The Obama Inauguration

The atmosphere was filled with hope, peace and unity. It was a joyous occasion for all Americans. Their happiness was genuine. There was an absence of hate, anger or trying to settle scores. Obama and the Democrats were happy for obvious reasons. George Bush and the Republicans were celebrating the event in their strides. John McCain was invited for dinner by Obama. The whole ceremony was arranged, organised and executed by a bureaucracy not tainted by any political party. They were Ameicans first, the American civil servants serving the American people, not serving the ruling party. And the American people were there to join in the celebration. They braved the icy cold winter, made their way there on their own. They need not be ferried or herded to attend the ceremony. The did it with a genuine intent to celebrate the incoming of a new Presdent. The Americans were one people, one nation, nothing more, nothing less. No need prompting, no need coercion, no need reminders. That is what a great nation is all about. It is the people that make the nation and the people know that they are all part of the nation. A truly inclusive society. No gimmicks.

Time to build more shrines

In the land of the mortals, super beings and gods, it is time that more shrines be built for the gods and immortals. And the mortals or lesser mortals should do the building and the worshipping. Who knows, they may be blessed. I am starting to blame myself for being an atheist and not praying to gods. Looks like I better start praying to one. My preference is the 'cai shen' or money god. But now that there are so many gods to pray to, maybe I shall review my options. I am on my knees and bowing deeply, praying for more wealth.

Insensitive elite, insensitive media?

The Paris cooking class article is now seen as being insensitive, wrong timing. I thought the media was just trying to sing some merry songs in bad times, to boost up the sagging morale of the people. In bad times, we must not keep telling sad stories. A good story of success or what success can bring may brighten up the day for many people. We need more of such stories don't we?

The insensitivity of the elite

The lesser mortals shall not be envious when the super beings splashed their wealth. The lesser mortals must know their station in life. What's wrong with super beings spending their own money? This is the ethos of an elitist society. The expensive cooking class, oops, it is a culinary course, is the talk of Parliament. Cooking class is only conducted in community centres for the Ah Sohs at $50 for 4 lessons. What Chee Hean said is correct. It is a private matter for people to spend their own money. But being a top civil servant, flaunting of wealth is still not the right thing to do in times like this. What the story tells is that top civil servants are paid so handsomely that they must think of ingenious ways of spending them. Too much money that they have problem spending. Would a $100k personal grooming course or facial treatment be attractive, or a new hairdo? A tattoeing course may also look interesting. This reminds me of the Peanut Theory. What will be considered peanuts for such high paying elite? $600k or $1m? I think we will have problem motivating them with more pay in the next salary increment exercise. Anything less than a peanut will be meaningless.

How much does Singapore have?

MAS's foreign reserve is valued at $240 billion. GIC's portfolio is well over $148 billion. And Temasek is worth more than $185 billion. These are numbers as at Sept 08. If there is no overlapping of interest, it works out to an incredible $573 billion! Now what is the latest number given the collapse of the world financial market which has led to many tycoons jumping onto the equivalent of our MRT tracks? Whatever that is left must still be a large number. And this is only those assets that are officially valued.