no sands no money

The Singaporean construction contractors should take the Indonesian ban on sand in its stride. Look for alternative sources. Pay a little more. This is a purely economic transaction just like coal, minerals, oil etc. If the Indonesian refused to sell, so be it. With money, there will be other takers. The losers will be the Indonesians. If a country cannot or will not trade its produces, then it should remain penniless. And all the eager beavers should stop pouring money into Indonesia and see how they make ends meet. It will be criminal if our contractors are trying to exchange money for sand but the Indons refused the exchange and other Singaporeans rushing in to give them the money. The message must be clear. No sands, no money.

charities should pay good money

Chua Mui Hoong wrote, 'Do away with cheap and good.' In her article she questioned the perception of people that honchos of charities should not be paid well. Her argument is that these honchos must be rewarded at market rate like any organisations. That charities should pay good money for good people. This argument immediately falls flat with NKF and Youth Challenge as outstanding examples of paying good money for frauds. The other point is the assumption that charities should be run like commercial businesses. This is exactly what is wrong with charities. Charities are charities and should be run like charities. Charities should be run by charitable people with a heart and not one with money in his head. People who wants to make their millions shall not run charities. These are money from the hearts, public money given to help needy people. Not for people to get rich. Go and get rich in the private sector. Make all the money if you can and no one will raise an eyebrow. But making money and getting filthy rich on public money is unacceptable. This is one of the fallacies that Singaporeans are made to believe. That every man is driven by money. And it is good to employ men by using money as the key motivator and nothing else.

Looking to run a Charity

The last time I wrote about my intention to start a Charity Organisation. Looks like I am late and need to speed up my search for a good charity to take over or start a new one. There are so many peanuts to be picked, big ones and small ones. And there is no need to worry. Yap Su Yin wrote in the Straits Times, 'Who will pay the extra cost for good governance?' Yes it is too costly to have good governance. Better not to incur such cost. And it is very comforting to hear Assoc Prof Mak Yuen Teen saying, 'Therefore, it may be difficult to take action against (past and present) boards for negligence or breaching their duties, unless there is an element of dishonesty or fraud involved. I don't think there is much you can do against the (previous) boards.' Prof Mak was referring to the new Youth Challenge saga. Since it is so difficult to find anyone guilty, and corporate governance is going to be too costly to be considered, then more volunteers should be encouraged to run more charities. Just act honestly and no one can find fault with them even if they pay themselves crazy or their friends crazy. Just make sure that everything is approved by the board or some one else.

Singaporeans are not crazy about Crazy Horse

Looks like that is the picture for the moment. Is it because we have too many priests among us or is it that Singaporeans are doers rather that spectators? The boat loads of Singaporeans visiting Bintang and Batam seem to prove that it is the latter. Perhaps it is the economy. And Singaporeans are just not able to afford the price tag. What Crazy Horse should do is to apply for subsidies just like the Durians. There are just not enough rich and crazy people to pay so much for class acts and crazy horses. In order to sustain such an appetite, financial subsidies are needed. Crazy Horse should reclassify itself as a exotic arts performance and get some grants for it. Or is it the rules and regulations that prevent the Crazy Horse from becoming a financial success? Restriction in advertisement? Maybe that is true. After the first couple of months of publicity on opening, many people would have forgotten about its existence. Would the two IRs fall into the same fate eventually, stillbirth because of too many restrictions and controls that they become not viable?

street battle with loansharks

Street battle with loan sharks This is like pitting textbooks and supertalents against street smarts Ah Bengs. And with 10,221 reported cases of harassment and 29 arrests, looks like Ah Bengs are outsmarting the academics. Maybe the number 29 has gone up after yesterday's islandwide sweep. How long will this battle go on? Will loansharks be sent to sea, or will they continue to find a safe haven to operate in this little island?