To forgive or not to forgive?

This has become a major topic for discussion in the social media. Many are cursing and swearing. Many are asking for forgiveness. There is this assumption that something wrong and bad was done and it is the time to forgive.

There are many questions to ask and many issues to be discussed. In the first place, did the person ask to be forgiven? Two, did the person admit any wrong or guilt? Let’s put aside the victims of the wrongs and how adversely they were affected, how they had suffered. Such calls for forgiveness are not something new. This expectation of forgiving has been repeated over and over again, at the level of ordinary beans, among friends that became enemies, within families, business people, colleagues and in political struggle for power.

The people that committed wrongs against their victims did not know that one day they would have to face the consequences or the maker.  Of course this cannot be true with some exceptions. They knew exactly what they were doing, wrongs against people, rivals in business, family members and friends. People cheated, lied, fabricated stories, fixing other people, all in the course of winning or to gain something. We are seeing it happening everyday, not necessary among the average daft but people who are very clever, too clever for their own good. They knew what they were doing.

Do these people deserve to be forgiven when their time comes when they are on their deathbeds? As we are talking at this very moment, many are still committing their wicked acts and deeds. They did not care.  They did not want to apologies or to forgive.  So are they deserving to be forgiven? They only think of their own interests, their benefits. What is going to happen to their victims and rivals is not a concern.

Under such situations, is there a need to ask for forgiveness for the person that committed wrongs? Look at the wicked things people are doing, and knowing very well that they have done wrongs, and are continuing to do wrongs, do they deserve forgiveness? Do they care if they are forgiven? Why don’t they stop their wicked deeds now and forgiveness would not be an issue when their time comes to go home to where they came from?

Some may even laugh at the daft for forgiving them and call them silly. I screwed you so bad and I did not ask for forgiveness and you stupidly think you are so graceful and kind to want to forgive! How stupid can you be? You deserved to be screwed a hundred times over. And I will repeat it all over again if I have the chance to do it again. Would there be such people and is forgiveness the right thing to do?

What do you think?

Police – No offence to distribute flyers by PAP activists

It is reported in the media today that the distribution of flyers by PAP activists ‘urging residents to quiz their Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament over the accounting and corporate governance lapses committed  by the Aljunied Hougang Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC)’ is not an offence.  ‘The distribution of flyers in itself is not an offence in Singapore.’ By ruling that there is no offence in the flyers of PAP activitists, it also means that the content in this is ‘no offence’ too.

Let’s be clear that there are two elements here, the distribution of flyers and the content. The first part is a clear cut thing. The second part can be a bit dicey and subject to different interpretations. For instance there is another flyer put up by Roy Ngerng in his blog and reposted in TRE urging the people to quiz the govt on improper governance and lost of more than $100b by GIC and Temasek. Roy is asking the people to make copies of the flyer for distribution to the people. The distribution of this flyer is definitely not an offence. What about its content?

Would the distribution of Roy’s flyers be an offence? What do you think?

Extended Settlement Contracts designated as dormant

‘ In view of the low levels of trading interest in the SGX Extended Settlement (ES) Contracts, SGX has decided to designate these contracts as dormant, with effect from 1 April 2015.’
 
This is a product that has its lifespan prematurely shortened for lack of interest. Trading on this product has petered to negligible level in its few years of existence since its introduction into the market in Jan 2009.
 
A peep into the stock market also revealed that hundreds of stocks listed in the SGX were also thinly traded or not traded for weeks or months. Interest in such inactive stocks is so low that it would not be a surprise if they will be delisted voluntarily by the respective companies in due course.
 
It would not be funny if such inactive stocks will also be designated as dormant stocks one day. A quick count on Friday 20 Mar morning, 11am, showed that at least 350 stocks were not traded at all, inclusive of 28 suspended counters. This is nearly 50 percent of the 805 counters listed. If this is going to be the case and going to be a norm, what does it say of the market and these stocks?
 
What do you think? Would they join the company of Extended Settlement Contracts as dormant stocks?

CPF – The bugging issue that everyone turns to look the other way

To all the foreign visitors to this blog, the CPF or Central Provident Fund is not a govt pension scheme. It is the life time savings of an employee, money deducted directly from his pay to be kept in the CPF and originally legislated to be returned to the contributors when they reached the age of 55. The return of all the money in the fund to their rightful owners was not a problem until recently when the rules were changed by the govt.
 
Several changes were made primarily to delay the amount to be returned to the rightful owners and the creation of other sub accounts to retain the money for as long as the govt so decided in minimum sums schemes that amounted to several hundred thousands of dollars. A minimum sum of $155k must be left in the CPF when the contributors reached 55 when he is allowed to withdraw his savings. Used to be a complete withdraw from the CPF with nothing left inside. Another minimum sum in a Medisave account for a sum of $43,500 must also be left in the CPF. This will be raised to $49,800 in a new subaccount called Basic Healthcare Scheme and will be retained till the member dies or the amount is used up, whichever is later.
 
With minimal protest from the people, a number of unprecedented protest rallies were held to opposed these changes at the Speakers’ Corners, the govt gets bolder and introduced compulsory life annuity insurance and medical insurance schemes that the people must pay for from their life savings in the CPF without the people’s consent. The govt is acting as if it has the approval or right to do what it wants with the people’s life savings of a life time. These changes meant that the contributors could hardly withdraw anything from their life time savings when they reached 55, now extended to 65.
 
What is the problem? No one, no a single academic, the legal counsels or Members of Parliament, has questioned the ethical and moral justifications for the govt to act in this way, to touch the people’s life savings. Legally the govt can change all the laws it wants with a 2/3 majority in Parliament. But changing the laws does not remove the principle of private ownership of properties and assets, in this case the people’s life savings.
Is it morally and ethically acceptable for the govt of the day to touch the people’s life savings and decide when and how much to return to the people, how the money should be spent on insurance policies that the people did not consent to?
 
The silence of the elite, the legal professions, the law makers and the academics and all the civic organizations can mean one thing. There is nothing unethical or morally wrong for a govt to touch the people’s life savings and to decide how to spend them.
 
If this is the case, then there is no case to talk about. What moral rights does the govt have to touch the people’s life savings without the consent of the owners of the money? Why are all the elite and professionals so reticent about this? Do they think the govt has crossed the line by making all these decisions on the people’s life savings? Or are they afraid to even think about it, and talking about it is taboo?
 
No? Nothing wrong with it? Are there any intelligentsia in the city state? Where is the conscience of the intelligentsia on a major issue like this? All daft, deaf and dumb? Where are the outspoken elite of this first world city state? Don’t they have anything to say about this?

Out of this world’s ministerial pay under pressure

This is another take on the poor minister’s salaries. The ministers are feeling tremendous pressure from the ground to raise their out of this world salary to another level. They were hinting that they wanted to do something about their pay being stagnant for 3 years but fearing a call to raise their ridiculous pay higher would precipitate an end to their PR status in Parliament.
 
In 2011, there were signs and indications that they were looking forward to another round of fat increases but the whole plan was shelved after the set back in the GE. A Ministerial Salary Review Committee was hurriedly assembled to readjust their pay downwards and the 24 months lucrative bonus scheme was scrapped and replaced by a more ‘Spartan’ watered down version with less than 12 month bonus scheme.
 
This set back was painful and a minister threatened to leave politics as the pay would affect the lifestyle of the family. The minister was subsequently promoted and regained all the lifestyle missed as a result of the salary cut.
 
Three years have passed and with the high cost of living, with Sin City becoming the most expensive city on earth, how could they make do with their miserable pay and with no increases for 3 long years? The pain and discomfort must be getting unbearable. It is high time that their pay be revised, after all the handout budget is giving so many billions to the people, why were the ministers left out in the cold? Oh, they also get some of the handouts from the budget I think. But those are pittance really. What could a miserable couple of thousand dollars do when some were yelping what is 10 million?
 
The problem, would the people allow a small increase of say 10%, mathematically speaking, only 3% per year to offset 3 years of drought? Only 3% mah? Is the ground sweet for an increase? Let’s test the water first. The people’s mood must be good, with surveys saying the people are very happy with the handout budget.
 
Should the govt proceed with the next step like reconvening the Ministerial Salary Review Committee? The govt seems to be approaching this issue very cautiously. It is the first time that the weight of the people is being felt by the deaf frogs. Yes, felt, they may not be able to hear, but still can feel. It was ‘just do it’ in the past when the daft were so easy to please or cow. Has anything changed? Is the govt starting to get more sensitive to how the people feel or react to things like asking the people to cough out another plate of char kway teow? Things cannot become so difficult after losing one GRC right? This govt is proud of its ‘just do it’ when it is right, no need to listen to the people. Maybe they know that it is not right yet, not the right time to do it. It cannot be that the people are putting pressure on the govt to hold back their horses on any impending pay hike. They will do it if it is the right thing to do, be sure about that.
 
Which is which? What is holding the govt back from giving themselves another raise when thing are going so well. How about making it as part of the SG50 Celebration, to make the ministers happy also since they have been working so hard to make the people so happy with all their well conceived schemes?

The 3 long and 2 shorts of LKY 三长两短

Yesterday was a day of rumours, all about the 3 long and 2 shorts of LKY. It was proven false with the PMO coming out with a denial but not before international news like CNN made the wrong call. LKY is still in the ICU and breathing.
 
The other big controversy is the opposing camps, one calling for people to be kind and forgiving and the other throwing the most unspeakable diatribes against the man that cannot talk back now. I have never had any direct contact or personal dealings with LKY and thus have no reason to say not nice things about him. Neither do I need to forgive him for he has done me no wrong.
 
The two camps engaging in the war of words are still at it with many in the middle calling for moderation, be reasonable and be forgiving. It is always good to forgive whenever one can do it than to live with a mountain of hate. The contrary argument is that those who suffered badly, life destroyed, career destroyed, family destroyed, fortune destroyed, it is easily said than done. The pain and suffering are felt personally and by everyone in the family. Asking to forgive is easy, but when in their shoes, it is a totally different matter. They are in the best position to know to want to forgive or not to forgive. Unless one is in their shoes, it is not easy to understand what they have gone through.
 
For LKY and his family it is just one of those things, a stage in life that we mortals have to live with. The time has come to leave and part company. There will be sadness, but for a man that has lived so well, did so many things that only a few could ever dream of doing, more ups than downs and more good than bad, it was a remarkable life to go through. He lived a good life, there is little regrets I supposed.
 
How many would have lived and left behind a fortune, a lot of children and grandchildren, and in the dying hours, with so many keeping in vigil, keeping him company, and really without a worry of unfinished work that still needs to be done? And in his condition, there is no pain and no suffering, it is like in a sleep, a semi conscious or more unconscious state, what a way to go.
 
At the ripe age of 91, according to Chinese customs it would be an occasion for celebration, a red event. The joss sticks would be red instead of green. In fact red would be the colour for the occasion. Wish him a good journey and RIP when the moment comes.

Sanjay Perera – Need for an intelligentsia, the trolls in social media lacks intelligence

This guy in a few sentences has put himself up as the only intelligent person in this island. Let me quote from his letter in Voices in Today paper 17 Mar 15.
 
‘We must build an intelligentsia here, though they need not be primarily academics. This is more important today, as scholars should be trained to participate in public discussions. We need a new generation to set a standard for discourse based on critical thinking.
 
This is crucial in an age when comments from trolls and online haters that only stir up negativity, rather than promote constructive dialogue or innovative solutions, often pass for intelligence. Singapore is short of thinkers.’
 
In these two paragraphs he was saying that this country did not have an intelligentsia and needs to build one, or if it has, they are incapable of public discourse, and if they do they lack critical thinking. Our scholars were not trained to participate in public discussion? Or there are other reasons for our scholars not to participate?
 
And he concluded that Singapore is short of thinkers, excluding himself of course, and the trolls in social media are passing negative discourse as intelligence and he cannot ‘tahan’. Incidentally, has he ever engaged in a dialogue with the trolls pretending to be intelligent? I don’t think anyone in the social media is pitching unhappiness with govt policies and kpkbs as intelligence. By the way, what is intelligence or otherwise is up to the readers to decide. This intelligent thinker Sanjay Perera has already decided that the trolls in social media are not talking intelligence and so are most of the scholars and Singaporeans.
 
Shall we invite him to grace this blog to share his intelligence with us? Or he sees us no up and would not want to be associated with trolls like us with no intelligence but passing ourselves as intelligent? Does he believe that bloggers are academics trying to show off their intelligence in blogs? Just this point alone speaks a lot about his intelligence. Or shall I tell him bloggers are just engaging in a steam letting exercise and trying to be intelligent is the least important thought in their minds? There are many important issues to gripe about, who got time to act intelligent or want to be seen or perceive as intelligent? Many things were fired from the hips, what measures of intelligence is Sanjay expecting from lunatics in the fringe?
 
What do you think?

The US ‘declares’ war with China

Hishammudin Hussein speaking as the Chair of Asean, wants to form an Asean peacekeeping force. A military force within Asean would turn it into a different animal, instead of economic and political, into a gun wielding marshal in town. According to Johannes Nugroho, a businessman writer from Surabaya, the intended enemy is none other than China. Asean, with several of its members having competing claim islands in the South China Sea, would be poised to challenge China militarily when such a force is formed.
 
It is unusual that small countries today think they could provoke and challenge superpowers with might and think they could walk away the winner. The Philippines and Vietnam thought so until China slammed its foot down. When vital core interests are at stake, China is not going to back down when confronted by the little punks in the neighbourhood, even with the backings of another bigger superpower.
 
The best policy for small and medium states is to leave the big powers alone, and let them balance each other and keep a check on each other. A rogue big power will just walk over the small and medium states if forced to when the irritation becomes unbearable. An Asean peacekeeping force is just that, an irritant to be tolerated and to be smacked when it crosses the line.
 
An Asean peacekeeping force to fool around with other small states may make some sense but would be totally useless against any big power. At best it would give Asean a false sense of power and tempting it to be flirtatious and adventurous, and inviting troubles it cannot cope with.
 
What is Hishammudin thinking, Asean as a regional power to call the shots? Should Asean go on this adventure, to be another sheriff in the high seas? He acknowledged that it is difficult to ‘upholding ASEAN’s zone of peace, freedom and neutrality.’ Is he saying that since being neutral is tough, why not give it up and take sides.
 
The above mysterious proposal of the Malaysians, eager to play with fire becomes clear when the Commander of the US Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Robert Thomas called on the region’s countries to form a military force to patrol the South China Sea. ‘If ASEAN members were to take the lead in organising something along those lines, trust me, the US 7th Fleet would be ready to support.’ The Vice Admiral said this at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition yesterday. The Americans also confirmed that Japan would be there in the front line with India and Singapore is all in favour of India’s participation in the South China Sea, according Ng Eng Hen.
 
The war plan in the American military chessboard, the Asean countries will be the pawns doing the provocation and attacking the Chinese vessels and assets in the South China Sea. The Japanese and Indian Navies will be in the area to provide protective cover in case China strikes back. The US will be watching from a distance to manage the conflict from afar while the little fools fight and kill themselves instead of gunning for peace and economic growth.
 
What would be the likely lined ups on this battle field? China, Russia, North Korea, and a few Asean states like Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand on one side against the US, Japan, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore?
What would China do in the event that the Malaysian proposal of a regional patrol backed by the Japanese, Indians and US takes form? Would the region in East China hot up, would the Sino Indian border hot up, would the Pakistan Indian border hot up as well? The flame will burn in the South China Sea for sure.
 
All the best to Asean as an oasis of peace and neutrality. They have enjoyed peace for too long and wanted to taste a bit of war like the Middle East. War is fun, a lot of heroes and a lot of black body bags too. Thank you America, for your warm support.

MAS and CAD to probe market misconduct

This is a good piece of news for the stock market. The dying stock market would need a complete cleansing or detox if it is to regain its health. The question is to diagnose the cause of the deadly problem. Is it cancer or cough and cold? Is it such some superficial skin rashes or rotting in the core? Without a proper understanding of the real cause of the problem, without a will to tear off the rotting parts, we may end up with another round of cosmetic changes while the market continues to be kept alive with mechanical ventilators.
 
It would be good if the MAS and CAD start a thorough review of the SGX trading system, what HFT and computers plugged into the SGX main computers are doing, what advantages are they having and whether they have compromised or violated the Exchange’s rules and regulations on fair trading.
 
The NYSE is rigged and acknowledged by an ex board member. Does our Exchange have the same problem? MAS and CAD must ensure that our system is not the same as NYSE, it must be absolutely be free from rigging. There is something very sick with the system and unless the real cause is flushed out, the market will not survive for long. It is also very sinful and wicked at this point in time to encourage the young and innocents to put their hard earned money into the market.
 
The MAS and CAD are in a very favourable position to know what is going on and to save the market before it is too late. Do the necessary and not the unnecessary. The viability of the market is at risk and there is a clear and present danger that it would be destroyed if the parasites and viruses in the system are not eradicated.
 
It is high time that all the tubes and cables attached to the SGX main computers be unplugged or chopped off. This is the likely cause of the cancer that is killing the market. Ignoring this problem then MAS and CAD would be wasting their time and resources and be as good as chasing after shadows. Look inside first before going on a wild goose chase. The problem could be systemic.

Ariffin Sha is back

Saw this young man speaking at Hong Lim Park’s rallies and read some of his writings and came out impressed by his oratorical and writing skills. He is a young man but very advanced in his mental age. There is a lot of potential in this man, 16 year old, I think.
 
Then Roy Ngerng and friends were arrested and charged for public nuisance and there were comments that suggested this young man had given evidence detrimental to Roy Ngerng and his friends. They were together but apparently something was wrong. Ariffin also announced his departure from the political scene, taking a sabbatical for a year. The controversy was not favourable to Ariffin.
 
Surprisingly Ariffin has returned with an article in the TRE/TOC titled, ‘A flyer drop, a political low blow’. Below are extracts from his article..
 
‘I couldn’t help shaking my head when I read the TODAY Report of how PAP ‘activists’ distributed fliers in the middle of the night which bombarded residents of Aljunied GRC with messages against the Workers’ Party.
 
I still clearly recall the robust parliamentary debates between the powers that be and Workers’ Party over the definition of “constructive” politics not too long ago. …
 
Let us not kid ourselves, this is nothing but an appalling political low blow.
Is the kind of “constructive politics” that the secretary-general of the PAP was talking about? Are these the “party values” that PAP Aljunied Branch Chairman Victor Lye boasted about?...
 
This incident is a potent manifestation of the hypocrisy of the powers that be. Let me be the first to admit that although this is not surprising, it is indeed disappointing….
Make no qualms about it, at the end of the day it is not the PAP or the opposition who define the political culture we develop. Ultimately, that decisions lies in the hands of the voters. Through the ballot box, the residents of Aljunied GRC will make clear whether they want to give a nod to the “values” of Victor Lye and team or continue supporting the Workers’ Party.
 
And mud-slinging is politically impoverished, because it puts the accuser in a light much worse what he wishes to cast on the accused.’
 
Ariffin Sha is back in his original self, critical and questioning and with fire in his belly. He has cut short his sabbatical to be in the fray of local politics again, in his former self. Who is the true Ariffin Sha?

The Empire all out to contain China but left out in the cold

Not too long ago there was this naïve professor whose article was published in the ST claiming that the US was not out there to contain China. Only the gullible and ill informed would believe his innocence. The Trans Pacific Pact was a political trade pact designed primarily to excluded China and with China as its main target. It is still struggling to get its feet off the ground with only the die hard American allies wanting to be in. The intent to exclude China was simply too glaring to go unnoticed.
 
Since the days of the Cold War, the US has been blocking China in every move it took, trying to contain and isolate China with the singular objective of keeping the US as the dominant and undisputed world power. China on its part has been trying all it could to break free from the American containment policy and is constantly finding ways either to break into the American dominated international system or to develop its own parallel systems and organizations. If China cannot join in the game, China will develop its own game and play with other willing players.
 
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a China initiative to provide an alternate organization to the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank controlled by the Americans and Japanese. The AIIB’s stated mission is to provide financing for big infrastructure projects that would benefit its members, especially countries that were not in the good books of the US and Japan. China is offering smaller states an option to finance their development without having to be allies or semi colonies of the US. It is a financial institution providing badly needed funds, not a military or political institution.
The US has be pulling all the brakes to keep its allies and semi colonies out of the AIIB citing lack of transparency, corruption and whatever excuses it could fabricate. It is assuming that the rest of the countries joining the AIIB are idiots and would blindly allow China to control them and the bank.
 
South Korea and Australia and of course Japan are thus coerced to stay out of the AIIB against their national interests. The European countries too have been pulled back and likewise kept out of the AIIB. The UK is an exception, it is one and only G7 country that is independent enough to say no to its former colony, the Americans, and has joined the AIIB as a founding member to the fury of the Americans. The Americans have come out openly to rebuke the Brits for disobeying the order of the Empire. The Brits have done their sums, and being strategically forward thinking, knew where their interests are best served. They would want to maintain their pole position as the Number One financial centre in Europe and would not let this golden opportunity to slip by. They must be celebrating and wishing that the rest of the G7 would stay out of the game to give them a monopolistic advantage to work with China and AIIB.
 
The spat between the UK and US is out in the open with the US badmouthing the Brits and revealing its intent to keep China out of the loop, to be isolated from the rest of the world dominated by the American system. The Chinese have found their way, together with the other side of the camp, to build a new financial system independent of the Americans. To the Americans it is all about political dominance and even a financial institution is seen as unfriendly and must not be allowed to succeed.
 
Succeed AIIB would be and with the big war chest of the PRC and the BRICS countries, it is going to rival the World Bank and IMF to offer funds to needy countries. And needy Asian countries would form a long queue to where the nectar is. How long would South Korea and Australia be able to stay out of the AIIB where things are happeining? How long would the rest of Europe stay out and compromise their national interests and seeing the British gaining an easy and convenient advantage over them by joining AIIB instead of toeing the American dictates? What is the price for staying out of AIIB when they should be in?
 
Is there any kids out there still claiming that the Americans are not out to contain China?
 
The above was written yesterday and today the whole picture has changed. With the British breaking the ranks, the dam has been breached. The French, Germans and Italians wasted no time to announce their joining the AIIB as founding members yesterday. The rest of the G7 would be held in the balance. Australia and South Korea would be pinching themselves silly for not being able to join the AIIB as Asian countries. Would they have the strength to disobey the Emperor and join the AIIB?
 
The attempt by the Americans to lay a blockage against China, to contain China, would in advertently lead to its own isolation. Now it stuck and hang high and dry with this AIIB initiative and would be too embarrass to ask, ‘May I come in?’ It would be left out there in the cold, by its own Cold War mentality.

The cardboard Policemen

Many of you must have heard of the story of tying an elephant with a thin piece of rope to a flimsy piece of stick on the ground. And yes, the elephant would not try to walk away, believing that it would be a vain attempt. It tried furiously when young, tied with strong chain that would not give way. Now conditioned, the elephant still remembers the experience and would not waste any effort to break loose.

The cardboard policemen is an ingenious idea to keep Singapore safe. And this is particularly effective given the conditioning of the Sinkies over 5 decades that they even believe that they are daft, that their life long savings do not belong to them, that they are paying good money, hundreds of millions to the most talented individuals to rule them. And they have been conditioned to fear the authority, the men in blue. A cardboard policeman will do the trick to maintain law and order. Cheap and good.

And the facts cannot be denied. Soon we can expect the authority to come up with a string of statistics to show how crime rate has fallen because of the appearance of the cardboard policemen. And they even have the pleasure to choose a nice looking one, not a fearless Rambo that would kick butts, to instil fear, just a sweet looking guy will do the trick.

With the cardboard policemen on duty, the Police Force could easily increase in numbers by several divisions, each cardboard policeman costing a few dollars, and would work 7/24 all 365 days of the year, tirelessly. Chee Hean can tell the police chief, how many men do you need, just tell me and you can have them. Give the man a tiger, and a medal for this great idea. See, Singaporeans are so easy to be kept away from making trouble. I think, till to date, not a single cardboard policeman has been disfigured, stolen, damaged or burnt. Just make sure the female fans would not bring them home to adore. That is probably the only risk faced by the cardboard policemen.

I am not sure how the foreigners would react to the cardboard policemen. Would they giggle at the sight of one, would they pee on it, or would the lusty ones use them for self gratification? I think this is a small price to pay for such an effective policing force that is practically free, maintenance free, no training required.

Welcome to the land of the cardboard Police Force. Oh, just a note of caution. This concept is only applicable to Singapore and to police Sinkies. Don’t think it will work in other countries. The requirement is decades of conditioning, driving fear into the heads of the daft Sinkies, that the sight of a cardboard policeman will keep them away from crime.

Did anyone say more crimes are committed by Sinkies and not by foreigners? If that is true, then the cardboard policemen are ineffective against Sinkies but effective against foreigners. Now, which is which?

If this concept can be extended to soldiering, we can scrap NS totally. Would that be nice?

The angst of Lily Neo

Lily Neo spoke in Parliament about the increasing angst instead of gratitude towards the govt came under some strong rubbings in the social media. Despite her good intention to tell the govt that things were not so right as the govt would want to believe, she was yelling into the ears of the deaf frogs and risking being slapped like her colleagues in the past. The messengers of bad news are not welcomed and Amy Khor is a good testimony to how it felt being rebuked by the PM of the day, a public dressing down amounting to labeling her something like betraying her party. All she did was to say something for the people, not much different from what Lily Neo had said. It is no joke to get a dress down by a PM and reported in the media. She has since learnt her lesson and saying all the right things and is now a minister of state. Lily Neo got to learn from her to say the right things if there is still time for her to be promoted.
 
Lily Neo was lucky not to be slapped this time. It was a risky thing to say in Parliament. Inderjit did the safest thing, to avoid a public dressing in Parliament, by saying his peace in his facebook. That is pretty ingenious of him after his disappearing act to the toilet during the PWP voting.
 
Angst or no angst for the moment is determined by the people in power. When one is in power, everything is right and legal and good for the people and the party. The bold and brazen policies of touching the people’s life savings would be put to a severe test when the party falls from grace. The brushing aside of the people’s objection to the influx of foreigners, the dismissing of a generation of PMEs as collaterals for being replaced by foreigners would be a sour point that would not be easily forgotten as the livelihoods and well beings of many Singaporeans were badly affected.
 
There are many policies that are the angst of the people but not acknowledged by the deaf frogs. Everything is fine, for as long as they are in power. Who would know what the next govt will do to these policies and how the people would react to all the parties that caused all the angst to the people? The politicians, the top civil servants, the elite, the academics and legal professionals have all been reticent to the barrage of heavy handed policies, without protesting and in a way agreeing that there is no violation to the people’s rights and interests. It is good if there is really no wrong doing to answer for. If there are, many are complicits to them and will have to face the wrath, not the angst of the people when the day comes. For those who voted for, supported the controversial policies, they cannot say they did not. For those in a position to speak up but don’t, they have nothing to speak in their own defence for appeasing to wrong and harmful policies as an after thought.
 
When fortune changed, when the winds of change changes the power balance, many rights would become wrongs and wrongs would become right. All the angst would become real, not imaginary, not to be swept under the carpet. For the moment, everything is fine, everything is just perfect.
 
What angst was Lily Neo talking about? Got angst meh?

Mysingaporenews Collection Book slow moving

15 days to go and confirmed orders for my book is still moving very slowly.
I need more orders to get this book off the ground.

Any more orders coming?

Redbean

Who is the real kingmaker?

When Chok Tong was made the PM, everyone was clear who put him there. No one has any doubt as to who called the shot, who decided who it should be. When Chok Tong became the PM, he started to groom Hsien Loong to be the PM. It took him 20 years to do the grooming.
 
Then one fine day, or one fine evening, Wong Kan Seng invited a few ministers for a makan. And in that meeting, not sure if Chok Tong was invited, Kan Seng suggested Hsien Loong should be the PM. And those present agreed.
 
So, who was the kingmaker then, Chok Tong for grooming Hsien Loong and preparing for the post, or was it Kan Seng? It could be Chok Tong who instructed Kan Seng what to do. If that be the case, Chok Tong was the kingmaker and it did not matter if he was at the makan or not. What is the truth?
 
, Hsien Loong is still looking around for someone to succeed him. Chok Tong said it would be decided by the ministers of the day, just like what Kan Seng did, over a makan among the ministers. Presumably all the ministers were present or maybe some were and some were not. If that be the case, there was no king maker but a group of ministers making the decision, a PM appointed by consensus. This would dismiss the belief that there is a kingmaker and the PM is the man that grooms the next king.
 
What should it be? Got kingmaker or not? And if got, who and who is the new kingmaker today? Was Kan Seng the kingmaker then and is he still the kingmaker today? What is the role of the PM in the whole process? Was Chok Tong the kingmaker in his time as he implied in his grooming of Hsien Loong?
 
It seems so simple and straight forward but really not that straight forward and simple after all. Who knows, maybe Chan Chun Sing would call for a makan like Kan Seng and say let’s decide who should be the PM? Would it be like that?

The most expensive Managing Agent(MA)

Is AHPETC the most expensive MA? Apparently it is since 2014. No one charges anything more than AHPETC after 2014. How many dollars did AHPETC overcharged its residents compare to market rates ie PAP rates?
 
AHPETC and the other town councils are all Managing Agents of housing estates, single constituencies of GRCs. Did someone say overcharging the residents is naughty and unacceptable? Or did someone say what’s wrong with collecting more money? Looking from another angle, to be able to collect more means very clever, and cleverer still to collect more without the people complaining. Or there is a price for quality mah. The more expensive you pay, the better the quality of the service provided tiok boh? Maybe the price difference is for full time and part time MPs.
 
Then why are people complaining and making a big fuzz out of collecting a few dollars more than others?
 
Who is really the most expensive Managing Agent? If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, is the govt of a country also something like a Managing Agent? If the govt of a country is a MA, the salaries paid to the govt must be the managing agent fee right? Don’t you think we are paying the highest managing agent fee in the whole wide world to the most expensive MA on a pro rata basis or in absolute terms? Can complain or not? Got overcharging or not? Or we are paying out of this world Managing Agent fee for out of this world quality Managing Agent? So the more expensive the better. Are we getting value for money?
 
What do you think?

Tahir – a pleasant and energising story of faith

One does not need to be in the government, in the seat of authority, to want to do good for the country and its citizens. One does not need to be the richest man in the world to start to give away his wealth, to share with the have nots. One needs not be the richest man in Indonesia to do that, to think of country and people. His wealth is reported to be US$2.1b, not very rich among the billionaires in Indonesia, not among the top 5 or top 10 in Singapore. But he is very rich in his heart.

His mission is to do good, not only for the Indonesians but also around the globe. His largest contribution is US$100m in a joint fund with Bill Gates to help the poorest in the world and to eradicate polio. He never forgets he is Indonesian and has set up many charitable organisations to help his people in the areas of education and healthcare.

His main thrust is to see no Indonesians working as maids abroad but as trained professionals in the fields of nursing and sales. To achieve this he has spoken to 5 governors to offer him buildings and training centres and he would provide the teachers, training programmes, food and lodging for the women trainees. This mission is not limited to the 5 governors he spoke to and could expand into other provinces. He is not in the government but what he is doing is what every government would be thinking and be doing, to do good for its people, to uplift their lives.

In God he trusts and he believes that God has provided him with the means and opportunity to give back to his country and people. He is grateful and he spends his time thinking about helping others, to share his wealth with the less privileged. He was not born rich, he made his own money but did not forget that there are many out there that need a little help that his money can make things happened for them. He helps others by giving out his own money. He does not talk about helping others with OPM or taking the money from the people he is helping.

His two Mayapada hospitals provide free medicare to the poor. The cost of a heart surgery is his hospital is less than $8, actually free. No subsidies needed, no govt grants needed.

The world is a much better place when you have rich people feeling rich by sharing their wealth to help others and not by counting the monies in their bank accounts and collecting properties after properties to show that they are rich. Rich people like Tahir have the blessings and approval of God to be what they are and to do what they are doing for the good of other needy people. God bless. Amen.

These are the concluding paragraphs of a Sunday Times article today. ‘He says people should pursue wealth as a means to do some good for the community or mankind, not as an end itself. The biggest and most glorious objective in life is to be a blessing to others, creating their happiness…Otherwise, like the Taiwanese say, you are so poor that money is all you have.’

Nevermind if this is too idealistic and the pragmatics would scorn at such comments when pursuing wealth is all they want to do, to be dignified with all the money they have acquired. See my million dollar cars and my mansions!

PS. I am not a Christian and not pushing for any religion. When believing in God can make a man to do good, that is all that matters. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom. One can choose not to fear God or any gods.
Tahir is an Indonesia and Singapore PR, a Nantah alumnus.

A degree course for politician wannabes – Lesson 5

This course will deal with a fundamental assumption of what makes a good politician. The first assumption is of course by blood. It is in the DNA. If the papa or mama is politician, then the sons or daughters must be good politicians. Like kingdom rules and kingdom comes. The princes and princesses would become kings or queens, never mind if they are duds due to inbreeding. It is no surprising that many sons and daughters are now in politics and carefully handpicked because of their pedigrees. The fallacy of this assumption is best seen in history books. All the history books recorded that dynasties and monarchies that were succeeded by the children all failed. Those that survived were nominal or for ceremonial purposes when they need not have to prove that they are duds. All they need to do is to talk about saving the environment or saving animals. When they have to prove their worth, it always failed. The other great assumption here is that politicians are damn good in identifying political leaders and can make political leaders. All they need to do is to have a tea session to decide who can be a politician who cannot. Of course they need to prove themselves first in their fields of expertise or are scholars to start with. If they are pedigrees or have blue blood, the tea session is only a formality. The results speak for itself. No further elaborations needed. Another assumption that is related to this tea session is how to qualify to be invited for tea? This assumption is that when one is good in his field or profession, can earn a lot of money, then that one is good to be a political leaders. If one cannot do well in his field, cannot earn a lot of money, academically unsound, not mentality unsound, one is not good. This assumption says a successful professional, be it doctor, lawyer, soldier, academics or govt scholars, or married to one of them, will be a natural to be a political leaders. In reality we know that people are gifted differently, some are good at one thing or something but not good at other things. A good doctor or lawyer or soldier does not mean he will become a good political leader. Anyone thinks this is untrue? Sure, there will be some doctors, lawyers, soldiers or professionals that would turn out to be good political leaders. Librarians, peanut farmers, movie actors, football club managers all can become political leaders. Soldiers too. The fact is that there is no straight forward correlation between one profession and another to become a good political leader. It is a farce to think this is a god given formula. It is worse to think that one can be a good soldier, good lawyer, good doctor, good academic and also a good political leader all rolled into one. It would be a biological fluke. The great philosophers were never great political leaders and great political leaders were never great philosophers. It is a desirable combination for a philosophical king. In reality, maybe one in 500 years or 5000 years. To believe in this assumption often led to lawyers, doctors or professionals who were damn good in their professions and making damn good money and thus demanding for the same money or more to be political leaders but ended up as duds and being over paid for what they are completely clueless as political leaders. A political leader cannot be made, and if made, often turns out to be anything but a political leader. Many great political leaders are self made, by the forces of history, to be there at the time of needs, to do the necessary and to be seen as great leaders. But then again it does not mean that no one can become political leaders, good or bad not an issue. Historically, many were made political leaders for all kinds of reasons and circumstances. Shakespeare said in the Twelve Nights, ‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them.’ Well at least he is talking about greatness be they born, achieve or thrust upon them. Some are anything but great. Think about the assumptions mentioned above and their applications and how effective or ineffective they can be. There is no one model to get a great political leader. And most political leaders that were great were not rich. Those that were rich were often kicked out from the seat of power, in disgrace.

Basic Healthcare Scheme – The straw that breaks the camel’s back

Some Singaporeans woke up yesterday morning and thought they had a pleasant surprise when they read the main media headlines. Medisave Minimum Sum Scheme scrapped. For the self employed oldies, no longer need to top up until they reach 100 years or older.  The good news was proven not to be. It was like the devil and the deep blue sea. In place of the Medisave Minimum Sum, with a current ceiling of $43,500, a new scheme has been introduced, called the Basic Health Scheme with a limit of $49,800. Your money in the Medisave Minimum Sum account would be transferred there. And those below 65 could expect this sum to go up and up over the years. Whatever in your Medisave Minimum Sum would not be safe. You can kiss them goodbye.

This BHS is supposed to be better designed to cater for the oldies’ medical care in old age. It also means that the oldies would not be spared from paying to the Medishield Life Scheme even when they are jobless, without any income and dying. Oh, no worry, the BHS would pay.

When a Govt thinks it is alright to make the oldies pay with their coffin money, their life savings, when they are old and jobless and have no income, the Govt lost its moral right to govern. When they would not spare the oldies and think it is alright to take their last few dollars in the name of looking after them, it shows a callous and ruthless mindset completely devoid of compassion and human decency.

There is no point talking about this anymore. Opposition parties better quickly get their acts together, offer an alternative that does not rob the oldies of their life savings. Fleecing on the old and helpless and jobless is ethically unacceptable for whatever farcical excuses. The opposition parties must come out with a plan to provide free coverage for the oldies, not necessary the whole works to keep them alive, hooked to a machine, or expensive surgery and drugs that would cost a bomb. Just provide basic medical care in Class C wards free for the oldies to pass away in dignity, with minimal pain, and with no fear of money not enough and hoping for charity. Many are wishing a quick death when they have nothing to keep them going. Stop the crap that the oldies want to live forever. Only those with millions in their savings would want that. Those that want to live forever would be to afford anything. No need to worry about them.

Oldies 70 and above are mostly in full retirement, some already retired by their mid 50s when they became unemployable due to the FT scheme. Many would hardly have anything left to live by. Many would be dependent on their little savings or children to take care of them. Spare them from the burden of paying medical insurance premium and to live in peace, to be respected and honoured as senior citizens, not to be troubled by having to find money to pay medical insurance.

This is the minimum expected from a caring and people centric govt. This is expected of political leaders that rule with a heart, not those with bad hearts, not mechanical hearts that cannot feel. Vote for any party that would look after the old and helpless, not parties that would want to rob them of their coffin money when they are old and feeble and money no enough.

This is the last straw. It reveals the kind of outrageous values and thinking in sick heads. When they say they got good hearts, don’t believe them. Very likely mechanical hearts or transplants from animals or clones.

Former SEC Director Admits The Truth: The Market Is Rigged

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/10/2015 19:00 -0400
 
For more than a decade, John Ramsay kept his mouth shut about how rigged the US equity market was.
 
As SEC Director of Trading & Markets, Ramsay tells Bloomberg he "had red tape over his mouth," but now he is "uncorked."
 
“I’ve been able to find my voice on these issues in a way I couldn’t have done when I was in the government, because you’re always limited by internal politics and not wanting to get too far out in front of the agency,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been a little bit uncorked.”
 
Having joined Brad Katayama's IEX Group (infamous for the Flash Boys' exposure), Ramsay is calling out the “convoluted” and "illogical" pricing rules of major stock exchanges and compared the $25 trillion U.S. stock market’s structure to the Death Star of "Star Wars."….
 
“The current market ecosystem is not sustainable, and significant changes are coming one way or another,” Ramsay said in a speech delivered at a New York technology conference in September.

Ramsay said his opinions grew more critical in recent years as he watched the market fragment into 11 public exchanges and more than 40 less-regulated private venues such as dark pools.

Trading became more complex and prone to technological malfunctions in the face of rules that were supposed to boost competition and create new choices for investors, he said.

He outlined how the market lost its way: conflicts of interest among brokers, a two-tier system favoring the speediest and a general sense that today’s rules have been crafted to the benefit of insiders.
 
The full article is referred to me in my blog and can be read at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-10/former-sec-director-admits-truth-market-rigged
 
What is so important about this article?
 
In short, John Ramsay admitted that the New York SEC is running a rigged stock exchange trading system. It means that the management of New York SEC is committing a crime against the people for operating a rigged trading system. It means that the regulators of the New York SEC also knew and are accomplices to this crime.
When the people that are responsible to maintain law are breaking the law to cheat the masses, can you beat that? They knew and they did nothing, not even want to talk about it until they left the govt? And those remaining in the govt continue to live with and promote the rigged system.
 
Should these people be prosecuted in the American courts of law?
 
Now, that is an American problem for the Americans to solve. The big question, is our SGX operating the same rigged system? Ok, here I must vouch to say the right thing, that the SGX would not commit itself to a rigged system as they know that it is criminal. Our honest and highly ethical officials would not commit such crimes against the people. They know that they would be prosecuted if they dare to.
 
But I would like the SGX and MAS to review the trading system to double and triple check that our system is indeed free from riggings like the New York SEC. It must be that way. And should they find anything fishy, suspicious, they must take all efforts to remove them or they could be found equally guilty for not doing anything one day.
 
We have trust in our govt, administrators and regulators not to do the darn things the New York SEC is doing, not to approve the operation of a rigged system. If they cannot tell whether our system is rigged without their knowledge or understanding, if they don’t know like the toxic notes and bonds, they should call in people like John Ramsay and Paul Volcker to give their expert opinions to clear any doubts about our system.
 
There is no harm inviting such righteous and knowledgeable people who know the thieves and what the thieves are doing to review our system. It would be money well spent.
 
What do you think?