Who will be the next President

Hi,

I have set up a poll on the right to get an indication of who you people would like to see as the next President. Let's see if what we think is a reflection of what the people think on 27 Aug.

Cheers.

Notable quote by Franklin Roosevelt

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have enough. It is whether we provide enough for those who have little."

Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945)
United States, 32nd president

How to grow our reserves?

It is a state secret how much of our reserves are CPF money, or the people’s money. Anyone has the figure? I think the CPF component is not small and could be a very substantial portion of our national reserves. And I find this very funny, and very painful. Why is it that the people’s money, your money, my money becomes the country’s reserve? Never mind, it is part of the economist’s formula, to include the people’s money as the country’s money for the govt to crow about while the real owners of the money can only cry about it.

With this in mind, the easiest way to grow the reserves is to make sure that there is more money in the CPF. How to do that? I think we all know the answers. I can make our reserves even bigger and tell you that it is safe, without telling you how much is there as long as the CPF account holders are happy with the monthly statements.

So, how rich are you? Or how rich is the country’s reserves? Your money or someone else money?

I am very frighten of people who claims to be able to grow the reserves.

The President, gambler and fund manager

The campaign for the next Elected President has commenced and what came to my mind is the relationship between the president, the gambler and the fund manager. They all have one similar interest, money. Money is a big issue not just about how much should the president be paid given the surprising revelation of his job by the Law Minister. The only part that justifies some big money is the president’s role as a custodian to the country’s reserves.

The rest of the functions of the president are more ceremonial and quite exciting, like in the company of heads of states, the kings and queens and dining with celebrities. I think many rich and successful people are dying to be in such a position and would even pay for it. As for the money part, what does the president do and how much is he deserving is now questionable.

Let me start with the gambler. Simply put, the gambler takes chances by placing his bets. When he loses, he blames it on bad luck. When he wins, he can brag about his gambling skills. In a way the fund managers also places his bets which he calls its investing. And he employs very talented and highly qualified people to justify what he is doing. All done carefully, objectively, with charts and figures. No guess work. When he makes money, he too will brag about how clever and talented he is. When he loses, there are always the forces beyond his control or he is investing in the long term. He will have the long term to cover his bad bets.

There are some startling differences between a gambler and a fund manager. The gambler’s cost is only himself. And he gambles with his own money. The fund manager pays all the top talents a fortune to place his bets. And when he loses, even in hundreds of billions, it is always other people’s money, not his money. He always wins with his huge pay packet and huge cuts in winnings. He is much better than the gambler in many ways.

And when a fund manager loses big, he can go to the president for more money. Here is the relationship. The Elected President is there to say yes or no to the fund manager gambling with the country’s reserves. But how can the EP say no when the fund manager says he is investing in the long term and will win back all his money in a matter of time? His short term loss is due to circumstances beyond his control.

What if the Elected President says no? He can be removed as the fund manager can claim that he is opposing his instruction. According to the Law Minister, an Elected President that challenges the govt can be removed. So how? Does the Elected President have any machinery or forces behind him to take on the govt? The govt is in control of everything, the media, the uniformed services, the civil services, the Unions, the clans and all govt related agencies and institutions. How could an Elected President say no to a ruling govt when he can be simply removed?

Here comes the question of his $10m pay. Should the president be paid $4m -$10m to say no when he can’t really say no? And this is the reality if one listens to the campaign speeches of the presidential hopefuls. They want to do all kinds of things that are nice to have but really quite irrelevant, and do not justify the money or the position. Who cares what they want to do? What is important is his ability to make sure that the reserves is not squander away. But can the EP do it?

An embarrassing moment repeating?

The likeable George Yeo could not imagine that he could be bundled out of a general election. Frankly, I too was surprised by his defeat and the losing of 5 super talents in one go. On reflection, none of them should take it personally as the defeat was not their fault. There was a change of wind. The defeat was a defeat of the PAP. Too much, too long, the PAP has overstayed its welcome and the people were looking for a change.

There was resentment too. The policies of the past decade have alienated the people to a point that the anger must be released. And George Yeo and his team were the unfortunate scapegoat. Nothing personal.

The present election for the EP could see another embarrassing moment being repeated. The possibilility of Tony Tan losing the election is very high despite all the endorsements from all corners appearing in the media. Endorsements by office bearers and committees are different from the feelings of the rank and file. The elite will think differently and may want to sit in the same table and sing the same song. The masses, the ordinary people, may have a mind of their own and want to do their own thing.

Don’t be surprised if Tony Tan did not make it to the Istana. What if he loses his deposit? That will be terribly embarrassing. But again, it has nothing to do with him. The vote against him is likely to be a vote against the ruling party. For the moment Tony is the front runner with endorsements from every where. He is having a good start.

Strange for me to look at the Presidential Election in this manner as it is not meant to be partisan or political while my whole reasoning is about politics, nothing but politics.