Guilty, guilty, guilty!

No, no, no, we are fair, we reported the by election fairly. We gave both parties equal coverage. The pictures used were appropriate to the stories. We are not biased! We are a respectable and professionally managed newspaper and we are reporting the facts after doing all the due diligence. This is the roughly the reply from the main media against the complaints by Low Thia Khiang for unfavourable coverage of his party during the election campaign.

Who is telling the truth? Who is dishonest? Whose integrity is in doubt? You be the judge. But, sssssshhhhh, keep it to yourself please. Don’t say anything. Don’t tell anyone. ‘Ren zai zhuo, tian zai kan.’ Translated, Man do, heaven watch.

Wall Streets betting slips

Many funds have been set up to advise high net worth clients on how to manage and invest their money. Actually the term invest is a misnomer. They should call themselves betting agencies, betting the clients money in the biggest unregulated casino, the New York Stock Exchange. Many funny instruments called options and derivatives and a mix match of these instruments were offered to high net worth sophisticated clients as sophisticated and complex investment products. In common layman parlance, these are just variations of betting slips or gambling offered to rich and daft clients who were either too lazy to know what they were, or too confused to know what these products were.

All the products can easily be explained in the language of the gamblers in the casinos, turf clubs or football betting counters. Strip them of their financial and unfamiliar jargons, they are nothing new that the gamblers in these gambling outlets did not know.

Options is simply placing bets and covering the opposite position. Putting $100 on white may lose everything. So to minimize the risk, depending on the appetite, the gambler could put $80 or $90 on red. And if the risk appetite is lower, put $100 on each to cover both sides. To be 100% safe, put a few chips on 0 and all bets will be covered.

Then there will be bets on big numbers or small numbers. The variation will be to place some on big and some on small and a few chips on single numbers, the so called high risk high return part. To package the bets to look more sophisticated, put some bets in big and small, some in white and red, and some in quarters or doubles to confuse the clients and gave them high sounding names like structured notes.

To raise the level of complexity, put the bets across tables or in different kinds of games. Put some bets in the roulette tables, some in black jacks and some in the poker tables. The latter two can charge higher management fee as a gambler would be needed to ‘manage’ the gambling. And call these bets structured funds to mesmerize the daft sophisticated investors.

Options in many instances are nothing more different than betting in a football game. Win if the score is 3 goals or more in call options. In bear options, win if the team loses by more than 2 goals or a combination of such bets. Create terms like spread, shoulders, butterfly to impress the investors. Butterfly is nothing but betting for a win if the scores are more than 3 for, or more than 3 against. Another variation is that any scores of more than 2 goals for or against will be knocked out.

The whole scheme of thing is betting and betting and betting. It has nothing to do with investment which fundamentally is putting money on a company because it has growth potential and to grow with the company through profits/dividend payouts or higher share prices. This kind of investment strategy is too slow.

Sophisticated daft investors would be better off betting in the turf club or in football matches as the games are simple enough to understand without the fictitious financial jargons that meant nothing. It is better to know what one is dabbling with than to be confused by the funds and their derivative products that are out to confuse by mixing a whole basket of bets. Why take the risk in betting that only the fund managers know what it is all about? If investors have high appetite for risk, go bet horses and football matches that are more transparent.

Of course horses and football matches are exposed to match fixing. So could these highly sophisticated betting slips. They are easier to manipulate by the big funds with their big war chests and sophisticated computers.

Wall Street and its parallel models across the world are just highly deregulated casinos and nothing else. Until it reverts to the original model of stocks and shares for investment, it is going to break the world’s financial system. It is no longer an investment market but a market for gambling. Wall Street should stop conning the world that it is a sophisticated stock market and a financial centre. It is NOT!

The worst part is that the snake oils are tainted to cheat the investors wholesale. The odds are worst than the highly regulated casinos in Las Vegas. With high speed computers plugged into the system to check all the buys and sells of small investors and to formulate a sure win position for the funds, how can the rest of the investors win? It is cheating of the first order. It is a crime that is allowed to commit in the heart of the world’s biggest financial centre. Do they know they are committing a crime? Yes. But with all the congressmen and regulators in cahoot, all paying themselves crazily, who is there to stop the embezzlement and daylight robbery?

Globalisation used to be the in thing

We plugged ourselves into the global system in every field. It was a good thing and we have had phenomenal growth by holding on to the coat tails of the American economy and system. And many countries too jumped in and everyone got hooked up into the same system. When the system is sound and doing well, everyone shares the prosperity. When the system is sick, everyone will be infected.

The unfortunate part today is that the global system is so sick, operated by crooks in all colours. And no matter how well run a country is, it needs a badly run country like the US or one in Europe to drag everyone else along. And this gets worst when many of the so called well run and well off countries are troubles themselves. Every crisis is an opportunity to patch up holes, and to create bigger holes.

And the rot does not stop here. The Americans and Europeans have plundered the system, corrupted the system and cheated the system for so long that it is no longer able to continue with just printing money for the crooks. They just cannot print fast enough.

And the safety of being too big to fall becomes the biggest problem as all the too big to fall is falling. Every too big to fall has an empty or rotten core. This looks like the world is set to have a free fall and there is no where to run.

All those stuck with big mortgages and multi million dollar properties are like those too big to fall. But when they fall, it can be quite disastrous. The big foreign banks are retrenching, downsizing. And the people let off are big earners with big mortgages. It is coming. It is contagious.

Low Thia Khiang won Hougang

After the Hougang by election, Low Thia Khiang lashed out at the media for biased reporting in favour of the PAP. This has elicited an editorial reply in today’s ST. The paper denied any unfair practices at all and in all purposes, have reported fairly, given both parties equal coverage and treatment. Low Thia Khiang’s remarks were thus unfounded.

What is interesting is the comment that Low Thia Khiang more or less single handedly won Hougang for the WP. He is so charismatic and the people were drawn to him, loyal to him, and Hougang was his. KNN, Teo Chee Hean not charismatic meh? Auntie killer Desmond Choo not charismatic meh? And Hsien Loong and Boon Wan all not charismatic meh? All the PAP’s charisma not good enough against that of Low and lost the by election. Wah Lau eh.

We have a Singapore idol in the making in Low Thia Khiang, the most charismatic leader that outshone all his opponents combined. He won the election because of his charisma. Aljunied will be with him for as long he wants it. And another few GRCs will go to him in the next GE when he appears on stage. Finally Singapore has thrown up a real charismatic leader, and rightly he should be good enough as the next PM.

Now that the election is over, let’s go back to deal with more formidable issues like population, immigration, housing and transport, upgrading and widening income gap. Actually, to me these are non issues. They are all self created and inflicted issues, petty issues that need not be issues at all. Who insists on bringing more immigrants? Who refused to build more public housing? Who increases the load on the transport system or what are the causes of transport woes? They are caused not by external factors. What about widening income gap? Caused by external factors, cannot be helped, must be like that because this is progress?

Maybe we should give the charismatic leader and his team a chance in the next GE to solve these formidable problems. Low Thia Khiang should start to recruit a good team to prepare for such an eventuality now that his charisma has been acknowledged and a force to be reckoned with.

The obsolescence of a once mighty political party

Is it because it is living the proverbial wisdom of not outliving the third generation? Or is it a party that outlives itself? The PAP is looking more like an obsolete party working itself out of favour from a populace that once held it in high esteem and in awe. Within a brief period of a few years, the awe and confidence just simply disappeared.

I hope I am wrong, but as a political observer, this is exactly what I am seeing. The PAP has lost the support of the people except for some diehards. It still has a lot of yesterday’s glory to crow about. But the future, the way it is leading the country forward, is treacherous and slippery. It is looking very unsustainable in many areas.

The ridiculous high remuneration at the top for deserving and undeserving incumbents cannot be kept going for too long without a healthy money printing machine. And this machine comes in the form of more migrants, higher fees and prices for public housing and public services and taxes. And an ever rising cost of living but a depression of wages at the lower end. It is simply a very vicious cycle that will ground to a halt in an ever greater speed. Tell the people that this is the way it is?

The situation is such that the PAP/govt has dug itself deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit and unable to extricate itself. The high salaries cannot come down without a rebellion from the recipients as they have lived it up, incurred heavy mortgages, and used to a lifestyle difficult to maintain. The high property prices cannot come down without destroying the wealth and savings of the owners. The high cost of living cannot be brought down without hurting the economic growth numbers. The high import of foreign workers cannot be reduced without affecting the industries and economy and to support the high salaries at the top.

It still looks good to some who are enjoying and benefitting from it and blind to the tight rope they are balancing on. No mis-step as the fall is steep. But they are oblivious to what is happening below, the masses that have to deal with the rapid changes of a very expensive city and lifestyle without the accompanying increases in income. Whatever increases will be eaten up immediately by inflation.

How long can the good time last before the bust? Those who are at the fringes are seeing and living the danger facing them. Those that are comfortable are not. However, the cracks are appearing everywhere. Land for cemeteries must go. Land for nursing homes, hospices and caskets are needed but where to build them when the competition and demand for space are growing with an unrestrained population growth to keep economic numbers looking good? Living with the dead, the sick and the old as neighbours will be a norm no matter how unpleasant. There is just no where else to go. The price of growth and growing the economy/population at all cost, to sustain a high living low thinking, no tomorrow or tomorrow will never come lifestyle will have to be paid sooner or later.

And where are the super talented leaders to lead the people? Why is there a feeling of a void, that not many are worthy or being regarded as worthy to lead and command the respect of the people? Many are looking so clumsy and inept and questionable. A side effect of scrapping the bottom of the barrel?

As the party keeps trotting down the path of no return, it is distancing itself more and more from the common people, unable to understand them and forcing them to accept that that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it should go, and be. The income gap is widening. The visions of the rulers and the ruled are widening at heady speed, heading in different directions. When both rulers and ruled do not share the same dream, one must become obsolete or go.

The rousing reception of the WP in Hougang in the by election was once the exclusive right of the PAP. The people were celebrating their victory with an outpouring of unrestrained joy. It was hallelujah! The contrast, the PAP contingent was greeted by cold stares and a few polite waves, a very unfamiliar situation that they were not used to, and would have to get used to as a new future dawns. It is a new phenomenon and a new reality. It is coming to an end so fast.

Just my observation.

Hougang: You are not listening

On paper, Desmond Choo should have walked away with Hougang quite comfortably. There were so many things going for him. The PM, DPM and the whole PAP machinery were speaking and rooting for him. The whole war chest of the govt was in his pocket, so to speak, to spruce up the Singapore slum in Hougang, a neglected constituency left to its own fancy and limited resources. Who can resist the kind of goodies that Desmond is rolling out, or going to roll out for them?



The main media’s courage alone would have won the election for him too. This was not in the case of Png Eng Huat, who was accused of dishonesty and lack of integrity, two factors that would have thrown him out if he were to seek employment or wanted to go into business with anyone. He was written off like a leper.



And what could Png Eng Huat offer except for more of the same? And Desmond Choo warned the Hougangkia that that was what they would get for the next 4 years if they did not elect him.



And the controversies of WP having internal quarrels, party members resigning, Poh Lee Guan collecting his donation slip and could have gone on to challenge Png in a three corner fight. Then the leak of CEC minutes being aired everywhere. This is not just to discredit Png, but also to tell the voters that WP could be infiltrated by moles, a hopeless party that could not guard even against traitors within their ranks. The worst was being accused of being a racist party. That could have been very costly.



All said, with the cards stacked against Png Eng Huat, what was left was the loyalty to Low Thia Kiang and the WP, and the hearts of the Hougangkia. Would they buy the goodies offered and change course? Would they forget the 20 years of neglect, penalties for voting the WP, and threats of more of the same?



There is also a bigger agenda at stake, where is Singapore heading? Are the voters happy with the govt, the direction it is taking, the policies and the interests of the people? And, are they confident that this govt will be there to serve them and bring about a better life for everyone? The big picture was also in play.



The Hougangkia voted against immediate short term gains. They rejected all the offers and promises. They voted for change, and for having to bear with the consequences that they have lived with for 21 years. There is some chivalry left, a sense of justice and fair play, a sense of righteousness, a hope that things can be better with a change in govt in an uncertain future.



The other opposition parties also played their parts by not throwing in a spanner in a three corner fight. It makes the choice of the Hougangkia much straight forward. The victory is the victory of the Hougangkia and those who wanted a regime change. They wanted change, but change in their own terms, not something to be bargained for. They wanted to chart their own course and the course of the country, a new course, not this one.



Desmond Choo gained 3%. In absolute terms, the gain was 124 votes more than his last election. For all the efforts and distractions, this is too insignificant to call a meaningful gain. The PAP has failed in a big way with this kind of result. It is painting on the wall.



2016 is going to see a dramatic change in political fortunes. It will be an election to count the number of GRCs falling, and the ministers that go with them. I have not been so sure about this trend of thought until this by election.



This by election is part of a bigger scheme of things to come. It is a test bed on the emotions of the people with Hougang as a small sample. Some may dismiss Hougang as too small, isolated and does not represent the whole of the island. It may be, but it still represents a big shift in the political mindset and aspiration of the common people. Look at the crowd at the informal WP kopitiam HQ and those in the PAP HQ. The difference is stark. It is the people versus the droids. It is the tide of a spontaneous people uprising against a regime gone bad and its machine. And Hougang is a confirmation that things will not be the same again. It is not going to be a status quo in the next 4 years running up to the GE in 2016.



The only minister that may be quietly smiling could be Tharman. Hsien Loong and Chee Hean are looking very likely to lose their GRCs. As things are today, not many ministers will be around after the next GE. Tharman could be the next PM in a drastically shrunk govt with a small majority in Parliament. Hougang is going to set the ball rolling.

More of the same for Hougang for another 4 years

Desmond Choo has improved his score from 35% to 38% in the by election. His strategy is working, albeit a bit slower than expected. But it is testimony that the same strategy will work and he will gain more votes in the next election.

And what would be in store for Hougang in the next 4 years prior to the GE? There will be two MPs, an official and an unofficial MP serving them. The latter would definitely work harder to want to win more voters to his side.

There will also be more of the same, more porridges will be served, hearing aids and maybe something better. And as for upgradings and queues for more govt goodies, subsidies and handouts, it will be business as usual.

Hougang cannot expect many changes given the constraints of the WP’s party and its budget. But they will get by and move on. Any change coming to Hougang will be in the next GE, when they vote in Desmond Choo, or when there is a regime change with the WP forming the govt.

For the time being, the PAP will live by its slogan ‘Always here for you’. It is so unfair that Hougang is having the service of two MPs. The only irony is that it is still the step son and will be kind of a ‘run down’.  People may ask, how can that be, with two MPs and one always there for them. Hougang should be the best of all the constituencies.

Oops, forgot to mention that Png Eng Huat of the WP has been elected as the new MP of Hougang with 62% majority. And the Hougangkia have chosen to be daft again.

The hard truth

This world is unfair. So accept it. There will be those who are able and become extremely rich. And there will be those who are unable and become extremely poor. The income gap is unavoidable. High property price is unavoidable. High COE price is also unavoidable.

Actually I am not against an unfair world with an unfair system, as long as I am enjoying the unfairness and benefitting from it. Anyone who is benefitting from an unfair system has no reason to complain. They should actually shut up and pretend that nothing happens. Or better, just convince the losers that life is good and everything is affordable. Like $1000 pm income can afford a 4 rm flat or this is the best place for poor people.

This is a natural truth, a hard truth. Another hard truth is that those who are not receiving their fair share of the unfair system should kpkb. This is also natural. 

The existence of both groups is like the thesis, anti thesis and synthesis of dialectical materialism. The wider the income gap, the quicker it reaches the climax, the greater will be the anti thesis forces to forge a new synthesis. This is also a natural hard truth. But those beneficiaries of such inequality would not or could not see this, refuse to see it or try to prolong this state of affair for as long as they could, and be on the right side of the inequality.

Now you know why winners have no issue with inequality but losers have. The tug and pull is an ongoing process. It is normal that the winners will have all the resources to keep the status quo for their benefits. No need to apologise for it. It is just a hard truth and is unfair. So what? So what can the losers do about it? Only winners talk about hard truth as a reality in their comfort zone and that losers must accept it as the status quo and be grateful that it is not worst.

Hougang’s political demography

In the last election, WP won 65% of popular votes in Hougang leaving PAP’s Desmond Choo with only 35%. This may look innocuous enough but on careful scrutinizing, it is actually a very tight situation for the PAP.

The general distribution of voters between the PAP and opposition is normally a 30% hard core supporters for each side and leaving the balance 40% as the fence sitters or swing votes. Applying this general pattern, PAP was only able to win 5% of the 40% swing votes. In this scenario the optimists in PAP camp would think there is room for improvement, to move the 5% a few notches up.

On the other hand, the WP can at most win the 5% from PAP and stripping PAP to the skin of its teeth. This will be the worst case scenario this weekend for the PAP. Anything less is unthinkable and will send a signal that it is all over for the PAP.

Another probable distribution in the case of Hougang, which is an unusual constituency, is that WP has a hardcore support of 45% against a PAP’s 35%, leaving a balance of 20% swing votes. If this is the case, in the last election PAP was only able to hold on to its hard core supporters and WP had a clean sweep of the swing voters. All the lose votes went to WP. This means that PAP was not making any headway with the fence sitters at all.

And the outcome of this by election could see PAP at 35% again or winning some of the swing votes from the WP. It would need to win 15% of the 20% fence sitters to have a chance of winning Hougang. Hougang is likely to be retained as WP needs only 6% from the swing voters to retain the seat. For WP to take anything less than 5% from the swing voters is likely to be remote.

My assessment is that WP should retain the seat of Hougang but will find it very difficult to better the result of the GE as that would mean eating into the hard core supporters of the PAP camp. Desmond is likely to keep his 35% with a +/- 3% either way.

Horror! China’s economy slowing down

The World Bank has issued a warning to stupid Asian countries that China’s economy is slowing down. What it is saying is that these economies would be dragged down because China’s economy is going down. China is going to be in deep trouble and will hurt other Asian economies as well.

Now, would the shitty economies that are going bankrupt one by one in Europe be hurting the Asian countries? Definitely not. Even when the US barely achieved a 1-2% growth would not hurt the Asian economies.

Okay, China’s is going to have a hard landing as they prayed. They have been praying and hoping that China’s economy will collapse and their wish is coming true. How hard is this hard landing, and how bad is the slow down? The official report of the World Bank cuts China’s growth from 8.4% to 8.2%! Oh my God, what a pathetic figure of growth numbers. Only 8.2% growth! This is disastrous. What a badly managed economy, such miserable growth.

Now which country in the world is going to chalk more than a 5% growth? Any country out there? You mean there is no other country out there that can achieve a 5% growth rate and China’s 8.2% growth is so bad that the World Bank needs to issue a warning?

What kind of joke is this? Any country that can attain a 4 or 5% growth number will likely be trumpeting to the world on how well it has performed. 8.2% is not good enough, is bad? Yawn.

A battle for the hearts

I was watching the news last night, trying to catch a glimpse of Png Eng Huat on TV. The coverage of Desmond Choo and the PAP was quite extensive, running into minutes. Desmond got the most air time, speaking at the podium. So I waited to see how much time was given to Png Eng Huat. All I saw was Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao and Pritam Singh. Png Eng Huat was not featured at all. Oh I got a glimpse of him in his walkabout, maybe 2 sec.

After a couple of days of coverage mainly on PAP candidate, finally we are seeing some balance in coverage for the two candidates and parties today. Is this a result of the criticism in cyberspace that it was a one sided reporting and a no choice situation to show some fairness in reporting? The perception and comments in cyberspace were that the reporting was obviously a one sided affair.

And what about the campaign tactics itself? The ruling party could have gone on to tell the voters of what they could do for them, on how good they are in meeting the aspirations of the Hougang people. But the key issue was to run down Png Eng Huat, calling him dishonest, questioning his integrity with a sneaky copy of the minutes of WP CEC meeting which was confidential and should not be in the hands of outsiders. The WP cannot use the OSA to arrest anyone, and that sneaky act was used repeatedly everyday to run down the WP candidate.

How this sneaky copy of minutes got into the hands of the PAP is definitely not the fault of the PAP. It must be from someone untraceable, anonymous. Maybe some unhappy WP CEC member. Definitely not a PAP supporter. The people waving this piece of minutes are definitely honourable people and would not stoop to this kind of nefarious activity to get hold of the minutes of a confidential meeting. Waving them in public is also nothing to be ashamed of.

We are at the end of the campaigning. Who will win the hearts of the people, not only the people of Hougang? Every Singaporean interested is watching the whole show and taking notes of how the game was played, who is honourable, who is dishonest, who is playing fair, who is cheating all the way. And they will make their own judgement for this by election and subsequent elections to come.

The verdict will be out in a couple of days. Who have won the hearts of daft Sinkies? Who have taken the Sinkies for granted?

Desmond Choo distancing himself from NCMP issue

Desmond Choo is trying to fight a gentleman’s election in Hougang. He knew that belaboring on the NCMP issue and questioning Png Eng Huat’s integrity over it is like hitting below the belt and will make him look bad. He chooses to be a gentleman and to distance himself from talking about it. He does not want to slip into the longkang.

And I think Png Eng Huat is also doing his best not to attack Desmond Choo personally or drag out other unkind things to say. Hougang voters deserve to see these two candidates fight a fair fight, on issues and on how they want to represent them in parliament, and on bigger things. Parliament needs decent people who will be there to talk about issues of the state and of the people, not to go for character assassination. Though some really believe that they are immortals, the truth is out there for all to see. Mortals will be mere mortals.

Hope Desmond Choo and Png Eng Huat will stay on course and not be misled into petty squabbles. The people of Hougang will have the final say and vote the one they think is best for Hougang and for all the people of the country.

More Sinkie jokes

The banking industry is hailing a grand plan to groom Singaporeans for key positions. My God, they suddenly realized that barely any Singaporeans are good enough to fill key positions in the banks. No wonder they have to bring in foreigners to fill the many top positions in the banks. Sad isn’t it. And it looks like one whole generation of Singaporean bankers have been wasted and now a plan to groom young Singaporeans for the future. Hopefully in 30 years we will have some Singaporeans that are found good enough to fill the top positions in the banking industry.

And the reason is simple. There are just not enough Sinkies with the right experience and skill sets in the banking and finance industries to fill up the top jobs. Now they have to go to third world countries to look for them. What is the matter? A regional financial centre, with aspiration to be a world financial centre, or nearly there, could not train of produce bankers with the right experience and skills. And only small cities in some corners of the world can produce such talents. Is this meant to be a joke? April 1st has gone by for nearly two months! I would think all the third world aspirants who want to learn the latest skills in finance would want to come here to learn the ropes?

If a world class financial centre is not the place to train and throw up experienced bankers, where else can do better? Timbuktu or Fiji Island, or Mauritius? Maybe Bermuda Triangle. And what to think of our world class universities when second and third grade universities from Australia to the US are supposedly producing better and cleverer graduates to fill the top posts here? Gaming the score sheets to be ranked among the best is looking more like a futile exercise, like the straight A graduates that are found wanting to third class graduates from lower ranked universities.

And the banks were proud to tell that 75% or 80% of their employees were Singaporeans AND PRs. What the fuck is this PR thing lumped together with Singaporeans? How many are Singaporeans and how many are PRs? Please tell. Another cannot face daylight fact of Sinkie Land.

This must be a classic joke of paradise.

Making fallacious political statements

Everyday I am bombarded with points that Png Eng Huat is a NCMP reject, honesty or integrity in question, and WP is not respecting Hougang voters by insisting on offering them a reject. I am finding this line of thought a bit amusing and could be turned around and played up as well.

Notwithstanding that Png Eng Huat’s nomination to be NCMP is a totally different issue. Nothwithstanding that even if he was a reject by his CEC, lets look at how would this apply to the PAP candidate.

Desmond Choo was a reject by the Hougang voters in the last election, not rejected by his CEC. His predecessor was a reject over and over again by the Hougangkia. This is direct rejection by the voters, not something that is remote from the context of the election, to ask for the voters acceptance.

Next, why is WP not respecting Hougang voters and forcing them to accept a reject to a NCMP post? Or put it the other way, why is the PAP not respecting the Hougang voters and forcing them to accept candidates that have been found not good enough and have been rejected, in Eric Low’s case, over several GEs?

The other point is about integrity and commitment to serve the Hougangkia. Over the last 20 years, were the PAP there for the Hougang residents when its campaign line is ‘Always there for you?’ Yes, they were there, but many things that the Hougang residents needed and wanted were out of their reach while the PAP was there.

Would the same be the same again if the WP wins? Would Hougang be at the end of the queue for goodies and handouts? Would PAP respect the wishes of the Hougangkia and offer them a better candidate in the next GE and not another reject?

Political arguments are full of holes and can be twisted and turned to suit whatever purposes at the moment. Just bite on a little error or misquote a word, and don’t let go. Shaft the knife in and give it a twist to make sure it sticks. But most political arguments cannot hold water and are made only to score a few points for the moment, if they could agitate the emotions of the listeners. When one steps back, cool down, think about it, most political arguments are just plain hogwash, like mine : )

The brave Hougang spirit

The brave Hougang spirit cannot be dampened by a little rain. There is a sense of pride, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of hope in the faces of those in the Workers Party rally. This kind of spirit has not been seen for a very long time. They were the losers, the underdogs. They did not go there for freebies. They were not coaxed to be there. They were there, willingly, happily, to support their party and the candidate.

This is something the PAP would have to reckon with. They used to command this kind of crowd and support. They must now recognize that the people of Hougang are very different. Not only Hougang, there were many from other parts of the island joining the WP supporters, to stand under the rain, to brave the down pour, to be with their leaders on stage, who were equally drenched. But you could see them smiling and knowing that the people are truly behind them. There is a unity of heart and soul that money cannot buy.

The spectators could sense it, could feel it. Political leaders surely know that they have won the hearts of the people. I think they have won the election even before the campaign is over.

Stop immigrants - Australia

In the ST today, 50% of Australians in a poll wanted to stop immigrants into Australia. They fear that more immigrants will cause stress to the country’s infrastructure as well as unemployment problems.

How could Australians be worried about over population? If they do not want the new immigrants, Singapore is waiting with open arms. Send them over, we can continue to grow our population to create more growth. Yes, more population means more growth. Can’t the Australians understand this simple economic principle? Australians stupid or what?

In another 20 years Singapore will have a bigger population than Australia and our economy would probably more than triple than what it is today and leave the Australians far far behind. And every Singaporean will be a millionaire.

The Hougang brawl slipping into the longkang

It started with a few swipes at each other. Now the swipes are turning a bit dirtier. Forget about a gentleman’s fight. It is looking to be another great crass act when all the knives will be out soon.

The Hougang leak is just the beginning. It is conceivable to see video clips to go viral in the follow up. Then there will be the iphone taps, the insinuations in cyberspace, and who knows, compromising photos may even appear.

Would the family lives of both candidates be aired as well, the who’s who being connected and the ugly episodes being staged one by one? The primordial instinct to want to win, come what may, is the dominant characteristic of how man will behave in a fight.

The people of Hougang and the rest of the citizens will be treated to an exciting free for all show down. Both candidates could crawl out of the ring covered in dirt and shit by the time the election is over. Great script and great directing and great supporting casts.

The Ferrari and Hougang by election

What has the Ferrari accident got to do with the Hougang by election? Someone emailed a story of a Hougang voter’s encounter with an old man. I am not sure if this is true or just a story. The gist of it is that the Ferrari was going too fast, just like the way the economy is being pushed to fly. And if the driver refused to put on the brakes, come what may, even when he saw the red light, the poor bugger that is going to be killed will be the innocent taxi drivers and passengers. The taxi driver was just going on his life, struggling to earn a living, even at 4am. How would he to know that there was a crazy driver that refused to stop even when the red light was on?

Now, who can stop such crazy drivers, or what can stop them? You need a good co driver beside him to tell him to stop when needed to. And to be effective, the brakes must be working as well to allow the co driver to pull the brakes. If not, if there is no brake or no co driver, the crazy driver will just go about driving crazily. And many taxi drivers/passengers could end up as collateral damages, not knowing what hit them.

The email story said Hougang is like the brakes. You need the brakes in an emergency. You also need the co driver or more co drivers. And remember, taxis got no airbags, no social security when a big bang happens. There is nothing to protect or act as cushion. And make sure the co driver is not a little girl that is infatuated by the Ferrari and the driver and enjoying the wild ride.

The story ended by asking the people if they want more brakes and co drivers or want to be another taxi driver that ended up as statistics. And the moral of the story is….Don’t drive too fast, slow down a bit, watch out for red lights. And stop when the red light is on!

Quite commonsensical really, unless one is high on drugs or drunk.

Why bother with money laundering?

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012


Civil Society, Business Groups Call on Congress to Support Incorporation Transparency, Ban Anonymous U.S. Shell Companies

From the FACT coalition, Global Witness, and Global Financial Integrity.



Civil Society, Business Groups Call on Congress to Support Incorporation Transparency, Ban Anonymous U.S. Shell Companies



Legislation Enjoys Support of Law Enforcement, Obama Administration; Would Clean-Up American Financial System



May 16, 2012



WASHINGTON, DC – Today, 41 business and civil society groups sent a letter to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate urging them to co-sponsor the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (S. 1483/ H.R. 3416). This bipartisan bill, which is endorsed by the Obama Administration, would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners at the time of incorporation, making it much harder for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers, terrorists and other criminals to form and hide behind anonymous U.S. shell companies.



The signatories1, who include, among others, American Sustainable Business Council, Calvert Investments, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Citizens for Tax Justice, Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, CtW Investment Group, Domini Social Investments LLC, Friends of the Earth – US, Global Financial Integrity, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, Jubilee USA Network, Main Street Alliance, Oxfam America, Project On Government Oversight, Revenue Watch Institute, Sunlight Foundation and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, are concerned that it is legal to form companies in the United States with hidden ownership.



The letter states:

Increased corporate transparency would curb corruption and tax evasion, promote an equitable market economy, reduce the opacity of corporate campaign contributions, help ensure a fair and level playing field for small- and medium-sized businesses, foster global development and enhance national security…



Investigations continue to reveal that American and foreign terrorists, narco-traffickers, arms dealers, corrupt foreign officials, tax evaders, individuals targeted for financial sanctions and other criminals easily and regularly set up U.S. shell companies, without providing any information about who owns or controls such companies...This enables criminals to disguise their identities behind the anonymity provided to U.S. corporations and launder dirty money through the U.S. financial system.

The full letter can be read here.



Corporate secrecy fundamentally undermines U.S. laws to combat money laundering and tax evasion, as well as U.S. efforts to tackle global corruption. A recent World Bank report found that the U.S. was a favorite destination of corrupt politicians trying to set up shell companies to access the financial system. Once corrupt and other illicit funds have been moved through an anonymous corporate vehicle into the financial system, it is much harder to track them down. Shining a light on the ultimate owners of companies, would make it easier for law enforcement to do its job. To date, eight law enforcement organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, have endorsed the legislation.

The above passage is part of an article posted in the site Tax Justice Network, an international NGO that is concerned with tax evasion, money laundering and the damages these caused to the ordinary citizens. It seems that the US is a favourite playground for money laundering while the US Govt is making a show of it by making fools of other nations, pressuring them to enforce strict regulations against money laundering. This is exactly the same modus operandi it adopts in calling their enemy nations as aggressors or warmongers when the US itself is the most aggressive warmongers today, creating tensions, starting wars and fighting wars. It screams danger when smaller countries try to acquire arms or nuclear weapons for their national defence while it is the biggest exporter of arms to the world and holds the largest collection of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

The treachery and hypocrisy of the Americans are beyond reproach. Only dumb countries will believe the biggest international gangster and do its bidding, to waste valuable manpower and resources to police money laundering in their little countries when all the major money laundering activities are being conducted in the US.

The Hougang brawl so far

I won’t use the term debate, discourse or election campaign, or anything that will give some semblance of maturity or respectability in the things said at the rallies so far. It is unbelieveable that so many childish and impish taunts and threats were aired as if they were clever points to make, by serious adults.

The kopitiams were full of laughters as they imitate or parrot the things uttered at the rallies. My gosh, are we seeing little children trying to score points against one another in a primary school debate? The secondary school debates were definitely several notches above in terms of lucidity, cogency and thoughtfulness in the points raised by the debaters. And here we are supposed to have a national debate by seasoned politicians. And what were they bitching about? The points were so parochial and pedestrian. Do they know that the school debaters out performed them in every point made. Put the school debaters and the politicians side by side, it is simply a mismatch, and in the favour of the school kids.

I can’t be proud of what I have heard so far. It is like trying to make a snide remark whenever the other party said something that is marginally ambiguous or with some loop holes to exploit. This is quality, we are progressing, raising political debate to a higher level. It is crass politics at its best.