S Chips or minibond equivalent?

Finally a letter appeared in the ST forum questioning the huge amount of money lost by investors in S Chips, or China stocks listed in our stock market. I am wondering if this the first and only letter ever received by ST on this issue. Steven Lim Ngian Ern questioned whether due diligence were done before foreign companies were allowed to be listed here and why no one was answerable for the increasing number of S Chips going under through accounting fraud, disappearing management, board of directors abandoning the companies, overstating of cash balances and over inflated sales. Who is accountable for all these failures and the loss of money by investors? The answer is NOBODY! No one is responsible. It is caveat emptor. Someone told me geylang's gambling dens also operate on the same basis. No one is responsible. You die your own business. The operator just bring the gamblers together and collect a commission. Before we continue to plunge more deeply into this black hole, before more investors lose their money, I think there are enough incidents to warrant a slow down in this reckless and mindless pursuit to boost up the number of stocks in the stock market. Clob is already a very bitter experience. The way things are going it is not much different from Malaysian Clob shares or the minibonds. We need accountability and responsibility. We are not talking about losing peanuts. The money lost in the market is awesome.

Car insurance premiums up and up

The motorists are so pissed off with the high insurance premiums for cars that two letters appeared in the ST forum today. There could be more letters written in and many more who are angry but did not write in. The gist of their anger is that the high operating cost in the insurance industry is contributed by bad management and probably misleading claims and the whole process of repairing and claims. And all these were simply passed to the innocent motorists. Worst, many motorists have never made a claim in their lives and are made to pay more and more. Huh, pay more and more. Motor insurance is a compulsory requirement by law. Should the authority be concerned and be interested to see that there is fair play in this business? Or someone is sleeping or paid not enough so does not think it is his job to get his feet wet or hands dirty? The other question is whether the accident rate is really that high given the high number of vehicles on the road. Without proper monitoring and regulations in this industry, the insurers could turn themselves into highwaymen and the motorists becoming victims of another scheme of daylight robbery. Wake up man.

3 universities freeze student fees

Is this good news or bad news? Money wise I think most students and parents will breathe a sigh of relief. But quality wise, without increasing the fees, will the quality of education suffer? Every time when there is an increase in fees, they will tell you that you want quality you pay for it. So the quality improves with every fee increases. Now if the fees are frozen, do we see the quality of university education stagnant until the next fee increase? This is the kind of hogwash Singaporeans have been fed all these years, the quality of this kind of reasoning to justify fee increases or pay increases is idiotic at best. Shall Singaporeans continue to believe this kind of bull? Without this pay freeze, the universities have already planned to raise fees from 4% to 10% depending on the faculties. They deem it as their right, a natural thing to do. At an average rate of 7%, in 10 years, the fees will be double, and presumably the fees of the academic and non academic staff will be double as well. Then can we ask the question, will the quality of the professors increase accordingly with each pay increase? Maybe. But will his job spec increases accordingly? Or will he still be teaching the same number of students and the same number of hours and modules? Will the quality of each batch of students graduating improve with the same fee increase? For the past decade or so, we have done away with a salary cap. We forgot that the job spec does not change very much. We forgot that the incumbent does not change very much. We forgot that many jobs are still the same jobs 10 years ago. But with an open ended salary, the salary keeps running away. The higher the salary at the top, the more the increases will be and the joker sitting there will laugh all the way to the bank. And this salary increase policy applies not only to the universities but everywhere, you know where. Just look around and ask, what has that person done to deserve another 10% of increases? Is his job getting bigger, he gets smarter, he does something extra ordinary? The only reason that this incessant increases relies on is market forces. Other people are being paid more, so they must get paid more. How silly. But that is how things are. We have thrown away the old concept that a job is worth so much and need only to be paid so much, regardless of how much other people are being paid.

Celebrating Singapore

Taking a magnifying glass and poring over the map carefully, it was with great effort that I found this little place called Singapore. Take another map before the 19th century and you would not find it. And this little piece of rock of 4 million people, actually about 2.5 mil if the non citizens are not counted, is hell of a rich country today. Without any natural resources, we are standing among the rich nations of the world. The most remarkable thing is that we have so much money as a state that we literally did not know what to do with it. Hey, we are talking about a few hundred billions in US currency. The boys must be going ga ga and getting dizzy in their heads. How to put those numbers into perspective? And we trotted around the globe with a handful of rich nations talking about where to put our money. And all the big corporations and nations in need of money will come knocking at our doors, taking a queue number and waited patiently to be welcomed in. Unbelieveable, but this is our achievement. We have plenty of cash. The little catch is that we don't have the people to take care of it. And we do not know what to do with it. So we do charity for the world. We are the number one philantrophist to the world. Take a bow. We deserve it.

Should fare hikes be posted in websites

Public transport companies are having wonderful and informative websites to promote what they are doing and educating and informing the public about the companies and activities. Shouldn't public companies post information on the history, the when and how much were the fare hikes on their websites? Such information are relevant and useful to the public. It is also all about transparency. And these are information that are not only available whenever there is an increase, they are all authorised, approved by PTC. They are not confidential information. I have been trying to find these information in the websites but no signs of them. Public transport companies, please post them on your websites please.

Knowing your place

Today I shall not indulge in matters that does not concern me, matters that should rightfully be the concerns of those who volunteered to care of them. Today I shall talk about things that a kopitiam shall talk about, about things that affect the kopitiam people daily. Let's start at 6am. What would people be doing at 6am when the sun is not even up? Sunrise is now 7am after we amended our time forward. Oh, the 'mummies' must be busy preparing their little kids for school. 6am may even be too late for those living further away. These are real stuff of kopitiams. What else, ha, choping seats in kopitiams with tissue papers. Arrrgggh, such bad habits, offensive, unacceptable. There must be better ways of choping seats. And don't forget to return the plates to the cleaning ah peks or ah mahs. And don't leave a mess after eating ok? Public transport may be something they should talk about. Not the high cost, but about seating on the floors, about peeping Toms, about giving up seats to aunties and uncles and getting annoyed when they don't accept the kind offers. For the young, talk about warcraft, about the latest gadgets and mobile phones, about Stomps, and yes, take pictures for Stomps. And the tai tais, about the most sexy lingeries and where to get them. I think there are many serious stuff that befit kopitiam talks. How nice if everyone will come to kopitiams and talk about such stuff. I think everyone will give me pat on the back and say, 'Good boy, that is your rightful place.'

18 years good enough to invest in stocks

The new ruling has just came out. 18 year olds can trade in the stock market. I don't use the word investing in stock markets. Stock markets used to be a place for long term investment. You put in some money and see them grow with the company. Not today. The stock market is like a casino or worst than a casino. The big players are manipulating the markets at will and investing in stocks is no longer like it was before. It is betting on a position every day, every hour and every second. I don't think it is the right thing for 18 year olds to be in this kind of stock market. We will turn into a nation of gamblers. is this the right way to go? At 18, the possibility of reckless trading is very high. And traders can easily be caught in bad positions and losses can accumulate into a mountain in no time. And the parents will end up bailing these kids out, that is if they are able to or can afford to.

Parliament is not kopitiam

Parliament is the nation's highest body where the ablest men and women gather to discuss serious national issues. There are important things to be raised in Parliament. There are important things to be raised only in kopitiams. One issue I thought would be important enough is the sale of core national assets. We have sold 3 power stations which I believe should be regarded as core assets or strategic assets. They were real things, with buildings, machinery and equipment sitting on the ground. They provided an essential service to the people. We have exchanged them for fiat currency. From the fiat currency we got, we probably have used it to buy other assets which recently have proven to be fleeting assets. Now the money is gone. The fleeting assets have diminished in value. Our 3 power stations also gone. The selling of core national assets must be seriously discussed in Parliament. If we do not need the money, there is no reason to sell such assets. Why trade our core and strategic assets for things that, well, have proven unworthy or worthless? Parliament must review such attempts to sell more national assets in the future and decide whether it is a good thing or a sensible thing to do. At this point in time it has been proven to be unwise. It is like selling Christmas Island. Once sold it is gone forever.

Good that NOL shares were hammered down

Yesterday there was this market rumour that NOL may be making cash calls and its shares were duly sold down. This is what investors should do when companies take the convenient way to demand cash from cash strap shareholders, in a very difficult time like this. I hope investors will continue to sell off companies making cash calls. And it is highly irresponsible for such companies to do so when some don't even need the money or have other sources of fund. What is happening? Are these companies so broke or they have lost their pants somewhere and needing the small shareholders to pay for their folly? Robbing poor Peter to pay Paul?

Growth for what and for who?

Eminnent professor of strategy at the Stephen M Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in the USA is questioning the growth fetishism in Singapore. She is calling for a reexamination of what all the fuzz is about. And it takes someone from the distance, not our world class academia, to discuss such an important matter. Perhaps our brilliant people are all busy making money the best they could for themselves. Dr Linda Lim is a Singaporean based in Ann Arbor. She could see from the distance of things that we cannot see from inside the fish tank. The wide income gap and the high cost of living, and the way we bet big with our national savings are all things that demands a serious relook before they get bad. Where is the debate or concern in this little paradise of super talents, demigods and immortals? Maybe they have more important preoccupations like licensing bicycles or chasing pieces of gold medals in sports, or chasing foreign talents. Should we be pondering over the distribution of wealth and how to spread it around more instead of asking the hardlanders to ever keep on tightening their belts, or to make them pay more as every increase is carefully calculated to be affordable but leaving them with nothing for tomorrow? The ST devoted one page of its paper to Dr Linda Lim Today with 3 separate articles on her and what she had said about our economic growth and strategy.

Just for the record

Monday, 09 March 2009 Se Young LeeDow Jones Newswires Singapore's foreign reserves fell to US$163.55 billion at the end of February from US$167.09 billion a month earlier and was lower than US$171.74 billion a year earlier, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Monday. In Singapore dollar terms, the reserves were S$252.78 billion in February compared with S$252.57 billion in January and S$239.36 billion a year earlier, the central bank said on its Web site. I copy this from Singabloodypore.

Preparing for Change

Is it time for change? Obama took almost one year to prepare the Americans for change. If it is time for change, the people must be mentally prepared for it. Who can do the preparation? The political parties or the media? Which media and who wants change? When people are talking about change, I presume they are talking about political change, a change of govt and a change of policies. There cannot be any major changes or change of policies without a change of govt, or at least a big swing in votes with more opposition candidates in Parliament. And for such a momentous event to happen, a lot of preparation and effort must be put into it. It cannot happen overnight. Neither can it happen spontaneously unless there is a crisis of earth shaking proportion. Then there will be the supporters and forces that will resist change, who would want the status quo. These forces will be working equally hard to avoid change. For the moment the forces against change are having the upper hand. What can be done to keep the call for change and its momentum going? The forces for change will have to start thinking and working now. And I think cyberspace can play a major role towards change by harping about it day and night to create the awareness. The people must be prepared for the change to come if it is to come.

In a state of shock!

Have we been so stunned to inactivity by the financial crisis? After the Reliance Package there were some talks of upturn the downturn and belt tightening. Subsequently there were more calls for trainining. Then what else? With the economy grinding down, with some industries limping, where are the supertalents and their super solutions to the problems facing us? Could more be done to alleviate the situation? Or are we just sitting there waiting for the storm to blow over and then pick up the pieces? Or really there is nothing else that can be done? The people have no talents and they can't do anything. Those with great talents and are paid for their talents should be showing their talents at times like this. We really need them now, badly. Where are they?

Slit wrist or no slit wrist

This is the latest controversy being discussed in TOC. It has taken issue with the facts of the NTU student, David Hartonto Widjaja, who stabbed his professor and was reported to jump to his death but not before slitting his wrist. Nearly every one of the media reported this. TOC had interviewed a student, Edwin Lesmana Tjiong, who said that there was no slashed wrist and this was confirmed by police reports. How could such a big gap of evidence happen? What is going on?

Waiting for Pipe Piper to blow his tune

The Shanghai and Tokyo stock markets have started to stabilise and turned around. Australia has extended its curb on shortselling till the end of May. Proactive govts who are concerned with how their stock exchanges are performing and how to shore up the falling values of the stocks are actively doing their parts. We used to have commentaries to talk up a falling market when the situation justified it. We used to distinguish our markets from the rest as our market was sound. And our market is sound. At least many of the companies are still reeling in millions and billions in profits. Some have cash hoards in the billions waiting to prey on distressed companies. Compare them to the companies in the US when many are insolvents, then we ask the question, why are the values of our stocks being battered down? Taken that some of their revenues will be affected. But they are still healthy companies, especially our banks and blue chips. When will the Pipe Piper stand out to blow his tune? It seems that everyone is just waiting. No one dares to utter his bit if the Pipe Piper does not act. It is like a headless corpse waiting for something to happen. And in the meantime the stockmarket continues to be slammed irresponsibly and billions being lost. There must be a return to value for the sound and profitable blue chips. It would also shore up the values of Temasek and GIC when the values of their stock holdings improve. Their books will definitely look better too. Where is the Pipe Piper?

Monitoring the transport fare increases

Can anyone provide the information on the number and amount of increases by the transport companies over the last 3 years? I am trying to get this info to keep track on how much have been added onto the fare prior to the generous deduction of 2c per trip which commuters are very grateful. Monitoring such increases is very important as it will keep track and a check on what the commuters are paying. More often than not, most tend to forget or ignore the increases as they were done in small bite sizes. Some don't even notice them, like me. I am going to put extra effort now on to follow this closely. I am waiting for a reply from the SMRT on my query.

Can we afford to do away with GRCs?

The relevance of GRC has been a perennial issue in all elections. We have been told of how important it is to ensure minority representation in the govt. Lately we have seen how useful it is for a constituency to continue to be served by other MPs in the same GRC when one has passed away. There is no need to run another costly election and wasting money and time of the people. And no lost of the quality of services to the residence. GRC has many other advantages. It allows a bunch of MPs to enter the Parliament in the same bandwagon, anchored by a strong candidate. Weak candidates need only to hang on tight to the tail coat and he is in. But of course, the sword can cut both ways. GRC can also relieve the hardworking ministers from the Meet the People Sessions if their schedules are too demanding. They can rely on the not so busy MPs to do the mundane tasks of solving residents' problems. I do not live in the GRCs of the ministers and do not know if they spend the same number of hours meeting the people as the MPs. Meeting the People is a very tedious and time consuming job and sometimes may not be too pleasant as well. Today such jobs may even carry the risk of personal injury. I think GRC will grow increasingly important as the ministers and MPs get older and less mobile or have less energy to walk the ground. Leave it to the young beavers.

Celebrating Singaporean - Professor Donald Tan Tiang Hwee

Professor Donald Tan Tiang Hwee In the company of Singapore's finest eye surgeons. That was the privilege I had yesterday when I attended a public awareness talk on cornea donation organised by the Lion's Club of Singapore. And the luminaries that graced the occasion, other than the senior Lions, were Professor Arthur Lim himself and Professor Donald Tan. A/Professor Heng Yim Jin and Dr Lim Li also made their presentation in the public seminar. Professor Arthur Lim has been an authority in eye surgery for many years and is probably the father of this field of medical science, and a mentor to the many fine eye surgeons we have here. It is heartening to know that he has a worthy successor to continue his great works and to make more progress and discoveries in this field. Together, they have made the Singapore National Eye Centre a top class eye clinic and famous around the world. They not only have a superb track record to their credits, including the highest success rate in cornea transplant, lowest tissue rejection rate, lowest cell loss rate, they are also constantly doing R and D to develop new methods and technology in cornea transplant. They improved on the technology and techniques being used, they also developed new techniques that are new frontier science and technology. Such achievements and track records need to be made known to all, especially Singaporeans that we are truly among the best. I have attached a press release by SNEC below to give more details of their achievements, including the technical jargons of cornea transplant and other surgical treatments by other equally great eye surgeons in the Centre. This press release is dated Sep 04 which is not too current, but good enough to so how much they had done since then. SNEC 15TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL MEETING The Singapore National Eye Centre will mark another milestone as we celebrate our 15th Anniversary since inception in 1990 with a year-long programme beginning with the SNEC 15th Anniversary International Meeting which will be held from 3 to 6 September 2004. The Theme of the Meeting: Clear Vision for All Ages, represents the mission of every ophthalmologist. There will be a high quality scientific programme featuring symposia, updates, masterclasses, skill transfer courses and live surgery demonstration presented largely by our local ophthalmologists. Renowned ophthalmologists from all over the world are also invited to speak in this Meeting. SNEC will be uncovering some of our new and significant advances from our major subspecialties that will impact the practice of ophthalmology. New Advances in Lamellar Keratoplasty Assoc Prof Donald Tan Associate Professor Donald Tan is the Deputy Director of the SNEC and Senior Consultant and Head of Cornea and External Eye Disease Service. He is also Director of the Singapore Eye Research Institute and holds dual appointment as associate professor at the Department of Ophthalmology, National University of Singapore. A/Prof Donald Tan spearheaded the cornea development with the introduction of new techniques of ocular surface transplantation and amniotic membrane transplantation in Singapore since 1997. The SNEC is now the leading Centre in these techniques in Asia besides Japan. In collaboration with dental surgeons from the National Denetal Centre, A/Prof Donald Tan led eye surgeons in SNEC to successfully complete the revolutionary two-stage Osteo-Odonto Keratoprosthesis Surgery to enable a blind boy from Thailand to see. This is the first operations of its kind in South-East Asia. Lamellar Keratoplasty (LK) refers to a surgical procedure in which the anterior corneal layers, to a variable stromal layer depth are replaced with donor tissue. The lamellar keratoplasty is used for the management of various corneal disorders and it is fast re-emerging as a viable option for corneal replacement surgery. SNEC has achieved new and significant advances in the area of LK and recent innovative surgical techniques and tolls are now emerging which allow corneal surgeons to perform LK with excellent visual results. LK has distinctive advantages over penetrating keratoplasty: sutures can be removed earlier, risks for wound dehiscence and graft failure due to allograft rejection are reduced. The need for therapeutic lamellar surgery has become more pressing in Asia, where tectonic and therapeutic indications for keratoplasty remain major indications, and the ability of corneal surgeons to perform “match and patch” grafts of various sizes and shapes allows for treatment of complex disorders such as tectonic lamellar surgery in Mooren’s ulceration and scleral melting after adjunctive pterygium surgery. At the SNEC, a review of indications for lamellar surgery show that 40% of LKs are performed for tectonic indications, while a third are performed for optical reasons, and a quarter for therapeutic indications. Clinical Applications of Optical Coherent Tomography Dr Doric Wong Dr Doric Wong is a senior consultant ophthalmologist with the Vitreo-Retina Department and the Cataract and Comprehensive Department of the Singapore National Eye Centre. He also practises in the Department of Ophthalmology of the Changi General Hospital. Dr Doric Wong spent a year at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York, where his focus was on medical retina. His practice encompasses most aspects of surgical retina, specifically retinal detachments, and PVR, diabetic retinopathy, macular surgery and trauma. In medical retina, his interest is on choroidal neovascular disease and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Dr Doric Wong has been invited to lecture and to teach extensively in the region. A high-powered resolution imaging for retina, the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), is now available at the Singapore National Eye Centre. OCT has matured as an investigative tool in ophthalmology over the last few years. It now provides a new and reliable and reproducible way of visualisng diseases of the retina, providing information otherwise not visible through other means. A highly detailed cross-section view of the retina can be recorded using infra-red light and special acquisition techniques. An image akin to one using a microscope to examine a slice of the retina is obtained from a patient’s eye without being invasive. Subtle changes of the retina, and its relationships with structures above and below it can be visualized and documented, helping doctors to understand disease processes which affect the retina and monitor changes with treatment. Femtosecond Laser Technology: Current Status and Future Perspectives The Femtosecond Laser Technology is fundamentally a new technology utilizing the fine precision of a femtosecond laser as a surgical tool and has applications in a host of eye surgeries including its ability to laser as a corneal flap for LASIK surgery to correct myopia, perform corneal transplantation with precise accuracy and also perform glaucoma surgery. The femtosecond laser system has the ability to perform accurate but gentle surgery on the cornea without fist having to apply heavy suction forces and deforming the natural shape of the cornea. The potential of this technology lies in the co-development of new corneal transplantation procedures which may result in improved safety and visual outcomes in patients blind from corneal diseases. For further information, please contact: Ravi Chandran Corporate Communications Executive Singapore National Eye Centre

The widening racial divide

The pain is hurting more with each day passing in Malaysia. The discrimination against the non Malays continues and will continue as a govt policy with BN in charge. Malaysia under the BN is determined to rule the country on the basis of Malay and non Malay. And the ethnic minorities suffer in silence, for too long. But the silence has been broken and they are standing up to say no to such discrimination. Hindraf is playing an increasingly important role in this fight against racial discrimination and suppression, against economic freedom and freedom to choose a way of life.And they are going to sacrifice for the cause with more martyrs to be imprisoned or to be harmed in the process. As the BN continues to build up its Malayness in a country when the Malays is not really an absolute majority, the ridiculous nature of this Malayness is now being exposed. Most of the champions of Malayness are not Malays themselves. Many are Arabs, Indians and Indonesians in orgins. And many have mixed ancestries. The point is more sore when many are new immigrants in the country compare to the ethnic minorities who have set roots here a few centuries back. The people are questioning this Malay formula. What is so Malay about being Malay? As long as the ruling BN continues with this half past six formula to cling on to power, Malaysia will continue to be divided as a country for years to come. Instead of becoming more Malaysian, it is becoming more Malay. Actually this is also a fallacy, it is not becoming more Malay but more rojak Malay. For the new Malays are not Malay in the strict sense but descendants of mixed ancestries. Who is a Malay? And the real bumiputras, the original natives of the land, were also beside sidelined. The Orang Aslis, the Dayaks, the Dusuns, the Ibans and the many tribes in East Malaysia, they do not enjoy the kind of privileges and attention the so called 'Malays' are enjoying. Would the real bumiputras stand up for their rights and rightful place in the country and chase away the pretenders?

HDB is a private commercial organisation, is a....

HDB is private, HDB is public, HDB is a commercial organisation, HDB is a govt organisation, HDB is to build flats for the people, HDB is to make as much profit for its shareholders.... What is HDB? What is the role of HDB? Oh it has been privatised, no longer a govt organisation or stats board. The govt has nothing to do with its policies. 'The Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Grace Fu, said yesterday that the HDB is "going to hasten the pace of the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) because we think this is a very good time....Ms Fu assured home buyers yesterday that HDB will "always price (the new flats) with the market price in mind.' This is quoted from the ST today. So is HDB govt or private? Also, this new pricing to the market must be a policy that every MP in Parliament also approved of. Was there any objection to such a policy or were there any question ask in Parliament? Objecting is a non existence word. Asking is the best that the people can expect from their representatives in Parliament.