Temasek's purchase of telco is business

At least this is what Sonthi is saying. And his earlier grunt about protecting national assets, confiscating Temasek's assets, was to appease the ignorant Thai masses. "I don't think they did anything wrong. We don't have any bad feelings about that. We still have a good relationship with Singapore." He said. This turnabout, from a hostile nationalistic bull charge to a sensible and friendly approach, would have toned down the temperature a bit. But how would it affect Thailand's reputation as a safe place for investors? Could they turn around again and start their chest thumping and war cry? The policies and actions of national leaders will greatly affect the confidence investors have of the country. Like Malaysia, after all the restrospective and retroactive policies and decisions, every investor will be wary about investing there. The precedence has been set, that they can do anything, to change to laws, to the detriments of investors. Thailand is heading towards this direction. The new posture is a retreat from plunging Thailand into a bottomless pit of no return. It will destroy Thailand's credibility and as a preferred country for investment if the Thai leaders did not adopt a rational approach to commercial issues. Let's hope the turnaround is just the beginning to unwind the damage that it has done.

The pathetic fight against 50c

Jeffrey Law Lee Beng stopped patronising the mee rebus stall because it charged him 50c more for a plate. This to him is profiteering from the GST rise. Didn't he know that all the cost to the mee rebus stall holder has gone up? To expect the stall to charge a 2% increase or 4c more is not only impractical but not enough to cover all the other costs. The stall holder is not only affected by the cost of his material but also cost of his livelihood. His rental, medical, children education, transportation, practically everything has gone up. He needs to earn a little more to make his living manageable. Now what is 50c? I am sure it is affordable. This is another way of looking at the current situation from one whose pocket is stuff with money.

Infidelity or telling the brutal truth?

GST up, all prices up, everyone, or it seems like everyone is unhappy. Really? What is another $2 or $20 or $200? Rubbish, too insignificant to be bothered by such trifles. The truth, yes, the truth is that many Singaporeans are so rich beyond the imaginations of the hardlanders. Life is a bit hard in the hardlands. But out of the hardlands, life is simply beautiful. Everyday is a day of opportunities to make more bucks. And not in the thousands but hundreds of thousands or millions. There are many Singaporeans who can splurge ten or twenty thousand for a night of entertainment. Or writing a cheque for a few millions without winking. That is the real truth. The pleasant truth of the good life. What is your station in life? Sometimes gripping about all the little increases is quite insane when you are in another station when a few millions is nothing, small change : )

The David Rasif case - a parallel

Lawyers for the victims of Rasif, Senior Counsel Harry Elias, 'accused the store of giving Rasif "dishonest assistance" and receiving money "rightfully belonging(to the Zages) under suspicious circumstances. Alarm bells should have sounded when they received the cheques from David Rasif and Partners - Client's Account. The store should verify the legitimacy of the cheques. Should alarm bells be sounded when Richard Yong sold his properties? Should those involved in the transactions raise the alarm?

From watchdog to watchtower

Or from watchdog to guard dog, to pet poodle? At a media conference held yesterday, a Bangladeshi journalist called for the media to take a different role, that of a watchdog to a watchtower. What a joke. He should be more realistic and pragmatic and take the advice of Patrick Daniel of SPH. Patrick said he made 'no apologies for being pro Singapore.' He said, 'We have grown and prospered along with the city state. We have willingly played a nation building role.' He added, 'We have a good sense of what's out of bound...but the fairways are wide enough for us to produce credible, quality newspapers. Freedom with responsibility does not mean we settle for third grade products.' So our media quality is at least better than third grade. It is either second grade or first grade. Must be first grade. And the Bangladeshi journalist has a lot to learn. For the facts cannot be denied. We are richer and more prosperous than Bangladesh. We are first world. An Indian delegate then questioned if Singapore's success should be attributed to its 'media restrictive regime.' Patrick Daniel did not answer directly but said, 'There are laws and I abide by the laws and I produce the newspaper.' I must congratulate Patrick Daniel for his insightful reply to the Indian delegate. And the call to be a watchtower dropped dead after that, I think.