In Praise of Human Decency

Great Eastern has done a coup of sort to offer a big payout when it does not need to. In fact the precedent has been set for it to play by the market practice and save a lot of money, except for the pain and loss the investors will continue to bear. One question is whether Great Eastern has crossed the line to the extent of undermining the correct business practice and the rule of law here that we are so proud of, and chose to invest in a bit of morality, ethics and human decency, which are only good for the souls but not for the bottom line. It was a rare moment indeed in a country that crows about making money at all cost, where scoundrels are praised and held in high esteem, and not how the money was made, where making money is the end all, with no qualms about human decency. Investors have been complaining that they were questioned by high and mighty officers of financial institutions demanding only to know if they understood English, and if they had signed on the documents. If either was a yes, no further explanation was needed, and out of the door they went, with minimal or no compensation. Legally right, legally binding but morally shameful. Technically and legally, the financial institutions are right by applying the rule of law. That could be the reason why they were so arrogant that they were doing the right thing. It's all legal. The investors understood and signed the documents. These were enough not to compensate them fully or at all. Caveat emptor man! Just as much we need to protect the investors, the financial institutions also need to be protected under the rule of law. So which should overrule the other, the rule of law or morals and ethics? I think when in court the rule of law will be upheld and not any wishy washy stuff like morality, ethics or empathy. We cannot undermine our system of correct business practice, our rule of law, and compromise on such rulings. The peddlers of snake oil also need to be protected under the rule of law. My view is that Great Eastern must have come to the conclusion that the product must be flawed and morally not right to make this kind of money from the their customers. They have set aside all legal and technical arguments in their favour and chose to make a human decision to return the money to their clients. The decision of Great Eastern speaks a lot about the quality of their leadership. Something we find very lacking in this materialistic world and something we only heard in motherhood statements but not in practice.

10 is to 11 or 12, or 11 or 12 is to 10

After economy recovers, 10 workers should do the work of 11 or 12 – Lim Swee Say Can we have similar quotes like 10 ministers doing the work of 11 or 12 ministers, or 10 MPs doing the work of 11 or 12 MPs, or 10 MDs doing the work of 11 or 12 MDs? The answer is obvious. The higher it goes, the more difficult and complex is the job. You really need 11 to 12 ministers to do the job of 10 ministers, 11 or 12 MPs to do the job of 10 MPs, and 11 or 12 MDs to do the job of 10 MDs.

Another myth in the making?

Ho Ching's proposal to invite the public to co invest with Temasek has been receiving quite a lot of approval and favourable comments. At face value it looks like another great proposal for investors to grow their nest eggs. But before people plonk in their hard earned savings, they better think very carefully as investment is a high risk enterprise. The higher the returns, the greater the risks. Not very long ago, there was this great scheme called COWEC. It is a company welfare scheme where employees and companies joinly contributed to the fund to invest in stocks with the belief that stock investment was a sure win game in the long run. It was supposed to guarantee a higher rate of return than the CPF. It is now history. The same crazy belief also reemerged in the early 1990s when all the clever analysts and investment experts were churning out reports on how great investing in stocks and shares were against all other instruments. In the long run, investing in stocks will generate the highest returns compare to other forms of investments. This faith led to the release of CPF funds for stocks and shares and a kind of frenzy when every CPF contributor had a stock investment account. Again it became history when many of them lost their nest eggs, contributing to the miserable state of our CPF savings. Would co investment with Temasek lead to the same fate? Can investment guarantee a safe and high return? The fact that the CPF Life scheme has an escape clause in case the fund becomes insolvent speaks for itself.

Chok Tong's 10 challenges

Chok Tong has thrown 10 challenges to the new political leadership as we celebrate 44 years of dynamic progress and economic growth. What I feel is that Chok Tong is unduly worried. There is no cause for concern if one reads the comments in cyberspace, the home ground of dissent, dissatisfaction and cynicism. The criticism of the govt were all very superficial and lacks dept. Many were just simply kpkb, with no substance. How could one call it a genuine complaint or hardship when one needs to pay 20c more for a service or $10 more for goods? Fortunately these are met by the real and genuine responses from contented Singaporeans who are very grateful for what the govt has done. We have progressed in leaps and bounds. And many Singaporeans can be proud to tell the world how expensive are their houses/flats and cars. Their homes will appreciate in value every few years, maybe doubling in value every 5 to 10 years. With this kind of progress, even living in the same 1000 sq ft unit, no Singaporeans would mind. All they want to know is that their homes are getting more expensive and another sucker will be queuing up to buy from them. Then they themselves can upgrade to another 1000 sq ft unit and pay double the price for it. Another sign of progress, to be able to pay for ever more expensive housing or the same size or smaller. For those who have made enough, they could downgrade into a 1 rm rental flat and live happily ever after.

Are Singaporeans really that crazy?

We used to pay $30k for a 1,300 sq ft HDB flat. Today, people are queuing up to pay half a million or more for a 1000 sq ft little pigeon hole in the air. And everyone is so happy about it. Don't they know that it will take them a whole life to pay to be cooped up in that little space when a big sprawling house could be had in other places for much less? What is so great about a little space dressed up like a hotel room, a place to sleep, a place to pee and eat, and a TV to watch. And that is about all for $500k to a million. And the best part, everyone is expecting to make a handsome profit when they sell that little space to the next sucker. What kind of quality of living are we getting into? Work like shit for life to pay for a little place to sleep and shit and getting so excited over it? Do Singaporean ever ask whether life could be better, less stressful, less work, more leisure and fun and space to run around? Or this is what good quality living is all about?