Can a financial centre afford not to have a healthy stock market?

All big financial centres will have a full complement of financial institutions and a stock market. In fact a thriving stock market is the cornerstone of a vibrant financial centre. The absence of a stock market, or a fictitious stock market that is dysfunctional just would not do and will lead to the demise of the whole finance and banking industry.

Could there be govts that are growth biased but blindly allowing their stock markets to wind down into a farce, or crippled through neglect or unwise systems or structures? A stock market has to function like a stock market and anything that is only a make belief and unreal cannot do. The industries, the companies, need a vibrant and healthy stock market with all the fund managers, big and small investors, brokerages, banks etc etc participating actively so that fund raising can be conducted efficiently to lubricate the economy. There is no such thing as a fictitious stock market, a sick stock market, a make belief stock market that is dysfunctional and thinking that the whole financial system will not be affected. It just would not work.

Can anyone imagine a stock market where trading is done by a few computers or a handful of funds, or a handful of investors? I know that it is a foolish thought. You either have a stock market or you don’t. Doing away with the brokerages, doing away with investors, big or small, are simply nonsensical unless the intent is to close down the stock market and lead to a highly strung banking industry that is going no where.

The stock market is really the core of the finance and banking industry. Only small and undeveloped countries do not operate a stock market. And companies will have difficulties raising funds from the public for growth and expansion, and have to rely on individual investors in small circles of contacts. The room for economic growth is thus limited.

Can a financial centre like Singapore afford to have a fictitious stock market or a dysfunctional one? Hither is the stock market? Is the stock market thriving or is it dying?

There are many ways to kill a stock market.

1. When companies find it meaningless to list in the stock market.
2. When there is no critical mass of investors, retail or institutions, to provide the liquidity.
3. Believing that a small market, without contra trading, can thrive as a financial centre.
4. Believing in fictitious trades generated by computers with no real tradings done to replace real trades.
5. Believing that with low or minimal commissions, the brokerages can continue to exist.
6. Believing that a stock market can exist without brokerages and their clients.
7. Believing and allowing unfair trading practices by computers and big funds to take advantage of small traders/investors.
8. Believing that a few computers can generate enough trades to keep a stock market viable.
9. Believing in derivatives trades to replace real stocks.

The signs that a stock market is rotting from within is for main board companies to be trading as penny stocks at 10c. Oops, some are trading at less than that, at 1c. When the true value of a company is more than the listed share value, the company will be scrambling to delist in fear of a hostile takeover in the cheap. When the true value of a main board company is really 1c or worthless, there is no fear of anything, no takeover, and continued listing could still allow the company to raise fund from the gullible public.

How healthy is the stock market? Is it in the pink of health, or just a mirage?

The police force is highly short handed

A student made a police report that a teacher used the word ‘fuck’ in their discussion and felt offended. Would he go further to make a magistrate complaint that he was being threatened by the teacher? Would the next person go to make a police report that his neighbour stared at him so he can also make a magistrate report?

My earlier article on the most serious crime in Sin City was sexual offences and that that was a good thing. Now it seems that the offences or crimes in the City is about four letter words and intimidation because someone said ‘Fuck you’ or stares at you. And the poor magistrate would have to call his court into action because the complainant would engage a willing lawyer to file charges against such ‘serious’ and spurious accusations. And mind you, with enough money, lawyers will be ingenious in framing all kinds of charges for the most incredible reasons even if the complainant is a nut case. They could pay to bring the justice system to bear on you.

I think both the police force and the courts would need to ramp up their manpower and resources to entertain these ‘serious’ complaints by the people, real or unreal, as long as they claimed to be threatened, to fear, and willing to pay the legal fees. The police may need a full contingent of officers to be deployed in all the Neighbourhood Police Posts to deal with this crisis. There may be a need to build a separate magistrate court to handle such cases.

The good thing is that all the serious crimes have somehow disappeared. Or maybe the police force is so bogged down by fuck complaints that they have no time to spare for anything else. This is as good as people happily calling for emergency ambulance services for toothache or morning sickness or when they lost their pet dog. Maybe the police force is now so people friendly that everyone is feeling so comfortable to drop by to have a chat and to make a complaint of whatever sick nature.

My RSAF story

Sometime in April 1969, I quit my first job of a few months, climbed up a 3 tonner and was on my way to Seletar Air Base. It was RAF Seletar, a British base in the Far East of the British Empire. There were two of us at the back of the 3 tonner. Singam was a former school mate and we were rather surprised to meet again in the oddest of all places. We did not realise that we were the last two recruits to fill up the remaining positions for the first batch of pilot trainees for our infant air force. It was too small to be anything and they called it the Singapore Air Defence Command.

Seletar had a little airfield with a little air traffic control tower that would be our training school for the training we were to receive in flying. It was a crash course really. We jumped down the 3 tonner to get a glimpse of the air force we came to join. And the whole air force was right in front of us, two Cessnas, a 170 and and 172 if I did not remember wrongly. For those who are not familiar with aircraft, these Cessnas were light aircraft, piston engine with a propeller in front, used for joy ride by hobbyists in the Flying Club. We were impressed. Never seen an aircraft at such closed range, and never knew what an air force was like.

The Chief Flying Instructor, a Major Foster and a Major Ogden greeted us on arrival. My gosh, two senior English gentlemen in flying suits warmly received these two young men still in civilian attire. In 1969, the locals were still quite unfamiliar with the faces of our ex colonial masters. But they were great guys, seasoned pilots from the RAF. After a few pleasantries we were introduced to another few senior trainee pilots, Andrew, Pat, Tony, Norman and a couple of others.

Andrew was tasked to show us around the aircraft to get us familiar with the machine that would take us up in the air. He walked us through and showed us what was a flap, an aileron, pitot tube, propeller and all the external parts of the Cessna. We did not know that that was Lesson Number One of ground school. Back in the class room at the tower we were given two books on the principles and theory of Flight. Read and ask if we did not understand what we were reading. The senior trainees would be there to help. The content was quite elementary, really. We were genius.

After lunch, Major Foster came to take me for a joy ride. Everything happened so fast, it was like a dream. Joined the SADC in the morning, went flying in the afternoon. And that was Flying Lesson Number One, to test how we reacted to air sickness.

In about a week I went solo. Unbelieveable. I did not even have a driving licence nor  have I driven a car. Then I flew cross country into Johore, over Yong Peng, Layang Layang, Gunong Pulai and a few other small towns, alone. The only thing that I could still remember was the last minute safety advice, to ditch into any open area if the aircraft developed any trouble or engine failure. I was on my own, with only a few hours of flying and barely any knowledge of emergency drill. Partly ignorant, partly foolish, partly young and innocent, everyone one of us went through the routine to prepare us for a Private Pilot Licence. That was the basic requirement for further training in the UK. We did not know what was fear, what was dangerous then. If we ditched, we would be in the news, history. Quite a number of pilot trainees did become history while learning how to fly along the way, the heavy price the young men paid and were mostly forgotten.

All in all it took me one and a half months to get my PPL. I did not know it was that easy. I remembered taking more than a year to get my driving licence a few years later and had to struggle to pass the highway code. During this short phase of our training the 3 tonner driver, NSman, faithfully fetched the handful of us every morning from RAF Tengah to Seletar and back. There was no time for drills or learning how to march. One moment I was an Officer Cadet. The next moment I was a second lieutenant without any basic military training or knowledge of the army rituals. I actually did my basic military training in an Officer Cadet Training School, in RAF Henlow, UK.

Then on that fateful day of May 13, 1969, 5 young men, including myself, left Paya Lebar International Airport to join the first batch of pilot trainees already in the UK to be trained by the RAF as the pioneers of the infant air force. This was part of the deal offered by the British prior to handling over the military facilities to our Govt.

Imagine how time flies and how things were in those days. No ground school, no flying school of any kind. And if I am not mistaken, of the two Cessnas, one was on loan from the Flying Club. The sole possession of the SADC was a solitary Cessna 172 when the Air Force first started. Maybe this was also on loan from the Singapore Flying Club.

A little unusual thing happened while I was going through the crash course. I was officially AWOL from the Police Reserve Unit I was attached to for my part time NS. Everything happened so fast that no one informed the PRU of my enlistment into the SADC. The police went looking for me, probably with a warrant of arrest. I was in camp and did not know what actually transpired. They must have sorted things out after that and I did not hear from them anymore. Those were the days that anything goes and all rules were meant to be broken. There were organisations and rules that were often overtaken by events.

Large quantities of original paintings available

Woman Dressing

A piece of abstract rar art of a woman putting on her dress. With the Art of RAR technique I could create large numbers of original pieces, each piece different, to fill up the rooms of a big hotel or a large installation like Marina Bay Sands, MBS or Resorts World Sentosa, RWS, at a very reasonable budget. The hotels can claim that every painting in each and every room is different.

Turn SMRT into a National Service

The General has been appointed as the CEO. He is bringing in more soldiers to help him run the business. Drivers, logistics, transportations are all key elements in a big armed force like the SAF. The trained manpower and their expertise are relevant and very important both in war and in peace. It is time to nationalise bus companies as part of the SAF logistic arm. One good thing for sure will not happen. No strikes. The next big thing is that the running cost will be down, with NSmen as drivers and guards, yes the installation will be well guarded, no more vandalism. 

The introduction of army discipline will do well for the transport services, with healthy and fit NSmen, young and vibrant and following orders, the buses will be running like clockwork. No need to recruit foreigners. No need to have union and unionist problems. All disciplinary problems just leave it to the RSM.

Routine orders, stand by bed, daily inspection, fitness exercises, cleanly pressed uniforms, a perfectly discipline workforce. What can be better? No need to please shareholders, no need to pay exorbitant management pay and director fees, which means, yes, lower fare. This is like a wet dream. 

Commuters can look forward to lower fare and stable fair, no regular fare hikes. And the management do not have to worry about the profits to pay the shareholders.

Another big plus, with the experience in driving through the city, they will be an asset in FIBUA, knowing every nooks and corners and negotiating all the difficult turns through ground knowledge.

What do you think?