The price of over staying

Has the Thai King overstayed and creating a potentially dangerous political crisis in Thailand? Till now, he is still the most respected institution in Thailand, holding all the factional parties together. The military pledged loyalty to him, the politicians too, and the Thais obeyed his every words. What if he comes to pass? The prince and princesses will have to carve out a new mandate and relationship with all the factional parties all over again. And looking at the fragile make up of Thai politics today, it is going to be a very difficult task ahead, and chaos is the most certainty. The politicians and military will break apart as there is no dominant and accepted power to pledge loyalty to. This is how precarious Thailand has become today. What if the King has abdicated his throne a few years back and allow another King or Queen to assume the role of head of state while he retires and spend time playing with his grandchildren or romancing his kingdom while he still can? Given the few years, the new King or Queen would have worked out their own relationships with the people and political and military forces to be able to stand on their own. And when the time comes, the passing of the King would be just another day for mourning a monarch and nothing else. The failure to depart from the scene early enough is as good as planning for disaster to happen. Maybe he feels that he is indispensable and the country cannot hold together without him. Then it can only be worst when he is not around. If the incumbent King cannot hold his own fort and needs him to back him up, he is truly unfit and will definitely be dethroned when he is not around. That is an ugly fact and truth that will happen. Thailand is ready for a new chapter in history.

Punching above our weight

We punch above our weight in the international arena. We speak louder and carry more weight than countries of bigger sizes. Now we are faced with a third rate European country called Romania whose Charge Affair knocked down and killed a pedestrain and hurting a couple of others and ran away. Can we bring justice to the culprit? The culprit has been found guilty. But he had feigned illness and hiding in his home country and questioning our legal justice system, even claiming that he is being framed. And the Ambassador is resorting to telling us how difficult it is to bring him here. And he is covered by diplomatic immunity. In short, there is nothing we can do about it.b Diplomats are above the law! Let's see if we can punch above our weight and bring this rogue to pay for his misdeeds. How about breaking diplomatic relations with Romania? We don't really need them. Send them home packing.

Soaring demands, prices hitting new highs

These are the headlines in today's paper. The new HDB launches in Sengkang and Sembawang are greeted by soaring demands. Private properties are hitting new highs in prices. What do these news meant? Demands exceeding supply? We have seen HDB launching BTOs after BTOs in the last couple of months. How can there be unceasing demands? Someone is bluffing right? These demands are fictitious. And the high prices must also be fictitious. I don't believe demands for housing is so high. Not true, cannot be, they may apply but will turn down when offered the flats. These flat applicants are just fooling around. Don't take them seriously. We have BTOs, DBSS and Exec Condominiums? Better don't build Exec Condominiums. Force these people to buy private properties to boost up their prices. Make them pay for it. They are professionals right, got a lot of money right? High pay right?

Najib calling Malaysians to return home

Najib is putting his neck on the chopping block by calling for a change in govt policies, from favouring Malays to helping the poor. It is a fundamental shift to give a kick start to the stalled Malaysian economy but at the same time compromising on the position of Malay supremacy. This line of policy could undermine his position as the PM when the ultras make their war cry. And with Mahathir showing his true blue ultraism, Najib will come under strong pressure and may be ousted from power. So what now? Even if Najib is genuine, how long could he last? One term, half term or two terms? What next when another ultra takes over the premiership? The problem with Malaysia is the inconsistency of govt positions and the tendency to revert to extreme racist policies. Whatever Najib or any new PM may want to steer the country towards a fairer and more progressive system, there is a stronger underlying current that will threaten to derail it. Would any successful professional Malaysians take the bait and return home to rebuild a new Malaysia? I think this is far fetched. Malaysians, what are your views?

How many directorships can a man handle?

This issue was discussed at SMU. JY Pillay said not more than 5 are ‘humanly possible’. I like the word humanly and the inverted commas used by the ST. I am sure there must be a distinction between humans and inhumans. Lee Suet Fern also shared Pillay’s views and added that it was ‘physically very difficult to do so many directorships because the time demands are all bunched at the same time.’ Of course she is very clear on this, she is referring only to humans and not inhumans. The Chairman of Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), John Lim, felt that ‘it should be left to the individual directors and boards to assess the matter’, and an arbitrary number should not be imposed. I am wondering if the individual directors or boards’ decision on the number of directorships is considered arbitrary or objective? Teo Soon Hoe, senior ED and group finance director of Keppel Corp, agreed with John Lim. A limiting number is unnecessary, ‘it is an individual director’s responsibility to ensure that if he sits on any board, he has time for it’. Hmmm, I think I fully agreed with the latter two. Why have regulations and arbitrary numbers to say someone is unfit to do the impossible? Everyone is different and some have inhuman abilities that humans will not understand nor comprehend. And Teo reinforced his position by stressing that it was so difficult to find good directors in this land of no talents. This I agree also. The experienced directors are so hard to come by and are precious resources to be treasured. It was reported that Lee Suet Fern had observed that ‘self regulation has not worked because there are a good number of very egregious instances where people are taking on too many directorships. It is bad for us and bad for the investing public. I accept that all guidelines are arbitrary…but sometimes it’s better to have it than have a free for all and a wild, wild East’. Again Suet Fern is talking about people, the humans, and that makes perfect sense. But if we can find inhumans that are upright and uncompromising, they will be able to act independently always, and 10 or 20 directorships would be chicken feat. Let them decide for themselves arbitrarily. Oops, no I mean independently, with their good judgement. My conclusion, we must know what we are referring to. In the case of humans and humanly possible, Pillay and Suet Fern are right. In the case of inhuman abilities and integrities, John Lim and Teo Soon Hoe are right. I rest my case.