SG50 - Money, money, money everywhere

For the first time, the Govt seems to have so much money to throw to the people. And everyone is saying the GE is around the corner. That is a side issue, what matters is that the Govt is giving and giving and giving. Every citizen is getting something from the Govt directly or indirectly. And the Govt does not stop there. It is also throwing money to the PRs, the so called locals or residents but not citizens.

How can the people not be happy? How can the people not be having second thoughts not to vote for the ruling Govt? This is a Govt that is giving money to the people and no one knows how much more it is going to give to the people and when will it stop or will it ever stop.

It is SG50, a time for celebration and you cannot celebrate without money. So the Govt is going to stuff money in the pockets of the citizens. And everyone is happy that no one bothers to ask, where is the money coming from, whose money is it that the Govt is giving to the people? Would the giving be so excessive that it would kill the goose that is laying the golden egg.  Would the Govt get carried away with so much money to give as if there is unlimited money available?

The people’s money? Who says that? The money the Govt is giving the people is the people’s money and it is just returning some to the people to make them happy. It is one of those too good to be true story. And when something is too good to be true, should not the people be wary? What’s next? The budget must be balanced, what the Govt is giving out must be within the budget and if not enough or over spent, then the Govt would have to take it back somehow, from someone or from somewhere. The Govt cannot simply print money to give away without having to account for it.

Where is the money coming from? Whose money is it in the first place? When Lily Neo was asking for a few dollars for the needy, the govt or someone was unhappy. Now, the rich also got, the poor also got, the non citizens also got.

Like that also can. Why give money to the non citizens? You know how many of them will be getting something from this SG50 celebration? The Hokiens say, ‘Cheng hu chin tua kang’.

Lily Neo, this is the best time to ask for more help for those under public assistance scheme.

China versus India, everything wrong in China but everything right in India

I was reading this article, ‘A rising India poses a threat to China – but not just yet’ in the Today paper on 18 Jun by YooLim Lee and William Mellor. The main point in the article is that everything in China is wrong, the Chinese are doing everything wrong, and are faced with mountains of problems. In India, everything is right and everything is going for India, with a pro business Modi calling all the shots and India would be overtaking China in a matter of time. And they have a lot of evidence to prove their points, no guessing stuff.

Under ‘China’s headwinds’, China’s economy has slumped to 7% growth rate,  their strategies are misfiring, one child policy leading to lack of cheap labour, the economy depending on cheap and low priced exports, govt spending on infrastructure gone to waste through corruption or building ghost cities. China is desperately trying to transform its unbalanced economy but will be very bumpy and create many losers. The perpetual hope that China will prop up its economy is misplaced. There are big concerns on China’s huge debt and deficit. In other words China is doom.

In India, the economy is expanding and its growth rate ‘will be 7.5%’ after India revised the way it calculated its growth and changing a 4.7% growth into a 6.9% growth. And there is the able and pro business Modi opening up investment of railways to foreigners for the first time though China has opened the whole country since 1978. And Modi also ‘raised foreign ownership limit in the defence and insurance industries to 49%  from 26%...scrapped diesel subsidies and pledged to unclog transportation and build cities.’  Impressive.  Modi is also as tough as Xi in tackling corruption by supporting a law for prison terms up to 10 years.  I think China either executes corrupt officials or imprisoned them for life. And Xi has arrested more than 100,000 corrupt officials. Modi would soon be starting to arrest some corrupt officials too.

While all the evidence is pointing to a crumbling China losing its way and messing up its economy and India is doing all the right things to catch up, the article also pointed out a few funny statistics. China’s economy is US$10 trillion compares to India’s US$2 trillion. China has been growing at average 9.8% since 1978. And even if India were to grow at 8% and China slowed to 7%, ‘China will still create another three Indias before the decade is over.’

The duo forgot to add that Xi has another 8 years to run his China while Modi may be voted out in 3 years time. They concluded that despite all the wrongs in China and all the rights in India, ‘At the end of the day, the China India rivalry is no contest on most fronts. In economic clout, military might, geopolitical influence, literacy, health, life expectancy and even sporting prowesss, it will be an unequal competition for years to come.’

While they quoted a Morgan Stanley analyst, Ruchir Sharma saying China may not even be paying attention to what is happening in India and the so called challenge, as ‘China’s strategic game is much bigger’, the two still concluded that ‘India’s rise presents one challenge China’s Communist Politburo may find impossible to match…India’s very existence is an example to third countries that they can be democracies and grow. ‘  The 3rd World countries will thus be blessed to have the India and China growth and development models to choose from.  One has succeeded but full of problems and another full of aspirations and full of hopes and full of promises and aspiring to be successful. Shall I add full of ‘no problems’?

Chinese goods are chopped, ‘Made in China’. Modi is trying to sell ‘Make in India’ goods.  See the difference?

More ministers must go on leave

We have sent many delegations overseas to learn from other countries their best practices. We have sent several ministers to Japan to learn how they take care of their seniors. So many ministers have gone on study and education trips and nothing much heard from them after their return, as if nothing was learnt. They must have learnt a lot but may not want to brag about them. There is so much humility in these learning trips for our super talents to be learning from lesser beings. It is abnormal for multi million dollar talents be learning from lesser talents being paid a pittance.

What is more interesting is that Hsien Loong did not go on a study trip to Japan. He was on leave, on holiday. And he learnt something useful for Singapore. He went on a cycling trip on a disused railway track in Kushiro, Japan. So sad that he could not find a good bicycle track to cycle in Singapore. And eureka, something good came out from it, a brilliant idea dawned on him. Our disused railway track can also be converted to a bicycle track for cyclists. See the numerous advantages! For the cycling community, they would finally have a track of their own, safe and very long and exciting. And if they were to line the track with blossoms all the way, it would be an amazing sight for the cyclists.

Imagine cycling for miles and miles of orchids, then hibiscus, and the next change could be cannas, and then lantanas, ixoras, cassias, flame of the forest, maybe tulips and daffodils also.  But be careful on this. Singaporeans have this craving for planting everything in a plot and you will be seeing a jungle of different flowers that you can’t make out what is what, just like the integration of foreigners from all over the world on a piece of rock.

And the cyclists would be safe from the dangers of our narrow roads with bulldozers and fast cars and irritating motorists. Children and grannies can all participate in this spot. And not only for leisure, people can go green by cycling from the North to the South and vice versa, to and from work. What a great idea!

And this idea came practically free, while Hsien Loong is on vacation, paying for everything from his own pocket. I think this is more productive than sending entourages on study and learning missions on Ah Kong’s money.

This gives me another good idea and I hope Hsien Loong also got the same inspiration. No more study and learning trips. Ministers going overseas to learn are unlikely to learn much on official trips. It is the relaxing mood of a vacation that the creative juice will flow and they can learn more. Maybe an incentive is to pay them for any great idea they brought home after a vacation. Those going on overseas cooking trips would definitely have plenty to share and can be rewarded.

What do you think? Should we encourage more ministers to go on leave and be productive?

Open letter to CEO Loh Boon Chye

The most important question everyone needs to know about computer trading, algo and HFT, with computers of external agencies plugged into the SGX system to gain access to information that other investors did not have, to be able to use high speed computers to trade ahead of the masses, would these advantages be construed as unfair trading like having insider information? And if the use of computer trading to gain access to information not available to the rest of the investors is a violation of the SGX’s principle of providing a level playing field, and is a violation of SGX’s by laws, should these still be condoned? Is the SGX in breach of the bye laws?

If the answer is no, then by all means continue to allow the computers to be plugged into the SGX. If yes, the new CEO should not want to be a party to it as it is only a matter of time before SGX is sued for this breach of its bye laws. As the new CEO, it would be prudent to review this practice and confirm that there is no breach of any bye laws. If this practice is wrong and not stopped, then the new CEO would also be culpable for allowing it to continue under his watch.

Is computer trading a violation of SGX’s mission, principles and bye laws on fair trading practices and insider trading? Are the rest of the investors put in a disadvantage position because of these computers in the system?

Amos Yee – A miraculous medical discovery!

I am not sure if this discovery is good news or bad news. According to a survey, its finding is that Singaporeans would not have heart problems anymore. Singaporeans would also not have heart diseases. There will be no need for heart transplant ops as well. The heart surgeons and specialists are going out of job and would have to migrate to other countries where they could find patients with sick hearts. Even $8 open heart ops would be a thing of the past.

What is this miraculous discovery? Shhhh, they have discovered that Singaporeans did not have a heart! They have tested many of them and it is double confirmed, no heart, no heart beats. They cannot feel pain, they cannot feel any emotions. And when you tell them to touch their hearts they would look very lost. Where is my heart? Some may even asked what is a heart? Is it a good thing to have a heart or not?

There is also a theory that this Amos Yee episode was an elaborate set up for a very important mission. The next GE is around the corner and will be a very important one. And they are trying to find candidates with a heart. So this exercise was created to see if there are people who would stand up to show that they have a heart. Only those with a heart will be selected to stand for election.

Oops, no? So what should it be? Oh, sorry, my mistake. They are looking for candidates that can be tough and can make tough decisions. And in order to pass this hurdle, you need candidates that don’t have a heart. Only those without a heart can be unemotional and calm in decision making, would be considered for the next generation of leaders. Those who have a heart need not apply.

What is going on? Touch my heart, I swear, this is pure fiction, hallucination.  I must have been drinking too much water from the tap.

China Dream blueprint ready and available

China has come out with several initiatives to promote growth and cooperation among the Asian countries, the AIIB, the One Belt One Road, offering trading and infrastructure packages negotiated with big and small countries on an equal basis, an is being attacked by the Americans and their allies for all kinds of hideous and mischievous excuses. China took it in its strides and it is good that more and more countries are seeing the goodness in these Chinese initiatives to want to work with China peacefully for economic growth and development that benefit every country in the process.

The most powerful, comprehensive and beneficial initiative yet to come from China would be the China Dream blueprint that China can offer to other Asian countries. China has been there and done it, to turn around a poor underdeveloped country, lack of capital, resources of all kinds, skills, technology and ideas, into an economic giant with a complete list of industries and products to become the world’s biggest economy in less than 40 years. No other country has ever transformed itself, its economy and people in such a short span of time. In the process, China has lifted 500m of its people out of poverty. The USA and Indonesia each has less than #00m people. The whole of SE Asia is probably 500m people. China is the envy of many developing nations and even developed nations in the western hemisphere. It is a miracle of disproportional scale never seen before in human history.

China is now in a position to write this blueprint to offer to other developing Asian nations for a start. It is a proven formula. If the Chinese can do it, and with blueprint in hand, other Asian countries should also be able to replicate and duplicate this success formula. It would be a new Asia, an Asian Renaissance in the next 50 years if other Asian countries could pick up the blueprint and set themselves on the path to economic growth and prosperity for its people. China could offer the formula of success and export the knowhow to interested Asian countries hungry for quick economic growth and development.

China not only has the blueprint but also the resources, technology, skilled manpower and finances to assist other countries to grow if needed. From Eastern Europe to North Korea in the East and to the region in SE Asia, many countries could benefit from this blueprint from China.  Countries that could do a rapid transformation of their economy and infrastructural developments would be North Korea, the IndoChina states, Myanmar and the Indonesians. North Korea could embark on this mission with the assistance of the South Koreans, with the latter’s finance and technology and skilled manpower, to follow the China Dream with the Chinese blueprint. Vietnam and Indonesia could easily do the same act.

Without the Americans here to incite and agitate for war, Asia could be the continent with the highest growth rate in the next few decades and be the new Europe of the world, bringing wealth and prosperity to its people. There is no stopping Asia from rapid growth if they put their minds to it with the China Dream blueprint, and if needed, Chinese blueprint and knowhow and money. Asia need not be a continent of poor and developing countries struggling to become developed countries. There is a way and China can show the way.

There is a China Dream for all Asian countries, without having to go to war. China has done it.

A ‘khongcum’ or nutty statement

I will quote this from a blogger in mysingaporenews.

‘Simply just do away with that entitlement mentality, work harder and longer hour and stop being lazy’  - agongkia

Agongkia is talking about the daft Sinkies, lazy and suffering from an entitlement mentality. He believes what he is saying. And many daft Sinkies also believe in this ‘khongcum’ statement because they have been told that they are like that. And daft Sinkies have been cooked in a system that taught them not to think and they forgot that they can think, and it is for their own good that they should think about such ‘khongcum’ statement that is used to brand and degrade them.

Let’s look at the facts to see if this ‘khongcum’ statement can withstand the test of reality.
Would a lazy people of 3m won 84 gold medals in the SEA Game competing with bigger countries with tens or hundreds of millions of people? Did they say they are entitled to the 84 gold medals?

Would a lazy people work and slog at 70 or 80 years old in the foodcourt to clean tables? Did they say they are entitled to retire at 55 or 60?

Would a lazy people with entitlement mentality pay thousands of dollars to get a place in a nursery or kindergarten to give their children a headstart in life?

Would a lazy and entitlement mentality people spent hundreds of thousands to give their children a good education?

Would a lazy and entitlement mentality people score straight As in their examination?

Who are the students filling up the places in the top universities in the USA and UK? People with entitlement mentality and lazy?

Are kiasu and kiasi people lazy and suffering from entitlement mentality?

Would lazy people with entitlement mentality work more than 44 hours a week?

The only thing I may agree is daft. Only daft people will believe in ‘khongcum’ statement without thinking. Only daft people who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the best education and believe the 3rd world creeps are better than them. Only daft people will believe in fakes and cheats and go to the whole world to recruit them to replace the ‘khongcum’ people.

Do I make any sense?
  

Malaysian royalties – We are back!

A royal battle has started between the Crown Prince of Johore and the Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz after Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim commented about Najib’s absence from the 1MDB public forum.  Nazri was unhappy with Tunku Ismail’s comment as interference in politics and commented ‘the royalty was not above the law and should not comment on politics, “otherwise he will be subject to the same rule and we will whack him”’.  This has drawn a response from the Crown Prince saying ‘Do not think the people of this country exist to provide you with position and wealth; the positions exist for you to serve the people.’

A police report has been made against Nazri and he is now under police investigation. And Mahathir has come out in support of the Prince for freedom of expression. What is more important is the comment by the Sultan of Johore that Malaysia could learn from Singapore in its education policy. He reflected on the switch to teach mathematics and science in English and then back to Malay and how it has affected the performance of Malay students in these two subjects. Related to this is the lower proficiency of English among the Malays and the breakdown in national unity with the difference races attending different schools.

Would Nazri also think that this is another attempt by the royalty to be involved in politics? Since the removal of legal immunity by Mahathir in 1993, the royalties have taken a low profile in the politics of the country. Now both father and son of the Johore Royalty are in the limelight again. Would this mark the return of the royalties to play a bigger role in the politics of Malaysia? The timing is expedient with the politicians creating a mess of themselves and weakening their positions as the legal and moral authority of the country. This provides the royalties to stand on high moral ground to say their piece about what is happening to the country and to have a bigger say as rulers and protectors of the people.

How would this new dimension affect the political ethos of Malaysia? Would the royalties return as another force to be reckoned with after an eclipse of 20 years from the political affairs of the country. Would Mahathir and the royalties join hands in a new coalition of forces to take on the ruling govt? Such a possibility would put UMNO on the defensive and would further weaken its hold to power and the support of the Malay ground. It could mark the return of the royalties from the cold to the thick of Malaysian politics and a bigger influence in the affairs of the country.

What the hell was Kishore saying?

Last Saturday, 13 Jun, Kishore was thinking aloud in an ST article titled, ‘Trust the people, share govt data’.  In the article he praised the highly educated population and our world best education system only to contradict himself by saying we have the most ill informed population. How so, highly educated but not well informed? Then he went on to put the blame on the civil servants for their reluctance to share information. And he went on and on to lambast them about lack of transparency and how good it would be if the people are well informed and can make wise decisions in difficult times.

Did you people find the above strange? What was Kishore saying, or who was he referring to? He praised Hsien Loong for his call for more transparency and for ‘the public sector to cooperate with the IPS (Institute of Policy Studies) and to be forthcoming with information and access’ to information.  Is an insider like Kishore that naïve? Actually no, he knew what he was saying and he knew who he was addressing, who was the culprit that was depriving the people of information and transparency, but he had to go round the mulberry bush to be politically correct.

You see, Kishore also said that he likes to analyse issues as honest as possible, without the bulls. And he quoted LKY, GKS and Raja as his mentors, the kind of men that would not tolerate bullshit like he did above.  The most important lesson he learnt from the holy trinity is ‘to be brutally honest in analyzing problems and situations. Both of them (LKY and GKS) would prefer to confront an uncomfortable truth rather than accept a comfortable lie.’

Who is the real culprit that was depriving the people from information and being not transparent? The civil service? Kishore must be joking or living with a comfortable lie.  He knew the problem but could not say it out aloud. So he conveniently quoted Ho Kwon Ping’s called for more transparency and sharing of information and his suggestion for a Code on Information Disclosure. Who should abide by this Code to disclose and share information to keep the people informed?

Then he let the cat out of be bag without naming the culprit that is behind the non disclosure of information and transparency issue. ‘The big question we have to ask is: Can we trust our own population to make wise judgments with the information given to them?’ Who is this ‘We’?

Kishore concluded by saying that there was a need to change this culture of not sharing information. And he said it was good that the Govt was forming a Strategic Policy Unit to identify national priorities and action plans. Here is Kishore’s beef. ‘Perhaps one additional task that could be assigned to the SPU would be to change the culture of sharing information. We can and should do so.’

Here he used the word ‘We’ again. Who is this mysterious ‘We’?  Who did not trust the people and did not want to share information?

Khaw Boon Wan - HDB Lease Buyback Scheme a success

‘Through the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS), the elderly living in HDB flats can use the tail-end of their flat leases to fund their retirement plan, without leaving their flats. Since LBS was launched in 2009, we have taken on board public feedback and made several enhancements to the scheme.

The latest enhancements took effect on 1 April 2015. We extended LBS to 4-room flats, raised the income ceiling from $3,000 to $10,000, offered varying leases, and allowed households with two or more owners to get more upfront cash.

The enhancements were well received. Over two months, 450 households applied for LBS. If all are successful, this will be a 50% increase over the 965 households currently participating under LBS.’ – Boon Wan

I cannot fault the Govt for all the schemes they have crafted to help the people that needed help to survive in the world’s most expensive city of millionaires. Some may find it strange that the Govt would have to come up with all kinds of things to help the millionaires and half millionaires to get by, including selling the only piece of worthy asset they have. And this LBS is getting more successful by the day with more and more half millionaires hooking up to the scheme.

I am sure all the generous schemes to help the poor millionaires are also very successful. The queues for free abalone porridge or free chicken rice must also be very long and very successful. The queues for handouts must also be very long and a good thing to celebrate, another successful govt aid scheme. Last night the queue at MRT stations for a $50 top up was so successful that MRT stations were packed and some scenes were quite chaotic with the oldies frantically pushing to get their $50 in case they missed it.

From another angle, I look at these successful schemes as a failure in our society, where people are in desperate needs for help, all kinds of help that the Govt can offer. I would rather celebrate when all the Govt assistance schemes failed, made redundant, in the sense that the people did not need them, that the people are wealthy or comfortable enough to be on their own, without having to depend on Govt assistance schemes. The more Govt assistance schemes available, the more successful they are in terms of recipients and people hoping and needing assistance, the more it is a sign of a failed society.

Why would a city of millionaires and half millionaires be seeking Govt assistance schemes and willing to queue in public to tell the world that they need handouts, charity and assistance, that they are failures in life? In this sense, I hope to see that all the Govt assistance schemes are not well attended and not well received or even rejected by the people as the people are comfortable enough not to have to beg and queue for such schemes.

When all these schemes are successful, it is not something to crow about, to be proud of, not something to cheer about like winning gold in the SEA Games. It is a sign of failure to improve the well being of the people, to spread wealth and affluence to the people.

When the pawn shops are doing roaring business and more new pawn shops are sprouting up the HDB estates, it is bad, it is not something to claim credit for.

Am I crazy to say this?

American madhatters

Pivot Insanity: Why US Goading China?

MIKE WHITNEY | Saturday, May 30, 2015,

http://globalbalita.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/US-troop-deployment-in-Asia-Pacific.jpg  

‘US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter is willing to risk a war with China in order to defend “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea. Speaking in Honolulu, Hawaii on Wednesday, Carter issued his “most forceful” warning yet, demanding “an immediate and lasting halt to land reclamation” by China in the disputed Spratly Islands.  

Carter said: “There should be no mistake: The United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as we do all around the world.” He also added that the United States intended to remain “the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.”  

In order to show Chinese leaders “who’s the boss”, Carter has threatened to deploy US warships and surveillance aircraft to within twelve miles of the islands that China claims are within their territorial waters. Not surprisingly, the US is challenging China under the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a document the US has stubbornly refused to ratify. But that’s neither here nor there for the bellicose Carter whose insatiable appetite for confrontation makes him the most reckless Sec-Def since Donald Rumsfeld….’

 

Mike Whitney called Ash Carter a madhatter not for no reasons. We taught George Bush Junior and Donald Rumsfeld were bad. Now the combination of Obama and Carter is going to make them look like angels. Bush and Rumsfeld took on countries that cannot hit back and for the control of oil. This Ash Carter, with his mouth in his anus, is thinking to taking on China, a country that not only can hit back, but can nuclear the US homeland as well. Sure, the Americans got a bigger dick and many dicks. But one good dick is enough to KO the Americans.

These two madhatters are playing with fire in the name of freedom of navigation when not a single ship of any nationalities has encountered problems navigating the South China Sea. And the Americans got no reason to be plying in the Chinese claimed islands but insisted on sailing there to tell the Chinese who is boss and who is in control of the South China Sea.

All those asses that are still siding with the madhatters, that the Americans are a peace loving country need to go and see the shrink. The Americans like this Carter is saying, is all about power and hegemony. The Americans want to be “the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.” It has nothing to do about freedom of navigation. It has nothing to do about protecting the interests of SE Asian countries. It is about Pax Americana!

And failing to snook the SE Asian countries into a war they did not want, the Americans are tearing off their mask of innocence and warning the Chinese that it would be war. The world’s Number One warmonger has spoken. No one believes in their hype on threats to freedom of navigation.

It is Redcon 3 in the South China Sea.  The gangsters are ready for a fight to bring war to the region. What pivot to Asia? The Americans do not come for peace but war.

Singapore should be confident to hire the best in the world

The issue of Singapore for Singaporeans is raised again in the ST on 15 Jun. And as usual, Singaporeans were told to be brave to employ the best from the world and not by nationalities. This is the same message that a blogger in my blog who thinks damn highly of himself has been spreading. Just because he is lucky and got to a slightly better position he thinks this is the right thing to do, hire the best not based on nationalities. These smug asses would not even know if his father and mother were sold to the dogs. They think they would stand a chance against the best of the world!

The statistics say there are 3m Singaporeans against 6b people out there, if hiring is based on merit, the best Sinkies would be replaced by the foreign best with the wink of the eye. The best in the world are not only the best but too many to reckon with. Please, don’t talk like a fool and still thinking that you are smart. Singaporeans do not stand a chance to compete with the best in the world. Even the call for a level playing field shows how naïve daft Sinkies are. You don’t compete with the rest of the world on a level playing field in your own country. No country does that except silly countries and silly people waiting to be replaced by foreigners and chased out of their own country.

As it is, Singaporeans are already being made fools of, hassled and cheated by people from the 3^rd world, by fakes and people with no university educations. How are they going to compete with the real talents when they could not even measure up to the fakes and cheats?

How many Singaporeans out there still think they will be holding on to their jobs or be sacked if the Govt really practices this policy of hiring the best from the world based on merit? How many in the political leadership would be there to enjoy talking nonsense if political leadership is open to the best in the world?

Are Sinkies that daft? You tell me. No they are not daft, especially the successful ones. They think and believe they are as good or betterer than the best in the world. This is the height of lunacy.

To say Singaporeans are stupid is to underestimate their stupidity.

Poor man of Asia coming to save Rich Europe

As the world embarks on its journey into the 21^st Century, Europe is waking up to a new reality that its heydays of colonialism and conquest are over. Europe would have to sustain a lifestyle and standard of living without the loot and largess from the colonies, and would have to live within its mean. The hard truth of small is small and would not be able to throw its weight around, except for an island in SE Asia, is sinking in fast.

 

China, the poor man of Asia, the victim of Europe’s looting, is going to the aid of the ailing European economies with a blank cheque. Europe could simply ask and the Chinese would oblige. But the Europeans are still stuck with their superiority complex that they were the empires and this new kid in the block could not offer them anything except cash. And the new kid is up to no good except that they could not figure out how or why.

China’s offer of aid and infrastructure development is laden with hidden agenda and not transparent. The clever Europeans are so perplexed and confused by the Chinese magic box that they are trembling in fear, just like what they said of the Africans. The Europeans have been warning the Africans that the Chinese development and trade agreements are biased to exploit them, like the colonial West putting a gun at the African leaders of the past. The only truth that they refused to see and acknowledge is that the African leaders are not duds of the past, and China is not pointing a gun at their heads.

Similarly, China is not pointing a gun at the heads of European leaders to force them to accept whatever trade agreements and infrastructure development aids it is offering. China does not go to Africa or come to Europe with warships and big guns to rob the natives. And the natives in both Africa and Europe cannot be duds and fools that cannot think and read and be readily conned by the poor Chinese. Can that be the truth? What is this fear of the Chinese coming with baskets of cash to offer to the Europeans?

As Jonathan Eyal wrote in his article in the ST on China’s Silk Road and Maritime Belt, it is the Chinese money that is at risk. China is gambling on the projects with its own money. What have the Europeans got to lose? They have gained roads, highways, bridges, nuclear power stations, ports, high speed trains, all financed by the Chinese and paid by the Chinese. What the fuck are they quibbling about in fear?

Are the Europeans so stupid that they cannot read and count and did not know what they are doing with the Chinamen? Are they acknowledging that the Chinamen are smarter than them and are out to cheat them but with Chinese money? They needed the money and the Chinese are coming with their hard cash to put it in their hands.

What is wrong with the Europeans? Lost their minds, loosing confidence in their ability to negotiate a good deal to their advantage without a gun pointing at their heads? The Europeans are shivering in their pants when the Chinamen come calling with money in plane loads in tow.

Can you believe that? The Europe of today has lost all initiatives to economic growth, and is bankrupt. Their economies are no longer sustainable and the Chinese money is the drug that they need to keep going. They don’t have to colonise and loot China with their warships. The Chinese are offering them money on a silver platter, willingly, with hundreds of billions for the European Infrastructure Fund.

SGX – Smart computers and super computers

Computers are smart. If not we would not be paying millions or hundreds of millions for them. We don’t expect computers to make mistakes, only human make mistakes. When computers made mistakes, it is either that they are programmed with mistakes or input with mistakes, GIGO.

The latest fiasco by SGX, sending investors CDP statements with errors in the number of stocks they have or did not have, is a grave error. 1% of 460,000 investors means 4,600 would have received error statements. And the nature of such errors is like banks sending monthly statements to their clients showing their deposits, more or less, could be a very harrowing experience. Some may die of shock if seeing their millions disappeared, or died from disbelief when a few millions appeared in their statements.

A mistake like this in the banking industry is a cardinal sin. It is also no small matter in the stock broking business. The stocks are money in another form and people can also die from shock when the differences are huge and unbelievable. And if it is a number game, the plus must come from somewhere, and the losses must go to some where, it is a vicious circle to unentangle. Where would the disappeared stocks go to or the increase come from, from whose accounts to whose accounts?

How could it happen? The errors must be due to some input, deliberate or otherwise, through a modification in some programmes or data entry. Given the fact that so many people are affected, it is likely to be a programme or system error, and a new one. Or it could be the deliberate act of someone or some maleware in the system. A human error due to negligence is likely to affect very few people. When more than 4 thousand people are affected, it is no small matter, not likely to be due to negligence or carelessness of an operator.

Hope SGX is on top of this problem and could rectify it fast.

Amos Yee – The world’s youngest Prisoner of Conscience

Below is what Kenneth Jeyaratnam posted.

Amos Yee: World’s Youngest Prisoner of Conscience to be recognised by Amnesty International

At the beginning of this month I started exchanging correspondence with some contacts in Amnesty International sharing my view that Amos was  a prisoner of conscience.  I am delighted to say that after monitoring and considering the situation they have just written to me to say that they concur. Amnesty International will recognise Amos Yee as a Prisoner of Conscience.  Amos Yee does fulfill their criteria because his actions, though offensive, should not have been criminalised.

And this is the reply from Amnesty International.

Dear Kenneth,

Well, the IS has considered it and judge that he is indeed a POC by Amnesty’s definition. What he said falls under the kind of edgy and sharp expression of opinions that may annoy or insult, but it was peacefully said and doesn’t fall under the definition of incitement etc and is not grounds for criminalization. WE will speak out and expect to issue a statement ahead of the 23 June court hearing.

XXXX Redacted XXXXXXXXX

Warmest wishes, xxxx

I feel very sorry and sad to know that Amos Yee is having suicidal tendency and they are handling him like a mental patient, tying him to his bed. His mother is trying all she could to save her child and is in desperation, alone fighting the whole world. I salute Kenneth for speaking out for Amos Yee.

Where are the decent men and women in this island? The silence is pathetic and a shame. If they don’t speak up for Amos Yee, they must remain silent for the rest of their lives. No one will give them any respect for anything they say henceforth.

Is there a conscience in this piece of rock? Or has everyone been turned into a piece of rock devoid of compassion, moral righteousness, kindness, empathy, decency, justice, heartless….?

Hollywood – You are sane until the psychiatrists made you mad

This article is not to malign the noble profession and the good people doing a good job to manage the disease of mental illness.

Hollywood has regularly produced movies on madness and how normal healthy individuals fell victims to dictators, corrupt officials and made to look mad or even become mad with the assistance of evil men and women practicing the trade of psychology and psychiatry. In their hands, they can cook up anything to pronounce a normal person mad and should be held against his wishes, freedom curtailed, and to be controlled by the evil people posing as their guardians.

And once in their hands, in the confines of a mental hospital, in the privacy of their charge, they could do many things to make a sane person mad, even by prescribing and administering drugs and injecting drugs into the victims to ensure that the victim will become mad.

For those who were victims of such circumstances, life is like living hell. And the fictions churned out by Hollywood are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth is more frightening. It is happening everywhere!

GE the Independence Day

The movie Independence Day has many messages that are relevant to the political situation here and the world. The dominance of hegemons and dictatorships over the world and the individual countries to oppress the people in their own interests would lead to rebellion and the overthrow of the empires and dictators. This historical formula is evergreen and would just repeat itself over and over again. It is just like the cycles of life.

The Independence Day movie is about the invasion of aliens in overwhelming superior force. Their spaceships were huge beyond imagination and powerful and impenetrable. Earth was as good as lost and to be dominated by the aliens and controlled by them forever, as slaves to serve the new master.

At the final moment of death, there was a break through. A pilot found a hole in the spaceship when the defence shield was crippled and taken down. Without the shield and knowing the weak point, it was a piece of cake to take down the armada of monstrous looking spaceships.

The next GE is around the corner and Independence Day is also around the corner. The space ships are the prized GRCs. The defence shield used to be the formidable image of the PAP and bolstered by the strength of the ministers helming them. They were impenetrable. This defence shield appears to be no longer there. The PAP has lost that image of invincibility. The ministers, nothing to crow about and worst, everyone looking more like a liability than an asset, or anchor to strengthen the GRCs.

With the defence shield crippled and down, every GRC is vulnerable and ripe for the taking. This GE is not about taking SMCs. These are easy looking at the slate of candidates and the results of the two by elections. The prize now is the GRCs. If there is a better moment to take them, the time is now. There is no defence in the PAP wall and system. The vulnerabilities are exposed and cannot be patched, or not for the immediate future. The next GE is like Independence Day when all the opposition forces are there to strike at the GRCs, to take them down. You can feel the shivers.

The key question is whether there will be enough good opposition candidates to do the damage. The message, the shield is down and there is no ministers left to protect the GRCs.

Section Leader’s Course

I remember that the SAF used to conduct a Section Leader’s Course to train soldiers into leaders. And if I am not mistaken, this is at least a 3 months or 6 months course. This must be the minimum duration needed to train a young man into a leader. Now we have read about the one week programmed by a primary school for leadership training by climbing mountains. This must be a pretty intensive and advanced training method to turn a 12 year old into a leader.

With so much hue and cry about the length of NS, and with many demanding that NS training should be shortened as the two years were a great sacrifice by our young men, putting them at a great disadvantage in their career development against the foreigners that need not waste two years for NS, I can see a good outcome from this innovative school leadership programme.

The SAF should do a serious study on this school leadership programme and learn from them how they could turn young boys and girls into leaders in a matter of one week. And if the result is positive, then the Section Leader’s Course can be modified along the same line, with mountain climbing as the main part of the training, and instead of 3 or 6 months, the training can be reduced to maybe one month.  That could easily save 2 to 4 months of training and thus reduce the duration of NS to maybe 18 months.

And, since the schools are so keen in leadership training, maybe the schools can work with Mindef to integrate their leadership training into the Section Leader’s Course. Let’s say the boys would be made to do a one week compulsory mountain climbing course in primary school and maybe a 2 week mountain climbing course in secondary school. With these two courses in their belt, they are half way there as leaders and the duration of the Section Leader’s Course can thus be halved.

That’s it, I think this is a very good idea for the two ministries to think about. No? Did any say no? Alright, I can agree that there is now a fear for mountain climbing for children. But there is still a big demand for leadership training for 12 year olds right? So how? They need to be trained as leaders and the earlier the better.

How about this, Mindef work out a one week leadership training for the 12 year olds using the Section Leader’s Course programme. And the students need not have to climb Mt Kinabalu. They only need to climb Pengkang Hill. I think this is reasonable. 12 year olds climbing a hill should be easier though not as challenging as climbing mountain. And I think Pengkang Hill is quite far away from the earthquake zone.

And if one week is too short, add another week when they are in secondary schools. And as suggested above, with these two programmes, the duration of Section Leader’s Course can be shortened and the 2 year NS can be shortened by 6 months.

The more I think about these two options, the more brilliant I think of myself. What do you think? Don’t call me ‘seow’ ok?  I am just trying to help. With the schools so keen to make leaders out of the boys and with Mindef needing leaders in the field, they must be able to work out something for the good of everyone. This must be another win win formula.

MERS coming, are we prepared for it?

The hospital said so, Hsien Loong also said so. This is a true sign of being prepared for it. The hospitals are all well prepared and equipped with all the protocols in place. MOH has also started to screen passengers from South Korea.

With the rapid spread of MERS there, we know that they have fouled up badly. We cannot do less than them. We have our experience with SARS and know exactly what to do.The govt is well prepared, are the people and commercial organizations well prepared as well?

This MERS thing is not just the job of the govt. One thing for sure, the SMRT is the most well prepared for MERS, to spread like wild fire if a MERS infected passenger happens to be in a jam packed train. The tightly confined cabin with the recycling of little air in them makes it a perfect contraption for the spread of MERS in the shortest possible time. Our shopping centres and all airconditioned environment are ideal breeding grounds for MERS to spread.

What about the people? Are the people equipped to defend themselves against the spread of MERS? The haze season is still a few months ahead and there is no need to issue protective masks to the people yet. With a more deadly and contagious disease like MERS that will come, only a matter of days, could be the next hour, why are the masks not issued to the people? Are the people told to start buying masks and start to wear masks or to wait until an incident strikes?

When should the people be prepared for this attack since it is a matter of time before it arrives? The preparedness of the govt and hospital is only a small part of the equation.

Mt Kinabalu – A word of appreciation to the mountain guides and teachers.

The 12 year old students were there when the mountain shook. Never mind why they were there. Try to visualize the terrifying scene when the rocks and boulders came tumbling down, the roars and rumbles of tons and tons of rocks falling at break neck speed.The screaming and cries of fear. The first reaction, shock and awe. The next instinctive reaction, run for your life. The third reaction, look for a safe spot, unfortunately there would be none if one was in the path of the falling rocks.

Now what would be the first thing in the minds of the teachers and guides? Yes, run for their lives. But, there were children with them, hapless children needing the protection and help of adults. These adults would have the basic instinct to want to protect the children instead of running away, grabbing at the children, shielding them, trying to pull them to safety, ducking the rocks, and forgetting that they too were exposed to the dangers and their weak bodies would not stand a chance.They could have run at the first sign of trouble, as fast as they could to save their own skin.

It appeared that they went for the children, stayed with the children, and perished with the children as a result. They were in the same boat, caught in a downpour of stones and rocks. As adults, they stood a better chance to flee for safety. Very likely they didn’t, as brave men would behave in times of grave danger.

And there were some brave guides that went back to look for survivals when the mountain was still unstable and the rocks could still come falling down. And a few were saved as a result of these brave men, to return them to their grateful, frightened and helpless parents waiting in despair.

I salute these brave men, those who survived trying to save the children and those that lost their lives trying to save the children. I would like to suggest the govt offers some form of monetary assistance to their families as a gesture of our appreciation for the lost of these brave men who died in the line of duty, to save our children.This is a small thing that we can do for them.

And don't forget the guide with one of our children on his back, saved from the jaws of death.