Your Singapore!

My first impression is distaste. How’s that for a logo to be viewed across the world, the message from Singapore? I don’t know how much they paid for this gimmick? When I started this blog, I had this little task of giving it a name. MySingaporeNews, or YourSingaporeNews were my initial choices. Both were quite meaningful. I wanted YourSingaporeNews for everyone to post their news here. MySingaporeNews also has the same meaning when ‘My’ means everyone who post their news here. I chose it as it is shorter by two alphabets. Your Singapore News has since been adopted by CNA and inviting forumers to contribute their news to the station. I have no quarrel with My Singapore or Your Singapore, as it is about Singapore and Singaporeans writing about Singapore. I feel rather offended by telling the world that Singapore is theirs, Your Singapore. Haven’t we have enough of foreigners here thinking that they also own Singapore? Haven’t we been selling every inch of our precious land to foreigners who came here to snub at the poor Singaporeans? And now we officially tell the foreigners that Singapore is their Singapore for the taking. Is it ours or no longer ours? Does Singapore belong to Singaporeans, for us to call Our Singapore, or to tell the foreigners, Your Singapore. All you need is money and you can buy it. Of course the promoters and advocates of this catchphrase meant different things. They are telling the foreigners that they can design their trips the way they want it, to see what they want to see. And definitely not to think that they can have Singapore as theirs, if they have the money. Your Singapore sure does not sound good to the already unhappy Singaporeans seeing their private space being invaded and taken away by foreigners. And for those who are chasing their little homes and cannot afford it, they will be more pissed off to hear this message. It is Our Singapore, not Theirs. Your Singapore can be demeaning to start from this angle. It is like an attempt to sell out. Telling Singaporeans that this is Your Singapore is different from telling foreigners this is Your Singapore. Just try telling the foreigners here that your home is their home.

Oh, what a beautiful name!

I have never heard of this expression for a long long time. The new reaction when a name is introduced is a kind of a blur. Uhh, what’s dat? Bikina. Oh, uhh, could you spell it out. Oh, cute. Never heard of that. Lee Wei Ling and Colin Goh both wrote about the trend in naming. And the raison de tre ranges from a colonial hangover, trendiness and being unique or cute, or for showbiz. It used to be trendy to be John or Michael, or Kevin or Edwin or Edwina. But they have become so common that everyone is a John Michael or Michael John that it is no longer fun anymore. The colonial hangover is fading away as the new generation grow up blind to that hideous and humiliating past. Yes, there was a time when being a little more angmoh meant one is of a different and better social class. It was much better to hear an angmoh shouting over his beer mug with a hi John than a hi, Ah Kow! Many illiterate parents were guilty of this demeaning act of naming their precious children as Ah Kow or Ah Ngeow or Ah Gu officially. Today we have another kind of apparition. I would not call it inanity. This affects the Chinese most with the presence of different dialects and words sounding quite different though written the same. Choo Keong, Chee Kong, Zhi Qiang, though similarly written to mean to be able to stand on one’s own or independently, could mean different things when spoken in different dialects. Chee is often made fun of in a negative sense in various combinations. Then you can have Sai Chwee or Sai Tang, or Kah Chui etc etc. The individuals are often caught in a not very amusing situation. The convenient way is to give one another name for a social setting. Some would change their names officially. Many names were given today for more innocuous intent. Some may have a chip on their shoulder to want names to mean certain things, from aspiration to aloofness. Whatever the case names will evolve just like our taste for things and trends. I briefly look at the names of a few cute babies in the Sunday Times this morning and they were called Afeef Shahid, Theeksha Shivani Suhanthan, Athrin Gan, Tan Yu Qi Jaslyn and the more mundane Gerrard Lim Wen Han. The latter is a combo of Hokien and Mandarin. I think Tan Yu Qi is also of the same mix but I am not too certain as Tan can be totally different in Mandarin. We will have varieties in names as we are Uniquely Singapore. What goes to a name has a good reason or many reasons, right reason or wrong reason, or simply just a name.

Motor Insurance Taskforce Recommendations

After one year of in depth study, the Motor Insurance Taskforce has come out with a series of recommendations to arrest the runaway cost of motor insurance. I am not sure whether it will make any difference, but definitely not going to affect those who have to pay for this protection money this year. Anyway I couldn't wait, and luckily did not bother to wait, and have found my own solution. Hmmm, saving about 50% shouldn't be bad. Now I need not bother with all the shit that is going around.

Quality education doesn't come cheap

The quality of university education in Singapore has just gone up by 4% to 10%. The three state universities have just increased their fees by that amount for the Singaporean students in the next intake. If the quality goes up annually by 10% or bi annually, soon the quality will increase by 100%. I think a monkey could even become a Einstein at that rate of improvement. Singaporean students got one more thing to celebrate other than better quality education. They can feel comforted that their fees are subsidised to a tune of 50% or more compare to foreign students. I am not sure how to put it, a discount or a subsidy against market rate? One thing for sure, they are affordable. For you would not expect anyone demonstrating at the increase but grateful parents and students for the quality education that they are getting.

Temasek into technology companies

Below article is copied from Business.scotsman.com by Terry Murden Dotcoms set to bounce back out of the bubble ON THE tenth anniversary of the dotcom bubble bursting comes news from the East of a new appetite for technology. Temasek, the Singapore state investor, has a massive war chest ready to be plundered for a buying spree. Temasek is among a number of institutional investors now ready to splash the cash after turning bullish on a sector that has seen a lot of blood on the walls in recent years but is now undergoing a revaluation. Shares in some technology firms, including Intel, are now hitting record highs, and Temasek has not been slow in buying shares in blue chip companies such as Yahoo and Research in Motion, the company behind the Blackberry mobile device. It is now said to be looking to buy private firms which a view to listing them.... Other investors share Temasek's views. Henderson Global Investors and Franklin Templeton have turned positive on the sector with Henderson particularly bullish on e-commerce firms such as Amazon.com, and online advertising through Google and Baidu. It also likes online entertainment. It is a cross-section of contemporary technology businesses which differ from the old model by having sound fundamentals and real growth prospects. ------- I was worried when I first read the article. Then when I came to the para that said other investors share Temasek's views, including Global Investors and Franklin Templeton, I am now terribly frighten.

Another mad fortune teller

This mad fortune teller knew for sure that Kim Jong Il will not live past 2013. Actually he is better than a fortune teller, a doctor and god combined. It is reported in the ST, in an article by Associated Press and REUTER, that he has medical reports to prove his clairvoyance. And the mad fortune teller came by the name of Kurt Campbell. And he has a title called Assistant US Secretary of State. Actually the mad fortune tellers have been predicting Kim's death so frequently that it is next in numbers to those who predicted the end of the world since the time of Jesus.

The arrogance of power

The American senators wanted to punish China for not revaluing its Yuan. What rubbish! They wanted the Yuan to float so that they can manipulate it to their advantage. And they have roped in the World Bank and the IMF to sing their song. How atrocious can they be? The world's greatest manipulator of currency complaining about China who refused to let its currency to be manipulated as the manipulator. At least the UN, through UNCTAD, could see through the flawed and mischievious American argument and is calling on China not to float its Yuan. The peg on the Yuan has ensured stability in the financial world to facilitate growth by the developing countries. Floating the Yuan will allow the Americans to continue in their mischievious role in money speculation, price confusion and trade distortion which led to the global economic crisis. And there was this article in mypaper by another mad man called James Rickards. He claimed that 'it is the greatest bubble in history with the most massive misallocation of wealth.' And he was pointing his finger at China and Russia. Didn't he realised that the biggest bubble in history has just burst, in America? The greatest bubble had popped and he failed to see it and is blaming everyone for it. The greatest and massive misallocation of wealth is in America, where money were made in the billions, or robbed, by the most unproductive people in the finance industry. They did not produce any goods except pieces of papers which they sold to the world as worthless collaterals. The world shall stand by and watch the greatest failure of the 21st Century. Will it be America or China? And if the guru of liberal economics goes down the drain, the ardent followers and unthinking students will go down together.

Motor Insurance - The robbing must stop

The headline in ST, Insurance relief for motorists! What relief? They have increased the premium over the last few years by at least 40 to 50% and they said any rise this year will be marginal. What a hogwash. Look at the numbers given, record premium collected at $1.08b. Claims were $44.5m last year from $214m the year before. So where is the big losses incurred by the industry? What we are seeing are big profits. Who is responsible to stop the robbing of motorists by the insurers? Motor insurance is compulsory and motorists cannot say no but just pay grudgingly. Isn't there anyone or agency or ministry responsible to look after the interests of the motorists? Oh, a report is coming out today from the Motor Insurance Taskforce. And everyone knows that there is a big scam in motor insurance claims. And the buck was simply passed to the innocent motorists to pay. How convenient! How could this happen here? Let's see how much more will motor insurance premium be raised.

The unfathomable depth of intelligence

The whole world is so foolish. Why are they so afraid of inflation? Why are they so afraid of high property prices and property bubble? And the Americans too are getting silly, trying to curb speculations in derivatives and hedge funds activities and more stringent regulations on their brilliant bankers. And what is so wrong with huge income gap between the rich and poor? The bigger the gap, the better. They should come down to paradise and take a lesson or two on how good inflation is, how good high property prices is, how good deregulations and hedge fund activities and derivative tradings are. And they would surely be impressed by our world class number one income gap between the rich and poor. We are the best, with the unfathomable depth of intelligent beans, everything is just fine. Oops, my mistake, I mean demigods and immortals.

What arrogance of strength?

China had many embarrassing and humiliating experiences with arrogance of strength in the past. The British sold the Chinese opium only to be confiscated and burnt by the Chinese. They declared war on that ground, raided China, demanded indemnity for war raparation and the opium, including seizure of Hongkong. That was arrogance of the British Empire. The Americans followed by demanding that 5 ports be opened as free ports. Another arrogance of strength. Then the rest of the wolf pack consisting mainly Europeans powers, plus Russia and Japan followed to designate Chinese territories as their territories. That was arrogance of strength. Today, the American signed a defence treaty with a renegade defeated political party in Taiwan and insisted that they have now a legal right to arm and defend Taiwan. This is arrogance of strength in modern day. And the Americans and British cooked up the threats of WMD to invade Iraq and murdered its President, turned the country into a war zone, and getting away free without anyone daring to whisper a word about war crimes. And better still, dragging all its weak allies to help in the killings of the Iraqis. This is arrogance of strength. Is China exhibiting an arrogance of weakness? In the first place it was not even arrogance but standing up to the number one bully. You call that arrogance? Bloody fool! And China is weak? The whole of Europe can join forces and do a 8 Nations attack on Beijing today, like they did before, and see if China is weak. The US can also try to test how weak China is today. Between the two, I must admit that China is very much weaker. But it is not that weak for the US to attempt to be adventurous.

The fictitious American War against China

The Americans are accusing China of everything under the sky. The latest is currency manipulation. Who owns the major hedge funds manipulating currencies around the world? Or perhaps the Americans are angry because they could not manipulate the Yuan as it is pegged at a fixed rate against the dollar? Unpegging it and letting it free will be fertile ground for the American hedge funds to do untold damages to the Yuan and Chinese economy. I think this is likely to be the real reason. Oh, the Chinese are causing job losses in America, and unemployment problems. Why? Did the Chinese put a gun at the American companies to shift their production lines to China? And when these companies moved to China, they are making profits for who, for the Chinese or Americans? And China is the world's number one polluters of the environment. Their factories are pumping up all the gases into the sky. By the way, who owns these factories or the products and manufacturing processes? Isn't it true that the Americans didn't want them to pollute their own environment and the convenient place is to park them in China to do the polluting? In turn the Chinese are sweating it out in the factories to make the products for pittance and only to sell them cheaply to the American families. How atrocious can the Chinese be? Working so very hard to earn a bowl of rice on the table to enable the Americans to pay cheaply for their hard work. It is sinful! And the Chinese are hoarding trillions of Treasury Bills. Did they robbed them from the Americans? Whose faults, the Chinese of course. Put up more tariffs and taxes, maybe sanctions against the China. Or go to war with China.

The western hang ups

Why is it so difficult for Asians to have independent thoughts, to see the world from the Asian perspective instead of parroting the agenda of the West? We have CNA, probably the only credible media that speaks Asian other than Al Jazeera and China Daily. I read an article in the ST titled 'China arrogant? Maybe, but that's not the point'. I thought I was reading an article written by some western journalists. The views and contents were similar, everywhere in the western media, whacking China for standing up to the bullying of the US and calling China arrogant is the politically correct thing to do. Is China arrogant or just standing up to the bully? From the Asian perspective, I would say, show the Americans the middle finger. The US have been accusing and threatening and bullying every country other than its major allies. It is time a new power tells the US to shut up. It has nothing to do with being arrogant but refusing to be pushed around. What's wrong with that? I couldn't imagine that the writer is an Asian, by the name of William Choong. And he went on to explain that China was reacting from a sense of insecurity. A weak power fumbling around trying to make a defensive stand from a position of weakness. And he even talked this cock about 'face' as if the West do not have a face to worry about. The Chinese are sensitive to face. Obama gate crashed a meeting in Copenhagen when he was not invited. It was not about face but about American pride. How could they not give the American President face by not inviting him to a meeting? Then he went on blabbing about China's weak arrogance being troubling and maybe waiting to be kicked by the number one super power. American arrogance like George Bush's triumphant claim during the Iraq War is good. Weak arrogance like China is bad. And China is an irresponsible power not pulling its weight to protect the existing balance of power. Maybe it would be better for China to help the Americans to kill the Arabs and Afghans, then China could be welcomed as a responsible power. Maybe China should also join the US to threaten any country that it does not like, threaten them with sanctions to make the US feel better. Is that what is meant by being responsible? Attack another country, killed its leader, under the pretext of WMD. That must be a very responsible way to act as a big power. Now what is the point? China an arrogant irresponsible power? Let's give this writer a Congressional Medal or an OBE.

Issues that are not forgotten

There were many issues raised before, and nothing happens. I have to renew my motor insurance and to my horror, I have to pay even more after another 10% of NCB. The premium is now nearly $1,300 despite the NCB. Three years ago I paid less than $800. And the reason, more accident claims so premium must go up. What has that got to do with my premium when I have not made a single claim? Where is the statistics to show that there are more accidents and claims? I thought someone is looking into this fleecing of the motorists by a cartel of crooks. After one whole year, nothing heard. Like loan sharks, very difficult to catch. So the innocent public has to pay for it. Maybe no one is complaining so they think everyone has resigned to the fate that they have to pay more insurance premiums. Legitimate daylight robbery! See, if the people don't kpkb, don't raise problems, then it is taken as no problem.

Is the property market hot?

Fiona Chan of ST asked when is a property market consider hot. Of course this is another statement like affordability. I can simply answer by saying that it is only hot when god feels the heat. Today's news is still screaming that despite the high property prices, the rush to buy is still very strong. All the launches were successful and many are fetching more than $1,000 psf. This is good news to the developers and speculators and also those who own numerous properties. They must be quietly congratulating themselves for making the right decisions to buy so many properties and sitting on a mountain of wealth. Now who dares talk down the market or wish that the market will fall? The rich property owners will come smashing with everything they got. It is only right and normal and good for the property prices to go up. And our economic fundamentals also demand that property prices must go up. It is just a natural and good thing for all property owners, including the 80% of HDB owners. So who is complaining or why should people be complaining? Yesterday, for the first time, two senior professionals from the real estate industry were warning about a property bubble forming. Who cares, as long as people are queuing and rushing in to buy. Let it rise, let it rise. It is good. Everyone can feel rich. Down here, people compare the prices of the lodging you live in. In other places, they compare how big is the space available. So a 500 sq ft unit at $2m is better than a 10,000 sq ft unit costing $500k somewhere on earth. The thing is to feel rich, living in a $2m kennel, or home.

The ultimate test of leadership - Thaksin

A few hundred red shirt protestors are on the streets of Bangkok in support of their democratically elected leader who was robbed of his titled as the PM of Thailand. Several years after being ousted, in exile, found guilty in court, half of his fortune confiscated, Thaksin is still the leader of the rural Thais. Can anyone doubt that he is a leader of the people, by the people and for the people of Thailand? And it looks like he is going to ride back to power with the people's power behind him. Ahbisit is now hiding in an army barrack, protected by the military. Would there be a clash between the soldiers and the farmers? Would other farmers and ordinary Thais stand up and take sides, join hands with the farmers? Would the soldiers unite or split and some take sides with Thaksin? Would Thailand be splitted as a result of the surge of popular support for a leader cut down by the Thai elite and soldiers in Bangkok? Like him or be against him, Thaksin is sure a formidable leader of the Thai people, to be able to command their support and loyalty to challenge the establishment in Bangkok against all odds. It is a mark of true leaderhip.

Say a big thank you to Mah Bow Tan

In the programme Talking Point, he gave the impression that he had done a damn good job in housing and probably expected the people to give him a pat on the back, and say thank you. He forgot that the good job was done by his predecessors, and in his case he messed it up. He still thinks that his BTO, his control of supply, and his market pricing policies are the next best thing that could happen to Singapore after PAP. He still cannot see the damages and hardship he had caused to many young people seeking to buy their first home. Even the taxi drivers are complaining as Lim Wee Kiat said. With the income of driving a taxi, they could buy a 5 rm flat. Their graduate children could barely afford a 4 rm flat, on two incomes. Is this a problem? Has this tell something about affordability? I would like to give a pass to this by not posting about the issue. But if everyones does that, the smart alecs will say, see, no one is complaining anymore. The people are happy with our policies.

Why didn’t Singapore think of it?

For years, the only way to get to Sentosa was by ferries or hanging on a piece of wire from Mount Faber. The latter, hmmm, they find it more amusing and interesting, never if it takes longer, to drive up a mountain before being flung into the island by the sheer force of gravity. Getting to Sentosa was never easy, and to move masses in a short span of time will need an ingenious mind to carefully think it over. And they came to the conclusion that causeways, one and latter two, will be the most efficient way to do so. And one is now running and collecting tolls and paying for itself. My thought, why didn’t they think of a more efficient way, like a bridge, and then another bridge? And in this case, there is no need to spend dismantling a causeway, just build the bridges anywhere they want. It was clean and tidy, and no extra cost, no need to change mindset on how to get to the island. And a bridge will make walking across near impossible, thus ensuring that more tolls can be collected. And they didn’t even consider the water on both sides of the causeway that will get stagnant and foul. And the ships cannot sail from one side of the causeway to the other, from Pasir Panjang to Tanjong Pagar. And shipping is a major revenue earner for the island and facilitating trade. Are we making things difficult for ourselves? And the pleasure craft cannot take a short cut from Keppel Marina to the South China Sea. We have done it all wrong! Imagine how beautiful and functional it will be to have bridges to Sentosa instead of causeways. Or is it a case of pride, that copying other people’s great idea would make us look second best?

The roaring business of infidelity

While we have refrained from joining the mob in tearing up the parties in the recent case of infidelity, the case has been receiving more than warm attention. All the tabloids and media have allocated significant space and resources to it. In cyberspace, some blogs have dedicated themselves to it with gusto, constant updates and youtube clips. It is a roaring business and everyone is happy enjoying every little bits of the news. It it showbiz all the way. With such news all over the pages, what else is news or interesting news for the masses? I wonder what will happen to the General Election should a piece of such infidelity appears concerning some big time celebrities. Maybe they will have to call off the election. For good business and a decent bottom line, the one and only major newspaper would do well to produce a tabloid of its own to cover such matters of the hearts. Sure to sell very well. We have enough celebrities to produce materials on a daily basis, and a hungry mob of imitation paparazi that have nothing better to write about and want a little attention of their own. The advent of the casinos and liberation of lifestyle, many juicy things are there waiting to be reported. Then we have the new age felines that believe, with some truth, that kiss and tell will pay. And telling such stories is like wearing a badge of recognition and instant fame. They did not invent the word infamous or infamy for nothing. Fame and success are attainable in many ways and there is no right or wrong ways. Our society is maturing, getting more like Hollywood, more glittering. Someday any attention seeker would be inventing hit/her own juicy stories to tell and to appear on the front pages of the media for that bit of fame.

High quality debate in Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Abdullah Tarmugi, thanked the MPs and Ministers for their high quality contributions and debate in the House. He said it was the best session he had seen in his 26 years in Parliament. Chua Mui Hoong in her article in the ST this morning lamented that if the MPs and Ministers would just speak instead of reading from scripted pieces of papers, Parliament seatings will be that much more livelier and interesting. Our Parliament has been turned into an exercise of reading essays. The questions were written and submitted in advance for the Ministers to reply. They will then be read out in Parliament and the Ministers will then read out their replies. Was there any debate at all? Maybe thanks should also be given to the ghost writers for their contributions to the quality of the essays. I wonder how many of the essays read out in Parliament were written by the ghost writers. I think I can offer my ghost writing services too, with full confidentiality of course, at a small fee.

The lure of hot money and big funds

We welcome hot money and big funds into our market. In fact the mention of such items will send saliva dripping down the corners of our mouths. Hot money and big funds mean a lot of money to be made and a more vibrant economy. Why then are countries getting the shivers when there are too much hot money and big funds pouring in? Why then is IMF talking about change and applying more controls on such hot money and the activities of big funds? There are two sides of the coin. The hot money and big funds will benefit the developers and speculators in properties and in stocks. In the case of properties, they will buy up everything they could for profits of course. Who pays for their profits? Anyone loses out? When someone is making tons of money, someone else must be paying for it. The whole thing will spiral down to the little guys who will find the roof over their heads getting costlier and beyond their reach. The big guys will all be laughing to the banks and having their parties. In the case of stocks, the big funds are making millions and billions at the expense of the small guys. Yes 1 or 2 may make some money, but the big picture is a sorry state of affairs. Just like listing of foreign stocks, when they grabbed the money and run, leaving a shell for the local investors. The Stock Exchange may be happy earning the $600 clearing fee per trade and add a few millions to its bottom line. Contrast this to the billions of profits that the big funds are wiping from the market and sending the small investors to the laundry. The net sum gain or loss is frightening and negative to the country as a whole. Is it worth it? Earning a few penny and losing billions in the process? Would anyone bother to look at the big picture? Would a few privilege ones making a few millions be enough justification for the majority losing their billions? The hot money and big funds are here to make a quick buck from the locals, and leave the carnage behind when they depart. Maybe the IMF is crazy. Maybe those countries that shunned hot money and big funds are stupid. Maybe we are smarter