This will be the big one. No peace in the Middle East with the Empire threatening to impose sanctions on Iran to cripple its economy. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour when the West and the US tried to strangle its economic development and curtailing its access to oil and natural resources. Iran is not going to stand still and allow the Americans to hurt its economy. It is threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz if the US applied sanctions against her.
The US has sent its aircraft carrier John C Stennis to the Hormuz. US Chief of Staff, Gen Martin Dempsey has revealed that they are planning to attack Iran once the White House gives the clearance. Israel is opening talking about a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
It is Iran’s fault to force the peace loving Empire and Israel to want to attack it. Blame it on the Iranians. A new coalition of peace loving countries will be gathered to attack the hostile and unfriendly Iran. God bless the peace loving countries. Iran must be destroyed and there will be peace on earth. Iran is only the third country to be attacked by the peaceful countries and the peace loving Empire. One by one they will be attacked by the hordes of hyenas dressed like angels.
Next to be attacked by the peace loving countries and Empire will likely be Pakistan, North Korea and China. All these are aggressive warlike countries planning to attack countries of peace loving people. So the peace loving countries and Empires must strike at all these war mongering countries to maintain peace.
The logic of peace loving countries that daft peace loving people of the world are expected to believe and swear by it. Only peace loving countries will provoke and attack other countries in the name of peace and start wars. With America around, the world can be guaranteed to have wars every day, in the name of peace.
12/30/2011
Tough to get retail investors into stock market
Where have all the retail investors gone? Why is it that so few are interested in the stock markets? Despite all the efforts to woo them, systems and designs tweaked for their benefits, the best stock market in the world, the fastest high speed computers to hand millions of trades in a few seconds, where are the traders? Is it that Singaporeans are allergic to trading stocks?
No body knows why, or no one wants to see what is really wrong with the market? Everyone playing the 4 proverbial monkeys, see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and do nothing. It is sad that there are so many super talents, including foreign talents, but no one knows or wants to know the truth. And yet, everyone in the industry knows what went wrong. What a farce!
And they all appear to be in a state of shock! Why ah? Why Singaporeans did not want to dabble in stocks? Stock market got no pulling power? We do not have this, we do not have that, we need more marketing to lure the suckers to buy snake oils!
Just flash back the memory to 1993, everyone, housewives, students, hawkers in the market, were all in the market, dabbling in stocks. Everyone was talking nothing but stocks. PhDs and highly qualified professionals were giving up their jobs to be in the market. And we have stocks, plenty of stocks from two markets to trade with. No need big foreign funds, no need high speed computers, no algos, and the stock markets were roaring.
The stockbrokers were smiling, the remisiers were hard pressed for time to breathe, the employees were in glee with 12 months bonuses. Property booms because there was so much liquidity and many people became rich. There was buzz, big buzz instead of big bust.
Today, with high speed computers, big foreign funds, plenty of them, algos, big trading volumes, but you could hear a pin drop inside a broking house. The industry is dying. The broking houses will go into the red if things did not turn around. The remisiers will become taxi drivers or housing agents if these are still available. Anything will be better than to become a remisier. The staff in the brokerages will see retrenchment coming.
A lucratic industry turning to a ghost town. 10,000 people will soon lose their jobs. What is happening? No one knows. All the people supposed to know did not know. Can you believe it? Then who should know? God knows.
No body knows why, or no one wants to see what is really wrong with the market? Everyone playing the 4 proverbial monkeys, see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and do nothing. It is sad that there are so many super talents, including foreign talents, but no one knows or wants to know the truth. And yet, everyone in the industry knows what went wrong. What a farce!
And they all appear to be in a state of shock! Why ah? Why Singaporeans did not want to dabble in stocks? Stock market got no pulling power? We do not have this, we do not have that, we need more marketing to lure the suckers to buy snake oils!
Just flash back the memory to 1993, everyone, housewives, students, hawkers in the market, were all in the market, dabbling in stocks. Everyone was talking nothing but stocks. PhDs and highly qualified professionals were giving up their jobs to be in the market. And we have stocks, plenty of stocks from two markets to trade with. No need big foreign funds, no need high speed computers, no algos, and the stock markets were roaring.
The stockbrokers were smiling, the remisiers were hard pressed for time to breathe, the employees were in glee with 12 months bonuses. Property booms because there was so much liquidity and many people became rich. There was buzz, big buzz instead of big bust.
Today, with high speed computers, big foreign funds, plenty of them, algos, big trading volumes, but you could hear a pin drop inside a broking house. The industry is dying. The broking houses will go into the red if things did not turn around. The remisiers will become taxi drivers or housing agents if these are still available. Anything will be better than to become a remisier. The staff in the brokerages will see retrenchment coming.
A lucratic industry turning to a ghost town. 10,000 people will soon lose their jobs. What is happening? No one knows. All the people supposed to know did not know. Can you believe it? Then who should know? God knows.
The proper perspective of history
Many people tend to write about social political developments in Southeast Asia as if these countries were there from time immemorial. The truth is that many of these countries we see today and took for granted were never countries in the normal sense. Many were colonies or disorganized states of a different nature, and some have not even reached statehood in whatever counts.
Singaporeans used to use the familiar dates of 1819 as the founding of Singapore and 1959 when we were given self rule, but still a colony of the British Empire, not an independent country. Then came 1963 and 1965, when we became part of Malaysia and then truly independent as a nation. And there was the blip in 1941 to 1945 when we were conquered and became part of the Japanese Empire.
What was the state of Singapore in 1819? Was it a state, a country, with local govt, with a head of state, or was it a natural territory that was still evolving? There was the Johore Sultanate, with a Temengong and village chiefs. It was then probably called Temasek, or was it called something else? It did or did not have a name until Raffles landed and claimed this land as part of the British Empire and ceded it from the Johore Sultanate? It was so easy then. And he named the island Singapore or Singapura. The people, not citizens, became British subjects, owned by England. I don’t think they called themselves Singaporeans or British or Malayans. There was no Malaya as a single entity or country then.
Sounds quite funny really. There were the sultans who owned parts of the peninsula separately but no country that we know of today. They were regrouped by the British as Federated and non Federated states. There was no Malaya to talk about till 1946. A Federation of Malaya came about only in 1948 as a British colony. It only became an independent state in 1957. As a country, Malaya was even younger than me.
Singapore only gained self ruled in 1959, but still a British colony, not a country. Only in 1963 were we given the honour of calling ourselves Malaysians, citizens of a country. This short lived affair lasted for two years before we gained our independence as Singapore. Then could we call ourselves Singaporeans. Were there Singaporeans before 1965, Singaporeans of an independent country?
Until 1963, the people were a mixed of migrants with different nationalities and at best could called themselves British subjects. They didn’t have a country to pledge loyalty to but to raise the Union Jack and sing ‘God save the King/Queen’. Oh, in the period under Japanese Occupation, they were actually Japanese subjects, Japanese conquered people. And every racial group was on their own to look after themselves. You want schools for your children, go and build yourself. Raise your own fund, the govt of the day did not care who you were or your needs as a people.
No one bothered about integration or welcoming them. No one bothered what was happening to another racial group. Neither would the British be bothered. To them, all the residents were their subjects and each might hold different loyalties to wherever they came from.
And all the changes happened about 50 years ago. Could Singapore go and join the rest of the newly minted countries to claim the islands in South China Sea? We were just migrants, then British, then Japanese, British again, then Malaysian and now Singaporeans.
Now we talk about rights as citizens, equal under the law. We demand to be treated equally. We can get angry if feel discriminated. Before all these today, what rights could we talk about then? Everyone was on their own, to make the best of the day.
What’s next? American or International citizens?
Singaporeans used to use the familiar dates of 1819 as the founding of Singapore and 1959 when we were given self rule, but still a colony of the British Empire, not an independent country. Then came 1963 and 1965, when we became part of Malaysia and then truly independent as a nation. And there was the blip in 1941 to 1945 when we were conquered and became part of the Japanese Empire.
What was the state of Singapore in 1819? Was it a state, a country, with local govt, with a head of state, or was it a natural territory that was still evolving? There was the Johore Sultanate, with a Temengong and village chiefs. It was then probably called Temasek, or was it called something else? It did or did not have a name until Raffles landed and claimed this land as part of the British Empire and ceded it from the Johore Sultanate? It was so easy then. And he named the island Singapore or Singapura. The people, not citizens, became British subjects, owned by England. I don’t think they called themselves Singaporeans or British or Malayans. There was no Malaya as a single entity or country then.
Sounds quite funny really. There were the sultans who owned parts of the peninsula separately but no country that we know of today. They were regrouped by the British as Federated and non Federated states. There was no Malaya to talk about till 1946. A Federation of Malaya came about only in 1948 as a British colony. It only became an independent state in 1957. As a country, Malaya was even younger than me.
Singapore only gained self ruled in 1959, but still a British colony, not a country. Only in 1963 were we given the honour of calling ourselves Malaysians, citizens of a country. This short lived affair lasted for two years before we gained our independence as Singapore. Then could we call ourselves Singaporeans. Were there Singaporeans before 1965, Singaporeans of an independent country?
Until 1963, the people were a mixed of migrants with different nationalities and at best could called themselves British subjects. They didn’t have a country to pledge loyalty to but to raise the Union Jack and sing ‘God save the King/Queen’. Oh, in the period under Japanese Occupation, they were actually Japanese subjects, Japanese conquered people. And every racial group was on their own to look after themselves. You want schools for your children, go and build yourself. Raise your own fund, the govt of the day did not care who you were or your needs as a people.
No one bothered about integration or welcoming them. No one bothered what was happening to another racial group. Neither would the British be bothered. To them, all the residents were their subjects and each might hold different loyalties to wherever they came from.
And all the changes happened about 50 years ago. Could Singapore go and join the rest of the newly minted countries to claim the islands in South China Sea? We were just migrants, then British, then Japanese, British again, then Malaysian and now Singaporeans.
Now we talk about rights as citizens, equal under the law. We demand to be treated equally. We can get angry if feel discriminated. Before all these today, what rights could we talk about then? Everyone was on their own, to make the best of the day.
What’s next? American or International citizens?
12/29/2011
Can Singaporeans be so cruel?
Members of a family who repeatedly tortured a 10-year-old relative over two years and left him permanently disfigured were yesterday sentenced to jail.
The boy - who started living with his grandaunt and her family when he was four, after his mother went to prison - was beaten repeatedly, burned and had his fingers cut. …
The court heard the boy was hit last year on his mouth with a hammer, causing a tooth to fall off and his mouth to bleed.
This was after his grandaunt found out he had finished some fried rice meant for the family.
A few months after the incident, the boy was again abused for allegedly stealing food and playing with the knobs of the gas stove.
His grandaunt asked her three daughters to restrain the boy while she splashed hot cooking oil on his face and body. She also cut his fingers with a pair of scissors, and pressed a hot iron and ladle on him….
The boy now suffers from facial deformities, including a distorted lip margin and a flattened nasal bridge.
The above extracts were taken from the ST.
The boy - who started living with his grandaunt and her family when he was four, after his mother went to prison - was beaten repeatedly, burned and had his fingers cut. …
The court heard the boy was hit last year on his mouth with a hammer, causing a tooth to fall off and his mouth to bleed.
This was after his grandaunt found out he had finished some fried rice meant for the family.
A few months after the incident, the boy was again abused for allegedly stealing food and playing with the knobs of the gas stove.
His grandaunt asked her three daughters to restrain the boy while she splashed hot cooking oil on his face and body. She also cut his fingers with a pair of scissors, and pressed a hot iron and ladle on him….
The boy now suffers from facial deformities, including a distorted lip margin and a flattened nasal bridge.
The above extracts were taken from the ST.
Singapore a safe haven for money
The developers are worried that the recent property curbs may dampen the property market and lead to a recession. I think they are unduly worried and the fear is misplaced. Singapore is the choice estate for the rich to park their money, good or bad money, as long as they can get them in. The attractiveness of Singapore is a stable and good govt and a system of rule of law. Once the money is in and legally accepted, the money is safe.
With so much money floating around the world and seeking a safe place to hide or park, where else but Singapore. For this reason, more money will keep flowing in as other places are turning bad. Switzerland has lost its attractiveness when its privacy status is being challenged, and with foreign govts being able to pry open private accounts. The Arabs are also starting to realize their stupidity for putting money in Europe and the US when the Americans could seize them at will. And the US dollar is no longer a safe hedge for the future.
The developers should have no fear as foreign money are aplenty and will keep coming in as long as the door is open. In fact they should prepare for a flood of foreign funds into the island. The price of private high end properties should never be an issue as the reason for the money to be here is safety. And there are plenty of these monies wanting to come in.
Stop crying wolf. They could hold their prices or even expect the demand to increase. How much more land can this piece of rock sell to foreigners? And the prices are guaranteed to go up and up. The best hedge against inflation, and very safe.
With so much money floating around the world and seeking a safe place to hide or park, where else but Singapore. For this reason, more money will keep flowing in as other places are turning bad. Switzerland has lost its attractiveness when its privacy status is being challenged, and with foreign govts being able to pry open private accounts. The Arabs are also starting to realize their stupidity for putting money in Europe and the US when the Americans could seize them at will. And the US dollar is no longer a safe hedge for the future.
The developers should have no fear as foreign money are aplenty and will keep coming in as long as the door is open. In fact they should prepare for a flood of foreign funds into the island. The price of private high end properties should never be an issue as the reason for the money to be here is safety. And there are plenty of these monies wanting to come in.
Stop crying wolf. They could hold their prices or even expect the demand to increase. How much more land can this piece of rock sell to foreigners? And the prices are guaranteed to go up and up. The best hedge against inflation, and very safe.
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