Tower cost that much to justify the expenditure of billions of dollars of OPM or even $125m?.
What is good is that many jobs will be created, map making companies will have additional business, and the economy will be given a morphine jab. It is another way of circulating the money and lubricating the economy. Good idea and money worth spending. A few more of such ideas and there will be no fear of the economy slowing down.
Data from such mapping can be used in a computer model to predict floods, experts say
A map that can show the height of land across Singapore and help fight the flooding problem could cost up to $125 million.
Users of the map, accurate to within 10cm, would have a better idea of where rainwater would flow during storms. The data, plus information on land use and rainfall patterns, would be a good fit for a flood-prediction computer model which does not now exist….'
This is the headline and first two paras of a report in the main media. $125m for a map is cheap. I got mine for $2 at the petrol kiosk. At least it is a fraction of what was brooch sometime back that it would cost at least a few billion bucks to have a computerised signalling system for the trains to travel faster and keep the trains apart from 3 sec to 2 sec, safely. I am wondering how many trips will the train company have to run to cover the cost of a few billion bucks and how many years, to break even. Only tin heads can even consider such a proposal as worth mentioning.
But a $125m map is different. It will help the engineers and planners to know where the rain water will flow and can then come up with a precise and effective drainage system to prevent ponding. Funny that until today, with all the flooding, they still did not know where the water will flow and where the floods are. So far all the great recommendations would come to billions of dollars for infrastructure works and a sophisticated monitoring system. Wonder if the damages at Liat Tower cost that much to justify the expenditure of billions of dollars of OPM or even $125m?.
What is good is that many jobs will be created, map making companies will have additional business, and the economy will be given a morphine jab. It is another way of circulating the money and lubricating the economy. Good idea and money worth spending. A few more of such ideas and there will be no fear of the economy slowing down.
1/15/2012
Maslow’s Needs Theory
Many people are familiar with Maslow’s four levels of needs Theory. The normal progression of normal human beans is from one level to the next.
After observing recent developments in our society, I will take liberty to offer a couple of variations to this great social theory. The theory states that once a person has attained all this needs for Recognition in level 3 he will proceed to level 4 when Self Actualisation becomes a natural thing. Here many will want to do what he enjoys doing just for his own enjoyment, with no care of money or other factors. As long as he is happy, he will just do it. So some will just want to spend time travelling and see the world, play with grandchildren or become karaoke singers or chefs to cook for family and friends.
There is one variation to this. Of course there could be many variations. To my observation, some can be stucked in level 3 and unable to move out of it. They will continue to seek wealth, power and recognition and be intoxicated in these preoccupations. They forgot that there are better things to do in level 4. The theorists may argue that their level 3 and level 4 actually merged. Or they haven’t had enough of recognition and rewards. They are happy to continue to do what that makes them happy, be it acquisition of more wealth and more recognition and power. These could explain why some refuse to stop working and enjoy working till they die. They don’t find pleasure in their grandchildren, or lesser pleasure than what they are doing, they don’t like singing or travelling, they don’t like to smell the roses. They may look silly to those who don’t understand them. Some may condemn them as the Shylock of Shakespearian fame, living for money and nothing else.
Another variation is the propulsion or double promotion from level 3 to level 5. Instead of Self Actualisation, they ended in a state of Self Delusion. Some may start to imagine they are infallible, they are immortals. Some may believe that they are indispensable and without them the world will collapse. Such grandeur in their thinking could have negative consequences. On their own, if they remain in a sanatorium, things will be manageable. If they continue to live in society and be mentality and economically active, they may make demands that will appear insane to normal people.
The state of Self Delusion or Level 5, my addition to the Maslow’s Theory of needs, borders very closely to the state of Insanity. A very thin line dividing the two. In this state, people no longer understand that their behavior is queer, overbearing and abusively intolerable or unacceptable to the normal people. They could not understand why they have become so nauseating and difficult to be with, that people don’t agree with them any more.
But what to expect when they are in self delusion? How could they be knocked back to consciousness and which level will they find themselves in when it happened? By then they could not even remain in level 3, where there is recognition. They would be rejected by society and would not be able to command the respect and value for what they will be doing. It is like hitting the head of a snake in a snake and ladder game and the fall could go down deep, like falling from grace.
Maslow’s Theory can be quite interesting look at the new variations.
After observing recent developments in our society, I will take liberty to offer a couple of variations to this great social theory. The theory states that once a person has attained all this needs for Recognition in level 3 he will proceed to level 4 when Self Actualisation becomes a natural thing. Here many will want to do what he enjoys doing just for his own enjoyment, with no care of money or other factors. As long as he is happy, he will just do it. So some will just want to spend time travelling and see the world, play with grandchildren or become karaoke singers or chefs to cook for family and friends.
There is one variation to this. Of course there could be many variations. To my observation, some can be stucked in level 3 and unable to move out of it. They will continue to seek wealth, power and recognition and be intoxicated in these preoccupations. They forgot that there are better things to do in level 4. The theorists may argue that their level 3 and level 4 actually merged. Or they haven’t had enough of recognition and rewards. They are happy to continue to do what that makes them happy, be it acquisition of more wealth and more recognition and power. These could explain why some refuse to stop working and enjoy working till they die. They don’t find pleasure in their grandchildren, or lesser pleasure than what they are doing, they don’t like singing or travelling, they don’t like to smell the roses. They may look silly to those who don’t understand them. Some may condemn them as the Shylock of Shakespearian fame, living for money and nothing else.
Another variation is the propulsion or double promotion from level 3 to level 5. Instead of Self Actualisation, they ended in a state of Self Delusion. Some may start to imagine they are infallible, they are immortals. Some may believe that they are indispensable and without them the world will collapse. Such grandeur in their thinking could have negative consequences. On their own, if they remain in a sanatorium, things will be manageable. If they continue to live in society and be mentality and economically active, they may make demands that will appear insane to normal people.
The state of Self Delusion or Level 5, my addition to the Maslow’s Theory of needs, borders very closely to the state of Insanity. A very thin line dividing the two. In this state, people no longer understand that their behavior is queer, overbearing and abusively intolerable or unacceptable to the normal people. They could not understand why they have become so nauseating and difficult to be with, that people don’t agree with them any more.
But what to expect when they are in self delusion? How could they be knocked back to consciousness and which level will they find themselves in when it happened? By then they could not even remain in level 3, where there is recognition. They would be rejected by society and would not be able to command the respect and value for what they will be doing. It is like hitting the head of a snake in a snake and ladder game and the fall could go down deep, like falling from grace.
Maslow’s Theory can be quite interesting look at the new variations.
1/14/2012
The inconvenient truth
Monday is a big battle day in Parliament. 25 MPs will take to the floor to discuss the recommendations of the Ministerial Salary Review Committee headed by Gerard Ee.
The agenda has been set. They will be discussing about the recommendations for future salary for primarily political appointment holders. The salary for MPs is more or less accepted as reasonable and may at most received a cursory mention.
How meaningful and relevant will the discussion be will be affected by the presumptions that the MPs have in their mindset. Many are still clinging to the notion that political office is an employment and must come along with the whole gist of annual increments, bonuses, performance evaluation, etc as normal. There is also the assumption that political appointment is a great sacrifice, tangible and intangible, with monetary loss as the main factor. And the compensation package is always a discount from what the politicians are getting if they were to remain in the private sector.
The dichotomy between a political appointment and employment need no further discussion. They are completely two different animals. Not many countries can politicians take for granted that they will be elected elections after elections and can see it as a job with a big amount of certainty. Thus career development, and annual increment and bonuses become very important. When being elected is no longer a guarantee, all these factors may become superfluous and may not even be discussed, and they will turn to a different compensation package that is more relevant towards the uncertainties of political office.
The great sacrifice of monetary loss is only meaningful maybe to a handful of professionals. Maybe 80-90% of the politicians will not see any sacrifice at all. Many could be laughing all the way to the bank with their new political appointments with income they cannot even dream off in their whole life. So far there is no serious attempt to provide the statistics to show how many really took a pay cut and how many were quietly congratulating themselves with the windfall from entering politics.
And the subsidy or getting a discount from their peers in the private sector is another bull or myth that has been perpetuated for too long and will continue to be if no one stands up to challenge this myth. Where on earth can anyone earn $5m or $10m to shake hands with strangers, posed for photographs and looking good and wearing a perpetual smile? The latter is probably the most stressful of all the job requirements. Where on earth would one be paid a million bucks just to be a time keeper in Parliament which probably sits for less than 30 days in a year? There are many very well endowed positions that are paid handsomely that would not be tolerated in the private sector without the shareholders screaming foul.
Unless these assumptions are challenged, they will be taken for granted as truth and real, and will form the basis for the recommendation on how much the politicians shall be paid. And when that happens, the final results will be just as misleading and hazy as before.
While the agenda has been set to discuss about the future package, would the inconvenient truth of what and how much the political appointees really were paid under the existing package see the light?
The agenda has been set. They will be discussing about the recommendations for future salary for primarily political appointment holders. The salary for MPs is more or less accepted as reasonable and may at most received a cursory mention.
How meaningful and relevant will the discussion be will be affected by the presumptions that the MPs have in their mindset. Many are still clinging to the notion that political office is an employment and must come along with the whole gist of annual increments, bonuses, performance evaluation, etc as normal. There is also the assumption that political appointment is a great sacrifice, tangible and intangible, with monetary loss as the main factor. And the compensation package is always a discount from what the politicians are getting if they were to remain in the private sector.
The dichotomy between a political appointment and employment need no further discussion. They are completely two different animals. Not many countries can politicians take for granted that they will be elected elections after elections and can see it as a job with a big amount of certainty. Thus career development, and annual increment and bonuses become very important. When being elected is no longer a guarantee, all these factors may become superfluous and may not even be discussed, and they will turn to a different compensation package that is more relevant towards the uncertainties of political office.
The great sacrifice of monetary loss is only meaningful maybe to a handful of professionals. Maybe 80-90% of the politicians will not see any sacrifice at all. Many could be laughing all the way to the bank with their new political appointments with income they cannot even dream off in their whole life. So far there is no serious attempt to provide the statistics to show how many really took a pay cut and how many were quietly congratulating themselves with the windfall from entering politics.
And the subsidy or getting a discount from their peers in the private sector is another bull or myth that has been perpetuated for too long and will continue to be if no one stands up to challenge this myth. Where on earth can anyone earn $5m or $10m to shake hands with strangers, posed for photographs and looking good and wearing a perpetual smile? The latter is probably the most stressful of all the job requirements. Where on earth would one be paid a million bucks just to be a time keeper in Parliament which probably sits for less than 30 days in a year? There are many very well endowed positions that are paid handsomely that would not be tolerated in the private sector without the shareholders screaming foul.
Unless these assumptions are challenged, they will be taken for granted as truth and real, and will form the basis for the recommendation on how much the politicians shall be paid. And when that happens, the final results will be just as misleading and hazy as before.
While the agenda has been set to discuss about the future package, would the inconvenient truth of what and how much the political appointees really were paid under the existing package see the light?
1/13/2012
3 aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Hormuz
This is really unprecedented and the US is denying that it has anything to do with bullying or intimidating Iran. USS John Stennis, USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln will be waltzing in the area very soon. This amassing of forces is more than the two carrier groups in the Western Pacific Ocean during the tense confrontation between China and Taiwan a few years back.
All the indications are that a blow up is going to happen. And why not when the Americans can hit Iran and the Iranians cannot hit back? Those who want to see justice may hope that the Iranians have been supplied with Chinese or Russian anti ship missiles that could sink one of the aircraft carriers before it be blasted to oblivion. The collateral damage this time is going to be hundreds of times more than in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya combined. Millions of civilian lives in Iran will be at stake and at most an aircraft carrier with 4000 men and aircraft to go with.
No one thinks it is important to step in to moderate and allow the American some face saving excuse to quit the chicken game. No one is complaining that it is the aggressive evil Empire that is intimidating the Iranians and forcing them into a corner.
When the Americans say that Iran or any country is a threat to their security, it must be true. The Americans can go around the world pointing its finger at any country as a threat to their national security and no country would dare to dispute it. This is how obnoxious the Americans are today. And the indoctrination of its soldiers is so intense that they hated all their enemies to their bones. Silly unthinking American soldiers filled with hatred for the Talebans that they would even pee on their dead bodies. What Geneva Convention and treating the enemy soldiers decently? It is Third World behavior from a First World country.
I really hope the Iranians have it to sink one of the aircraft carriers to put the evil Empire in its right place that going around starting wars can have its consequences. The nuclear weapon threat is the biggest irony. It is exactly the lack of nuclear weapons that is putting Iran or any country at risk of being attack by the Americans. Once the weapon is at hand, the threat of being attack will be greatly reduced. An alternative to counter this unprovoked attack is for Iran to tell the Americans that when attacked, they will unleash chemical weapons inside the US, in the big cities. That should put some fears into the reckless Americans, and hopefully hold them back from their aggression. And it could be easier done than delivering a nuclear warhead to the US.
All the indications are that a blow up is going to happen. And why not when the Americans can hit Iran and the Iranians cannot hit back? Those who want to see justice may hope that the Iranians have been supplied with Chinese or Russian anti ship missiles that could sink one of the aircraft carriers before it be blasted to oblivion. The collateral damage this time is going to be hundreds of times more than in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya combined. Millions of civilian lives in Iran will be at stake and at most an aircraft carrier with 4000 men and aircraft to go with.
No one thinks it is important to step in to moderate and allow the American some face saving excuse to quit the chicken game. No one is complaining that it is the aggressive evil Empire that is intimidating the Iranians and forcing them into a corner.
When the Americans say that Iran or any country is a threat to their security, it must be true. The Americans can go around the world pointing its finger at any country as a threat to their national security and no country would dare to dispute it. This is how obnoxious the Americans are today. And the indoctrination of its soldiers is so intense that they hated all their enemies to their bones. Silly unthinking American soldiers filled with hatred for the Talebans that they would even pee on their dead bodies. What Geneva Convention and treating the enemy soldiers decently? It is Third World behavior from a First World country.
I really hope the Iranians have it to sink one of the aircraft carriers to put the evil Empire in its right place that going around starting wars can have its consequences. The nuclear weapon threat is the biggest irony. It is exactly the lack of nuclear weapons that is putting Iran or any country at risk of being attack by the Americans. Once the weapon is at hand, the threat of being attack will be greatly reduced. An alternative to counter this unprovoked attack is for Iran to tell the Americans that when attacked, they will unleash chemical weapons inside the US, in the big cities. That should put some fears into the reckless Americans, and hopefully hold them back from their aggression. And it could be easier done than delivering a nuclear warhead to the US.
Tin Pei Ling
I have abstained all this while from making reference to her directly with due respect to all parents, husbands and brothers and sisters of every young person. She is after all someone’s daughter, somebody’s wife and sister. It is not very kind to be so harsh in our comments on her. Many do not know her and made remarks based on the few things or comments they heard or read about her in the media.
She is just like any other young person, chasing her dreams, wanting to serve in her best capacity in her chosen endeavour. She has accepted the challenge to go into politics. Whether that is a right or wrong decision, it varies with individuals. If there is anything wrong with that, it must be the people who selected her and put her in the deep end.
Is she good enough for the job? The problem of Tin Pei Ling at the moment is more of PR and the image that the public perceived her. She is young and looked young, and that became a disadvantage. In politics, it is better to look matronly, with more girth and more meaty to look more substantive yah? Can she carry the responsibilities as a MP, to take care of her constituents, to discuss national issues in Parliament? Only time will tell.
When the perception of her is so wrong from the start, everything negative comes together to make things even worst for her. People are not happy that she is getting the huge MP allowance that was designed for super talent which people think is very excessive for someone that they think is still too young for it.
It is no longer about logic, about abilities, but about emotions and personal biases. And this is making life very tough for Tin Pei Ling. Every little movement from her will come up for criticism. I think this is grossly overdone. The rice has been cooked. If the people are unhappy, go after the people who cooked the rice. It was never her fault. She saw an opportunity, she seized it and thought she can do it. No one can fault her for this. For putting her on the high pedestal as another super talent, for thinking that she is good enough and that the people would embrace her, now looks like a bad judgement call from the people who made the decision to field her.
Tin Pei Ling is paying a very heavy price for the mistakes of others. She may blossom later and prove others wrong. For the moment, the public perception is that she is just not ready for political leadership. And the constant attack on her is not graceful and very unkind. Let’s be more graceful and let her have some peace and get on with life.
I say again. It was not her fault. She is just like any other young person starting out to work, to take the challenge in life. Let’s not make her life miserable and to pay for other people’s mistake. After the day is over, it may not be a mistake after all. No one knows better. People should refrain from attacking her at every opportunity. She did not create GRCs to get into politics.
She is just like any other young person, chasing her dreams, wanting to serve in her best capacity in her chosen endeavour. She has accepted the challenge to go into politics. Whether that is a right or wrong decision, it varies with individuals. If there is anything wrong with that, it must be the people who selected her and put her in the deep end.
Is she good enough for the job? The problem of Tin Pei Ling at the moment is more of PR and the image that the public perceived her. She is young and looked young, and that became a disadvantage. In politics, it is better to look matronly, with more girth and more meaty to look more substantive yah? Can she carry the responsibilities as a MP, to take care of her constituents, to discuss national issues in Parliament? Only time will tell.
When the perception of her is so wrong from the start, everything negative comes together to make things even worst for her. People are not happy that she is getting the huge MP allowance that was designed for super talent which people think is very excessive for someone that they think is still too young for it.
It is no longer about logic, about abilities, but about emotions and personal biases. And this is making life very tough for Tin Pei Ling. Every little movement from her will come up for criticism. I think this is grossly overdone. The rice has been cooked. If the people are unhappy, go after the people who cooked the rice. It was never her fault. She saw an opportunity, she seized it and thought she can do it. No one can fault her for this. For putting her on the high pedestal as another super talent, for thinking that she is good enough and that the people would embrace her, now looks like a bad judgement call from the people who made the decision to field her.
Tin Pei Ling is paying a very heavy price for the mistakes of others. She may blossom later and prove others wrong. For the moment, the public perception is that she is just not ready for political leadership. And the constant attack on her is not graceful and very unkind. Let’s be more graceful and let her have some peace and get on with life.
I say again. It was not her fault. She is just like any other young person starting out to work, to take the challenge in life. Let’s not make her life miserable and to pay for other people’s mistake. After the day is over, it may not be a mistake after all. No one knows better. People should refrain from attacking her at every opportunity. She did not create GRCs to get into politics.
The Chip Bee Asian Asshole Incident
There is a big battle between Asian Assholes and East European Professor in Chip Bee Estate. The trouble started when the professor had parties one too often and making too much noise to irritate her Asian neighbour. So the latter reported to the police and even recorded their jokes and adulterated conversations with phrases like Asian Assholes.
The professor has now made an apology for the noise and disturbance. Not sure if she has apologized over the asshole remark. I think there is no need to over react. Asians have always been assholes to the Westerners and love every bit of it. They love all the names the Westerners have been calling them right in their faces or behind their back. So this apology, if there is, for calling Asian Assholes is unwarranted. It is a fact.
Just get together and have a few orgies and be friends. The Assholes just love to be screwed by Westerners. Come on Assholes, be gracious lah. This is not the first time or the last time Asians will be called Assholes or more fanciful and endearing terms.
The professor has now made an apology for the noise and disturbance. Not sure if she has apologized over the asshole remark. I think there is no need to over react. Asians have always been assholes to the Westerners and love every bit of it. They love all the names the Westerners have been calling them right in their faces or behind their back. So this apology, if there is, for calling Asian Assholes is unwarranted. It is a fact.
Just get together and have a few orgies and be friends. The Assholes just love to be screwed by Westerners. Come on Assholes, be gracious lah. This is not the first time or the last time Asians will be called Assholes or more fanciful and endearing terms.
Protect our ministers
Don’t give me that puzzled look can? I was thinking of another title, ‘The temptation of Jesus Christ’, but that may be too religious an approach. There are many reasons why Sinkies need to stand up to protect the ministers. And there are many known and good reasons to do so. We were told that they are the crème ala crème of the super talents on this piece of rock. This must be a good enough reason for many Sinkies. Many also believe that they are the best people to run this country. Without them, the economy is going to go downhill, prices of properties will collapse, many would become foreign workers. There will be a flight of capital and investments and we will slide back to the Third World. Our reserves and CPF savings will become banana currency. We don’t want that to happen.
There is a more basic reason to want to protect the ministers. The most fundamental assumption of the Ministerial Salary Review Committee is that the ministers are also humans. This rude revelation is a big departure from the assumption that they are immortals. Good that the Committee set this record straight for once. This assumption is also similar to the fear that they will succumb to temptation to be corrupt. Looking at them as humans, understanding the weaknesses of human weaknesses is half the battle won. There is no need to pretend that they are immortals and above the weaknesses of human beans. As humans they are subject to the same temptations of the flesh, of greed, of corruption, and the endless desires and wants.
This is what I mean when I say we need to protect the ministers as they are human beans too. Monday, Parliament is going to debate the salary recommendations of the Review Committee. And it is likely that they are going to vote for or against it. With 81 MPs and the Whip in force, the recommendations will be passed. This is bad. The recommendations are full of treacherous loopholes and traps that will compromise and bring down the good ministers.
I hope that they will be wise enough to look for a clean and simple package that will protect them from the temptations of man, of being human. I hope they will come out with a simple recommendation, a new recommendation that will remove all the loopholes and trappings that will lead the ministers to their downfall. It is unfair to design a system that is flawed and inviting the beneficiaries to think crooked. The new recommendations on the table are not much different from the current package, with many variables and flexibilities and loopholes for wrongdoings. If the ministers are put in a situation where they can be selective in what they are doing, say by doing this or that they could improve their bonuses etc, being human and weak, they could be lured into those erroneous paths.
There is no need to throw away the whole recommendations in toto. The recommendations have provided a decent framework as to how much the ministers can hope to get as their salary. Just compute them into simple numbers like $1.1m which is the base and $10m which is the maximum. With these two extremes, add a couple of options like $3m and $5m. Remove all the other variables and measurement criteria. Just put the four numbers to vote and let them be the salary of the ministers.
Once this is done, the ministers will be released from all the distraction of money, money will no longer be their daily preoccupation. An added precaution is that there shall be no other incomes by virtue of other appointments or duties. They can take on whatever duties or appointments if they so desired, but no more money, not even a token allowance. No more creative appointments as well. This will then be the simplest and cleanest and most transparent package for the ministers, and to protect them from themselves, to free them from temptations, and from thinking crooked. I want to say no crooked bridges as well, but that would be too complex to deal with.
May the main task of Parliament next week be towards a revised and simple salary package for the ministers. This is the best that everyone can hope for, for country, for the ministers and for the people. The police or uniformed personnel can do whatever to protect the ministers, but the most difficult task is for the ministers to protect from themselves. The people need to do their part to assist the ministers by proposing a simple compensation package that is free from mischief and temptation. This is a responsible thing to do. It is a simple task but very daunting. And it would need very brave and righteous ministers to agree with such a proposal. Just tell them it is for their own good and their own protection. Think they will understand the simple logic behind the proposal and assumption.
May God bless them and give them wisdom in this very difficult moment of their lives. Boon Wan is the best person to help to enlighten the rest of the ministers, to see light in times of darkness.
There is a more basic reason to want to protect the ministers. The most fundamental assumption of the Ministerial Salary Review Committee is that the ministers are also humans. This rude revelation is a big departure from the assumption that they are immortals. Good that the Committee set this record straight for once. This assumption is also similar to the fear that they will succumb to temptation to be corrupt. Looking at them as humans, understanding the weaknesses of human weaknesses is half the battle won. There is no need to pretend that they are immortals and above the weaknesses of human beans. As humans they are subject to the same temptations of the flesh, of greed, of corruption, and the endless desires and wants.
This is what I mean when I say we need to protect the ministers as they are human beans too. Monday, Parliament is going to debate the salary recommendations of the Review Committee. And it is likely that they are going to vote for or against it. With 81 MPs and the Whip in force, the recommendations will be passed. This is bad. The recommendations are full of treacherous loopholes and traps that will compromise and bring down the good ministers.
I hope that they will be wise enough to look for a clean and simple package that will protect them from the temptations of man, of being human. I hope they will come out with a simple recommendation, a new recommendation that will remove all the loopholes and trappings that will lead the ministers to their downfall. It is unfair to design a system that is flawed and inviting the beneficiaries to think crooked. The new recommendations on the table are not much different from the current package, with many variables and flexibilities and loopholes for wrongdoings. If the ministers are put in a situation where they can be selective in what they are doing, say by doing this or that they could improve their bonuses etc, being human and weak, they could be lured into those erroneous paths.
There is no need to throw away the whole recommendations in toto. The recommendations have provided a decent framework as to how much the ministers can hope to get as their salary. Just compute them into simple numbers like $1.1m which is the base and $10m which is the maximum. With these two extremes, add a couple of options like $3m and $5m. Remove all the other variables and measurement criteria. Just put the four numbers to vote and let them be the salary of the ministers.
Once this is done, the ministers will be released from all the distraction of money, money will no longer be their daily preoccupation. An added precaution is that there shall be no other incomes by virtue of other appointments or duties. They can take on whatever duties or appointments if they so desired, but no more money, not even a token allowance. No more creative appointments as well. This will then be the simplest and cleanest and most transparent package for the ministers, and to protect them from themselves, to free them from temptations, and from thinking crooked. I want to say no crooked bridges as well, but that would be too complex to deal with.
May the main task of Parliament next week be towards a revised and simple salary package for the ministers. This is the best that everyone can hope for, for country, for the ministers and for the people. The police or uniformed personnel can do whatever to protect the ministers, but the most difficult task is for the ministers to protect from themselves. The people need to do their part to assist the ministers by proposing a simple compensation package that is free from mischief and temptation. This is a responsible thing to do. It is a simple task but very daunting. And it would need very brave and righteous ministers to agree with such a proposal. Just tell them it is for their own good and their own protection. Think they will understand the simple logic behind the proposal and assumption.
May God bless them and give them wisdom in this very difficult moment of their lives. Boon Wan is the best person to help to enlighten the rest of the ministers, to see light in times of darkness.
1/12/2012
Hong Kong Traders Plan Lunch-Break Protest
Bloomberg
By Kana Nishizawa and Marco Lui - Jan 12, 2012
Securities traders and restaurant staff will protest outside the Hong Kong stock exchange offices today over the bourse’s plan to reduce its lunchtime trading break.
As many as 1,000 protesters will gather at the Statue Square in the city’s central business district at 4:45 p.m. and walk to the headquarters of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. at the Exchange Square, said Patrick Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Employees Union and organizer of the demonstration.
Hong Kong Exchanges Chief Executive Officer Charles Li plans to cut the lunch break from March 5 to one hour from 90 minute, following a reduction last year from two hours, the longest of the world’s 20 largest bourses. Brokers use the lunch break to communicate with clients and improve businesses, and one hour is not enough, Lam said by telephone today. Restaurants in the city’s central district would be losing business as well, he said.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Francis Lun, managing director at Lyncean Holdings Ltd., who may join the protest. “After the morning trading, traders have to spend about 15 minutes to match all the trades, so it really gives you no time for lunch at all. I hope we can throw garbage on the head of Mr. Charles Li for not listening to public opinion.”....
The SGX has since cut off lunch break to be in line with the stupid Americans for the same quoted reason that it will increase the volume of transactions. Where is the evidence? Where is the increase? There is only decrease in volume. In fact the volume of trades does not even justify opening the exchange for more than 2 hours. Now that this sad state of affair has been proven, let’s not deceive ourselves that volume will increase with continuous trading.
What is the point of opening non stop when there are hardly any trades being done? Or is it that it got something to do with switching on and off of high speed computers? There is no reason for continuous trading unless the volume justifies it. Until then, it is only reasonable to revert to the one and the half hour lunch break.
By Kana Nishizawa and Marco Lui - Jan 12, 2012
Securities traders and restaurant staff will protest outside the Hong Kong stock exchange offices today over the bourse’s plan to reduce its lunchtime trading break.
As many as 1,000 protesters will gather at the Statue Square in the city’s central business district at 4:45 p.m. and walk to the headquarters of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. at the Exchange Square, said Patrick Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Employees Union and organizer of the demonstration.
Hong Kong Exchanges Chief Executive Officer Charles Li plans to cut the lunch break from March 5 to one hour from 90 minute, following a reduction last year from two hours, the longest of the world’s 20 largest bourses. Brokers use the lunch break to communicate with clients and improve businesses, and one hour is not enough, Lam said by telephone today. Restaurants in the city’s central district would be losing business as well, he said.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Francis Lun, managing director at Lyncean Holdings Ltd., who may join the protest. “After the morning trading, traders have to spend about 15 minutes to match all the trades, so it really gives you no time for lunch at all. I hope we can throw garbage on the head of Mr. Charles Li for not listening to public opinion.”....
The SGX has since cut off lunch break to be in line with the stupid Americans for the same quoted reason that it will increase the volume of transactions. Where is the evidence? Where is the increase? There is only decrease in volume. In fact the volume of trades does not even justify opening the exchange for more than 2 hours. Now that this sad state of affair has been proven, let’s not deceive ourselves that volume will increase with continuous trading.
What is the point of opening non stop when there are hardly any trades being done? Or is it that it got something to do with switching on and off of high speed computers? There is no reason for continuous trading unless the volume justifies it. Until then, it is only reasonable to revert to the one and the half hour lunch break.
The more you read the more tulan
More and more cases of PRs and new citizens benefitting from the housing policies or taking advantage of them are being reported in cyberspace. And to think that they did not have to do NS and could get a public flat so easily while so many Sinkies are not even eligible for some cock reasons, singles, income too high etc etc, makes the blood boils. How can policies be formulated that put Sinkies at a disadvantage over PRs and new citizens?
The people that fall victims to such policies have all the rights to be fuming mad. They are the sons of the land, oops, a piece of rock, and having live here all their lives, doing NS to defend this piece of rock, and could not buy a roof over their heads while new citizens going around merrily getting them, subletting them, or selling them at good profits only to abandon this place and return home.
The Sinkies deserve the govt they get. I am sure many Sinkies are damn tulan over this. Own citizens, born and bred here, lost out to PRs and new citizens. And best of the bestest, they will vote for those who made the policies to their detriment.
The people that fall victims to such policies have all the rights to be fuming mad. They are the sons of the land, oops, a piece of rock, and having live here all their lives, doing NS to defend this piece of rock, and could not buy a roof over their heads while new citizens going around merrily getting them, subletting them, or selling them at good profits only to abandon this place and return home.
The Sinkies deserve the govt they get. I am sure many Sinkies are damn tulan over this. Own citizens, born and bred here, lost out to PRs and new citizens. And best of the bestest, they will vote for those who made the policies to their detriment.
Ministerial salary debate in Parliament
The recommendations of the Salary Review Committee will be debated on Monday 16 Jan in Parliament. It will be PAP versus others, between those going to vote for the recommendations and those against it. It will not be a debate on conscience, not about morality or decency, but a debate on policy.
Yes, Gan Kim Yong said the whip will not be lifted. This means that the PAP MPs must toe the line, and vote for the new salary. They have no choice, they cannot vote against it. But would they stand up and speak against it? No, it is a PAP policy and they must be disciplined, cannot break rank, it is us against them. Those who believe that PAP MPs can speak to oppose PAP policies, this sitting will tell them rudely that they can forget it in important issues like this one.
The stage is set for a bi partisan debate, with PAP for and others against the recommendation. It will be 6 against 81. And the vote is final and the recommendations will be approved. The bill is passed, or as good as passed even before Parliament sits. This is democracy, the rule of the majority…in Parliament.
Yes, Gan Kim Yong said the whip will not be lifted. This means that the PAP MPs must toe the line, and vote for the new salary. They have no choice, they cannot vote against it. But would they stand up and speak against it? No, it is a PAP policy and they must be disciplined, cannot break rank, it is us against them. Those who believe that PAP MPs can speak to oppose PAP policies, this sitting will tell them rudely that they can forget it in important issues like this one.
The stage is set for a bi partisan debate, with PAP for and others against the recommendation. It will be 6 against 81. And the vote is final and the recommendations will be approved. The bill is passed, or as good as passed even before Parliament sits. This is democracy, the rule of the majority…in Parliament.
MRT jams - Another expert recommendation
I heard that some experts are recommending that SMRT provide incentives in the form of monetary rewards to commuters to take the trains outside the peak hours. I think this is a very ingenious suggestion. How come no super talent can think of such a brilliant idea?
I am seriously considering doing that now and see how much money is SMRT going to incentivize me. Okay, my office starts work at 9 am. Now if I were to take the 7am train, I could miss the peak hours and get some money back from SMRT. If one way is 20c, two ways will be 40c daily. For 22 days, that will be a saving of $8.80 a month. Whoa, one year nearly $100! Not bad at all.
Now what am I going to do arriving at the office one hour earlier? One day two hours, one hour earlier to arrive and one hour later to leave, that is 44 hours a month or 500 over hours that I need to stay in the office.
Is it worth it for the $100 savings? Of course lah. Can spend more time doing own things or have more time to do office work. The bosses will be happy and may get higher variable bonuses some more. That means the monetary reward is more than $100 a year.
Ok, SMRT, please quickly implement this money reward schemes and reduce the jams during peak hours. It is definitely a win win win situation. I win, SMRT wins and my company also wins.
Simply brilliant.
I am seriously considering doing that now and see how much money is SMRT going to incentivize me. Okay, my office starts work at 9 am. Now if I were to take the 7am train, I could miss the peak hours and get some money back from SMRT. If one way is 20c, two ways will be 40c daily. For 22 days, that will be a saving of $8.80 a month. Whoa, one year nearly $100! Not bad at all.
Now what am I going to do arriving at the office one hour earlier? One day two hours, one hour earlier to arrive and one hour later to leave, that is 44 hours a month or 500 over hours that I need to stay in the office.
Is it worth it for the $100 savings? Of course lah. Can spend more time doing own things or have more time to do office work. The bosses will be happy and may get higher variable bonuses some more. That means the monetary reward is more than $100 a year.
Ok, SMRT, please quickly implement this money reward schemes and reduce the jams during peak hours. It is definitely a win win win situation. I win, SMRT wins and my company also wins.
Simply brilliant.
Truly an island with no talent
When they want to find a nice name for Marina Bay, they sought the expertise of foreign consultants who advised them, after collecting $400k, to call it Marina Bay.
Today we have this MRT problem, a system that we have been operating for 30 years and looking like falling into pieces. And who else to look for expert advice when there is none locally? Call for foreign experts lah. Just pay only what. I can’t believe that after 30 years we have no talent good enough to look into the problem which is not let a failure of a rocket to the moon.
And when ponding became a problem, and as usual, there are no local talent that are really good at it, call for foreign talents. After six months of studies by a panel of 12 experts, some local and some foreign, a list of ingenious solutions that our locals would never imagine have been tabled. Roof gardens, roof ponds, porous roads, collecting water by every building, delaying the flow of water, raising barriers, increasing thresholds of buildings, and some enormous infrastructure changes were proposed. Yes, foreign talents are where all the solutions coming from. 6 months of studies with 12 experts cannot be for free.
If only I have a string of engineering degrees I will recommend them to put a bubble roof over the whole of Orchard Road. Not only it would reduce the rain water over the area, the roof must cover a big enough area, it would also be useful to control the climate under the bubble. You want wind you can have wind. You want snow you can have snow. Definitely a great attraction that would improve the attractiveness of Orchard Road. And if solar cells are used, all the improvements and inventions on solar energy can be incorporated. Great stuff, really.
Maybe we can wait for another panel of foreign talents to recommend this. Put a bubble over Orchard Road.
What is the point of paying all the super talented salary for super talents when every little problem there will be a big scramble for foreign talents who were mostly paid half of what our supertalents are being paid?
There is no need for 5 specialists when one gets pile in the arse. And definitely no need to seek reassurance and a second opinion from a foreign pile specialist. Of course when one has all the money to throw, or hoping that if the recommendation is not good enough, then we can point the finger at the foreign specialist, a foreign specialist will come in useful. Or since the foreign specialist cannot solve it, no local talent can. Safe.
Today we have this MRT problem, a system that we have been operating for 30 years and looking like falling into pieces. And who else to look for expert advice when there is none locally? Call for foreign experts lah. Just pay only what. I can’t believe that after 30 years we have no talent good enough to look into the problem which is not let a failure of a rocket to the moon.
And when ponding became a problem, and as usual, there are no local talent that are really good at it, call for foreign talents. After six months of studies by a panel of 12 experts, some local and some foreign, a list of ingenious solutions that our locals would never imagine have been tabled. Roof gardens, roof ponds, porous roads, collecting water by every building, delaying the flow of water, raising barriers, increasing thresholds of buildings, and some enormous infrastructure changes were proposed. Yes, foreign talents are where all the solutions coming from. 6 months of studies with 12 experts cannot be for free.
If only I have a string of engineering degrees I will recommend them to put a bubble roof over the whole of Orchard Road. Not only it would reduce the rain water over the area, the roof must cover a big enough area, it would also be useful to control the climate under the bubble. You want wind you can have wind. You want snow you can have snow. Definitely a great attraction that would improve the attractiveness of Orchard Road. And if solar cells are used, all the improvements and inventions on solar energy can be incorporated. Great stuff, really.
Maybe we can wait for another panel of foreign talents to recommend this. Put a bubble over Orchard Road.
What is the point of paying all the super talented salary for super talents when every little problem there will be a big scramble for foreign talents who were mostly paid half of what our supertalents are being paid?
There is no need for 5 specialists when one gets pile in the arse. And definitely no need to seek reassurance and a second opinion from a foreign pile specialist. Of course when one has all the money to throw, or hoping that if the recommendation is not good enough, then we can point the finger at the foreign specialist, a foreign specialist will come in useful. Or since the foreign specialist cannot solve it, no local talent can. Safe.
1/11/2012
Putting money in the wrong place
China has woken up to its folly of investing its money in American stocks. The last decade had seen China losing billions in pouring money into American stocks while neglecting its own stock market. Instead of making money, it burnt a big hole for its blind belief and adolation of Wall Street and the great American financial con game. While doing it, it also in a way allowed the hollowing of its own stock market and the value of Chinese stocks in Shanghai and Hongkong.
Now that it has learnt its lesson well, that Wall Street is another rotten apple and a bottomless pit, China is turning its interest back home. It is going to invest in its own market and stocks. China is also encouraging its pension funds and other financial institutions to boost its own stock markets.
The stupidity of Asians and their blind infatuation of everything American are turning full circle. The Chinese have learnt well and no longer behaving like little boys and girls pouring money into American stocks and assets. They rather put money to support their own markets and not look so stupid to the Americans.
The Chinese are now taking the lead to return to Asian. They used to believe and were misled by dumb American believers.
The Chinese stock markets can look forward to more Chinese funds supporting their own stocks.
Would Temasek and GIC now learn from China and cut their losses in America and Europe and bring back their foreign invested funds to support the local market and local stocks? Or would they continue in their blind belief that the American and European markets are the safest and most promising place to invest while hollowing out the local markets and abandoning local stocks?
Now that it has learnt its lesson well, that Wall Street is another rotten apple and a bottomless pit, China is turning its interest back home. It is going to invest in its own market and stocks. China is also encouraging its pension funds and other financial institutions to boost its own stock markets.
The stupidity of Asians and their blind infatuation of everything American are turning full circle. The Chinese have learnt well and no longer behaving like little boys and girls pouring money into American stocks and assets. They rather put money to support their own markets and not look so stupid to the Americans.
The Chinese are now taking the lead to return to Asian. They used to believe and were misled by dumb American believers.
The Chinese stock markets can look forward to more Chinese funds supporting their own stocks.
Would Temasek and GIC now learn from China and cut their losses in America and Europe and bring back their foreign invested funds to support the local market and local stocks? Or would they continue in their blind belief that the American and European markets are the safest and most promising place to invest while hollowing out the local markets and abandoning local stocks?
Dump the KPIs/bonuses for ministers
You cannot run a country on greed or money. If what is good for the country is all about greed and money, then you will have to face policies that are greed or money driven.
A country is about the well being of its people, not about the well being of a few rich men or women, not about the superb infrastructure, not about GDP growth, if they don’t benefit the people.
To connect the performance of political leaders to KPIs is controversial. To link them to GDP is dangerous. We have seen an economic wonder in year 2010 when our GDP out performed China and India. It must be another world record for Guinness, 15% GDP growth! No bluff. If there is no linkage of GDP with minister’s performance, we may not be near that number by a mile. It was a miracle that is like once in 50 years event. Make that 100 years.
And nothing can be more terrible than to link minister’s pay with GDP as KPIs. We know how numbers can work wonders with a little jigging by the statisticians. No need to explain. Even Ali, Ah Eng and Amir can do it to look good, and betterer if their pays are tied to it.
How could dumbass experts tie the performance of a country to just economic numbers? The well being of the people, cost of living, happiness, general health, quality of life, freedom of expression, a good life, to live and enjoy life instead of working to death, living in bigger and better housing, no need to fear a runaway property price and unable to buy decent roofs over their heads, good jobs, to be able to spend their hard earned money, etc etc are all important factors that must be taken together as a whole. Running a country is not just about how much more profit. It is everything, about a good or better life.
Dump the KPIs. And never link minister performance with profits. The National Development Minister must have gotten 24 or 27.5 months of bonus for increasing the revenue of HDB and its profits if his KPIs were about revenue and profits. But what about the consequences and the well being of the people, the pain, the angst and the money being emptied from their savings, forced to buy ever higher property prices in the public and private sector. And force to wait 4 or 5 years to get their flats? Are they really good for the people?
National leadership is not just about making money and raising GDP numbers. It is about people, and no, not just people, it is about the citizens, the interests and welfare of the citizens. Once these objectives are being distorted by money and greed, the people will only be aroused, I mean anger and discontent of the people.
Spare the effort and wasteful time and resources to measure performances of ministers by themselves. The simple and more important and relevant way is to evaluate them by the people through the ballot box. The citizens may be daft but not dumb and know what is a good govt and what is a bad govt. They have exercised their little intelligence for the past 4 decades for their own good by voting for good govt. How can anyone dismiss the people as stupid and do not know how to judge if the govt is good or bad?
Let the people decide whether a govt deserves to be reelected. Period. Dump the KPIs. Running a country is a long term enterprise, not short term results measurable annually.
A country is about the well being of its people, not about the well being of a few rich men or women, not about the superb infrastructure, not about GDP growth, if they don’t benefit the people.
To connect the performance of political leaders to KPIs is controversial. To link them to GDP is dangerous. We have seen an economic wonder in year 2010 when our GDP out performed China and India. It must be another world record for Guinness, 15% GDP growth! No bluff. If there is no linkage of GDP with minister’s performance, we may not be near that number by a mile. It was a miracle that is like once in 50 years event. Make that 100 years.
And nothing can be more terrible than to link minister’s pay with GDP as KPIs. We know how numbers can work wonders with a little jigging by the statisticians. No need to explain. Even Ali, Ah Eng and Amir can do it to look good, and betterer if their pays are tied to it.
How could dumbass experts tie the performance of a country to just economic numbers? The well being of the people, cost of living, happiness, general health, quality of life, freedom of expression, a good life, to live and enjoy life instead of working to death, living in bigger and better housing, no need to fear a runaway property price and unable to buy decent roofs over their heads, good jobs, to be able to spend their hard earned money, etc etc are all important factors that must be taken together as a whole. Running a country is not just about how much more profit. It is everything, about a good or better life.
Dump the KPIs. And never link minister performance with profits. The National Development Minister must have gotten 24 or 27.5 months of bonus for increasing the revenue of HDB and its profits if his KPIs were about revenue and profits. But what about the consequences and the well being of the people, the pain, the angst and the money being emptied from their savings, forced to buy ever higher property prices in the public and private sector. And force to wait 4 or 5 years to get their flats? Are they really good for the people?
National leadership is not just about making money and raising GDP numbers. It is about people, and no, not just people, it is about the citizens, the interests and welfare of the citizens. Once these objectives are being distorted by money and greed, the people will only be aroused, I mean anger and discontent of the people.
Spare the effort and wasteful time and resources to measure performances of ministers by themselves. The simple and more important and relevant way is to evaluate them by the people through the ballot box. The citizens may be daft but not dumb and know what is a good govt and what is a bad govt. They have exercised their little intelligence for the past 4 decades for their own good by voting for good govt. How can anyone dismiss the people as stupid and do not know how to judge if the govt is good or bad?
Let the people decide whether a govt deserves to be reelected. Period. Dump the KPIs. Running a country is a long term enterprise, not short term results measurable annually.
Solving the ponding problem
I am very impressed by the credentials of all the top drainage experts in town and their fanciful solutions to the ponding problems in Orchard Road. I think they will work, if not, just at a few more measures as things go along. It just costs a little more money that’s all.
I am no expert in any of these stuff, drainage, catchment area, water flow, rate of flow, porous material, drain capacity, and building ponds on roof tops. Hopefully they don’t burst or the flats do not collapse with the additional weight.
Looking at the big picture, my first layman impression is that the Marina Bay Reservoir has raised the water level in the city catchment area. All the drains and canals are perpetually full, or filled to a much higher level and capacity. As such, any sudden downpour will only raise the water level and add to the water already in the catchment area, canals and drains. And they will overflow very quickly. You don’t need a thunder storm that pour in a year’s rainfall in half an hour. Just get the city folks to pee into the drain and you will get ponding immediately.
Maybe, if they have not done so, try to lower the water level of Marina Bay Reservoir by a meter, if that is feasible, and live with it for a while to see how much more pondings will occur. It is not going to cost any money, or very little money. Just a small experiment before they go along with all the great and fanciful recommendations and infrastructure works which may not work. But they will certainly create a lot of jobs and employment and raise the GDP or National Productivity to a higher level.
This is really a two cent worth comment. Sometimes, when a person is having obese problems, there is no need to go on a specialist circuit to pay for all the expensive tests, advices and treatment when all it needs is a little dieting. Please laugh at it if you want. I am no expert and my credential is that of Emperor of Cyberspace, and my forte is to blog on controversies.
I am no expert in any of these stuff, drainage, catchment area, water flow, rate of flow, porous material, drain capacity, and building ponds on roof tops. Hopefully they don’t burst or the flats do not collapse with the additional weight.
Looking at the big picture, my first layman impression is that the Marina Bay Reservoir has raised the water level in the city catchment area. All the drains and canals are perpetually full, or filled to a much higher level and capacity. As such, any sudden downpour will only raise the water level and add to the water already in the catchment area, canals and drains. And they will overflow very quickly. You don’t need a thunder storm that pour in a year’s rainfall in half an hour. Just get the city folks to pee into the drain and you will get ponding immediately.
Maybe, if they have not done so, try to lower the water level of Marina Bay Reservoir by a meter, if that is feasible, and live with it for a while to see how much more pondings will occur. It is not going to cost any money, or very little money. Just a small experiment before they go along with all the great and fanciful recommendations and infrastructure works which may not work. But they will certainly create a lot of jobs and employment and raise the GDP or National Productivity to a higher level.
This is really a two cent worth comment. Sometimes, when a person is having obese problems, there is no need to go on a specialist circuit to pay for all the expensive tests, advices and treatment when all it needs is a little dieting. Please laugh at it if you want. I am no expert and my credential is that of Emperor of Cyberspace, and my forte is to blog on controversies.
How much political leadership?
I ask how much, not what is political leadership. And I say political leadership, not administrators or civil servants. Political leadership, is priceless, I mean the good ones, the really good ones, not those gold plated stuff.
Leading a country needs leaders, to motivate the people, to challenge the people, to lead the people. The reverse, to demotivate the people, to tell them there is no hope, to look for better people elsewhere, now that is a different kind of leadership not in the text book on leadership yet.
Good political leaders are found to be everywhere, especially when there is a problem, a crisis. They may not do much. But they talk and they lead. And when they talk, people listen. People will make appointments with them when they will be appearing on TV, to make time to listen to them. Aspiring political leaders that cannot talk, or are dumb, should just remain as civil servants or administrators.
When people do not bother to listen when a political leader talks, he is finished. He has lost his leadership, or there was no leadership in the first place. There is even a lower category, I won’t call it leadership, when people try to listen but not for wisdom but for entertainment, to have a good laugh. That is tough to be called a leader.
How much is political leadership? Yes priceless. But a good political leader does not thrive for money and or constantly ask for money. They are in a way a bit silly, idealistic and selfless in a sense. It is a calling, a mission, to lead a people and a country for the good of everyone. His reward is his work and recognition that he is a good and respectable man, a good leader.
Do not let greedy people and pigs who are used to swim in a pond of swill to tell you political leaders need to be fed like pigs, to grow as fat as pigs. They are of the same kind, the same thing, out to defend their kind. We have better people that will make better leaders if the system allows them to step forward to serve without a plate of gold.
Leading a country needs leaders, to motivate the people, to challenge the people, to lead the people. The reverse, to demotivate the people, to tell them there is no hope, to look for better people elsewhere, now that is a different kind of leadership not in the text book on leadership yet.
Good political leaders are found to be everywhere, especially when there is a problem, a crisis. They may not do much. But they talk and they lead. And when they talk, people listen. People will make appointments with them when they will be appearing on TV, to make time to listen to them. Aspiring political leaders that cannot talk, or are dumb, should just remain as civil servants or administrators.
When people do not bother to listen when a political leader talks, he is finished. He has lost his leadership, or there was no leadership in the first place. There is even a lower category, I won’t call it leadership, when people try to listen but not for wisdom but for entertainment, to have a good laugh. That is tough to be called a leader.
How much is political leadership? Yes priceless. But a good political leader does not thrive for money and or constantly ask for money. They are in a way a bit silly, idealistic and selfless in a sense. It is a calling, a mission, to lead a people and a country for the good of everyone. His reward is his work and recognition that he is a good and respectable man, a good leader.
Do not let greedy people and pigs who are used to swim in a pond of swill to tell you political leaders need to be fed like pigs, to grow as fat as pigs. They are of the same kind, the same thing, out to defend their kind. We have better people that will make better leaders if the system allows them to step forward to serve without a plate of gold.
1/10/2012
Ministerial Salary Review - Time to ask the minister
How much do you want? As the salary or money issue continues to engage the daft Sinkies, I would suggest that they get real. Throw away all the fictitious and fallacious assumptions and formulas. There is no right or wrong answer. What is right to the ministers may not be right to the people and vice versa. What is right to one minister may be wrong to another.
Let’s just ask them how much they want and spare everyone from ridiculing themselves and their credibility with all kinds of rubbish proposals. It is a very destructive exercise. It destroys respectabilty and dignity when people came up with packages that are just good for a laugh. I would suggest the ministers themselves come out with 3 options, be it $3m, $5m, or $10m (no more complicated formulas or bonuses) and let the people, the small shareholders of this piece of rock, to vote for it. Oh, include another option for ‘Sorry, reject’. No need for more deceptions, pretensions and contrived logics to be morally correct, righteous, upright, need to pay talent or attract talent, need to prevent corruption, etc etc. No need any explanation or excuses. No bull shits, no high falutins.
Just simply say how much and vote. Better to put up during a GE and save one more voting process. Let’s not waste any more time and effort on something that nobody has a good or acceptable answer. I think it will be more dignified to tell the world that the people approved the salary and voted for it, instead of all the goose pimple explanations that people would only snigger in the toilets and became the butt of silly jokes in cocktail parties.
Let’s just ask them how much they want and spare everyone from ridiculing themselves and their credibility with all kinds of rubbish proposals. It is a very destructive exercise. It destroys respectabilty and dignity when people came up with packages that are just good for a laugh. I would suggest the ministers themselves come out with 3 options, be it $3m, $5m, or $10m (no more complicated formulas or bonuses) and let the people, the small shareholders of this piece of rock, to vote for it. Oh, include another option for ‘Sorry, reject’. No need for more deceptions, pretensions and contrived logics to be morally correct, righteous, upright, need to pay talent or attract talent, need to prevent corruption, etc etc. No need any explanation or excuses. No bull shits, no high falutins.
Just simply say how much and vote. Better to put up during a GE and save one more voting process. Let’s not waste any more time and effort on something that nobody has a good or acceptable answer. I think it will be more dignified to tell the world that the people approved the salary and voted for it, instead of all the goose pimple explanations that people would only snigger in the toilets and became the butt of silly jokes in cocktail parties.
The blessing of SMRT breakdowns
In every dark cloud there is a silver lining. And the SMRT fiasco is no exception. Many good things came out from it. Never did the authority know that there were so many faults and maintenance issues that need to be rectified and put right. Didn’t the authority know that there are so many emergency procedures that were put to a real test and found wanting. It was all a big lapse.
Nevermind, it is better that it happened in a case like this than a real and nasty one and caught everyone with his pants down. We were given time, grace, to put things right. The only thing we do not want it to happen again is that another incident blows up and a spate of committees and inquiry boards are formed again to find out what went wrong and how to put them right again. Let this be the early warning, a concession given, an opportunity to clear the road blocks and put things in order.
A pleasant point to note after listening to Tuck Yew’s speech in Parliament is that our train cabins are built like a space capsule, insulated. Commuters are safe inside if there is poison gas attack from the outside. The capsule is sealed and the poison gas would not get in. I think the ventilation must also be circulating air that is in the cabin and not from the outside.
As to the suggestion by Yaw Shin Leong to consider having ventilation windows that could be opened by the commuters during an emergency is a questionable thing. Commuters who are suffocating inside a train cabin could be tempted to open the vent without knowing that there were toxic and poisonous gas outside.
This train capsule is an added protection for the commuters. Now I know how safe I am when taking the train.
Nevermind, it is better that it happened in a case like this than a real and nasty one and caught everyone with his pants down. We were given time, grace, to put things right. The only thing we do not want it to happen again is that another incident blows up and a spate of committees and inquiry boards are formed again to find out what went wrong and how to put them right again. Let this be the early warning, a concession given, an opportunity to clear the road blocks and put things in order.
A pleasant point to note after listening to Tuck Yew’s speech in Parliament is that our train cabins are built like a space capsule, insulated. Commuters are safe inside if there is poison gas attack from the outside. The capsule is sealed and the poison gas would not get in. I think the ventilation must also be circulating air that is in the cabin and not from the outside.
As to the suggestion by Yaw Shin Leong to consider having ventilation windows that could be opened by the commuters during an emergency is a questionable thing. Commuters who are suffocating inside a train cabin could be tempted to open the vent without knowing that there were toxic and poisonous gas outside.
This train capsule is an added protection for the commuters. Now I know how safe I am when taking the train.
The unfairest cut of a clean wage bill
The debate on the world’s highest ministerial salary continues. What is unfortunate is that all the nitwits are stretching their discussions to both ends of the extremes, that we should not pay our ministers out of this world salary or pay them to be paupers. When one starts to argue on the premises of extremes, the argument becomes silly and so do the nitwits. None is trying to ask the simple question of what is enough and decent for the ministers.
After reading all the comments I have come to the conclusion that the ministerial salary is fair and not out of this world. It cannot be as it is a reality within this world.
The favourite comparison is the President of the US and his pittance salary. But his overall income is unclean, a lot of hidden perks especially a White House to stay. Never mind if he would to be booted out in the next election. Then his Air Force One. Never mind if America is a continent. Never mind if Air Force One is a command post and not a Ferrari to drive around to eat wind over the weekend. And yes, we are a piece of rock. That is exactly the reason why we should pay our politicians that kind of not out of this world salary. It is so difficult to govern a small piece of rock. And Obama has an army of staff to help him to make his job so much easier. He can be a dummy, but the music will be just as good.
In our case, the poor ministers have something like 20 or 30 portfolios to be responsible for. I am exaggerating of course. Nothing of the sort. Now many of you did not know that right? He needed 29.5 hours a day to do those jobs. It is inhuman to subject them to this kind of workload.
There are many things we did not know, even the clean wage. We did not know that they are paid Special Allowance Bonus. And only for a miserable one month bonus for being so special. And how could the Salary Review Committee removed this allowance? This is definitely unfair. The Special Allowance Bonus should be at least 6 months to be special and deserving.
Then there were also 2 months of Leadership Allowance Bonus which none of us know until now. But as ignorant masses, how could we know if we don’t read the Hansard or the media. They must have been reported somewhere as these are official and legally paid. And what is there for the people to know? All ministers are leaders and paying them Leadership Allowance Bonus is as natural as durians on a durian tree. And how could the Review Committee removed this too?
Now whoever put these bonuses into the salary must take it up with the Review Committee and demand that they should be reinstated, including the Special Allowance. And both should be raised to 6 months each. Unless the Review Committee can convince everyone that they are not special and have no leadership. Then it would be fair to remove them.
I could go on with the Performance Bonuses, the GDP Bonuses and whatever bonuses that I did not know. The point is that these are legitimate rewards and all transparent and clean. Why should they be removed? Anything wrong with them? The Review Committee must explain to the people’s satisfaction that they are wrong before they can remove them. They are uniquely Singaporean and a creative and innovative way to pay our ministers. Countries of the world can learn from us. Now they could only be envious of our Guinness Book of Record, not only of paying the top salary in the world but also the best run and corruption free country, with clean salary.
Are we saying that the existing salary is not clean and need to be replaced by a cleaner one? I protest. We have the cleanest salary package for our ministers at a discount, and the poor ministers would now have to suffer the indignity of their salary being questioned and arbitrarily slashed by an average of 36%. This is simply outrageous.
What needs to be cut are the perks of those political leaders that are unclean and hidden, like Air Force One. I think the Americans are starting on this, maybe from 3 Air Force One to only one. And the American President will henceforth travel on roads instead of flying around for fun.
The Ministerial Salary Review Committee has overdone their cuts and embarrassed our ministers. Our minister’s salary is fair, decent and above all clean and transparent. Everyone knows how much they are getting as reported in the media. No hidden or unknown perks.
After reading all the comments I have come to the conclusion that the ministerial salary is fair and not out of this world. It cannot be as it is a reality within this world.
The favourite comparison is the President of the US and his pittance salary. But his overall income is unclean, a lot of hidden perks especially a White House to stay. Never mind if he would to be booted out in the next election. Then his Air Force One. Never mind if America is a continent. Never mind if Air Force One is a command post and not a Ferrari to drive around to eat wind over the weekend. And yes, we are a piece of rock. That is exactly the reason why we should pay our politicians that kind of not out of this world salary. It is so difficult to govern a small piece of rock. And Obama has an army of staff to help him to make his job so much easier. He can be a dummy, but the music will be just as good.
In our case, the poor ministers have something like 20 or 30 portfolios to be responsible for. I am exaggerating of course. Nothing of the sort. Now many of you did not know that right? He needed 29.5 hours a day to do those jobs. It is inhuman to subject them to this kind of workload.
There are many things we did not know, even the clean wage. We did not know that they are paid Special Allowance Bonus. And only for a miserable one month bonus for being so special. And how could the Salary Review Committee removed this allowance? This is definitely unfair. The Special Allowance Bonus should be at least 6 months to be special and deserving.
Then there were also 2 months of Leadership Allowance Bonus which none of us know until now. But as ignorant masses, how could we know if we don’t read the Hansard or the media. They must have been reported somewhere as these are official and legally paid. And what is there for the people to know? All ministers are leaders and paying them Leadership Allowance Bonus is as natural as durians on a durian tree. And how could the Review Committee removed this too?
Now whoever put these bonuses into the salary must take it up with the Review Committee and demand that they should be reinstated, including the Special Allowance. And both should be raised to 6 months each. Unless the Review Committee can convince everyone that they are not special and have no leadership. Then it would be fair to remove them.
I could go on with the Performance Bonuses, the GDP Bonuses and whatever bonuses that I did not know. The point is that these are legitimate rewards and all transparent and clean. Why should they be removed? Anything wrong with them? The Review Committee must explain to the people’s satisfaction that they are wrong before they can remove them. They are uniquely Singaporean and a creative and innovative way to pay our ministers. Countries of the world can learn from us. Now they could only be envious of our Guinness Book of Record, not only of paying the top salary in the world but also the best run and corruption free country, with clean salary.
Are we saying that the existing salary is not clean and need to be replaced by a cleaner one? I protest. We have the cleanest salary package for our ministers at a discount, and the poor ministers would now have to suffer the indignity of their salary being questioned and arbitrarily slashed by an average of 36%. This is simply outrageous.
What needs to be cut are the perks of those political leaders that are unclean and hidden, like Air Force One. I think the Americans are starting on this, maybe from 3 Air Force One to only one. And the American President will henceforth travel on roads instead of flying around for fun.
The Ministerial Salary Review Committee has overdone their cuts and embarrassed our ministers. Our minister’s salary is fair, decent and above all clean and transparent. Everyone knows how much they are getting as reported in the media. No hidden or unknown perks.
1/09/2012
Malaysia entering a new phase of freedom and accommodation
I was curious when the police allowed the rally in support of Anwar at the High Court. It could be a very serious demo if Anwar was found guilty. Now that the truth is out, very likely the verdict was already known and the goodwill for approving the rally was the final touches to a happy ending to a bad saga.
The opposition should appreciate this new openness and freedom they are enjoying under Najib and may they move forward towards a more inclusive society minus the vibes and acrimony of the Mahathir era. They could bury the past and be less combative and abusive towards each other.
Anwar can then go and contest the general election as a new man with a new ethos. Hopefully less of the bad blood will flow this time. What I don’t understand are the few bombs that exploded. Someone is still unhappy and did not want the party to go on. Someone wanted the bitching and fighting to continue, I guess.
The opposition should appreciate this new openness and freedom they are enjoying under Najib and may they move forward towards a more inclusive society minus the vibes and acrimony of the Mahathir era. They could bury the past and be less combative and abusive towards each other.
Anwar can then go and contest the general election as a new man with a new ethos. Hopefully less of the bad blood will flow this time. What I don’t understand are the few bombs that exploded. Someone is still unhappy and did not want the party to go on. Someone wanted the bitching and fighting to continue, I guess.
Yesterday’s mantra, today’s high falutin
How things can change overnight. Many great arguments, uncontested and unchallenged, were elevated to become the daily mantras of Sinkies. Overnight, after a heavy storm, the dull Sinkie minds seem to have brightened after the rain water flooded them. Now they are calling all the mantras high falutins. They don’t believe in any of them anymore.
The first to fall is the high salary for super talent. This brought along the demise of high salary to prevent corruption mantra. This is amazing. As they said, real gold is not afraid of fire. But gold plating is a different thing altogether. How many high mantras are going the high falutin way?
Maybe the Sinkies are going crazy and the old mantras are still valid but the Sinkies could not appreciate how valuable they were.
The first to fall is the high salary for super talent. This brought along the demise of high salary to prevent corruption mantra. This is amazing. As they said, real gold is not afraid of fire. But gold plating is a different thing altogether. How many high mantras are going the high falutin way?
Maybe the Sinkies are going crazy and the old mantras are still valid but the Sinkies could not appreciate how valuable they were.
Welcome to the Third World
Is this what is happening to Singapore? Or is it just a case of a little bad govt for the testing to remind the Sinkies not to pray pray with what they already got?
For nearly 30 years, the train was running quite near to clockwork precision or as good as you can get. Any disruption was minor and not something to be expected. Over the last few weeks, train faults, delays, slow down etc etc were a daily affair and is now expected. A trouble free ride is something that one can count to be lucky to experience.
What the shit is going on? It looks like the whole system has been allowed to decay and finally everything is breaking down, irreparable. Or all the parts have reached their shelf life and either the whole system be replaced or living with a rackety train system is the new normal?
A crisis like this needs a superman to appear at different places at any time to get things done and get going. Are Sinkies ready to live with slow mass rapid transport? I am seeing many are already readjusting their expectation of what a mass rapid transport system is all about, a bit slow, frequent interruptions and delays, long waiting time, and a crowded platform and train whenever there is a disruption.
The slide down to Third World is moving faster by the day.
For nearly 30 years, the train was running quite near to clockwork precision or as good as you can get. Any disruption was minor and not something to be expected. Over the last few weeks, train faults, delays, slow down etc etc were a daily affair and is now expected. A trouble free ride is something that one can count to be lucky to experience.
What the shit is going on? It looks like the whole system has been allowed to decay and finally everything is breaking down, irreparable. Or all the parts have reached their shelf life and either the whole system be replaced or living with a rackety train system is the new normal?
A crisis like this needs a superman to appear at different places at any time to get things done and get going. Are Sinkies ready to live with slow mass rapid transport? I am seeing many are already readjusting their expectation of what a mass rapid transport system is all about, a bit slow, frequent interruptions and delays, long waiting time, and a crowded platform and train whenever there is a disruption.
The slide down to Third World is moving faster by the day.
The new corporate raiders
Soros and his company were once the typical corporate raiders the commercial world was used to. They have been superceded by a new brand of corporate raiders that are running and ruining many corporations to bankruptcies. The new corporate raiders are the senior management of corporations, hired to run the corporations but ended up raiding the corporations.
The lack of accountability and the dilution of ownership of the majority small shareholders who could not cast their votes together to prevent the corporations from be robbed from beneath their noses is happening to all big organisations that are public listed. The new owners are actually the senior management working hand in glove with the board of directors.
With full power and authority in their hands, the two groups pay themselves crazy with all kinds of justifications, through share options, bonuses, golden handshakes, severance pay, and perks. Can’t imagine anyone could contribute so much to earn $100k a month, while some of these turkeys conveniently helped themselves with a million or more a month. Would these turkeys be able to tell how productive they are to earn their keeps? Imagine paying one $10m a year which will add up to $100m in 10 years!
Oh, they made decisions that are worth billions. True. But the billions are not only OPM, they could lose billions and not having to pay a single cent for it and still collect their ransoms. It is a disproportionate reward system where the turkeys keep filling up their pockets with the funds of the organisation no matter if the organisation is making or losing money. They could even cook the numbers to feast themselves. And they pay themselves over the moon when there is a little profit, genuine or fictitious. And when they lose millions or billions, they will argue that the organisation could lose more if not of their expertise and contributions. It is a head they win and tail you lose formula. The security guards of Fort Knox should be paid millions too.
The real owners of the organisations have been robbed daily, under bright daylight by these corporate raiders all across the world, using the western model of operation and system. Never have employees been allowed to dip into the coffers of organisations at will, and help themselves to as much as they want.
So British PM David Cameron is trying to curb these abuses, to return control of organisations back to their rightful owners, the minority shareholders. The same formula can be applied to running countries when rogues took over the govt. The citizens, the real owners of the countries would lose all control of their countries to the minority of rulers who just help themselves to the wealth of the nations as if it belongs to them.
Would David Cameron be successful and right this corporate corruption and change the ethos of corporate governance and the reward system?
The lack of accountability and the dilution of ownership of the majority small shareholders who could not cast their votes together to prevent the corporations from be robbed from beneath their noses is happening to all big organisations that are public listed. The new owners are actually the senior management working hand in glove with the board of directors.
With full power and authority in their hands, the two groups pay themselves crazy with all kinds of justifications, through share options, bonuses, golden handshakes, severance pay, and perks. Can’t imagine anyone could contribute so much to earn $100k a month, while some of these turkeys conveniently helped themselves with a million or more a month. Would these turkeys be able to tell how productive they are to earn their keeps? Imagine paying one $10m a year which will add up to $100m in 10 years!
Oh, they made decisions that are worth billions. True. But the billions are not only OPM, they could lose billions and not having to pay a single cent for it and still collect their ransoms. It is a disproportionate reward system where the turkeys keep filling up their pockets with the funds of the organisation no matter if the organisation is making or losing money. They could even cook the numbers to feast themselves. And they pay themselves over the moon when there is a little profit, genuine or fictitious. And when they lose millions or billions, they will argue that the organisation could lose more if not of their expertise and contributions. It is a head they win and tail you lose formula. The security guards of Fort Knox should be paid millions too.
The real owners of the organisations have been robbed daily, under bright daylight by these corporate raiders all across the world, using the western model of operation and system. Never have employees been allowed to dip into the coffers of organisations at will, and help themselves to as much as they want.
So British PM David Cameron is trying to curb these abuses, to return control of organisations back to their rightful owners, the minority shareholders. The same formula can be applied to running countries when rogues took over the govt. The citizens, the real owners of the countries would lose all control of their countries to the minority of rulers who just help themselves to the wealth of the nations as if it belongs to them.
Would David Cameron be successful and right this corporate corruption and change the ethos of corporate governance and the reward system?
1/08/2012
Obama fighting for more money
He told the Americans that this is a tough battle. He needs money, and more money. And he has to fight Congress for it. No, he is not fighting for his own pay. If he does, I would recommend him the Singapore formula and the Singapore system. Just tell Congress that there is this wonderful model that works, and it pays the head of govt a basic of $3m with 27.5 months of variable bonuses as backup in case he performs well in his job.
He can then submit it to Congress to do all the cuts Congress wants. A 50% or 70% cut will still find him richer than the miserable $600k he is getting now. Unfortunately the American Congress is not so easy to deal with. There are opposition camps, there are also many checks and balances, above which, no one is allowed to write his own pay check or approve them.
My apologies, I digressed. Obama is fighting for more money for the American soldiers to conduct wars everywhere. As an American President, the top responsibility and the most important job is to conduct wars to feed the war industry and the soldiers. Nothing is more important than this. Not even fighting for his own pay rise. Anyway, his pay will only be decided by Congress and even if he admired the Singapore system and wanted it, he would not be able to do so.
It is a different culture. Asian culture is such that everyone is presumed to be corrupt. To be corrupt is in their blood. The only way to protect a guy from being corrupt is to legalise his payouts at whatever amount he thinks it will be needed to prevent him from being corrupt.
Can’t imagine Obama or any American President go in front of Congress or the American people and demand to be paid in millions to keep him from being corrupt. The Americans will laugh themselves to death before they could even put it to a vote. That is how strange their culture is. They don’t believe in corruption and will not pay for corruption.
He can then submit it to Congress to do all the cuts Congress wants. A 50% or 70% cut will still find him richer than the miserable $600k he is getting now. Unfortunately the American Congress is not so easy to deal with. There are opposition camps, there are also many checks and balances, above which, no one is allowed to write his own pay check or approve them.
My apologies, I digressed. Obama is fighting for more money for the American soldiers to conduct wars everywhere. As an American President, the top responsibility and the most important job is to conduct wars to feed the war industry and the soldiers. Nothing is more important than this. Not even fighting for his own pay rise. Anyway, his pay will only be decided by Congress and even if he admired the Singapore system and wanted it, he would not be able to do so.
It is a different culture. Asian culture is such that everyone is presumed to be corrupt. To be corrupt is in their blood. The only way to protect a guy from being corrupt is to legalise his payouts at whatever amount he thinks it will be needed to prevent him from being corrupt.
Can’t imagine Obama or any American President go in front of Congress or the American people and demand to be paid in millions to keep him from being corrupt. The Americans will laugh themselves to death before they could even put it to a vote. That is how strange their culture is. They don’t believe in corruption and will not pay for corruption.
Who should public institutions serve?
This is a non issue for commercial enterprises selling hamburgers, shirts, mobile phones or chicken rice. Their primary preoccupation is to serve their customers, make them happy with their services and products to boost their bottom lines. And they can only boost their bottom lines if the customers are satisfied with their services.
None of these enterprises can hope to compete and exist in the market if their only interest is profit to please the shareholders. And the shareholders know too, that without the customers, they can forget about profits and the business.
In a monopoly, things get a little hazy. They can dump the customers, cut corners, provide substandard services and products and still get away with it. The customers have no choice. And they can blatantly carry the shareholder’s interest around to spank the customers. ‘We are answerable to the shareholders you know!’
If they are selling IPad or IPhone that are in demand, and the customers die die must have, no issue. Willing buyer willing seller, even if it is a monopoly, they can still have their cake and eat it. What if it is a public service like transportation? I can see eyes popping out now.
A public transport company has to serve the customers and the shareholders and also the national interest. Let me take the first two first. Between the shareholder’s interest and the interest of the customers, which is more important? Silly me to ask. If it is a monopoly, they can screw the customers and tell them they need to make profits for the shareholders first. Customers come second or third. What can the customers do? This is the reality of life, just lump it.
What if the money to build the facilities and the business first came from the customers, indirectly through the public coffer? Now this will make the customers angry for sure. Using public money to start a monopoly business and tell the public that the first priority is to serve the shareholders.
Do they care if the customers are transported to their destinations fast, comfortable and safe? Can any of these be compromised? You tell me.
The more important role of public transportation is to provide an efficient transport system to lubricate the economy and social activities. The economy depends on the efficient and safe transportation of people and workers all over the island, for economic and non economic activities. Failing to do this is undermining the economy and the social fabric of the society. A country can be crippled by a major breakdown of public transportation. Can a transport company carry the shareholder’s interest on its head and say, my shareholder’s interest comes first, the train can be slow, uncomfortable, unsafe, these are secondary? Can a transport company price the fares so high that people find it too expensive even to travel, or to go to work?
The top priorities of a public transport company, started with public money, must be national interest, the moving of people safely and efficiently, at a reasonable cost, and also the comfort and interest of the commuters. The shareholder’s profit must come last, and incidental to providing a good and efficient service. The shareholder’s interest cannot be the first and top most priority of a public monopoly. But this is just my opinion. I may be wrong or I am wrong. The shareholder’s interest is all that is.
And don’t forget the uniquely Singapore logic that it can only be efficient if it is privatised. No wonder non privatised institutions are so inefficient.
None of these enterprises can hope to compete and exist in the market if their only interest is profit to please the shareholders. And the shareholders know too, that without the customers, they can forget about profits and the business.
In a monopoly, things get a little hazy. They can dump the customers, cut corners, provide substandard services and products and still get away with it. The customers have no choice. And they can blatantly carry the shareholder’s interest around to spank the customers. ‘We are answerable to the shareholders you know!’
If they are selling IPad or IPhone that are in demand, and the customers die die must have, no issue. Willing buyer willing seller, even if it is a monopoly, they can still have their cake and eat it. What if it is a public service like transportation? I can see eyes popping out now.
A public transport company has to serve the customers and the shareholders and also the national interest. Let me take the first two first. Between the shareholder’s interest and the interest of the customers, which is more important? Silly me to ask. If it is a monopoly, they can screw the customers and tell them they need to make profits for the shareholders first. Customers come second or third. What can the customers do? This is the reality of life, just lump it.
What if the money to build the facilities and the business first came from the customers, indirectly through the public coffer? Now this will make the customers angry for sure. Using public money to start a monopoly business and tell the public that the first priority is to serve the shareholders.
Do they care if the customers are transported to their destinations fast, comfortable and safe? Can any of these be compromised? You tell me.
The more important role of public transportation is to provide an efficient transport system to lubricate the economy and social activities. The economy depends on the efficient and safe transportation of people and workers all over the island, for economic and non economic activities. Failing to do this is undermining the economy and the social fabric of the society. A country can be crippled by a major breakdown of public transportation. Can a transport company carry the shareholder’s interest on its head and say, my shareholder’s interest comes first, the train can be slow, uncomfortable, unsafe, these are secondary? Can a transport company price the fares so high that people find it too expensive even to travel, or to go to work?
The top priorities of a public transport company, started with public money, must be national interest, the moving of people safely and efficiently, at a reasonable cost, and also the comfort and interest of the commuters. The shareholder’s profit must come last, and incidental to providing a good and efficient service. The shareholder’s interest cannot be the first and top most priority of a public monopoly. But this is just my opinion. I may be wrong or I am wrong. The shareholder’s interest is all that is.
And don’t forget the uniquely Singapore logic that it can only be efficient if it is privatised. No wonder non privatised institutions are so inefficient.
1/07/2012
I was overwhelmed
The events that were unfolding over the last two days must have numbed many Sinkies. After reading all the information laid out on the salaries of ministers, I am still in a state of shock.
The GE was like a minor earthquake of 5 in the Richter scale followed by an after shock in the Presidential Election. This revelation is like a 7. There will be bigger after shocks, and maybe a tsunami over the horizon. Things are happening very fast. The People’s perception and support for the ruling party is going to take a hit.
As an observer of political events, the GE was a small shake up and a little warning of worst to come. Seven months past, other than Boon Wan, who seems to be sensing something wrong and hastily trying to do some damage control, the rest do not seem to see any urgency for change. The 7 months of grace period to regain lost ground were wasted in a way. The expected hikes in fees and charges are flowing in predictably and in orderly fashion. Even minimum sums in CPF were raised as a non event. There is absolutely no need to consult the people, taking the people for granted.
Now this huge earthquake is going to shaken and loosen every foundation there is, and if a tsunami is to strike, it is going to be a waste land like Fukushima. I am still wondering how this salary thing is going to impact the ruling party and whether they can weather this perfect storm. At the moment there is no answer to the shocking revelation. What was being reported, written in blogs, are just the tip of an iceberg. The true sentiment of the people is simmering inside and would not come out in full, at least for the moment. There are still too much restraints and refrains from telling the truth. The PAP will never hear the truth.
What is more troubling is that there are some who are praising the Salary Recommendations. This will give the PAP a false sense of confidence that the prescription by the Review Committee is the solution they are waiting for. The more congratulatory support for the recommendations the more delusion they will get into. When the imperial physicians diagnosed that the emperor was only having measles instead of syphilis, there was a big sigh of relief and self congratulations. The physicians were brilliant. And the prescriptions were equally brilliant, just a few days of panadol and Vitamin C and the emperor will be back to good health. The diagnosis was what they wanted to hear and the prescription was what they wanted, and the imperial physicians did what they thought was best for everyone, including the emperor and their own good.
Is there any more goodwill left, any more political capital left, for the ruling party to survive this crisis, or I am just imagining things? What crisis? There will be a resurrection! Would the party be given a new lease of life after this storm and come out stronger? Or this is just a tropical storm and nothing more to it, and things will be back to normal in no time, with bright and sunny sky? Those who wanted the diagnosis to be measles would tell you that this is just a tropical storm and will blow over. Let’s hope they will be right again.
As a political observer, my crystal ball is revealing a different story.
The GE was like a minor earthquake of 5 in the Richter scale followed by an after shock in the Presidential Election. This revelation is like a 7. There will be bigger after shocks, and maybe a tsunami over the horizon. Things are happening very fast. The People’s perception and support for the ruling party is going to take a hit.
As an observer of political events, the GE was a small shake up and a little warning of worst to come. Seven months past, other than Boon Wan, who seems to be sensing something wrong and hastily trying to do some damage control, the rest do not seem to see any urgency for change. The 7 months of grace period to regain lost ground were wasted in a way. The expected hikes in fees and charges are flowing in predictably and in orderly fashion. Even minimum sums in CPF were raised as a non event. There is absolutely no need to consult the people, taking the people for granted.
Now this huge earthquake is going to shaken and loosen every foundation there is, and if a tsunami is to strike, it is going to be a waste land like Fukushima. I am still wondering how this salary thing is going to impact the ruling party and whether they can weather this perfect storm. At the moment there is no answer to the shocking revelation. What was being reported, written in blogs, are just the tip of an iceberg. The true sentiment of the people is simmering inside and would not come out in full, at least for the moment. There are still too much restraints and refrains from telling the truth. The PAP will never hear the truth.
What is more troubling is that there are some who are praising the Salary Recommendations. This will give the PAP a false sense of confidence that the prescription by the Review Committee is the solution they are waiting for. The more congratulatory support for the recommendations the more delusion they will get into. When the imperial physicians diagnosed that the emperor was only having measles instead of syphilis, there was a big sigh of relief and self congratulations. The physicians were brilliant. And the prescriptions were equally brilliant, just a few days of panadol and Vitamin C and the emperor will be back to good health. The diagnosis was what they wanted to hear and the prescription was what they wanted, and the imperial physicians did what they thought was best for everyone, including the emperor and their own good.
Is there any more goodwill left, any more political capital left, for the ruling party to survive this crisis, or I am just imagining things? What crisis? There will be a resurrection! Would the party be given a new lease of life after this storm and come out stronger? Or this is just a tropical storm and nothing more to it, and things will be back to normal in no time, with bright and sunny sky? Those who wanted the diagnosis to be measles would tell you that this is just a tropical storm and will blow over. Let’s hope they will be right again.
As a political observer, my crystal ball is revealing a different story.
1/06/2012
Grace Fu, feel sorry for you
I read what Grace Fu said. She came forward to serve the country with a cut in income, her career disrupted, the privacy of her life and family affected, and now this, a further cut in her salary.
This is indeed too much to ask for from a fellow citizen. Lose money, lost out in career and now lose more money. I can understand her unhappiness. I will support her if she chooses to leave politics and go back to advance her career and enjoy her higher income, and all the privacy of a normal citizen.
Sinkies are ungrateful indeed. Let’s all be more graceful and leave her alone. And if she so decides to return to the private sector, so be it, and wish her well. Happiness and peace of mind are important. If a political career is making her life so miserable, she should do what is good for herself and her family.
This is indeed too much to ask for from a fellow citizen. Lose money, lost out in career and now lose more money. I can understand her unhappiness. I will support her if she chooses to leave politics and go back to advance her career and enjoy her higher income, and all the privacy of a normal citizen.
Sinkies are ungrateful indeed. Let’s all be more graceful and leave her alone. And if she so decides to return to the private sector, so be it, and wish her well. Happiness and peace of mind are important. If a political career is making her life so miserable, she should do what is good for herself and her family.
When would the rogue govt be stopped?
After killing two Arab Presidents, it is now gunning for the third. At the same time it is preparing to start wars in the Korean Peninsula and South China Sea. It is forcing Iran into a corner by all kinds of sanctions possible. Under such provocations, it would be justifiable and expected for Iran to do a Pearl Harbour like what the Japs did under similar provocations and economic strangulations.
The odds at the moment are heavily against the Iranians. Cornered and isolated, separated from the world, and with no countries to come to its aid as it faces the rogue Americans with Israel and Nato tagging alone. This is the same formula for successful intimidation and invasion of countries by the western powers.
Divide and isolate a country and mount an attack with a coalition of forces. The UN is helpless, and the best thing to do is to put on the blinkers and see nothing, hear nothing. When would the rest of the world stand together to face this rogue nation and its rogue allies before their turns come? The world would need a counter coalition of countries to stand up to the rogue nations of the world, or one by one will face the same fate if they dare to disobey the Empire and the western gangs of bullies.
At the way it is going, Iran is going to be another sacrificial lamb in no time. When they came for Iraq, everyone kept quiet. Whey they came for Libya, everyone turn to look the other way. When they came for Iran, all ran away. When they came for you, be assured, you will be alone at the mercy of the rogues.
The odds at the moment are heavily against the Iranians. Cornered and isolated, separated from the world, and with no countries to come to its aid as it faces the rogue Americans with Israel and Nato tagging alone. This is the same formula for successful intimidation and invasion of countries by the western powers.
Divide and isolate a country and mount an attack with a coalition of forces. The UN is helpless, and the best thing to do is to put on the blinkers and see nothing, hear nothing. When would the rest of the world stand together to face this rogue nation and its rogue allies before their turns come? The world would need a counter coalition of countries to stand up to the rogue nations of the world, or one by one will face the same fate if they dare to disobey the Empire and the western gangs of bullies.
At the way it is going, Iran is going to be another sacrificial lamb in no time. When they came for Iraq, everyone kept quiet. Whey they came for Libya, everyone turn to look the other way. When they came for Iran, all ran away. When they came for you, be assured, you will be alone at the mercy of the rogues.
How much is the right amount to pay our ministers?
This question keeps popping up in every discussion after the discovery of how much the ministers are getting under the current formula. And when this question was asked, many would want to say $200k or $300k or $500k. But all were too shy to say it. They know that these numbers would not be accepted by people used to earning millions and have millions as their base reference point. The best example is what Gerard Ee quoted, that his peers would tell him not to kacho them for anything less than a million.
They would only be comfortable with millions and millions, nothing less.
And it is only right that these millionaires should not be coerced to suffer by going into politics to earn less when the heart is not there. Or else when they come in they would quietly devise all kinds of schemes and formulas to ensure that they get back what they want and more for the big sacrifice to go into politics. Money minded people will only think money even if they tell you money is not important or not a consideration.
A cat will say it would not want to eat mice. But eating rats is ok. Rodents, big ones, better still. Just don’t give it any mouse. They could even cut out the big rats or rodents into many pieces and tell you they are eating only a leg or a piece of steak. No mice. So the myth will go on, cats would no longer eat mice.
As to the question of how much, no amount is right and no amount is wrong. It is only right or wrong to the recipients. And it is also right or wrong to the public from their own perspective and values.
I would want to suggest a generous amount for our ministers. Actually it is a very generous amount in the eyes of reasonable people. Though it is not right to compare a chiku with a durian, if we want to be generous, we should close an eye and pretend that the chiku is as big as the durian and peg it to the durian’s worth. No one can say that this is not generous.
But the people must be brave enough to tell the chiku that it is a fruit and should not try to pick and choose what it wants to compare with. It is time to gently remind the chiku that it is after all a chiku.
Ok, now that we have a little framework in place and in a generous mood, I would suggest that we peg our PM’s pay with the richest and biggest economy in the world. We peg our PM’s salary to the President of the USA. Generous or not? If the President of the USA can live comfortably with his salary in a country where the cost of living is definitely not lower than ours, there is no reason that the same salary cannot provide our PM with a comfortable lifestyle and with dignity. At least he would have the same level of dignity as the President of USA which no one else can come near to. That should be very generous in my view. Anything more than this would be seen as greedy, outrageous and insane. Period.
A chiku is a chiku is a chiku.
They would only be comfortable with millions and millions, nothing less.
And it is only right that these millionaires should not be coerced to suffer by going into politics to earn less when the heart is not there. Or else when they come in they would quietly devise all kinds of schemes and formulas to ensure that they get back what they want and more for the big sacrifice to go into politics. Money minded people will only think money even if they tell you money is not important or not a consideration.
A cat will say it would not want to eat mice. But eating rats is ok. Rodents, big ones, better still. Just don’t give it any mouse. They could even cut out the big rats or rodents into many pieces and tell you they are eating only a leg or a piece of steak. No mice. So the myth will go on, cats would no longer eat mice.
As to the question of how much, no amount is right and no amount is wrong. It is only right or wrong to the recipients. And it is also right or wrong to the public from their own perspective and values.
I would want to suggest a generous amount for our ministers. Actually it is a very generous amount in the eyes of reasonable people. Though it is not right to compare a chiku with a durian, if we want to be generous, we should close an eye and pretend that the chiku is as big as the durian and peg it to the durian’s worth. No one can say that this is not generous.
But the people must be brave enough to tell the chiku that it is a fruit and should not try to pick and choose what it wants to compare with. It is time to gently remind the chiku that it is after all a chiku.
Ok, now that we have a little framework in place and in a generous mood, I would suggest that we peg our PM’s pay with the richest and biggest economy in the world. We peg our PM’s salary to the President of the USA. Generous or not? If the President of the USA can live comfortably with his salary in a country where the cost of living is definitely not lower than ours, there is no reason that the same salary cannot provide our PM with a comfortable lifestyle and with dignity. At least he would have the same level of dignity as the President of USA which no one else can come near to. That should be very generous in my view. Anything more than this would be seen as greedy, outrageous and insane. Period.
A chiku is a chiku is a chiku.
The fallacy of getting what you paid for
Arising from the proposed ministerial salary cut, there is this comment by Eugene Tan of SMU, that ‘Often, as in the private sector, you get what you paid for.’ This linkage of monetary value to the intrinsic value that comes with a person’s service, work, or the quality of a product can be misleading.
Not everyone who makes a lot of money is a super talent. Many gamblers make more money than the smartest academics. Making money is a different skill set and depends on many variables. Some don’t need any talent to be making plenty of money or living a life of plenty.
The other linkage that is often misleading is the interchangeability of skills. A top surgeon will naturally be a good national leader. Or a top soldier will automatically be a good ministers. You can stretch this to every profession and the answer is obvious. The different skills and talents required in different profession can be totally irrelevant to the job of a politician. It has been proven that a too clever politician can be a liability instead.
The other disadvantage of attracting talents by virtue of their success in their chosen field to go to politics can be the loss of both professions when the former profession lost an excellent professional who ended up as a mediocre politician. It is true, a fact.
There is no direct correlation between a high income earner and his ability to become a good political leader or a good national leader. Bring in a top notch gambler or thief and he would probably apply his gambling skills to run the country or steal from the country.
You don’t always get what you paid for. This is a fallacy that does not need any proving. Very often than not, a person who is motivated by making more money and can only be attracted by money, is a bad choice to lead the country. And using money to lure people into politics is already a big mistake.
Not everyone who makes a lot of money is a super talent. Many gamblers make more money than the smartest academics. Making money is a different skill set and depends on many variables. Some don’t need any talent to be making plenty of money or living a life of plenty.
The other linkage that is often misleading is the interchangeability of skills. A top surgeon will naturally be a good national leader. Or a top soldier will automatically be a good ministers. You can stretch this to every profession and the answer is obvious. The different skills and talents required in different profession can be totally irrelevant to the job of a politician. It has been proven that a too clever politician can be a liability instead.
The other disadvantage of attracting talents by virtue of their success in their chosen field to go to politics can be the loss of both professions when the former profession lost an excellent professional who ended up as a mediocre politician. It is true, a fact.
There is no direct correlation between a high income earner and his ability to become a good political leader or a good national leader. Bring in a top notch gambler or thief and he would probably apply his gambling skills to run the country or steal from the country.
You don’t always get what you paid for. This is a fallacy that does not need any proving. Very often than not, a person who is motivated by making more money and can only be attracted by money, is a bad choice to lead the country. And using money to lure people into politics is already a big mistake.
1/05/2012
Singapore Ministers not the highest paid in the World
I read this report from a Elena Torrijos in Yahoo News, Singapore. This is her first 2 paragraphs.
Updated (6.24pm)
Singapore ministers, among the highest-paid in the world, should have their salaries cut by 37 per cent to S$1.1 million and their pension benefits stripped, the panel to review political pay said in a press release to the public on Wednesday.
Singapore ministers are only among the highest paid in the world, not the highest. This must be a consoling news from Yahoo.
Is this what the reporter is saying? Or at least this is the impression I am getting. Maybe she knows something that I don't.
Updated (6.24pm)
Singapore ministers, among the highest-paid in the world, should have their salaries cut by 37 per cent to S$1.1 million and their pension benefits stripped, the panel to review political pay said in a press release to the public on Wednesday.
Singapore ministers are only among the highest paid in the world, not the highest. This must be a consoling news from Yahoo.
Is this what the reporter is saying? Or at least this is the impression I am getting. Maybe she knows something that I don't.
What is the maximum payout possible?
The Today paper has a chart listing the amount that could be paid out to a political appointment holder under the current framework.
1. 12 mths basic salary
2. 1 mth NPAA
3. 1 mth Special Allowance
4. 2 mths Public Leadership Allowance
The above are fixed or guaranteed. Thus an appointee will get 16 mths of his basic salary. Below are the variables.
5. 0-1.5 mths Annual Variable Component
6. 0-14 mths Performance Bonus
7. 0-8 mths GDP Bonus
Put the two parts together and looking at the maximum it means that a political appointment holder could get a maximum of 16 mths + 23.5 mths in total annual salary, or 39.5 months.
It would be unlikely that many of them would be getting this full sum, but there should be a few of the super talented ones getting them, 39.5 mths or 3.29 times of annual salary. So if a minister is getting $2m, his annual income could be $6.58m. And if the PM is $3 his annual income could be $9.87m! This is theoretical of course.
Last year was a good year with GDP at a record high, like 15%. How to get such a phenomenal growth rate is short of miraculous indeed. It must be raining gold from heaven. Did any of the good performers get the max, or how many get near to the 39.5 mths, or 36 mths not to be too ambitious?
1. 12 mths basic salary
2. 1 mth NPAA
3. 1 mth Special Allowance
4. 2 mths Public Leadership Allowance
The above are fixed or guaranteed. Thus an appointee will get 16 mths of his basic salary. Below are the variables.
5. 0-1.5 mths Annual Variable Component
6. 0-14 mths Performance Bonus
7. 0-8 mths GDP Bonus
Put the two parts together and looking at the maximum it means that a political appointment holder could get a maximum of 16 mths + 23.5 mths in total annual salary, or 39.5 months.
It would be unlikely that many of them would be getting this full sum, but there should be a few of the super talented ones getting them, 39.5 mths or 3.29 times of annual salary. So if a minister is getting $2m, his annual income could be $6.58m. And if the PM is $3 his annual income could be $9.87m! This is theoretical of course.
Last year was a good year with GDP at a record high, like 15%. How to get such a phenomenal growth rate is short of miraculous indeed. It must be raining gold from heaven. Did any of the good performers get the max, or how many get near to the 39.5 mths, or 36 mths not to be too ambitious?
Own target, own time, fire!
The Americans are superb in mobilizing mass thinking to serve their own interest. They raised a few targets, gave them some names that people loved to hate, and viola, the masses of the world will be attacking the targets and forget about what is happening around them. The silly Asians are hating the Iranians, the Iraqis, the North Koreans happily and obsessively.
In the army, many males Sinkies will be familiar with the command, ‘At your own target, at your own time, fire!’ And the soldiers will be furiously firing at the raised targets in front of them, oblivious of what is happening around them.
What have all these got to do with the current big hooha on ministerial salary review? A big set of numbers are given to the people and all are happily digesting them and firing at them like good soldiers. Does anyone bother to step back and check if the numbers given are accurate or the numbers that they should really be looking at? As an example, the annual salary of a minister is $2,368,500. Is this what the minister really gets as his annual income? Are the bonuses included, and if not, do they want to know what is the total annual income? In other words, what is the real total annual income of a minister, excluding the minor perks? Are there other incomes that need to be included? Does a minister still collect his MP allowance? How many other appointments is he holding and being paid as well?
Are the numbers giving a full and complete picture of the income of a politician/MP/Minister? While everyone is happily firing, do they want to take a step back and examine if they are getting the full picture and firing at the target they should be firing at?
In the army, many males Sinkies will be familiar with the command, ‘At your own target, at your own time, fire!’ And the soldiers will be furiously firing at the raised targets in front of them, oblivious of what is happening around them.
What have all these got to do with the current big hooha on ministerial salary review? A big set of numbers are given to the people and all are happily digesting them and firing at them like good soldiers. Does anyone bother to step back and check if the numbers given are accurate or the numbers that they should really be looking at? As an example, the annual salary of a minister is $2,368,500. Is this what the minister really gets as his annual income? Are the bonuses included, and if not, do they want to know what is the total annual income? In other words, what is the real total annual income of a minister, excluding the minor perks? Are there other incomes that need to be included? Does a minister still collect his MP allowance? How many other appointments is he holding and being paid as well?
Are the numbers giving a full and complete picture of the income of a politician/MP/Minister? While everyone is happily firing, do they want to take a step back and examine if they are getting the full picture and firing at the target they should be firing at?
Ministerial Salary Recommendation – My take
We have heard it and everyone is talking about it. Great formulas and reasons given to support the recommendations, but it is still not right. The principles and concepts are all wrong, and as such the recommendations are still stuck in the mud, with basically the same old ideas with a little cosmetic changes here and there. There is nothing innovative or new about the recommendations.
The big mental trap is that everyone is still treating political appointments as an employment. So you have things like AWS, bonuses, performance evaluation, reward for good performance etc etc, and money, money and money.
In the first place we are dealing with responsible adults who stepped forward to serve the people and country in the highest office. There is no issue of performance. Every one of them is expected to be highly motivated and committed. And they cannot afford to slack or skive as they are under the spotlight 24/7. Absence and sleeping in parliament are all being watched. Hey, we are not dealing with 20 year old kids who applied and got employed but not really interested in what they are doing. Political office is a public commitment.
Politicians are elected by the people to serve for a fixed term of office. And the last thing that they should be concerned with is money, how much they could get as extras, how much bonuses to hope for if they work harder or the economy is doing better or worst. The money as a motivation factor should be removed from their thinking altogether. This will free them from the money halo that hangs over their heads, and allow them to do their jobs objectively, without having to weigh the odds of how it would affect their income.
A simple fixed sum should be paid to them annually for the duration of their office. The salary can input all the extra perks, AWS or bonuses etc just a simple package. Period. No complicating and confusing formulas, no worries of more variable bonuses, and no money thoughts in their minds. Remove the money equation and political leaders would not be burdened with the money fixation. It is so pathetic to imagine politicians nervously waiting to know how much they will be getting as bonuses at the end of the year. Stop that.
The remuneration system must build in dignity in public office. Pay them well and do not let them be embroiled like employees begging management for more year end bonuses. Political leaders must be above this and carry themselves with dignified confidence.
Forget about performance appraisal. The assessment of their performance must be by the people, the voters. And the reward and approval for a job well done is to be re elected, no extra money from performance related formulas. They are expected to perform, nothing less.
There is no need for the PM to appraise other ministers or MPs to reward them using public funds. It only introduces subjectivity and biases as there are ruling party MPs as well as opposition MPs. Who is to reward opposition MPs with public money? Without this appraisal by the PM, the ministers and MPs have no obsession to please him instead of pleasing the people by doing a good job.
The PM may want to assess his own ministers/MPs for his own reasons, but who cares? Corporations use appraisal for other purposes, promotion, training, career development, monetary rewards etc. These are irrelevant to political appointments which are elected by the people on a fixed term. After each term, if not elected, out he goes. What career development, training and development and more monetary perks? Now, did I hear some politicians are being trained in office and paid by public money?
Performance evaluation is a party matter, maybe to gauge whether to field the candidate again or to slot him into a minister post. Don’t drag public money into it as in principle it is difficult when OPM is involved. They can pay with their own party funds if they like, then no one will mind.
The idea of employment and terms of employment, of monetary rewards, must be erased totally and be replaced by a simple fixed income for simplicity, transparency and minimal complications. No one needs to double guess what the politicians are getting or what they are up to. The politicians should just do their jobs when elected to office, with dignity, and to seek re election and the people’s approval as their rewards, not more bonuses.
Politicians are elected by the people and accountable to the people for a fixed term of office. The people will evaluate them and decide to elect or drop them. Their evaluation comes once in 5 years, not annually like employees of an organisation.
The big mental trap is that everyone is still treating political appointments as an employment. So you have things like AWS, bonuses, performance evaluation, reward for good performance etc etc, and money, money and money.
In the first place we are dealing with responsible adults who stepped forward to serve the people and country in the highest office. There is no issue of performance. Every one of them is expected to be highly motivated and committed. And they cannot afford to slack or skive as they are under the spotlight 24/7. Absence and sleeping in parliament are all being watched. Hey, we are not dealing with 20 year old kids who applied and got employed but not really interested in what they are doing. Political office is a public commitment.
Politicians are elected by the people to serve for a fixed term of office. And the last thing that they should be concerned with is money, how much they could get as extras, how much bonuses to hope for if they work harder or the economy is doing better or worst. The money as a motivation factor should be removed from their thinking altogether. This will free them from the money halo that hangs over their heads, and allow them to do their jobs objectively, without having to weigh the odds of how it would affect their income.
A simple fixed sum should be paid to them annually for the duration of their office. The salary can input all the extra perks, AWS or bonuses etc just a simple package. Period. No complicating and confusing formulas, no worries of more variable bonuses, and no money thoughts in their minds. Remove the money equation and political leaders would not be burdened with the money fixation. It is so pathetic to imagine politicians nervously waiting to know how much they will be getting as bonuses at the end of the year. Stop that.
The remuneration system must build in dignity in public office. Pay them well and do not let them be embroiled like employees begging management for more year end bonuses. Political leaders must be above this and carry themselves with dignified confidence.
Forget about performance appraisal. The assessment of their performance must be by the people, the voters. And the reward and approval for a job well done is to be re elected, no extra money from performance related formulas. They are expected to perform, nothing less.
There is no need for the PM to appraise other ministers or MPs to reward them using public funds. It only introduces subjectivity and biases as there are ruling party MPs as well as opposition MPs. Who is to reward opposition MPs with public money? Without this appraisal by the PM, the ministers and MPs have no obsession to please him instead of pleasing the people by doing a good job.
The PM may want to assess his own ministers/MPs for his own reasons, but who cares? Corporations use appraisal for other purposes, promotion, training, career development, monetary rewards etc. These are irrelevant to political appointments which are elected by the people on a fixed term. After each term, if not elected, out he goes. What career development, training and development and more monetary perks? Now, did I hear some politicians are being trained in office and paid by public money?
Performance evaluation is a party matter, maybe to gauge whether to field the candidate again or to slot him into a minister post. Don’t drag public money into it as in principle it is difficult when OPM is involved. They can pay with their own party funds if they like, then no one will mind.
The idea of employment and terms of employment, of monetary rewards, must be erased totally and be replaced by a simple fixed income for simplicity, transparency and minimal complications. No one needs to double guess what the politicians are getting or what they are up to. The politicians should just do their jobs when elected to office, with dignity, and to seek re election and the people’s approval as their rewards, not more bonuses.
Politicians are elected by the people and accountable to the people for a fixed term of office. The people will evaluate them and decide to elect or drop them. Their evaluation comes once in 5 years, not annually like employees of an organisation.
1/04/2012
Aiyo, why cut so much?
Now you people got to go and sayang the ministers. Sakit lah.
I hope this cut will not affect the political system of recruiting the best to stand for election. The good guys who still want to serve should still step forward despite the lower salary. And the concern of corruption if pay not enough, may it not happen to prove that the old belief is right.
Someone please tell them their dignity will not be affected adversely at all. In fact their dignity will get a boost, and a bigger boost if the cut is bigger. And the record of the world’s top 30 highest paid politicians will still stay and unlikely to be broken for another donkey years to come.
I hope this cut will not affect the political system of recruiting the best to stand for election. The good guys who still want to serve should still step forward despite the lower salary. And the concern of corruption if pay not enough, may it not happen to prove that the old belief is right.
Someone please tell them their dignity will not be affected adversely at all. In fact their dignity will get a boost, and a bigger boost if the cut is bigger. And the record of the world’s top 30 highest paid politicians will still stay and unlikely to be broken for another donkey years to come.
Latest on Ministerial Salary cut
This is not confirmed but came out from the wire. The recommendations could see a 28% cut for Hsien Loong, 31% cut for junior ministers and 51% cut for the President. MPs will get a 3% cut.
And this will be back dated to 21 May 2011.
And this will be back dated to 21 May 2011.
Waking up Rip Van Winkles
After reading the article on Piyush Gupta, I have to take back my words on foreign talents running local enterprises. He went in and found a rotten apple that still looked good from the outside. ‘He was aghast that a bank of the standing of DBS lacked the very basic and fundamental processes required of it.’ And DBS head hunted some of the best finance talents across the world to be in such a state. Don’t they have any talents working in the bank to avoid the mess? ‘…a lot of processes and systems which you would expect a large, professional organization like DBS to already have established and ingrained were not in place, said Mr Gupta…’
The bank did not know which customers were profitable, which branch were profitable, and the operations in every country, the platform and processes, were different and many many more things needed to be straightened up. You need to read the full text in the article in today’s ST to appreciate the problems he inherited. Does it mean the bank was sleeping all these years?
Two years on the job, ‘the bank’s management now understands the credit risk and market risk better,(unbelievable)…and also has much more standardized processes across all its markets.’ And he had done more, and the bank is now more confident of the stability of the overall banking operation at this stage.
Thank God that they brought in Gupta in time. Wonder what would be the state of health of the bank if it continues with the status quo. This is a foreign talent that came in to shake everybody up, wake up, wake up. No wonder they could not find a local to fill the top post.
They had a few foreign talents before, and I think all with credentials from the Ivy leagues of American fame. What is different about Gupta is that he needed not be from the American cohorts. He graduated from Delhi University and got a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Now I understand why the Americans are forming a beeline to India to recruit their banking talents. And our mistake is obvious.
Instead of going to India, we went to America. DBS is fortunate to go to America through Citibank to find its talent from India. It was quite like an accidental discovery of America by Columbus.
Hope the Singapore govt knows where to get their foreign financial talents from to achieve its ambitious plan of turning the island into a premier financial hub. Wall Street talents and those from American Ivy League are no longer in vogue. They actually messed up the American financial system and nearly brought the down the rest of the world with them.
The bank did not know which customers were profitable, which branch were profitable, and the operations in every country, the platform and processes, were different and many many more things needed to be straightened up. You need to read the full text in the article in today’s ST to appreciate the problems he inherited. Does it mean the bank was sleeping all these years?
Two years on the job, ‘the bank’s management now understands the credit risk and market risk better,(unbelievable)…and also has much more standardized processes across all its markets.’ And he had done more, and the bank is now more confident of the stability of the overall banking operation at this stage.
Thank God that they brought in Gupta in time. Wonder what would be the state of health of the bank if it continues with the status quo. This is a foreign talent that came in to shake everybody up, wake up, wake up. No wonder they could not find a local to fill the top post.
They had a few foreign talents before, and I think all with credentials from the Ivy leagues of American fame. What is different about Gupta is that he needed not be from the American cohorts. He graduated from Delhi University and got a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Now I understand why the Americans are forming a beeline to India to recruit their banking talents. And our mistake is obvious.
Instead of going to India, we went to America. DBS is fortunate to go to America through Citibank to find its talent from India. It was quite like an accidental discovery of America by Columbus.
Hope the Singapore govt knows where to get their foreign financial talents from to achieve its ambitious plan of turning the island into a premier financial hub. Wall Street talents and those from American Ivy League are no longer in vogue. They actually messed up the American financial system and nearly brought the down the rest of the world with them.
Turning Pareto upside down
The recent tightening of regulations on trading high risk instruments and products through the SGX is ruffling some feathers, of the investors and brokerages. It is quite a complicated exercise to safeguard the interests of naïve and ignorant investors in sophisticated, highly geared derivatives and foreign shares. The new regulations have made monitoring, administration and its execution quite a formidable exercise, and with many loose ends yet to be tested.
What has Pareto got to do with this change? The bread and butter business of the remisiers is trading local stocks and other legitimate and well established instruments. This is the forte of most remisiers. They know the business, the stocks, the companies and the happenings in the industry.
As for high risk and highly geared derivatives and other queer instruments, including foreign shares, they are a totally different kettle of fish. Not many of their clients are sophisticated enough to want to dabble in them regularly. Occasionally there will be a few never say die commandoes who may have heard something or given a tip by someone and wanted to go in for a quick punt. The business generated by these unfamiliar stuff is pretty small and in between. It may not be more than 5% of their business, or not at all.
And when foreign shares are concerned, it is sheer impossible to know what they are. Clients could technically ask to trade stocks from Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hongkong, Shanghai, all the other countries of Asean, Europe and the US. The number and spread of stocks are simply insane to know. Even the big funds or brokerage would not have enough specialist staff to know what they are dealing with or even claim to know the stocks of a particular market. There is just no superman to know any one market or all the markets even if he is full time on it.
Get the picture? The local remisiers who are pretty familiar with the local companies and stocks are not allowed to advise their clients in the trading of these stocks. They are supposed to be order takers, dumb key board operators in a way.
In the case of foreign stocks and derivatives, which most remisiers would hardly have a clue or only superficial knowledge, they are expected to advise their clients on how to trade these alienand unfamiliar stocks and queer derivatives. Get me now?
There is no excuse for any remisier to not know about these Specified Investment Products or SIPs, when they are expected to give advice to their clients. Now, how can one be an expert in the stocks and derivatives around the world? I don’t think any brokerage or international funds have such an expertise and definitely not in one particular trader. It is simply an impossible requirement.
Even if the remisiers are willing to attend all the training needed, to gear themselves on these foreign shares, it will be at least 10 years by the time he gets to attend all the training sessions. Here comes Pareto. Why spend so much time on an activity that is hardly 5% or less of one’s business, so as to be qualified professionally to give advice to clients? Or can one simply give advice on something he does not know?
Can there be such an animal in existence that is capable of providing professional advice to clients on all the overseas stocks and all the highly sophisticated instruments at the same time, and still spend 90% of his time managing his clients trading on local stocks, even as an order taker?
I doubt a super computer can do a proper job.
What has Pareto got to do with this change? The bread and butter business of the remisiers is trading local stocks and other legitimate and well established instruments. This is the forte of most remisiers. They know the business, the stocks, the companies and the happenings in the industry.
As for high risk and highly geared derivatives and other queer instruments, including foreign shares, they are a totally different kettle of fish. Not many of their clients are sophisticated enough to want to dabble in them regularly. Occasionally there will be a few never say die commandoes who may have heard something or given a tip by someone and wanted to go in for a quick punt. The business generated by these unfamiliar stuff is pretty small and in between. It may not be more than 5% of their business, or not at all.
And when foreign shares are concerned, it is sheer impossible to know what they are. Clients could technically ask to trade stocks from Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hongkong, Shanghai, all the other countries of Asean, Europe and the US. The number and spread of stocks are simply insane to know. Even the big funds or brokerage would not have enough specialist staff to know what they are dealing with or even claim to know the stocks of a particular market. There is just no superman to know any one market or all the markets even if he is full time on it.
Get the picture? The local remisiers who are pretty familiar with the local companies and stocks are not allowed to advise their clients in the trading of these stocks. They are supposed to be order takers, dumb key board operators in a way.
In the case of foreign stocks and derivatives, which most remisiers would hardly have a clue or only superficial knowledge, they are expected to advise their clients on how to trade these alienand unfamiliar stocks and queer derivatives. Get me now?
There is no excuse for any remisier to not know about these Specified Investment Products or SIPs, when they are expected to give advice to their clients. Now, how can one be an expert in the stocks and derivatives around the world? I don’t think any brokerage or international funds have such an expertise and definitely not in one particular trader. It is simply an impossible requirement.
Even if the remisiers are willing to attend all the training needed, to gear themselves on these foreign shares, it will be at least 10 years by the time he gets to attend all the training sessions. Here comes Pareto. Why spend so much time on an activity that is hardly 5% or less of one’s business, so as to be qualified professionally to give advice to clients? Or can one simply give advice on something he does not know?
Can there be such an animal in existence that is capable of providing professional advice to clients on all the overseas stocks and all the highly sophisticated instruments at the same time, and still spend 90% of his time managing his clients trading on local stocks, even as an order taker?
I doubt a super computer can do a proper job.
Stop the raid on your CPF
I have to pick this issue up regularly to remind the Sinkies that the CPF savings are their money. No buts, not even legislation is allowed to take them away from you. I have read in many blogs and feel very embarrassed and shameful that Singaporeans are resigned to the fate that their CPF money is as good as gone, forever. Some meekly took the position that it is another form of tax. Please, do not allow that kind of mindset to let your money slip away. It is Ah Q mentality. When people slap you, try to rationalize it away as okay and meekly walk away pretending to be happy.
Just remember the obnoxious HDB housing policies, the wind down of the building programme despite the huge demand, the long wait, the runaway prices. If Sinkies have accepted them as given, can’t be helped, can’t do anything about it, these policies would still be in place and the Sinkies will still be taken for granted.
The same goes to their CPF money. Once Sinkies stop the fight, it will be the end of their money. The minimum sum will keep going up and up and away. If the Sinkies want the raiding of their CPF savings to stop, they have to start right now, together, to kpkb, to make sure that the govt heard you. All the money must be returned to their rightful owner by 65 at most. The senior citizens are not idiots or of unsound mind, not all. They can manage their money and know how to use them for their own benefits.
After 65, any money to be left in the CPF must be voluntary. And the govt can explain all the good reasons why the Sinkies should keep putting their money in the CPF and to encourage them with positive incentives like higher interest rates or whatever perks. It must be done on a willing party basis, optional. Is there such a word called ‘optional’? I think many did not know of its existence. The only word they understand is compulsory. No one must be coerced by legislation to be parted with their hard earned money.
After 65, life can be terminated at any time. Let the people decide what they want to do with their money. The govt has no right to do that. Legislation is force, is crude and ugly.
The minimum sum in the Medisave is another issue that is intolerable. It is as good as paying your medical fees in advance, in the tune of $30k when one may not even need it. It is a farcical reasoning. Not everyone wants to spend his money on expensive hospital bills to be alive and have nothing left, and become stragglers or crawlers to pass their meaningless living in oblivion. It is pathetic.
The raid on the people’s CPF must be stopped. And only the Sinkies can stop them. Never give up on your blood sweat money. You earned it and it must be yours to spend, to do as you please unless God says otherwise. No human gods should think they are wiser and can assume the role of God. Anyone supporting such a policy, to deprive the people of their hard earned money without good intention, better be mindful of what you are doing.
Just remember the obnoxious HDB housing policies, the wind down of the building programme despite the huge demand, the long wait, the runaway prices. If Sinkies have accepted them as given, can’t be helped, can’t do anything about it, these policies would still be in place and the Sinkies will still be taken for granted.
The same goes to their CPF money. Once Sinkies stop the fight, it will be the end of their money. The minimum sum will keep going up and up and away. If the Sinkies want the raiding of their CPF savings to stop, they have to start right now, together, to kpkb, to make sure that the govt heard you. All the money must be returned to their rightful owner by 65 at most. The senior citizens are not idiots or of unsound mind, not all. They can manage their money and know how to use them for their own benefits.
After 65, any money to be left in the CPF must be voluntary. And the govt can explain all the good reasons why the Sinkies should keep putting their money in the CPF and to encourage them with positive incentives like higher interest rates or whatever perks. It must be done on a willing party basis, optional. Is there such a word called ‘optional’? I think many did not know of its existence. The only word they understand is compulsory. No one must be coerced by legislation to be parted with their hard earned money.
After 65, life can be terminated at any time. Let the people decide what they want to do with their money. The govt has no right to do that. Legislation is force, is crude and ugly.
The minimum sum in the Medisave is another issue that is intolerable. It is as good as paying your medical fees in advance, in the tune of $30k when one may not even need it. It is a farcical reasoning. Not everyone wants to spend his money on expensive hospital bills to be alive and have nothing left, and become stragglers or crawlers to pass their meaningless living in oblivion. It is pathetic.
The raid on the people’s CPF must be stopped. And only the Sinkies can stop them. Never give up on your blood sweat money. You earned it and it must be yours to spend, to do as you please unless God says otherwise. No human gods should think they are wiser and can assume the role of God. Anyone supporting such a policy, to deprive the people of their hard earned money without good intention, better be mindful of what you are doing.
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