MAS lost S$10.2b!

This is reported in an article by Simon Black, an international investor, entrepreneur, permanent traveler, free man, and founder of Sovereign Man posted in http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/singapores-central-bank-lost-87-of-gd. MAS lost S$10.2b trying desperately to defend the Singapore dollar’s rise against the US dollar.

The report said that ‘MAS was buying US dollars and then intentionally selling them at a lower price in order to create artificial demand for US dollars. This was a completely failed strategy.

Singapore’s ultra-healthy economy attracts investment from around the world, and the natural tendency is for the Singapore dollar to rise….

In fact, Singapore’s economy only grew by S$11.5 billion from 2012-2013… so MAS managed to blow through 87% of the country’s economic growth last year fighting Ben Bernanke. Crazy.

This is something that is clearly not sustainable. And while that term is a bit overused today, such losses cannot continue indefinitely.’

The sum is huge definitely and the report suggested that this is a dangerous exercise that could bankrupt a central bank. What it did not say but meant is that the MAS was stupid to do what it did. Is that so? I believe that MAS must have strong reasons to do spend $10.2b and has been quite successful in preventing the S$ to rise against the greenback. In fact the S$ is looking like one of the weakest Asian currency vis a vis the greenback and has lost some 10 to 20% in value. And I believe this must be the goal of MAS and there must be better returns somewhere that could offset the S$10.2b lost in allowing the S$ to weaken.

The author of the article did not know the full story and thought that MAS is really making a big loss of S$10.2b without knowing that the bigger picture could be net gains of much more than this loss. I hope MAS could come out with an explanation to prove that the author of the article is wrong and MAS is having the last laugh. Better to show with statistics that the $10.2b spent has been recouped with several tens of billions of profit.

Fake qualifications not a problem

The problem of fake qualifications has been over blown, out of proportion, an issue like making mountain out of mole hill. What did I say so?
 
We have near to a million foreigners with professional qualifications working here. And from the records so far, only a handful have been caught and charged for falsifying their qualifications or using fake qualifications to get employments here. I think not more than a hundred. In percentage terms this is so small that it is a non issue, not worth the effort to flush them out.
 
The Sinkies should drop this issue and move on. Fake qualifications and certificates are not a problem worth exploring. Tio boh? If there are really so many fake degrees floating around, many would have been exposed or caught by now. The fact that nothing really happened means that all is well.
 
What do you think?

The cursed Singaporeans – part 2

Many retirees living off their pensions are in dire straits given the galloping inflation rate over the last decades. Whatever pensions they are receiving have been eroded to less than half their values and dwindling further every day. They thought it was a great blessing to be alive for so long. The truth, the longer they live, the worst their financial position will be. Those who are lucky enough to have bought properties could still live on quite comfortably. Those without would have to make do with whatever they have, downgrading if they can. What about those without pension, without property and with no dependents?
 
The plight of the oldies is not a once off thing. Those in their 40s or 50s will join this group of cursed citizens very soon. Each with a life span of 80 or 90 years but many would have lost their jobs in their 50s. The only saving grace is to pawn their HDB flats. But this is only possible if they are not struck by a serious illness that pawning their HDB flats would not be enough.
 
How many oldies can survive 30 or 40 years without a source of income? Even their HDB flat cannot provide for everything as they still need a roof over their heads. Would they all end up renting a room from other oldies to live through their last days?
 
But that is not all. The escalating cost of living is going to be accompanied by an escalating medical cost. And this one is more deadly in the sense that no one will be exempted. They will have to pay, like it or not, fit or unfit. The only good news is that the govt has said the premium is going to be light on them. How light and affordable is questionable given that they no longer have an income and with 30 or more years to live. Many young and able could not survive without a job for a year.
 
Cursed are those who have long life in this Sin City. Exceptions will be those with many properties or with a million dollar pension. Every oldie should be worried where to find the money to pay for Medishield Life premiums. No where to run, no where to hide. Beh Si premium scheme, is a payment that the oldies will have to pay for being alive. They are so lucky to have such a caring govt.

Syria - Western charade on a fleeing cause

The western media are all shouting at the top of their voices that Obama is gaining support from the Americans at home and foreign leaders for the impending attack on Syria. Even Putin, the adversary Number One of the Obama Administration is claimed to be coming around. They even quoted Putin as saying, Russia will support a UN Resolution to attack Syria if there is watertight proof that Assad used chemical weapons on his people. The media downplay the full text of what Putin said, that ‘he strongly warned Washington against launching military action without UN approval, saying it would represent an aggression.
 
The implications of Putin’s statement is that the Americans must have near foolproof evidence which he knew would not be available as he already has in possession contrary evidence that the chemical weapons came from Saudi Arabia. Putin also knew that an UN approval is not possible with Russia and China holding two veto cards. The western media also avoided Putin’s threat of an all out invasion of Saudi Arabia if the US struck Syria against the UN Resolution.
 
So, how much support is Obama getting from the Russians or the international community other than France and maybe Australia offering some lip service?
But the cries of being on high moral ground continues. The world’s credibility is at stake, the American’s credibility is at stake, if Syria is not punished for using chemical weapons. Obama added that the line against the use of chemical weapons has been ratified by the world community through a chemical weapons treaty. Did the Americans sign this treaty?
 
Who is the biggest manufacturer of chemical weapons? Who has the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons? Who has been the supplier of chemical weapons to insurgents and countries at war? Who has used chemical weapons in warfare?
Who is the greatest hypocrite that demands no chemical weapons be used and fit the questions above to the T? If the USA is serious about banning the used of chemical weapons, they should ratify the treaty and ban the production and amassing of chemical weapons that they claimed to be so evil. They should start by destroying their stockpile and chemical weapons industry.

Why are the Americans producing and hoarding so much chemical weapons in the first place if they are not to be used? The credibility of the Americans is at stake if they did not dispose of their chemical weapons arsenal and did not stop producing and selling them.
 
Get off your high horse Obama. The world is watching you, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
 
I wrote the above yesterday. In today’s Reuter report of the G20 summit, the truth is coming out. Obama is facing pressure from world leaders to stop his attack on Syria. Other than Russian and China, the EU and Pope Francis are against armed intervention. ‘The Pope urged the leaders to “lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution”.’
 
The isolation of Obama and the USA is as clear as daylight. Obama is attending a meeting without the support of nearly every one of the leaders except France. And he is now relying on Congress to approve his attack of Syria, in violation and total disregard of the UN and international law. The aggressive and warmongers will not stop at anything except to go to war at their own terms. The warlike culture of the Americans, yes, ordinary Americans that support war is now being show case. The hideous Americans and their hypocrisy of a peaceful nation is there for all to see.

The cursed Singaporeans

Last night’s Channel News Asia talk programme on whether the govt has alienated the PRs with the recent housing curbs and other measures drew out one important and very basic issue, ie, a roof over the heads of PRs and citizens. Having a roof over the head is so basic that it should be provided by any responsible and thinking govt. There is no need to be a super talent to even think of this. All the participants, locals and foreigners, agreed that a roof is a basic need.
 
And they also agreed on another point. How could the govt brought in so many people without thinking of the basic infrastructure, especially housing? In whatever forms, housing is a must. And they too agreed it was due to the inept policy of not building. And now we have this very serious problem of housing prices that is going to be a curse to all those with a big housing loan.
 
In today’s Today paper, the writer, Ku Swee Yong, was talking about buyers taking up $500k loan for a 5 rm resale HDB flat or a $1.3m loan for an EC as if it is a monopoly game. A $1.3m loan over 30 years will come to at least $2m in total payment, just for a few pieces of mortars around a small space. How much do the bricks and cement, some wirings and fittings cost?
 
This is a general curse on the Sinkies who were made to buy public housing at such prices and to pay using a big chunk of their income, and praying that they would be earning that income for 30 years with both not losing their jobs.
 
The biggest group that is cursed is those Singaporeans that were barred from buying public housing through all the spurious reasoning. With private properties at more than a million, how could they force citizens to buy private properties and not be allowed to buy public housing that are also not cheap? And why should citizens be made to buy from resale market like PRs and pay another few hundred thousands more for the same flat? Any Singaporean that is not allowed to buy public housing is as good as being cursed when foreigners turned new citizens could do so.
 
The govt owes every Singaporean a right, yes the right to buy a public housing flat. The govt has a case to answer to these Singaporeans who are disallowed to buy public housing as the problem is caused by under building and nothing else.