Anyone who has been fed with a diet of Hollywood or Hongkong movies must be familiar with the endings of gamblers in gambling dens. The stories almost always have a similar sequence and a similar ending. A habitual gambler could be on a winning streak and walk away with his winnings. This can go on and on as long as he does not break the bank.
A certain amount of winnings is tolerable to the operator. Once the rubicon is crossed, when the takings are too high, the gambler often live to regret for taking so much. He could be robbed, maimed or may even pay for his life.
A smart gambler will know how much he should take from the table and call it quits, and walk away to enjoy his windfall. A greedy gambler that does not know when the limit is up will not have the chance to walk away.
The moral of the story is simple. Don’t be too greedy. Greed will take you in and you will have to return everything, with a bad taste. Take some, win some, but always watch the rubicon.
7/11/2011
2 times oversubscribed, 35% sold
When Centrale 8 was launched, it was reported that it was oversubscribed by two times which technically translated, all should be sold as they were more buyers than units available. Today’s paper reported that till yesterday, on a notice board at the showroom, it showed that only 35% were sold. And the number of people visiting the showroom was about 20 families at any one time.
What happened to all the applicants? What happened to all the eager buyers and long queues? Centrale 8 was reported as a great place with great facilities, a mature estate, good value for money.
Was the report on the oversubscription wrong? Anything wrong with the 35% take sold figure? Anything wrong with all the hypes about the attractiveness of the estate?
Is the lack of interest got to do with the pricing, the location or the measures taken by HDB to build more new flats? Or is it that the influx of foreigners is slowing down?
Will Centrale 8 be the first DBSS project that is going to be partially sold, at least in the short term? Is this the first sign of a cooling down of the public housing market?
What happened to all the applicants? What happened to all the eager buyers and long queues? Centrale 8 was reported as a great place with great facilities, a mature estate, good value for money.
Was the report on the oversubscription wrong? Anything wrong with the 35% take sold figure? Anything wrong with all the hypes about the attractiveness of the estate?
Is the lack of interest got to do with the pricing, the location or the measures taken by HDB to build more new flats? Or is it that the influx of foreigners is slowing down?
Will Centrale 8 be the first DBSS project that is going to be partially sold, at least in the short term? Is this the first sign of a cooling down of the public housing market?
7/10/2011
The perpetrators of violence
The Bersih Rally was a peaceful rally with tacit approval from the Yang di Pertuan Agong. The Govt also agreed to allow the Rally to be held inside a stadium. It was not meant to be an Arab Spring, but a call for a clean and fair election, prevention of corruption by the Govt, and a level playing field for politicians. Are these too much to ask for?
The Govt had a change of mind and no permit was issued. So the Rally became illegal. Once anything is declared illegal, the full force of the law and the legal gangsters can do anything they want against the ‘criminals’. On the contrary, anything that is declared legal, passed by the Parliament, will be legal and right, even corruption.
So, a peaceful demonstration turned violence. No, the demonstrators did not start it. They did not fight back. They sat on the roads leading to Merdeka. Pardon my pun. Who were the real perpetrators of violence? The demonstrators were sprayed with chemical treated water, tear gas, blasted by the might of water hoses and batons. And 1,600 were arrested for attending a peaceful Rally that ended in violence, by the authority that was there to prevent violence. Perhaps it was done for the good of the demonstrators.
Yes, the authority was there in full force, to prevent violence and to protect the peaceful demonstrators from harm. Looking at the parties that received the full brunt of the violence, you cannot miss the truth, as to who were the real perpetrators of violence.
Maybe, if the peaceful demonstrators were to handcuff themselves, they will be safe from violence against them. Handcuffing is the safest and most ingenious way to protect them from harm. It will keep them from harms way too, and to prevent people from causing harm to them.
My apologies if all this do not sound logical. It is Sunday morning, and a little hangover makes logical thinking a bit funny.
The Govt had a change of mind and no permit was issued. So the Rally became illegal. Once anything is declared illegal, the full force of the law and the legal gangsters can do anything they want against the ‘criminals’. On the contrary, anything that is declared legal, passed by the Parliament, will be legal and right, even corruption.
So, a peaceful demonstration turned violence. No, the demonstrators did not start it. They did not fight back. They sat on the roads leading to Merdeka. Pardon my pun. Who were the real perpetrators of violence? The demonstrators were sprayed with chemical treated water, tear gas, blasted by the might of water hoses and batons. And 1,600 were arrested for attending a peaceful Rally that ended in violence, by the authority that was there to prevent violence. Perhaps it was done for the good of the demonstrators.
Yes, the authority was there in full force, to prevent violence and to protect the peaceful demonstrators from harm. Looking at the parties that received the full brunt of the violence, you cannot miss the truth, as to who were the real perpetrators of violence.
Maybe, if the peaceful demonstrators were to handcuff themselves, they will be safe from violence against them. Handcuffing is the safest and most ingenious way to protect them from harm. It will keep them from harms way too, and to prevent people from causing harm to them.
My apologies if all this do not sound logical. It is Sunday morning, and a little hangover makes logical thinking a bit funny.
7/09/2011
For the love of money or justice
This is an era extremely starved of ideals (骨感), but precisely because of this, our ideals can take flight.
In such an era, what expectations and aspirations do I have for you? I know that a professor from Beijing Normal University once told his students, “If you don’t get 40,000,000 dollars within 10 years after graduation, don’t come and look for me.”
I won’t say the same thing to our graduates.
I don’t hope that you people become prominent elites. I will only say that 10 years from now, if any of you dare to plot against the good and the loyal, I will refuse to let you step across my door, I will refuse to acknowledge you.
You don’t have to be Bao Gong (a historical figure from the Northern Song Dynasty known for his sense of justice), but you cannot frame the innocent and get the loyal and the good into trouble. This is the most basic and minimum baseline to follow and live by.
The above is an extract of a graduation speech by Professor He Bin of China University of Political Science and Law that went viral. Professor He is the Vice Dean and Department Head.
His speech is a dig at the money driven motives of modern Chinese and the widespread ills of corruption and injustice in the Chinese society, where the elite have no qualms to do the innocents in, for their own selfish agenda.
It is a plea and a revelation of how sick a society can be when the elite themselves are sick and abusing the trust and power of their office.
PS: I copied the quotation from an article in The Kent Ridge Common.
In such an era, what expectations and aspirations do I have for you? I know that a professor from Beijing Normal University once told his students, “If you don’t get 40,000,000 dollars within 10 years after graduation, don’t come and look for me.”
I won’t say the same thing to our graduates.
I don’t hope that you people become prominent elites. I will only say that 10 years from now, if any of you dare to plot against the good and the loyal, I will refuse to let you step across my door, I will refuse to acknowledge you.
You don’t have to be Bao Gong (a historical figure from the Northern Song Dynasty known for his sense of justice), but you cannot frame the innocent and get the loyal and the good into trouble. This is the most basic and minimum baseline to follow and live by.
The above is an extract of a graduation speech by Professor He Bin of China University of Political Science and Law that went viral. Professor He is the Vice Dean and Department Head.
His speech is a dig at the money driven motives of modern Chinese and the widespread ills of corruption and injustice in the Chinese society, where the elite have no qualms to do the innocents in, for their own selfish agenda.
It is a plea and a revelation of how sick a society can be when the elite themselves are sick and abusing the trust and power of their office.
PS: I copied the quotation from an article in The Kent Ridge Common.
A Walk for Merdeka
Today is the day. Bersih 2.0 is rallying Malaysians to a Walk for Democracy, for clean and fair election. And the venue, the Merdeka Stadium. The cries of Merdeka is going to scream through the air like the cries in 1957.
The Walk for Democracy was meant to be a street rally but strongly opposed by the BN and Perkasa. It took the Agong to intervene for a compromise venue inside the walls of a stadium. This is not to be with the BN sending the police to cordon off all roads leading to Merdeka.
At the same time Perkasa and UMNO Youth Wings, both branded as ultras with very strong Malay rights views are opposing the Bersih Rally. They wanted to hold counter rallies on the same day to march towards the Bersih gathering. Officially these were turned down. But they will continue with their march in one way or another as a show of force against Bersih supporters.
The undertone of their protests against Bersih is racial. They are accusing Bersih of splitting the Malay unity which was something furthest from the Bersih position. Bersih is calling for clean and fair election. What has this got to undermining Malay unity is only for the BN, Perkasa and UMNO Youth to interpret.
By all means, the Rally today is going to turn into a confrontation that can become ugly. The police are there to prevent the Rally from taking place, by order of the BN govt. So which side would the police take in a flare up or when the Bersih supporters approach the Merdeka Stadium?
Tension is rising in KL. The stronger the govt tries to stop the Rally, the greater the resistance and the greater will be the counter resistance. KL is seeing a showdown for a new Merdeka cry. The price to pay for this new freedom can be very high. Would tomorrow be just another Sunday in KL and Malaysia? It all depends on how the police handle the two opposing sides and how violent it turns out. Would 9th July be remembered in the same vein as May 13?
The Walk for Democracy was meant to be a street rally but strongly opposed by the BN and Perkasa. It took the Agong to intervene for a compromise venue inside the walls of a stadium. This is not to be with the BN sending the police to cordon off all roads leading to Merdeka.
At the same time Perkasa and UMNO Youth Wings, both branded as ultras with very strong Malay rights views are opposing the Bersih Rally. They wanted to hold counter rallies on the same day to march towards the Bersih gathering. Officially these were turned down. But they will continue with their march in one way or another as a show of force against Bersih supporters.
The undertone of their protests against Bersih is racial. They are accusing Bersih of splitting the Malay unity which was something furthest from the Bersih position. Bersih is calling for clean and fair election. What has this got to undermining Malay unity is only for the BN, Perkasa and UMNO Youth to interpret.
By all means, the Rally today is going to turn into a confrontation that can become ugly. The police are there to prevent the Rally from taking place, by order of the BN govt. So which side would the police take in a flare up or when the Bersih supporters approach the Merdeka Stadium?
Tension is rising in KL. The stronger the govt tries to stop the Rally, the greater the resistance and the greater will be the counter resistance. KL is seeing a showdown for a new Merdeka cry. The price to pay for this new freedom can be very high. Would tomorrow be just another Sunday in KL and Malaysia? It all depends on how the police handle the two opposing sides and how violent it turns out. Would 9th July be remembered in the same vein as May 13?
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