Asean, the fools have it

Asean was conceived to bring small countries together as a group to compete against the world and keep the big powers at bay, politically and economically. But one thing that they must settle first is their internal bickering. If Asean countries cannot live and cooperate with each other, what chance to they have when competing with the giants and bigger countries? But there are so many fools within Asean that constantly try to cripple the organisation. And one of the sore point is the little Red Dot. In their own bizarre and simplistic underdeveloped mindset, I am using strong language here, they have painted this harmless little dot into a monster to fear. Really, what can the little Red Dot do to any of the countries in Asean? Conquer and colonise them? How foolish. And for their foolish thoughts, they make it so difficult for Singapore to invest in their countries. Do they really believe that it is better to have the big powers to invest in them? With the little dot, they know that we cannot bully them in any way. We have to play by their rules. On the other hand the big powers will have nothing of their nonsenses. If the big powers are not happy, they will take out the cane and whip them, real hard. They better remember very clearly that the big powers were the ones who had colonised them and still have the capability to do so. Not the little Red Dot. When will the fools get wiser? Or are they so happy and contented to live in the backwaters of the world economic activities and believing in their rural fantasy that Singapore is giant demon?

The Risk of Stockbroking agents

Stockbroking agents, housing agents, insurance agents, taxi drivers all have one thing in common. They provide jobs to the people. Killing these professions will only bring more problems to society and anger against those whose minds are set to destroy these jobs. Some think that these are cushy jobs that pay very well, and do not need much talent or effort. How wrong they are, and how ignorant. Every job comes with their own problems and risks. In the stockbroking industry, the people that are likely to go bust are the top remisiers. In good times they made very good money that people will get green eyes. But all it takes is for the market to turn against them. Many top remisiers went broke when their clients incurred huge losses and disappeared or declared themselves bankrupt, leaving the remisiers to pay for their debt. This is one of the biggest risks that remisiers faced, bad debt or bad clients. The next big risk is human error. Because every push of the button can be a deal of millions of dollars, a lapse of attention is all it takes to be down hundreds of thousands or millions. And making such mistakes is so easy. Our minds often play punks with us. Several remisiers worked up in the money and the first thing they hit was the button and instantly they are in the red, losing thousands of dollars. No joke. How to live with a $300k or $500k loss just by pushing a button? The next risk is infringement on rules and regulations and the fines are very heavy for the smallest transgression. With the miserable commission it is just not worth the risk. Then there are the bad clients who put the blames on remisiers when it was their own fault. And this put a lot of pressure on the remisiers, damaging their credibility and even risking being suspended from business. The risk that the remisiers are taking is not commensurated with the miserable commission they are getting. It is not a simple push button job. They are many rules and regulations to remember and all the stocks to look out for. One day they can be laughing to the bank. The next morning they may be crying for help. Do not be envious of the remisiers.

Educating Tribal Chiefs about honour and trust

LKY is on an education mission to Indonesia to educate the tribal chiefs about honour and obligations. This all started with the signing of the Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement, DCAET. The Indonesian politicians were told of the consequences of backing out of an international agreement signed voluntarily between two govts after thorough negotiations. This kind of attitude and precedents have dire consequences. LKY should remind them of the two glaring examples, Malaysia and Indonesia. Once the trust is lost, it will take a long time to rebuild and regain it. Malaysia was the first culprit of changing their laws and applied them retroactively to the detriment of foreigners. They thought they were smart. Now they are living with the consequences of all their backtracking and volte face in their commitments to international practices and the rule of law. The IDR is going to be hanged until assurance be given that these kampong mentality and practices will not be repeated and foreign investments are protected by law. Otherwise who is going to pump in millions of dollars of investment into the country? Thailand is a newcomer to this game of highhandedness and unravelling of legal practices and obligations. They tried to forcibly recover the assets of Shinsat after being sold to Singapore. All at once the international community stood up and held back all their investment plans. It shocked the military junta and they are backtracking to correct their error. But the investment funds are not coming in so fast until they really affirmed that this is not going to be the way Thailand conduct its business. Do the tribal chiefs in Indonesia think they can get away with their tribal ways and still think Singapore and the foreign communities will pump money into Indonesia? Do they really think that Singapore can be blackmailed or has its arms twisted by them? They can kiss their Batam, Bintang and Karimum Economic Zones goodbye if they don't play by international law and practices. Like it or not, they will have to learn to live by the norms of a modern world.

Myth 155 Things Singaporeans believe in

Things Singaporeans believe in Singaporeans are believed to believe in these things. 1. The people fully support the high salaries of ministers and the reasons for it. 2. HDB flats, medical fees, and education are heavily subsidised. 3. The GST increase is to help the poorer Singaporeans and good for them. 4. Increasing the population to 6 million is good for the country. 5. Singaporeans lack talent and need foreign talents to help them to grow. 6. Inflation is very low. 7. All price and fee increases are affordable. 8. They will never save enough for their retirement. 9. The money in the CPF is their money. 10. They are better off than yesterday. 11. More good years to come. 12. No one is left behind. 13. We are moving forward together. 14. Singaporeans are honest and incorruptible when they are paid very well. 15. We have the best political system in the world. 16. They believe everything they read in the msm. 17. What else do Singaporeans believe in?

Political Parties Manifesto 8

Would there be a party who would state it clearly in their manifesto that they will not make indecent profit from the people for providing essential services and basic necessities? Would they declare that the costing for subsidies like medical fees, education and housing be on an open formula where profits are based on replacement costs plus? Would any political party dare to be sincerely transparent in their transparency on costing subsidies?