opposition parties should hire a consultant

Just musing on a Sunday morning. The 666 event is passed 6 months. Now is the time to prepare for the next general election. And Choktong is giving some tips on how a general election shall be fought, how and what to plan, and what to pledge and promise during the election campaigning, and what to do after winning the election. The opposition parties shall learn from the wisdom of Choktong. Maybe even engage him as a consultant to map our their next election strategies. Then the next election could be interesting to watch.

myth 65 revisited

Myth 65 'The income gap will only get wider' I wrote about this myth some times earlier. It was then like the gospel truth. The income gap would continue to grow wider and nothing could be done about it. Everyone that was important said so. And better still, it was caused by globalisation, so not anyone or any govt's fault. So if I continue to earn my millions, I should continue to ask for more. It is just the natural thing due to, yes, globalisation. My multi million dollar salary is the fault of the international environment. So don't blame me if I feast myself or help myself. Who would ever believe that the income gap will be narrowed when the high income earners will stop getting more? It just cannot be if you have the right to pay yourself crazy. Who is to stop you from doing so. It is my own company. Better still if it is a public company. The small shareholders just have not enough clout to stop me from paying myself and my directors. And my directors and independent directors are all my friends. And if we sign praises for each other, soon everyone will believe we have done a great job and believe that we deserved to be paid even more. Would this myth go away? LKY said so. Yes, this unstoppable widening income gap will narrow. This is the headline in the Sunday Times today, 'S'pore income gap will narrow: MM. Now we will have to see which is which. Which way will the globalisation wind blows? How to stop the forces of globalisation? Or how to stop myself from paying myself?

Good old vintage wine

Choktong is turning out to be a wise teacher for the opposition and the population at large, telling them what politics and electioneering really are. During the election campaign it is alright to promise whatever the people want or whatever the contending party thinks the people want. No need to worry about how to get the money to do it. It will only be an issue after the election. And by then, when elected, the whole govt machinery is there to find the money to fulfil the promise. Opposition parties need not worry about being thrown questions of how are they going to finance their election pledges and promises to the people. GST is a great instrument for the future. Higher fees, charges, fares etc are all the cards that they can play. So in the next election, just ask the people what they want and promise to deliver when elected. More upgradings, more hospitals, more parks, more free porridges, more shark's fin soups, more mee siam, more handouts, more education or whatever accounts, even more discounts on HDB conservancy charges. 3 months discounts follow by paying for the rest of your life. Opposition parties could even up the offer by giving 6 months discounts. The opposition parties and the people have a lot to learn.

oil price down, prices still up

When petrol prices were shooting to US$80, companies quickly jumped at the high fuel cost and jacked up prices and fees. Now petrol prices are returning to ground level but no one seem to want to do anything. Or they are hoping to hold on with the high prices for as long as they can, and reaping all the additional profits? Commercial business logic!

Property prices shooting through the roof!

Property prices shooting through the roof! Long queues are back at the launching sites of new condo developments. People fighting to join the queues. New properties were quickly snapped up. Prices set to rise further! The good times are back. People are now rich again and all crazily chasing after a new property bubble. Then we are hearing several complaints about how genuine are all these hypes and whether the buyers are genuine buyers. Is it marketing or misleading information on the property front? Is it responsible reporting? Where is the line drawn between acceptable marketing tactics and painting a false picture?

The substitute villian

The substitute villian Jayaraman must be kicking himself sore and asking what the hell is going on? He is an innocent man trying to provide some light on what actually happened to the scandal earlier. Now he is being grilled by so many lawyers as if he is the guilty one. Shouldn't he be asking to be paid for the hard work he is doing, or performing? And to be fair to him, who else would have that kind of memory to remember the details of things happened so many years ago? Ask any of the legal counsels there what they did 3 weeks ago or what they ate for lunch, they would be just as lost...I can't remember...

myth 110

'I want, I want Syndrome' Singaporean should get out from this 'I want, I want Syndrome'. I am referring to Singaporeans expecting the govt to offer them with goodies or goodies the govt thought out for them. And Singaporeans are so happy and grateful for all these goodies, thinking that they are getting them for free. Unfortunately nothing is for free. Someone will have to pay for them. And very likely themselves. So adult education accounts, upgradings, $500 million for parks etc, all needs money. Where will the money come from? GST? Of fallen from the sky? Singaporeans would be better off if they say no to all these goodies. No, we don't need that $500 million park. We don't need golden trees that bear jewel fruits. Give us the money instead. Even if they did not get the money saved, at least there is no justification or reason to increase taxes to pay for it. If I were the govt, I will be very happy to give everything to the Singaporeans as long as they ask for it. Why not when they are so happy to have them, and they pay for them as well. What would be more troublesome would be when they said no, we don't want any of them. Just save the money and effort. Just don't raise GST or any more fees. And thank you very much. The moral of the story is that the more is spent, the more taxes will be raised. No free lunch?

nkf story - Outwitting the Master

Outwitting the Master Taking on a master strategist is not like taking a walk in the park. And at this stage of the game, looks like the fear of many forumers will come true. It will be an empty victory for the new NKF. It will probably be a piece of paper that they will get out of court in their favour. But where is the money? The master strategist would have done his sums and made all his moves. If there is any money to be recovered, it would be from the rest of the cronies who did not know that the game was up and did not make any contigency plans. Let's guess who has the most money and asset to recover from.

thai singapore bashing

'Thaksin put Singapore in a tight spot...In some ways, Thaksin was unkind to us. It would have been better if he had done the CNN interview somewhere else.' Kishore Mahbubani I think this is the unkindest comment to have come from Kishore on Thaksin. The Thais have removed their gloves and are evidently hostile to Singapore over this current crisis. Both their hands are at Singapore's throat. Despite so many years of cordial relationship and building of personal ties, the source of this Thai anger can easily be traced. Given the good nature and friendliness of the Thai leadership, it is surprising that they are going at Singapore to such a length. And the MFA's reply was most appropriate and reasonable under such circumstances. Singapore should not capitulate and become the whipping boy and start to point the fault at the wrong direction, at Thaksin, who is a good friend. Constitutionally Thaksin is still the legitimate and popularly elected PM of Thailand. The military junta is the unconstitutional one. Singapore should brace itself and stand up to Thailand and not put its tail between its legs. That is not the Singapore that we are proud of.

nkf story - in comes the anti hero

Krishnan Jayaraman, the IT Manager of the old NKF, has become the anti hero in this saga. He seems to be the only one to take on all the heroes and to tarnish their shiny reputations. Having said that, this FT is an exemplary FT. He is professional, logical and conscientious. His downfall is to pit himself against brilliant and branded LTs. And I think he lost. But this story gives justification to have more good FTs like Jayaraman. Now who is going to accuse me of being anti FTs? It is time to replace LTs with FTs.

nkf story continues

And the story continues... The story or stories that are coming out from the NKF Showdown is getting more grotesque and nauseating. I think they should be classified under X rating for adults only. Otherwise many people will not be able to take it and may have nightmares and hallucinations. Definitely not for people under 18. Hollywood, Bollywood or Golden Harvest must be clamouring to buy up the right to produce a movie on this. MediaCorp better put in their bid first before it flies away. It will be a mega movie.

wow, wow, it's a miracle!

It's a miracle! It's a miracle! ' It's confirmed - the online publication of hospital bill sizes has generally resulted in lower prices for patients. This is the conclusion of a 16 month study published in the latest issue of the Singapore Medical Journal.' The average drop in bill sizes is between 8 to 10 percent with the highest around 24%. According to the SMA, the most significant and rapid decrease is shortly after the announcement and with more to follow later. Wow, wow, no need any cost cutting measures and management analysis or any special campaigns. We should tell this to all the other organisations and also to the world. This is really a very significant economic discovery of the century. But one thing cannot be published. If people think that making organisation published their salaries will lead to a fall in the salary cost, think again. Once top management know their salaries and found them to be lesser than their peers, they will sure that they will raise it under whatever excuses to be right at the top. The motivation for this reaction is that their self worth is measured by how much they earn. If the loansharks make more than them, then it will be a slap in their egos and market value. So publish any other costs and fees, but not salaries.

education account confirmed

Everyone seems very happy with the education accounts for adults. I like to have that too, to do my PhD. Just for fun and a little self stimulation. Wonder how much it will cost. And the Today Paper also confirmed that the Govt has accepted this recommendation. Now it is going to be 'I want, I want, I also want.' Where is the money coming from? And with so many schemes available from primary and secondary schools, to adult education, WISE, Skillsave, private corporate and govt organisation schemes, and more schemes, I think we are the most scheming people in the world. Have we not gotten tired of all the schemes? Why so many schemes, like charity and govt welfare schemes and always not enough? Would 2% GST be enough to provide for the additional education account? Or would this justify another 1%? The money must come from somewhere. No free lunch.

Myth 109

'Needs create jobs' This is the basis on which jobs are created in an organisation. When there are needs and works to be done, and when these needs exceed a certain level, a job is created. There is a new way of creating jobs. Oops, no, let me put it properly. The new way is to create the job first, then create work for this job. Or another way, get the man first, then find jobs for him to do. Isn't that creativity? When a talent is needed or valued, jobs can always be created. Or the organisation can always find things for him to do. Singaporeans will never run out of jobs.

greed is good

Let me write something in praise of GREED. Greed, power, hatred, desire, envy etc are powerful motivators. They are the essence of life that keeps civilisation alive and moving forward. Just greed alone is enough to change the world. With greed, people strive and work harder and harder to get more. And the more they get, the more they want, and the harder they work. Imagine when there is no greed, all those who have piled enough in their bank accounts would say, 'I have enough. I just want to lie on the beach and enjoy the sunset.' And a super talent and all his greatness will be lost to civilisation. He stops contributing his talent to benefit society. The only way to get this super talent to continue working, and to serve the people, and himself, is greed. And greed also spice up life. How bored this world will be without greed, when everyone just take enough for himself and leave the rest to others? It will be just like heaven. Just look at the NKF Show...It is all because of greed. And because of this, so much money is being raised for the charity. Because of greed, so many people got the opportunity to play all kinds of roles, and get employed. And because of this greed, so many people now got the chance to watch the show, to learn a little about ethics and morality. And the legal profession get a big boost in terms of dollars and sense. Forget about cents. This world will die without greed. We need greed and more greedy people to make this world more interesting and progressive. Greed is good and healthy. It gives reasons and justification to pay everyone well, and very well. Lets celebrate Greed on this Sunday morning. And be joyous and ignore the dark clouds outside.

Higher education accounts proposed for Singaporeans

Higher education accounts proposed for Singaporeans Another great idea in the making to think and plan for the unthinking and mindless Singaporeans. Their lives need to be carefully managed by the gods. It is all for their own good. I can also think of another few areas and accounts to provide for the well beings of Singaporeans. There should be a marriage account for all single man to make sure that they can afford to get married or make it convenient for them to do so with the money available. As for the women, a childbirth account for taking care of all the cost involved in childbearing. I was also thinking of a medical account, but this is already taken care of by the 3Ms. Now what else? Oh yes, a redundancy account to take over their finances when they lost their jobs either through retrenchment or premature termination. Who is going to pay for all these accounts? My money or your money?

nkf story - a new lead actor

As the story continues, when the lead actor was abruptly cut off from the story, a new star must be injected. The new lead actor is now Alwyn Lim. Now that is an unexpected twist to the plot. The diminutive, charming and gentlemanly Alwyn Lim is now played up as the key man who was behind Durai, showing him the way and supporting him all along. Who would have known of these inner happenings if everything was under cloak and secrecy, when everyone deemed an outsider or a spy would be promptly wished away. As the story unfolds, more facets of the activities behind closed doors will be spoken for the benefit of the audience. It is a ticket worth paying for. Lets hope that there will be many more sub plots and supporting actors and actresses coming forward. And the meat will be when the co star appear to tell her story.

Myth 108

The Mother of all Myths The NKF is a stunning revelation of all the goodnesses of what this country stood for, and all came crumbling down. First you got the formula of paying high salary to avoid corruption. But $600k appears not enough. Yeah, peanuts. Otherwise the formula will still be valid. Handpicked men of ability and talent are all reliable and trustworthy. But the biggest mockery is that practically all of them knew about the first class travel. And all simply shut up. No whistle blower from within. Or like they said, all for one and one for all, like the 3 musketeers. So if one is a looter, the rest just close rank or shut up. Some would even stand up to defend the looter. And worst, the gumption to sue others who blew the whistle and made them pay fully for their 'folly' to do so. And even attempting to try for $20 million from SPH when the truth is the other way round. What kind of justice are our people faced with? Without the money to fight an expensive court case, they had to capitulate and pay damages for telling the truth! And watchdogs are a plenty. How could such a shenanigan allowed to go on for so long under watchful eyes and to deceive so many talented people, like one forum writer, Maria Loh Mun Foong asked? And the deceit would have continue to these days and none the wiser if it was not discovered by accident. Frightening facade of propriety at a level almost untouchable by the ordinary men.

who are the real forum letter writers?

One interesting thing that came out from the NFK Showdown recently is the number of ghost letters, or letters written by people other than the names on the letters, appearing in the MSM forums. Now we got to be very cynical and sceptical about public opinions when even the names of the writers can be forged. And people complained that bloggers or netizens used anonymous or nicks. What is so different when names purported to be the real writers were not the real writers. Truth can be stranger than fiction.

70% of jobs to foreigners!!!???

CNA News dated 11 January 2007. SINGAPORE: Middle class wages have been stagnant in the past 5 years, according to economists, and this could lead to social instability. These concerns were shared at the annual Institute of Policy Studies Singapore Perspectives conference.... 123, 000 jobs were created last year and economists estimate some 70 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.... Whoever came out with this figure better be prepared to be challenged. Maybe also prepare a letter of apology.