In celebration of longevity

I am 95 and still going strong. I decide to go a cruise around the world and tell my personal assistant to get 5 tickets. One for me of course. The second ticket is for my personal assistant as I need him to be with me all the time, telling me how my stocks are performing and how is my $50m doing. And I also need him to tell me how beautiful is the sunset. The third ticket is for my personal nurse. She needs to check that all my systems are functioning and to feed me with a battery of pills, drugs and supplements. How else can I keep on being alive at 95. Another ticket for a maid to push me around and to massage my near to lifeless body, to make it supple and to prevent blood clot, muscle atrophy, or to simply let me feel the goodness of being touched. And the 5th ticket is for another maid whose job is to feed me, queue for the food at the buffet spread and do my errants. While I will be enjoying my world cruise, my thought will go out to my good friend in his rental flat. His life is very well taken care of by the CPFLife that he had invested. Everytime I visited him, I am very contented just watching his calm and serene face, all at peace, staring at the ceiling. He is attached to some machine and being fed by social workers. He once told me he had two wishes. One is to be disconnected from the machine. His next big wish is to crawl around the estate, with the help of the beautiful handrails that have been erected for his needs. They were extremely useful. But he has not been able to touch them for more than 10 years. Life is great. Long life is greater. PS. Now you know when I need to have $100m for my retirement!

Racial Harmony Day

Vivian is talking about racial harmony and the need to be mindful, conscious and sensitive to this delicate balance in our multi racial society. We have been talking a bit about such issues and the perception and bitterness of the minority that they are discriminated and disadvantaged. I wish such issues can be resolved once and for all and everyone can live happily thereafter. The reality is that discrimination will be there in all countries and societies, racial discrimination, religious discrimination, social and economic discrimination, even in our case, local born or foreign born, new or old citizens. Human beans are born with a little sainthood in everyone and a little devil as well. How much sainthood and devil in a person varies, genetic, biological, social, wealth, education etc, will all affect a person's mindset. At times it is circumstances, environmental. But this does not mean that we shall live with discrimination. What we can hope for is that discrimination is not permitted by law and practice. The individual part is more difficult to deal with as any incident can be changed from a disagreement between two losers into a racial thing. Let me quote an incident when two guys were having kopi in East Coast Park Hawker Centre. They sat in a table next to a couple. The man told off one of the guys for wearing shorts as it violated his wife who was there. The two guys could have stood up and told the man off which could end up in a fight. If they were of the same race, it would be just a quarrel and a fight. If different races were involved, it could be flamed as a racial dispute. If we keep on wearing the colour lenses and look at things in our chosen colour, we will continue to live in a world of colours. We can also remove our colour lenses and try to make the best out of the system. America has the most laws to protect its people from human rights and racial discrimination. It is also the country that flouted these laws the most, and racial discrimination is not only history but existing daily and in very bad forms and dosages. We have done very well in our minority majority relationship and a live and let live ethos. Everyone, minority or majority, will be treated as fairly and equally under our laws. There will be the odds and difficult situations and occurrences. But generally, we are doing ok and will keep improving as we move forward. What we must be wary of is for small groups of agitators that will want to flame every incident and turn it into a big issue. We can handle issues or problems as human beans or as colour beans. It is all in our mindset.

Making a statement

A political secretary to a Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was found dead after being interrogated by the MACC, Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, on his boss. He was not the target of the investigation. 30 year old Teoh Beng Hock, due to get married next week, was found dead 9 floors below the MACC office in the wee hours of the morning. Did he commit suicide after a fierce marathon interrogation session? Or there was foul play? Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the police had not rule out foul play. And if there were foul play, who would be in the MACC office in those hours were obvious. Or would it be some thieves who entered the building and saw Teoh and decided to bungle him over the window? An ordinary citizen being called up for interrogation inside a govt office ended up dead from falling over the window. How could people die so easily inside a govt office? Is someone trying to make a statement or a kind of warning? What is the statement that is being made and to who? Would it be better to pronounce him insane and lock him up in a mental hospital, or file a sodomy charge against him instead of simply bungling him over the window? The statement is a statement of fear, of who is the boss.

Blind to our own destruction

The green movement is gathering steam to warn the human specie that they will destroy themselves in their folly to exploit mother earth to its fullest. By employing technology and the cunning of the human mind, they harvest the land, farm the sea and eat up everything beyond their replacement rate. We burn and consume so much natural resources and fossil fuel that the temperature will become too high to sustain many life forms. But this road to our self destruction will have many more years to go. The fastest and shortest road is to destroy the world economic and financial system. We have been warned. It is so easy when we are blind to our greed. When everyone is singing, Greed is Good, and believing in it, and participating in the ripoff, the very people who are there to manage this insatiable appetite, become part of the marauding party, we are doomed. We will not learn as long as the benefits to the few cheats and swinders are shared among the leaders. All will party at the expense of the small guys, the losers, so they called them. It is pointless for the small guys to kpkb, useless, no one will listen to such foolishness in the wilderness. Let me bring in the big guns. I was reading Paul Krugman's article in the ST this morning, The only good news is at Goldman Sachs, he said. The writing is on the wall. Yes we will commit the same sins again and again. And the regulators will join in and say good, go ahead. Goldman Sachs is making a lot of money again and is going to shower its employees, especially the top manager, with tons of money, just like yesterday. They will pat their backs again and said how clever. But that is not the problem. The problem is how they make the money, in Krugman's words, 'financial firms...directed vast quantitites of capital into the construction of unsaleable houses and empty shopping malls. They increased risk rather than reducing it, and concentrated risk rather than spreading it. In effect, the industry was selling dangerous patent medicine to gullible consumers.... While other banks invested heavily in...toxic waste...selling to the public at large...Goldman ... made a lot of money selling securities backed by subprime mortgages - then made a lot more money by selling mortgage-backed securities short, just before their value crashed... All of this was perfectly legal, but the net effect was that Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers. And Wall Streeters have every incentive to keep playing that kind of game.' This modus operandi is not confined to just selling toxic products. The stock markets are operated under very similar principles. The big funds, with the help of technology, managing information, will sell down stocks and force out the small and weak investors before buying back at rock bottom prices, at any opportunity or negative news, real or imagery. Then they will buy back frantically and unload at much higher levels to the same suckers. And all this time the fundamentals of the stocks remain unchanged. The process is repeated every other day. And the regulators of stock exchanges knew what was going on, all perfectly legal. And they have vested interest to keep playing the game or let the game go on.' The excuse is caveat emptor as long as there is no blood on the streets. As long as there is no mass protest like the toxic bonds, the game will be legal. When greed rules the head, greed is good. Selling snake oil is fine as long as the few will amass a fortune from it and the suckers continue to pay willingly. There is no qualms and no need for moral responsibility. The chase for rapid economic growth, the high property prices and the property game, all falls into the same modus operandi. Create demand to drive up prices when there is no need to, but for the greed of profits or economic numbers.

The relative truth

What is truth is all relative and depends on a person's background and what he/she wants to believe in. Some once exclaimed that $600k is peanuts. Temasek and GIC lost several tens of billions, near to $100 billion, but no one really bats an eyelid and no one say that it was a huge sum. Today we heard MAS lost $9.2 billion and the phrase used is this - 'So heavy were its losses that they wiped out about 80 per cent of MAS' combined gains of $11.29 billion in the preceding two profitable years...' Why was this loss described as so heavy when several tens of billions were simply another loss? If I were to put it, I will say $9.2b loss is peanuts. The truth, the real truth, depends on the person saying it, and the people listening to it also have their own truths and interpretations of the truths. When Chiam See Tong asked for some money from the reserves to be used to help the citizens, the response was that it would kill the golden goose. And I think he was not even thinking of a billion bucks. After losing several tens of billions, the golden goose is still healthy and swaggling around, still can afford to loose a few billions.

HDB flats are heavily subsidised

'New HDB flats are heavily subsidised and the board's priority is to help those who need such housing the most, such as those who are buying a flat for the first time and families who cannot afford private housing.' This is from a reply by Chan-Wong Jee Choo Lily, Dep dirctor, HDB. I am wondering whether old flats were heavily subsidised? I am also wondering how heavily subsidised were the flats at Duxton Pinnacles when they were sold at about $200k more the than the first launch at market prices?

Immoral morality

How could these two words be lumped together? It is either moral or immoral and not inclusive. In life, the moral and immoral parts are obvious, but the immoral morality part is kept under a veil. Sometimes what is obviously immoral is not so immoral and what is obviously moral is more immoral than anything else. Prostitution is an industry that easily fits into the immoral realm. So is the casino and gambling industry. But the prostitutes are trading their services for a fair price, wiling buyer willing seller. And the customers normally go away satisfied, provided the service does not include hidden diseases. The casino is what it is and because of that it is so well regulated that the risks are all upfront. The hidden cameras, loaded dices and electronic controls are not allowed to be introduced to cheat the customers, though some still do illegally. Actually I should call these industries moral immorality as distinct from immoral morality. Now what is immoral morality? The banking institutions, the financial industry are reputable industries, administered and regulated by man of principles and high morals. Today, their moral standard go as far as this statement, and no further. We have experienced and been hurt by the toxic products, frauds, misrepresentation, flawed systems, exploitation of technology against small investors, regulations and systems favouring the big funds without the small investors having any clue to it and thinking that the odds are fair. The casinos are fairer. At least the gamblers know the odds and know that they got to be careful with the casino operators. In the case of the finance industry, the trust is a given, but misplaced. Oh there are exceptions to the rule. Some are highly principled and moral, integrity beyond dispute. Now, did I give a good explanation of immoral morality? All their accomplices are meant to be people of high morals and will uphold fair play and walk around with a hat saying moral responsibilty is their name.

Would Singapore become another Mexico?

Brookes Business School was ordered to close by the MOE for issuing fake degrees. Now its subsidiary, Stamford Global Learning is also ordered to close. The former had 400 students while Stamford Global has 40. How would this affect Singapore's reputation as a world class education centre? Would Singapore be avoided like Mexico from the H1N1 flu, in this case, fake degree flu? To quote an affected China student, 'If people in China hear about this, fewer of them will come to Singapore.' This is not the first time such things happened. Is it so difficult to avoid such a mess? Just a few phone calls to the universities concerned will do the trick. Maybe it is too troublesome, too big a job. Maybe it is nobody's responsibility. Oh, free market, self regulations, caveat emptor. Now I am wondering how serious is this fake degree flu and how far it is going to spread. Totally irresponsible.

Potong Pasir and Hougang getting upgrading

The sun rising from the West? The two opposition wards are not only going to get the upgradings, they are queue jumping, as their turns are not due yet. Unbelieveable, how can opposition wards cut queues and get rewarded ahead of govt controlled wards? This must surely be signs of maturity, magnanimity and generosity. This is what an all inclusive society is all about. No one will be left behind.

AG office unhappy with govt depts

Lax procedures and inefficiency have resulted in money not collected or contracts awarded not at lowest cost or for convenience. This is intriguing given the quality and number of supertalents hired and paid so well. It is basic to buy services or products at the lowest cost unless the provider or product is substandard. The AG Report highlighted that the MOE could save between $1m to $15m if the cleaning services were awarded to contractors who quoted lower than market rate. Fair comment. But why are the words HDB, market pricing and water conservation tax keep popping up in my mind? The govt should be run as efficiently and profitably as possible. The business principles of buying cheap, below market prices, and selling high, at market prices or better, must be adopted by all ministries. Run it as a profitable business. Make as much money as the market can pay from the consumers. Who are the consumers?

Victims of Savages

Throughout history, the worst savages of racial discrimination, brutality and ethnic cleansing were the Americans and Europeans. They left their marks from North and South America, Africa and across Asia. Hardly any race was spared. The savage killings of the Red Indians, the slavery of the Africans, apartheid in South Africa were historical facts that western journalists and academics chose to shut up and to conveniently forget. In turn, they painted the Americans and Europeans as the beacons of human right champions, the hope to extinguish racial discrimination and the saviour of the world. And a straw man was used to replace the American/Europeans as the number one racist hoard, China and the Chinese. And all the silly Africans and Asians, including Southeast Asians, swallow this line of thinking conveniently. In reality, the Chinese were also the victims of savagery when the West invaded and controlled China, turned it into a semi colony. Then the minority Chinese in Southeast Asia themselves were victims of savages in their adopted countries. The Indonesians were the worst culprits followed by the Malays in Malaysia. Ethnic cleansing were quite a frequent affair, cultural and social oppression were written into laws and govt policies. The only place where the Chinese were not persecuted is Singapore. The only place that the minorities were not persecuted is Singapore. The only country where the minorities were treated fairly and enjoy as equal a right as the majority is Singapore. The Malay minority here is still angry with appointments in the military. But to be fair to the govt, the condition then was such that it was a matter of national security and survival. It was not racial to begin with. They may want to understand the situation then and ask themselves whether the govt could have done otherwise to keep the country peaceful and stable when our neighbours were out to do us in with possible military intervention.

Malaysia backtracking on teaching in English

Muhyiddin announced that Malaysia is scrapping the teaching of Science and Maths in English and the reason given is that it will undermine the students ability to learn Bahasa Melayu. The teaching of these subjects in English is also tough on the students as their grasp of the language is poor. I think the real reason is that there are not many competent teachers who are able to teach in English. The 40 years of abandoning the teaching of English has taken its toll. Many of the teachers educated under the new policy would not have much knowledge of English and will be incompetent to use the language as a medium of instruction. If the teachers are struggling, how could the students learn anything? Education policies or many national policies cannot be scrapped simply at someone's fancy as the consequences and impact are long term and long lasting. To unwind and start again is going to be very painful. The easy way is not to do it and continue with their current policy of using Malay as the medium of instruction. It is not easy to transform a nation of Malay speakers into an English speaking community overnight.

Crowds in property launches

Crowds are thronging new property launches and grabbing up properties like hot cakes. And property developers are cashing in on the affluence of Singaporeans and launching more projects for sale. The Singaporeans are really rich, buying properties costing at least a million like buying durians off the streets. Where is the recession? Where are the poor? It is all a myth. All the talks about poor Singaporeans living from hands to mouth or waiting for handouts are mere exaggerations. Singaporeans are rich like hell.

Myth 207 - Monkeys scattered when the big tree falls

Many have quoted this phrase as a truism, that all the monkeys in a big tree will scamper and scatter once the tree has fallen. No more branches to hang on to. Better to look for another big tree. Better still, be their own big tree. In such a scenario there will be many big trees contending for more monkeys to hang on to their branches. Will this be the case all the time? I think it will be, without exceptions. Big tree falls, means big tree no more. A replacement tree growing beneath may become another big tree, but will take some time to grow in stature. Another possibility is instant Angsana tree being used to replace the old tree. But instant trees have short roots and may not stand the gust of strong winds or a heavy downpour. And Angsanas are never know to be strong, like the old oak tree or the tembusu. Would this saying be as true as it was or would it just be a myth?

Free water in restaurants?

There are people demanding free drinking water from posh restaurants. How audacious! If they want to drink free water, go to the tap. Just as one of the posh restaurant owners said, they served great culinary fare. Why would people go to their restaurants to drink tap water? Ridiculous. These must be the cheapskates or people who cannot afford high class restaurants. They should confine themselves to eating at hawker centres. Incidentally, water is not free. Our water comes with a 30% water conservation tax. And that is huge in any terms. This outrageous tax has been in practice and the dumb people have been paying for, I think, more than 10 years or 20 years without complaining. Recently some little noises have been heard calling for the abolition of this highhanded tax to be removed. After so many years, the people must have learned to handle our precious water with care and not to waste them. The message must have gone through. Apparently not. It is here to stay no matter how nonsensical is the reasoning. Hit the people in the pocket where it hurts. But this policy is good and efficient. It may be obnoxious and totally arrogant to slam the people with this kind of reasoning and policy, but it is damn effective. Other then curbing some abuses of water, the revenue is handsome and can be used to pay people more handsomely. No matter how much I dislike this policy, its virtue is irresistible. I would like to suggest that the same reasoning and policy be introduced to curb wastage of petrol. Hit the drivers with another 30% petrol conservation tax. This can be extended to food wasting. Too much food are wasted by our unrestrained habit of eating and eating all day long. 30% rice and food conservation tax will ensure that the people save on food consumption and eat lesser. The benefits are tremendous. No need for wasting time in school children with obese problems. No need extra training for obese NSmen. No need to waste foreign exchange to import more food. And the additional revenue can be used to reward those who implement such policies. Anyone still want free water? Or is there free water?

Singapore Night Festival

More pictures in the Singapore Night Festival blog in link provide or http://singnitefest.blogspot.com

Don't be cock, learn from the Americans

We are America's most ardent fans in everything the Americans do. We will eat shit if the Americans say it is good. We have copied and aped practically everything they do in high finance, managing the stock exchange and playing with derivatives under a policy of free wheeling and dealing with minimum supervision. Now the Americans have created this huge mess for the world. But the Americans knew that they have done wrong. They are thinking deeply on where they have gone wrong and are trying to rewind from their mistakes. They are not foolish or stubborn people who refused to admit their mistakes and will continue to do the silly things. Today I read in the paper that Geithner is seeking more curbs on derivative dealers. The days of free wheeling and dealing with minimum supervision and control are over. "'We propose to require all derivatives dealers...to be subject to substantial supervision and regulation, including conservative capital requirements, and strong business conduct standards,' Mr Geithner said, essentially acknowledging there were few limits in the past." In addition, these traders are required to keep records and reporting requirements. The objective is to prevent market manipulation, fraud and other abuses by providing full information to regulators about activity in the OTC derivatives markets. I think this is not enough, especially in a small market like SGX. Market manipulation through huge buying or short selling and programme trading, among other things, were the tools that big funds and house traders employed to exploit the weaknesses of small traders. Small investors have been incurring huge losses over the years without a clue to these unfair advantages and manipulation of big funds. It is time to continue to follow the Americans and rectify the flaws in the financial system instead of adopting the belief that no complaints means that everything is doing well. Stop the bleeding in the stock market where small investors have their pockets emptied by the big players. The new measures to be introduced by Geithner will dampen the high volatility of the stock market. But it is a necessary evil to contain the destructive manipulations and excesses of the big funds. The volatile trading activities must be curbed and some sanity return to the market. The stock market must operate and on its original premises and assumptions and sound principles, not the rules of a casino.

The unsustainable ascent of property prices

Our property prices have skyrocketed over the years and the stratospheric prices of HongKong and Tokyo are within our reach. We will outshine them in a matter of time. Then why is it unsustainable when the prospect of prices going higher is so brilliant? Let me talk about the forces that will push the prices higher and higher. Our limited land is a fact that cannot be changed. Even with reclamation, we can just do that much more. The other reason is that with prices at such a high level, with many people ploughing their life savings into properties, many with high mortgages, allowing prices to fall is going to be catastrophic. So by hook or by crook, property prices must be maintained, if not higher, but not allowed to falter and slip. The solution is simple. Manage supply and demand. Supply is easy to contained. Don't build untill there is a demand. Don't sell land unless the price is high enough for a good return. The demand side, invite more rich foreigners to buy up our properties with attractive incentives, first world infrastructure, transparency, stability, and a value that can only go up. The rich foreigners can go for the high end. The not so rich can buy up HDB properties when they become citizens or PRs. As long as the demand for properties is there, have no fear that the prices will fall. But what about demand from the locals? There will be the upgraders who need a little more to move up. But will there be demand from the new entries, the new generation coming into the market? Can their income feed the high mortgages they will be paying, a stagnating income against an ever rising property market? The divide is going to widen. Many of the locals whose income is not going up will have to downgrade or go for smaller HDB flats. On the other end, the upper and high end market, demand will keep on soaring. And it is, or will be a good thing. They will help to prop up both the private and public housing markets. In the future, Singaporeans will have to beg the foreigners, and more foreigners, to come in to buy up their properties, to keep the property prices high. Without the foreigners and their cash, our property market will crash. Yes, the foreigners will be here to help the locals by buying up their properties so that they can downgrade and live on the profits. Hopefully the profits ill last their life time before they ran out. How many times can one downgrade? Without the foreigners, our high property price is unsustainable.

Authoritarian state and practices

George Bush started by prying into the private lives of people using the excuse of security after the 911 bombing. Now prying into people's privacy is no longer the exclusive practice of authoritarian states. Britain just uncovered journalists tapping into individuals phone lines to listen to their private affairs and to obtain private and confidential information from them. How far can a state violate the privacy of the individual in a non authoritarian state? Nothing to talk about in authoritarian system as that is a way of life. What about private organisations taking the same excuse and pry into the privacy of their employees? There are many ways that this can be done. The CCTV is everywhere and can be turned into a monster in the hands of unprincipled and uncrupulous scums. On the excuse of monitoring the security of the building, they could sit down, have a cup of coffee, and review everything inside the lift, or people accessing the building, watching them in close details in the privacy of their offices. They will watch whether he/she will be adjusting their private parts inside the lifts, pasting whatever they dug out from their noses onto the lift walls or any peculiar traits. Then the tapping of phone lines can also be easily abused. There is no privacy when your phone lines are tapped and people can enjoy listening to your flirtation with whoever is on the other sides. And if the other party happens to be an unsuspecting high govt official, he would not be too happy if one day someone is going to reveal what he/she said over the phone. It is so precarious, so scary, when monsters are lurking around, wearing ties and suits like perfect gentlemen. But they think they have all the right to pry into your lives, listen to your private conversations as their god given rights. And they have no moral conscience to even realise that it is wrong, unethical to do such a thing. It is an abuse of the system and a breach of trust. The authoritarian practices are found abundantly in the democratic world as well, where little unscrupulous warlords run their little henhouses.

HDB, what are you doing?

I totally disagree with the new HDB policies on housing as formulated by Mah Bow Tan. HDB as a public housing scheme, is to provide a roof to all citizens of the country. If it wants to provide housing to PRs, that is a separate issue but should not compromise the needs of the citizens. And the policy of not providing for everyone who needs a flat is not what a govt should do to its citizens. With the clever scheme of BTO, there is this additional need to plan and apply 3 years ahead for a flat which I feel is unfriendly to the citizens who need a flat urgently for one reason or another. Not everyone has the luxury of planning 3 years ahead. A little over supply is not a waste when the interests of the citizens is concerned. HDB is not any commercial property developer. It should aim to provide a roof for all citizens when they need it at as low a price as possible without making a loss. Public housing is for that roof over the head, not for speculation. Govt policies should not encourage people to speculate on the sole property they own. Speculation can lead to big profits and also big losses. Let the rich speculate all they want in the private property market. Don't mix the sheep with the wolves.