All the countries doing the wrong things

The US is going to curb employment for foreigners. And KL is also doing so. The big bourses in Tokyo, Australia and some others are curbing short selling. People are having second thoughts on minibonds and derivatives, high leverages on stocks and assets have proven to be very destructive. The exception is Singapore. We know we are doing the right thing while the world fumbles with about everything. That is why we are so successful. We will continue to welcome foreign talents. We will continue to sell minibonds, with a bit more care. We will continue to let short sellings in our stock market, it can only be good. Let the market forces determined the price. And we will continue to have derivatives and more derivatives. Leverage is good. Imagine one can take 5 or 10 mortgages on a house. There will be more liquidity. Why would Conrad Raj wrote against introducing more derivatives in such a time? He said it is like encouraging gambling. One stock with 10 derivatives means it is multiplied 10 times. If it fails, it will hurt 10 times, exactly like minibonds. Our stock market does not need more stocks or IPOs anymore. We can keep expanding by just multipling the stocks with more derivatives. So many people have been burnt with fortunes destroyed because of derivatives. Why can't we learn a little and be a little more cautious? Why can't we learn from other's mistakes? No, the others were less talented than us and do not know how to do it right. We are so talented until we can't find anyhow to fill Ho Ching's position and need a foreigner to come and help us find the way. By the way, I fully agree with Conrad Raj's reservations and concerns.

We are getting closer to a 8 million people city

We are getting closer to realise our dream of a 8 million people city. I read today's paper that private developers are building flats that are as big as 8 table tennis tables or 344 sq ft. And HDB is also reducing the size of the respective flats compare to the earlier days. Whether this is progress or regress is another issue. The squeeze will mean that the island could easily double or triple the population size. Let's forget about Swiss standard of living. Let's look east at Hongkong and Tokyo, great examples of great living. And the quality of life should be better as these flats are relatively more expensive on a per sq ft basis. So more expensive must be better. And this great way to live can be easily explained away. Save on PUB bills, save on cleaning space, no need maids, OMO can do liao. And no need to run all the way to the toilet or kitchen. Just row over and one is instantly in the toilet or kitchen. So easy and comfortable. Can watch TV from the toilet seat too. Singaporeans should look forward to the exciting future.

S Chips or minibond equivalent?

Finally a letter appeared in the ST forum questioning the huge amount of money lost by investors in S Chips, or China stocks listed in our stock market. I am wondering if this the first and only letter ever received by ST on this issue. Steven Lim Ngian Ern questioned whether due diligence were done before foreign companies were allowed to be listed here and why no one was answerable for the increasing number of S Chips going under through accounting fraud, disappearing management, board of directors abandoning the companies, overstating of cash balances and over inflated sales. Who is accountable for all these failures and the loss of money by investors? The answer is NOBODY! No one is responsible. It is caveat emptor. Someone told me geylang's gambling dens also operate on the same basis. No one is responsible. You die your own business. The operator just bring the gamblers together and collect a commission. Before we continue to plunge more deeply into this black hole, before more investors lose their money, I think there are enough incidents to warrant a slow down in this reckless and mindless pursuit to boost up the number of stocks in the stock market. Clob is already a very bitter experience. The way things are going it is not much different from Malaysian Clob shares or the minibonds. We need accountability and responsibility. We are not talking about losing peanuts. The money lost in the market is awesome.

Car insurance premiums up and up

The motorists are so pissed off with the high insurance premiums for cars that two letters appeared in the ST forum today. There could be more letters written in and many more who are angry but did not write in. The gist of their anger is that the high operating cost in the insurance industry is contributed by bad management and probably misleading claims and the whole process of repairing and claims. And all these were simply passed to the innocent motorists. Worst, many motorists have never made a claim in their lives and are made to pay more and more. Huh, pay more and more. Motor insurance is a compulsory requirement by law. Should the authority be concerned and be interested to see that there is fair play in this business? Or someone is sleeping or paid not enough so does not think it is his job to get his feet wet or hands dirty? The other question is whether the accident rate is really that high given the high number of vehicles on the road. Without proper monitoring and regulations in this industry, the insurers could turn themselves into highwaymen and the motorists becoming victims of another scheme of daylight robbery. Wake up man.

3 universities freeze student fees

Is this good news or bad news? Money wise I think most students and parents will breathe a sigh of relief. But quality wise, without increasing the fees, will the quality of education suffer? Every time when there is an increase in fees, they will tell you that you want quality you pay for it. So the quality improves with every fee increases. Now if the fees are frozen, do we see the quality of university education stagnant until the next fee increase? This is the kind of hogwash Singaporeans have been fed all these years, the quality of this kind of reasoning to justify fee increases or pay increases is idiotic at best. Shall Singaporeans continue to believe this kind of bull? Without this pay freeze, the universities have already planned to raise fees from 4% to 10% depending on the faculties. They deem it as their right, a natural thing to do. At an average rate of 7%, in 10 years, the fees will be double, and presumably the fees of the academic and non academic staff will be double as well. Then can we ask the question, will the quality of the professors increase accordingly with each pay increase? Maybe. But will his job spec increases accordingly? Or will he still be teaching the same number of students and the same number of hours and modules? Will the quality of each batch of students graduating improve with the same fee increase? For the past decade or so, we have done away with a salary cap. We forgot that the job spec does not change very much. We forgot that the incumbent does not change very much. We forgot that many jobs are still the same jobs 10 years ago. But with an open ended salary, the salary keeps running away. The higher the salary at the top, the more the increases will be and the joker sitting there will laugh all the way to the bank. And this salary increase policy applies not only to the universities but everywhere, you know where. Just look around and ask, what has that person done to deserve another 10% of increases? Is his job getting bigger, he gets smarter, he does something extra ordinary? The only reason that this incessant increases relies on is market forces. Other people are being paid more, so they must get paid more. How silly. But that is how things are. We have thrown away the old concept that a job is worth so much and need only to be paid so much, regardless of how much other people are being paid.