Don't Layoff in Singapore, Choose De-Employment.

by MIKOspace/Michael Heng

A New Talent Solution as the Recession Looms

Few companies will miss the obvious signs of impending business doom. Declining orders, falling sales, narrowing profit margins, increasing relative costs, inventory build-up, fewer competitors, fewer customers and increasing difficulties in accounts receivables.

    

Layoffs in Singapore reached a 5-year high with weakening job vacancies since the 2009 global recession triggered then by the banking and currency crisis.  Nearly 16,000 lost their jobs in 2015; mostly middle-aged executives with degrees and higher-skilled workers.  Most of them also did not find a job within 6 months from their layoff.

A careful analysis revealed that about 71% of the layoffs were skilled and experienced professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), ages from 40-49 years old, up from 66% in 2014, even though PMETs made up only 54% in the workforce.  Also, an increasing number (44%) of the higher educated – degree-holders – lost their jobs when compared to just 41% in 2014.

Embracing De-Employment as the New Normal

Given the demo-psychographics of the talents most susceptible and vulnerable to layoffs, de-employment becomes an innovative, empowering and integrative human resource management (HRM) solution best suited to manage talents long before their layoffs are deemed necessary. 

The steady 2015 unemployment rate in Singapore last year at 2.9% for Singaporeans, and 2.8% (2.4% in 2014) when included Permanent Residents (PR) belie the looming onslaught of layoffs expected in 2016 given the weakening global economic conditions and persistent low oil prices. 

A company facing high risks of layoffs to happen sometime in the next 6-9 months can manage the risks by adopting a strategy of de-employment. Embarking on the de-employment journey, the company prepares its employees as it enters into a joint-employment relationship with a “Surrogate Employer”. 

A Surrogate Employer (SE) reinforces the corporate culture concurrently as the company engages the competitive forces that are affecting the business.  On the one hand, the SE empowers the company’s recovery strategy by focusing on its core competencies to restore and grow their bottom line whilst pursuing vigorous costs reduction. On the other, the SE augments the company’s talent management team by assuming responsibilities for the strategic re-configuration of its talent pool leading to whatever necessary re-calibration and re-sizing in order to service the increasingly difficult marketplace more successfully.      

The goal of de-employment is business recovery with a particular emphasis on key talent retention, redevelopment and excess talent deployment. Strategy and talent management are the twin challenge of the de-employment strategy.  Strategy focuses largely on the external competitive space, and talent management in de-employment involves radical and fundamental internal organizational re-structuring. 

Organisational re-structuring aims at reducing layers and widening job scope through job re-design, job merging, job sharing and jobs elimination. This deploys a lean thinking approach to eliminate wasteful cost drivers and, more importantly, the retooling of talent through re-skilling, redevelopment and redeployment for and in anticipation of business recovery.

Important HR tools like shorter work week, wage/benefit cuts, working online/off-office, mandated vacation and outsourcing workers to other companies can be attempted, but recognize that these are merely short-term measures that merely postpone the inevitable.        

What is crucial in a de-employment strategy is to assure continual smooth business operations without the often disruptive effects and morale-depressing sentiments from layoff exercises.  This means the transfer of the entire (or most of the) workforce – including a large number of prospective redundant and excess workers – to the SE, who is now tasked with the mission to assure continuous income flows, not necessarily at their previous levels, to those workers who are not needed by the company either on a full-time or part-time basis.  This way, the company can reduce its labour-related costs immediately paying only for talents that it actually needs. The other redundant and excess talents are engaged by the SE to work in other companies.        

The de-employment strategy promotes income assurance in the participating workers, instead of job security.  Layoffs would be a thing of the past.  They will be continually engaged rather than occasionally employed.  Their works are assignments as they perform them not always at physical workplaces but at designated service-hubs or centres, which may be virtual or through social media cyberspace or on the internet. They are not controlled through adherence to some fixed reporting times but managed through agreed performance milestones or indicators.  They also commit to at least 100 hours of continuous learning and development per year, so as to be empowered and eventually become truly independent to pursue their desired career experiences.

Companies participating in de-employment no longer worry about layoffs as bad times loomed. They retain their relevant key talent on a full-time or part-time basis as mutually agreed with the SE.  Talents with flexible skills are able to work at more than 2 service-hubs or centres to multiply their income streams.  And they can work at their own pace and place without infringing the legal restrictions on working hours or working during holidays and rest days.   

The SE is essentially a community of talents who are well educated, skillful and experienced (like PMETs, for example).  Their SE provides such portable benefits as CPF, medical, dental, vacation leave and various other welfare benefits usually enjoyed by regular employed workers. They can seize available opportunities for multiple enhanced income streams from assignments to various SE clients.  Their skill-sets are continuously revised, upgraded and re-calibrated to ready them for future jobs which are yet unknown.   

The crucial difference between de-employment and HR out-sourcing is that the SE is contractually part of the company, instead of its outsourced labour contractor. The SE and the company have joint coaching and mentoring responsibilities for their talents. Their relationship entails regular feedback and communications with each other and with their talents. In this manner, de-employment assures the sustainable relevance of talents to the companies. They are also co-decision makers with regard to talent engagement, deployment and redistribution. Talents can be converted from de-employment status to direct employment status in accordance with agreed conditions. 

De-employment is the best alternative to layoffs by maximizing returns on human capital and talent.  Workers should not simply be discarded in layoffs as some useless garbage in a business downturn. For sure, surviving soldiers are not killed when battles are lost. Instead, they are systematically collected, re-organised, retrained, re-equipped and re-motivated to await mobilization for the next battle that would hopefully bring forth eventual victories and success.  

Corporate sustainability and business success depend on the strategic leverage of the human talent. Leaders know that the human talent is the highest and most decisive form of technology that makes the key difference in successful strategy. 

Lesson from a wise professor

Professor Low Teck Seng was offered the post of Chairman of Singpost.  As a human bean, he must be flattered for the confidence trusted onto him. He accepted the good offer. Then he had second thought. He is already the CEO of National Research Foundation (NRF), a big job reporting directly to Hsien Loong. Would he be able to take on two important jobs at the same time? Wisdom and good common sense took the better of him and he turned down the Singpost offer and apologizing for his acceptance as an error of judgment.

Any ordinary human bean would greatly accept the offer that comes with a substantial income yearly. Who in his right mind would reject such gracias? As a thinking professor and a responsible man, he knew his limitation and the constraint of time that he could not do justice to Singpost if he could not contribute fully for the trust and money being offered to him.

It is a sensible thing to do. When the plate is full, it is only reasonable and commonsensical to turn it down or risks suffering from indigestion, food poisoning or gluttony.

How many human beans would do what the professor did? How many immortals would do the same? How much time and effort does a person have to take on more than two or three or ten jobs?

This is a good lesson to learn from a professor. Do not be greedy and over commit one’s little ability and grab the money, the honour and the trust that came with the position. What about delivery and responsibility? Be sensible.

Thank you for the lesson and for showing the light to the unenlightened.

Singapore’s successful formula for Asean Economic Community(AEC)

With the impending implementation of the Asean Economic Community, ChannelNewsAsia held a forum on 6 Apr to discuss the implications and concerns of free movement of human capital in the Asean states. The three main concerns raised were, the different educational system, the different quality of degrees and professional qualifications and the political will of the respective govts to get this free movement of human capital across borders flowing.

The President of SMU commented that it was unsustainable and politically difficult for any govt to allow the free movement of workers across national border. The domestic political forces would not allow it to happen. But all these concerns have proven to be nothing to Singapore and Singapore has embraced free movement of human capital, we called in foreign talents, like fish in water. With the right political leadership and political will, nothing is an obstacle. The different education system, degrees and professional qualifications too were non issues. These have never been a problem to Singapore and it has more than 2 million foreigners in the island to prove that all is well.

Singapore’s successful formula is best seen in the broad and sweeping CECA agreement with India. This is the most important formula to prove that freedom of movement of talents can be done. Singapore simply accepts all the qualifications of all the Indian universities, all the differences in educational system and standards with no question asked.  This is not about stupidity or administrative convenience, but about building trust and trusting the quality of India’s universities and human talents. When these differences are set aside, there is no more problems to talk about.

In Singapore’s experience, all the foreigners hired are genuine foreign talents. No one has complained about hiring duds or fakes.  Even if they were fakes, as long as they can do the job, the piece of paper is irrelevant. There were one or two cases of mistakes but too little and too few to worry about. Only stupid employers will be hiring duds and fakes. Singapore’s employers are not stupid and therefore have no stupid problems.

Singapore should sell this wonderful CECA formula to the Asean countries, that this is the way to go forward. Forget about the differences, ignore the differences, don’t look at them, don’t bring them up, pretend that everything is fine and all will be fine. And Singapore can use its 2% economic growth as proof. By bringing in 2m foreigners, Singapore achieved a 2% growth. And to prove that Singapore truly believe in this formula, Singapore will raise its population to 10m, ie, bringing in another 5m foreigners which will translate to another 5% growth.

Singapore has done it, see how successful Singapore is? Have no fear about free movement of human capital. With the right political leadership and political will, all problems will become non problems.

CECA is the miracle formula that Singapore has signed with India that benefits both countries greatly, economically. And Singapore now has so many spare and  talented Singaporean PMETs to export to Asean countries, armed with certificates with courtesies from the NTUC, trained for export, to work around the world.  Singapore would not have the luxury of sharing these spare talents with Asean countries if we did not bring in the better foreign talents to replace these no skill set local talents, or obsolete talents.

Singapore can be the leading light in the free movement of human capital in Asean. We have been experimenting and enjoying a surge of productivity with so many foreign talents to choose from. There are so many waiting at the door for Singapore to pick and choose, attracted by the good working environment and very excellent pay package and a very strong Singapore dollar.  Singaporeans are so appreciative of these foreign talents that many are giving credits to the foreigners for building Singapore to what it is today. With the AEC, Singapore will have no problem boosting its population to 10m and all the property prices will go up 100 fold.

Singaporeans will all stand to gain, to rent out their expensive HDB flats and move out to live in Bintan, Batam and Johore. No need to work any more, except for the young doing two years of guard duties. The free movement of human capital with the implementation of AEC is the greatest thing that can happen for Singapore and Singaporeans.

Singaporeans are not just naïve but dumb and stupid

I can’t help but to repost this article from the TRE here. The more daft sinkies read this, the better, and hopefully they will get less daft. They said, stupidity has no cure.

 

Recently, a friend came to Singapore and I had to show her around. Being very rich, we took taxis every day. So I decided to talk to them about Singapore politics and coming by election.

I am very shocked to tell you of the 6 taxi drivers, 4 drivers were recent and retrenched to make way for foreigners. Then come the question about voting opposition into parliament, 3 retrenched were skeptical, 1 was neutral. They said the same thing, “Opposition will destroy the economy”. Wow, this national brainwashing does work very well with most people and most people actually buy this theory. Of 6 taxi drivers, they are from private sectors, from senior manager to senior engineers, all earning more than $4k, some higher than $6k.

So I decided to ask who they voted for. No one would tell me directly but their response was “Voting is secret”. So I countered by saying for those people who voted PAP because they are very happy with their policies especially importing foreigners to replace Singaporeans. One guy even said importing foreigners is to improve the economy!!! Wow….Then I used the word “You must be very happy to be replaced!”. 3 showed black face, 1 was like “LL”.

Then I added the PAP has been so successfully in brainwashing locals to accept their fate and policies without complaints. Despite being replaced by foreigners, ended jobless and had no choice but to turn to driving taxis, they still support the PAP.

At the end of the journey, I told them, you think for this country, you sacrifice yourself to be replaced and end up jobless, you should receive National Day Awards for your sacrifice instead of those parasite grassroots with ulterior motives. I hope your sons and daughters will continue your good work and sacrifice for this country too! Remember if you support the government, don’t complain, be happy being the sacrificial lambs! Also for the fact that you worry so much about the country collapsing due to opposition, my take is the economy or country has not even sank, you will be sinking in deep sea. LOL

My friends, these were professionals in their respective industries, making decent living and only in their early or mid 30s, replaced by foreigners and end up jobless. They had no choice but turn to driving taxis and yet being betrayed by the government, they do not seem to be angry at all. How amazing… *Laughs*

No wonder our ministers said Singaporeans are not competitive, naive and daft, we cannot compete with foreigners. I do agree that Singaporeans are not just naive, daft but completely moronic! The government is right, they import these third world foreign talents because Singaporeans are just morons, they cant really think. Despite being bullied left and right, they seem to be happy, very successful brainwashing by government.

Sounds similar to North Koreans who think North Korea is the best and most happy country in the world. *Croaks*

Do you agree?



SANJNBD

How stupid can a people become? This is a uniquely Singaporean trait. And like they said, after 50 years of brainwashing, the brain is now sparkling clean, no more brain cell left. Singaporeans have forgotten that they used to have a brain and the brain is used for thinking. But since the govt has been doing all the thinking and telling the daft Singaporeans how to think, Singaporeans have no necessity to think or want to think. So they just parrot the official line of thinking and reasoning. You can read a lot of such regurgitation in the commentaries in this blog as well.

Military Japan – A leopard does not change its spots

A letter by a Shigeru Ichige in the Today paper on 6 Apr, ‘Japan must play military role to maintain world stability’ is the clearest sign of what the Japanese have in mind. After running mad around Asia and killing millions and looting the Asian countries, turning them into colonies and waste land, Japan is claiming that it is the right country to maintain world stability by military means.

The Japanese psyche to want to go to war cannot be erased despite the suffering from two atomic bombs and the humiliating defeat in the Second World War. Japan and the Japanese people are itching to want to don on their military uniforms to go to war around the world.  They have amended their pacifist constitution that forbade them from conducting war outside Japan unless they were attacked. Abe and his militarist hawks have been rearming Japan and sending Japanese warships as a show of force in Asian seas. It is encouraging and promising to back up Asean countries to do battle with China.

The events that are happening in Japan, the revision of its pacifist constitution and the rearming of the Japanese military, the changing of the Self Defense Force into an Offensive military force is a repeat of what had happened before the Second World War, similar to the rise of Hitler’s Germany. The world is turning a blind eye to the military ambition of Japan.

A leopard does not change its spot. Japan is on a military path again, to want to engage in wars, to conduct wars.  Watch out, Asia! In the name of maintaining peace, like the Americans, Japan is preparing for war by building up its military forces and weaponry.  It is telling the Asean states that Japan is a reliable peace keeper despite its imperialist and colonial ambition in Asia. Can any country trust a murderer, a rapist, a looter of their country’s wealth?  Singapore still has many exhibits and memorials of the vicious and barbaric crimes of Imperial Japan to remind the young and the tourists of what Japan did during the Second World War. The world would soon see the true nature and intent of Abe’s Japan. Warfare and war mongering is in the Japanese blood.

The height of idiocy

What do you think is the height of Singaporean idiocy? Giving the pioneers $500 for training when many are about to kick the bucket? Why don’t they just give them the money to have a good time, a good meal, to splurge for themselves while they still can? No, this is not a good example of idiocy. These seniors can still learn a trick or two and may start to work again.

What about allowing the govt to want a more or less ceremonial president to be  more honest than the PM, smarter than the PM, have better experience in senior management than the PM, have better integrity than the PM…Oh, I must clarify here, the PM is referring to the post of the Prime Minister, not to anyone in particular. Do we need someone to be better than the PM to be the President? Oh, this is also not a good example of idiocy.

What about saving for a life time, contributing nearly 50% of one’s income to one’s saving scheme in the CPF only to find out that the amount is not enough for retirement? Not idiotic enough? What about allowing the govt to decide to spend it on medical insurance? Not idiotic enough? What about allowing the govt to set aside a huge sum as a minimum sum that cannot be touched until death do us part? Still not idiotic enough?

Someone in my blog said a NS man, a corporal would probably be smart enough to avoid the death of the two trainees killed in the train accident. How so? Because the problem was due to a lapse in communication, or a system fault.  Someone already got permission to go down onto the train track to repair a fault. So 15 men, inclusive of an instructor, went walking on the train track during morning peak hours thinking they would be safe. Did they presume that once permission was granted, it was safe to walk on the track, no train would come and hit them, the system would take care of it since permission already granted?

So when they were on the track, there was no need to look out for on coming trains? Got permission already.  Now, why would a corporal make a big difference between life and death?  In a situation like this, the corporal would simply detail one or two men to be on the look out for on coming train, like sentry duty. So simple!

Whether got permission or no permission, system working or not working, got system fault or no system fault, got lapses or no lapses, a simple order to post a look out was all that was needed. No need expensive operating or warning system, no need to bother if got communication lapses or train driver was sleeping or train on auto drive.  The 15 men could simply moved aside when seeing the train approaching.

Would this be good enough to be called the height of idiocy? System fault leh. Communication fault leh, someone never switch off the power leh.  What more excuses needed for stupidity?

The Panama Papers prove Americans are angels

There was a big leak, and it came from Germany, and the French President praised the leak. It has nothing to do with the Americans. I can swear to it. And without even looking at the names in the leaked papers I can also swear no American, French, British, Australian or Japanese names would be in that list. These are honest people, like angels, they walked around with a halo on their heads. Though the average Americans and Europeans would not believe that this is true, the Asians and the bananas would believe it is true.

You see, the list of names would definitely be people from countries that the American regime regards as enemies. It is just a coincidence that there will be no American names or names of American allied nationals. They are not from the Dark Side. So God is kind and make sure their names would not be there.

The people from the Dark Side must know by now that there is no place safe enough to park their loot, definitely not in Switzerland or any American allied countries, and definitely not in the USA banks.  Now the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands are also not safe. Anywhere in Southeast Asia that will be safe? I think one place will be safe, under their beds.

This leak is worse than the Wikileaks and all the nationals of America’s enemies would be exposed. It is so timely. God is so kind to his angels, the Americans and their allies. It is now confirmed that the Americans and their allies are all honest and trustworthy people, incorruptible, no loot to hide.

This case is quite similar to the MH370 incident. The Americans are totally not involved, not a word from them. Only the Australians are fronting up in the MH370 case. So cannot put a link to the Americans.

In the meantime one piece at a time, a debris would float up somewhere in the ocean, near Diego Garcia. The point is that if the aircraft had crashed, the debris would be all over the place, not one piece at a time popping up from the ocean. If the aircraft did not crash but sunk, you would not have such debris.  The presence of debris, one piece at a time is mysterious and pointed that the aircraft must have crashed and blasted into pieces.  And God is releasing the debris one piece at a time. Of course this is a joke.

Oh, do not point the fingers at the Americans. They are angels. They are definitely not involved in the MH370 or this Panama Papers leak.  Both are inexplicable acts of Gods. Believe me, trust me. Believe in the Americans, trust them. They are the angels.

Attack on Madrasah students

Shanmugam has appealed to the public to be calm and let the police investigate this case and not to speculate. Three Madrasah female students were beaten by a Singaporean man.  The man has been arrested. His brother, Mohammad Johan Koh had apologized for the incident and revealed that he attacker had some mental problem and had been admitted to IMH before.

Let’s hope this is a looney case and not a case of Islamophobia. It would be very serious if Islamophobia has come out in the open. The authority must be highly sensitive to this trend and make sure it does not surface in our fragile multiracial and multi religious society. We cannot allow such incidents to happen and any signs of it popping out must be slammed with a sledgehammer.

Every Singaporean has a duty and responsibility to make sure inter racial relationship is not undermined or agitated by irresponsible individuals.  It would be good that civic minded citizens could step in when such infringements happened in public places. Unfortunately when every other person is a foreigner, things would get more difficult as there are very few Singaporeans to do anything to keep things in order. Everyone would be looking at everyone and foreigners are less likely to interfere. This is the price to pay for having so many foreigners here to dilute our identity and existence.

Where are the Singaporeans to stand up and say this is my country and we are all Singaporeans?

PS. In the media there were hints that this attacker is a bit loony. But loony or not, what he had done is very serious to our racial and religious harmony.  Time to call for maxing out the punishment.

Globalisation is good for Singapore

For once, let me agree with this mantra. How can Singapore survive and compete with the best in the world with a small population of daft? Even our best would be half bakes compared to the best in the world. And there are more than 6b people out there with many that are much more talented than the best Singaporean in any field, yes, in any field, including political leaders.

The head of UBS Asia Pacific wealth management, Edmund Koh, said he is proud to be a Singaporean. And he supported the idea of hiring the best man for the job, regardless of nationality. He is concerned that Singapore is swinging too much towards hiring Singaporeans and missing out on hiring the best from the rest of the world. The fact that the ST gave him so much attention and prominence to hire the best talents regardless of nationality is itself an endorsement of this policy.

This doctrine of hiring the best to make Singapore the best in all fields is a good aspiration. Let’s make it real. Come on, look around and see the number of clowns and half bakes everywhere.  They just don’t stand a chance when the best is to be hired. No need to look very far. And look at the state of the Singapore economy, negative growth or zero growth in the last few decades if not of the flood of immigrant workers.  Singapore sorely needs the best talents to be here. Let’s make it happen.

Let me for once support this policy of hiring the best from the world. Forget about Singapore as a nation, a country.  If Singapore is not a country, there are many advantages arising from it.  We can forget about citizenship and national service. We can give citizenship freely to everyone. Our young men no need to be strangled by NS.  These are age old concepts, irrelevant today, outdated, out of sync. There is no need for a country with globalization. There is no need to have NS and guarding a country when there is no country. Everyone just go out there and be the best he can be, competing with the rest of the world.

Singapore should bravely step up this call for globalization.  Not to worry, it is coming with the Asean Community and the concept of free movement of labour and talent. Borderless, and everyone within Asean can move freely to find jobs in any Asean countries. And you don’t have to guess where all the Asean talents will gravitate to. Singaporeans will shine if they move out into the other Asean countries. 

We shall hire the best from the world and pay them the best salary we can afford. I am sure there are millions of people out there that are better than all the politicians we have in Parliament, all the permanent secretaries in the ministries, all the top bankers in all the banks, all the CEOs we find here today. And these incumbents would most graciously to want to be replaced by the best from the world, for the good of Singapore.

Let’s do it. Let’s replace these duds and half bakes quickly.  We don’t need silly Singaporeans here. I support. Let’s make Singapore the greatest place to be, with the best talents from the world.  The average Singaporeans and the duds and the sillies would find their right place in the hierarchy of jobs.  They will know where they belong.  We need a lot of security guards, taxi drivers and personal assistance to serve the best talents of the world here.

I heard many sillies quietly saying to themselves, not to worry, I am the best, I would not be replaced.

What do you think? Plant your own timber? That mantra only bluff bluff lah. Hire the best is the way forward. Singapore does not owe you a living.  The politicians do not owe Singaporeans a living. Stop the entitlement mentality, exception, it is ok to think you are entitled to millions. What? I heard still got people talking about creating a Singaporean core or looking after out PMETs? Am I mad or those people are mad? Or am I out of sync? When people were talking about foreign talents good I was talking about Singaporean first. Now people want to build a Singaporean core and I am talking about replacing all the silly and daft Singaporeans with the best from the world.

I must be very confused.

Singaporeans becoming security guards

Have Singaporeans turned themselves into security guards? I don’t mean the security guards at the shopping centres or guarding housing estates but guarding the island? Our regular soldiers and NSmen are guarding the country with all its assets and reserves but the big question is for who? Have Singaporeans turned themselves into security guards, the only skill they are left with, and the good jobs are left to foreigners as Singaporeans no longer have the skill sets and talents to work in high positions, even to be political leaders? Have we reached such a hopeless state that Singaporeans are now guards to a rich island but have nothing to do with the wealth, except for some elites, that they can only look from the outside of the fence like guards usually do?

Just read the below comments from a reader in the blog.

‘For example, sinkies are put into pressure cookers from cradle to grave and guys have to sacrifice 2 precious years to serve national slavery ...... oops ...... national service ...... not mentioning life time yearly in camp trainings till 50, yearly IPPT tests and trainings, yearly ad hoc briefings, "suka suka weekends / public holidays mobilisation exercises " when u are celebrating your bd, having lunch/ dinner, looking after your new born etc?’

Is this the life of the average Singaporeans, whose main duty is to jaga the island day and night so that the foreigners can come here and get rich, take over the good jobs and may even take over the island? There are so many good stuff to guard and protect, but do the Singaporeans have a share of the good stuff and the good jobs when foreigners are even invited to be political leaders and CEOs of Singapore’s own institutions? Yes, yes, Singaporeans got no more talents. Without these foreign talents Singapore will go kaput. So no choice lah, better to be guards, still got jobs to do.

If Singapore doesn’t provide these foreigners with good jobs, they cannot provide jobs for Singaporeans.  Then Singaporeans want to be guards also cannot. Be grateful and guard the island well.

Lee Wei Ling – Welcome to social media

‘Lee Wei Ling: I will no longer write for SPH’ This has appeared on 1 April after Wei Ling posted in her Facebook that she would no longer write for SPH. Yahoo News quoted her saying, “I will no longer write for SPH as the editors there do not allow me freedom of speech. In fact, that was the reason why I posted the article on LKY would not want to be hero-worshipped.”

Initially many thought it was another April Fool’s joke. Since April 1 has passed and no clarification has come forward, this must be true. This must be the biggest slap the SPH ever got from someone renowned and from the establishment, and from the family. What does it say about the SPH?

I think Wei Ling has quite a big following when she was writing for the SPH when they gave her the attention due. It would be a pity that her followers and Singaporeans would not be hearing her version of the truth any more. I think many people would like her to keep on writing about the things that no one would write about and from a privilege insider’s view, someone who is in the loop.

Perhaps she could consider penning her thoughts in social media. Someone has suggested that she should write to TRE to express her opinions now that the main media is taboo to her. She is definitely welcome to post in mysingaporenews. I would be glad if she could be a resident contributor in my blog.

My blog is not about anti establishment as some low thinking insects would want to make it to be. It is about controversial policies, thoughts, ideas and views, not about individuals, good or evil. In a way it is about the force and the dark side.

Wei Ling will be most welcome to say her piece here, with no editorial restrictions or curbs. I personally guarantee that, freedom to write as she wishes. She must speak up when necessary, for her conscience and the good of the people. The social media is at her disposal. But of course she has her Facebook to tell all.

James Cook invaded Australia, NOT discovcred

A BBC news reported on 31 Mar 16 that an Australian Premier wanted to change the true history of Australia, that Britain invaded Australia, not discovered Australia. And I quote,

‘A top politician has backed university guidelines saying students should refer to Britain's "invasion" of Australia.
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) rejected claims on Wednesday it was "whitewashing" its curriculum.
Its Indigenous Terminology guide urges students to use the term "invaded" rather than "settled" or "discovered", and to avoid the word "Aborigines".
Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she supported universities teaching "the truth"….

"A lot of Indigenous people lost their lives, there were massacres and the truth always must be told."
When the premier was asked if this meant Australia had been invaded, she answered "yes"…. There were already more than 250 separate language groups of Aboriginal people living on the land.
Then began a process of colonisation and land confiscation which denied Aboriginal rights to land, citizenship and equal status - rights which in many cases were only finally bestowed in recent decades.’

This piece of news would not be of interest to the West or even people in Asia. Our New York Times would not be bothered with such news but would reported profusedly on the island dispute in the South China Sea because it serves a different agenda and the interests of those favoured. The indigenous people of Australia have lost their land. It is history. No point talking about them. The main purpose now is to prevent China from claiming the islands. It is easier to control the South China Sea if the islands are claimed by the Asean countries than by China. It is better to keep the dispute alive and let it fester and agitate the claimants to go after one another, then sell them more weapons in a divide and rule strategy. Keep reporting the dispute and tension and keep stirring hatred and conflict among these countries. Let it become second nature and the Empire will sail in to take control.

The Asean countries have retaken their land, regained their independence. The important thing to them is to go out and claim islands in the South China Sea like Britain claiming Australia and the Europeans claiming the world outside Europe in the seventeen century..

The status of the islands in the South China Sea is in a way similar to Australia, New Zealand, the continent of North America and many other pieces of land all over the world. The only exception is that the islands have no indigenous people, uninhabited. Yes, anyone can claim them. But the rule of this game is still the rule of yesteryears. It is finder’s keepers, and if there is a dispute, the claimant must be able to make the dispute go away, to make it a reality. It is a different ball game for any country going out to claim land or islands. Face the fact, you need the barrel of the gun.

The Asean countries are strong, military powers in their own right and thus are able to make competing claims against China. Go ahead and make your claims a reality, if you can.

Let me return to this BBC news. Who is this Premier? Read her name. Yes, she is an indigenous people. She is a minority that survived the massacre and lives to tell the truth and wants to claim the rights of her indigenous people. She wanted the truth to be told. Who asked her if it was discovery or invasion? Obviously the descendant of the invaders, and his truth was that they discovered Australia. That was why he had to ask if Australia was invaded. What, indigenous people the owners of Australia?

The Doctrine of Christian Discovery, a Papal Bull, gave them the authority in the name of God the Almighty that non believers were sub humans and had no rights to land ownership. And the superior Europeans had all the right to take their land and their lives in the name of God. The Europeans, in Australia’s case it was James Cook and his British sailors, discovered Australia. The indigenous people were like the live stocks in the land, no rights to anything. That was their truth. This is not worth reporting, not worth to know.

So, would Australia rewrite their history books after more than 200 years of British and western truths? There have been some changes in mindset and some left over surviving tribes were given some land, while the rest of the continent is still owned by the European settlers that ‘discovered’ Australia.

Can you live with the truth? Whose truth? White men don’t tell lies. They just tell their own truth. You can’t handle the truth.

PS. BBC reported this, ‘Meanwhile, the University of Queensland says it does not teach that Captain Cook "invaded" nor "settled" Australia’. So, what did they teach?

PS. People who did not know their history would be happily deceived.

Singapore’s nuclear nightmare

Singapore’s dream of switching to nuclear power came to a rude ending with the Fukushima disaster. It is unimaginable if Singapore operates a nuclear plant and a mishap of a similar nature occurred. There is no where to hide and no where to run. It would be Singapore close shop for another 20 years. This stark reality has put the idea of a nuclear plant on hold for good until a fail safe system is available and there is no need to run away.

This, unfortunately is not going to be the end of Singapore’s flirtation with nuclear power. The nightmare would still be there. Indonesia and Malaysia are very keen in nuclear power and are exploring on the feasibility of having their own nuclear power stations. What if the Malaysians decided to have one and decided to have it located next to the Johore Straits, a mere 1 km from Singapore’s shore or less than 15km from the heart of Singapore city? A mishap with a 100km evacuation zone would mean Singapore has to close down as well.

This risk, if it actually comes to passé, is more deadly than having our very own nuclear plant. With our own plants we can be sure we will do everything we can to keep it safe. Now we know it is a near impossibility. What about the Malaysians having a plant next door and trying their best to keep it safe?  The thought of a Malaysian or Indonesian nuclear plant near by is going to drive Singaporeans bonkers.

Would Singaporeans have to live with such a nightmare waiting to happen? Please pray hard that both the neighbours would think like us, that it is near impossible to keep the lid tight on a nuclear plant and hoping nothing will happen. If the Malaysians or Indonesians think they are confident to make sure it would not happen, and go about building one next door, it would not be amusing.

Singapore may have to go begging them not to do so, NIMBY! Or would Singapore say you jump I jump? You build one I also build one?  This Titanic logic would not work. Where can we build but just inside this piece of rock?

Singapore walking on tight rope as MAS probes Najib

It was reported that the MAS had queried 40 financial institutions in Singapore on the flow of funds involving 1MDB. Such an action coming out at the time is politically very sensitive given the intimate and good relations between Najib and Hsien Loong.  The cordial relations between the two PM could be described as the best between the two states and it is very dicey to have this relationship rattled by such an investigation.

The big question is how the relationship between the two PM and the two states be affected as a result of this happening. Would Najib’s feather be so ruffled that the goodwill turns sour and leading to obstacles surfacing again?

As a financial hub and the complex relations with the western financial system and govts, Singapore is in a very tricky situation, like balls caught in a vice, to do or not to do. Where is the pressure coming from for Singapore to take such a high profile investigation? One can understand why Switzerland too could not pretend to be neutral and apolitical in this 1MDB story. Switzerland too must be under tremendous pressure to open up an investigation and undermined its safe haven for rogue funds image. Nothing else is safe in Switzerland henceforth and rogues wanting to park their wealth in that little European financial hub would have to think very hard after this episode.

Singapore has a better image in being a better managed and transparent system in the model of New York and London.  Conducting such an investigation when all the worms are crawling all over the place is inevitable. Tough luck for Najib for offending the Empire.  Now he would have to pay a heavy price when the Emperor issued his edict and no countries would dare to defy the order if they want to remain as the good boys of the Emperor, at least not countries that are receiving blessings from the Emperor.

Najib would now have to fight his own solitary battle or go begging the Emperor for mercy. In what way had Najib offended the Emperor for the latter to go after his blood and his Premiership?

How long would Singapore and Malaysia’s honeymoon last? Would it survive this 1MDB crisis?

One probable solution for Najib to get all the investigation against him off his back is to acquire a few American warships and submarines. Then he can appoint his Defence Minister as the Commander of his Pacific Ocean Fleet and push China out of the South China Sea. This would please the Emperor and all his 1MDB problem will disappear in mid air. He may be rewarded with another round of golf with Obama. But he needs to do this fast as the new President Trump would not be so friendly and it would be too late.

Stock Exchanges – Has Singapore become the laughing stock?

We were the best, used to challenge Hongkong and Tokyo to be the Number One exchange in Asia. Today, the only thing we can crow about is being the best managed stock exchange, a lot of very good rules to protect investors from investing and losing their pants, and a very expensive super computer that can match the speed of super computers of High Frequency Traders.

Other than the above, we are now slipping down the ladder.  In an article today in the Today paper, it has this headline, ‘Thailand topples Spore as SE Asia’s king of IPOs’. If this is not bad enough, we have even fallen behind Malaysia and Jakarta. We only had 13 IPOs listed in the SGX with only one in the main board and the 12 in the Catalist board.  The funds raised in SGX are less than 10% of Thailand, one third of Malaysia’s and half of Indonesia’s.

What is happening? No one wants to list in the best managed stock market in Asia with leading edge super speed computers, computer trading and non stop trading?  Oh, the regional bourses are promoting themselves and encouraging their local companies to list at home. Great reasoning, we should also do that. The only principle that business people swear in is to make money. If the local bourses are shitty, would their companies list in them to get shit?

If SGX is where they can make money, that alone will be the reason for companies to flock here. No need any funny promotion.  What is happening to the SGX? Retail investors fleeing the market, companies refusing to list and there is a new beginning when companies are starting to delist from the exchange. And the broking houses are as quiet as the cemetery and remisiers and dealers are calling it a day with increasing numbers. Nothing to worry about, it is the new norm.

Is there anything wrong with the stock market? Why is the stock market called a moribund market? Why is the best stock market in Asia, or wanting to be the best stock market in Asia, falling into such a deplorable state? No, it is a wrong perception. The market is in the pink of health. Everything is fine. They are encouraging the remisiers to go for more training to be the best remisiers to service the clients, and maybe help the clients to make more money. There are even specialists in the business, not just ordinary remisiers.

Not to worry, everything is fine, just fine. The SGX is the best stock market in Asia. It would be nice if there is a Times Ranking system like how they ranked the universities and SGX would definitely rank at the top.

How to run down a stock market to ground zero? Impossible! We have the money to buy the best talents from the whole world to manage the stock market. We are paying very good money. We will overcome and be the best we can be.  The best is yet to come. The stock market is in good hands.

Changi Resort beckons for the pioneer generation

The new Changi Prison was built on a sprawling piece of land, landed property, with the latest security system and gadgets, costing, if I can recalled, $1b or $2b! It is a really expensive piece of property but could turn out to be a welcome retirement home for the pioneer generation in time to come. No where in Singapore is there a free charity home providing free meals, free medical, a bed to sleep on and 100% security from terrorist attacks or being robbed or walloped by the rich and talented foreigners on the streets of Singapore. This is the safest fortress for the feeble senior citizens to retire.

There is a new trend developing in Japan, where the senior citizens took on petty crimes as a way of life, to get invited to stay in prison for free food, medical and lodging. The high cost of living in Japan is forcing the seniors there to think out of the box to live and to get by.  The state pension of $9,400 per year for the retirees is just not enough to live on. The next viable and workable alternative is to get into prison for free food and lodging, and the answer to that is petty crime like shoplifting.

Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world. How can anyone expect the retirees without an income to get by? The Silver Support Scheme of $750 per quarter would just be too little to survive. And what about the super expensive medical bills in spite of the Medishield Life Scheme?

Would our pioneer generation survivors follow the trend set by the retirees in Japan? Our Changi Resort is the latest state of the art abode and is perfectly suited for the oldies, free food, free medical, good security and a warm bed to lie on. Maybe this is the foresight of the govt, to plan ahead for the pioneer generation oldies if they fall through the net.

The spacious Changi resort is beckoning to them.  Just be a little creative, and with a little effort, the pioneer generation could be invited to spend their golden years in the comfort and safety of this billion dollar complex, well fed, looked after and secure for life, protected from the elements and the beasts in the streets.

The Japanese have started it and setting the trend. We have the Korean wave for the millennial. This Japanese Wave will be very suitable for the seniors. Would it become the next craze in Sin City? A pop culture for the oldies, a revolution by the seniors.

Eugene Tan – How should we honour our pioneers properly

SMU’s law professor Eugene Tan had an article in the Today paper on 29 Mar on the above topic. Here is the gist of what he said and I quote,
‘Let us ensure that the legacy of our pioneers lives on, not only to inspire us but to also provide us with new pathways to critically understand and interpret our nations, our challenges and our evolving destiny. This self knowledge is our collective intelligence that provides valuable guidance as we navigate uncharted waters.  Our nation’s life story is about our greats and pioneers, who steadfastly believed in our right to be a sovereign nation state, and who … build this little red dot to what it is today.  It is to our collective peril if this life giving belief is not nurtured and sustained.’
This is the crux of our story, the reason why our pioneers built this island into a nation state. The big question, build this nation state for who? This life giving belief is about a home, a country for Singaporeans, the descendants of our pioneers, to live a good life.  And if we foolishly dismiss this life giving belief, not nurtured and sustained it, it is to our own peril.
Anyone understand what Eugene Tan said? Our pioneers built this island for us Singaporeans, not for foreigners to come here and inherit everything they built for us. The foreigners here today did not build a single thing, not a single shit. Everything was built by our pioneers.
Are we not betraying our pioneers to give this island away to foreigners and not to Singaporeans, the children of our pioneers? Who says this island shall go to the most talented foreigners and their children?
In the minds of our pioneers, it is all about us, about their children, the future of their children. The foreigners were not in their mind, not in the equation. It was us, Singaporeans first and last.
Any silly twit wants to tell the Singaporeans they should move out and leave and let the foreigners take over their homes and their country, built by the pioneers, their forefathers? Should we bundled the pioneer generation and throw them out in the sea, rewrite our history starting today, Singapore is built by the foreign talents in the 21st Century?
How should we honour our pioneers properly?  Still didn’t get the answer? It is to make sure the children of the pioneers inherit this island and enjoy the fruits of their labour. This island is what our pioneers willed to us, our inheritance, not to be given away freely to foreigners.  The pioneers will be turning in their graves if their children could not inherit the legacy they built and left behind for them.

PS. Many Singaporeans, the daft and the new Singaporeans, are telling the true blue Singaporeans to give away this island if they are stupid and cannot make it here, cannot compete with the foreigners with their fake degrees and talents. Heard of 败家子?

A Separate, unAccountable and unEqual Singapore Elected Presidency

By MIKOspace

In Reality, the Elected Presidency is Subordinate to Cabinet and Parliament.

The Singapore Elected Presidency (EP) has a 6-year term and has veto powers over the spending of national reserves and monetary policies as well as over the appointments of key positions in the Civil Service, government companies and statutory boards.

A 6-member Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) advises the President in the exercise of his custodial and discretionary powers. The President is obliged to consult the Council in the exercise of his discretionary veto powers in matters such as the Government’s budgets and key appointments.  If the Council agree with the President’s veto, then the veto is final and Parliament must comply. If the Council disagree, the President can still use his veto, but Parliament can override the veto with a two-thirds majority.  In other matters, such consultation is optional.

In many ways, the current Constitutional framework does not give due cognizance to the fact that the President is popularly elected and enjoys such moral weight and electoral authority that is implied from popular election.

This Post highlights the practical reality of the Elected Presidency as a separate, unaccountable and unequal “branch” of the political governance structure of Singapore.

The Constitution expressly and deliberately subordinates the Presidency to Parliament even though its s23(1) has first pronounced that “the executive authority of Singapore shall be vested in the President”.  The Constitution then proceeds to dilute the same “executive authority” by distributing its exercise jointly among the President, the Cabinet or any Minister authorised by the Cabinet. 

The Constitution [s24(2)] further explicitly vests the executive power to run the Government in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, who “shall have the general direction and control of the Government and shall be collectively responsible to Parliament”.   

Elsewhere, the Constitution also empowers Parliament ie the Cabinet and Members of Parliament (MPs), but not the President, to “enact laws conferring executive functions on other persons”, and the President is mandated to give his assent as long as such laws did not interfere with his discretionary powers [s22H(4)]. 

The Elected President does not have any law-making powers. In other words, the Constitution did not provide the EP with any tool or “tooth” for the execution of his Constitutional “executive authority”, the bulk of which were “separated” and delegated or assigned by the Constitution to the Prime Minister (and his Cabinet).  And in their exercise of such executive powers supposedly vested in the Presidency by the Constitution [s23(1)], the Prime Minister and his Cabinet is accountable to Parliament, not the Presidency.

In further clear and unambiguous language, the Constitution in s21(1) pronounces that the President shall, "in the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or any other written law, act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet".  The President cannot behave or act unilaterally without Cabinet’s approval.

This “distribution” of executive powers by the Constitution among the Elected President, Parliament and the Prime Minister (and his Cabinet) impacts the efficacy of the Presidency by confusing their separation of powers and frustrates the EP’s critical role as the national reserve watchdog vis-a-vis government’s financial prudence and possible indiscretion.  In fact, many of the EP’s powers, and its decisions even on critical discretionary matters are not absolute and can be “overruled” by a two-third majority vote in Parliament acting in accordance with Constitutional provisions.  

The popular election of the President was meant to imbue the Office with moral weight and democratic electoral authority for the exercise of its functions, especially on matters relating to past reserves and the appointment/removal of key office holders.  This is however misconceived and an exaggerated expectation of democratic elections.

The Elected President may be popularly elected, but it is not a “democratic” institution by any measure since nothing in the Constitution requires the EP to be responsible and accountable to the electorate.  There is also no key performance indicator (KPI) to assess the EP performance during his tenure. This further confirms the lack of executive function and authority in the EP.

Unlike MPs, as well as the Prime Minister (and his Cabinet) who must regularly renew their electoral mandate, the Elected President faces no such prospects even though there is nothing in the Constitution preventing the EP from being elected again, as indeed President SR Nathan.

To what extent therefore is the Elected President “accountable” to his electorate?

Answer: The Elected President is NOT accountable to the electorate.

To the extent “approved” by the Prime Minister (and his Cabinet), the EP can publish in the Official Gazette his opinion and the case for his support or veto of the Government’s request to use the national reserves.  No provision exists in the Constitution for the EP to engage in public communication or debates in order to allow questioning and probing by the electorate regarding his opinion to agree or his grounds for veto, whichever the case may be.  It is clearly not the intention of the Constitution for the Elected President to be an alternate political power centre to that of the duly-elected Government.   

The Singapore Elected Presidency, with its Constitutionally-vested “executive powers” tremendously diluted by the very same Constitution, is a separate and unequal branch of the political governance structure.  Constitutionally, it is also not accountable to its own electoral constituency.  

Having “consulted” his CPA, should the Presidential use of veto power be absolute? There is no constitutional provision for the President to obtain a second opinion outside the CPA.  The Constitution creates an anomalous and ironic incongruity by requiring an Elected President to accept the opinion of his unelected members of his CPA; but where they disagreed to his veto, the Elected President could very well face a two-third Parliamentary veto overturn.   

Should a veto by the Elected President in his discretionary decisions be challenged and over-ruled by Parliament?

Or only by a National Referendum? 

A simpler mechanism is to bypass the need for Presidential approval for the spending from national reserves if, and only if, two-thirds of Parliament has already approved the expenditure.   

Separate, unaccountable and unequal, whither the future of Singapore Elected Presidency?

A “big picture” perspective is necessary to remove the anomalies in the Elected Presidency innovation.  The EP remains very much a work-in-progress in Singapore’s political governance landscape.  A custodial Presidential oversight responsibility over sovereign reserves and appointment of senior public officials does not necessarily confer any viable executive authority onto the Elected President.

The current review of the Elected Presidency should examine all the constitutional provisions relating to the EP, Cabinet and Parliament. To avoid ambiguities with regard to who has final and ultimate executive authority would require expressed and explicit statements to the effect. In a democracy, it is the Cabinet, supported by Parliament, who has true electoral mandate and therefore the ultimate executive authority to be responsible and accountable to the electorate. 

Computer trading - When Indians fear...do not tread

Below is a Bloomberg article on the danger of HFT and computer trading and how this new animal is frightening the Indians and their calls for actions to curb the beast. The only shortcoming is that there is this denial to call a crime a crime. But anyone in the business could figure out from the comments of the article how criminal are HFT and computer trading, how they cheated the innocent investors and how they are ruining the stock market from their gambling tactics instead of trading on stock fundamentals. As a result the stock market is in ruins and tatters. It is unbelieveable and criminal for stock market operators to continue with this destructive crime against the investors and the imminent destruction of the stock market industry. Here is the gist of the article with some of the irrelevant being deleted to shorten the piece.

Hottest Emerging Market for Algo Trades Wants to Cool Down (1)
2016-03-28

By Santanu Chakraborty
     (Bloomberg) -- India’s flash boys are discovering that even the biggest emerging market for computerized trades has its limits.

In just five years, high-speed and algorithmic traders have gone from bit players to a dominant force on Indian exchanges, enabled by a technological arms race between the nation’s top exchanges that cut transaction times to tiny fractions of a second. Now, as some of the country’s largest brokerages call for tighter regulation, those same bourses are starting to explore whether speed traders should be reined in.
    
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. is considering higher fees for traders who flood the market with unfilled orders, while its cross-town rival, the BSE Ltd., has called for “corrective action” to address the harmful side effects of high-speed strategies. Critics of India’s supercharged market structure say it’s raising costs for long-term investors, introducing little-understood risks and distracting exchanges from what should be a priority: getting more of India’s 1.25 billion people to put their savings to work in the country’s capital markets.
    
 “It seems that man is losing out against the machine,” said Jitendra Panda, a governing board member of the Brokers Forum, an association of 800 broker-dealers in India...

Both bourses have introduced co-location services -- allowing traders to put their computers in exchange data centers so they can execute faster -- and offered monetary incentives for derivatives transactions. India’s fragmented markets, where many of the same securities trade on multiple venues, also makes it attractive to high-frequency traders looking to arbitrage price differences. In October, the BSE reduced its average processing time for trades to 6 microseconds from 300 milliseconds, the fastest worldwide, according to Ashishkumar Chauhan, BSE’s chief executive officer.
    
While Chauhan says India has been among the world leaders in setting regulatory standards for high-speed trading, he sees scope for creating a more level playing field.
     
“We are doing a lot of HFT compared to the size of market and we need a clear understanding of the risk,” Chauhan said in an interview. “We need to take corrective action so that the good part of HFT is maintained and the harm that can come can be reduced to the maximum extent possible.”....

Exchange officials are quick to point out that their goal is to accommodate all types of investors and that computerized trading has brought important benefits to Indian markets, including smaller spreads and higher trading volumes.
    
But detractors claim that those measures don’t tell the whole story. They say some high-frequency traders are profiting unfairly at the expense of long-term investors by spotting their orders, then pushing up prices before the slower trader has time to react.
    
“Investors are being forced to pay more to buy or sell stocks due to HFT and algo systems,” said Panda....
    
    
The NSE is “continuously addressing concerns about different HFT models and their potential to distort markets,” Narasimhan said.
    
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, which issued broad guidelines on computerized trading in 2012 and 2013, said in December it’s considering new restrictions, but has so far taken no action....

For Deven Choksey, managing director of Mumbai-based K.R. Choksey Shares & Securities Ltd., India’s stock market would be better served if exchanges focused on attracting more of the nation’s growing pile of household savings instead of luring ever-faster traders and the higher fee income they bring. The base of individual investors has shrunk from about 30 million in 1991 to less than 25 million today, BSE’s Chauhan said.
    
“Exchanges won’t be able to help channelize household savings into the capital markets if their focus is only profit maximization,” Choksey said. “We will invite trouble if there’s no structural solution.”

Green house politicians can learn from Malaysian politics

There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. The friends and foes in Malaysian politics are regrouping under Mahathir, the man that had charged them and put them in jail, for a common mission, to unseat Najib. Anwar and Lim Kit Siang, the arch enemies of Mahathir are now smoking peace pipes and drinking together and planning what to do to bring down Najib. They are all politician extraordinaire, knowing what is the common goal and to put down differences or personal grudges when there is a common enemy to strike.


In the Singapore context, the opposition camp did not have such bad blood to talk about.   Oops, I stand corrected on this. There were differences and often differences created by third parties to divide them up.  The differences among the opposition parties and leaders are nothing more than I don’t like your look and you don’t like mine. As far as political agenda and differences are concern they are very minor.


Why then is it so difficult for the opposition parties here to put their differences aside and sit down together, like the Malaysian politicians, to chart a common course, a common objective to take on the PAP?  They are not arch enemies, are they? What is the stumbling block that makes the divide so difficult to bridge? Could they see further down the road, to join forces, to work together and bring down a common enemy first, other things can wait?


There have been many calls, friendly gestures, olive branch being extended, to bring the opposition parties together but in vain. They don’t even want to talk to each other or be seen together.


This brand of politics can only happen in this island. The opposition parties know they have very little chance of unseating the ruling party, maybe if luck is good, get a few seats into Parliament, and if not, get completely wiped out from Parliament.  And they are contented with that.  On the other hand, coming together, to present a united front, combining their talents and resources, they would look more real, credible and serious as an alternative to the ruling party and to stand a better chance of being elected, and a better possibility of forming a coalition govt.  Why not?  The answer is our sanitized greenhouse political climate. Better be safe and be on the right side than be sorry.

It is such a bewilderment to see them struggling as splintered groups hoping to win a seat or two in a GE when they could gain a bigger pie.

Be real politicians, not greenhouse politicians, need to be politically correct, cannot be seen with politicians that are deemed no good by the ruling party and thus tarnishes their reputations in the eyes of the ruling govt. Is this the reason, that opposition parties are watching their steps carefully, to be seen as reasonable and good guys by the ruling parties, so stay away from other opposition parties that have been branded as bad boys?

May I suggest they look at the Malaysian politics carefully, study them and pick up some of the good points to help them make a bigger impact in the next GE. There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics. A coalition of convenient is just as good as anything if it can bring results. If PAS can sit together with DAP, If Mahathir can sit together with Kit Siang and Anwar, what else cannot be done?

It is politics, stupid. You don't need the blessing of the ruling party to be acceptable and to win an election.