$126m will be spent on screen walls at MRT stations

Finally the MRT has succumbed to public pressure to do what people want it to do, erecting screen walls to show that it cares and it does not want people to jump onto the train tracks or falling onto the tracks accidentally. It sure looks good on the MRT, and the screens also look nice. At $126m, they better look nice. So we can look forward to lesser death. Now people will be smarter and find other venues to jump. HDB might have to wall up all the high rise flats when people go back to jump. Or we may even have screen walls along the roads. Then we can sleep in peace, that we have spent the money and done all we could to keep MRT, HDB and our roads safe from people who want to jump or who accidentally got knock down and die. Our conscience is now clear. We care to the amount of $126m and more akan datang. Who is going to pay for it? Money well spent?

Our simple formula to economic growth

Increase the population. Without population growth, we will decline. My question is, is this the only way to growth? This is simply quantitative growth. There are many great nations that keep growing qualitatively, with no demanding needs to increase their populations. There is a need to keep our population growing, at a control pace, but not at a pace, and with a growth formula that says no population growth means stagnation and decline. If this is the truth, then our population will not be capped at 8m, it needs to keep growing to sustain growth, 10m, 20m, 50m.... This will denounce countries that are able to grow in leaps and bounds without significant population injection. Why can they do it and we can't? I thought we simply pay our super talents more and they will come out with quality solutions to grow our economy. Can't we just pay our way through? Or is paying and paying a myth, that they can't do anything except to rely on population to grow? Looking ahead, I can only see ourselves starve to death for lack of air, breathing space or moving space when our population hits 8m. And going forward, we will be killing each other for a little space to wriggle around. It is a sure path to our own destruction if population growth is the only way forward.

Does Dark Pool violate the fundamental principles of transparency

Does Dark Pool violate the fundamental principles of transparency in stock trading? We used to read about the Stock Exchange querying companies on unusual movements of their stock prices and trading volumes and demanding to know why. Would these be a thing of the past when secrecy and non transparency are being advocated? Would the stock prices reflected in the stock exchange a real indication of demand and supply when real buying and selling are not done in the exchange? Would genuine small investors be trading on prices that are not a true reflection of real buying and selling interests? Are information being held against them while some organisations are privy to information that posed an unfair advantage similar to insider trading? Would transparency be a thing of the past? Level playing field?

The Dark Side beckons

That's the heading in the Today paper on the new trading system called the 'Dark Pool' to be introduced by the SGX. The system is to provide secrecy in trading so that big trades can be done without anyone knowing till they are done. Did we say transparency is good? Welcome to the darkside. It is better to do things in the dark than to be transparent. How many more things are done in the dark, or done without the knowledge of other players, giving those doing it an advantage over those kept in the dark? PS: More articles posted in Singapore Alternative News from Europe and America on the perils of Dark Pool. Related: SEC spotlight puts "dark pool" venues on defensive - Reuters 'Dark Pools' Threaten Wall Street - The New York Sun Europe to review ‘dark pool’ trading - Financial Times The rise of dark pools - attack of the clones - The Economist How Dark Pools Help Traders Cheat Transparency - Andymatic.com Singapore Exchange, Chi-X to form dark pool trade plat - Reuters Posted by singaporenewsalternative at 7:50 PM

The NDP was a security nightmare

I was there and experienced the crowd, 30 to 40 people deep, some areas more, all along the Esplanade from the floating platform to Collyer Quay, including the whole stretch of Benjamin Sheares Bridge. And the area in front of Asian Civilisation was also packed with families and merrymakers out for a good time, or just to soak in the atmosphere. It was a great feeling to see so many happy people enjoying themselves in comfort and with peace of mind. On the other hand, it was frightening should a bomb or two exploded in their midst. The carnage would be huge and ugly. Pray that it would never happen in such an event or anywhere here in paradise. The security people must have done a great job, and at the same time keeping their fingers crossed that thing would turn out alright, that everyone, adult and child, could go home contented, after an evening outings. But no matter how good the security people are, there are going to be some misfits, misled, misinformed and stupid people among and around us that will do the unspeakable and cause injury, pain and anguish to the innocents. How could we, as a people, stay together as one harmonious family, and prevent those who would want to do harm our friends and families to give up their evil and wicked designs? Only the people acting as one can avoid such a painful happening, only when the people are prepared to stand up and tell on those who want to do us harm, to turn them in instead of harbouring them. Without the cooperation and involvement of the people, the ordinary citizens, the evil ones will have found friends to hide and conceal them, to swim among them and waiting to strike at the next opportunity. We cannot afford to alienate our people and push them to the other side. We need to really be an inclusive country and count on every citizen as a member of a bigger family, to live and play and enjoy a peaceful lifestyle, free from dangers and harm. 300 to 400 thousand people were out there enjoying themselves and without a care about their own safety. We have taken these for granted. It is progress in a way. A kind of achievements. But we cannot depend on being lucky all the time.

No need for corporate governance

With so many abuses and frauds being exposed in our industries, I must say that it is a daunting task for the administrators to regulate and ensure that the consumers are not cheated, that there is fair play and ethical business practices. The job is so difficult and we should pity them for not being able to prevent all the funny things that are happening. What we should go for is a free market system, when anything goes. No need for governance. Every consumer be made aware, let caveat emptor be our governing principle in doing businesses. In a free market system, everyone will get wiser and learn to protect themselves and there no need to have huge organisations with thousands of people employed trying to administer and regulate when it is near impossible to do so. Make our economy really free, free from any encumbrance, free from regulations and interference. Let the law of jungle rules. Would that be nice, be more efficient? And no one needs to be blamed, no one needs to find excuses when things go wrong, no need to justify for any breaches or failures. Yes, caveat emptor is the way to go. And no need to kpkb.

Child bearing a social responsibility

Yong Kong Peng wrote to My Paper saying that child bearing is both a personal and social responsibility. This is a new twist to what child bearing is all about. People is our national resource and citizens have a social responsibility to produce babies. Put it in another way, child bearing is a national duty! How many of you agree to this? And if it is a national duty, would the nation be responsible to bear part of the cost of upkeeping the child? Interesting ways of looking at things that we take for granted. So for those who produce more children are more responsible and should be rewarded?

New kid on the blog - p65

The p65 blog is evolving and is crashing into the blogging scene with another loud bang after the first bang whimpered away. This time some big guns were lined up to write for the blog, Mrs Shereen Aziz-Williams, Britain based director of the Council of Ethnic Minority voluntary Sector Organisations, unionist Mohamad Nazir Sani, grassroot leader Terence Quek and MPs are all in the line up. If you are born after 1965, have non partisan and neutral views, and constructive criticism of policies, you are welcomed. Partisan views are not allowed, I think. I am still trying to figure out what these mean. And soon they will also have photos and videos, including snapshots of interesting things around the neighbourhood. Welcome to the blogging world, p65.

The kangaroo courts of ASEAN

Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest. The sentence was actually half of what the court passed down, 3 years of hard labour. Her crime, a stupid American, a big fat slop, floated into her house in the night uninvited and stayed there for 2 days. The crime was so serious that that was a big trial and a big sentence. And ASEAN countries rose to their feet and banging their chests against the kangaroo court decision. Somehow I got this funny feeling that they don't sell mirrors in ASEAN. Don't they see kangaroo courts everywhere? Maybe not, some are more equal than others.

The bizarre behaviours of Singaporeans

44 years of economic and material success have spawned some very strange behaviors among Singaporeans. We spent so much to buy a house or flat, furnished it up like a palace, but spent our time outside, most of the time at work. And the maids are the ones enjoying the million dollar or multi million dollar assets. Then we paid so much, the highest in the world, for a car only to park at home. Too expensive to drive, too many ERPs and car park charges to pay. And we are encouraged to park the car at home and take public transport, cheaper and more convenient. And when Singaporeans travelled, instead of seeing the places, they went shopping. The best part is that they would head for the cheapest bargains, buying stuff that they could get in Chinatown or pasar malam, at even cheaper prices. And they are happy that they got a bargain. And while the heartlanders are busy trying to make a life here, being told to bust off if they are not happy, which they could not, the rich and presumably very happy and contented citizens are buying up properties overseas just in case they need to make that escape from paradise. While many Singaporeans are thinking of jumping ship, or preparing to jump ship, hoards of new immigrants are rushing in to take their place in this paradise. And to top it all up, they keep complaining about the govt and all the policies that they found unpalatable, come every election, they will vote and return the govt to power. Strange Singaporean behaviours.

When would anti social policies be removed or moderated?

One of the most anti family and anti social policies is car parking in residential estates. You visit your parents or your children, you pay, except Sundays and public holidays. You visit your friends and relatives, you pay. The more friendly you are, and the longer you stay, the more you pay. The more filial and caring you are to your parents, visiting them more often and staying longer, you pay more. There is an issue of lack of parking space, and residents deserve a place to park. Too many visitors will deprive them of a parking space. Sure there is a conflicting demand of space and social interactions. I pose this as a challenge for the administrators to come up with a more conducive policy to please both the residents and the visitors. Or is this the best that can be? Even in private estates, the roads are narrow, and the white lines are there. Not many of the private properties can accommodate more than 2 cars in their car parks. Any parties or social gathering is going to be very demanding on the residents and the visitors. We have plenty of space to take in 8 million people. Really? At what cost and social life?

Security at the NDP

Read my face

Families and children at NDP

Crowds at the Esplanade

All the foreign workers are there.

Colours of NDP

Pics of 21 gun salute

Ready, fire and smoke!

My take on Hsien Loong's ND message

Singaporeans from all walks of life shall unite and work together with the govt for a better future in challenging times. This is another version of an all inclusive society, where every man/woman counts, as family, the Singapore family. What can the netizens do to be part of this family, to be embraced as friends and not as foes? If the netizens are going to continue to criticise the policies of the govt, it is unlikely that they will be welcome for tea parties or as friends. Who needs criticisms when everything is being run so well, when the govt is working so hard for the people, who needs people to throw cold water or cast doubts into the works. What would the govt expect then of the netizens? Obvious, please sing more songs of praises, and stop criticising and post cynical remarks. Then we will be family. This, I think, will run counter to the call to Singaporeans not to be complacent, that they can go on holiday, or their grey matters can go on holiday, and not to worry. Everything is well taken care off. No need to be vigilant, trust the govt, have faith in the govt that nothing will go wrong? Is this what being a family, be united as one people is all about? If that be the case, the netizens will forever be enemy of the govt. For this is one role that netizens should do as the govt is inevitably surrounded by good people with good intention and good things to say. Anything that is unpleasant will not be spoken or will say it in a way that will not prompt any serious reactions. A system without complaints is like removing the pain sensory mechanism in our body system. Without the ability to detect pain, we will get into serious injury without even knowing. The criticisms of netizens is a feedback to the govt, a very strong feedback that is good for the govt to take note. A wise govt will not dismiss criticisms as simply bad, simply anti govt and the bearer of such criticisms or bad news as anti establishment, not with the govt, not for the govt and people. Will our govt be enlightened enough to accept and embrace the positive side of netizens or criticisms? Very difficult I think. Look at the national day honours, or invitation lists to govt functions, how many opposition politicians are honoured? The netizens or people with opposing views are also with the govt to want a better Singapore. It is for the govt to work with them, together, as a people, for the betterment of the country.

When verbal acrobatics rule the day

When monk tries to justify a high living lifestyle of a millionaire as acceptable in present day, when words were twisted or given new meanings to justify the unjustifiable to the point of being deceitful, it won't last very long when the truth will come crashing down on the philanderers. The people were told to live within their means, buy things only if they can afford while on the other hand people wanting to raise their million dollar salary because a Lamborghini is now priced beyond their reach. What kind of logic are we led to believe in? Put it in simple layman lingo, if you have $1, find what $1 can buy and be happy with it, you losers. But for me, when my toy is now $2m instead of $1m, I want my salary raise to get my toy. Get it? That is my logic. This is the meaning of affordability to me. I make my income affordable, to buy anything I want. For the losers, your income is fixed and you get what it can get for you. The meaning of affordable is being stretched, logically of course, to mean different things to different people. It is like shifting the goal post every year, today here tomorrow there. Let's see how this twisted definition of affordable means over time. Once, a 3 room flat can be paid up with a mortgage of 10 years by a single income worker. That was affordable. Then it needs a 20 year mortgage. A new kind of affordable definition. Without realising it, the meaning of affordable becomes a 20 year mortgage to be paid by 2 incomes. And it went on to a 30 year mortgage with 2 incomes. Still affordable, sure, correct sir. Soon affordability will be defined by 2 incomes from two generations or 4 incomes, including the parent's incomes to buy a 3 room flat. It will still affordable. What else is new?

Nasdaq and BATs to stop flashing orders

'New York: The Nasdaq stock market and BATs Exchange will "voluntarily" stop offering flash orders, a controversial service that gives certain firms an advance look at market bound trading orders....' This is the first para of a REUTERS/Bloomberg report in the ST today. How could any responsible exchange allow this to be put in practice in the first place? To let it go and then to put a stop to it after being investigated is unacceptable. How many of such unfair practices have been allowed into the system? The US watchdog is still reviewing all the 'illegal' and unfair practices and will be putting a stop to them. Top on the list is 'high frequency trading' which gives the big boys an unfair advantage over the small investors. Are such practices criminal? Shouldn't someone be held accountable for allowing them to be in practice? Do we have such unfair practices in our stock exchange, and if there are, are we going to keep quiet about it because we don't have a powerful watchdog like the Americans to bring justice and fair play to the small boys and continue to let the sheep stumble blindly to the slaughter house? I hope, really hope, that we are clean and no unfair practices were allowed into our system. I can only hope, but I have this nagging suspicion....