The Brits are losing it

The recent announcement by our Govt to delist some well known British universities from the list of recognised universities for law degree and allowed to practise here must come as a shock, a thunderbolt from nowhere. How can this little ex colony have the gumption to not recognise top notch universities with long academic traditions and anytime better than the local universities here? The Brits forgot that our local universities are higher ranked that many British universities. It is like the student has surpassed the master. Wait a minute, I thought the higher ranking of local universities here are due to two major factors, foreign lecturers and foreign students. And foreign lecturers, especially the English speaking type are mainly from UK/US. And British universities must have a lot of foreign students as well. What is wrong with British tertiary education when they are ranked lower than our state universities? Don’t ask me. Maybe these universities did not know how to game the ranking system.

Now some of these reputable British universities are standing up in protest. How can this ex colony think British universities are not good enough? They are going to make representations and appeals to be reinstated into the list of approved universities.

All I can say is silly Brits. An easier and more comprehensive solution would be to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA, and all their problems will be solved. CECA could also mean Comprehensive Exemption for Cheats Agreement when the quality and authenticity of the qualifications are questionable. If the Brits did not what this is all about, send a team of representatives to New Delhi to learn from their ex colony on how to con Singapore into singing a CECA. This ex colony has also outsmarted their colonial master and a smaller ex colony to sign this great agreement.

With a CECA, the British could even take over this ex colony and rule it for perpetuity if they so wish. There will be no more need to recognise any universities from UK, the Universities of Soho or Haymarket would do. They can just hop over to work here. Some natives here have gone bonkers and would love to welcome the British back to rule them. They have run out of ideas and would need just an excuse to bring back the Union Jack like some Hongkies are doing, protesting in the streets begging for the Brits to be back to rule them.

And the CECA with the British is just the right instrument to do it. Every single university in UK would be recognised by default of the agreement. No need to appeal to the ex colony. Come on Brits, used your head. It’s elementary, Watson.

President Netanyahu to speak in Congress

President Obama has infuriated Israel for working up a deal that was interpreted by the White House in Israel that Iran would be allowed to build nuclear bombs. The White House in Israel would not accept such a deal that it has vetoed and prevented for the last half a century. How could Obama allow this to happen as it would jeopardize the safety and security of Israel. Israel’s security is built around its absolute military superiority in the region and with its nuclear arsenal to obliterate any Arab states or Iran should they intend to mount a military campaign against Israel.
 
President Netanyahu has invited himself to speak to Congress to overrule Obama’s initiative that he and Israel would not accept. The de facto President of the USA is challenging the de jure President of the USA to have the latter’s plan dismissed and dismantled. Congress is going to be the battleground for the two Presidents to call their shots and see who is the one that is holding the real power to determine the policies of the USA.
 
And the Republicans are laying the red carpet to welcome the de facto President to turn the table against a lame duck de jure President on his last leg out of the White House. The true power of the President of the USA, in the hands of President Obama or President Netanyahu will be put to a test finally.
 
Who is the real President of the USA will finally be settled after President Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. The rest of the world will finally get to know that there are two American Presidents calling the shot at the same time, one elected by the people of America and one elected by the people of Israel.
 
The truth is stranger than fiction, so they said.

Cheng Meng at HDB estates?

Is it lucky or unlucky that the columbarium idea at Sengkang West is scrapped for the time being? For those who were thinking of paying respect to their ancestors in HDB estates during Cheng Meng they must be quite disappointed. The convenience of walking downstairs without the hassle of going to Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Brown or Yishun or Mandai must be a let down.
 
There is a brighter side to it though. Think of the crowd and cars parking in the HDB estates like those along the roads in Choa Chu Kang, Mandai and Bukit Brown during Cheng Meng, and all the smokes that came along, which is better? The traffic jams in HDB estate would not be easy to bear for the residents.
 
Traffic jams during Cheng Meng normally lasted practically the whole day and for a few weekends. Can HDB estate residents tahan or not? I think it will increase the strains on our multi racial population and unpleasant incidents could happen when the estates are packed by the visitors descending on them at the same time. The new citizens would need more time to adapt and integrate into this social event of the locals.
 
Anyone still wants a columbarium in your backyard? Would there be more columbarium built in HDB estates?

What is the PAP best remembered yesterday and today?

This is no longer so straight forward. What is PAP is best described in two phases, the first 30 years and the last 20 and still counting. The PAP was remembered best in the first 30 years as a party that built Singapore and positively transforming the lives of the people. What the PAP did in the first 30 years is still being strutted around as a badge of good performance. The PAP leadership of early years no longer in the picture, mostly gone, sidelined or not really in the thick of things.
 
What was the PAP associated with or best remembered in the first 30 years? Let me try to put it in simple words, nation building, industrialization, eradication of poverty, building cheap housing for the people, progress, upgrading, home ownership, buying bigger homes, car ownership, happier times, committed and dedicated leaders, a party of the people, support of the people, brilliant leadership. Creating a confident and proud people that could achieve anything.
 
What is PAP equated to today? High cost of living, high cost of everything, unaffordable housing called affordable, depletion of CPF savings, withholding the people’s CPF savings and refusing to return as promised, downgrading, selling homes to buying smaller homes, forget about car ownership, elitism, super expensive ministers that are dwarfed in comparison with the pioneering leaders in many ways, job loss of PMEs, influx of foreigners to replace Singaporeans in good jobs, lost of direction, loss of ideas, losing support and trust of the people, questionable leadership, a subsidy dependent people, highly in debt, highly stressed and insecure of their future well being. 

The most important, lost of confidence as a people and being despised by the foreigners replacing them in the job market. A country of no talent and needing 3rd world talents to help in the economy.
 
The above are just my views. Some may agree, some may disagree, no sweat. It is just an opinion. They are not the absolute right or wrong. It all depends on who you are and the colour of your lenses.

MH370 – The crime of deceiving the world

What can be more wicked than deceiving the families of the victims of a tragedy and leading them into a wild goose chase? The act of shooting down a civilian aircraft or hijacking it, or murdering all its passengers is already a barbaric act. But it is worse to mislead the families and govts to send their search parties in God knows where and telling them that was where the aircraft sank. How could people with no idea of where the aircraft is be so confident to tell the world that they knew what was happening and where to find the wreck?
 
It is almost one year since the disappearance of the MH370 with 239 passengers on board and a lot of mangosteens. In today’s ST, an Australian, Martin Dolan, now in charge of the search, confidently said the wreckage of MH370 would be found in 3 months. How did he know? John Abbott was equally confident on what he knew and now, after one year, he looked like a clown.
 
Is this Martin Dolan going to be another John Abbott? What did he know, what kind of information did he possess to be cocksure that the wreckage would be found? Why made so many govts spent their resources to go searching in the God forsaken Antarctic Ocean for an aircraft missing in the South China Sea and had no reasons to be there?
 
All the creepy and foolish theories of a mad pilot, suicidal pilot that got nothing better to do than to want to fly to the Antarctic to ditch the aircraft must have been looking very silly today though grudgingly accepted at a time when everyone was grapping for whatever straw available.
 
The real cause of the disappearance of the MH370 and its whereabout are likely to be further from the truth and further from the Antarctic Ocean that the Australians wanted the world to believe in. Come on, what is the logic of the aircraft to be there? Is there any believeable reason for the pilot to want to fly there?
 
What is the truth of this tragedy? Only the wicked people will know and hopefully someone pricked by his conscience would squeal to let the truth be known.
John Abbott and Australia, are you doing the right thing or doing something wicked and criminal to lead those sincere and earnest people on a wild goose chase? Spare a thought on the families of the victims of MH370. If you do not know, please do not mislead the world.
 
One year has passed and the only logically reason, when not a trace could be found, is that the aircraft could be lifted into hyperspace by aliens. This would be a more logical reason than the mad pilot theory.
 
Why is the world’s most sophisticated nation in aviation and space technology keeping so quiet? Why is this little upstart in the Antarctic Ocean thinking it got all the answers? The facts, after one whole year, is that there is not a single thread of evidence to confirm that MH370 was down, sank or blown apart in midair. And there is this assumption that it is lying in the floor of the Antarctic Ocean. How believeable is this?

SGX – a victim of conflicting demands and interests

Sivanithy of Business Times has an article in the Mypaper today discussing about the conflicting interests of shareholders and stakeholders and between the pull of derivatives and equities. The shareholders want more profit and derivatives are the instruments to do just that while equities are no longer able to provide the meat for the profit hungry shareholders. Equities are old fashion and no longer serve their purpose to the profit oriented shareholders in the SGX. In that case would it be a simple solution, remove the non performing equity market and consolidate all resources to the derivatives market for best returns. I am sure the SGX shareholders would love that.
The question is, can the derivatives market exist on its own without the equity market? Possible if the derivatives contracts are written on iron ore, rubber and mickey mouse. There is no need for equities and there is no place for an equity market. Is that true?
 
Why is there a stock market for equities in the first place? What was the primary role of the stock market and is this role no longer relevant and no longer needed? In theory Sivanithy said, ‘the equity market I sof paramount importance as,…at least it provides the economy’s link with the future by allocating scarce resources to their possible uses. What is this paramount role and possible uses? Other than the collateral benefits of an equity industry and the supporting services, the stock market is a source of fund for the industries, to support the growth and expansion of industries. Is this no longer necessary?
 
What are the major contributions of derivatives to the economy other than as another form of gambling chits? The derivative market can exist on its own steam by selling gambling chits based on fictitious non existing commodities, good and services or products. It is a pure gambling business once the link to equities is delinked.
 
The SGX is like a forlorn girl undecided which guy to go with, one stable, solid and conservative but lack the vibrancy and extravagance, and the other all hyped and very lucrative, all glittering tinsels but no substance. Actually the dull and conservative equity market could also be glittering and exciting as it was before. Its attractiveness and usefulness have been hijacked by the advent of derivatives that rode on it but relegated it to the backdrop as old furniture.
 
Whose interests shall prevail? Can the SGX survive and be viable without the equity market or can both exist separately without the linkage that is damaging the primary role of equities and the reason for its existence? Can the SGX have its cake and eat it as well, without destroying the whole equity market and industry and thrives on the fictitious gambling chits called derivatives? Or should it be, can the SGX continue to exist if it does not serve its original purpose to begin with?
 
Why should companies list their shares in an equity market that is dysfunctional and be used as objects of little value to support the derivative market at their expense. Why should the companies pay high listing fees for nothing or even risk losing control and ownership when the value of shares reaches junk status? Why should the supporting investors keep throwing money into an equity market to see the value being eroded by derivatives and algo trading that have no interest in the fundamentals of a business and the intrinsic values of the stocks?
 
I think it is not so much as a conflict of interests between shareholders and stakeholders but an issue of greed with no responsibility on the consequences inflicted to a whole industry, the viability, sustainability and the main reason for the existence of a stock market.

Good news for property/asset owners

The Australian Govt is planning a slate of hikes in fees for foreigners buying properties in Australia. They believe in a level playing field for Australians and to protect the interests of Australians in property ownership. I quote Abbott, ‘This govt is determined to ensure that the aspirational people of our country get the fairest possible go.’ To the rest of the world such policies are short sighted, protectionist, nationalistic and anti free trade but Abbott and the Aussies are going to show them their middle fingers. To the Australians, the world can go to hell. They will protect the interest of Australians first. (Now you know why quitters are crawling back here to praise how good this Sin City is?)
 
If every country is to follow the Australian policies, and many are except the silly ones, Sin City will stand to make a lot of gains when property speculators have no where else to park their money with Sin City stretching out its open arms to receive them. Now Sin City need not even have to make its policies and regulations more attractive. All the rich property speculators will descend onto Sin City and snap up everything they could lay their hands on. Everything is for sale in Sin City.
 
Sinkie property owners and assets owners can be reassured that all their hoardings would go quickly and at very high prices. HDB flat owners too would benefit from seeing their properties appreciate in value as well when the private property prices shoot to the sky. With this golden opportunity opening up, everything could be put on sale. And when all the residential and commercial properties are sold, other national assets could also be tabled, like the MRT, the buses, the ports, the reservoir, the banks, etc etc. I think no more power stations left if I am not mistaken, all already sold.
 
When everything is sold, the islands too could come on board and would fetch really good prices. Sin City would be a haven for property speculators when everything can be bought. And the whole world will look at the Sin model as a great example of free trade, allowing the free market mechanism to determine the value of anything and everything. And all the Sinkies would be sitting on HDB flats that are worth millions.
 
The opportunities to getting rich are so plentiful and so easy that there is no need to work anymore. Just trade assets and sell properties to whoever has the money and offering the highest bid.
 
Boom town coming to Sin City. Just pray that more countries would be like Australia, chasing away investors from buying properties and they will make a beeline here, the shoppers paradise for properties.

A degree course for politician wannabes – Lesson 2

After the first lesson on what is democracy and what is the meaning of serving the people, the second lesson for this course in govt for politician wannabes is about the differences between a republic, a monarchy and a dictatorship.

A monarchy is simple, the right to rule is by birth or by the mandate of heaven. The monarch and his family will rule forever. The people and country and everything in the country are owned by the monarch and his family. His children will become princes and princesses and become monarch to succeed him. And relatives would become dukes, duchess, lords etc etc and paid living expenses as an entitlement.

A dictatorship is simply a country and people seized by an individual or a group of individuals by force and the gun. Should be easy to understand when the dictator or dictatorship just ruled for their own interests and benefits and the people are merely another form of slaves or subjects.

For politician wannabes, the simple descriptions like the above are good enough.

A republic is very different. The country is owned by the people, the citizens, and if they adapt a democratic political system, then the people will elect their representatives to help them run the country on a contract basis, renewable every four or five years. Many citizens of republics know that power corrupts and put a limit to the number of years the elected representatives can be in office. They would also have many rules to prevent any scoundrel from usurping power and turn the republic into a dictatorship or a monarchy.

Politician wannabes in this country must be hammered into them the meaning of a republic, that this island is a republic and is not owned by any party, dictator or dictatorship or any family or individual. The people own this island and are the true masters of the island. And politician wannabes when they are elected to political office must remember that the people who put them into power can remove them from power. And don’t they dare usurp power to treat the republic as their own property.

And they must not forget to write the 1,000 lines, ‘A democracy is a govt of the people, by the people and for the people’ everyday.

Self appointed observer of SMRT breakdown contingency plans

With the train breaking down getting to become a daily affair, it is only a matter of time before I get to have a first hand taste of what it was like being caught in such a situation. And it would be a good opportunity to see how the SMRT staff copes with the demands during a breakdown and how the commuters could be quickly transferred to the shuttle bus services to their destinations.

I boarded the train from Buona Vista on Friday evening towards Jurong East. Everything was normal. Changed to the NS train at Jurong East and was offered a seat by a young lady. Said thank you for the kind offer and waited for the train to move on. An announcement came on that an intruder on the track earlier was cleared and the train would resume normal service. Oh, I didn’t know that, and good that service was resuming.

When the train reached Bukit Batok another announcement came on apologising that there would be no service between Jurong East and Yew Tee as the intruder incident was still not settled. The train cabin light went off and all disembarked.

An intruder was on the track. Hmmm, if no explosive or fireworks, he would be apprehended in no time. Not to worry. Half an hour or so would be over. Not a technical problem. After 10 minutes the platform was almost empty with only a few hopefuls like me eagerly waiting for the train to resume service.  It was 10 pm.

The station control announced that a free shuttle bus was available from Bukit Batok to Yew Tee for commuters. Well, nothing seemed to be moving might as well. Outside the station control room a lady officer was surrounded by angry commuters. She was relieved when I budged in to ask about the shuttle bus, giving her a break. She said no shuttle bus from Batok, only from Jurong East. What the f…! Never mind, small error. Went back up to the platform. Another announcement, same as before, of a shuttle bus available. Went down again, asked the same officer who again said no. Told her this was the second announcement, asked her to check with the male officer inside the office. She checked and confirmed that there was indeed a shuttle bus at the bus terminal.

So some commuters went to the bus terminal, but no sign of a shuttle bus, no waiting point sign, no officer there, no one knew what the hell was happening, where to wait, where was the shuttle bus. The interchange office was closed and no one to ask. All trooped back to station control. Told the officer what was going on, that they must have an officer or a sign telling people where to wait for the bus. She went back into the control centre to check her files. Thought she found the SOP and went to another office trying to get the signs and whatever out. She was trying to sort things out for the next 15 minutes without anything happening while the commuters were getting agitated.

The best part, the male officer kept himself locked in the station control room and placed whatever card boards he could find over the counter window to avoid communicating with the commuters who wanted to know what was going on. He was lucky that the commuters did not throw bricks at the control station. There was a big crowd of commuters getting angrier every second.

By 10.40 pm the lady officer was still struggling to sort herself out with the shuttle bus procedures and another officer arrived to join her, but still getting no where. They simply did not know what to do. The male officer still locked himself in the station control room and looking very busy with his phone. I looked at the TV screen and saw the messages of train arriving/departing and looking normal. Told the lady officer no need to bother, the service should be back to normal soon. And yes it came back a minute later and the gantries were opened for the commuters to resume their journey.

With trains breaking down becoming a normal daily affair, it was unacceptable, and unbelieveable that a SOP was not available, or available but the staff were unfamiliar and did not know what to do. The male officer was happily making his announcements of free bus service but had no clue where and when the shuttle bus would be. And no one thought it was necessary to brief and guide the commuters to the pickup point of the shuttle bus.

Hello Sir, I think a section leader or a platoon sergeant would be able to do a better job managing the commuters and directing them to the shuttle bus pick up point. It does not even need an officer to be present to give orders. But what happened at Bukit Batok was a dismal failure.  The intruder incident started at 9.30 pm and luckily the train service could resume by 10.40 pm.

No one took charge and no one knew what was happening and where the hell was the SOP. The officers sure did not know anything about the SOP or what to do. Maybe that was the reason the male officer hid himself barricaded inside the control room from the commuters. The only plus point was the lady officer, keeping her cool despite angry commuters all over her and trying to do what was necessary. But she must be properly briefed of the shuttle bus service procedures if she is to do her job well.

What is happening, Desmond? No SOP? Or got SOP but officers not briefed or did not know what was in the SOP? Train stoppages are now a routine and the procedures must be have honed to perfection by now given so much real life practised sessions. It was fortunate that many of the commuters took their own initiatives to switch to public buses and paid extra for the journey. Some commuters were also angry for the fares being deducted and wanting to know when they could get their money back.

A degree course for politician wannabes

This is a follow up to my article If I am the PM and my good intention to make sure all the MPs are up to it to run the country. And my contention is that they are to attend a degree course in one of our top universities on the subject of government and how to run a govt. I know that some immortals are naturally gifted to have this skill set in born, born to rule, in them. So immortals can be exempted from this course since they already born with this talent. For the rest of aspiring politicians and wannabes, despite their successes in their professional fields, they must attend this course, compulsory, if they want to be qualified to stand for election as an MP. Our country must be run by able men and women who are properly trained to do the job and to be paid in the millions, more lucrative than any other profession.

The first topic to teach them is about Democracy. They must be made to know that this island republic is a democracy and not a monarchy or some dictatorship. So for the first lesson I would want them to write 1000 lines everyday. And this is what they should write.

‘A democracy is a govt of the people, by the people and for the people.’

They not only have to submit this to the lecturer everyday, they must all rise and recite this everyday before the class starts. They must be told that the political leaders of a democracy comes from the people and elected by the people to serve the people, not to serve themselves or to serve foreigners.  Repeat this everyday, of the people, by the people and for the people until it is second nature to them, that they will never forget these three phrases.

Comparative roles of opposition politicians in Parliament

Singapore and Malaysia inherited the same template for a democratic govt and parliament from the British. Both have evolved and made amendments to alter the nature of govt and parliament but the principles and fundamentals are still in tact.  Now, am I making a naïve statement on this?

Observers of the politics and politicking on both sides of the causeway cannot miss the stark difference in the roles being played by the opposition parties. Up north, the politicians seem to have all the time in the world to check on the ruling party, to investigate their misdeeds and wrongdoings, to form parliamentary committees to investigate the ruling party and their cronies. They are very busy doing that. As worthy lawmakers and as checks and balance to keep the ruling party and govt on their toes.

Down south, the opposition parties or shall I say party, are also very busy, not with checking the govt and lawmaking, but in running town councils and being checked by the ruling party/govt. The WP is now up to their neck, trying to shake off the demands placed on them to meet the deadline or no subsidies for AHPETC. They are working like crazy, to comply with administrative procedures and processes of a town council. Do you think they have time for other things, to keep the govt in check, to go checking on the govt and its agencies?

And with the GE around the corner, I don’t think they even have time to prepare for it or know that the GE is going to be held tomorrow. See the difference, the opposition lawmakers in the north have all the time to fire questions at the ruling party. In the south, the ruling party has all the time firing questions to the opposition party and keeping them very busy trying to ward off the blows and no time for anything. It is the ruling party that is doing the checks and balance against the opposition party.

Funny isn’t it?

Singapore got only one banking and finance talent

When the CEO of Stanchart’s position was vacant, one name came up as a suitable replacement. When the CEO position of the SGX is empty, the same name came up as the worthy candidate for the job. And the candidate is already sitting pretty and happily as CEO of another big bank.
 
It seems that Singapore has only one citizen that is good enough to fill the position of CEO in a bank or a big financial organization. And he is not even a Singaporean 2or 3 years back. He is a new citizen, taking up the citizenship after being offered the lucrative and plum job of CEO of DBS.
 
Is this a happy thing or a sad thing? Where have all the native Singaporean bankers gone, or is there any left? What kind of silly country is this when it keeps bragging about being the financial centre of Asia but got no native talent good enough for any top banking job? In fact most of the CEO jobs in the banking and finance industry are filled by foreigners and the next native that could be good enough or would be trained for it would be one in the late twenties because the Minister of Finance realized recently that there is a dearth of talents among the natives in the banking and finance industry.
 
I bet the CEO of SGX would probably come from a little village somewhere in SE Asia or Asia, a village bumpkin, as the real talents can only be found in little remote villages where the top banker is likely to be a money lender without a shop front. And the good thing, maybe they are beefing up the 3 top local world class universities to equip them with the resources and academics to start to train native Singaporeans for the future CEO positions in finance and banking, and be ready in 30 years time.
 
We are always planning way ahead of our time, so they quipped, a lot of foresight and aftersight, or backside, 30 years ahead but forgot that we need these talents today. There is no top native talent in the banking and finance industry in the financial centre of Asia!
 
What is happening? Ya, no skills set in banking and finance among the natives in the island. The best local talent available was recently appointed to be the Chairman of Temasek while another sitting pretty in the Istana. The local banking and finance talents have either gone the dinosaur way, extinct or fossilized!
 
A huge hot air balloon has been floated into space calling for a foreign talent to fill the job in SGX if the best and only ‘local’ talent in DBS does not want the job.

50 years, still a little tart

Immediately after SGX announced the impending departure of Magnus Bocker it followed up with another piece of news, that it had appointed a foreign recruitment agency to hunt for a replacement worldwide. This is like a reflex action. No one good enough in SGX or in Singapore, or there must be a better foreigner out there. Go, get me a foreigner quick. Shouldn’t it be looking for a Singaporean first, in house or within the industry or from the pool of brilliant scholars in the govt and if that yields no result then go hunting elsewhere? Why must it be that the SGX must look elsewhere first and not in house?
 
After 50 years, the little tart is still a little tart, looking for the shoulder of a foreigner for security. She probably feels very safe and comfortable hiding behind a foreigner. If a foreigner were to stand in front of the little tart, she would probably wet herself, urinating controllably and trembling in fear. Would it help if she pastes a million dollar on her face for that façade of paper thin dignity?
 
When the pioneering leaders came on board, it was all about self reliance, about independence, about our ability to run our own country with our own people and talent. And they made it a point to stand shoulder to shoulder with the foreigners, as equals. Today, things have degenerated so far that the little tart, instead of growing up, is highly dependent on the foreigners to hold her hand and to lift her head high. The insecurity and lack of confidence are hard to miss. Look over the shoulder and you will see a little tart grabbing the hands of a foreigner tightly, so afraid to let go, like the security blanket.
We don’t have good students, we don’t have good professors. So to make our universities look good, we import the professors and the students, lock, stock and barrel. Nice one, tart.
 
Initially I thought it was a colonial handover of sort. But today, any foreigner will do, even from the 3rd world countries. The little tart has lost all self respect and confidence of herself and her ability. What is the point of paying her million dollar salary when she continues to behave like a clueless little tart? Would she need another 50 years to grow up?
 
It cannot be a fetish craze for foreigners after 50 years of growing up unless it is a kind of degenerative trait, premature ageing and getting senile prematurely. Would the little tart be asking for a foreigner to be the PM or the President when the incumbents vacate their seats? Would it have to take another 50 years to grow up and be on our own? What are we celebrating SG50 for? For more good years and forever as little tarts?
 
What is wrong with our native Singaporean talent? Singapore got no talents? Yes, I am asking you, little tart.

LKY – The most controversial man at a critical moment of his life

There was a big stir last night that LKY had passed away only to be proven wrong. He is still in ICU being watched closely by his doctors. It is good that we keep an even keel in this blog without getting ourselves embroiled in the controversies by two opposing camps lampooning at each other over the merits and demerits of this man. He had done many things that people would remember him for good, and many things that his enemies or victims would not forgive him. In fact many Singaporeans have benefitted from his rule, some more, some less. I am not going to say much about those that crossed his path. They would have their own stories to tell.
 
At this very moment everyone is watching with uneasy feelings on when he would move on and what would happen after that. Would things go on as normal as if nothing happens, a non event? Or would hell break loose and all the knives and hatchets unsheathed? There are angers and hatred in some quarters, in some corners. How bad are they? Some comments in cyberspace were very harsh and very crude, a sign that some had a bad time from him or his policies.
 
This is like a lull before a storm. The initial reaction should LKY pass on would be a flurry of reports on him in the main media, in the papers and on air, eulogies and weepings from those who appreciated his contributions and made a difference to their lives. Then they would be the ceremonial processions for the man that was no longer the Prime Minister for many years but still living in the Istana as a permanent resident, a right only he deserved against all state protocol. He is still bigger than his MP title.
 
When the sound and glory are over, it would be the turn of the sound of fury. Would there be a different set of eulogies from a different viewpoint surfacing, not in the main media of course? Would there be hard thumpings and different versions of hard truths to challenge the official hard truths?
 
Fortunately I think all these happenings are likely to be academic, all sound and fury and nothing more than that. It is unlikely to be anything more after the steam was let off. Then soberness and sadness will fill the air for the passing of a national leader that had risen to the top of the heap only to close the chapter with a controversial ending.
 
This is a very busy and tense moment for many who are involved in one way or another, a moment they have prepared for and waiting to happen. This could be the most important event in our history that cannot be eclipsed by the SG50 celebration other than a shocking and controversial result in the next GE, if there is going to be one at all. There are expectations and this time, with the passing of the LKY’s era, the expectation is high, anything is possible. It will be a new ball game, the beginning of a new chapter in our history.

Next chapter, the changing of the guards.

Mysingaporenews Collection – Book launch update

30 copies snapped up in 3 days. I would need to have 300 copies to get this book off the ground unless I can find a sponsor to pay for the printing cost.
Some of the topics to be included in the book would be as follows:
 
1. CPF, your money or OPM
2. Medishield Life – paying for a life time
3. Population White Paper
4. Hong Lim Park Protest Rallies
5. Roy Ngerng and friends in Hong Lim Park
6. Plight of PMEs, taxi drivers
7. Education
8. Gems of Parliament
9. High cost of living
10. The flawed and dying stock market
11. Public housing, appreciating or depreciating asset?
12. Political development and change
13. Disappearing true blue Singaporeans
14. Whither Singapore
 
There will be many other hot topics that are dear to Singaporeans in the book. The crowdfunding will end by 31 Mar. I need more orders to make up the first 300 copies.
 
Thank you.
Redbean

Blind spot in Parliament?

Shanmugam were vicious in tearing down the WP for the lapses in AHPETC. He threw at WP everything he got that could put the WP in a very bad light. And the ST did its best as the prime newspaper to inform the readers of every detail that happened in Parliament, on the TV over and over again. The WP was in defensive mode and was kept really busy to ward off the blows. Where got time to engage in other issues or to talk about other issues or even to prepare for the GE? The election campaigning has started, and in case the opposition parties are still sleeping, the PAP is on a campaign march. Read the ST and the coverage of the ministers and PAP will tell you what is happening.
 
Back to Shanmugam’s performance in Parliament. There were so many things that are worthy to be gems of Parliament and I would take time to cover them. Let me just touch on the set of fees that Shanmugam obtained from the MND to attack the WP. In that chart, the fees payable by residents and commercial units were exactly the same. Sylvia Lim spotted the difference as it is a norm to charge commercial organizations a different rate in practically everything, water, electricity and of course S&CC. The big question, is there a mistake in Shanmugam’s chart?
 
Shanmugam did not think so and it was reported that he had double checked and confirmed there was no mistake. The residents and commercial units were charged the same S&CC in PAP wards in 2014. Please correct me if I am wrong on this with the latest.
 
There are many reasons for me to accept that the data were accurate. First, the MND would not give such an important set of data to be used in Parliament to accuse the WP for mismanagement or over charging to Shanmugam. It would be very embarrassing if untrue and found out to be untrue. A public apology would be needed. And the WP could say the same thing, sorry not enough, please explain.
 
Shanmugam, being a top notch lawyer, would not miss the error and would have corrected them before presenting them to Parliament as a weapon. He would not embarrass himself with a set of wrong data in public, in Parliament.
 
And mind you, so many ministers and MPs must be privy to this chart and it is unbelieveable and unbecoming that no one is diligent or clever enough to spot the huge mistake if there is one. Everyone must know that there was no mistake. It could not be a case that there was a mistake but no one thought a need to tell him and wanting Shanmugam to make a fool of himself in Parliament. It also could not be a case of idolizing Shanmugam and looking gaga when he spoke, assuming that this god like lawyer could not make mistake, everything he said must be carefully thought out.
 
Unless there is any announcement to this, I must presume or assume that the chart must be right. Now who was the person that produced some data and letters claiming that the changes to lower the fees for PAP Town councils, especially the part for commercial units, were done recently? How recent and why? Or was that just another assumption of fabrication to prove Shanmugam wrong? There is no way to prove the chart wrong unless it is wrong. This is factual and no one can lie about it.
 
Is there another truth? Is there a blind spot in Parliament?

Malaysia’s 1MDB crisis

The husband is the PM and the wife is the Chairman of a sovereign fund. They thought having a sovereign fund with a lot of borrowed money must surely make money. They may be doing a copycat operation after visiting the rich southern state with two successful sovereign funds to boot. So the husband and wife team copied the successful formula of their neighbor, to every small detail, to borrow billions to set up 1MDB, after Khazanah, to invest with OPM. With so much money to make money, how to lose, or at least statistically it should make money in the long run. Even if the money is lost, so what when it is OPM?
 
Somehow sovereign funds have the same bad habit of buying high and faced with immediate fall in value and then hoping for a good return in the long long run. This formula never fails. 1MDB is no exception. But no worry, the long term would be ok, and they went investing recklessly, buy all kinds of shit that the snake oil sellers threw at them, even hot air.
 
The PM and his wife are now accused of corruption openly. Everyone is talking about it, from the kampong folks to the lawmakers. And they did not mince their words and were very generous in the use of the fear term, ‘corruption’. I was viewing the video clips of presentors Haris Ibrahim and Rafizi Ramli and their interviews with Tony Pua on the subject of 1MDB. My God, if you want to know what democracy and freedom of speech are you must google for these names to know what we are missing.
 
Najib and Rosmah are involved in this corruption case amounting to 42 billion ringgits in unexplained debt, and the audience roared with the approval. And why was Mahathir complaining? Because he did not have his fair share, that’s why. And who topped the list in the total value of bad debts to be bailed out by the Govt? Mahathir pipped Najib by a nose but only because he ruled the country for more than 20 years. Najib did what he did in 2 years. And the good news, Najib is catching up fast. Wow, can this kind of language be used in our little island of democracy and free speech? I don’t think anyone would dare to say these things even in Hong Lim’s Speakers’ Corner. Oops, not true. I am sure there will be brave people, given the permit, to stand in Hong Lim’s famous little mound to say Najib, Rosmah and Mahathir are corrupt. Sure can.
 
Tony Pua and Rafizi even claimed that the ruling party was treating the Malaysians as daft, a familiar note, not being able to understand how the money was transacted through many layers to lose its trail, till no one know what to ask, where it went. At least our MPs and ministers know how to ask where is the money going. Everything is secret and there was no transparency in 1MDB’s activities to talk about. Is that new? But Tony Pua and his gang were still able to trace the highly questionable investments in oil fields in Altantuya’s Mongolia and the Caspian Sea with equally questionable companies operated by unknown and questionable individuals.
 
The facts that were revealed and confirmed, according to Tony Pua, were that a govt sovereign fund under the charge of the wife of the PM has been involved in questionable dealings and the PM could go down with it, and they are going after Najib and Rosmah for accountability. Tony and Rafizi also claimed that the 42b ringgit of debt by the sovereign fund could bring down the Malaysian govt and affecting every Malaysian adversely. This part I find it quite unbelieveable for such a big country, with oil wealth oozing out from the sea, to be at crisis level all for a miserable 42b in ringgits which is not even 20b Sing dollars. That only proves how rich Singapore is compares to Malaysia. Even without oil oozing out from the sea, we don’t even bat an eyelid with the officially announced lost of $50b or $60b Sing dollars during the financial crisis. In ringgit terms that would be more than $100b! What crisis are they talking about?
 
Anyway, it was an eye opening experience to know the generous space available to talk about corruption of a PM and his wife involving billions of public money, OPM. And they are not even charged, just assumptions and insinuations. And as if God wants to push the knife deeper, the falling oil price would only accentuate the severity of the miserable 42b ringgits and made it a bigger crisis.
 
Malaysia boleh, at least in democracy and in free speech, and the wide berth to play around for the opposition lawmakers in Parliament. The speakers were so casual when they made the corruption charges as if the PM and his wife were already guilty. This is a plus point for the Malaysians. The names of Najib, Rosmah and Mahathir and other senior politicians were freely and loosely used for condemnation with no hesitation, no restraints or the need to self regulate, with no fear of being sued to bankruptcy. They were telling them like jokes in a kopitiam but on youtube and in public forum.
 
Can’t imagine a similar scenario happening in Sin City. The husband and wife team’s days are numbered and it is only a matter of time for more disclosure of 1MDB’s debt problem. They can’t keep manipulating the accounts to show profit when there is no profit or hide under non disclosure or secrecy. And there is a limit to how much they can squeeze from the provident fund and the number of assets they can transfer to the sovereign fund to make it look good. Everything is hidden, secret, no need to tell. And this is what made Rafizi and Tony giggled. Secret lah! When no one knows what is happening, something seriously wrong is likely to be happening.

Who decides who is fit to be the next govt?

I want to follow up with Boon Wan’s statement that the Town Council is the PAP’s way of testing the opposition MPs’ability to run a country. Is running a Town Council a necessary or effective way to gauge a party or MP’s ability to run a govt? LKY never run a Town Council and so did Goh Keng Swee. Maybe that was why the country was so badly run then compared to how well it is run today by the new leaders with the privilege and experience of running a Town Council.
 
To me, running a Town Council is a piece of cake for any reasonably clear thinking individual. The difficult part is to navigate through the landmines, traps, obstacles and avoiding snipers and ambushes along the way. But to be serious, to really want to manage a Town Council to resemble running a country, to benefit from the experience, then it should go all the way. Let the Town Council be run like a mini state, collect its own taxes or be awarded its fair share of the tax collection, let them run their own police and mini civil service etc etc. That would really be a meaningful training experience.
 
The current structure of running a Town Council is more like how to overcome the problems and difficulties in an obstacle course when things were just being difficult, when they have no autonomy in finance and in having very little bargaining chips in their dealings with other govt agencies. How fair is the playing field for opposition parties to run their Town Councils and how fair is the test of their ability to run a Town Council like running a mini state? Heard of playing against a loaded dice?
 
By the way, does an opposition party need to gain the approval from the ruling party in how to run a country, to pass the test set by the ruling party, and then be given a pass grade to go ahead to run a country? Who decides which party is suitable to run a country? The ruling party or the voters?
 
An alternative party does not need the blessing and consent of the ruling party to be the elected govt. It is not the power of the ruling party to set the conditions and to say the alternative party is not good enough. It is the right and will of the people to decide who they want to run the country. This is a democracy, not a monarchy or someone’s grandfather’s company whereby the family call the shot and decide who is fit or not fit to take charge. Maybe I am wrong and Boon Wan is right. The ruling party would decide who or which alternative party is able to run the country.
 
I have a suggestion. The alternative party should send their candidates to PAP for tea, for a fee of course, to be certified fit and able to form and run a govt like the PAP candidates, everyone chopped with the PAP quality seal and ISO 9001 certified.

Saving SGX

It took two petitions, one online and one offline, to pack Magnus Bocker off. SGX announced yesterday that he would be leaving by end of June. The important task at hand is how to save the SGX from the ICU? The state of denial that all is fine is not an issue to MAS. The main problem is whether MAS sees any problem with the pathetic or critical condition of the stock market. Is everything doing fine, more new investors signing up, more derivatives being traded good indicators of the health of the stock market? Or would the MAS look at the number of investors really trading and the value of trades done in the equity market, the number of remisiers leaving the industry,  and the pittance in commission being generated?

There cannot be any real solution to the dying stock market if the cause or causes of its demise are not diagnosed. Does anyone really know what is wrong with the stock market, wants to know what is wrong with the stock market and to do an overhaul of the failed system? Yes, it is a systems fault, its problem is systemic, not no lunch break, not smaller lot size, not super penny stocks, not dwindling volume and disappearing investors. These are only symptoms of the cancer that is crippling the market and would go naturally if the real cause of the failure is identified.

If MAS is still wondering where to start, go to Shanghai. The Chinese have been studying the American model of stock trading and knew exactly what is wrong and are not going to repeat the same mistake. They are offering Shanghai and Hongkong as the alternative system where computer trading involving super computers in HFT and algo trading would not be allowed, where large scale manipulations would not be allowed. They are returning to the basics of stock market operations. There is an article ‘China now gives investors an alternative to (the)manipulated HFT U.S. stock markets’  at www.examiner.com.

Computer trading with high speed computers plugged into the main system of a stock market is simply unfair trading, giving unfair advantage to the computer operators to manipulate and rob the rest of the investors in broad daylight.

And the last thing the SGX should do is to go globe trotting to hunt for another foreign talent to replace Bocker. It would be a replay of the pathetic story all over again as most of these talents would still be sold to the American model of computer trading and all its fraudulent ways.

The MAS is faced with a mammoth and arduous task to quickly disconnect all the toxic cables connected to the SGX main trading system. These external computers are like parasites sticking to the main trading system and sucking everything, every dollar from the investors.

The stock market must go back to its original role as a source of funds for the industries and not a casino. It must not be turned into a cheap gambling system for boys and girls to play with their pocket money. The boys and girls can go and play monopoly. The stock market is for the adults to invest, for the industries, the corporations to tap as a source of fund for growth and expansion. They can’t get the funds from little children in the schools.

The stock market must be X rated and not PG13.  The broking houses and the Society of Remisiers must use this window to work with the MAS to find a real solution to the serious problem the stock market industry is facing. Make the stock market do what it was originally supposed to do. We already have two casinos and there is no need for a third casino. The broking houses and the MAS have a common interest to want to see the stock market back in the pink of health.

What is the point of having more boys and girls signing up as potential investors when they are not investing? It is time to be real. Or would this opportunity be wasted and everything back to square one with the hiring of another foreign talent to do the same thing all over again, with the stock market fighting for its life in the ICU?

If I am the PM

I know this is as good a talking nonsense. No one can dream of becoming a PM unless he takes the first step to join a political party and become an Indian chief of a political party. I have not joined any political party so thinking of becoming a PM is academic. But it is quite fun really, to talk cock once a while. Many people did that. So let’s talk about this daydreaming.
 
Let’s say suay suay all the parties become minority parties and need to form a coalition govt but cannot agree on who to be PM. Then they look around for someone neutral and call Redbean to stand in as the PM. So I am the PM. I would want to be the most righteous PM, most caring PM, most pro Singapore PM, not necessary pro Singaporeans. I would like to even add, the most religious PM but that would only insult the religion that I professed to believe in. So I pass this one. I am no good and I have no religion so no need to pretend to be religious and spoil the good name of the religion.
 
OK, I must think Singapore first, always think Singapore first. This is not the same as the Singapore First Party. The latter thinks and wants to care for Singaporeans. I want Singapore to do well, to prosper, to grow into a vibrant and rich country at all cost. And to do that, it must have very good and clever people with the right qualifications and experience to govern the state.
 
I will start with the President. I will make the criteria for this appointment very stringent. Remember, he holds the second key to our reserves. So not anyone can offer himself as candidate to be President. See, I set very high standard for a good President to look after our reserves. He must have excellent credentials and experience in managing big money. I think someone in the finance industry like CEO of GIC, Temasek or DBS would qualify. Anything less no good. The President is all about guarding the reserves of the state so I think it is good to limit to finance people, top bankers and top fund managers. The rest no need to apply. Oh, PM and Finance Minister exempted, automatically qualified.
 
As for the politicians, MPs and ministers, they better be qualified or have knowledge on how to run a country. Yes, yes, they must know how to run a Town Council for a start, a prerequisite. But that is elementary. They must know the meaning of running a country and must be qualified or trained in government. Just because a person is a lawyer or doctor or engineer, or a general, does not make him good enough. Running a country means knowing everything, from being in the govt to running clans, trade unions, sports clubs and charity organizations. To be able to do these jobs, to become a ‘knows all’, they must have a degree in govt.
 
NUS and NTU must conduct a degree course on govt and anyone wants to stand for election to be in Parliament must have such a degree. You think running a govt is masak masak and any Tom, Dick and Harry with all kinds of unrelated qualifications and experience can just walk into Parliament and start to run a country. Cannot right? I am the PM so I decide what is best. I may even try out a candidate to catch rats. If cannot catch rats then not good enough. To me, since I am the PM, I regard catching rats very important, more important than running Town Council. Who is there to say I am being difficult?
 
Ok, exceptions. All incumbent MPs and ex MPs can be exempted from this degree course. They got experience mah. The new rule would apply to new politicians to be. As the new PM, I want to raise the bar to make sure only good people with the right experience and qualifications can stand for election.
 
See, I think only good for Singapore. Singapore will be very good, will go on forever and be prosperous forever under my premiership.
 
Agree or not? My conditions good or not?
 
Ok, Ok, I daydreaming only and pretending to be good PM.