Are you a ‘no body’?

Please don’t say yes. Being a no body is a very shameful and depressing thing, that you would be despised and looked down upon, maybe not in your face but surely behind your back. Some were too unfortunate that they were told right in their face that they are no body and better shut up and go hide in a corner. As a no body, as a failure, you should not even be talking to the public, to the world. Only successful people, people that are not ‘no body’ has the right and honour to blow their trumpets, to stand on high pedestal to lecture to the no bodies.

Some say failure is the mother of success. Many entrepreneurs, professionals, even world leaders, were no bodies until they achieved fame and glory over their failures. And many successful some bodies ended in oblivion, in shame, in disgrace. But that is not the moral of the story. The wise always say things to encourage the losers, the failures. Do not be dismay or despair if one is not making much headway in life. Life is full of up ups and downs, unpredictable. At your worst moment one could turn around and be helped by some fortuitous events to make it good. And they have been many instances of people born with golden spoons but ended in the gutters of life.

The moral of the story is that when you are down, you are not out if one is willing to fight on. On the contrary, when you are up and successful, be wary that you could trip and fall very badly. Nature likes to poke fun at people, especially very successful and arrogant people. The pride goes before the fall.

How many of you are no bodies? How many of you used to be some body? No need to kee chiu. We see you, especially the PMEs and the pioneer generations. Many used to bathe in glory, money cannot finish, chauffer driven, calling the hot and cold when they were around and sending shivers down the spines of those in their company.

Life is full of surprises and upsets. A little humility will go a long way. Don’t ever be cocky. Don’t write people off so easily. Do not be dismissive of people who are still struggling to make their mark. Until your last breath, there is time to right the wrong, to be successful after a life of failures.

Ha, my Sunday sermon.

Counting the 24 to go

Hsien Loong in his press interview confirmed that 24 new candidates would be introduced in the next GE, which also means that 24 of the current batch in Parliament would have to quit. Actually not, only 17 would be quitting if we count the 7 seats taken up by the WP.  Again it may not be 17 if the Gov thinks this country is too big and needs another few more MPs in Parliament. This is still an unknown variable.

Assuming that the Parliament remains at 87 seats then we can count on 17 PAP incumbents to vacate their seats and stand down in the next GE. Now who would be the lucky ones that could step down on a winning card, and not stepping down because they lost in a GE? Let me make a wild guess starting from the slate of ministers. If membership to the CEC is an indication, those ministers that were not in could be likely candidates to miss the boat when it leaves the port.

Of the 18 ministers, only 4 were not in the CEC, Lim Hng Khiang, Vivian, Lui Tuck Yew, Grace Fu, and Iswaran.  Lim Hng Khiang looks like a very tired minister after having been in office for more than 20 years. Vivian and Lui have been in the hot seats and affected by many bad publicities. These 3 could very well be stepping down. Iswaran is new and being out of the CEC is quite normal. On the other hand some ministers in the CEC may also offer to step down for health or personal reasons. Boon Wan and Swee Say have openly talked about it. So, all in we can count on a max of 3+2 ministers to leave politics.

This leaves 12 MPs to be let go. And again, those in the CEC are likely to be favoured MPs and can safely be counted to be in.  Assuming that the oldies would be the first on the list to retire, this would count MPs like Charles Chong, Arthur Fong, Cedric Foo, Chok Tong, Inderjit, LKY, Teo Ho Pin, Lily Neo and the ex ministers Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan and Raymond Lim, making a group of 11.

And we have a balance of 1 left to be dropped. Who is the possible candidate? Who is the likely one to make up the last of the 17? Anyone offering to step down for personal reasons? Anyone involved in controversies and bad publicity? Baey Yam Keng and Seng Han Thong have been heard to be considering retirement. That would leave the rest safe to stay on for another term.

I think the above list is likely to be the candidates that would be laid off in the next GE. Some may think of a few newer candidates that social media were unhappy with would likely to go, but I think they will be safe as there are already too many candidates that are due to quit politics for the above considerations. Intan would be safe, Tin Pei Ling, Lee Bee Wah, Irene Ng, Alvin Yeo, Lim Wee Kiat, and whoever that drew fierce criticisms by the social media would also be safe.

This is just my guess and I swear that I am likely to be wrong in 50% of these guesses. The above considerations do not take into account the Aljunied factor that may need a few of the existing MPs or Ministers to be specially retained just to take back the GRC or to spare the agony for being chosen to fight there.

GE2015/16 – Rules of Engagement defined?

Everyone is in anticipation of the next General Election that could be called anytime now, if not in 2015 then must be in 2016. All the political parties have been busy making plans and arrangements and strategising on how to engage in this once every 5 year battle for the right to form the govern and run the country. PAP, being the ruling party and the one in the know on when the election would be called, is in the best position to execute its election plans as it is calling the shot. Everyone is watching and second guessing what is in the mind of the PAP and the election date that is closely guarded. Their best hope is to watch the moves of the PAP, what they are saying and doing, to have a feel of when the GE will be called. And there are many signs surfacing over the last few months.

The latest political move is the letter by Chan Chun Sing to the Huffington Post attacking the Post for allowing Chee Soon Juan’s letters to be published. What is more important is the text of the letter, what it said and what are the implications. Chee Soon Juan is going to play a central figure in the next GE if he is qualified to contest and all the big guns of the PAP will be trained at him. This letter is perhaps the first cannon shot fired ahead of the GE and would set the tone of the debate, the mood, tactics and rules of engagement.

Taking the hints from this letter, the PAP has in a way set the standard of what can be said, what would be said, and what is fair game. Let’s take a look at the content of the letter, I have deleted the less relevant to allow the key items to stand out.

“Your website has given Dr Chee Soon Juan considerable but undeserved attention and space. You perhaps believe that he is a weighty political figure in Singapore. He is nothing of the kind.
Dr Chee has stood for elections thrice – and lost badly all three times, once receiving just 20 per cent of the vote.
The party he now leads, the Singapore Democratic Party, was once the leading opposition party in the country. …
Indeed, it was Mr Chiam who brought Dr Chee into the SDP in 1992. He mentored the younger man and promoted him. Dr Chee then proceeded to betray Mr Chiam, isolate him and force him out of the SDP, ….
In 1993, Dr Chee was dismissed from the National University of Singapore for misappropriating research funds and for other serious misconduct, including surreptitiously recording conversations with university staff.
He has been sued for defamation not only by ruling party politicians,…
And in 1996, Dr Chee and three of his associates were convicted of perjury by Parliament tor submitting false statements to a Special Parliamentary Committee. … It is because of these and other failings that Dr Chee is a political failure – not because he was persecuted,… voters do not regard its leader as an honourable man.
Dr Chee was disqualified from contesting the last two General Elections because he was declared a bankrupt in 2006 for failing to pay damages for libel to former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. ….
Sincerely,
Chan Chun Sing
Minister for Social and Family Development, Singapore”

Some commentators have called this name calling or character assassination. (Full test of the article is available in all the main media and also at TRE). The letter was about Chee Soon Juan as a person and his character in question. It was about him as not honourable, a bankrupt, ungrateful, and misconduct. It related his affairs and encounters with politicians, govt officials and his employers that are negative.

As they said, food for the gander is food for the goose. Are these the lines drawn by the PAP as acceptable fodder for the GE campaign whereby political parties can dig out everything they could find about their political opponents and to use them freely in name calling and character assassination to win the votes? These were thought to be the OB lines in the past where anyone crossing them would be condemned as mean, unethical, hitting below the belt, dishonourable or unacceptable.

Now that Chan Chun Sing, signing off as the Minister for Social and Family Development and using them to attack a potential political opponent, does it signal to the opposition parties that they can do likewise? Of course they need to say things that are factual or risked being sue for defamation. Maybe immortals are flawless and blameless and there is nothing that the opposition parties could find to use in the GE. That may give Chan Chun Sing and the PAP the confidence that they could widen the OB markers to accommodate more juicy stuff and the washing of dirty laundry during the heat of the election rallies.  

The election rallies are going to be very interesting and going to be very well attended when all kinds of personal information would be aired to down an opponent. Insults, insinuations, name callings, sneerings, badmouthing, exposing personal gaffs etc etc are permissible? It would be good if the rallies could be put on live telecast. One thing for sure, youtube and webcast, mobile videos etc etc would be made available in all the blogs and websites to share the good stuff and great stuff of the election one upmanship, with many red faces to show.

This GE election rally must be something to look forward to, could be more exciting and part of the SG50 celebration.

Sin City the destination for the decadent rich

Everyday we are hit by reports and commentaries of turning this island paradise into a destination for the opulent rich to indulge in the worldly pleasures money can buy. Give them everything they want in exchange for their money. We are almost there. We have F1, casinos, Sentosa, the Durian, Garden by the Bay, 6 stars of everything, and we are going to get the must visit Jewel, and the next attraction, world class jungle paradise minus Tarzan and Jane, but all the animals that they can put into a confined space without the feeling of being caged, freedom for the birds and animals in an imaginary jungle paradise. It will cost a few billions though, just like the Garden by the Bay and the Jewel.

I still think something is missing. The rich and famous may not need all the artificiality of a desert or Antarctica here, or the African savannah or the Amazon jungle. They could simply whisk there for the real stuff at a moment of fancy. Those who would want to visit the imitations would be the peasants that cannot afford the real stuff, and grumble that the imitations are too expensive. The developers may not even recover their cost as the high price may deter the crowd.

A cheaper attraction to create would be a real Sin City in Geylang with all the amorous wants and desire of the flesh and the senses available to those who could afford to splurge without blinking an eyelid. That is where the money is. Turn Geylang into a lavish, grandiose and luxuriant paradise on earth where the super rich could have everything they desire or crave for, to satisfy their every indulgence and extravagance. It would be a real destination to cater for the hedonists with worldly pleasure. How about that as a start? Forget about the cheap foreign workers. They not only could not afford much, their presence is also unsightly for a world class city. They not only don’t fit in, they destroy the image of what this city is all about.

The developers could allow their imaginations to go wild and turn Geylang into a true destination that no one with the money would want to miss, must visit but would not want to leave once they are inside Geylang, the City of Sinful flirtation, exploitations, opulence and of human lust.

And I think it would be cheaper to develop but with unimaginable returns on investment, where the customers would never ask for the price but willingly pay for everything thing they fancy and to be pampered. Why waste money on the Jewel and an imitation jungle when the customers can have their satisfaction on anything of pleasure that they want in Geylang, and when they will be happy and grateful to part with their money, plenty of it?

Now if they really develop Geylang into a City of Sin, would I get any credit for it?

What, outrageous? Nothing can be more real and lucrative, and money well spent and well returned than a City of Sin other than a mini Jurassic Park in one of our islands. Want to spend a few billions watching a few wild boars and deer and antelopes running around?

Huffington Post, Chan Chun Sing and Chee Soon Juan

What is the issue? Is Chan Chun Sing chastising the Huffington Post for giving space to Dr Chee to publish his views? Or is Chan Chun Sing attacking Dr Chee as a person or disagreeing with his views in his papers? Or is Chan Chun Sing saying that he is a successful politician while Dr Chee is a failed politician?
 
What is the issue or what are the issues, I leave it to the readers to make their own conclusions. My question is why is Chan Chun Sing not happy with a foreign paper publishing the works of a Singaporean that as a minister, he has to write to Huffington Post to object to it? And what is the reason for objection? Is it because the points raised in the two papers were flawed and Chan Chun Sing is giving another version of the truth as his right to reply? Or is it because Dr Chee is a failed politician, someone who was charged in court, so he is not good enough to have his article published in Huffington Post?
 
A lot of questions ran through my thoughts. When a newspaper published an article, what is the basis or reason for the editor to decide otherwise? The Straits Times would have its own guidelines on who and what articles it deems fit to publish. Should the Huffington Post also use the same principles and guidelines for its publication or can it used a different set of guidelines?
 
I am wondering what Huffington Post editor would say to Chan Chun Sing’s objection. What do you think they would say? Would they reply?
 
As to the issues that Chan Chun Sing raised about Dr Chee as a person, as a failure, maybe this can be put to a test by the two standing in a single constituency ward to fight it out. Then we would know who is a winner and who is a loser. And the judge as to who is a success or a failure would be the people.
 
How to measure the success or failure of a person in politics? A simple yardstick would be the person in power, who won the election. The winner is allowed to sing his song and write his success story. Chee has lost three elections. Chan Chun Sing won his election? Chan Chun Sing is a success as he is a minister and Chee is not.
 
I think the courts of public opinion will have a field day talking about Chan Chun Sing’s letter to Huffington Post. I find the need to write such a letter a bit bizarre.
 
What do you think?

A new and economically ascendant Southeast Asia

It is heartening to read about the uneasiness of the Malay Malaysian elite and their urgent call to restructure Malaysia for the future instead of being stuck in the past of racial and religious politics. There is a sense of frustration and despair among this Malay elite who wanted to do so much, who knew that Malaysia cannot remained stagnant in economic growth and wasting time and resources in unproductive hackling on religious and racial issues drummed up by the respective leaders. There is a time and place for religion. Leave them to the religious leaders and leave them in their place in the mosques and not to be bucking around with matters of the state. And political leaders must rise above the insidious past of race politics, to think secular and think development. Malaysia can do better given the right leadership, and UMNO and its present batch of leaders are not the one to lead Malaysia forward.

While Malaysia is still bogged down with trying to be more religious and more racist, and a shrinking economic pie, the Indonesians have embarked on a new journey of change. Ever since the Presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur, race politics have been taken out of the equation, or at least kept in the cupboard, hopefully not to reappear. Megawati continued to play down on racial politics and allowed the Indonesians with Chinese ancestry to participate more actively in the economy. Yudhoyono did the same and the Chinese Indonesians expanded their participation in the main stream of Indonesian polity, in business and in politics, culminating in the unprecedented election of Joko Widodo as the new President and Ahok as the governor of Jakarta, both with ethnic Chinese origin.

The path to accept the Chinese Indonesians into the main stream of Indonesian life without discrimination is putting Indonesia on a clean slate to take full advantage of the industries of the Chinese Indonesians to grow its economic pie. Without the legacy of the Suharto regime in its way, Indonesia can embark on any economic model, tap on all the resources of its able citizenry to grow the economic pie. Allowing the Chinese Indonesians an unrestricted role is like starting another engine of growth in a capitalist modelled economy.

Indonesia is now free from its historical baggage of racial politics and political bickering to move forward confidently, to embrace all the positive elements of a secular state, to raise the standard of living of its people, through industrialisation and scientific modernisation. Without harping on the fear of a Chinese minority playing a bigger role than its population, the country could benefit greatly without compromising on the economic well being of its population at large. Indonesia is set to be the next economic powerhouse of Southeast Asia and could leapfrog the rest to stake its rightful claim as the biggest economy and biggest regional power in the region.

Malaysia could do likewise by tapping on the industries of the minority groups to grow at a faster pace. But the shackles of racial and religious politics are not easy to remove especially with the ultras in charge in UMNO. They have no new ideas on how to grow the economic pie other than to constrain the growth of the minority groups in the economy and enterprises just to prove that they are in charge. While Indonesia is tapping on a new growth engine in its ethnic minority, Malaysia under UMNO is preventing this engine of growth from being ignited to grow the economic pie.

What is UMNO afraid of? The dynamic non bumi minorities generating more economic output that put them to same or they could not manage to do likewise? With full control of political and military power, the Malay rights and interests would never be challenged and UMNO would be in a better position to distribute the new wealth generated by the non bumi minorities. Is that bad? Why is UMNO seeking to tie chains and shackles to prevent the non bumi minorities from doing what they could do best for the economy to benefit the country and people? With the non bumi minorities being curtailed in their economic endeavours, Malaysia is as good as firing on two cylinders.

The UMNO leadership is more interested in protecting its power than in the general well being of its populace. Would the new Malay elite be able to strip the UMNO leaders from its pole position in govt and lead Malaysia into a new path of economic growth, prosperity and secularism? Or would it remain locked and restrained by its past unenlightened policies while watching Indonesia run away uncontested and unchallenged to be the richest country in Southeast Asia? Malaysia has squandered away its lead in the economic fields and unlikely to move forward. It is wasting all its potential to be a much richer and prosperous nation, but instead to become a more religious and racist country with one foot in the mud, dragging and compromising on its economic development.

The new Malay elite have a tough road ahead to replace the backward looking UMNO leadership.

When oil runs out in 40 years

This is what the experts said. The mineral oil reserves inside mother earth will run out in 40 years. When it happens, it will, you cannot run away from this date, anything that needs energy will kaput or will cost a bomb. In the next 40 years, some jokers wanted to stuff this island with 10m bodies, all hungry and consuming food and energy but not producing anything. Look around us, what are we producing, what is our economy doing? More shops and more shopping malls, more food courts and eating outlets. We are basically a nation that eats and consumes without producing them.
 
What will happen when oil runs out in 40 years if we have 10m bodies here? Yes, we can house them in smart homes, beautiful homes that depend on electricity and oil to function. Even the shops and food outlets need energy and oil or they will have to close down, as simple as that.
 
The desperadoes were thinking of nuclear energy until their brains got short circuited by Fukushima. You cannot live with a nuclear bomb under your bed. Nuclear energy is out of question now. Can we then hope for a cheap alternative source of energy that may not happen in 40 years while jokers continue to pump more bodies into this island and hoping for the best? The problem by then will be 10m in size, not 5m. Can we live with a 10m problem or do we want to live with a 10m problem when we can avoid it by stopping this crazy rush to the cliff?
 
What is the solution when oil runs out and you have 10m people to feed? They told you it can be done architecturally, but how to oil and lubricate the needs of 10m people?

Kiddy Stock Exchange

Parents should be happy with a stock exchange for the kids where the premium shares cost 5 cents a share and the happy go lucky shares cost 1cent per share. And to make trading cheaper and easier on the pockets of kids, the board lot should be 100 so that 1 board lot of a 1 cent happy go lucky stock will cost $1 and $5 for the premium stocks. The kids would be very happy to play in such a stock exchange.
 
The grandpa and grandma could play fund managers. Premium funds like LOL Fund will comprise of 100 premium stocks at 5 cent value per share. For the adventurous, a FBN Fund can be set up for the 1 cent and below stocks. A BS Fund will be for the ‘in betweens’ 2 cents and 3 cents stocks. Investors can come up with $500 to invest in the premium LOL Fund. You can’t invest in anything cheaper for premium quality stocks. The not so rich mama and papa can invest in the FBN Fund for a $100 minimum outlay. Of course the initial outlay for the BS Fund should be $300.
 
At these affordable initial outlays, the mama and papa can use the angpow money of their children to invest for their future. Imagine after 10 or 20 years the value of the investments could be 10 or 20 times. Actually every grandpa and grandma could be a self appointed fund manager to manage the savings of their grand children. It is so cheap to invest and very low risk some. No commission charges, no fund manager fee too.
 
By the way, FBN Fund stands for Fly By Night Fund. Make your guess for BS
Fund and LOL Fund. But for a Kiddy Stock Exchange, it is all just for a bit of fun. The grandpa and grandma fund managers can call themselves specialist fund managers and print their gold gilded cards to pass around too. Stylo ya.
It is all masak masak lah, kid’s play.

What is provocative action? - Another piece of western crap for the daft

In a Bloomberg article titled, ‘Why Sri Lanka should remain in China’s embrace’ in the Today paper yesterday, the editor wrote and commented on the reasons why Sri Lanka should continue to receive financial aid and infrastructure development from China but not without sneaking a little comment to plant a negative idea in the heads of the readers. And I quote, ‘And needless provocative actions – such as the docking of Chinese submarines at Sri Lankan ports, which Mr Rajapaksa allowed – should ceased.’
 
How provocative is the docking of a couple of submarines in Sri Lankan port? The Americans have several ships docked in Changi. Provocative? The Americans have military bases in Japan and South Korea. Not provocative? The Americans flew spy planes along the coast of China. Not provocative? The Americans flew nuclear armed B 52 bombers heading straight towards China mainland. Not provocative? The American bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Not provocative?
 
The Americans conduct regular wargames simulating an attack on North Korea near the North Korean border. Not provocative? The Americans hacked and brought down the North Korean’s computer system. Not provocative.
 
The Indians conducting wargames in East China Sea with Japan and the Americans, not provocative? The Indians conducting wargames with the Vietnamese in South China Seas, not provocative?
 
What do you think is provocative action?

The court the new arbiter of legal fees

We have seen what happened to the Dr Susan Lim’s case when the claims for legal fees were slashed by the court on several occasions from millions to a mere $100k or roughly 10% of the original claims. And we have seen the latest in Roy’s case when the claim for $50k or thereabout been sliced to $29l.
 
And all the claims by the lawyers are perfectly legal. So a plaintiff can engage the most expensive lawyer on earth, or in Singapore, and claim against the defendant in a dispute theoretically could be no more than $1000 and claiming hundreds of thousands or millions. A very wealthy person could inflict heavy financial damages against a small guy to bankrupt him by abusing the legal system, theoretically.
 
Over billing is no crime. And the poor judges would have to play the role of a non interested party, impartial, to determine what the court thinks is the right and decent sum. And there is nothing wrong at all on the part of the outrageous claims by a lawyer. No rebuke, no reprimand, no dressing down. It is just a normal legal process. Lawyers can simply bill like Susan Lim case and let the court to do the necessary.
 
Is this how things should work?

The ‘Messiah’ has come

Where is the Messiah, the people asked. But the Messiah has come and you charged him and hung him. Nobody will want to believe the Messiah has come, even if the Messiah is standing right in front of him. Many are still looking for a Messiah riding down a beam of light from the sky, in a white horse with angels blowing their trumpets and strumming the harps.
 
The ‘Messiah’ may not have been born in a manger, but equally poor in today’s standard. There were no 3 wise men to offer him gold and incense. The angels did not appear to announce his coming. But he came. He came to spread the good news. He stood on the mound and spoke to thousands. He came to tell his truths. He will heal the sick and save the poor.
 
those who believe will know him and welcome the good news. Many have ears but did not hear, have eyes but could not see. Like the historical Messiah, he is charged and found guilty and will be hung on the stake. He will be at the stake alone. He is being accused for spreading lies, spreading false messages. His believers will cower in the distance. And the Pharisees will party to celebrate the triumph over the ‘Messiah’.
 
Will the ‘Messiah’ rise again on the third day? Will the ‘Messiah’ say that on his second coming, he will judge to separate the good from the evil, and he will judge them fairly? And then there will be a new heaven and a new paradise.
 
My apologies, but I just can’t help telling this story. It just dawns on me that the ‘Messiah’ has come. Go forth and spread the good news to all things.

North and South Korea, an invitation to dance

After all the hypes about how irrational and crazy Kim Jong Un is, the West must be knocked off their balance by the goodwill gesture of Kim Jong Un to Park Guen Hye. Kim has invited Park for a meeting of the two heads. Unbelieveable, this is a notorious beast, insane and obnoxious character, a murderer, as the West would want the rest of the daft world to believe, and now he is offering an olive branch to the South. Cannot be true, must be a trap or some evil scheme. He must be having too much whisky and drunk. This guy cannot be trusted.
 
The South Korean President Park Guen Hye is not going to believe the Americans. She is taking Kim Jong Un and his offer for talks seriously. She has replied positively for a talk with no condition attached. Now this friendly response is going make some people in Washington and Tokyo very nervous. There are people and countries that would not want a reconciliation of the two Koreas and a united Korea.
 
Three have been flagged as possible candidates that would not want a united Korea. The West had been selling the notorious fiction that China would not want it. Then there are the Americans and the Japanese, both have vested interests to want to keep the two Koreas divided.
 
In the case of China, that is on good terms with both sides, though the West is singing the song that China is unhappy with Kim Jong Un and is distancing itself from him, even encouraging China to fix Kim for the sake of the Americans, the Chinese would not have anything to do with the Americans. The Chinese would remain the staunchest supporter of North Korea to keep the Americans from the Yalu River. Even a united Korea would not put fear to China as China has been living with a nuclear power North Korea for ages. A united Korea would see the redundancy of American troops in Korean soil, which is what China wants and which is what the Americans and Japanese dreaded.
 
The USA would have a lot to lose with a united Korea. No more justifications and fear mongering for military bases in the Korean Peninsula, no more control over the South Korean Armed Forces, no more bargaining power to keep the South Korean as a perpetual semi colony. No more force selling of expensive weapons and making the South Koreans paying for them And no more leverage to coerce and threaten China.
 
The Japanese share the same interest to keep the two Koreans divided and more. A military and economically strong united Korea would be a threat to the Japanese, an arch enemy. A united Korea would be able to take on the Japanese on its own very comfortably to avenge its past. A united Korea would give the nationalistic Koreans a united front and common enemy in Japan and would not bow to Japanese pressure. And they would resist Japanese encroachment and also have an axe to grind against Japan for half a century of brutal and humiliating colonization. Japan cannot afford to live with a united Korea.
 
The invitation to a dance party by Kim Jong Un, and the acceptance of the invite are sending shivers to the Americans and the Japanese. If they could have a hand in it, this party must not be allowed to proceed. The unification dream must be killed at the earliest possible opportunity.
 
Park Chung Hee, the former President of South Korea, the father of Park Guen Hye, was assassinated for toying with the same idea of a united Korea. Kim Dae Jung was removed as the President because of his sunshine policy that could lead to a reunification. Park had to be terminated and the Korean CIA, with connections with the American CIA, was made to do the execution. Now Park Guen Hye, the daughter, is reviving the same dream and acting dangerously to the American and Japanese interests. Would she suffer the same fate as her father? Are the South Koreans prepared not to allow a repeat of the assassination of another Korean patriot, another President?
 
The South Korean govt and all its security agencies must take serious precautions to protect the safety of their President embarking on a reunification path. She is in danger, clear and present danger, of being terminated, like her father. Would the South Koreans allow it to happen? Would a false flag incident be hatched to finish her off before the reunification dream takes off?
 
Who will determine her fate and the fate of a united Korea?

The Roy Ngerng saga continues

A fire is burning hot. The CPF is a hot potato issue. What about the Roy Ngerng saga? Immediately after the judgement for legal fee was out, another controversy took centre stage. Did Roy give up his right to cross examine, to be cross examined, or did he not? According to Hsien Loong’s press secretary Chang Li Lin, Roy’s lawyer had confirmed that he did not want to be cross examined. According to Roy he wanted the cross examination.
 
What is puzzling is the thinking of Hsien Loong. What is he thinking, what is in his mind? Could he be thinking that this is a straight forward case of libel and he was suing Roy for alleging that he was corrupt? Period. Let the court decide this civil suit and move on? How would this tussle affect his stature as the PM of the country?
Can this legal suit be taken in isolation, to be treated so clinically like a wound, clean it, sanitize it and bandage it up nicely with no further complication or implication?
 
The social media is on fire. Some netizens are fuming and drawing all kinds of conclusions and threatening consequences, as a political issue. Did Hsien Loong see this coming? I bet so. He must have weighed the consequences and how it would impact his standing as the PM and how it would affect the next GE.
 
This legal case against Roy cannot be simply treated as a private matter between the two of them. It is political as in involved the PM, and the people will see it from the political perspective and drag many issues into it, the CPF being one. Without trying to analyse more in the thinking of Hsien Loong or his party stalwarts, there must be political fallouts coming from this case. Perhaps all these have been taken into account and seen as a price worth paying for, or necessary to take Roy to court.
 
How would this end up with Roy now in a mood for a ‘suicidal’ mission, a do and die no option recourse? The bigger this saga is blown up, the bigger the implications, and they are unlikely to be positive for both of them. Would it blow the PAP’s chance in the next GE? This is on the lips of every politically conscious citizens and political observer.
 
What is at the end of the tunnel?

No poverty in Singapore?

The issue of poverty is a very sensitive one in one of the world’s richest city state with the highest percentage of millionaires. How can there be poverty when there are no beggars, or the poor here are better off than the poor elsewhere? How then does one define poverty or being poor? Theoretically, a person with a $1000 pm income could buy a 2 rm public flat. How can that be poor? The assumptions that after paying for the flat he would still have enough to get by, feed a family and children going to school. If this is the bottom line, the number of poor in Singapore must be very low indeed.

Professor Tommy Koh wrote a recent article stating that 30% of the population are poor. He is now embroiled in a debate with the MOE on the scale of poverty among students. Though the data quoted were complex and not everyone is in agreement, the bottom line is that how many are poor or living below the poverty line.

The next question is where is the poverty line? In Singapore there is no poverty line. So how can there be poor when there is no poverty line. Tiok. The next question, why is there no poverty line? The answer and I quote, ‘Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing had previously refused to define an official poverty line for fear of a "cliff effect" even though it is not known what this meant.’

If you choose to put on blinkers, the world is a tunnel. If one chooses to read only fairy tales, the world is so airy fairy. Are there people struggling to live on their small income and bordering on poverty or living below the poverty line? Deaf frogs, blind frogs or blinkered frogs, all have a different view on this issue.

Kopi Level - Red

My advertisements are down

Hi everyone,

I know some of you like to spend time with the interesting advertisements in the blog. Please spend more time reading my posts and not to be obsessed with the attractive advertisements.

I am trying to get the adverts back again.

Thank you.

China providing an alternative to the failed American model stock market

‘China now gives investors an alternative to (the)manipulated HFT U.S. stock markets - www.examiner.com
 
On Nov. 17, China finalized the completion of their linking the Shanghai stock exchange with the Hong Kong exchange, creating a $4.2 trillion capital market that is also open to foreign investors. Debuting yesterday during Asian trading hours, this new and dynamic market will provide an alternative for American and other global traders to invest in a massive stock exchange that is free from the manipulation and High Frequency Trading (HFT) that occurs on U.S. exchanges, and will even exempt foreign investors from paying capital gains taxes….
 
In March of this year, financial author Michael Lewis laid a bombshell on the investment community when he published his book Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. In this fictional story based on real life factual data, Lewis showed how HFT was used so much by the primary brokers on Wall Street that it completely rigged the stock markets and allowed the siphoning off of hundreds of billions of dollars from investors simply because their machines saw trades before they happened, and bought or sold shares to follow trends.
 
It is perhaps ironic that for decades the perception has been that fraud, corruption, and manipulation has been projected upon Asia, and Asian markets that had limited regulation to protect investors. However, those days are quickly changing and with this new and transparent stock market merger between Shanghai and Hong Kong, opportunities now appear far greater and with much less risk of fraud overseas than they do in the U.S. and European based exchanges.’
 
The above article talked about the alternative stock market platform China is providing to the world of finance to overcome and to step away from the highly flawed, manipulated and failed American stock trading system. Fund managers would now have a more transparent and trusted stock exchange to invest their funds collected from innocent investors in. It is a fairer and less manipulated market than one dominated by high speed computers that made all the trading principles, fundamentals and methodology irrelevant, a joke. Traditional and conventional fund managers and retail traders have been robbed and massacred by the highly deceptive high speed trading programmes without knowing what really hit them, without knowing they have been cheated by them and the regulators of the exchanges.
 
High speed trading has violated and broken all the rules and regulations of stock exchanges for fair trading and have deceived investors that there was nothing wrong or illegal about their modus operandi. This does not mean that the govts, the US govt included, the regulators and the big fund managers did not know that the operations are illegal, criminal and fraudulent. They have been allowed to continue to operate and cheat other investors simply by virtue of their control over the regulators not to report or apprehend them for frauds and cheating. Everyone in the industry, the govt and regulators, are complicit in this crime while the investors are totally helpless about it except to lose their savings and fortunes. The wiser, or those who have lost everything, could only stand aside and watch in vain, not to participate or cannot afford to participate in the con game again.
 
China has seen through the deception and is offering genuine investors and fund managers a fairer and more transparent platform to invest and trade without being cheated by the computer traders. The American model is waiting to collapse just like the greenback, all built and propped up by sheer manipulation of the regulators/govt and the big computer operators.
 
Now that there is a reliable and fairer system to trade stocks, more fund managers are likely to shift their portfolio to the Shanghai/Hongkong market and leading to a quicker demise of the American model. The Singapore Exchange that is highly similar to the American model and would not be spared and would likely meet a similar ending once New York and London hit dirt at ground zero. Good riddance.
 
The end of the American model is near and a new and fairer financial centre in Shanghai/Hongkong would rise to take the place of New York/London and Tokyo. No more computer trading and no more manipulation of the stock market with impunity. There is new hope and a new world order at the horizon.

Kopi Level - Red

Curtain call for the Equity Market?

Stanchart is closing down its equity operation in Asia! More than 200 staff will be laid off. What does this mean? A major bank cannot make money or even losing money in the equity market? It must be. No banks would close down a profit making business.
Is this the beginning for more banks closing down their equity businesses? When banks are finding it tough to make profit in equity trading, what are the chances of the retail traders? You mean the retail traders are still around, still in business and trading with profits while the banks are closing shops? Does anyone want to know, bother to know, what is happening to the retail traders, to all the players including broking houses and remisiers in the equity business?
 
Who cares? It is no one’s business. The equity business can go bust, life goes on. Equity is only a small part of a bank’s business. Some banks even offer free or near to no commission for this service.
 
What about derivatives? Are derivatives related to the equity business and dependent on the existence of an equity market? Would the collapse of the equity market lead to the collapse of the derivative markets? Can the derivative market exist without the equity market or a dysfunctional or dormant equity market?
 
The immediate problem, maybe not a problem, is the loss of jobs in the Stanchart and maybe other banks following suit, to close down their equity business. Who would be the people laid off? Theoretically it would be those in the equity division. Or would a bank choose to lay off Singaporeans in other departments to save the jobs of foreigners in the equity division? To retain the foreigners from the equity division, a bank can transfer their foreign hires to other departments by getting rid of Singaporeans there. Possible? Likely?
 
What would be the case when banks start to close down their equity divisions? What would happen to the stock market when more banks take the path of Stanchart?

Kopi Level - Yellow

Be deaf frogs for once and do what you think is right

Funny for me to make this the title of my article. Singaporeans have been asking for change for the better in the last two decades more or less. Some may go to the extreme to say Singaporeans have been asking for change for the last 50 years. Let’s be reasonable and sensible and when things were right and good, we have to admit that they were good. And when things are not right and not good, we have to face them squarely. The pain and unhappiness did not happen over night nor did it happen 50 years ago. We were doing well, people were getting better off, life was good, everyone was upgrading, in education, in jobs, in income, homes and lifestyle.

The change started only two decades ago. We hit our golden age two decades ago and many things started to come back down to earth. Today the mantra is about downgrading, don’t aspire for university education, go for job retraining to become waiter or security guard. And if you are stubborn, and did not want to downgrade, go and become taxi drivers. Sell your homes and down grade to smaller homes or go to Batam, Bintan and JB if you cannot afford to live here. And pretend that cycling is good, car ownership is bad. So buy bicycles instead of buying cars. If cannot afford to eat in restaurants, hawker centres are just as good. You got to do that fast before the big boys buy them over and upgrade them to foodcourts.

My apologies to those doing exceptionally well and are sneering at this kind of loser commentaries. Yes there are many winners, but many more losers. And the losers are kpkbing for change. Actually change is easy if you only believe in yourself. Trust yourself, trust your own judgement and trust your own intellect, that what you see is real and you cannot run away unless you do something about.

It is time to be deaf frogs, act like deaf frogs, and do the right thing. Do what is right for you, for your children and grandchildren. It is as simple as that. Don’t expect the daft to do anything for you. You have to do what is right and ignore the noises around you.

Daft Sinkies must wake up and know what they want and do what is right. Start by being deaf frogs and act like deaf frogs. Or you would be boiled and turned into dead frogs.

Are Sinkies ready to be deaf frogs?

Kopi Level - Yellow

Roy Ngerng – The saga takes a nasty turn

For more than a month, nothing was heard of Hsien Loong’s libel case against Roy Ngerng. Privately I thought the two parties were trying to work out an amicable settlement out of court. I personally thought that would be a good thing for both parties. An outright confrontation when both refused to give an inch and went for body blows would only hurt both badly. None will walk away triumphant but with wounds and bruises all over. So I thought wise counsels must have prevailed and both will walk away with the least harm possible. Then I read Roy’s article posted in The Real Singapore, ‘ROY NGERNG: PM LEE TAKES ISSUE WITH 9 MORE OF MY BLOG ARTICLES TO PAY HIS LAWYERS $50,000 - 11 January 2015 - 1:48pm’

What Roy wrote in this latest article was not what I hope to see. Roy was acting like someone being pushed to the wall and would either scale over or bite back with all he got. It is a case of you want me dead, I will fight you to the end. And Roy has little to lose.

I have a lot of misgivings after reading the article. This development is bad for both of them. What happened? I can only guess that Hsien Loong was given the wrong advice again to raise the stake, to take Roy to the High Court and to demand higher compensation in the process. Assuming Hsien Loong won and Roy is made to pay a huge sum for damages, so what? Roy would be down and likely be made a bankrupt. Or he could go to the public for financial support to pay the damages like before. The latter would only excite more negative emotions and bad publicity for Hsien Loong and his party.

What would these bode for Hsien Loong? I could not see any good coming out of this for him. There is nothing of benefit to Hsien Loong. It would not only be a hollow victory but worse. How would the people look at Hsien Loong in his tenacious pursuit of this case? I am sure Hsien Loong would know that it can only do him harm than good. Then why pursue this case to such an unpleasant ending that would cost him dearly politically?

Who would benefit from the fallout of this case? Definitely not Roy, and not Hsien Loong. It would be like the proverbial saying, when the clam and crane fought, the fisherman would stand to reap the rewards. Who is or are the fishermen in this case and waiting eagerly and patiently on the sideline for the two to fall? Who would stand to gain the most when both parties ended in the gutters?

I must say I am taken aback by this latest development. Why is Hsien Loong forced to take this drastic step and in the process hurt himself more than he could hurt Roy? Some may think otherwise and thought this is a good thing for Hsien Loong, that he is doing the right thing. I choose to disagree. I would advise Hsien Loong to take the middle path if asked.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Sin City going upmarket – everything 6 stars!

Things are getting better in Sin City. The Jewel at Changi is going to be developed as a destination for air travelers.  Tourists around the world will fly here just to see the Jewel like seeing the Great Wall or the Pyramids. The rich will just fly to Changi to shop at a 6 star shopping paradise. On a cautionary note, just make sure it would not be run by rogue retailers.

As the most expensive city for the rich and famous, everything has to go up scale to pamper the super rich and share their appetite for the good stuff. Recently there was a report of a 6 star dog hotel with pipe in music, leather bed linings, fully aircon, room service and massages for the dogs’ needs on demand.

The latest is a 6 star columbarium in Sengkang West with all the high tech leading edge technical stuff for the dead to RIP. But this has met with a little resistance as the ‘would be residents’ nearby were up in arms against its location, too near to their 3 star HDB flats.  Though they were claiming all kinds of reasons to protest, I think the real reason is the disparity in wealth when their lodgings are the ordinary run of the mill HDB flats while the columbarium will be fitted with the latest gadgetry and all the glittering stuff, laser beams and pipe in music.

This must be it. How can people be living in less comfortable quarters than the dead in their luxurious 6 star niche apartments? The inequality and wealth disparity are simply unacceptable.

Where else or what else will be upgraded next to 6 stars? I think Geylang will be a good candidate. All the red light joints can be redeveloped to be luxurious suites to pamper the rich, to amuse them and make entertainment an art or a new life style where the rich would patronize the place in their limousines. Let the rats go somewhere.

Kopi Level - Green