Flogging a dead horse

Conrad Raj is tenacious in trying to rein in the abuses in corporate governance and the way independent directors are appointed. Today he wrote an article telling companies not to appoint cronies as independent directors. And he praised those independent directors who resigned when they saw things were not right. For this part I strongly disagree with him. The independent directors are there exactly for this purpose, to make right what they see is wrong. Running away is running away from problems or in army terms, a dereliction of duty and responsibilities. It is important and honourable and a duty for independent directors to stay on and right the wrong or if they could not do so, tell the shareholders why they have to leave. I am still waiting for a system that works to replace the present system when companies could appoint cronies as independent directors. How could we allow such a system to exist in the first place? And how could we allow it to continue to exist without doing anything to it? Beats me. An international financial centre could not come up with a better system!

Abusing Quota System

There is an article posted in www.littlespeck.com on the abuses of the education quota in Malaysia. What the writer said is that bumi students with very bad results, not even qualified for university places were not only admitted, but were also given scholarships. The saddest part is that they failed after 3 or 4 years in university, in engineering disciplines, when you really must have the academic knowledge to pass. What is bad about such abuses is not that money is wasted for a helpless cause. There are many very bad consequences. Universities and their degrees being discredited, university education being wasted, and the time of the students are also wasted. Why waste these poor students time in the university when they could be placed in an institution more suitable to their level of academic and skill needs? They could graduate with a useful skill to earn a living. If a piece of paper is all the govt wants to give them, just designate a third rate university and print the degrees for them. It will save a lot of money and the time of professors and students, and money for scholarships could be put to better uses.

Mica responding

Mica has responded to the initiative by TOC and Yawning Bread and said it would take their proposals into consideration when regulations concerning cyberspace are being studied. What is interesting, and too good to be true, is the comment by Bhavani, press secretary to Boon Yang, that Mica is continuing with its lighter touch approach and may even go lighter. Wow! She said, 'Our intent... was to foster the growth of the Internet and to enable us to exploit its vast potential while safeguarding our society from its undesirable aspects.' Sounds promising, to foster the growth of Internet and to exploit its vast potential. But what is a bit dicey and may need to be looked at carefully is the meaning of 'undesirable aspects.' This is a motherhood phrase that can mean anything according to whoever is interpreting it. Just keep the finger crossed.

As the truth sinks in

The spectre of high cost of living is sinking in gradually. One of the first to be hit is car ownership. You may be able to buy, pay the instalments, but you cannot afford to drive that precious car of yours. Every trip out is going to cost that much more. The MPVs and SUVs are going to be hit badly. Cars that guzzle petrol are going to be sidelined. The latest COE dip for cars under 1600cc is a clear signal. The big cars will go on selling as that market is quite inflation proof. The rich will still have plenty of small cash to spare. The hardlanders who wanted that car to enjoy a little luxury will find it that much more expensive for the thrill. Malaysia is rethinking on the high toll fees and may reduce them to lower the high business operating cost. We are still sitting mighty high in ivory towers and will not budge in cutting a little on petrol tax to bring down the cost of transportation and related essential services. Always good to err on the high side with more taxes. Then can be generous to throw a few handouts around and the lucky few who are dying may relive for another few months. Those that miss the net, sorry lah.

Yes, speak out when necessary

The reply by CCS that the market is better to be regulated by more competition came under attack by readers in Today paper. Two letters, by Angeline Lee and Alvin Hoon, were not satisfied with the reply. They demanded that CCS should take action now against the $5 charge by Nets claiming that there is no competition in the market now. Net is the only provider of this service at the moment. The hike is only acceptable if there are competitors. (My view is that if it is pseudo competition with a few providers it will not make any difference and profiteering will go on at the expense of the consumers. That will be the CASE.) The people are now getting more vocal and would not take crappy answers and reasonings for granted. The people are learning to speak up. They are not going to let unfair actions be simply explained away. This is the only way to make sure that their rights and interests are not trampled by big organisations and big voices. Let's see if CCS will take some action against Nets. But from the look of things it is already a done deal. Pay up.

I challenge you!

The last time I remembered challenging someone was 40+ years ago. And we ended up in the backlane wrestling each other. The last we heard of the Seng Han Tong challenge to the Workers Party was for the WP to hire only Singaporean workers. And I heard a second challenge was issued to WP for its contractors not to hire foreign workers. This game of challenge is getting interesting. Would the WP start to challenge the govt to allow foreign talents to stand for election? Or would the challenge be on the reduction of petrol prices, reduction of hospital bills? Or would the WP make a challenge that if they become Ministers they will only ask half the present pay? The possibilities of throwing challenges at one another is enormous. And why not when there is no consequences.

High price ok provided...

Chin Yen Yen, Dep Director, Corporate Communications Competition Commission said, '...under the Competition Act in Singapore, a high price set by a dominant player does not in itself imply an abuse of dominance.' This is only true if certain conditions exist. She added that there must be 'competition among different suppliers in a free market environment. In many instances we actually have a near monopoly situation here and a free market environment is not present. Public transport quickly comes to one's mind. TV licence, news provider, privatised public services etc etc. The public needs to be protected from such monopolistic environment or in industries where cartel like practices are possible.

40% of Singaporean households will be millionaires

By 2017, according to a report, that is. Now isn't that good news? If we are looking at asset worth, we can make 50% of Singaporeans millionaires tomorrow by simply raising the prices of public housing. And Singaporeans will be boasting to one another that they are now millionaires. But every Thursday night they will queue up to see their MPs asking for help as they have no money to buy rice, pay instalments or medical bills. What is important really is the purchasing power. In the 60s, one needed not be a millionaire to buy a semi D at $40k. Today, a millionaire cannot even afford to buy a semi D, or come 2017, can't even buy a 5 room HDB flat. So shall we celebrate this great news to be millionaires in 2017?

Is LKY having a change of heart?

Quote: Lee(LKY) said the Chinese should learn to take the western media on the western media's terms. If protesters get into the Olympic stadiums waving 'Free Tibet' banners, China should shrug it off, he said. If I were them I would expect that and say 'So what?' Lee added. Unfortunately they are still in the old set way they react, but they're learning. Unquote Would LKY apply this advice to the Chinese govt to our local context? When there are demonstrators, would the authorities shrug it off and say, 'So what?' Now if this is going to be the things to come, it would be interesting.

The Mahathir Syndrome

When Mahathir was in power, everything he said and or wanted to do would be done. All his cronies who enjoyed all the perks would just joined the bandwagon, got fed and became fatter, without a single word of criticism or guilt. Now that Mahathir is out of favour, he is now free to crusade against all the wrong things done during his time. His former cronies too were doing the same. Suddenly everything seems so wrong. But when they were in positions of power, they cannot see anything wrong. What takes them so long to realise the wrongdoings? Why didn't they say anything or do anything when they were in a position to do so? Is it because they are no longer being fed, so nothing to lose now?

Move on and be forgotten

Imagine if there is no internet and blogs, every embarrassing episode will be forgotten and the people would have moved on. No more reminders of NKF and peanuts, no more high salaries to haunt anyone while the poor were asked to tighten their belts and eat potatoes, who is Mas Selamat or Selamat what? People have short memories and have many things to take care of. The internet will now be the mother of all memories, be there constantly, to remind people of embarrassing things, 24/7, 365 days a year. There will be no such things as move ons. The msm may not want to talk about some issues and events because of space contraints and the need to move on to new news. News have to be news, fresh and of current interests. In cyberspace, what is important is not currency but relevance and continuity. Things that are really important to the citizens, things that the citizens hold dearly and care about. And for some things, they will not move on but cling on.

Horrifying news

I read in the weekend papers of people commenting that they need a $1000 or $1200 pm income in order to get married. What were this people thinking? Still living in the 60s when a 4 figure salary is a big deal? Even if both are earning $1200 pm, it is a big drag. They will barely get by on their own. No more free school fees, free medical, free tuition, etc. Correct me if I am wrong on these. Some may be getting a lot of freebies from Community Welfare Funds, and there are plenty of them if they are qualified. If not they could appear in TV Charity Shows to help to raise fund for themselves. Yesterday I posted about the guy with a $600 pm single income and two kids. He is brave enough to bring two innocent lives into this paradise when nothing is free. I do not know whether it is foolhardy or idiotic, whether he is doing a meritorious act to help in the birth of two human bean, or he is setting up for two tragedies to happen? With the high cost of living, a minimum combined income of $3000 may barely get by with one kid. People need a lot of education on the cost of living here and how much is needed to start a family. Long gone were the days where families lived off the land with 10 or more children, each with one pair of shorts and a singlet to live by. And where food can be found in the forests or hunted. Or where fire is free from fallen tree trunks and water free from the well. This is a big city and all facilities are world class with world class price tags. Want to have more world class facilities? Want to pay more?

The Dictation Culture

Over the years, this Dictation Culture, where people in position of authority will dictate to the people in the name of 'for the good of the people' has been part of the Singaporean psyche. Singaporeans grow up thinking that dictating to the people is an acceptable form of behaviour. And when in position to do so, they too will do it. And those at the receiving end will just accept it. Our CPF money is subjected to this Dictation Culture. We often hear people suggesting that Singaporeans should be subject to compulsory donation of their money to charities or special self help funds as if the money is there for the taking, and the owners have no right to them. Recently, the NTUC Income is in the news for 'arbitrary changing its bonus payout structure' to policy holders. This change was decided and done by NTUC Income and it then informed the customers of the change. Though the customers bought the policies under a set of agreed terms and conditions, this change came as a surprise to many, including former Income Chief, Tan Kin Lian himself. But all the protests will be useless if there is provision for Income to change the terms as it likes. The changing of the CPF withdrawal age and terms over the years, the compulsory Medisave Account, the CPF Life etc were all new terms that were decided and shafted it to the people. No choice. Compulsory and for the good fo the people. And since there were no public protest, it is settled, that the people approved of them.

Planting Trees

There is a Chinese saying that the present generation plant trees and the future generations will reap its benefits. What the govt is doing, in investing for the future is similar to planting trees and is a laudable initiative. A more short sighted govt would have used the money now and make many people happy and win many popular votes as well. The worst govt is to spend the future earnings now, like what the American govt is doing. They are bankrupting themselves into the future. We have seen a lot of our money, billions, being invested for the long term, and recently the buying of big foreign banks. The timing, a golden opportunity, also presents risks. The immediate short term losses have naturally invited a lot of criticisms. With hindsights, some were saying that it would be better if the decisions were delayed a little. And people would expect the professionals to do their sums right. In this case, it is easy to say we were a bit hasty. The loss is no small change. The other angle of unhappiness is that while we have so much money to invest for the future, we are seeing immediate pains and suffering affecting some of our less able citizens. It is a question of how much to invest and how much to share with the people. Admittedly it is very subjective and what one sees as right another will see it as wrong. While planting trees for the future is definitely a prudent move, it should not end up as an obsession as the present needs to be taken care of too. Many of the owners of this national reserves will not be around in the future to reap the fruits of long term investments. And when we have more than enough, a little more generosity for the present is most welcomed.

Msm and political parties

The Malaysian system allows for political parties to have their own mouth piece in the form of commercial papers. PKR is going to have its own paper to be sold to the public with a political view that is PKR's. Umno of course has its own papers. With political parties owning their own newspapers, it is normal and acceptable to have such papers towing the party lines and saying good things about the party and defending the party. What is the status of our msm? Are they owned by political parties or are they strictly private organisations? My understanding is that our msm are commercial and privately owned enterprises, not owned by political parties. Not even own by the govt, not a statutory board, or is it? I read somewhere that the local msm's stance is to be pro govt. So whichever party comes to power, they will have the support of the msm. Is this support unquestionable or unconditional, under all circumstances?

No subsidised petrol

There is no difference in the definition of subsidy between what we know here and what it is known in Malaysia. Both subsidises by making the buyer pays less from the market price. The Malaysians subsidise their petrol and we subsidise our flats and hospital bills. The difference is that the Malaysian petrol subsidy also allows foreigners like Singaporeans to take advantage of them. (We don't regard PRs as foreigners.) Now the Malaysian govt is thinking of abolishing this ruling. And foreigners buying petrol in Malaysia will have to pay non subsidised prices. That will make the petrol buying trips to JB unnecessary. It will also put an end to the Uniquely Singaporean 3/4 tank rule. So no one can continue to joke about it anymore. The best thing is that the jams at the causeway will be a thing of the past. It may be a little tough to the shopkeepers and restaurants that benefitted from the Singaporeans going over for petrol and at the same time enjoying the cheaper food and groceries. When the incentive of cheaper petrol is over, the hustle and the little savings may not be attractive enough anymore. Only genuine visitors going for holidays will be seen crossing the Johore Straits.

Living on bread alone

A family of 4, with two young children, survives on bread for lunch and inner. Didn't know what they take for breakfast. Maybe skip breakfast too. And compare their plight to the destitutes in charity homes with 3 proper meals, I think the homes are a luxury. His income is $600 pm. Unbelieveable, but it happens. He probably earns less than a foreign worker or cleaners in the food courts. Some may want to throw the brutal truth at them, that they are to be blamed for being useless and unable to earn a decent living in paradise. With cost of living skyrocketing, life for those in this category is going to be tough.

Next Parliament sitting

The last sitting was overshadowed by the escape. Even the high cost of living were not touch on, or was it skimmed through? With the Mas Selamat issue as water under the bridge, and with everyone moving on, we can expect more outstanding issues to be tabled. Many ministers were significantly 'absent' or unheard of in the last sitting, all taking a backseat and quietly watching the spectacle of Kan Seng under the spotlight. Raymond would surely be in the picture with his seat belts buckled tightly. Boon Heng may do an update of his oldies ministerial portfolio. Eng Hen could continue to take a break after solving the annuities for the oldies problem for Boon Heng. Now where is Mah Bow Tan? I think he can relax a little with all the backlog HDB flats sold or nearly sold and with HDB prices going to seventh heaven due to rising demands. Good job done. And Boon Yang, is he in Trade and Industry? Tharman should be a happy minister with so much money in hand and happily giving them away. Hopefully Chiam See Tong would not tell him not to kill the goose and only giveaway the drumstick will do. Bloggers should be waiting in anticipation of what new laws will come out from Shanmugam. Oh, Boon Wan has solved the high medical fees problems. Everyone now can afford to pay their medical fees to the 80s. Looks like the only major thing in the next sitting is not even ERPs or high profits of privatised public transport system but seat belts for school children.

Happy news for retirees

HDB rental market remains strong with high demands from foreigners. The median rents for 2 rm is $1,000 pm and 3 rm is $1,400. Now, that will take care of my retirement surely. No need CPF Life or buy back schemes. If people can start a family with a $1,200 income, $1,400 will be too much for a retiree who is happy with instant noodles and 3 in 1s. And for the bigger flats, 4 rm can fetch $1,600 while 5 rm can get $1,800. Singaporeans who own a HDB have it made. No more worries. Just pray hard that more foreigners will come to our shore and continue to drive up rental demands. Now I am fully convinced that we need more foreign workers, foreign talents or anything, as long as they are foreigners and can afford to pay more for renting HDB flats.

MP pushing for new laws

Finally there is an issue grave enough for the MPs to speak up strongly in Parliament. The high cost of living, minister's pay, and the Mas Selamat escape were not able to kinder the fire in the belly of the MPs. It is reported in the front page of the Sunday Times that several MPs would lobby for new laws to make seat belts in school buses mandatory. Enough is enough and they want it implemented immediately. They would even question Raymond Lim 'What's next?' since he has not spoken a word on this earth shattering issue. There will be sparks in Parliament on May 26. Just wondering, is Raymond running out of favour?