which one is me?

it must be the hangover effect of too much ribena that my postings took on a different hue. now which is the real i, the views that i represent? they said that the true person will surface with a little bit of alcohol. so yesterday's view must be my true self. so to get back to my other self i must start to put on a mask again and take on a different personality. true true false false. both are equally true, and both are equally false. doesn't matter, this is just a blog. i will like to get back to the issue of tipping and the cab driver. we have many retired professionals or ex senior executives who chose to drive cabs after they failed to find another decent job. these cab drivers are not your ordinary doormen or bellhops. some are very well qualified and have a much higher station in life. now what has this got to do with tipping? tipping, like i said, is a class thing, a snob thing. it is a decadent and derogatory practice of the royalties and the gentry class. they sneered at the working class but use tippings to differentiate themselves as the haves against the have nots. tipping for good service, tipping also to show who is the boss. nobody tips someone in a higher station in life than themselves. you tip the doormen, the bellhops, the waiters, the barbers, and the cab drivers. you don' tip the doctors, the lawyers, the mps, or someone who is more important than you. but there are exceptions. the kings, the sultans and the sheiks will tip their doctors or whoever. but all are of a lower station than them. now, will our cab driver take tips from our maid population or foreign workers? a maid tipping our cab driver? that will be interesting and also disgusting. i will encourage our cab drivers to stand up and put some pride and respect in themselves. they provide good service as a professional cab driver. they are proud of their professionalism and their occupation. they don't put on a smile or try to do a good job hoping for a tip. this must be the message that we must put across to all our workers. be proud of what you are doing and do it well. do not degrade yourself to live a life depending on tips, depending on people's generosities and people's mood and sympathies.

why are we saving?

That is, a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati, the famous Indian-born economist in the US, told Manmohan Singh that Indians wastefully save. Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics! This will put India on a growth curve. "Saving is sin, and spending is virtue." Before you follow this neo economics, get some fools to save so that you can borrow from them and spend. someone sent the above to me. in the article usa is seen as economically strong but with annual trade deficits in hundreds of billions. japan is seen as economically weak but with savings and trade surplus in trillions. is this the same problem we are doing to our economy? save, save and save. cpf, national reserves, charities, individual savings, corporate savings and stats board savings.

bull run or mule trot?

there is this running advertisement on tv asking when will the bull run ends. i am wondering where or when did the bull run ever started. all i see is a mule trotting round and round the mill, and the owner flogging furiously. but the mule is trotting to no where. superficially there seems to be a bull run based on the volume traded, and an uptrending stock index. but how real is this? did anyone hear of any punters making big money and buying cars and houses, all thanks to the bull run? why is there no euphoria, no one talking about the stock market or queuing to open trading accounts? actually there are many signs that this is a sick stock market, a market that is dying by the days. first indication is the lack of retail investors. ask any remisiers and they will tell you that their phones hardly ring. commission plummets. and many are thinking of quitting. and now ipos are no longer popular. many have been shelved. the latest, an australian reit could not list due to poor demand and bad market sentiment. how can that be when there is a bull run? how did we come to such a state when ipo listing is no longer viable or attractive? what can happen if things continue this way? more remisiers quitting the industry, leading to broking houses retrenching. more companies start to delist from the stock market for low valuation and trading volume. stock exchange has to raise charges to maintain profitability. broking houses starts more retrenchment of support staff. and the cycle will continue to its natural ending. this is the unique story of a fictitious bull run.

i think i gonna support tippings

what the heck, i got up from the wrong side of the bed and realise that it is good to support the correct policies and decisions. i am going to support tippings for taxis. for those who cannot afford to tip, please take mrts. and i shall encourage taxi drivers to be choosy and not to pick up cheapskate singaporeans. go for the tourists or well dressed people, the classy classy type who can afford to tip. and queue at the airport and remind the passengers that they must tip for good service. and those who live around tampines or pasir ris, not worth picking. too low fare. everyone, including taxi drivers, must make efficient use of their time and machine. go for fares that can pay well. important thing is to maximise your income. and higher school fees for independent schools, very good. you want quality education, you pay for quality. for those who cannot pay but good students, apply for all the scholarships and bursaries. they are in abundance. for those who cannot pay and cannot qualify for scholarships and bursaries, you know what to do. now i feel good. i feel like a winner.

ntu raising hostel fees

the justification: others are charging higher. very brilliant reason. have they asked why others are charging higher? what about location of ntu compares to nus? what about operating cost versus profit? what is the basis for providing hostels? to make profits? oh, they said it has nothing to do with corporatisation. and of course there are many financial assistance schemes to make sure that no one is deprived of a place in the hostel. i thought i just heard this phrase being repeated in the media and over tvs over and over again. if the basis of raising fees is to charge foreign students a higher rate then it is understandable. but hey, foreign students are mostly on scholarship and not affected by the higher rate.