Property curbs to prevent a balloon

We all heard it last night. The Govt is introducing its seventh cooling measures to curb a runaway property market that is getting out of control. The details are in the media and I would not want to repeat them here. What was astonishing is that it took six cooling measures and nothing seemed to work. If the six measures were ideas from some third world half baked govts, I can understand. But there were carefully crafted by super talents that are being paid in the millions and they did not work, failed to work! And now the seventh measures touted as the harshest. Really? Is it going to work?

The best part is that the Govt still think that there is no bubble yet. And these measures are still timely to prevent a bubble from forming. According the Tharman, the prices are running ahead of fundamentals. This must be a great revelation.

Both Tharman and Boon Wan appeared together to meet the Press. It used to be just Boon Wan alone and he was always full of confidence, the man in charge, the problem solver. He volunteered to take over this office from Mah Bow Tan.

Last night Boon Wan was a shadow of himself, looking haggard and depressed. What did that tell? Was Boon Wan finding that he had ran out of ideas or was it that he thought nothing needed to be done as his six cooling measures were good enough. And he was depressed because the DPM had told him off, and the DPM was taking charge of the problem, to deal with the problem in a targeted and more effective way. There was no doubt that the property prices are now in high heavens and intoxicating. The prices are at very dangerous level now and a collapse is not only imminent, natural and very painful, but will hurt many people. And since Boon Wan is unable to deal with it, Tharman had to come in to show some leadership and mean business.

My feeling is that Boon Wan has let the prices gone too wild and it is beyond his control, and serious damage has been done. A lot of money has been sucked into properties and pray that there is no crash or many would have to jump off their million or multi million dollar apartments when that day comes.

Tharman is now in charge. Let’s see if he could do better, or is it too late as the ginny has bolted out of the bottle.

COE and population growth

The number of cars allowed on our roads is reaching its limits. The capacity of our trains is also reaching its limits and showing increasing signs of breaking down.  No? How much more can be built to cater to public transport infrastructure without bursting the national purse or causing the commuters an arm or a leg? Private transport is now like a highway robber demanding a hundred thousand just for a pass. And the Govt claims there is no other way. The roads are congested, there is just not enough land to build more roads. Oh, can build one more level of roads over existing roads. Sure, how much and where is the money coming from?

There is no need to engage a foreign consultant or even a professor from the universities to confirm that there is just no more elbow room to move around. And LTA is shrinking the number of COEs available by the days. It has to, a necessary and tough decision. Of course if we have not flooded the city with so many people and build up every little nooks and corners, we may not be in the current fix.

What about another 700,000 in the pipeline waiting to join us? How is this going to affect our infrastructure, housing and roads? Is it a good thing, and is it avoidable or do we have to face more stringent measures once they are here and what are the reasons, got no choice? The choice is now, to stop more people coming in. I will touch on the property bubble in another post.

Terra Nullius and the South China Sea

The concept of terra nullius was quite a natural law in the days of yore and the world was sparsely inhabited. The original man just moved around and lived wherever they set foot on. They behaved like the animals, marked their territories they were able to control by might. This concept took a big change when the Western Empires set out to claim the world. Stamford Raffles founded Singapore. Columbus founded North America and so on and on. The Europeans totally ignored what terra nullius was all about. The natives were transparent. And if they put up a fight, they would be terminated. Anyone heard of what happened to the North American natives? They used to call them Red Indians. And Africa was there to grab, the natives were not recognized as the finders. And the European started to invent their laws, interpret their laws to their advantage. The land, terra nullius, was applicable as long as the natives could not define statehood in the European context. They took both north and south America, Africa, India, South East Asia and Australia and New Zealand and many islands far and wide in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Now, what is so outrageous or ambitious about China claiming a little piece of the South China Sea in the name of terra nullius when the Europeans had claimed the whole world? And finder’s keepers was the first right of mankind. The islands were found by China centuries back when the South East Asian countries were only rowing in sampans and little craft that would not float when a few kilometers out in the South China Seas. Only the fleet of China ships could sail and visit these little islands in the South China Seas and thus claiming ownerships on the ground of terra nullius. Pedra Branca too was a case of terra nullius. Imagine these little rocks were only a few kilometers out in the sea and the natives did not even know of their existence. How would they know of the existences of the rocks and little islands in the middle of the South China Seas? Not only they did not know, when China was marking these islands and landing in them, the natives in South East Asia were not even recognizable states in the European context. When did they become independent nation states? 1940s, 1950s? Hey many of us are even older than these South East Asian states.

China has to claim them and hold on to them before the Americans and now the Indians move in for the spoils. Any weakness in China and reluctance to wield the big stick will see the islands going to the next most powerful military state. So, what should China do? Allow everyone to claim a piece of its islands like the European powers claiming a part of China in the 19th Century?

Punggol East welcomes MP Koh Poh Koon

In the event of a 3-corner or 5-corner fight, the outcome needs no guessing. For an opposition party to win in a multi corner contest is like a one in a millionth chance. Though the result is as good as a foregone conclusion, the possibility of an upset is still there no matter how slim. Taking the rational and objective view, the PAP should win hands down just with its core 40% support, or even 35% at worst. It is as good as a walkover with the opposition parties thinking and believing that they were really in the race. Koh Poh Koon is as good as the new MP for Punggol East.

The interesting thing is if there is an upset. If against all odds, the WP wins, I am ruling out the rest as they are in no position to do better than the WP based on their track records, what will be the implications? For one, it will propel WP to the status as the party to win the next GE. To win in a multi corner fight against the PAP is no mean feat. It will also be a message to the other parties that they were just a bunch of jokers and may no longer be taken seriously in the GE. It will also send a loud message to the PAP that its days are numbered. I don’t believe SDP is serious to want to negotiate with WP to give way or go into a multi corner race. It will completely destroy the SDP for good, especially Chee Soon Juan. It will also send a loud signal to the professionals waiting on the sideline that the WP is the party to be with. It will also send a signal to those still wanting to join the PAP bandwagon to rethink, should they join a sinking ship.

This is going to be the kind of thinking should the WP win a multi corner contest. The whole political landscape will change in favour of the WP. It will be the dragon slayer and the party in waiting to govern the country.

What if, after all the hustling, it ends up with a straight fight and WP wins? This scenario is less dramatic as the outcome could be expected. At most it will be a small dent to the PAP’s armour and another pawn for the WP. In the bigger picture, it will show a PAP that is losing its ground and is likely to lose more ground in the next GE. As for the rest of the political parties, they will look pretty good as serious contenders that would not mess their chances when offered, not reckless but disciplined enough to make compromises and bid their turns. They will likely to gain more goodwill and a better image from the voters. They will be taken more seriously for acting responsibly.

How this game of political chess is being played is still anyone’s guess. Is it a well planned and orchestrated game being engineered by a Zhuge Liang or just an ordinary game of wild chances is still unknown. It can be either. The people will not just be watching the PAP but all the opposition parties as well, to measure them up. The opposition parties were seen as reasonable and respectable parties in the Hougang by election. Would they confirm this impression, or would they show hand to tell the voters that they are just a bunch of bankrupt jokers and cannot be depended on to run the country?

Japanese rightwingers a threat.

Japanese rightwingers a threat
Updated: 2013-01-09 08:07
( China Daily)


Comment on "Japan still haunted by the idea of militarism" (China Daily, Dec 20)

I agree with everything the author, Tom Clifford, has said in his article. There is no doubt that "there are disturbing similarities" between the rise of Japanese militarism in the 1930s and recent developments. The world knows full well the disastrous consequences of Japan's militarism for China, Asia and the rest of the world, including Japan itself.

But there are three major differences between now and the 1930s, which the Japanese should reflect on.

First, China is no longer the weak, divided and virtually rudderless country it was in the 1930s. China today is a united and confident country that has overtaken Japan to become the second largest economy in the world.

Second, neither is the rest of Asia a collection of backward countries controlled by Western colonial powers. Instead, it is, generally speaking, a group of economically dynamic and mostly politically stable states.

Finally, Japan is no longer a politically dynamic society. Rather it is a country with the largest aging population in Asia that has failed to educate its youth on the tragedy Japanese militarists brought down on their own country in their bid to conquer the rest of Asia through war and torture. As the old English saying goes, those who fail to understand the lessons of their own history are destined to repeat them.

Ross Grainger,


    Southernglory1    2013-01-09 21:48
     Chinese people not only in China but also in other parts of Asia especially in South East Asia had suffered enough of Japanese atrocities in the past. The Chinese people must not allow the Japanese militants to rise up again. The bankrupt Americans are playing with fire in a dangerous manner in supporting the right wing Japanese militarists to confront China as its proxy. China should be highly and fully prepared for an all out total war against the Japs and the sinful and desperate American warmongers. China must be prepared to destroy all the Japanese and American cities and military stations wherever they may be with atomic and hydrogen bombs. It is time to let the Japs and the Americans know that we Chinese have suffered enough from their aggressions and we will retaliate against them without mercy. If they want to destroy the world, let it be.