Pass the hats around please

We need to create more jobs. I don’t mean creating jobs like cleaners and chambermaids. I mean real jobs that pay reasonably well. There are three ways to go about it. One, with our huge reserves, more jobs can be created with the money available. We can create more seniors and deputies positions, eg senior or deputy President to the President or senior vice Presidents, deputy to the vice President, senior Perm Sec, deputy Perm Sec or deputy to deputy Perm Sec. We can also have senior mayors, deputy mayors, or even create new ones like governors and deputy governors. The people have already accepted the practice of seniors, so it should not be an issue. Precedents have been set. It is a good precedent. A second way is to pass the hats around. Stop the ridiculous practice of one person wearing 10 or 20 hats. Pass the hats around so that more people can wear one or two fat hats. The greedy practice of several hats on a small head or a small head that thinks it is very big is unhealthy. Ok, I must be careful about this as there are not many people that are fit to wear big hats or many hats. A third way, and this concerns the filthy rich oldies. Many of the oldies are so rich that even without the income from their jobs they will have enough money to last a few generations. Let them retire gracefully to enjoy their wealth, to see the world and smell the roses. And let the younger and hungrier people take over their jobs. After all many are so feeble that most of the time they were on sick leave or fail to turn up for meetings or for work. We can spread a little generosity around and cast the net wider to share the goodies.

Too much bad news!

This seems to be the complaint of the day. The old media is joining cyberspace in reporting bad news and more bad news. Now isn't that bad? It is time to report good news. And this is a sign of being responsible, to tell good ending fairy tales. How would the media react to this call of telling good news in bad times? Would they be challenged by their professionalism or their conscience? Should the journalists or anyone reporting on news, deliberately take on a one sided approach, to cook up good news for that happy feeling? To tell the tooth or to tell the truth? It seems that telling the tooth is a duty call. What kind of spin shall one put into it when job losses, wage freezes, cannot keep up with bills and debt payments are the order of the day? One way to approach it is to report on the lifestyles of the rich and famous and their parties and expensive taste. Forget about the hard luck cases. Those are losers and they deserved to be in those desperate situations. These are the people who skims to save 10c on their bus fare, try to whip up dinner for 4 for $10 or downgrade from drinking $200 a bottle wine to a $12 bottle of fermented grapes that are still drinkable. What a life. I hope writing on bad news does not become seditious.

Colossal pays and bonuses to go?

Is it just a sickness? With all the big financial institutions and corporations asking for millions of dollars from the govt to prevent bankruptcies, the CEOs in Wall Street are still paying themselves crazy. They take it as their dues, their just rewards for bringing in big businesses. Gary Goldstein, President and CEO of executive search group Whitney Partners, has this to say. 'It has become very corrupt...I've watched it over the years and everyone was taking their piece of the pie...and not paying attention to the end game, which is the little guy who ends up with all of these securities on their retirement accounts.' If these people have created real value or wealth, no one is going to protest. Have they? Their ingenuity in creating false wealth, doctoring of accounts, false businesses, supported by all the regulating agencies and the civil servants, have led to this world wide financial meltdown. And the best part is that they don't care and are continuing with their taking habits. It is part of the system, authorised, no fault, no crime and no guilt. Obama is furious and so are the Americans. They want to stop it but can't. The people are helpless while those in position to take continue to take. And the value of the stocks of many corporations hit bottom. No sweat. It is the small guys that are holding to the stocks thinking that it will see them through in their retirements. It is time to review the fat bonus scheme. It is the scheme of the thieves in power, to fatten their own pockets. Corporate honchos should tie their bonuses to the performance of the company as well as the value of their stocks. This must be fundamental to the health of the corporations and the wealth of the shareholders and the viability of the stock market. If stock prices are allowed to be manipulated by big funds and corporations do not care a dime whether it is going up or down, or if it is $20 or 20c, then the value of the stock is worth only the value of the paper it is printed. It is worthless. At the rate it is going, the stock market industry across the world will hit crisis situation just like the banking industry. Small investors will end up holding worthless pieces of papers. The compensation of corporate managers must be tied to the performance of the companies and stocks. This will ensure that they will bet their future on the well being of the corporations and stock value. Of course the flawed stock market mechanism must also be revamped to prevent massive sell down of stocks regardless of the value of the corporations. There must be responsibility and accountability! At the end of the day, when investors found themselves holding hoards of worthless papers, someone must be hanged!

Chingay Parade 2009 pictures

I have shot a few hundred pics of the Chingay Parade at the Padang. I will try to post as many of the pics here as possible over the next few weeks. My first set is a spread of the various groups of participants, both local and foreign performers. After this I will try to post a group each starting from the locals and ending with the guest performers. I have quite a bit of photos on the Thai, Filipinos, Indonesian, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and Indian participants. I could have a bit of others all mixed together. I was not able to cover all the other groups. I have seen some Europeans and Latin Americans if I am not mistaken. The Orchid Collection will temporarily be held back until this batch of Chingay pics runs out. Cheers and happy viewing.

Who formulated the Job Credit Scheme?

A big article was written today in the ST on the role and contribution of 5 talented young men and women in the Finance Ministry. They made submissions after submissions, simulations, computations to come out with this uniquely Singapore scheme to help employers during this economic recession. It was like a reduction in CPF contribution without a CPF cut. Their formulations went in and out of Tharman's office countless time before Tharman decided that that was it. In the process Tharman also gave his valuable inputs for the final product. It was an important piece of product that was key to the whole stimulus package. Now you see why the civil servants are very important as the main work horse of the govt. Without the civil servants, the govt is nothing or without the hands and legs, just a group of parliamentarians. The civil servants did all the major works and the politicians decide. In fact in many cases, the politicians decide first and the civil servants did the necessary. What kind of impact would it be if we change the civil servants and retain the politicians or if we change the politicians and retain the civil servants? Which is more dispensable? Ideally the two shall clap together.