now australia is burning

uk burnt, europe burnt, now it is australia's turn. what next? i hope my friend matilah is well in perth. many singaporeans who migrated to perth look quite middle eastern. this division is going to tear the world apart. and christmas is just another excuse for more burning.

just an observation

how did the jews assailed themselves to such a position of power vis a vis the arabs? historically, apart from a few lapses in history, the jews were mostly slaves, servants or workers to the arabs. the arabs were the kings, the nobilities, the tradesmen and the intellectuals. they have their empires, their academies of excellence and everything befitting a great civilisation. what happen? 5 millions jews in israel and another 15 millions scattered around the world are causing the few hundred millions of arabs to wet their pants. a mighty civilisation has degenerated into a people that is helpless against a small group of their former slaves. where are all the great arabs of intellects, the great merchants and warriors? today, minus the oil, the arabs will be a beggar people, out of wits and the will to excel and compete with the world. and perceived as an inferior race to their mightly brothers, the jews. very strange in the change of fortune of two people of the ancient middle east civilisations.

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.