For the worth of $500 million!

How much did all the financial institutions made after peddling $500 mil of toxic notes to the consumers? (Heard that High Notes are practically worthless. Let me guess). At 5% commission, this will work out to be $25 mil. At 3% it will be $15 mil. Good money huh? For a profit of $15 - $25 mil, this was deemed good enough a business proposition to go out there and sell. And the loss from the consumers was a staggering $475 to $485 million. I would presume they know what they were selling, and thought that the risk was not high enough to become a reality. What if they truly understood the risk and decided, well, it was somebody else’s money to lose while they have to earn their bonuses? It is very patronizing to assume that these super talents being paid super talent salaries to match did not know what they were doing. Could it be a case of penny wise pound foolish, or penny for me, pound for you to lose? I got this scary feeling that in the financial system we have this same selfish attitude in many organizations that as long as they made their penny, others can lose their pants or go and die. Not their problems. They can sell any products or designed any flawed system is ok. Caveat emptor. How many organizations out there are making miniscule commissions while their customers are losing millions and billions, and they happily patting each other on the back for a job well done? Anyone got any sense of guilt, got a little conscience, that they have betrayed the people who faithfully believed in their leadership and in what they were doing? Or is the commission, translated into fat bonuses, really worth it?

Raising quality of our future generation

Graduates will produce graduates. Good graduates produce good graduates. We need to be careful in the new citizens we are bringing in or they will dilute the quality of our future generations. We must only bring in couples who are graduates, and from accredited universities. We need to check the quality of our new citizens. We cannot contaminate our stock with conmen, tricksters, cheats or third grade graduates from third grade universities. Quality control is the key. Don’t pray pray with our future. Oh, not to forget, Singaporeans must only be allowed to marry foreigners who are graduates of reputable universities. Marrying non grads like chef, musicians, artistes, singers, footballers, sportsmen and women, etc should be banned. In this way our future generations will all be of graduate caliber. A new super race!

Plaque of distinction

We have a superior system based on three pillars of integrity. No corruption, Transparency and No GuanXi. We should engrave these virtues in a plaque and hang them at the main entrance of all Ministries and even in the airport for visitors to see. This is our mark of excellence that we can wave to everyone. PS. I have amended Quanxi to Guanxi, which was originally intended. Thanks for the correction.

End of the road for hedge funds?

The end is near. Hedge funds, the plague of modern financial world is coming to its near death. Over the years these funds have wielded tremendous power to move stock markets across the world, bringing joy when they push up markets and leaving behind shattered dreams and destruction of lives when they depart. That is how powerful when funds, arms with hoards of money, working in collusion, could be. They can literally mow down countries with their selfish and singlemindedness, to make profit at all cost, with no qualms about responsibility to the rest that fell victims to their actions. Will countries wise up to the untold damage and consequences that hedge funds can inflict on them to stop them from resurrecting themselves again? Greed of the past, thinking that hedge funds can bring good, must be relook at. The goodness that hedge funds brought along is incidental and only for their own benefits. When their benefits are no longer there, they will turnaround to bite the countries and tear them apart. Unfortunately hedge funds will not go away and will morph into something else and will be wooed back to repeat what they had done before. The lessons of the Asian financial crisis was not learnt. That's why we are facing this second crisis in more severe manner. A retribution for greed and stupidity. Though they cannot go away, their activities can be curbed if regulators are doing their jobs and not fallen to greed. The juicy carrots dangle by hedge funds are tempting. Don't go for it. Limit their activities, limit the damages they can cause. They are the thieves and thugs of modern world, armed with Ivy League degrees and wearing the most expensive suits and ties.

Some things can be spoken, some can't

Speak your mind freely, but, one needs to have a little introspection to know that there is a limit to this statement. I would like to tell the world that I am a grad and my genes will produce another generation of grads. Please come and share my goodness. Telling this as a joke is acceptable. But telling this as a serious proposition is a no no. Why would people insist on saying such things? Sheer arrogance, or trying to tell the world of their good fortunes, that they are blessed? It can be a kind of conceit, or maybe deceit, that nature's endowment is forever, can be passed down through generations like monetary inheritance. Unfortunately, life or fate, has the habit of playing the most wicked jokes on human beans. When you think all is won, you can end up the loser. Or when all is lost, you may still come out the winner.