Sajeev Kamalasanan’s resignation from WP

A candidate in the last GE resigned from the Worker’s Party and made an allegation that it is ‘discriminating against Indians’ according to his press statement. How bad the timing is in view of the by election? At this point in time, every factor and matter counts to both parties and candidates in the election. To have a resignation of a key member is bad enough. To be accused of being racist may cause a lot of votes for the WP, true or otherwise. Some voters would be easily swayed by such a statement.

WP must count it as bad luck to have this incident splashing across the news everywhere. I am sure Sajeev’s resignation was not intended to do any harm to the WP. It just happened and no need to read too much into it. Still the WP would have some damage control to do.

Funny, it seems that such unpleasant things often happened to the opposition parties during a run up to an election. I hope Sajeev and the WP do not allow this matter to distract the main issues in the by election and the voters could put this aside for the moment. Alas, knowing how light the ears of the masses are, one goal has gone in.

Money, power politics and Wall Street

There is a four part documentary on the aftermath of the subprime crisis cum world financial crisis created by Wall Street in 2008. The documentary is quite lengthy and very detail in the key players involved in the crisis and the intricate handling and exposure of the toxic waste created by the brightest American financial minds, which happened to be kids really. The derivatives structured by these kids were meant to lower the risk of exposure by the banks to high risk subprime loans. But it multiplied and morphed into many other things and became a bigger risk that almost toppled the whole financial system of the world.

This documentary (http://video.pbs.org/video/2229573868/) is a must view for all regulators and govt officials meddling with their financial systems as well as finance professionals. The lessons to be learnt are many and they were obvious and avoidable but were pooh poohed away by the muscles of financial institutions and the corruption of the members of the Congress. They allowed the toxic waste to go into the system and grow without control, infecting not only Wall Street but also Main Street of America.

Have they learnt anything? With the recent loss of US$2b by JP Morgan Chase, does it tell anything? With the glorification of big earnings by the banks and hedge funds and paying themselves crazy again, do they say anything. As far as Wall Street is concerned, everything is back to normal, before crisis time, and all system is on a roll, just like the good old time. The same flawed and obscene financial system did not change a bit. Banks are still taking high risk is in derivative and proprietary tradings to make quick and easy money to pay themselves millions and billions all over again. Conservative bank practices are obsolete.

The first obvious fault of the subprime crisis was the culture of greed which led the greedy bankers to go after quick money and dumping morality and prudence in the back seat. The banks and hedge funds operators were just gambling, playing with other people’s money for quick and huge returns. And if anything wrong, like JP Morgan Chase, wait for the Fed to bail them out with the taxpayers money. They made the Fed to close both eyes, arguing that they need more freedom to execute their business. There is no need for disclosure. Deregulation and darkness fell on Wall Street. Transparency of deals by the banks and hedge funds were ignored for the bankers to hide whatever they were doing. They cooked the books, devised toxic products, engaged in proprietary tradings against their clients, all under the cover of deregulation or no regulations. They could commit mass murder in a way without anyone knowing, without transparency and accountability. All losses were reported as profits only to justify paying themselves crazily.

Without transparency, without regulations, without accountability, no one was wiser as to what was going on. The bankers kept chalking up glorious P&L, claiming billions of profits when the truth was that they were under billions of debt in taking up toxic waste and trading losses. As long as they could hide them under ingenious accounting, it was as good as sweeping everything under the carpet. And they partied and partied with ill gotten gains and kicking the problematic ball further down the road.

The simple age old wisdom that anything that cannot be told must be told as what cannot be told is simply dangerous was forgotten. That was why it could not see light and must be kept hidden. And Wall Street and the banks got away with it by bribing Congress to let them play bandits and robbers.

They even designed unfair and obscene trading systems using computers to trade against innocent small investors and no one will stand up to say it is wrong, it is unfair practice, it is cheating. And they even got their flawed and corrupted gaming system sold to the rest of the world as the system of the future, with high speed trading, derivatives and deregulation, high liquidity, high volume, high buzz and a quicker bust. They have gained access to many countries, and the stock markets are still ticking only superficially, kept alive by drips, when they are actually in the intensive ward, or nearly there.

Now the Americans are banging on the doors in Beijing to want to introduce such atrocious system to create havoc to the Chinese stock market and financial system. Would the Chinese be smart enough to say no and slam the door at the American face? They would need to seek wise counsel from the Hongkong Exchange to have a better feel of the evil in the system and the damage it is causing to the Hongkong market. There is a Chinese saying, ‘lai ze bu san, san ze bu lai.’ Pardon my translation, it basically says that those who dare to come are not easy to deal with or with ill intent. Ask a simple question, why are the Americans so forceful and persistent in wanting to break into the Chinese financial system? To do charity and bring money to the Chinese or to go in and scope everything there is in there? They have done severe damage to the Hongkong and Singapore financial market except that no one dares to admit it. The dead body is getting stiffer by the days and soon it would not be able to move completely.

Mortis rigor is only a short while away. The Chinese govt and other Asian regulators should view this documentary carefully and know what they are being led into and the dangers ahead. Would China be the last sucker to fall into the trap and become another victim of toxic waste?

Would there be any changes after this latest JP Morgan Chase failure? Some were calling for tighter regulations, invoking the Volcker’s Rule to prevent banks from proprietary trading and taking high risk. The real fault lies in the system, it is systemic, where the administrators and regulators colluded, gave their silent consent to daylight robbery. They could not see anything wrong with the system but were very clever in finding faults with the little guys. Until some of the administrators and regulators are put behind bars for being accomplices to the unfair trading practices in the financial markets, nothing will work. Never has the financial market been so deregulated, when unfair trading practices like high speed computer tradings, proprietary trading by banks against their clients, that cheating the small investors is fair game. And because New York sets the rule, the rest of the unthinking world markets just followed blindly. Were they dull or were they just having a good time with the gravy train?

Hopefully New York will set the precedence and prosecute the whole management team of NYSE for mismanagement and for allowing fraudulent trading practices into the system. Until then, the financial system and stock markets are only waiting to implode.

Buying American snake oil

Friday, May 11, 2012


Risky Systems, Dire Consequences...

Yesterday night a somber CEO had to announce publicly that his bank had lost U$2B dollars in set of complex synthetic derivatives trade,



This CEO is no ordinary CEO but the king of Wall Street, Jamie Dimon, one of the most astute bankers around. The bank went through the financial crisis unscathed but suffered heavy losses last week when a unit of the bank took on complex derivative positions that resulted in unexpected losses:



“This portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the firm previously believed,” - Jamie Dimon, CEO JP Morgan.[Link[



If Jamie Dimon and his bank can't figure the risk they were taking, how will the rest of us ever fully appreciate the risks we are exposed to? ….



The above is written by Lucky Tan in his Diary of a Singaporean Mind blog. It tells a lot about the kind of snake oil being introduced into the financial markets around the world and how the world blindly bought what the Americans sold. Singapore is one of them. China must resist all it can from being duped by the Americans. It is just not worth whatever returns there is. It can ruin financial institutions and the whole stock market. Only duds who think they know best or are gullible enough to believe the American’s sales pitch will go in with eyes wide shut.

North Korea is Singapore’s friend

Singapore is the third largest trading partner of North Korea. Its second highest ranking leader, Kim Yong Nam, had just paid an official visit with a trade delegation and is now in Indonesia for a similar purpose, to expand trade. Indonesia is also a good friend of North Korea.

But in Singapore, the North Koreans have many enemies. These are the unthinking Singaporeans who have been fed with a diet of anti North Korean misinformation written by westerners and proudly printed almost daily in our media. And the minds of these morons have been so tarnished that when they talked about the North Koreans, they behaved as if their homes have been burnt and looted by the North Koreans or their mothers were raped by them. Such simple minded people with an empty and unthinking head are easy to be programmed to think like little monkeys.

To these people, North Korea is bad, poor, abject poverty, famine, miserable people, aggressor, wanting to start a war with every country, wanting to send their nuclear missiles to attack them. Funny, do they know where is North Korea? Or do the North Koreans even think that these people exist? No, the North Koreans don’t even know of their existence and have had nothing to do with them. But why the hatred? Why did they think, or think they knew so much about North Korea to hate them? Daft is a very appropriate word here. Their whole thinking and mindset have been programmed for so many years that they are behaving exactly as what the programmers wanted them to behave.

Singapore is the third largest trading partner of North Korea. What does that say? Singapore’s leaders have been visiting North Korea frequently and the North Koreans too are visiting the island just as often. It is fortunate the leaders of Asean have not turned into puppets on a string and be made to dance by the puppeteers. They know that North Korea is just another country living its own way of life. And Singapore’s initiative to bring the North Koreans into the main stream of international relations like what it did to the Myanmese is the best way to go forward. Embrace the North Koreans and integrate them into the international community. Not threats of war and sanctions like hooligans and gangsters.

Singapore media has a role to educate the daft Sinkies to think objectively and not to be manipulated into how to think and what to think of the North Koreans in particular and the rest of the world in general.

Going back to the 60s

When Hsien Loong asked if Singaporeans want to go back to the 60s, I thought he was using that as a reminder that going back to the 60s was a bad thing. The things that are happening today point to one direction. It seems that it has all been planned for Singaporeans to go back to the good old 60s.



Just look at what Singaporeans have been told and how their lives are changing. The first thing is that they have been told to live in smaller flats and mentally prepared to think that small is good. They have also been prepared to go around in bicycles or take public transport. In the good old days, only the very rich drove cars, the rest took buses and private taxis. This too could become a reality.



Today I heard that Singaporeans are encouraged to become hawkers. What about the dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers and engineers? Actually becoming hawkers or pasar malam stall owners isn’t a bad thing. Hawkers can make big money and many are driving Mercedes and living in landed properties. I concur that this is an extremely good idea. No need to waste so much time and money for a university education only to buy a 3 rm flat on graduation, and maybe ended as a taxi driver or a hawker.



I am reminiscing the great times of those good old days of the 60s, carefree as a substitute to being out of jobs, and yes, our womenfolk were factory workers or maids. And my favourite, and in support of the govt policies, to integrate the foreigners, let’s live together with them under the same roof. Singaporeans can rent or share their flats with them, or they can rent or share their flats with Singaporeans. Then they can communicate and learn to live with each other happily and learning another culture and way of life. Singaporean’s life will be so much richer with the experience.



And of course there will be more hawker centres selling cheap and better food and faster in serving as well. Sounds like cbf. All the mothers need not worry so much about queuing for the best schools and wasting money on tuitions. Back then the aspirations were very low and thus not much stress in education. How much stress can there be if the aspiration is to be a hawker or a taxi or bus driver? Oops, actually taxi driving is the new ambition of PMETs when they can become their own bosses, independent, no one to breathe down their necks, a new breed of entrepreneurs or SME businessmen. Very 1960s.



We are progressing to the 60s. The new ambition of school children, 'I want to be a hawker.'

Cauldron of Life

This is a series on life and the fire one has to go through in life. Surviving the cauldron of fire of life, one comes out as solid steel. Failure will see a melting down and turning into scrap iron. Living is a test of will, a test of character to survive in a path one chose to tread. It is not a walk in the garden. There are many twists and turns and one could be burnt any time in this journey of a life time.

Heavenly beasts - Pi xiu

This is another series of photopaintings that I have created with the help of Mother Nature. The image has never been seen before. They are not the mystical dragon or lion or the qiling. The closest I could relate this to is the pixiu, a smaller creature claimed to be the proetector of the owner and his wealth. Many images of the pixiu have been crafted, mostly in stone or jade, and displayed in homes or business premises. This photopainting could be hung on the wall at the entrance area, or the reception area of an organization in place of the carved varieties.


The unique feature of this kind of photopainting using the Art of RAR technique is that the images must first be photographed using a camera as the originals are unrecognizable in the water and will be there only momentarily. They will only appear in the full glory after some processing. This is a very unique and revolutionary way of painting, like painting the thoughts of Nature.

My tree of Life series is also created in the same manner.

A little mystery, a little miracle, a whole new way of painting.

The fearsome population numbers

We need a population growth of 25,000 to 30,000 immigrants a year to sustain our society and economy, so said the wise men. There is no better solution. This is probably another CBF solution that is the best and nothing but the best. No other mortals will be able to think of anything else out of this box, the box that all the super talents’ brains are boxed in.

If these new annual intakes, they are mostly adults, were to turn citizens and move into a single ward constituency like Hougang, what kind of impact it will have on the social and political balance of the ward? Hougang only has about 23,000 voters. At 25,000 to 30,000, there will be one Hougang equivalent of voters in the making every year. On the other hand, the babies being produced by the citizens would need another 21 years to come into stream.

Don’t pray pray with this kind of input.

Should the govt mandate a wage hike for low wage workers?

The above was the topic for discussion in the Talking Point programme of CNA this week. It was interesting to how the different sides presented their for and against arguments to raise pay for low wage workers and how the issue of productivity seemed to be a natural instinctive reaction to the pro govt view. The need to raise productivity was the most important position for the pro govt representative. No productivity, no need to talk about pay hike.

I would like CNA and its programme hosts, Dominic Loh and Daniel Martin, to have a similar programme, this time to discuss raising Ministerial Pay and the issue of productivity thrown in. It will be nice to see if productivity is an issue and a fundamental reason to be used before any pay hike for ministers and for that matter, the President.  Was or should productivitybe an issue or a primary factor in raising Ministerial Pay?

I think CNA’s viewership will be instantly raised if such a topic is being put on air.

Completing a cycle of change

The poor peasant Chinese were pouring out of China about a hundred years ago. They were driven out of their motherland to seek work to feed themselves. Staying back in China was not an option. Jobs were scarce and earning a living was tough going.

By mid 1950s onwards, they were still poor. Poverty and going hungry were the normal then. Things started to improve in the 70s onwards. Life was more bearable and food was not so scarce. The common mode of transportation was the bicycle.

For the Chinese that headed out to Singapore, the 70s and 80s were times of rapid growth. They were getting richer and faster and living was less of a challenge. Buying a home and a car were the norms. Bicycles were discarded for the four wheels with a roof, a prestigious symbol of success.

Fast forward to the present, some Chinese are returning home as jobs were in abundance and livelihood is no longer such a big challenge. Singaporeans too are marching back to China when job opportunities were more challenging in the island.

In China, the Chinese are building homes like Singapore did in the 60s and 70s and buying properties, and property speculation became a national past time. Bicycles were swopped for the four wheel status symbols. More people are getting rich faster.

Singaporeans are downsizing and buying smaller and smaller homes with more money to pay. Cars are getting out of reach and more Singaporeans are taking to public transport and bicycles. The story will come full circle when Chinese Singaporeans start to return to China in hoards, to seek jobs and better living conditions, to buy bigger homes and be car owners once again.

PS. The super rich are having a good laugh at such articles. Get out of my elite and uncaring face.

Who caused these problems?

To many Singaporeans, there is no problems in Singapore. Everything is just fine. We are the best in many things, the 4th best country in the world, desired by people paid on company expenses to live here. Foreigners are queuing up to come here and if they can’t get in, they will pay to smuggle themselves in, legally or illegally.

Then there are some corners of the island there are voices complaining about so many problems. Let’s hear the problems.

1. Wide income gap

2. High property prices

3. High cost of living

4. High prices of cars

5. High medical fees

6. Jams and congestion

7. PMETs having unemployment problems

8. Lack of local talents

9. Lack of babies

10. Too many oldies

11. Not enough savings for retirements

12. Not enough good people going into politics and the best is just so so.

13. Not enough talents in finance, medicine and legal services

14. Too many foreigners

15. Transportation problems

16. Housing problems

17. Not enough hospitals

18. Oldies need to work in their 70s and older.

19. Some more problems?

I don’t believe that I could list out so many major problems within a couple of minutes. Are they real or imaginary?

If these problems are real, who caused them? Did we pay too much to too many super talents to have these problems?

Singaporeans will be top priority!

"We are trying to seek the maximum advantage for Singapore and Singaporeans," so said the Prime MinisterThe headline stated: "S'poreans will always be top priority: PM Lee"



Mr Fish has written an article in his blog, Feed Me To The Fish on this bo pian logic. He has said all there is to be said. I will just add a few points to highlight this twisted logic that is disadvantaging many Singaporeans, our children. One thing, giving a new citizen a pink IC and called him Singaporean and let him have all the privileges, including top jobs and even sitting in Parliament is bull. To me it is deceit. Applying this concept, we can have 2 million additional Singaporeans, new citizens, to enjoy the maximum advantage taken from the original Singaporeans. And the excuse, they are Singaporeans, look, pink IC. A Singaporean, by law, is a Singaporean. Losers cannot argue against such brilliant logic and reasons.



The next thing, any policy depriving Singaporeans from housing/university places, medical benefits etc etc for whatever shitty reasons is anti Singaporeans when new citizens are allowed to take maximum advantage over original Singaporeans. With new citizens and PRs having the choice of selling off their properties at a profit and move on, the Singaporeans will end up buying the inflated price housing to stay for good is not something that is advantageous to Singaporeans. Singaporeans ended up as suckers, especially those barred from pubic housing for shit reasons and shit logics.

And licenses were issued to foreigners, including PRs, to compete with Singaporeans for small business like agencies etc etc. Maybe this is a sadistic way to make the Singaporeans work harder and become more competitive.



I must say that many Singaporeans, especially the elite, are maximising their advantages as Singaporeans, but some corners of Singaporeans are being greatly disadvantaged if the govt cares to look and cares to know. And turning foreigners into new citizens in hordes is definitely not pro Singaporeans. A Singaporean disadvantaged is a Singaporean disadvantaged. Need proof? Does the govt know that many Singaporeans are disadvantaged by its policies? No?

A by election for regime change

There are many angles to look at this by election. At the very basic level will be a fight of personality and acceptance between the two candidates. At the next level will be a contest between the ruling party and the opposition, represented by the WP. It is very encouraging to see the opposition parties closing ranks on this issue, to stand together and not to be a spoilt brat by being the third party. But don’t worry, a third party will appear if things are as predictable as before. There will be clowns standing up for all the wrong reasons to mess up the fight.

Another big issue is the agenda for regime change. The vibes in cyberspace have been loud and clear, that a regime change is what they want. They are fed up of the ruling party for being what it is, refusing to change its attitude of talking down to the people and thinking it knows best. What it wants to do, it will do regardless of how painful it is to the people and regardless of how the people scream and shout.

The population explosion and all its unpleasant consequences of high inflation, high cost of living, congestion, high property and car prices, foreigners taking over the plum jobs of locals, are very painful to the citizens. Given foreigners a pink IC does not make that person a Singaporean, albeit legally. If that be the case, the whole govt can be foreigners or new citizens tomorrow. This disturbing policy has risen to a level that is seeing xenophobia starting to raise its ugly head. It has never been like that before. Singaporeans are proud of its migrant history and always welcome foreigners here. But when too many foreigners are getting on their nerves, it becomes anger.

How would this translate into an election issue? To quote a financial adviser, Tan Kay Kerng, ‘We need to have an official representative of the people and not to have a caretaker group of people who are looking after us.’ This statement sums up the attitude and mindset of the PAP. It wants to rule the people, be the master of the people, think for the people, telling the people what to do and what cannot do, and they will call the shot. Whether the people like it or not, they will do it. More immigrants needed. Period. Don’t bug me. We have decided. We will not change course. We are master. We know best.

Would the Hougang residents elect an MP to tell them that it is govt policy and they will have to live with it, vote for all govt policies and not against any? Or would they vote for a representative, their representative, to represent them, their views, their unhappiness, what they want done, in parliament? Do they want a govt that will decide everything for them in a ‘we know better’ and ‘it is good for you’. Or would they want a govt that will listen and make policies that the people want? Do they want to elect a master or a servant to serve them in parliament?

Hougang by election on 26 May

Nomination Day will be 16 of May. This is an interesting event to watch from all corners. How would the opposition parties react? Would there be a mad scramble to be in the arena, like fools rush in? Or would they be united and give deference to the Worker's Party to fight a one to one battle without any spoilers?

On the PAP side, the result is going to be closely watched and it could foretell its fortune in the next GE. The people of Hougang will set the tone for what lies ahead. It may be a simple by election. But it has far reaching consequences for everyone.

The art of making Asians lick everything

The Titanic, the Unsinkable cruise liner, the biggest of its time, the biggest technological achievement of Britain, the biggest flop, the biggest tragedy!

If the sinking of the Titanic were to happen to any Asian or African country, it would be a national shame, like the failure of the satellite launch by the North Koreans. The western media will have a field day laughing their guts out. Daft Koreans could not even build a rocket to launch a satellite. What would it be if the Titanic was built by the North Koreans or the Russians or the Chinese? The West would be giggling themselves crazy and laughing on their stomachs.

100 years on, the British and their silly former colonies are celebrating the sinking of this mammoth ship that took thousands of lives of the British and European elite class, the aristocracy, the royalties and the gentries. Yes, they are celebrating the ill fated maiden voyage of a ship they called the Unsinkable that sunk on its very first voyage. Instead of shame and agony, it is time for celebration and a big PR blitz complete with memorabilia and keepsakes of the romantic times.

It was not a failure of technology. It was human error. Everyone was celebrating and allowed the ship to kiss an iceberg. It is all about how to reframe a story. We should learn a bit from this media blitz and celebrate the daily breakdowns of our MRT system, the jewel of achievement of a first world country known for flawless efficiency. Maybe it is too early to make such a celebration when there is a BOI. Maybe at least to wait till the BOI is over. Maybe we can wait for another 100 years to make it real big and after all the angst and cursing is over, and a future generation that just want to have a good time, no matter what reasons or occasions.

Clever ideas for COEs

The frustration faced by car owners and potential car owners is raising temperature by the look of the numerous appeals to the authority to revise the system. Many see the systems as totally flawed and have offered many clever ideas to make it more reasonable.

These well intended proposals by the public are nothing new, nothing difficult to figure out and nothing extraordinary. The super talents would have even much better ideas to improve the system. They are not duds. They know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing and why they refused to see from the perspective of the frustrated car owners. Do not underestimate their talents.

What the public failed to see is that the COE is the biggest cash cow to the govt next to the CPF and HDB. And it is even more efficient as a source of revenue with practically zero cost and zero effort. Printing a piece of paper is all it takes to collect a $100k. Why should the govt want to change this ATM and cut its revenue? And with the foreign talents with bigger pockets coming ashore, it is even better to make sure that the COE goes even higher. And for those who are earning tens of thousands a month, the convenience of a car and lesser cars on the road are things that they would not mind paying for. They only need to make sure their income and salary increases are ahead of the COE prices.

The unhappy public need not waste their time and talent with their clever suggestions. The deaf frogs would not listen as they know very well how flawed this system is to the car owners who cannot afford to pay higher COEs. It is a biased system in favour of the rich and you know who.

Miserables don’t rebel

I posted an article yesterday with the title ‘Miserables rebelling’. Actually it is not a true reflection of the situation. The miserables are very happy, contented with the warmth inside a boiling kettle, like the frogs. They are oblivious to what is going to happen except fearing that outside could be very cold.

The people who are speaking up are far from being miserables. Ngiam Tong Dow, Lim Chong Yah, Tommy Koh etc etc are very well endowed financially. They are the elite and are having a great life. Why are they speaking up? It must be a matter of conscience, of a sense of justice. They are very secured people that need not step out to brave the storm. They could remain in the comfort of their cocoons, shielded from all the noises, all the inequalities, and live very comfortably in their own world. They did not have to put up with small flats do not affect the quality of life stupidity. They did not have to squeeze for a standing place in a crammed train or bus. They need not be irritated by the unwashed and smelly workers. They need not worry that a COE is $100k.

The fact that they are speaking out is a sign that they did not like what they see. The injustice and inequalities in the society must have become too stark and unbearable. In our kind of political system, it takes not only a man of conscience and passion to want to right a wrong for the good of people and country. It takes a very brave man to do that. In the case of Lim Chong Yah, he is will to have his salary frozen for the next three years. He and all his high earning relatives and friends would have to do so if his recommendation is implemented. Yes, putting the money where the mouth is, and lead by example. “If I don’t go down to Hades, who should go instead?’

FTs causing havoc in the island

They are new, with short roots or new roots that have not sunk in deep enough. All it needs is a little storm and they will be falling all over. Unlike the locals who were born and bred from young, becoming a fixed feature of the land, part of the land, permanently, the newly planted trees, the instant trees, are creating more problems instead of help. They are crashing over cars, hundreds of them.

The people have been warned to avoid the forest or wooded areas when there is a big storm, for fear of FTs. This is a newly created problem because of FTs. Aren’t the FTs here to help to make the place better? But they have achieved one key objective, create jobs. Many workers would have to cut and remove them. Many more jobs will be created to repair the cars and damages to buildings and infrastructure. Fortunately no one was hurt.

This is not only an ominous sign. It is a testimony of the problems we have to face with new transplants with short roots. A storm is all it takes for them to run or turn into trouble for us. We have been sold with all the good stuff of FTs but not the negative side. The gods are speaking up. See, this is what will happen if there are too many FTs, without roots or short roots. They cannot be the same as the local trees.

Generating contrived demands for goods and services

On one side of the coin there is this huge cry for more headcounts to sustain the economy and more growth. We need 2.5% to keep the population sustainable or, I think, we will disappear from this world. The rest of the world leaders are simply silly for not pushing for 2.5% population growth to keep their countries from dying. Europe, America, Japan, in fact all the developed countries will soon end up as history, forgotten civilisations. They failed, and willingly failed to boost their population growth. It is not only irresponsible, it is stupidity at its hike. Maybe that is why they are paid so much lesser, with a lesser brain to go along. Good thinking brains, able to plan ahead, to forsee future problems, need to be adequately rewarded. Singapore will survive with our 2.5% growth or more, while the other developed countries will be passe.



There are so many good things about population growth. It creates and generates demands for everything, housing, food, medical services, cars, transportation, schools, in fact everything. And when demand is high, the values of all goods and services will go up, and the whole economy becomes more vibrant. The more the demand, the more there is a need to build and provide for more services, and with more services and homes build, there is more need to bring in more people to occupy them and make the rest of the services profitable. It is a virtuous cycle.



This is like the lifestyle of a poor man and a rich man. The poor bugger, eats less, needs less, works less, and lives on less. The body gets thinner and needs lesser food, lesser space and eventually wither away. The rich guy eats more, needs more, works more to feed his needs, lives on more, needs more services to amuse himself and to keep his body going, leading to more and more demands for goods and services.



There is definitely a need to bring in more people to generate more demands for everything, more housing, more cars and transportation, more hospitals, more services.



The bid number of people has a small drawback. Over supply of labour will drive wages down. But this is a small price to pay if we want to generate more demands for very thing to keep the economy going. Higher prices of everything especially properties will make all property owners happy. A little bit of congestions or jams is bearable if we want growth and a higher standard of living.



It reminds me of the story of the guy lying on the beach below the coconut tree. Actually there were two guys. One was there since he was born, lazing around to enjoy his sun, sand and sea. The other was a very successful man who had worked all this life and had acquired enough riches to enjoy the sun, sand and sea. The former did not bother about the all the electronic gadgets, fine food and theatres and the arts. He did not know they existed and did not miss them. The latter had all of them and was running away from all that he had. He just wanted to get away from it all, to lie peacefully under the sun, on the beach, doing nothing.



We schemed, planned and worked so hard to get further away from the big landed property we want to share with our families and children, to grow up and play. We laughed and sneered at the North Koreans, condemning them of living in abject poverty, in their sprawling landed properties that cost maybe $10k, with only minimal electronic gadgets, and a big family of children running around. We have progressed, spend our time dining and wining with people that don’t mean much but have no time for our families, or to even have children. We spend all our waking time at work only to return to sleep in our little palaces, too tired to even talk to the children who, if any, would be fast asleep.



We achieved, we are high achievers, high living, and enjoy a great and busy life.

Miserables rebelling

The signs of the miserables rebelling are beginning to show. On one corner, those against pay rise for workers. On the other corner, those who feel that the workers have been underpaid and need a boost in their income to keep pace with the high cost of living.

The interesting thing, who are the people standing up for the workers’ plight? We are hearing voices from the luminaries crying out for the workers, and some prominent members of the establishment. Conscience pricks? This is unheard off since the centuries of revolutions in France, Russia and China. Today, the human resource professionals are also standing up for the workers. They understand the lot of the workers and how they are coping with the rising inflation. They have pooh poohed the myth that workers can buy a decent public flat with a $1000 monthly income or things along this line of thinking.

Now, who are at the other corner that are against giving workers a decent pay rise, a decent income to live a decent life? Maybe they believe that the workers are having a really good time and a really good life. No need to pay the workers crazily. With half a million dollar of subsidies, the workers are all half a millionaire. They are the envies of the world.