Time to fine the SGX

xyIt is so easy to throw fines at small investors and remisiers for mistakes that they make. What about mistakes made by SGX? Should SGX be find for mistakes or non compliance to procedures or for sloppiness? It is time that MAS start to monitor and imposed fines on SGX for not doing what it is supposed to do. Only then will it be fair.

Opportunity to export our supertalents

The financial turmoil in the US provides a golden opportunity to export our talents to Wall Street. The fat cats there have discredited themselves so much that soon they will be behind bars if FBI were to do their due diligence. There will be a vacuum for supertalents in finance and cooking the books. We could export some of our top talents there, at a reasonable prize of course. But cannot be too cheap or it will be disgraceful to their talents and pride. Just ask for half the price of the current batch of fat cats will be quite reasonable. This is a new opening that will never come again in their lifetime or here. Paradise just cannot afford to pay them that kind of money and many are stuck as no other organisations could afford them anymore. We can start by fixing them up in Merrill Lynch before we sell out to Bank of America. Then there are Citibank, UBS and Barclay where we have substantial shareholdings. Time to tell them who is boss or the majority owner.

Want a Ferrari?

Few weeks back, the real race in the North South Highway saw a Ferrarri hitting dirt and Mercedes came out on top. Last night, the F1 night race again saw Ferrari hitting the wall with Massa dropping to the tail end and Raikkonen crashing out. Ferrari will still be a prized possession in paradise here. We are the best place for the affluent to flaunt their wealth, drive their Ferraris around in comfort and without fear. Paradise is good for Ferrari owners. Malaysia is also good for people who want to own Ferraris. And there are so many Ferraris for them to pick and choose along the North South Highway. Just place the orders and someone will pick it up for you at a small fee. Ferraris are not cheap cars to run and upkeep. Only the rich can afford it even if they can pick them up for free along the highway. And if they do not want a Ferrari, they can pick from the mobile stable of Lamborghinis or Maseratis or other exotic cars. I t is good to be rich and powerful whether you are in paradise or north of paradise. You can have your Ferraris if you still want them. The rich Singaporean owners will deliver them to you personally.

Compressed time - the new Ethos

Unwittingly many have been submerged under a new lifestyle which often is called the rat race. Everyone is trying to get rich quick, at all costs. Life is no longer a casual stroll in the park. Graduating from university at 25, one only has another 20 or 25 years to accumulate the wealth to live for a life time, or to prove that one has the talent to collect handsome doles for the rest of one's life. By 50 or 55, one either has it or did not. By then it is over. The compressed time that an individual has to cope with is also translated to the behaviour of institutions. Institutions too need to get rich quick, or at least the CEOs must, to prove his worth and collect his bonuses. And his short term goals will transcend throughout the organisations, affecting everyone. Targets were set to measure performance yearly or quarterly. Non performers were shown the exit as quickly as they come in. Only the very privileged few have the luxury of long term, that they are judged or measured over a long period of time. By then nobody will remember what actually happened or be around to tell the story. Is the get rich quick ethos the cause of the recent financial crisis? Fingers are being pointed at the fat cats in Wall Streets and the new whipping boys, the Relationship Managers of local banks. These are now seen as unscrupulous, unprofessional, untrained, unethical, unreliable crooks, lurking in the corners waiting for some unwary ah peks and ah mahs to walk into the banks, and to pounce on them for their life savings. Are they the one solely to be blamed? Banks are an old institution that grows strong and steady overtime, collecting deposits to lend to customers and making the difference. A small profit but a safe and tested operating principle. The banks of today are financial giants that deal in everything that can make money, the quicker the better. Some banks even chased their small savers away or charged them a fee for putting too little money with them. This is the early face of this new ethos, greed. And greed knows no bounds. Money must be made at all costs. Jackson Tai of DBS once lamented in a dinner speech that the industry is tainted with many unethical and unscrupulous practices by its members. No one stood up to challenge him. I think many are just too guilty to look up at him. Yes, banks even stooped to poaching and stealing clients from each other, even from within banks or their subsidiaries. High net worth clients are the prize catch of every banking officer. They will steal from their best friends sitting next door, by hook or by crook. And the management encouraged it or were accomplice to such unethical practices. Why should people be so shocking about the collapse of the American financial institutions and the damage it is causing to the ah peks and ah mahs? When greed is the principle of survival, when getting rich quick is the moral of this new ethos, who is to be blamed? Spare the Relationship Managers. The rot is at the core.

Is it good news or bad news?

Only 1 out of 6 planned ERP gantries will be built in Nov. And ERP charges in Shenton Way/Chinatown area will be reduced by $1. Some called it good news because they will be hit by a stick instead of a sledgehammer. Still got whacked. Some said it is good news because the authorities are listening and willing to change. Looking at it from another angle, it is really bad news. Bad news because the thinking and planning processes were not in gear. Bad news because something like this should have been carefully thought through in the first place. A similar approach is what the SGX had done this week. Whack with a hefty $50k fine first, talk later. The regulations will be reviewed in one month's time. Can decision making be so casual and callous? This is Singapore, not some newly independent third world country. Why has the traffic condition improved so drastically against what was planned? Why was there an overkilled or a plan to over kill? Just do it is good for the entrepreneurs or risk takers. Decisions of such nature should be carefully considered by the best brains and when implemented, must work. Not try try lah.