Retail penetration encouraged

The SGX is trying another way to attract more retail participation in the stock market. The new scheme is to make blue chips easily available to small investors in small amounts of as low as $100 per entry per month.

Chew Sutat, the Executive Vice President of SGX said, ‘Equity investing is about saving and investing for the long term, not just about trading and speculating. It is not just the just the domain of the rich….A low retail participation is not ideal, because it means our capital market is not doing a good job of allocating savings towards investments, for the benefit of both savers and entrepreneurs.’ Quoted from Today and ST.

All the minor suggestions and schemes are meant to be good, to increase activities and participations by the retail investors. What is missing is the reason why the retail investors are fleeing from the stock market. Does anyone know why or nobody wants to know why? Most retail investors are losing their pants and their savings. How then could they find the money and the encouragement to return to the market?

Anyone wonder why are the small investors kept on losing and losing? If the stock exchange does not want to know the truth and think a little gimmicks here and there would bring back the small investors, I think it is a very serious case of delusion.

Stock markets from New York to London, Hongkong and Tokyo, are operating almost in the same way, with the big funds using their computers to trade against the small guys. Where is the chance for the small guys to make a little profit? How can the ordinary guy trade against the computers that are plugged into the exchanges to capitalize on speed and access to information that the small guys did not have?

Until stock markets are operating a system that is fair to both big and small investors, the small retail investors are not going to bite. Stock trading is cannot be a long term investment or a casino where the big funds are gambling with their computers. The first thing to do is to get rid of the unfair advantages of the big funds. Otherwise the stock markets across the world will be a slow march to certain death. The small retail investors just cannot afford to lose and lose. And the big funds will eventually find that there is just not enough small fish to fill their big appetite.

Govt rebutting false or misleading information posted in social media

A new govt website ‘Follow us on @govsingapore or @e101singapore to #cutthruthehaze‘has started to rebut some of the information posted in social media that are deemed incorrect or not the right thing. Among the sites mentioned and with information that were rebutted or corrected by this new govt website are TRE, Facebook and The Heart Truths.

I would read this move by the Govt as a positive development in freedom of expression and freedom of the net. It also says that the Govt is serious about what were being posted in the media and in a way helping to raise the standard of social media. All media, main media and social media are prone to make mistakes now and then. And a better way of dealing with such mistake is to right it by informing the media source of the error, or as in this case putting up a site just for such a purpose. But this may not be very effective as not many people will purposely go to visit a site like this to read corrections or errors.

However, it beats having to legislate the social media with licence, fines and imprisonment and all the cumbersome legislative processes. And since a note to the editor of the offending media is so difficult to do so, well, this is ok then. MDA should have thought of this in the first place and avoid the big hue and cry by the netizens with the new regulations on licensing.

Now the Govt is talking. Isn’t this is what communication is all about? Just get any mistakes or errors corrected. No need to bring Sue into the picture.

It would also be nice for major social media sites to set up a section on errors printed in the main media. In this case, it is more meaningful as it is not common for main media to want to entertain social media for their honest mistakes or unintentional professional errors. It is more likely that such a request from the social media may end up in the waste bins.

Major websites like the TRE may want to set aside a column just for this purpose. It will be interesting to chalk up the errors of main media against the errors of unprofessional bloggers.

What do you think?

China’s Shenzhou X returns safely

‘Three astronauts who completed China's longest manned space mission returned to Earth safely Wednesday morning, marking another step forward towards the country's goal of building a permanent manned space station by 2020.

Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, said the Shenzhou X mission was a "complete success"….’ China Daily 26 Jun 13

China again proved that it is making steady progress in space technology and space travel. The 3 astronauts spent 15 days in China’s own space lab, Tiangong 1 before landing precisely in the landing area in Inner Mongolia. The whole mission is a story of engineering feats, science and technology, communications, material science and human endeavour, to do what is possible within the means of human enterprise.

In a mission like this, other than being perfect and precise in everything that needs to be done, anything can go wrong any time and the mission could fail with loss of human lives. The successful return of the astronauts is a big stride forward for China and the Chinese people.

China has now joined the ranks of the Americans and Russians in making space a new frontier for the human race.

Haze: Are you protected

With the haze issue so current and so personal up close, everyone is feeling it and affected by it, I thought it would be good to listen to the CNA programme last evening. Martin, the host, had three other guests, a medical doctor, the deputy CEO of NEA and a social activist. The programme went on quite well with many interested callers as if one hour was just too short.

By the time the hour was up, I could summarise the programme with three words, confusion, evasion and exasperation. If anyone got the chance to review the programme in the net, you will know what I mean. So many things were said and so many questions were asked, but everything was evasion, confusion and the audience got away so exasperated and frustrated. But not all was lost as there were some very valuable points raised that were enlightening but also confusing at the same time. Only on a couple of questions that a simple answer expected were granted.

I will try to summarise a few of the salient points that I could still recall.

1. Buying of a N95 mask. Many people out there would have believed that getting hold of a N95 mask would solve all their problems and fears. Far from it. Buying a N95 mask is the beginning of their troubles. The first problem is how to wear it properly, which many assumed was natural and easy. Then there are questions of when to use it, how often and how long it can last. More confusions. And the myth provided in the media that the mask is reusable is not exactly right.

2. The manufacturer was quoted to say that the mask can be used for up to 8 hours. What does that mean? It depends on the condition of the PSI and how long is the mask exposed to different PSI level. Anyone wiser?

3. As to when to wear, the mother of all answers is to refer to the NEA website and the official advisory. Now what is that? Ah Peh and Ah Ma dunno leh. So for those ‘boh tak cheh’, not computer literate, so how? Dunno leh. Can Mediacorp put it up for easy reference by the laypeople or not? This must be important right? No one ask, but just accept that you want to know you better know how to get to the NEA website.

4. And to my horror, wearing the mask can be a dangerous thing. Pregnant women better seek medical advice before wearing one or risk harming the foetus. Wearing the mask could also lead to more forceful breathing that may end up more harm than good. And for the kiasu and kiasi, please don’t wear the mask for too long or wear it when sleeping.

5. Forceful breathing is also related to the advice by some to use wet towels. The doctor said wet towel only remove more of the bigger particles. The PM 2.5 could end with greater numbers in the body when one breathes heavily through a wet towel.

6. And what is this, buying poor quality imitation mask thinking it is safe and walking around with it and endangering oneself. How to solve this problem?

7. PSI. This is the next most confusing item other than PM 2.5. Forget about the numbers as they don’t mean a thing to the laypeople. But the terms, very unhealthy and hazardous should mean something right? So everyone thinks so. Now what does very unhealthy mean to you? What can you do and not do? Or what is the meaning of hazardous? Hide under the bed, or go to work as per normal, just take it easy, don’t rush, don’t run, don’t exercise? If that is the case why is it called hazardous? How hazardous is hazardous? You know meh?

8. Now the tricky part. PSI 300 is very unhealthy or hazardous? Some reports said only above PSI 400 is hazardous. But then not really leh. Is exposure to PSI 400 for 10 min or 20 min not hazardous, …never mind. So exposed to how long then will ‘not be never mind’? Oh, like that you cannot use the 3 hour PSI. The very unhealthy and hazardous tags are meant for 24 hour PSI. Why like that one? KNN, how are the laypeople to know? Why put up something that no one knows?

9. Never mind, never mind. Samulah. Would 3 hours of continuous PSI 400 be hazardous, if you know what this word mean? Or would 3 hours of PSI 600 be hazardous or more hazardous than a 24 hour PSI 400? Which one is more serious, one hour exposure to a 3 hr PSI 600 or one hour exposure to a 24 hr PSI 400? Really catch no balls.

10. For all the laypeople listening to the programme, do they really understand what the panel was talking about? I am sure they would want a few simple answers as a guide to their daily activities. I think it will be very helpful if an answer like when 3 hr PSI is 400, this is what it means and what the people should avoid doing. Or when the 24 hr PSI is 400, can’t imagine that happening with a constant 400 average over 24 hours. I would imagine an emergency will be declared and everyone be told to stay inside the bomb shelters and wear their N95s at the same time.

11. And, this one the GPs will all be very happy to know. When experiencing any difficulties or not sure, go and check with the GPs. You think seeing a GP is for free ah?

12. One interesting point for smokers. When the haze is dense outside, and when all the doors and windows are closed, please do not smoke inside the house. Not even when the aircon is on. I think no need to explain why for this. And watch what you are cooking if they add to air pollution inside a closed home.

I must say many things were spoken, many questions asked, many were ‘elar’ or the answers were evasive. And if not sure, refer to NEA website or refer to the 24 hr PSI. What if a person wants to go out to do something and the eyes say don’t go? Refer to the 24 hr PSI. What nonsense!

It would be good that a little time should be allotted for the panel host to summarise a few key points in simple forms for the listeners so that at least they can pick up a few pointers of the do’s and don’ts and not the maybe like this, maybe like that, or it depends on this or that or how long or how high the PSI.

Damn confusing and damn ‘pek chek’ when the programme came to a close. If I can feel jialat, dunno about all the aunties and uncles.

China and Russia must do the ball squeezing

The Americans are threatening Russia and China for not toeing the line to the Empire. The Empire wants the whistle blower Edward Snowden back, to be handed over to the Imperial Guards for execution. Russia and China are playing dumb, the way the Americans had been doing when they were smuggling away Russian or Chinese dissidents to the US. Russia and China are just returning the favour and doing what the Americans have been doing best.

Now what? The Americans are warning of consequences like they are going to wallop Russia and China or to punish the two countries. China was told that for not obeying the Empire, it would affect the building of trust by the Americans. This is the same thing the Americans have been accusing China for all the donkey years, that China is untrustworthy, China is a violator of human rights, China is threatening its neigbours, China is a bully, China is getting aggressive towards its neighbours. So what else is new?

China should tell the Americans to go fuck off. No matter what China does, for no matter how long, the fucking Americans will still condemn China for all the things they have conjured up all these years. The Americans are using these accusations to harass China for as long as they want to. In fact the Americans have been creating mistrust against China, with a continuous campaign to brand China as a untrusting nation. China should not bother with this international bully and its deceit.

China and Russia should just do what they deemed best, hide Snowden and ignore the threats and warnings from the Americans. By delivering Snowden on a platter will not minimise the accusations by the Americans or improve the ‘trust’ the Americans are talking about. The Americans are using all these jingos to threaten and blackmail China and Russia. Even with an extradiction treaty, it got the cheek to demand that the Russians return Snowden to the US or face consequences.

It is better for the Chinese and Russians to hold this Snowden card close to their chest and squeeze the American balls as hard as they can and let the Americans know how it feels for being squeezed. There is no reason why the Russians and the Chinese should always be on the receiving end. Play this Snowden game well, make it lasts and make the Americans understand that all can play the game of ball squeezing.

US, biggest human rights abuser

The below article is posted at Where Bears Roam Free

Tuesday, 25 June 2013
US, biggest human rights abuser, fingerpoints Sinkiepore for rights abuse - ha ha

at 07:39:00 by Barrie

Imagine the biggest thief in town telling others to make an honest living. Imagine the biggest womanizer telling other men to watch their lustful behaviour. Imagine the worst alcoholic telling others to drink in moderation. That's Americuh we're talkin' about, folks.

Americuh, the biggest human rights abuser, telling Sinkiepore to clean up its act on human rights issues. Ha ha.

Sinkie govt rebuts - MFA rebuts US report on human rights

MFA said it noted with disappointment that the report once again includes the same gross inaccuracies and misrepresentations of the Singapore Government's laws and policies.

MFA said it has rebutted these points in detail year after year.

At the 2011 United Nations Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Singapore had made clear that human rights cannot be considered in isolation from the circumstances of the society in which they are embedded.

MFA said it continues to be disturbed by the double standard applied by the US' criticism of Singapore's Internal Security Act, which is meant to address grave and serious threats to internal security.

That's right. Singapore uses the ISA to fight the "war on terror". The US uses the Patriot Act, eavesdrop on people's emails and of course, the dreaded Gitmo Bay treatment.

Human Rights abuse par excellence a la Americuh -

Gitmo prisoners. Blindfolded, ear muffed, gloved and bounded. Not only physical mobility is restricted, the sense of sight, sound and touch are also cut off.

Detainees caged like animals, where the space is so confined, limbs cannot be stretched fully. What kind of animal approves and endorses such inhumane treatment?

Need more be said?

Conclusion -

The fact that Americuh, the biggest human rights abuser even dares to tell others to clean up their act, shows that nothing beats Americuh's arrogance and self-righteousness.

Labels: Human Rights

Rugged society

Some of you may recall this familiar term of yore. The younger generation X and Y may not have heard of it. We were once psyched to be a rugged society. Those were the early days of nation building and national service. Goh Keng Swee would chide the Singaporeans for being soft and schools were instructed to introduce more sporting events to toughen the little school boys and girls. Today this term sounds quite alien and unnatural.

Every Singaporean kid is the perfect model of a nerd, wearing spectacles, ear phones and a mobile phone glued to his hand, inseparable. After school many will be stuck to the computers banging away, to exercise the dexterity of their fingers, the strongest muscle of their bodies.

And Indonesia is right to call us childish. Just a little haze and we cannot tahan. It is only 400 on the PSI and all demanding actions, stop work, declaring a state of emergency. Eng Hen is right. What is a little haze, what is PSI 400. On the 24 hour scale it will look at most 200. Come on, get use to it. After a few more days of acclimatization and getting use to, life will go on as normal.

It is time to remind the Singaporean on what a rugged society means. Be strong, take the haze and live with it. Stop whining. The people of Riau are living in the midst of the haze and still alive and kicking. We are so far away. At the most we will have to live with it for a few days now and then. Use the mask if needed, just a little inconvenience.

We will become stronger, our body will develop an immunity to haze, and we will become more rugged. Start complaining only when the PSI hits 700 or when the 24 hour PSI stays at 400. Grow up and be a man, be tough, be rugged. If we can live with a hazardous PSI 400, living with a PSI 700 will be much easier.

Decent men stood up from the haze

It is reported that the 1997 haze that lasted 3 months cost US$9 billion to the countries in the region. And the current haze is expected to cost more. Compare this with the little savings made by the plantation owners, it becomes quite silly. Saving a few millions just to wreak havoc around the region, affecting lives and social and economic well being of the people just do not make sense. With the kind of numbers, it tempts the affected countries to just throw the money at the plantation owners to avoid the woes if it is that easy. The thing that is holding them back is likely that the act is criminal, illegal and not to be committed, and there is a law against it. The Indonesian govt could put all the culprits behind bars.

And why are the Indonesian govt leaders defending the offenders that are causing so much harm and destruction to innocent people of other countries? Why are they making wild comments like it is wrong to condemn the act? Singapore was called childish. And both Malaysia and Singapore were accused of making unnecessary public outcries to attract international attention, to discredit Indonesia.

The thinking of these Indonesian leaders is that we owed them a living. We owe them the oxygen from their forest as if we don’t have our own forests. We owe them for their generosity to sell us gas and we must tolerate and accept the haze as part of the deal. Complaining is ungrateful. And there is nothing wrong with the burning and the haze hazard.

Fortunately this kind of tribal chief thinking is confined to a few leaders. The President of Indonesia has honourably accepted responsibility and acknowledged that the act is offensive, unfriendly and unacceptable. ‘For what has happened, as President, I say sorry and seek the understanding of our relatives in Singapore and Malaysia.’

In a crisis like this, the men separate themselves from the boys. The decent and honourable will act and behave honourably. The peasants or tribal chiefs will behave accordingly. There is a saying, ‘人讲人话，鬼讲鬼话。President Yudhoyono is an exceptional man, a rare find in the history of Indonesia. Indonesia is blessed to have him as their President.

When PSI hits 700, work from home

When PSI 300 is very unhealthy, when PSI above 400 is hazardous, life goes on. No emergency will be declared. Put on your masks and soldier on to keep the economy going. For those vulnerable groups, put on your H95s when outdoor.

At what level of PSI would there be an emergency declared, 700 or 800? Or is it 700 on an hourly reading or 700 on the 24 hour average? Would haze kill at 700 or 800? Maybe not, maybe not immediately. Maybe the symptoms will show in 5 or 10 years down the road.

Assuming that the medical specialists have worked out a number to declare an emergency and all should stay indoors or at home, the best thing then will be to work from home. Some may want to work from their Johore or Iskandar homes. Unfortunately the haze situation there could be much worst than over here. For those with homes in Australia, New Zealand, UK or France, working from home could be nice.

With today’s technology and communication, internet, mobile phones, satellites, working from home in any part of the world can be a reality. A speech on TV from the Istana or from Perth or London would just look the same. 3 ways, many ways live conferences can always be hooked up. And if one has a home in Paris, can sign up for a cooking class at the same time. In Australia, one can park in a vineyard and work from there. Really nice?

Working from home will take on a new meaning, for those with the means. We can even locate our govt overseas temporarily if the haze situation gets pass the emergency level. Come to think of it, I quite like the idea. The Govt should start to explore this idea of an office in one of our overseas training venues and the whole cabinet cum permanent secretaries can be relocated when needed. The world is our oyster.

Science fiction? Not really. Obama’s office will be in Air Force One when the US home land is under attack. In the mean time we can teach the Indonesians that they can arrange meetings with the plantation owners and work out something on a win win basis, maybe with Singapore and Malaysian participations. Singapore and Malaysia can bring a few blank cheques along just in case. There must be a way where money can do the trick for a more permanent solution. With money, all problems can be solved, and haze is not something that is so formidable that money cannot help. Any problem that can be solved with money can be solved. And we are damn good at it. Tiok boh? Even the Indonesian ministers have admitted it. It is only how much. We must not insult them by offering peanuts. Make it meaningful.

Putin, the one man in the way of the Western Mafia

They wanted regime change in Syria. They wanted President Assad out, replaced. They wanted to arm the rebels, send in Nato troops, bomb Syria. The only thing or man standing in the way is Russia’s Putin. He is a one man show, a Rambo in his own way. He told the Evil Empire and its cronies to lay off Syria.

Putin will support Assad and will not have him removed. The fabricated evidence of Assad’s troops using chemical was bluntly brushed off as nonsense. Putin is not going to let the western mafia push him around and intervene, invade Syria and replace Assad. He stood by Assad as the legitimate leader of Syria.

The G8 ie the western mafia plus Russia, held a meeting to push through their agenda, to remove Assad but ended with red faces when Putin alone refused to budge. Assad is safe with Putin. Obama and his Evil Empire just cannot bull doze through this Russian Rambo.

Actually not really true. Though the West could not get the G8 to come up with a position and stand to intervene in the Syrian War at the meeting, they are still going to bull doze their way by training and supplying arms to the rebels.

Are we prepared for a haze emergency?

This has been the question in everyone’s mind. And the answer is obviously no. There was no standing committee on standby for such an eventuality. The only committee to deal with a haze crisis is still in the pipeline with Eng Hen being appointed to look into it. The distribution of N95 masks in the stockpile is another piece of evidence that even this is an issue. They are still distributing the masks after one week. If it is a deadly epidemic, a few days are all it takes to take down a big portion of the population. Perhaps no one sees this as a crisis. The crossing of the 400 PSI was still treated as normal. And to minimize the concern, the people were told to look at 24 hours average than the real PSI at the moment. And many have pointed this out as a major flaw and mistake in thinking that an average reading is more relevant than the actual situation. Unbelieveable, really!

So, how proactive are we in tackling such a national crisis? There was no emergency procedures on hand and everyone was looking at one another second guessing what should be done next.

On the other hand there could be some emergency procedures in hand but not realized or understood. Everyone was looking for a haze emergency procedure. What about the SARS emergency procedure? Could not this be activated? The similarities are there and the procedures and steps needed to be taken can be quite similar with some modifications or omissions.

But Singaporean thinking is such that they are looking for a specific sign, like a U Turn sign to make a U Turn. So if the emergency procedure does not have the word haze on it, and worst, if it is stated clearly for SARS, then it cannot be applied to a haze problem.

The way the masks were distributed, it makes people wonder whether it is a new procedure that was worked out in the morning or was is an emergency procedure that has been thought through and planned well in advance. The execution was slow and inefficient in every sense. It was a few army boys trying to do some logistic delivery tasks.

The obvious is that all the medical and grassroot institutions could be mobilized into a distribution network. The CCs, RCs and the Neighbourhood Police Posts, NTUC FairPrice or even Seven Eleven could make reaching out to the people more penetrating and extensive.

And why are the men from the Civil Defence not activated? This is a job cut out for them. And the air raid siren would definitely come in very useful to sound the alarm when the PSI hits 300 or 400, to tell the people to go indoors. The tricky part is whether it should blare at 3 am in the morning to wake everyone up from their sleep.

Maybe all this will take shape after a haze emergency task force is formed and the details worked out. For the moment we shall thank God that we had a near miss, a lucky escape. We are given a second chance to sort things out, to get things right and to protect our backside safely the next time round.

PM Najib declares emergency in Muar and Ledang, API surpasses 750

Author: Online Press
(KUALA LUMPUR, 23 Jun): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has declared emergency in Muar and Ledang districts with immediate effect after API readings in the two areas surpassed the 750 mark.

Earlier, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G Palanivel earlier this morning had said Muar recorded the highest with 750, followed by Bukit Rambai, Malacca (357) and Malacca City with (364).

The highest API ever recorded in Malaysia was in Sarawak in 1997 with reading of 860….

The above is reposted in TRE. The Malaysians are using the API system. I am not sure of the equivalent to the PSI. Whatever, the situation is dire. If this were to hit us today, many of us will still be having problems getting our N95. But staying in doors and using wet towels should help at least.

The respite we have may not last and the PSI could go north again, like in Muar. Be prepared.

N95 mask price - Random search in the net

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approximate price per mask | case = .78 each mask

Foreign sportsmen - Paying for whatever we want

This is a follow up to the ‘pay solution’ to solve the haze problem. Either we pay the plantation owners on the ground or the regional commanders or those in Jakarta, the idea is to pay as little for the best result. Paying the plantation owners to clear the land without fire is likely to be the cheapest option.

This is the mantra to the success story of Singapore as a City of international citizens. Everyone is welcome as long as he/she is a talent. Our latest talent is the short putter from China in a non revenue pursuit called sports. Why would a country, sorry, I meant city, want to spend so much money on an unnecessary and wasteful pursuit, all for some fetish glory really beats me. I thought those were the days when we were kids and anything that could boost our ego a little was worth pursuing. We flew kites, fought spiders, played all kinds of games to be the winner. That damn shiok feeling for a fleeing moment was enough for all the effort.

As a first world city, should be sikit atas in the head, are we really thinking or sick up there to spend millions on such silly things when the money could be better spent on training our own citizens instead of international citizens? So what if our citizens could not win medals, at least the money is well spent to encourage and promote sports as a healthy lifestyle? And to think that the money could be made available to help the needies, it is quite a sickening feeling.

Would the MPs, or would the non ruling party MPs, raise this issue in Parliament, that the Govt must account for spending on the unnecessary and the wasteful, like paying international citizens to win medals? If they are desperate for medals, it would be cheaper to buy from Sungei Road or from those past winners of third world countries on hard times.

There was a photo of several ATM machines being destroyed in the Today paper last week with this caption.

‘This bank of ATMs was destroyed by vandals during clashes in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. Youths clashed with police in Rio as over 200,000 people marched in Brazilian cities to protest against the billions of dollars spent to host next year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, while areas such as education, hospitals and security see little improvement.’

The Brazilians are angry with their govt for wanton spending on the unnecessary while education, hospitals and security of the country and people are neglected. They want their govt to prioritise and spend public money wisely and not on gimmicks and fantasies.’

Our people are more civil and restrained and would just go as far as Hong Lim to sign petition and sing songs of protest. It is still a very long way to agitate and anger our people to force them to march through the streets and run riot. We can still have the few MPs in Parliament to raise question, of course nothing would come out of it except to make a few red faces for unpopular policies. Let’s make this wasteful spending of public money an issue in Parliament and put a stop to it once for all. The money of the people must not be foolishly spent by adolescents to satisfy their fetish craze for a few sports medals. Our public money must be carefully distributed or used to benefit our citizens and not international citizens.

Demand that this issue be put to a vote and those who voted to pay foreigners to win medals should use their own money to support their crazy hobby and not to touch public funds.

Solutions to a hazy problem

We are getting a little reprieve from the full onslaught of the haze problem for the moment. Last week was frightening and if the haze did not subside yesterday, we are in for big trouble when our logistics and great contingency plans failed to react fast enough. A simple thing like 9m masks could not find their way to the people who needed them. They are probably kept in the deep silos or high security bank vaults and no one has the key to open it.

The economic cost of the haze can come into hundreds of millions, or as one analyst guessed, could even hit a billion dollars. And that is not counting the damage to the health of the people, the ecological system and the cost of medicare. And the numbers did not include the cost to our neighbours in the north. The cost to the people in Riau is their own problem and for them to take care of.

Can there be a long term solution to the haze problem? The plantation owners, big and small, are going to clear land as economic growth and making money are the end alls of life. So they will continue to burn, like an annual religious ritual. There is an almost simple and effective solution to this problem, that is to allow them to do as they pleased as it makes economic sense to the companies to do so. For the cost of a match, they could bring down thousands of hectares of vegetation. Why pay for the bull dozers and the manpower to do the hard and expensive way? The hundreds of millions or billions of losses to Singapore and Malaysia are not their concern.

It only takes the Indonesian Govt to decree that burning can only take place in the month of October after the North East monsoon has started. The haze will go to the Indian Ocean instead. How the Riau people going to live with it by being in the centre of the haze is still a problem but not ours to care.

Another way is to pay for the solution. With the damage done to Singapore and the Malaysian economies in the hundreds of millions or billions, it would be pragmatic and economically expedient to pay the companies what they need to clear the land. This could be only a few millions dollars. Why not, it makes economic sense isn’t it? It is a win win solution. The plantation owners got their land cleared and we have clear skies, and the cost is only a fraction of the damage that the plantation owners would have inflicted on us in Singapore and Malaysia.

Yes, it is like paying a ransom to the thugs to leave us alone while they feast on the loot. Isn’t this the thinking of the day, that as long as it makes economic sense, just do it. We gambled by bringing in millions of foreigners just to increase our economic numbers with not a care about the dire consequences now and into the future. We allowed our banking and finance industry to indulge in all kinds of unacceptable high risk ventures for short term profits, employing the crooks from New York, London and Mumbai to run our financial institutions to the ground. Some may not think so as it is still looking like a rosy apple from the outside while the worms are growing within.

The cost of the solution to pay the plantation owners for clean air is nothing. It only costs a few million bucks which is small change really. The pay of a top banker is enough to foot the bill with change to spare.

What do you think? Oops, I know, talk is free and talking nonsense is a good weekend escapee.

My advice to Vivian Balakrishnan

Ever since his infamous reply to Lily Neo in Parliament, ‘You want to eat in hawker centre, in food court or in restaurant’, these words have been carved in the stones of cyberspace, Vivian seems to be having a pretty rough time. These words were the beginning of his seemingly unending problems as a minister.

While as a minister of Youth and Sports, he chalked up an excess bill of several hundred millions during the YOG held here, for under budgeting or overspending. The netizens were not kind to him and would remind him of these hundreds of millions overspent for some children against the $50 requested by Lily Neo for those dependents on public assistance scheme.

Thank God, Hsien Loong quickly moved him out of the ministry into a safer ministry like Environment, now called Environment and Water Resources. Things should be quite safe in this new ministry with flooding happening only once in 50 years. It turned out not to be the case and flooding has been mischievous and hitting places most unthinkable and in the most unlikely time. But the flooding is only flooding and should not be too big a problem to mess around with.

Vivian must not have thought that dengue and chikungunya will be his new nightmares. The virus carrying mosquitoes are breeding quite freely, maybe flooding has something to do with it, and dengue has hit an epidemic level. As they said, when they breed you bleed. And yes, Vivian is the Minister of Environment and is expected to tackle this mosquito breeding problem. This ME and ER is not going to be a honeymoon posting after all.

And while struggling to contain the dengue epidemic that seems to be getting from bad to worse, our air quality is hit by a haze problem that has reached hazardous level and life threatening to some of the more vulnerable citizens. It is the worst haze problem we have seen for 50 years. And the people are expecting Vivian to tackle this as well. And poor Vivian already got his hands full with mosquitoes and now the haze is going to engulf him like smoke grenades.

He is now in Jakarta with a personal letter from Hsien Loong to Yudhoyono pleading for help. From this comments and expression seen over the news, this messenger boy role is not smooth going. And nothing is likely to come out of it.

Those who believe in fortune telling and geomancy will be saying that Vivian is hitting a bad patch. Troubles seem to be visiting him more than other ministers. The first thing I would recommend to Vivian is to go bathe in a bath tub fill with flowers. The next thing is to find a good geomancer and shift the furniture in his office and also his home. And finally, carry a lot of one dollar coins to ward off the bad feng shui following him around.

Try it and pray for all you can. This is better than just talking and do nothing.

Don’t worry, the haze will go away

This I can assure you, while I look out of the window and see a condition very much worse than yesterday. And I heard in the news that the Indonesians have declared emergency in the Riau Archipelago. And we can keep talking, and talk the haze away. It will go away, one week, one month or three months, when the burning stops, the haze will stop coming. In the meantime keep talking.

Some quarters have spoken that this is a domestic issue and got nothing to do with us. We can’t tell our neighbours what not to do. And our neighbours also think so.

Really? Allow me to remind people on the basics of human rights or individual rights. Everyone has the freedom to do as he pleases…as long as it does not affect others. The freedom stops when others are affected by it. When an act of freedom invades into the privacy of anther person or causing harm to another person, it is no longer an act of freedom. J S Mills called this ‘others regarding action’. Your freedom to act goes as far as the next person you are going to hurt.

If the Indonesians can contain the pollutants within their borders, who cares? They can burn for all they like. But the problems it is causing to the neighbouring countries have made this bush burning an ‘others regarding action’ and is no longer a private domestic affair. Be responsible and do something about it.

This be responsible and do something about it have been spoken for many years and I assure you every year this time Singapore and Malaysia will be telling the Indonesians the same old thing. And come next year or the years after, this time of the year, we will be scrambling as to what should be done, and all equally lost, forever lost about how to handle this annual haze migration problem. Did we have a department monitoring on the haze situation? Didn’t we have sophisticated instruments and satellites in space watching over the hot spots? Did we see it coming?

But don’t worry, keep talking and the haze will go away. It may go away before the masks we ordered arrived. It may go away before we have the chance to distribute the masks to those who needed them. It will go away for sure and talking is good enough for this problem. I am one hundred per cent confident that in a few more days or weeks there will be no more haze around.

No need to do anything. We can talk the haze away.

Silent protest against haze invasion at Hong Lim

Dear Fellow Singaporeans,

There will be a short silent protest against the worst haze invasion by our neighbor Indonesia at Hong Lim Green tomorrow at 5 pm.

We need to stand up as a people and send a clear signal to Indonesia that we will not tolerate this harmful incursion to our health and economy.

This is also to demonstrate our solidarity with our government which is trying its best to bring pressure on the Indonesian government to stop the forest burning.

As haze condition is getting hazardous please just pop by wear black, wear mask and bring some water for the short duration you are there....

This is a called by Patrick Low posted in TRE.

Banking malpractices

It took so long for the ST editorial to come out with an article to chastise the wrongs of the robbers in the banking and finance industry. While the noose is tightening in the West to rein in the wild and reckless behavior of the bankers and their fraudulent ways, nothing of such nature is happening in Asia. Many Asian countries are still gulping in all the toxic products and practices of the West and think, like one western bankers stationed in Hongkong said, ‘If it is ok for London it must be ok for us.’

How many Asian bankers and govts really scrutinized the faulty and dangerous products and instruments coming out from the west, from derivatives and deregulations to computers plugging into the exchange system and hi speed computer trading, and dare to say no them? Or how many really bother to assess the suitability or the unacceptable risks that these instruments and products will cause to their financial markets?

The regulators of stock exchanges have a basic and fundamental principle to uphold, of providing a level playing field and fair practices for all investors big and small. By allowing the big funds to plug their computers to their exchange system and allowing them to gain advantage in speed and information is a clear violation of this principle. The use of hi speed computers, something that many decent finance experts and lawmakers in the West have acknowledged as cheating, is blindly being accepted by Asian govts and stock market regulators, likely believing the same, that if London and New York allowed it, then it is ok to accept them.

Asians will always be condemned as foolish if they continue in their silly ways to accept all the rubbish and snake oils from the West without questions asked and risk destroying their financial markets and the savings of their investors. It is not only illegal, it is irresponsible and immoral.

Are there any Asian experts or thinking persons in the Asian finance industry, strong and with the conviction to keep their financial system clean, fair, and healthy and not be corrupted by the wild Western ways out there?

The little piece of editorial in today’s ST titled ‘Checking banking malpractices’ is just too little and too flimsy to mean anything. More serious work needs to be done to keep check on the wayward and reckless ways of the western bankers before it is too late.

Hi speed computer trading is so foul, giving big funds and their hi speed computers to much unfair advantage over the innocent small investors that it is unbelieveable for it to get a green light to create havoc in the stock markets of Asia. No one can see anything wrong with hi speed trading? If they are so dumb, so speak to the experts in the West of their concerns and misgivings. No need to work too hard to sweat the small stuff. The amount of work and research done to tell how unacceptable hi speed trading is are all out there for all who wants to know, who needs to know.

We need to bring back the likes of Koh Beng Seng.

New trend in begging

Some data showed that at 9 pm last night the PSI hit 452. Before at 8pm it was 224 and after at 10 pm it was 287. For that one hour the PSI went into very dangerous level. And many people have been storming the pharmacies trying to buy N95 masks but all sold out. What contingency plan to stockpile such masks for emergencies just like this?

If the situation gets worst, and the N95 masks are not available, we could see beggars begging for mask along the streets. Please give me a mask, I am suffocating.