China has woken up to its folly of investing its money in American stocks. The last decade had seen China losing billions in pouring money into American stocks while neglecting its own stock market. Instead of making money, it burnt a big hole for its blind belief and adolation of Wall Street and the great American financial con game. While doing it, it also in a way allowed the hollowing of its own stock market and the value of Chinese stocks in Shanghai and Hongkong.
Now that it has learnt its lesson well, that Wall Street is another rotten apple and a bottomless pit, China is turning its interest back home. It is going to invest in its own market and stocks. China is also encouraging its pension funds and other financial institutions to boost its own stock markets.
The stupidity of Asians and their blind infatuation of everything American are turning full circle. The Chinese have learnt well and no longer behaving like little boys and girls pouring money into American stocks and assets. They rather put money to support their own markets and not look so stupid to the Americans.
The Chinese are now taking the lead to return to Asian. They used to believe and were misled by dumb American believers.
The Chinese stock markets can look forward to more Chinese funds supporting their own stocks.
Would Temasek and GIC now learn from China and cut their losses in America and Europe and bring back their foreign invested funds to support the local market and local stocks? Or would they continue in their blind belief that the American and European markets are the safest and most promising place to invest while hollowing out the local markets and abandoning local stocks?
1/11/2012
Dump the KPIs/bonuses for ministers
You cannot run a country on greed or money. If what is good for the country is all about greed and money, then you will have to face policies that are greed or money driven.
A country is about the well being of its people, not about the well being of a few rich men or women, not about the superb infrastructure, not about GDP growth, if they don’t benefit the people.
To connect the performance of political leaders to KPIs is controversial. To link them to GDP is dangerous. We have seen an economic wonder in year 2010 when our GDP out performed China and India. It must be another world record for Guinness, 15% GDP growth! No bluff. If there is no linkage of GDP with minister’s performance, we may not be near that number by a mile. It was a miracle that is like once in 50 years event. Make that 100 years.
And nothing can be more terrible than to link minister’s pay with GDP as KPIs. We know how numbers can work wonders with a little jigging by the statisticians. No need to explain. Even Ali, Ah Eng and Amir can do it to look good, and betterer if their pays are tied to it.
How could dumbass experts tie the performance of a country to just economic numbers? The well being of the people, cost of living, happiness, general health, quality of life, freedom of expression, a good life, to live and enjoy life instead of working to death, living in bigger and better housing, no need to fear a runaway property price and unable to buy decent roofs over their heads, good jobs, to be able to spend their hard earned money, etc etc are all important factors that must be taken together as a whole. Running a country is not just about how much more profit. It is everything, about a good or better life.
Dump the KPIs. And never link minister performance with profits. The National Development Minister must have gotten 24 or 27.5 months of bonus for increasing the revenue of HDB and its profits if his KPIs were about revenue and profits. But what about the consequences and the well being of the people, the pain, the angst and the money being emptied from their savings, forced to buy ever higher property prices in the public and private sector. And force to wait 4 or 5 years to get their flats? Are they really good for the people?
National leadership is not just about making money and raising GDP numbers. It is about people, and no, not just people, it is about the citizens, the interests and welfare of the citizens. Once these objectives are being distorted by money and greed, the people will only be aroused, I mean anger and discontent of the people.
Spare the effort and wasteful time and resources to measure performances of ministers by themselves. The simple and more important and relevant way is to evaluate them by the people through the ballot box. The citizens may be daft but not dumb and know what is a good govt and what is a bad govt. They have exercised their little intelligence for the past 4 decades for their own good by voting for good govt. How can anyone dismiss the people as stupid and do not know how to judge if the govt is good or bad?
Let the people decide whether a govt deserves to be reelected. Period. Dump the KPIs. Running a country is a long term enterprise, not short term results measurable annually.
A country is about the well being of its people, not about the well being of a few rich men or women, not about the superb infrastructure, not about GDP growth, if they don’t benefit the people.
To connect the performance of political leaders to KPIs is controversial. To link them to GDP is dangerous. We have seen an economic wonder in year 2010 when our GDP out performed China and India. It must be another world record for Guinness, 15% GDP growth! No bluff. If there is no linkage of GDP with minister’s performance, we may not be near that number by a mile. It was a miracle that is like once in 50 years event. Make that 100 years.
And nothing can be more terrible than to link minister’s pay with GDP as KPIs. We know how numbers can work wonders with a little jigging by the statisticians. No need to explain. Even Ali, Ah Eng and Amir can do it to look good, and betterer if their pays are tied to it.
How could dumbass experts tie the performance of a country to just economic numbers? The well being of the people, cost of living, happiness, general health, quality of life, freedom of expression, a good life, to live and enjoy life instead of working to death, living in bigger and better housing, no need to fear a runaway property price and unable to buy decent roofs over their heads, good jobs, to be able to spend their hard earned money, etc etc are all important factors that must be taken together as a whole. Running a country is not just about how much more profit. It is everything, about a good or better life.
Dump the KPIs. And never link minister performance with profits. The National Development Minister must have gotten 24 or 27.5 months of bonus for increasing the revenue of HDB and its profits if his KPIs were about revenue and profits. But what about the consequences and the well being of the people, the pain, the angst and the money being emptied from their savings, forced to buy ever higher property prices in the public and private sector. And force to wait 4 or 5 years to get their flats? Are they really good for the people?
National leadership is not just about making money and raising GDP numbers. It is about people, and no, not just people, it is about the citizens, the interests and welfare of the citizens. Once these objectives are being distorted by money and greed, the people will only be aroused, I mean anger and discontent of the people.
Spare the effort and wasteful time and resources to measure performances of ministers by themselves. The simple and more important and relevant way is to evaluate them by the people through the ballot box. The citizens may be daft but not dumb and know what is a good govt and what is a bad govt. They have exercised their little intelligence for the past 4 decades for their own good by voting for good govt. How can anyone dismiss the people as stupid and do not know how to judge if the govt is good or bad?
Let the people decide whether a govt deserves to be reelected. Period. Dump the KPIs. Running a country is a long term enterprise, not short term results measurable annually.
Solving the ponding problem
I am very impressed by the credentials of all the top drainage experts in town and their fanciful solutions to the ponding problems in Orchard Road. I think they will work, if not, just at a few more measures as things go along. It just costs a little more money that’s all.
I am no expert in any of these stuff, drainage, catchment area, water flow, rate of flow, porous material, drain capacity, and building ponds on roof tops. Hopefully they don’t burst or the flats do not collapse with the additional weight.
Looking at the big picture, my first layman impression is that the Marina Bay Reservoir has raised the water level in the city catchment area. All the drains and canals are perpetually full, or filled to a much higher level and capacity. As such, any sudden downpour will only raise the water level and add to the water already in the catchment area, canals and drains. And they will overflow very quickly. You don’t need a thunder storm that pour in a year’s rainfall in half an hour. Just get the city folks to pee into the drain and you will get ponding immediately.
Maybe, if they have not done so, try to lower the water level of Marina Bay Reservoir by a meter, if that is feasible, and live with it for a while to see how much more pondings will occur. It is not going to cost any money, or very little money. Just a small experiment before they go along with all the great and fanciful recommendations and infrastructure works which may not work. But they will certainly create a lot of jobs and employment and raise the GDP or National Productivity to a higher level.
This is really a two cent worth comment. Sometimes, when a person is having obese problems, there is no need to go on a specialist circuit to pay for all the expensive tests, advices and treatment when all it needs is a little dieting. Please laugh at it if you want. I am no expert and my credential is that of Emperor of Cyberspace, and my forte is to blog on controversies.
I am no expert in any of these stuff, drainage, catchment area, water flow, rate of flow, porous material, drain capacity, and building ponds on roof tops. Hopefully they don’t burst or the flats do not collapse with the additional weight.
Looking at the big picture, my first layman impression is that the Marina Bay Reservoir has raised the water level in the city catchment area. All the drains and canals are perpetually full, or filled to a much higher level and capacity. As such, any sudden downpour will only raise the water level and add to the water already in the catchment area, canals and drains. And they will overflow very quickly. You don’t need a thunder storm that pour in a year’s rainfall in half an hour. Just get the city folks to pee into the drain and you will get ponding immediately.
Maybe, if they have not done so, try to lower the water level of Marina Bay Reservoir by a meter, if that is feasible, and live with it for a while to see how much more pondings will occur. It is not going to cost any money, or very little money. Just a small experiment before they go along with all the great and fanciful recommendations and infrastructure works which may not work. But they will certainly create a lot of jobs and employment and raise the GDP or National Productivity to a higher level.
This is really a two cent worth comment. Sometimes, when a person is having obese problems, there is no need to go on a specialist circuit to pay for all the expensive tests, advices and treatment when all it needs is a little dieting. Please laugh at it if you want. I am no expert and my credential is that of Emperor of Cyberspace, and my forte is to blog on controversies.
How much political leadership?
I ask how much, not what is political leadership. And I say political leadership, not administrators or civil servants. Political leadership, is priceless, I mean the good ones, the really good ones, not those gold plated stuff.
Leading a country needs leaders, to motivate the people, to challenge the people, to lead the people. The reverse, to demotivate the people, to tell them there is no hope, to look for better people elsewhere, now that is a different kind of leadership not in the text book on leadership yet.
Good political leaders are found to be everywhere, especially when there is a problem, a crisis. They may not do much. But they talk and they lead. And when they talk, people listen. People will make appointments with them when they will be appearing on TV, to make time to listen to them. Aspiring political leaders that cannot talk, or are dumb, should just remain as civil servants or administrators.
When people do not bother to listen when a political leader talks, he is finished. He has lost his leadership, or there was no leadership in the first place. There is even a lower category, I won’t call it leadership, when people try to listen but not for wisdom but for entertainment, to have a good laugh. That is tough to be called a leader.
How much is political leadership? Yes priceless. But a good political leader does not thrive for money and or constantly ask for money. They are in a way a bit silly, idealistic and selfless in a sense. It is a calling, a mission, to lead a people and a country for the good of everyone. His reward is his work and recognition that he is a good and respectable man, a good leader.
Do not let greedy people and pigs who are used to swim in a pond of swill to tell you political leaders need to be fed like pigs, to grow as fat as pigs. They are of the same kind, the same thing, out to defend their kind. We have better people that will make better leaders if the system allows them to step forward to serve without a plate of gold.
Leading a country needs leaders, to motivate the people, to challenge the people, to lead the people. The reverse, to demotivate the people, to tell them there is no hope, to look for better people elsewhere, now that is a different kind of leadership not in the text book on leadership yet.
Good political leaders are found to be everywhere, especially when there is a problem, a crisis. They may not do much. But they talk and they lead. And when they talk, people listen. People will make appointments with them when they will be appearing on TV, to make time to listen to them. Aspiring political leaders that cannot talk, or are dumb, should just remain as civil servants or administrators.
When people do not bother to listen when a political leader talks, he is finished. He has lost his leadership, or there was no leadership in the first place. There is even a lower category, I won’t call it leadership, when people try to listen but not for wisdom but for entertainment, to have a good laugh. That is tough to be called a leader.
How much is political leadership? Yes priceless. But a good political leader does not thrive for money and or constantly ask for money. They are in a way a bit silly, idealistic and selfless in a sense. It is a calling, a mission, to lead a people and a country for the good of everyone. His reward is his work and recognition that he is a good and respectable man, a good leader.
Do not let greedy people and pigs who are used to swim in a pond of swill to tell you political leaders need to be fed like pigs, to grow as fat as pigs. They are of the same kind, the same thing, out to defend their kind. We have better people that will make better leaders if the system allows them to step forward to serve without a plate of gold.
1/10/2012
Ministerial Salary Review - Time to ask the minister
How much do you want? As the salary or money issue continues to engage the daft Sinkies, I would suggest that they get real. Throw away all the fictitious and fallacious assumptions and formulas. There is no right or wrong answer. What is right to the ministers may not be right to the people and vice versa. What is right to one minister may be wrong to another.
Let’s just ask them how much they want and spare everyone from ridiculing themselves and their credibility with all kinds of rubbish proposals. It is a very destructive exercise. It destroys respectabilty and dignity when people came up with packages that are just good for a laugh. I would suggest the ministers themselves come out with 3 options, be it $3m, $5m, or $10m (no more complicated formulas or bonuses) and let the people, the small shareholders of this piece of rock, to vote for it. Oh, include another option for ‘Sorry, reject’. No need for more deceptions, pretensions and contrived logics to be morally correct, righteous, upright, need to pay talent or attract talent, need to prevent corruption, etc etc. No need any explanation or excuses. No bull shits, no high falutins.
Just simply say how much and vote. Better to put up during a GE and save one more voting process. Let’s not waste any more time and effort on something that nobody has a good or acceptable answer. I think it will be more dignified to tell the world that the people approved the salary and voted for it, instead of all the goose pimple explanations that people would only snigger in the toilets and became the butt of silly jokes in cocktail parties.
Let’s just ask them how much they want and spare everyone from ridiculing themselves and their credibility with all kinds of rubbish proposals. It is a very destructive exercise. It destroys respectabilty and dignity when people came up with packages that are just good for a laugh. I would suggest the ministers themselves come out with 3 options, be it $3m, $5m, or $10m (no more complicated formulas or bonuses) and let the people, the small shareholders of this piece of rock, to vote for it. Oh, include another option for ‘Sorry, reject’. No need for more deceptions, pretensions and contrived logics to be morally correct, righteous, upright, need to pay talent or attract talent, need to prevent corruption, etc etc. No need any explanation or excuses. No bull shits, no high falutins.
Just simply say how much and vote. Better to put up during a GE and save one more voting process. Let’s not waste any more time and effort on something that nobody has a good or acceptable answer. I think it will be more dignified to tell the world that the people approved the salary and voted for it, instead of all the goose pimple explanations that people would only snigger in the toilets and became the butt of silly jokes in cocktail parties.
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