Bloomberg
By Kana Nishizawa and Marco Lui - Jan 12, 2012
Securities traders and restaurant staff will protest outside the Hong Kong stock exchange offices today over the bourse’s plan to reduce its lunchtime trading break.
As many as 1,000 protesters will gather at the Statue Square in the city’s central business district at 4:45 p.m. and walk to the headquarters of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. at the Exchange Square, said Patrick Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Employees Union and organizer of the demonstration.
Hong Kong Exchanges Chief Executive Officer Charles Li plans to cut the lunch break from March 5 to one hour from 90 minute, following a reduction last year from two hours, the longest of the world’s 20 largest bourses. Brokers use the lunch break to communicate with clients and improve businesses, and one hour is not enough, Lam said by telephone today. Restaurants in the city’s central district would be losing business as well, he said.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Francis Lun, managing director at Lyncean Holdings Ltd., who may join the protest. “After the morning trading, traders have to spend about 15 minutes to match all the trades, so it really gives you no time for lunch at all. I hope we can throw garbage on the head of Mr. Charles Li for not listening to public opinion.”....
The SGX has since cut off lunch break to be in line with the stupid Americans for the same quoted reason that it will increase the volume of transactions. Where is the evidence? Where is the increase? There is only decrease in volume. In fact the volume of trades does not even justify opening the exchange for more than 2 hours. Now that this sad state of affair has been proven, let’s not deceive ourselves that volume will increase with continuous trading.
What is the point of opening non stop when there are hardly any trades being done? Or is it that it got something to do with switching on and off of high speed computers? There is no reason for continuous trading unless the volume justifies it. Until then, it is only reasonable to revert to the one and the half hour lunch break.
1/12/2012
The more you read the more tulan
More and more cases of PRs and new citizens benefitting from the housing policies or taking advantage of them are being reported in cyberspace. And to think that they did not have to do NS and could get a public flat so easily while so many Sinkies are not even eligible for some cock reasons, singles, income too high etc etc, makes the blood boils. How can policies be formulated that put Sinkies at a disadvantage over PRs and new citizens?
The people that fall victims to such policies have all the rights to be fuming mad. They are the sons of the land, oops, a piece of rock, and having live here all their lives, doing NS to defend this piece of rock, and could not buy a roof over their heads while new citizens going around merrily getting them, subletting them, or selling them at good profits only to abandon this place and return home.
The Sinkies deserve the govt they get. I am sure many Sinkies are damn tulan over this. Own citizens, born and bred here, lost out to PRs and new citizens. And best of the bestest, they will vote for those who made the policies to their detriment.
The people that fall victims to such policies have all the rights to be fuming mad. They are the sons of the land, oops, a piece of rock, and having live here all their lives, doing NS to defend this piece of rock, and could not buy a roof over their heads while new citizens going around merrily getting them, subletting them, or selling them at good profits only to abandon this place and return home.
The Sinkies deserve the govt they get. I am sure many Sinkies are damn tulan over this. Own citizens, born and bred here, lost out to PRs and new citizens. And best of the bestest, they will vote for those who made the policies to their detriment.
Ministerial salary debate in Parliament
The recommendations of the Salary Review Committee will be debated on Monday 16 Jan in Parliament. It will be PAP versus others, between those going to vote for the recommendations and those against it. It will not be a debate on conscience, not about morality or decency, but a debate on policy.
Yes, Gan Kim Yong said the whip will not be lifted. This means that the PAP MPs must toe the line, and vote for the new salary. They have no choice, they cannot vote against it. But would they stand up and speak against it? No, it is a PAP policy and they must be disciplined, cannot break rank, it is us against them. Those who believe that PAP MPs can speak to oppose PAP policies, this sitting will tell them rudely that they can forget it in important issues like this one.
The stage is set for a bi partisan debate, with PAP for and others against the recommendation. It will be 6 against 81. And the vote is final and the recommendations will be approved. The bill is passed, or as good as passed even before Parliament sits. This is democracy, the rule of the majority…in Parliament.
Yes, Gan Kim Yong said the whip will not be lifted. This means that the PAP MPs must toe the line, and vote for the new salary. They have no choice, they cannot vote against it. But would they stand up and speak against it? No, it is a PAP policy and they must be disciplined, cannot break rank, it is us against them. Those who believe that PAP MPs can speak to oppose PAP policies, this sitting will tell them rudely that they can forget it in important issues like this one.
The stage is set for a bi partisan debate, with PAP for and others against the recommendation. It will be 6 against 81. And the vote is final and the recommendations will be approved. The bill is passed, or as good as passed even before Parliament sits. This is democracy, the rule of the majority…in Parliament.
MRT jams - Another expert recommendation
I heard that some experts are recommending that SMRT provide incentives in the form of monetary rewards to commuters to take the trains outside the peak hours. I think this is a very ingenious suggestion. How come no super talent can think of such a brilliant idea?
I am seriously considering doing that now and see how much money is SMRT going to incentivize me. Okay, my office starts work at 9 am. Now if I were to take the 7am train, I could miss the peak hours and get some money back from SMRT. If one way is 20c, two ways will be 40c daily. For 22 days, that will be a saving of $8.80 a month. Whoa, one year nearly $100! Not bad at all.
Now what am I going to do arriving at the office one hour earlier? One day two hours, one hour earlier to arrive and one hour later to leave, that is 44 hours a month or 500 over hours that I need to stay in the office.
Is it worth it for the $100 savings? Of course lah. Can spend more time doing own things or have more time to do office work. The bosses will be happy and may get higher variable bonuses some more. That means the monetary reward is more than $100 a year.
Ok, SMRT, please quickly implement this money reward schemes and reduce the jams during peak hours. It is definitely a win win win situation. I win, SMRT wins and my company also wins.
Simply brilliant.
I am seriously considering doing that now and see how much money is SMRT going to incentivize me. Okay, my office starts work at 9 am. Now if I were to take the 7am train, I could miss the peak hours and get some money back from SMRT. If one way is 20c, two ways will be 40c daily. For 22 days, that will be a saving of $8.80 a month. Whoa, one year nearly $100! Not bad at all.
Now what am I going to do arriving at the office one hour earlier? One day two hours, one hour earlier to arrive and one hour later to leave, that is 44 hours a month or 500 over hours that I need to stay in the office.
Is it worth it for the $100 savings? Of course lah. Can spend more time doing own things or have more time to do office work. The bosses will be happy and may get higher variable bonuses some more. That means the monetary reward is more than $100 a year.
Ok, SMRT, please quickly implement this money reward schemes and reduce the jams during peak hours. It is definitely a win win win situation. I win, SMRT wins and my company also wins.
Simply brilliant.
Truly an island with no talent
When they want to find a nice name for Marina Bay, they sought the expertise of foreign consultants who advised them, after collecting $400k, to call it Marina Bay.
Today we have this MRT problem, a system that we have been operating for 30 years and looking like falling into pieces. And who else to look for expert advice when there is none locally? Call for foreign experts lah. Just pay only what. I can’t believe that after 30 years we have no talent good enough to look into the problem which is not let a failure of a rocket to the moon.
And when ponding became a problem, and as usual, there are no local talent that are really good at it, call for foreign talents. After six months of studies by a panel of 12 experts, some local and some foreign, a list of ingenious solutions that our locals would never imagine have been tabled. Roof gardens, roof ponds, porous roads, collecting water by every building, delaying the flow of water, raising barriers, increasing thresholds of buildings, and some enormous infrastructure changes were proposed. Yes, foreign talents are where all the solutions coming from. 6 months of studies with 12 experts cannot be for free.
If only I have a string of engineering degrees I will recommend them to put a bubble roof over the whole of Orchard Road. Not only it would reduce the rain water over the area, the roof must cover a big enough area, it would also be useful to control the climate under the bubble. You want wind you can have wind. You want snow you can have snow. Definitely a great attraction that would improve the attractiveness of Orchard Road. And if solar cells are used, all the improvements and inventions on solar energy can be incorporated. Great stuff, really.
Maybe we can wait for another panel of foreign talents to recommend this. Put a bubble over Orchard Road.
What is the point of paying all the super talented salary for super talents when every little problem there will be a big scramble for foreign talents who were mostly paid half of what our supertalents are being paid?
There is no need for 5 specialists when one gets pile in the arse. And definitely no need to seek reassurance and a second opinion from a foreign pile specialist. Of course when one has all the money to throw, or hoping that if the recommendation is not good enough, then we can point the finger at the foreign specialist, a foreign specialist will come in useful. Or since the foreign specialist cannot solve it, no local talent can. Safe.
Today we have this MRT problem, a system that we have been operating for 30 years and looking like falling into pieces. And who else to look for expert advice when there is none locally? Call for foreign experts lah. Just pay only what. I can’t believe that after 30 years we have no talent good enough to look into the problem which is not let a failure of a rocket to the moon.
And when ponding became a problem, and as usual, there are no local talent that are really good at it, call for foreign talents. After six months of studies by a panel of 12 experts, some local and some foreign, a list of ingenious solutions that our locals would never imagine have been tabled. Roof gardens, roof ponds, porous roads, collecting water by every building, delaying the flow of water, raising barriers, increasing thresholds of buildings, and some enormous infrastructure changes were proposed. Yes, foreign talents are where all the solutions coming from. 6 months of studies with 12 experts cannot be for free.
If only I have a string of engineering degrees I will recommend them to put a bubble roof over the whole of Orchard Road. Not only it would reduce the rain water over the area, the roof must cover a big enough area, it would also be useful to control the climate under the bubble. You want wind you can have wind. You want snow you can have snow. Definitely a great attraction that would improve the attractiveness of Orchard Road. And if solar cells are used, all the improvements and inventions on solar energy can be incorporated. Great stuff, really.
Maybe we can wait for another panel of foreign talents to recommend this. Put a bubble over Orchard Road.
What is the point of paying all the super talented salary for super talents when every little problem there will be a big scramble for foreign talents who were mostly paid half of what our supertalents are being paid?
There is no need for 5 specialists when one gets pile in the arse. And definitely no need to seek reassurance and a second opinion from a foreign pile specialist. Of course when one has all the money to throw, or hoping that if the recommendation is not good enough, then we can point the finger at the foreign specialist, a foreign specialist will come in useful. Or since the foreign specialist cannot solve it, no local talent can. Safe.
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