Is the world getting better?

The Pope is under pressure to take a stand against paedophile priests and to reveal what Vatican knew over centuries of abuse cover ups. London MPs were accused of collecting money to lobby for causes, bankers are now called crooks everywhere, politicians are infamous for sensuous affairs. What else is new? Robin Hood turns robber? It is now very difficult and confusing to tell who are the crooks and who are the good guys.

Notable quote by Liat Teng Lit

Your heart rate would not go up 'When you come to this hospital, your blood pressure and heart rate won't go up.' Liak Teng Lit, CEO Khoo Teck Puat Hospital I am still trying to figure out what he meant. People with high blood pressure can get instant relief, pressure will go down by visiting KTPH? People with hearts beating too rapidly can go to KTPH and the hearts will beat slower? Amazing. And a ear check cost only $2! This is getting ridiculous. How could a modern and well equipped hospital charged this kind of rate? Is it just a gimmick? If not the hospital will soon lose money or the standard will drop. They need to charge more to ensure that the quality is good and be able to pay for good doctors and medical professionals. Or maybe Khoo Teck Puat is subsidising the cost. Thank you Khoo Teck Puat.

Losing money investing CPF money

In a ministerial dialogue session, or is it pre election dialogue, a Mr Goh claimed that he lost $350k from his CPF account! This is the strangest thing I have heard so far. I always read glowing reports about CPF members making money from investing in the stock market. And since the stock market always go up in the long run, and the return, as was used to justified in the liberation of the CPF investment scheme then, would always be much more than bank savings. I remember some figures quoted then was something like 25% to 30% in the long run. The scheme started in 1986, revised to include an Enhanced Scheme in 1993. Now it is 2010, average about 20 years since it started, should be long run enough to make money, not 25% but should be at least 10%! Why got people lost so much one? This is really the first time such a big number in losses is reported, and only when a loser admitted it himself. How many more losers out there who have lost their life savings in the hundreds of thousands since the scheme started? Oh, the scheme was revised to downwards in 1997 to protect the CPF members from losing more of their life savings. Talking about smart Alecs.

Sheng Siong, the people’s choice

Sheng Siong came into the supermarket business with a bang. It sold goods and sundries at prices that are more competitive than NTUC FairPrice. It soon gained a big market share and expanded into several markets to the relief of price conscious consumers. At last they have a choice for cheaper products. The latest foray of Sheng Siong was to buy over 5 wet markets from the HDB. There were initial fears that Sheng Siong would upgrade these wet markets like the big property developers do as their trademark modus operandi, and then everything becomes more expensive with a quality and better badge hanging on its door. This fear soon proved to be unfounded as Sheng Siong said it would keep them as they are, cheap wet market without the modern aircon and cleaner environment that come with a different price tag. The relief was a bit short lived but through no fault of Sheng Siong. It did kept to its position of not changing the wet markets to aircon markets. But the takeover of the wet markets is costly. It was reported in CNA that Sheng Siong had no choice but to increase the rentals of the stalls in the wet markets by a whopping 30%. It has to as it has to pay bank interest, maintenance fee, property tax and probably legal fee as well. There was a big outcry in cyberspace when this was announced as the cost of higher rental must surely be passed to the consumers. Some even talked of boycotting Sheng Siong. Overnight, the Robin Hood of small time consumers and housewives who need to buy their food and sundries has lost its glamour and brand name. What a shame. But business is business. Sheng Siong will soon become a bigger player, maybe a global player and providing jobs for the people. The people should be thankful to have Sheng Siong instead of feeling betrayed. Well done Sheng Siong, for the takeover. The consumers will be better off, in the long run.

The fall guys are usually the small guys

The Hongkong authority have arrested two female employees of Bank of China for selling the Lehman Minibonds 'on suspicion that they had fraudulently or recklessly induced others to invest money.' This Lehman fallout is becoming a joke in the whole wide world. Only the small guys got caught and no one else. What about the people who created this scam? Oh cannot call it scam. It is sophisticated financial instruments thought out by the best talents in America, for sophisticated clients with the knowledge, intelligence and appetite to lose big. So the note creator is innocent, the banks who allowed the notes to be sold are innocent, the regulators too are innocent. Only the small salesmen and saleswomen are guilty. This must be the bigger scam than the Lehman Minibond scam itself.

A good policy is a good policy

Hsien Loong revealed that certain groups have sent emails to pressurise the govt to lower property prices and threatened not to support the govt in the next general election. And it is likely that these people are going to benefit or profit from lower HDB prices. The only people I see that could benefit from lower HDB prices are those that were caught gasping for air when HDB prices galloped away. With so many govt help and subsidy schemes, this aggrieved group should be very small. The group that are going to benefit more with high HDB prices and should be pushing the govt would be owners of HDB flats. Then they can sell them at huge profits and migrate to somewhere cheaper. Beach camps are also a good alternative. Hsien Loong’s main message is that people should not pressure the govt to act in any way. This is a sure fail tactic. The govt will probably stick to its gun no matter how well meaning or logical is the course to take. It is better to write to Reach and make a genuine plea, and the govt will listen better. It even gives awards to good contributors. The high price HDB policy is going to stay. It is the best policy that benefits all flat owners. And buyers can be assured of getting their flats in 3 years instead of 7 years. And the govt believe so, and will likely to be campaigning for this policy in the next general election. They have to after Mah Bow Tan and HDB have so successfully defended this position and turning around will be self defeating. The govt’s view is firm. Whether the people believe so, or some people believe so and some don’t, let this be the election issue to be decided by the votes. Let there be no pressure but a contest of ideas. Those who believe that this policy is good and the way to go, continue to vote for the govt that is promoting it. Those who don’t agree can vote otherwise. It is just a govt’s position and policy.

Who is talking strange?

There is no property bubble, yet. Did anyone see the elephant inside the classroom? No, where got elephant? Property prices are hitting the roof, demands are incessant looking at the queues at property launches despite the record releases of new BTOs. Maybe it is all carefully managed and expected. Within expectation. The govt will not intervene in the property market and if it does, ‘we do it only because we want the market to work better’ said Mah Bow Tan. So no need to panic, no need to complain, the market is working better. Better for who and in what ways? The govt did not intervene when the population shot up by more than 1m people. The govt did not intervene by building more flats to meet the demand. Maybe it was managed to be that way. Or maybe they did not know that the population had grown disproportionately and no need to intervene. The govt prefers to leave it to market forces, supply and demand. The two cases of Ten Mile Junction and Tampenis were an aberration. The low demand was not due to market forces. And the developers will buy low to sell at big proft. Cannot be like dat. So when the prices are low when there is no demand, don’t release the sites. Afterall the govt has the responsibility to make sure that state land gets a good price. All perfectly sound argument. Not talking strange. And today, there is no property bubble yet. Everyone is happy, the govt is happy, the developers are happy, the speculators are happy, the home buyers are happy, the owners of all properties are happy. We have a perfect situation with everyone happy. This is how clever the property market it being managed. I am not talking strange either.

Great News, Resale home prices at new high!

This is the best news on the front page of the ST. More than 800k HDB flat owners are going to celebrate, and those owning 5rm flats and bigger are instant millionaires. The latest transaction at Bras Basah HDB complex fetched more than $600 psf. Whew, everyone is going to be very grateful. Now they should know who to vote to protect and increase the value of their HDB flats. And private property owners will also be waiting in glee as HDB upgraders will have more money to buy private properties at higher prices. For those singles and still waiting for a HDB flats, cannot wait liao. Go quickly and grab a flat fast. Tomorrow will be more expensive. The prices can only go up and up.

Property bubble is good

Justin Chiu of Cheung Kong Property lives by the religion that property bubble is good. It has to be. High property prices mean big profits for his company and big bonuses for him. Every property developer must live by this religion, or they should not be in the property business. They are in to make money, big money. They are not in a charity business. Sorry, I think I must qualify this. Some charity businesses are also very happy with big bonuses. No one should demand that property developers build properties and sell at a loss or at subsidized profits. That is fundamentally wrong. They must make the most profits they could from their projects. They must sell at market price, as high as the market can afford. It is not their responsibility to make sure that properties are affordable and reasonable. That is the job of the govt. The govt is responsible to the people and has a moral duty, a social contract, to house the people in decent homes, not in dog’s kennel. The roles of the govt and property developers are different. It only becomes a problem when a govt thinks it is a property developer, to max profits and a property developer thinks it is the govt and sells property at a loss. But in a world when the lines are blurred, when confusions set in, when the govt is not the govt, when the developer is not the developer, the people will become collateral damages in a greedy game of profits.

Going ahead with the Water Festival?

We respect the foreigners here. So we are going to celebrate their Water Festival. Do we respect other foreigners and celebrate their festivals as well? If we don't, does it mean that we are not respecting them? What if we celebrate some and don't celebrate some? Would those affected feel slighted and not respected? What if we celebrate this year because it is the in thing and don't celebrate in the following year or years? Would the foreigners say we have stop respecting them?

Calling a spade a spade!

Finally someone with the guts to stand up and tell the truth that everyone pretends not to see. It is govt intervention in the property market that caused high prices in property, not market forces. Simon Cheong, President of Redas, 'argued that the Govt's land sales programme has, in some instances, in fact accentuated the mismatch between demand and supply and contributed to higher pricing....His candid comments - which he said he had been "advised" against making, "for fear of it being a sensitive topic" - found resonance among some industry watchers, while others still argued for the State's role in curbing market volatility.' For someone in his position to take such a stand is a sign that he could not take the nonsenses anymore. The lip had blown off. He has to tell it as it is. Let's see if any more professionals have any balls in between their legs to repeat his stand publicly. Simon quoted the case of a plot in Tampines with a bid of $118 psf but rejected and now sold to a top bid of $421 psf and the Ten Mile Junction which failed at $162 psf and now sold at $437 psf. How not for property prices to go up? But it is wrong to say that the govt interfered with property prices. The govt only manages the property market to ensure that HDB prices can only go up. And that is an election position. Vote for the govt to protect the value of HDB flats. So, with a little management of land sales and building of new flats, the prices will simply and nicely go up. Then when new flats are built, they are sold at 'market prices' and with a 'subsidy'. So nice. The equation in simple form is to manage prices of sold HDB flats to make sure it can only go up. This in turn will create a synthetic market of higher prices for newly built flats. Another option, as a national policy, is to manage the new flats to be really affordable and let 'market' forces determine the prices of sold HDB flats. Both involved interference. Sorry, cannot use that word, a little managing at one end and pretend that the other end is the real market forces. The advantage of the present system is that prices would likely to keep spiralling up and makes owners happy. But new flats would also be equally expensive. The problem comes when there is a crisis and prices plunged. Buy high would mean losing big. In the latter option, prices may not go up too fast and also may not go down much. In a crisis, with smaller outlay, the losses will not be too heavy either. Which is a better policy? One is an illusion of wealth, manipulated and with the danger of people falling flat on their faces. The other is more prudent and less adventurous and less likely to bankrupt the owners.

Google is so funny!

Google has left China and move to the British territory called Hongkong, to escape from Chinese laws and to propagate unfriendly Chinese news. It can now raise the Union Jack and claim protection from Great Britain. I think it should prepare other options like Macau and Taiwan. And if these proved unworkable as well, then it should look no further than Singapore, where there is internet freedom for it to do what it wants in the name of press freedom. It is quite a common thing to read China bashing news here. I strongly recommend Google to relocate to Singapore if it wakes up from its slumber and found out that Hongkong is in China and no longer a British colony.

Casino Autonomous Regions

Smoking allowed in the two casinos. Isn't that great? While Singaporeans have gotten rid of this dirty and smelly habit and could not stand the sight and smell of tobacco and cigarette butts, we know have to bear with them all over again, all because of money. For money's sake, what else do we want to sell out? Maybe we can turn the casinos into autonomous regions and allowed whatever we do not allowed in the main island. Let them have chewing gums, littering and spitting are ok too. And let the Ah Longs operate there. Oh, move Geylang over there too. Just keep all the sleaze there may be a way to keep the main island clean and healthy. What am I talking about? There is one casino in the main prime city area. How? Imagine all the hard works and campaigns and money spent to educate a population to be like the civilised first world, clean, impeccable and sauve, and we are going to abandon it for money. We allowed the foreigners to come here to spit, litter, commit crimes and now to smoke in our midst, in our island in the sun and our prime Marina Bay. What is going on?

A new twist to Your Singapore

Netizens were furious on the news that a grassroot organization is planning to organize a Water Festival, the same as those celebrated in Thailand, Myanmar and the IndoChinese states for the foreigners here. I look at it differently. If we are going to tell the world that Singapore is theirs, then it is only expected that we should also share their festivals and make them feel more at home here. Let's make it their Singapore for real. And having more international festivals here is also a good thing for tourism. We can show the world how happy we are as a people, partying everyday to every festival that we can find. We can even declare every other day a holiday for a festival. Now, would that not be fun? Come to Your Singapore and party for a life time, everyday of the year. There is never a dull day or a dull moment. The thought of it already brightens up my day. As for integrating the foreigners to love Singapore, there is an easier way to do it. Just stuff some money in their pockets. I am sure the whole world will descend on Singapore and call it home. Your Singapore will truly live up to its name.

Talking cock about China and Yuan revaluation

The Western media and the US Congress have been talking cock about the Yuan as the main cause of their economic misery. So China must revalue its Yuan to make its export more expensive and save the US economy and American jobs. China cannot keep on growing at the expense of America and Europe. The assumption of these attacks is that China's economy will keep growing relentlessly, unstoppable. The Chinese will probably hope so. Then we read another bunch of cock stories that the Chinese economy is a big bubble waiting to explode. The Chinese housing is a bubble, the car industry is a bubble, and what not is a bubble. The rich and poor gap is going to break China, the corruption is going to break China, the cities are over built and wealth inequalities will cause unrest in China. The minorities insurgency is going to cause upheavals. In other words, China is at the brink of a collapse of gigantic proportion. The biggest economic tragedy in history is about to happen to China. With such a scenario, should the Chinese revalue its Yuan to invite an immediate collapse? Its economy and political system are so fragile and so unsound. How could the mean westerners demand that it revalues its Yuan knowing that it is going to collapse soon? There is no need for China to revalue its Yuan. China will collapse in no time and it will turn into a house of cards. And all the problems of America and Europe will solve by itself. How's that for talking cock? As good as Paul Krugman and all the professional western experts, journalists and reporters huh!

The American Israeli Wayang

While the Israelis continue their pounding of the Palestinians in Gaza, the US pretends to be pricked by conscience and is looking displeased. And that is the best they would do to show the Arabs that they are their friends. And they let the Israelies to continue to kill the pariahs of human civilisation as if it is a natural thing to do. And when I flipped through the pages of the newspaper there was hardly a mention of the killing of the Arabs. Non event. There are more important news about how to bash China for causing the ills of the bankrupt America, and blaming China for it. In the meantime, the Palestinians can only look to Allah for help while the US looks the other way.

Another shark in the pond

Goldman Sach is now a full clearing member of SGX. Is it good news or bad news for the small investors? We have seen how the stock markets have been transformed into a casino without the stringent rules governing casinos. We have seen how the odds have changed into a vicious cycle where the big hedge funds have huge unfair advantages over the small investors. Now Goldman Sach is in our water. Would this shark gang up with all the other sharks to eat the small fishes or would it fight with the other sharks for a share of the pie? Would it make things worst for the small investors?

Motorists are also citizens

Motorists are also citizens and need protection from scams and robbery. Who is responsible to protect the interests of the motorists in the face of outrageous surge in motor insurance premiums at their detriment? No one is responsible? Or just because the silent motorists are not complaining so there is no issue and it is acceptable for the insurance companies to keep fleecing them? The No Claim Bonus is meant to be a reward for clean driving records and not making any claims against the insurers. This must be translated into lower premium, not higher. How on earth can the increases be more than the NCB when the motorists are not making any claims? Why should the motorists be made to pay more? Where is JUSTICE! Where can the little motorists find justice? More motor accidents, more claims, higher claims! Whose fault and who should be accountable for the higher insurance payouts? The motorists that did not make any claims? The sickening thing is that the insurers also knew that there is a big scam going on. And instead of tackling the problem at its source and make the culprits pay, the buck is passed to the motorists. And nobody cares, not anyone's business. Let the motorists continue to be fleeced. And if they are not complaining, it means that the premium is still affordable. And why not, the premium is determined by market forces, so must be right. What kind of principle are we following? Cost overrun also no problem. Just make sure the people can pay. Medical cost goes up, make sure the people have more money in their Medisave. QED. Problem solved. Are Singaporeans willing to live by such thinkings?

Thong Chai Charity

This Charity has followed the showbiz road to raise fund to support its charity work. It has been in existence since 1867, providing free medical treatment to anyone who goes there for help. Free medical treatment! What, what, what's that? In Singapore still got free medical treatment when medical and office space costs are so high! Is someone pulling a joke? Should they be raising their fees to keep up with inflation and rising wage cost? Indeed there are still a few of these dinosaurs that refused to keep up with time and still stupidly providing free medical treatment and medicine. They have taken the first step to the new world of commercialisation. I hope they don't go much further and start to privatise and become a profit making organisation. For more than 140 years, Thong Chai Charity exists quietly and doing its honourable job of providing free medicine to everyone who cannot afford the great names in modern medicine. And they don't mean test anyone. Just get your treatment and medicine, no question asks. Last night was the first time they came out to raise fund and many celebrities were moved to come forward for the cause. They included big names like Jackie Chan, Emil Chow, Mi Xue, Sky and many more from China, Taiwan, Hongkong and our local artistes. Prior to this event, the Charity survived on donations from many generous donors to keep it going. It is a worthy cause with noble and selfless doctors and staff doing their part to help the needies. The fund raising was successful. My only concern is that they don't get carried away by the generosities of the donors and make it an annual affair to raise funds for more ambitious schemes. Just raise fund when needed and not raise fund for the sake of raising fund to build a reserve for the next 100 years. The Charity has so far been doing a great and honorable job, and not distracted by the huge money that the medical profession can command. They have still not gotten to the idea of charging an arm or a leg to desperate people in need of help. We need such institutions to show what genuine compassion and charity mean.

Selling Your Singapore

With this new brand name called Your Singapore being brandished as a catchy tag, our representatives will soon be spreading out to the world to sell Singapore as a tourist destination. Let’s try to imagine how other people will react to this tag. First stop is likely to be China. I can imagine the Chinese asking, ‘How much?’ They would be keen to pay for it if it is for sale. It’s neighbour the Japanese would probably frown and say, ‘Can we have it back?’ It belonged to them for a while back then. Further to the East, the Americans would likely to give an approving nod and saying to themselves, ‘We had it in our pocket for so many years, didn’t you know that?’ As for the British, they would thank you for reminding them of their glorious past. They may regret for having giving it away to us on a silver platter. Our Indonesian neighbour may say don’t try to tempt us. Up north, they would not take it too kindly and give our representatives two black eyes for inviting them to ‘Your Singapore’. And hopefully the representatives would not be foolish enough to ask what was that for.