A rebellion in the Stock Market?

It has never happened before. But the frustration and anger must be so high and waiting to explode that a petition has been posted asking for the resignation of Magnus Bocker. The usually quite, docile and hapless remisiers and retail investors must be really pushed to a corner.
 
This is the introductory paragraphs of the petition:
 
Petition to remove Magnus Bocker as the CEO of SGX due to his mismanagement.
 
We demand that Mr Magnus Bocker, CEO of SGX, step down from his post immediately.
Since taking over the helm from Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, Bocker has not been focused on building the capital markets. Instead, he has been putting in a lot of effort to build the derivative and commodities market to enhance the profits. This is almost similar to when SMRT decided to focus on developing their retail income to enhance profits and forgetting their role to provide a safe and reliable public transport system.
 
The breakdown of the SGX trading system yesterday for almost three hours is almost similar to the massive train disruption we experienced just a while ago. Given that hundreds of millions have been spent on the system since Bocker became CEO, such a breakdown should not happen.
 
The petition is at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition-to-remove-magnus-bocker-as-the-ceo-of-sgx
 
Why is this happening? Are there enough justifications to call for this petition? Would there be enough signatories to make this petition meaningful and for MAS to act on it? The outage on Wednesday appears to be the straw that breaks the camels back. Maybe, maybe not, as there are no talented Singaporeans to replace Magnus Bockers. They could not even find a Singaporean good enough to be the Chief Operations Officer cum Technical Officer.
 
I think both will be safe and will continue to run the SGX. They are the best talents that the SGX/MAS could find for the jobs. And SGX is doing very well, with all the measures introduced, SGX is well ready and well prepared to be the best stock exchange in Asia. Just give them time. Think long term.

Kopi Level - Blue, Thank you.

Dalit aspiration, to ride a bicycle

The new aspiration for Singaporeans are changing, and the latest is to aspire to own a bicycle, an expensive one of course. Cars are out of reach to many and will only get worst. So reconditioning the Singaporean Dalits in the making to think cheap, think low, have low aspiration, is a good start. Tell them to cycle to work or to go any where, go dating, go for dinner, just cycle.
 
Don’t look at Communist China and the Chinese. They have different dreams as rich Communists. They want all the best things money can buy, branded goods, good housing and of course to own and drive cars, luxury cars. We should aspire to own and ride bicycles. We must have reached a stage when luxury and material comfort is no longer important to us. Next aspiration is for the new Dalits to aspire to live like monks, give up all possessions and desires.
 
And there are many good pretensions to ride bicycles. Think green, tell your neighbours that you want to save Gaia. If they don’t know what that is, tell them it is the fashionable name for old Mother Earth. Tell people you do not want to waste natural resources like consuming precious oil. Oh, tell people cycling is good for health. It is a life style thing. Every Dalit is cycling and owning a bicycle. Just ignore those who drive Mercedes and BMWs and with a few top of the range bicycles sitting on the roof of the cars.
 
The best thing about cycling is that you can throw your temper around with rude motorists. You can dump your bicycle on the car’s bonnet. It is not crime. After venting your anger with the rich car owners, you can cycle away happily. The only catch is if the bugger is rich enough to hire a lawyer to sue you. If not, you got your chance to show your manhood for free.
 
And the Govt is all for cycling. There is a National Cycling Plan to turn more roads into cycling paths and make cycling easy and safe. With the hot weather and tropical thunderstorms, they may think of building a roof over all the bicycle paths. Now, wouldn’t that be good and thoughtful? But don’t ask too much and demand the cycling paths to be air conditioned. That is not acceptable.
 
There will then be no shortage of car parks when there are less cars on the roads. Car parks can be converted to bicycle parks. As for loss of revenue from COEs, this can be compensated in two ways. COE should start from $200k. And once there are too many bicycles, can introduce COEs for bicycles to make up. Of course it cannot be the same as car COEs. But with the numbers of bicycles on the roads, even at $1k could be quite a princely sum.
 
Yes, tell the Dalits it is a reasonable aspiration to ride bicycles. They will manufacture two seat bicycles for those datings. It is so romantic and so nostalgic, like in the movies. Grandpa and grandma also did the same.
There is no need for four seater bicycles as the family unit is getting smaller with some not wanting to have children. A two seater bicycle is just perfect.

Kopi Level - Blue, Thank you.

Sin City is a low crime city

When overcharging or over billing is no crime. When cheating customers buying iPhones with phony insurance scheme is no crime. When beating up motorists by cyclists is no crime, it is only natural that crime rates will be low. It is utterly disgusting to see rogue shop owners in Sim Lim Square, like those reported in the media, cheating their customers in broad daylight, and the authority could not do anything about it. And the poor customers would have to go down on their knee, at least one tourist did that, to beg for mercy. And when CASE intervened, the victim just got back half the money paid without the goods. And everyone thinks they have done a good job and the poor victim should be happy with half his money back and the other half still inside the pocket of the robber. Have they changed the meaning of robbery in the dictionary?
 
And no one is shouting vile in any of these instances. Over billing or overcharging by the millions or hundreds of thousands, not vile. Cheating a vulnerable old lady by the millions, not vile? Then what is vile? Oh, heckling Special Needs Children is vile.
 
But low crime is not no crime. We have serious crimes like making a nuisance in a Speakers’ Corner when demonstrating too loudly and disturbing other Park users. Six people have been charged in court for this serious crime. Another crime currently in process in the court is a Town Council headed by a democratically elected MP holding a small fair in her constituency and being charged for not filling a form properly, meaning no permission to do so. Luckily no one said this is vile also.
 
Victims of those cheating crimes at Sim Lim Square, or I may be wrong to call them cheating since it is not a crime, can only find their own justice by suing the ‘cheats’. And if they are lucky, the public will stand up for them, to raise fund to cover the money lost to the ‘cheats’. My apologies, I do not know how to call the shop keepers as I am not sure they are cheats. Some lawyers are out defending them and warning the public not to harass them emotionally. The poor Vietnamese victim that went down on his knee was not emotionally harassed for sure.
 
And the public spirited citizens are now resorting to taking matters into their own hands by shaming the shopkeepers. This is the best they could do to protect themselves. And they are warned not to go over board or they could run foul of the law. What kind of justice is this? The law seems to be in favour of the rogue merchants but anyone trying to take justice into their own hands would risk the law coming down hard on them. This is a Rule of Law state. I am still trying to figure out what this meant.
 
Has this Sin City progressed to Shame City of low crimes? Did anyone bother if this Shoppers’ Paradise is turning into a Pirate’s Cave? Does it? Rip Van Winke did not know that such foul practices have been happening for years. Just a few incidents only leh. No big deal lah. Who cares? Bo Cheng Hu is the best.
Isn’t it scary to think that these shops could cheat so openly with impunity and could continue to do the same after repeated complaints against them? What is going on? And shoppers are advised to take precautions themselves when shopping. How about hiring a couple of bodyguards and lawyers when go shopping to be safe?
 
‘China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially put up a notice warning their nationals to be careful when buying electronics such as mobile phone in Singapore.
A similar message is being shared around Vietnam as the news of the Vietnamese tourist being scammed then crying and begging on his knees for a refund made national headlines in Vietnam.’
 
The above quotes are posted in The Real Singapore.

Kopi Level - Blue, Thank you.

Stock Exchange down, hit by power outage

I thought it was the stock exchange of some 3rd World country. This is rare to happen in Singapore. Another one in 50 years incident. MAS is not looking too please and is following up closely with the SGX. The latter is investigating into the cause of this technical glitch that froze trading for 3 hours.
 
Trading was resumed after normal trading hours, from 5.15pm to 5.45pm for stocks and as for derivative tradings, it restarted at 7pm and closed at 2am. This looks like a trial run to align SGX with the European and American bourses. SGX and local traders should treasure this golden opportunity to trade at the same time as the western bourses, live trading man. Maybe 24 hour non stop trading is in the air.
 
The media also reported that the SGX invested in a $250m state of the art trading system that was the fastest in the world, running at 100 times faster than the old system or 3,000 times faster than the blink of an eye. Then yesterday it was hit by multiple power supply issues.
 
My thoughts, maybe it was under utilized as the high speed super computer was designed to run fast and with high volumes. And when the volume is so small there could be a mismatch, that the computer is unable to cope with low volume. This is like driving a Lamborghini on first gear in Singapore roads at 10 kph. Do it everyday and it is going to cause unusual wear and tear and will damage the machine that is made to go fast in free ways.
 
Anyway SGX is investigating the causes of this outage seriously. My wild guess is unlikely to be the cause. If funnily this is the cause, then they should sell off the super computer and go back to the old ones, if it has not been sold to the garang guni man by now. It would be a case of too good, too fast, too over power for an inactive stock exchange that is too small to match, and shrinking trading volumes. Maybe it is good to slow down and go back to the old system, and not to let the supercomputers take advantage of small and slow retail investors.
 
Speculation that it was a cyber attack was categorically denied.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Singapore property prices set to rise again

There is a new trend in property usage and this will create a storm in the property market. Luxury hotels will sprout everywhere to cater to the super rich, and the demand is rising. Bluebell and Boxer were checked into the best hotel available in town, into the Royal Suite that provides all the finest things in life that money can buy. Spa, manicure, scented room, room service for anything the couple need. They can eat as much food as they like, buffet style, with wines and champagne or ala carte room service. The hotel is equipped like 5 stars, swimming pool, gym, massage parlours, 24 hour CCTV security system, anything to make the hotel guests happy. Aromatherapy and facial masks are in things for the guests as well. Pipe in music, 40 inch Led TV in the bedroom are standard furnishing. I think their pyjamas must also be specially designed and of specially made material.
 
Bluebell and Boxer happens to be pedigree dogs. Their owners would want the best for them. Oh by the way, they sleep on the best leather pillows and lay under the finest linens. The in thing today is building luxury hotels for pets like dogs and cats. And this is taking off in a big way. Soon there will be hotels for other pets as well. And many property investors are jumping into the bandwagon to buy up properties, HDB also can I think, to be renovated into 5 star hotels for dogs.
 
They say it is a dog’s life not for no reason. Everyone is standing up on a stool to brag how they love dogs and animals. Ministers and politicians too. In the past you need to be a scholar general to be invited to join politics. The new niche credential is to be dog lovers or animal lovers.
 
Our dogs are going to live it up, if they have rich and powerful masters looking after them. Foreign dogs will do better as their pedigrees are more desirable than our pariah dogs. The famous hotels that are having high occupancy rate are The Waginton and Petopia, Tekka or Hougang Hotel. Both are bungalows and not HDB flats by the way.
 
Property savvy investors can smell the money and will know where to put their money to make more money. Now it is all about dogs and cats and animals. Senior citizens can move to Bintang, Batam and JB. We need the land for luxury hotels and their high end and high living guests.
 
Our taxi drivers are slow in not jumping into the act. They should redecorate their taxis for the comforts of dogs. And security agencies would also see a new business. These luxury hotels also need security guards to guard the dogs. Mmmm, what is happening? I thought they used to have guard dogs to guard the rich. Now we have security guards guarding the dwellings of dogs!
 
How about dog crematorium and columbarium in district 9, 10 and 11? They already have dog café and restaurants and all doing very well. The nail painting industry would soon have branches for dogs as well.
Dog’s live in hotel suites! Human beans live in dog kennels? Would that be the day? No wonder people are aspiring to be dogs and behaving like dogs.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Singapore International Commercial Court(SICC)

Parliament approved the concept of setting up an international court to arbitrate international legal disputes here. As rightly pointed out by Shanmugam, international disputes are now handled in London and New York and there is a void that Singapore can fill. A Singapore International Court is our contribution to the international legal system, to provide a neutral judicial court for parties that do not feel comfortable going to New York and London. These western courts have been the default arbiters for international disputes and also have issues that some parties, especially Asians or countries that are not on friendly terms with New York and London, are not comfortable with.
 
SICC will fill this void and ‘will bank on Singapore’s outstanding “brand name” for good governance, low corruption and efficiency, its highly regarded judiciary and high quality legal services’. Well said. This is our capital, our unique position, our strength, to provide a neutral and fair justice system that is not beholden to any country or superpower. If SICC can do that, it will have its work cut out for it. No matter how good the reputation of New York and London, the western and American bias are not comfortable and at times unfavourable to some litigating parties.
 
Let’s hope the SICC bench consists of Singaporeans and not be another New York or London with no Singaporean faces. It will be as good as saying Singaporeans are unfit to serve in the international arena, that Singaporeans are half bakes and yes, the courts must be filled by foreign talents. We have to be ourself and take pride in being Singaporeans, real true blue Singaporeans, not those given a new pink IC. There is something special in true blue Singaporeans that is intangible and much more valuable than just pure academic abilities. The Singapore Govt must trust Singaporeans to have the ability to be the best, as good if not better than New York and London. The last thing we want to do is to become a branch of New York and London and share the same disease. Those legal minds in London and New York do not have 3 heads and 6 limbs. They are like us, with a head, a pair of eyes and 4 limbs.
 
I read the report in the media and there is no mention of foreigners becoming the judges in SICC. I hope it will stay that way, and SICC will surpass New York and London in providing justice to all, the Singapore way. We must raise the profile of the Singapore Brand, be proud of the Singapore Brand, and not be another bastardised brand. We don’t have to become bastards to be good.

Kopi Level - Yellow

An open plea to the Prime Minister – The fate of Singaporeans

This is a very sad letter from a citizen to the Prime Minister on how local talents are rapidly being replaced by foreigners under the open leg wide wide policy. Foreigners are brought in with very high pay and Singaporeans are sacked and have to go to 3rd world countries to earn lower pay while leaving their family members behind. And more 3rd world talents are brought in to fill the gaps. This is the process of Dalitisation of Singaporeans. Here is the abridged letter from Delwyn Yee. Full letter posted in The Real Singapore.
 
Dear Mr Prime Minister,
 
My name is Delwyn Yee Zheng Ting, aged 21 and I wish to discuss a very dire issue regarding my father Dallas Yee Kok Keong aged 48.
 
My father is a very hardworking man who was working for Jaguar Landrover as a manager and was forced to resign by his superior who is a Canadian. This particular superior was a bully. He draws a high salary and would always push all the work to my father who was already very busy but my father was way too good a person to make a fuss with him….
 
3 months ago, my father was called up by his Canadian boss and was told that my father had to either resign or be sacked by the company. The reason he gave was they thought my father would also resign like the rest of the managers. They told my father that the company had already employed someone else to replace him. This was even before my father’s resignation….
 
My father had no choice but to resign and was told to leave the company immediately….
 
Thankfully, my father, having a good reputation in the industry, was immediately approached by Jaguar in the Philippines. He had to accept the position because he had no choice. He left with my younger brother and sister and my step mother. I am now studying in Poly and cannot go with him. Now I am living alone in Singapore with my family so far away. Is this fair? Is this fair to me or my dad?
 
I really hope that you can come up with something to bring justice. Why are so many foreign talents allowed to work in Singapore even when they didn’t have the necessary skills?.....
 
I know foreign talents are important. But my father is also a talent. He has 30 years of experience in the industry and has been hard working. Why should he lose his job for no good reasons and now have to leave Singapore to work in the Philippines?
 
Please understand that I miss my father and my siblings. I am now all alone in Singapore. The foreign talents came in to Singapore and now Singapore talents have to leave and families break up. Is this what Singapore should become?
 
Your faithful citizen
Delwyn Yee Zheng Ting
 
Is this an isolated case or this is the trend? Is this good for Singaporeans or killing Singaporeans. How many of you agree that this is good? Don’t answer first, wait till your turn comes to be sacked by the foreigners?
 
不见棺材不流泪
 
I do not see anything is going to change as they are going to stick to their tough and hard policies. What suggestions? Deaf frogs would not listen. They are too full of themselves.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you

PAP Dream Team for Aljunied GRC – Redbean’s Choice

The PAP fielded a very strong team in the last GE in Aljunied. Led by the highly intelligent Foreign Minister George Yeo, the other members included Minister Lim Hwee Hua, Parliamentary Secretary Zainul Abidin, MP Cynthia Phua and newbie Ong Ye Kong who was no light weight, touted to be of ministerial material. This was a very strong team but lost. If this is an indication of the strength of the WP team, PAP would have to field an even stronger team if it seriously thinks of taking back Aljunied. Anything less would be no go. It could also opt out by sending a token team of newbies like the young commando team at TecK Ghee in the last election to try their luck. By doing so it would be losing Aljunied by default.
 
Putting a strong team of ministers is going to be a difficult choice. How many ministers would want to risk losing their multi million dollar income to volunteer for this battle? Hsien Loong too would not want to risk the few talented ministers he is left with in case they also join George Yeo in the private sector.
 
My solution, assuming that PAP wants to take back Aljunied, wants to send a strong team, and having ministers to volunteer for the job, is to field Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan and Raymong Lim. They would even volunteer for it if given a chance. This is exactly the situation that PAP stalwarts would want to prove their loyalty and bravery to fight for PAP. It is an honorable duty I am sure.
 
And don’t dismiss them as not ministers. The pension each is drawing, if I am not wrong, could be more than the whole team of WP MPs’ income or near there. They are really heavy weights and befitting to take on the WP with their experience in the game.
 
To add weight to them, if PAP still does not think they could pull it off, PAP could draw on the weight and drawing power of Chok Tong and LKY. With these two super heavyweights, it is a sure win formula. They would definitely answer the call of duty if needed. Chok Tong would love to serve another term as ESM. And for winning Aljunied, he could be honoured with the title Senior ESM. As for LKY, his charisma and aura would give me many additional votes for sure.
 
The only problem with this team is the lack of a minority candidate. So either Chok Tong or LKY would have to be sidelined. But the good news, PAP would be spoilt for choices for a strong minority candidate. Hsien Loong could volunteer Vivian or Yaacob for the job. They are unlikely to volunteer themselves, just my opinion. And with either one in the team, no one can say there is no incumbent minister like the last team. Perfect match.
 
For those who are thinking of the missing female touch, and still aware that there is a Sylvia Lim in the WP team, and wanting a female candidate, the top choice would be Intan. Then you will have a female candidate and a minority candidate in one to pull in female voters and minority voters.
 
For those who would want a minister in waiting like Ong Ye Kung, it is unlikely that he would return to Aljunied, there is no better choice than Janil Puthucheary. Both have the same pedigree of being scions of former Barisan Socialis MPs. Both are ministerial material. And having Janil PAP will have a 3 in 1 candidate that is difficult to find today, ie a minority, a ministerial caliber and a son of Barisan Socialis, to win them votes. And oh, maybe a 4 in 1, using a new citizen to show to the new citizens and potential new citizens that they too can become MPs and ministers too. Janil’s will be able to attract all the votes from ex Barisan Socialis supporters, new citizens and of course the minority groups.
 
Wow, this minority candidate is going to give Hsien Loong a pleasant headache, so many attractive candidates to choose from. Having considered all the pros and cons, my first Dream Team would be Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan, Raymond Lim, ChokTong and Janil. My second Dream Team would be the first four and Intan. Janil beats her in many areas, ministerial caliber, Barisan Socialis roots, and will be a model for new citizens and more foreigners would even take up citizenship because of him.
 
Either of these Dream Teams would be hard to beat for the WP. Low Thia Khiang would be scratching his head with no reply to the weight they carry.
 
Good choice or not?

Kopi Level - Blue, Thank you

SGX to mandate sustainability report

A long and beautiful article on the great things the SGX will be doing to make it the best bourse in the world by Jessica Cheam, like all the great things it introduced to increase market volume, participation and trading activities came out last week. I read and read and it sounded so beautiful that I knew it was on the right track. So I knew I don’t have to waste time reading further. The sustainability report is the thing to turn SGX around.
 
What is this sustainability report about? In brief, ‘it requires a company to measure and report on the environmental and social impact of its business on top of its financial and governance performance, which is already part of the regulatory disclosure practised today…includes a wide range of issues such as biodiversity loss and green house gas emissions(environmental); workplace health and safety and employee relations(social); and bribery, corruption and business ethics(governance).’
 
Put it simply, it is like dressing up a model with the best protective gear ala the Ebola health workers, plus the best makeup on a super model. All the best protection gears needed but without knowing that the worker is already infected by the virus and dying.
 
How could this sustainability report help to bring the market to life? Or does the SGX know why the market is dying or already collapsed through lack of real investor participation? The industry is going kaput, and is this sustainability report another sophisticated window dressing like all the new dressings!
 
Now you know why I gave up reading half way? I would like to take a bet that the market will get worse with this sustainability report, like all the no lunch breaks, smaller bid size, smaller lot size etc etc. It is not going to work and it is not going to bring the market anywhere except down.
 
This is just my view. Please feel to disagree, especially the experts who know better.

Kopi Level - Blue, Thank you.

Jokowi forgives satay vendor that defamed him

Below is reported in the Jakarta Post and copied from TRS. It shows how big this man is and how his act of magnanimity would raise him above ordinary people with small hearts. He would gain more and win the hearts of more people by a simple and generous act like this.
 
‘President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has forgiven Muhammad Arsyad, a satay vendor who was detained by the police for allegedly defaming him online.
 
Jokowi said he forgave Arsyad during a meeting with the satay vendor’s parents, Mursidah and Syafrudin, at the State Palace on Saturday.
 
“I forgive him 100 percent. I forgave him through his parents,” Jokowi told reporters. First Lady Iriana was also present during the 30-minute meeting.
 
Jokowi added he had asked the police to release Arsyad from detention. ...Jokowi also called on the public to learn from Arsyad’s case and promote decency and respect for others online. ‘
 
When you are a big man, there is no need to throw your weight on the small men to show you are a big man. Doing that is a sure sign of weakness and insecurity, the sign of a small man. People will not see you as a big man anymore.

Kopi Level - Green

Malayan Railway land swap – A win win solution

When the Point of Agreement(POA) was signed, despite no agreement on the land development charges, it was touted as a win win agreement for both Malaysia and Singapore. Yesterday, when the issue of development charges was settled by an International Arbitration Court, despite the ruling in favour of Malaysia for not having to pay the development charges, it was again touted as another win win solution. All in all there were 4 wins to be shared by both parties.
 
In the first instance the 2 wins were equally shared in the sense that both parties have reached an agreement to break a 20 year impasse on the use of the Railway land. In the second instance, it was again a win win but it looks more like Malaysia getting the 2 wins. And the best part, Singapore is so happy with this win win settlement when it lost the right to collect $1.4b of development charges on 3 plots of the land swap. It could be a case of Singapore’s generosity and magnanimity. It could be a case that Singapore did not think it could win and the judgment was what it had expected all along. It could gain more goodwill and save some legal fees if it just waived it earlier without going through the motion.
 
Why is Singapore in cloud nine, a kind of happy like ‘fxxk’ feeling when losing a legal dispute or disagreement? I can only make a few guesses. The joint company MS with a 60:40 ownership between Malaysia and Singapore would be making the payment for the development charges. So with this ruling, Singapore only gives up 40% of the estimated $1.4b. No big deal really. And according to another MP’s comment, the accrued profits from the joint venture would benefit Singapore more? I am still trying to figure out how when Singapore’s share is 40%. Is there something that the public do not know? This statement could send the Malaysians wondering and many sleepless nights.
 
Of course there is tremendous goodwill to gain from this process. Both parties would now be more comfortable going for international arbitration with Malaysia feeling that it is not necessarily a one sided affair, that Singapore with all the top legal minds would always win. So Singapore would have more chances to take the Malaysian govt to court in the future with international arbitration an acceptable option. This could be a case of a very long term view, losing a case now is worth paying for winning more cases in the future, provided there are future cases to be won.
 
No matter what, this is one of those rare instances where the losers in an arbitration were laughing themselves crazy and probably popping champagne in celebration for a ‘win win’ situation that it gets none of the 2 wins. For goodwill and good long term relationship, it is always good to let the other party win and feel good about it when one can afford to lose in monetary terms. What is a few hundred million?
 
A cautionary note, maybe Singapore should play down on this good news and cut down on the celebration. It may trigger the overly paranoid Malaysians to start wondering whether they did win this case or losing something big that they did not know. Historically they have been losing to Singapore in many tussles and knowing that Singapore always want to win, so how can they be losing in this case. And how can Singapore be celebrating when ‘losing’?
 
Fishy right? Just kidding. I say just kidding ok, can take a joke or not?

Kopi Level - Green

Aljunied GRC – Who will be sacrificed?

Aljunied is going to be the most feared GRC in the next GE. Who would PAP send to do battle against the WP? Whoever they are going to send would be most revealing of what is in the PAP’s mind. For instance, if they think it is a goner, they may send in a kucing kurap team of newbies and those that can be sacrificed like what the opposition commando squad sent to Teck Ghee with little chances of success. Not sending a team is not acceptable.
 
If they are very confident of taking back Aljunied, they would definitely put in a very strong team to mean business provided the biggies would not be risked in a losing battle.
 
The problem is that they are not sure. Then how? Would any minister be gungho enough to volunteer to take Aljunied? Or shall I rephrase that, would any minister be stupid enough to want to go to Aljunied? Or if there is no volunteer, who is going to decide the team to go to Aljunied, and how many ministers or ministers of state would be put in jeopardy?
 
Whoever is being asked to go to Aljunied is not going to be happy. Maybe they would draw lots to see who would be fielded, after taking out the few that should not be risked. I think this is going to be a very difficult task for Hsien Loong or whoever is tasked to be the strategist and to do the allocation. Then there will also be the two single wards to face the same problem. But in the case of single wards the PAP could be dealing with smaller fries or newcomers, so not too stressful.
 
It is when a minister or a few ministers of state would be arrowed to do battle in Aljunied that it would become a problem. Would any of them decline to go? Would any minister threaten to resign if directed to go to Aljunied?
 
Never has PAP faced with such a difficult position and dilemma. Tough. Why must there be an Aljunied? What if after the next GE there were more Aljunieds?
 
PS. The last team that contested Aljunied had two ministers, a parliamentary secretary and a minister in waiting. Watch out for Redbean’s choice for PAP’s Dream Team in Aljunied.

Kopi Level - Green

Singapore joining coalition against Islamic State

Just reported in Parliament, ‘To combat the militant group, Singapore will contribute assets that were previously deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen says. CNA.
 
The unavoidable happens. There is no way Singapore can avoid joining the coalition once it is in bed with the Americans. The Americans would make sure that it will happen or Singapore would be accused of taking a free ride. But Eng Hen assured the House that it would be a contribution in assets, with the assets now in Iraq and Afghanistan redeployed to the new theatre. No ground troops would be In Iraq or Syria. All precautions and necessary training would be provided to our soldiers to keep them from harms way. How effective would this be is yet to tell when the war zone could expand and contract and cover anywhere.
 
What is more dangerous is back home or Singaporeans happily travelling all over the world on business or as tourists. This war against the IS transcends all national boundaries. We need to warn Singaporeans everywhere, including stepping up vigilance back home. This is no ordinary war and violence can pop up anywhere. Australia and Canada have a taste of it in the heart of their homeland. It is a war without borders.
This is Red Alert.

Kopi Level - Green

GE – Freak or no freak?

Tham Yuen C picked up the discussion on the freak election revisited by Ho Kwon Ping in his article in the Sunday Times yesterday. Many people thought Ho Kwon Ping was being polite and saying the right thing. Tham Yuen C spoke to several academics to feel the pulse once again. Tan Ern Ser, Viswa Sadasivan, Pauline Straughan and Bilveer Singh were all consulted on their views on this freak issue. Wondering if they were as polite as Ho Kwon Ping, but all agreed that a freak is unlikely. But they qualified themselves by saying that under certain conditions, though a freak is very unlikely, could still not be ruled out.

Tan Ern Ser said PAP would do everything possible and would adopt policies that are sustainable to stay in power. He even suggested that PAP would win by default as the ageing population would not want change. Sadasivan read that the ground was a lot sweeter than before but cautioned whether the changes in PAP policies were due to seeing the light or a matter of survival. Pauline Straughan was more hopeful that the PAP would continue on its momentum to talk to the people and to keep talking to the people, then the next election would not be shocking, like a freak election. The PAP would still win unless it does something spectacularly unpopular. The idea of PAP doing some, thing silly to lose its legitimacy, like rampant corruption, is unlikely. Bilveer Singh added that the electorates were sensible people and would not allow a freak to happen. All in, they agreed that PAP would still win but at most losing some popularity vote.

Based on the comments of these experts, all things are normal and PAP would be in power for the next 10 to 15 years as forecasted by Ho Kwon Ping. But would PAP do something spectacularly unpopular to do itself in, like not holding to the one goal lead but went for an all out and reckless persecution of opposing views? They are now tweaking many policies and the CPF sacred cow is not being spared. The only danger is that the above comments become positive feedback and give the PAP a false sense of confidence to continue with what it has been doing, more tough or hard headed policies, and the same tactics of fixing the opposition and dissenting voices.

There are signs of panic and strange behaviours from the PAP and its apparachiks. The most obvious is the relentless effort in charging of Roy and Hui Hui. Would the PAP read the kpkbs in social media and kopitiams as noises from the lunatic fringe or would they take it seriously as feedbacks from the ground up? Would PAP continue to deal with oppositions and opposing views like in the past and think it can get away with it? Or would the PAP take heed from these feedbacks that the old way of tackling dissent cannot work anymore and if pushed through in a high handed manner may lead to the freak election result being prematurely brought forward instead of another 10 or 15 years?

There is now a confluence of factors and events emerging in the political theatre that could make the freak come true. Smaller and less spectacular events, but cumulated, could be that something that is spectacularly unpopular. Maybe the PAP is so confident that nothing has changed and the next GE is already in the bag for another 2 or 3 terms, and it can do as it has always done before and swing the sledgehammer freely at anyone in its path. Can the PAP continue to do unpopular things? Would a few careless straws, added together, break the camel’s back?

What do you think?

Kopi Level - Yellow

Democracy 2014 – Hong Kong Chapter.

By MIKOspace

What Hong Kong Protests Taught Hong Kong, China and The World.

Democracy is Not Easy.  It is learnt only through failures and errors.  The Lessons are perpetual with endless emergence of newer Lessons.

After nearly 5 weeks of “pro”-Democracy sit-downs, disruptions and infringements of the natural “democratic” rights of other Hong Kongers, the protesting crowd simply fizzled and dissolved as it depleted itself of non-existent political sustenance, as well as the folding goodwill shelter of Democracy’s Umbrella.

It became blatantly clear that in spite of increasing thousands of nightly cheering spectators and bystanders, the HK student protestors were UNABLE to establish a connection with the larger HK Community to develop a critical collective identity for sustainable political action to obtain the greatest good for the largest number.

In the end, the HK Students and their political and financial supporters were exposed to be just another noisy and mischievous rabble that were merely opinionated with deep prejudices but no convictions; and that while they had energetic determination, they did not possess any credible political will because they, albeit a tiny group, had only wanted for themselves instead of incorporating the greater good that the vast majority of other Hong Kongers may prefer.  Democracy is for the Whole and not just for a few persons in Society, no matter how vocal and destructive the few may demonstrate. 

The Absence of a Collective Hong Kong Identity further explained the failure of HK student protestors to establish a connection through their protests with the vast majority of other Hong Kongers. They occupied, stood and sat ALONE on major public roads, property and space, becoming increasingly an unnecessary nuisance to fellow Hong Kongers who rightfully demanded the legitimate return of their shared “public space” so rudely expropriated weeks earlier by the students for purposes which were never articulated in the language and terms of the public good. 

The Protestors’ insensitivity to the growing economic plight of their fellow Hong Kongers betrayed the fragile absence of the perequisite social norms of trust and reciprocity necessary to promote civic co-operation in a Democracy.  There were no shared bonds of affiliation and trust between the Protestors and other members of Hong Kong society.

Hong Kong politics is NOT about Beijing vs Democracy. Hong Kongers, have to choose between its future as a prosperous Chinese city vs being an unstable anti-China bastion. 

Kopi Level - Yellow

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Democracy 2014 - Hong Kong Chapter

55 – The age of Insanity

A research paper from the trash bin came to me for my reading on a Sunday morning. Its title, ’55 – The age of Insanity’, is quite mysterious and provocative. It has a list of professors and doctors attached as co contributors to the article. The main author apparently is a young genius but his name, like the rest, has been erased from the paper and I could only briefly make up the initial Dr AS. Even the institution has been struck out from this mysterious paper from the trash bin.

The theme of this paper is about a defective gene PME55 found in true blue Singaporeans born after the war, ie the post war babies or baby boomers. This gene is practically non existent among the generations before the war. The effect of this gene is that it will be activated at the biological age of 55 and anyone with such a defective gene would be morphed into a new person minus all the skills, knowledge and experience of life. It is like a Trojan Horse virus that wiped out the memory and turned the brain into a clean brain or ‘unprogrammed’ brain with no user software inside.

At the critical age of 55, whole generation of true blue Singaporeans would suddenly turned into walking zombies. They could not perform the jobs they were doing yesterday, become completely useless. Regardless of their professions, they will be immediately terminated for the good of the organisations and quickly bungled out of their jobs. And these people, mostly PMEs, because of their blank brains, did not know what is happening to them due to their reduced mental ability. So they left their jobs as a matter of fact and retired from life, neither happy or unhappy and not knowing why.

Some may find jobs that are more suitable to their lower mental ability. According to the paper, the best jobs that are suitable for people affected by PME55 are security guards and taxi drivers. Some may not even be suitable for such jobs and will be retired permanently. No employer would want them. Those who could still find some brain cells tickling could be retrained, put on courses to re-educate them with simple knowledge for some low level jobs. This is about the best that can be done to people affected by this disease.

There are also changes to the characters of these sick people. There will be personality changes. From being highly respected individuals in positions of authority, responsibility, ability and trustworthiness, some would become philanderers, some amorous, some gamblers and some will simply not be able to manage their money and their lives.

The govt knew about this disease. The employers too knew about this. Anyone who knows about this defective gene and its effect will be able to understand what is going on in this city state. Govt policies like retirement age, CPF minimum sums, training programmes, not wasting resources to provide tertiary education to these people, influx of foreign talents, reversed mortgage, annuities etc etc begin to make sense. They are answers and solutions to PME55. Even employment policies are adjusted to take care of PME55.

Fortunately or unfortunately not many people knew about this defective gene and could not understand why certain policies and things are happening in the way they are happening. The defective gene is a state secret. Perhaps that is the reason why the paper was not published and ended up in a thrash bin.

The good thing, the govt is coming out with a slew of policies to take care of the true blue generations of Singaporeans with this gene. Their life savings are protected. There are strict rules against them going to the casinos. There is the Pioneer Generation Package to take care of them too. New manual jobs that are less demanding and taxing on their blank brain cells are created for them so that they can continue to work if they want to enjoy their dignity. Their retirements have been carefully planned to ensure that all their financial needs are well taken care of. They have nothing to worry about even if they lose their jobs at 55. The country will continue to prosper with their replacement from overseas to support them.

In the research papers, the pages on recommendations were all blanks. But now the picture is clearer. Though the recommendations may be missing, the knowledge of the existence of this defective gene clears all the doubts about why things are happening the way it is. There is a new urgency to replace the population with new migrants that don’t have this defective gene that will self destruct true blue Singaporeans at 55.

I am going throw this piece of paper back into the trash bin. No one should be reading it. It is a national secret of this unique city state. Time for kopi.

 Kopi Level -  Yellow

When the dogs forgot that they are dogs

Darkness wrote this story about his Doberman that he brought up from a pup. The Doberman was his best pal and he treated it like a close friend and they had a special relationship, fully confident and trusting each other. One day the dog growled at him for no reason while he was feeding the dog.

This was unacceptable behavior. A dog must never ever think that it could growl at the master. A dog must not be allowed to think it can decide and take matters into his own hand. It could bite if the owner is not careful. You just do not know what is in the mind of a dog. The first sign of disobedience is a signal that the dog could just act and behave like dogs do, and the master could lose control.

He did the right thing. He gave the dog away for his own safety.

The lesson to learn is that when dogs are let loose in the cyberspace, they must still behave like dogs and not to exceed their authority to go wild and bite recklessly at anyone. Once a dog starts to think it can behave wildly like a dog in the wild, it must be taken out, put on a muzzle at least, or like Darkness, put away for good.

Dogs cannot be allowed to run wild and do as they pleased. The master must always be in control, not the dogs. Dogs will always be dogs and will behave like dogs. They are not human and will not have the good qualities of being human. They can be vile.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Sim Lim Square – Singapore’s Wild Wild West for shopping experience

A woman who bought an over-priced phone at Sim Lim Square demanded a refund and was given a bag full of $1,010 coins.

The woman, Miss Zhou, bought an iPhone 6 Plus for $1,600. She was shocked when the shop demanded that she pay another $2,400 for a two year insurance for the phone. You only get this in some unique shops in Singapore.

The shop, Mobile Air, was only willing to give her a $1,000 refund. The Small Claims Tribunal ordered the shop to refund Miss Zhou $1,010.

Miss Zhou was given the money in a bag full of coins. The bag was thrown onto the floor and the shop staff embarrassed her with nasty remarks when she was picking up the coins.

This is the kind of shopping experience one could enjoy from some shops in Sim Lim Square. The Tourist Board should promote this as a new exciting and unforgettable shopping adventure in Singapore’s Wild Wild West shopping centre where anything goes. There is no overcharging of course and no crime committed. Shoppers visiting the centre would have a memorable trip and a memory they would not forget, and will remember the exciting Singapore for a life time.

The full story of Miss Zhou is covered in a number of articles posted in The Real Singapore.

Kopi Level - Green

Tan Su Shan, the world’s best private banker

DBS’ group head of consumer banking and wealth management was voted the world’s best in private banking. This Global Private Banking Awards 2014 is presented by PWM and The Banker, a wealth publication by the Financial Times Group. It was reported that this award is for the best private banks in the world based on growth and performance. This award is certainly different from the World Best University rankings and would not be the subject of credibility discussion.

It is good to know that a Singaporean banker is good enough for such an award. The big question, would she be good enough for the Top Job as CEO of DBS or any local banks? Traditionally, over the last few decades, no Singaporean banker is found to be good enough to be CEO of a local bank, not even thinking of foreign banks. UOB is an exception for exceptional reasons.

Singaporean bankers are noted to be good enough only to be number 3 or 4 or 5 or 6, definitely not good enough to be number one. When Piyush’s time is up, would Tan Su Shan be the next CEO of DBS or would they go around the world, or to the 3^rd world to hunt for another CEO? It would be good if she makes it to the top and bring back some dignity for daft Singaporeans, better than gold medals in sports won by foreigners.

My guess is quite pessimistic. Tharman has acknowledged that we lacked top bankers among the Singaporean breed and they had taken measures to start to train them yesterday for the future, maybe another 20 years to see the fruits. The current ingenious formula is to bring in a foreigner, issued him with a pink IC and called him a Singaporean. Instant tree, instant talent, instant Singaporean.

How long would the dearth of top Singaporean bankers continue to plague this island that is the financial centre of the region and with big dreams of being the financial centre of Asia, but only capable of producing half baked Singaporean bankers that would lose out to bankers from 3^rd world villagers?

This is another Uniquely Strange feature of this strange island with 1^st world pretensions but suffering from a disease known as ‘no local talents’, but a nation of daft. Something is seriously wrong with the gene pool.

Kopi Level - Green

NTU’s Journey from Greatness to the TOP of a Bogus World Universities Ranking Standard.

By MIKOspace

One Summer day in 1987, I hired a fresh Engineering graduate (called him “James” here) from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). James had graduated from NTU with a First-Class Honours Degree, which was truly outstanding during the 1980s. I vaguely remembered that he said he had actually topped his cohort. “James” was just one of several truly remarkable engineering graduates continuously molded and refined by NTU Engineering Schools. 

NTU began as Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) in 1981 before becoming a full-fledged University in 1991 with the vision “To Be The University of Business and Industry”.  By April 2001, NTU's research has resulted in 20 spin-off companies with many funded by venture firms, 150 disclosures, 76 patents filed and 30 patents granted. The research papers of its staff and students in refereed international journals had also won numerous awards in international competitions and conferences. 

NTU’s Journey from Greatness began with the advent of “World” Universities Ranking, an essentially commercial profit-making venture by a British organisation.   

In 2008, NTU’s “World” Ranking plunged 16 places from 61 in 2006 to 77 in 2008, or 29 places from 48 in 2003, to join the ranks of relative unknown and undistinguished Universities. The subsequent shake-up of NTU appeared to be the inevitable effect resulting from these “world rankings”, which look at factors such as international outlook and how often other academics cite a faculty’s research.

So, what exactly did NTU do wrong?   Here’s a brief list of NTU’s “wrongdoings in the early 2000s to be relegated:

1. NOT ENOUGH FOREIGN Students - NTU had mostly (more than 94%) Singaporean Students.
2. NOT ENOUGH FOREIGN Professors – NTU had NOT hired more Foreign Professors.
3. TOO MANY STUDENTS – NTU had High Students-Staff Ratio.
4. TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON INVENTIONS AND SPIN-OFF COMPANIES – NTU had too many Research Papers with Low Citations.
5. REPUTATIONAL SURVEY – NTU was Unknown to Many Academics Worldwide.

In the years that followed, so seduced were we by the New Clothes of “Global” Universities Rankings, a series of measures were embarked on to increase the number of foreign students (at the expense of local Singaporeans?), break various laws so as to reduce the number of Singaporean Professors, to hire even more Foreign Staff.  

Finally, by 2014, NTU was ranked as the Top Youngest University in the World by QS Ranker, and ranking just 39th Worldwide.  Indeed, what a “climb” from 77^th in 2008!  

NTU’s Journey from Greatness to the “bogus” Top of World Universities Rankings has been remarkably as relentless as her early rise from NTI into a NTU as a Great University in just 20 years. In her pursuit of the “bogus” world Universities ranking standards, we are reminded the Moral of Hans Christian Andersen’s story “Emperor’s New Clothes”.

Every child knows the Moral of the story is that one should not believe in every authority. The important thing is to let other people think whatever they want, and not to lose one’s self-esteem by letting others diminish the accolades of our genuine acclaims and true achievements, so that we can lend them our excellent reputation of authenticity and honesty to cover up their lack of credibility, validity and reliability.  

Kopi Level - Green

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Seduction of World Universities Rankings