8/02/2012

52 years of fantasising come true



The Olympic medal finally arrived after 52 years of waiting since Howe Liang did us proud in Rome in 1960. We can now feel it, touch it, kiss it and pray to it. Maybe a little shrine shall be built for the public to visit these two medals, to touch them for good luck or something like that. On hindsight, who are the people craving for such a medal in the first place? The men in the street, the Ah Kongs and the Ah Mahs, the Ah Ter and the Ah Kow, the sports fraternity, the adolescence or the mature oldies? We have been talking about this craving for an Olympic medal but who is the one that wanted it so badly to spend so much money for it? How much has been spent, must be ‘very much’ taking into account the logistics, medical and training support, coaches, food, training expenses, salaries and rewards etc, not just for Feng Tianwei but for the whole gang of players and supporting staff over so many years.

One thing for sure, no Sinkie sportsman or woman would want it so badly to sacrifice time and effort to go through a very tough and discipline regime to be world champions. The Chinese factories and other European factories are churning up champions by a very thorough full time process from a very young age. I don’t think any Sinkie or Sinkie parents would want to put their wards through the regime.

Anyway, the medal has arrived. Where to go from here? Would this be so exciting to stimulate people to want more, or would want to go for the gold and spend more money and resources for it? Or would people said, okay, enough of fantasies and youthful infatuation, time to grow up, no need to keep up with the Joneses. Let’s move on to more serious things in life? Some may want to use this medal as a springboard to go ahead in a big way. Some may want to tone it down or want to spend the money on the real Sinkies. And if no real Sinkies want it bad enough to put in the effort, then the money can be better spent on the welfare of the people in other areas.

Sports is about sporting spirit and competition. It would be acceptable too if it could be turned into a commercial enterprise like the European Football Leagues, creating jobs and generating revenue. But if it is a cost centre and for a little bit of glory, is it worth the expenditure, effort and resources? Do we want to go for more medals in the same way?

PS. There have been many negative remarks made about these imported sports talents. I think it is unfair as they are here because we asked them to be here. If any country would to offer any Sinkie such attractive terms it is fair for the Sinkie to accept the offer. They are not to be blamed, just like the FTs that are here. The person to take the blame should be the one that opened the legs wide wide.

PS, the 52 years wait is a mistake. Singapore won a silver medal in table tennis women's team event in 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Quote of the Day – Justice Philip Pillai



"There is no requirement in the Constitution to call elections to fill elected Member vacancies," - Justice Philip Pillai

The much awaited decision of the Vellama Muthu versus the PM case is out. And it is now clear, a ruling by a high court judge, that according to the Constitution, there is no need to fill the vacancies of a constituency if it is empty for whatever reasons. And the judge also ruled that the PM has absolute discretion whether to call an election to fill the vacancy of an elected Member.

Is that the final answer? Apparently yes. Can make a call for help? An appeal against this interpretation of the law? I don’t think there will be any other interpretation unless the Constitution is amended. So the people would now have to live with a constituency without an elected MP if the bugger buzzed off during his term of office for some reasons until the PM decided otherwise.

That must be the intention of the Constitution and must be good for the people. Constituents who go voting must now think doubly hard when they go to the poll. They must check the health and conduct of the candidate before voting just in case the bugger mati half way or kenna exposed for something and force to resign. Then they can be left with no MP throughout the term.

The legislators must have seriously thought through this before writing the law into the Constitution, and this is good for the people and country. And technically if after 3 days of an election, an MP is knocked out for some reasons, just too bad. Under the Constitution and under this latest judicial interpretation, it is possible to have no MP to serve the constituents.

SGX targeting the heartlanders



SGX is mounting a public campaign to educate the heartlanders to invest in the stock market. One thing unsaid is that the market is very sick and there is an urgent need for an injection of morphine before the market turns into a cold turkey. I said morphine injection and not tonic as more innocent traders entering the market, if they take the bait, will only be a temporary respite. The market would still go into a coma and then mortis rigour if nothing is done to look at the real causes of its bad health.

What has happened to a flourishing market that saw hundreds of thousands of investors vigorously trading daily but vanished into thin air and the market looking like a cemetery on a weekday? Where have all the investors gone and why?

There is something very sinister in the dying market. Is this due to the uncertainties in the collapsing world economy, the financial system, or is it something local and systemic? Or is it that the products are unworthy or unfit for consumption? It is important to understand the causes of this pathetic state of the market before bringing innocent and naïve heartlanders to trade in a market that is more like a casino, dominated by computers and the big boys. Someone once advised that traders cannot trade against Robocop or the computers and hoping to come up tops.

The heartlanders are not the super rich that have easy money to splash and to lose. Their little savings or spare cash are blood and sweat money and if they are encouraged to trade in a stock market, their interests must be protected at all cost. Does anyone want to know what happened to all the traders in the market? Where have they gone, what happened to them and why were they no longer in the market?

This could be a good place to start and the answers could reveal the causes of the dying market and what needs to be done before bringing in the sheep for the slaughter.

Is there anything wrong with the market? This is a spooky question that begs to be answered.

8/01/2012

My grandfather’s company




My grandfather’s company is the place for happy people. All the employees are absolutely happy, at least in their pay and bonuses. There are so many MDs that I have lost count. And there are more presidents than the country has. We have no problem creating good and high value jobs and every talented employee will be promoted to MDs and presidents in double quick time. Money is never an issue. My grandfather pays for it. Just don’t ask where my grandfather finds the money.

I know that many eager beavers are waiting in a long queue to join my grandfather’s company. But sorry to say, employment is by invitations only. And being my grandfather’s company, a little purple blood will make entry and promotion that much faster. My grandfather loves that kind of things.

And there is never short of cash. So promotion is always a happy and easy thing to do. And if any MD or president is not too happy with his or her pay, my grandfather will just add a few more appointments in the name cards, and the unhappy employee will walk away merrily.

Nobody wants to leave my grandfather’s company once they have joined. And we have a policy of not firing anyone. How could that be when everyone is so talented, so devoted and so self sacrificing? My grandfather’s company is the best company in the Top 100 companies of the world. It is a dream company.

Integration, an exercise in futility



What or who are Sinkies supposed to integrate with, the foreign workers, maids, the EP talents, definitely not the real super foreign talents? The latter no need to integrate. Or are the Sinkies supposed to integrate only with the new citizens and PRs or with all of them?

Not only this is a problem, there are many conditions and developments that made integration just that unrealistic. Those who remembered, we used to have Integrated Schools in the 60s and 70s, to integrate our young as people of a nation. That was the right place to start with, the impressionable young. And from schools to working life, there will be plenty of time to get to know each other even as acquaintance. We have achieved some degree of social cohesion over the years, over many years, not days. And we have a people, though of various races, but already here for generations and quite adapted to the culture and social norms.

Life then was quite different too. There was no rat race and people generally have a lot of free time to socialize, to visit one another. Life style today is so hectic. The working adults would be working their guts out to make a living and to pay high mortgages. After work, they would be so exhausted that there would be no time for anything. They even have problems to spend quality time with their child or children. Still got time to integrate with foreigners? The rich have a lot of time, but with a lot of amusements to keep them busy and occupied. Integrating with the foreigners would be the last thing on their mind.

The young would be busy studying and trying to get good grades. Any time available would be spent integrating with their little machine, Iphone, Ipod, Ipad and computers. They don’t have time for anything else.

The only group left with all the time in the world to integrate with the foreigners would be the retirees, the uncles and aunties. Then again, would the young foreign workers and maids want to integrate with them? I know for sure, the maids and foreign workers would be busily integrating among themselves. The remainder of the foreign adults would be in Little India or Geylang trying to socialize and be happy.

Who else is there with all the time in the world to want to integrate? The middle executives, both locals and foreign would not have the time nor the interest to want to socialize. What ever little precious time left would be for sleeping and catching up with their little hobbies or preoccupations.

By the way, you don’t say integrate and lo behold, the people are dancing and hugging each other all over. Integration is a long term process that would not happen overnight like instant trees. The foreign workers and maids, even the middle executives are transient workers and residents and many would not be here for long. And who is going to pay for the time and effort to integrate? Time is money and integration also cost money.

Integration seems like a magic word to some, like go forth and multiply.