12/14/2011

Article from Musings from the Lion City

'Wednesday, December 14, 2011Stranger Than Fiction
So America flew a spy drone over Iran. So Iran bought the spy drone down. Now America…asked the Iranians to return the spy drone that was used to spy on them?

I thought this was a joke when I first read it but evidentially it’s true. President Obama himself said that the United States had asked Iran to give the downed American reconnaissance plane back.

Fact is truly stranger than fiction. The Iranians has rejected the request with its state media poking fun at the American’s expense. I agree with them.

What is God’s name made the American believed for a second the Iranians (and the rest of the world) won’t laugh their guts out upon hearing the request? Hell, I am.'


I actually wanted to write something but Musings from the Lion City has beat me to it. The American arrogance is funnily silly. But to the Americans and the west, it is not. They have the right to send spy planes inside people's country and the right to demand that it be returned if taken down. If not, this will be a justifiable excuse to attack Iran, not just imposed sanctions.

So is this anti American? : )

The Emperor had measles

During the dying years of the Qing Dynasty, Dowager Qi Xi usurped the throne and was the de facto emperor. She placed little children as emperors and did not allow them to run the country the way they wanted. The emperors were allowed to happily spend their time in the brothels and surrounded by pretty women while the Dowager ran the Empire to protect her position.

One of the emperors had syphilis but the Imperial physicians would not dare say so and diagnosed it as measles, and treated it as measles. Of course the disease would take the emperor away in the course of time. The Empire continued for several more decades, appearing good but rotting and dying through neglect and mismanagement and the illusion that everything was just fine.

We used to have a healthy and vibrant stock market. Many people made money, some became billionaire and millionaires. The industry provided many jobs, good jobs with good incomes. Many still believe that the industry is healthy and looking pretty good.

My understanding is that the industry is suffering from financial syphilis. The open sores are there but no one wants to see them. So everyday is still a party. But the ugly truths cannot be hidden for long. Some broking houses have started to take remedial actions to cut operating costs. They need real incomes to support the operation, rental and payroll, operating costs etc etc must be paid in real money. With dwindling commission, the operation cannot go on like before.

The first sign of trouble would come when backroom staff is cut. Retrenchment is the best proof that the industry is blowing in the wind. Just wait for it to happen. Next to go with be the remisiers. If the remisiers cannot generate enough business to cover their operating cost, they too will walk out voluntarily. And this is not going to be the end. As the revenue from commission keeps evaporating into thin air, don’t believe in the fictitious volumes chalked up by the machines, the slide down will gather speed. Broking houses will do M&A for different reasons, down sizing and selling off whatever is left to other houses that still think they can continue to operate and make profits in a dying industry.

Every action will be taken to treat the sores. But no one would want to know anything about the syphilis and how to get rid of it, how to cut the gangrenous foot that is rotting away, how to put the patient through a regime of chemotherapy to kill the cancerous cells. As long as no one bothers, there is no problem really. Where got syphilis? Everything is just doing fine.

How many white rabbits can a magician pull from his little hat?

More job opportunities for Singaporeans

Singaporeans that are losing their jobs to foreign talents need fear not. Singaporeans graduates having difficulties finding jobs, need fear not. I read today’s papers and am very encouraged by the news that jobs are plentiful for Singaporeans, in China. China needs a lot of foreign workers to feed its 9.1% rate of growth economy.

The Europeans are forming queues on the road to China. Employment agencies are getting requests by rich and wealthy Chinese for butlers and English butler associations are training more butlers for the Chinese markets.

Young graduates from Europe and America are also heading to China. China also needs a lot of school bus and taxi drivers. And the top job that is in great demand is English Language tutor. I am thinking of applying for it.

The problems faced by the European job applicants are tremendous, culture shock and language skills and unfamiliar with the Chinese way of life and customs. Singaporeans, particularly the Singaporean Chinese or Chinese Singaporeans, would have special advantage against the Europeans. They can easily blend in, smoothly, no need programmes to integrate like we do to our foreign workers.

Singaporean foreign workers going to China can integrate instantly, smoothly, to the Chinese society. Those employment agencies should quickly seize this opportunity to set up shops in China to provide them with true blue Singaporean foreign workers. Heard of reverse engineering? Now we are reversing the trend of employment. China’s foreign talent can come here to replace our local talents. Our displaced local talents can go to China to be foreign workers.

Fair exchange as their talents are more talented than ours. Our talents would be equivalent or good enough to be their foreign workers.

12/13/2011

Another decree from master

A forum letter to ST today by a Lee Kok Lin is another perfect example of a master servant relationship. Lee Kok Lin was flabbergasted by the notice put up at Singapore Pools outlets informing the punters that Singapore Pool will pay winnings to anyone who produces a winning ticket even if there is the name of another person with IC numbers on the back of the ticket.

What it simply means is that a winner cannot protect his winning by writing his name and IC on the ticket. Singapore Pool does not care if another person came with the ticket to claim the prize.

Is this acceptable or not? Or is this a responsible thing to do for a big organization like Singapore Pools? Who thinks this is reasonable?

Anti American Law Professor a Singaporean in US

Professor Tai Heng Cheng, ex police officer and a Law Professor in New York Law School, also author of an anti American book, ‘Shaping an Obama Doctrine of Preemptive Force’, is defending four Singaporeans accused by the Americans of cheating American company Digi International and sold radio parts to be made into IED. I got this info from John Harding’s blog.

While the Americans are applying for the four to be extradited to the US and they are under hand and leg cuffs like fearsome terrorists, Professor Tai or is it Professor Cheng, (He testified that the charge of conspiracy to defraud the US is not an extraditable offense under a treaty between the two countries.)

My God, could there be such a clause in the treaty that only a Law Professor from New York Law School, and a Singaporean some more, knew about and no one else? The Americans too appeared to be ignorant of this provision and wanted the four ‘terrorists’ to be extradited. It is very funny if what Professor Tai testified is true.

Makes me damn proud of him. And being anti American is not criminal in America. That is what true democracy is all about. They can even fxxx George Bush or Obama in their faces and it is freedom of expression.

Oh, a note of caution. When exporting hamburgers to Afghanistan or Iraq, make sure that the latest IEDs are not embedded inside a hamburger. Otherwise the Americans could brand you as terrorists and apply for your extradition for selling hamburgers to these countries. And you could end up handcuffed and legcuffed, looking very dangerous.