Singapore buckling under Thai pressure

Singapore buckling under Thai pressure After the comment by Kishore that Thaksin had done an unkind act to us, I saw this headline in Today's paper, 'Was Thaksin a good friend after all?' The article by PN Balji speaks for itself. In the face of Thai pressure we are questioning our actions towards a good friend albeit one who has been ousted by a military coup. Thaksin had been a good friend before, a very good friend of Singapore when he was Prime Minister. Bilateral relations was at its best. Now that he is out, that the Thai military junta wanted him to disappear, should we tow the line and tell Thaksin to quietly disappear too. Shall we tell Thaksin that he is no longer useful to us and we do not need such a friend? I think if we do such a thing, we will lose big in the international community. We will become a fair weather friend. We need not accord Thaksin the honour and protocol of a Prime Minister, but we can accord him some decency as a former national leader, as another national stateman. This is the least that we should do. Unless Thaksin has been found guilty of a crime, becomes a criminal, that will be another matter. Other national leaders should see comfort in how we treat a fallen national leaders. For it may be their turn the next time. The politics of ASEAN and in fact the world is such that one can be in power one day and in disgrace the next. The military coup leaders may think that it will not happen to them. It will. Singapore must treat every dignitary with some respect and decency. It is bad if we spit out the cherry when some one tells us to do so.

opposition parties should hire a consultant

Just musing on a Sunday morning. The 666 event is passed 6 months. Now is the time to prepare for the next general election. And Choktong is giving some tips on how a general election shall be fought, how and what to plan, and what to pledge and promise during the election campaigning, and what to do after winning the election. The opposition parties shall learn from the wisdom of Choktong. Maybe even engage him as a consultant to map our their next election strategies. Then the next election could be interesting to watch.

myth 65 revisited

Myth 65 'The income gap will only get wider' I wrote about this myth some times earlier. It was then like the gospel truth. The income gap would continue to grow wider and nothing could be done about it. Everyone that was important said so. And better still, it was caused by globalisation, so not anyone or any govt's fault. So if I continue to earn my millions, I should continue to ask for more. It is just the natural thing due to, yes, globalisation. My multi million dollar salary is the fault of the international environment. So don't blame me if I feast myself or help myself. Who would ever believe that the income gap will be narrowed when the high income earners will stop getting more? It just cannot be if you have the right to pay yourself crazy. Who is to stop you from doing so. It is my own company. Better still if it is a public company. The small shareholders just have not enough clout to stop me from paying myself and my directors. And my directors and independent directors are all my friends. And if we sign praises for each other, soon everyone will believe we have done a great job and believe that we deserved to be paid even more. Would this myth go away? LKY said so. Yes, this unstoppable widening income gap will narrow. This is the headline in the Sunday Times today, 'S'pore income gap will narrow: MM. Now we will have to see which is which. Which way will the globalisation wind blows? How to stop the forces of globalisation? Or how to stop myself from paying myself?

Good old vintage wine

Choktong is turning out to be a wise teacher for the opposition and the population at large, telling them what politics and electioneering really are. During the election campaign it is alright to promise whatever the people want or whatever the contending party thinks the people want. No need to worry about how to get the money to do it. It will only be an issue after the election. And by then, when elected, the whole govt machinery is there to find the money to fulfil the promise. Opposition parties need not worry about being thrown questions of how are they going to finance their election pledges and promises to the people. GST is a great instrument for the future. Higher fees, charges, fares etc are all the cards that they can play. So in the next election, just ask the people what they want and promise to deliver when elected. More upgradings, more hospitals, more parks, more free porridges, more shark's fin soups, more mee siam, more handouts, more education or whatever accounts, even more discounts on HDB conservancy charges. 3 months discounts follow by paying for the rest of your life. Opposition parties could even up the offer by giving 6 months discounts. The opposition parties and the people have a lot to learn.

oil price down, prices still up

When petrol prices were shooting to US$80, companies quickly jumped at the high fuel cost and jacked up prices and fees. Now petrol prices are returning to ground level but no one seem to want to do anything. Or they are hoping to hold on with the high prices for as long as they can, and reaping all the additional profits? Commercial business logic!