JP Morgan hiring local talents

‘The US authorities are believed to be scrutinising the hiring practices of banking giant J P Morgan Chase in India, South Korea and Singapore following a probe into its activities in China regarding hiring children of powerful officials to win lucrative business deals.

A report in the New York Time said that the federal investigation into the hiring practices of JPMorgan Chase appears to be expanding beyond China into other Asian markets.

In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank disclosed that the federal regulator and the Justice Department were now looking into "its business relationships with certain related clients in the Asia Pacific region and its engagement of consultants in the Asia Pacific region."’ Quoted from Business Today dated 2 Nov 13.’

Why would they want to check on their Singapore office? Singapore is one of the most highly regulated cities in the world and such things would not have happened here. We are not only famous for being a city that runs by the rule of law but also on meritocracy. Everyone is appointed to where he is based on merit. Period. This is the unquestionable truth in the city state.

What is interesting in JP Morgan’s hiring practice is to hire local talents in the country of operation. When in India they hired Indians, in China they hired Chinese, in Singapore they hired Singaporeans in top management, not in the backroom or for show. JP Morgan is a big MNC and finds it proper and wise to hire local talents with local knowledge to run their local businesses. This is only practical, logical, pragmatic and showing respect to the countries and people they are doing business with and making money from.

Where on earth can you find crazys hiring foreigners to run their local operations and rejecting their locals for no talents? How in the world could foolish people think that the foreigners are better to run their businesses with local customers and domestic market, culture, taste and all the idiosyncrasies? I found one, a Yong Tau Hoo stall in Queenstown. He wants to hire foreign talents. I will post another article on this.

Happy Deepavali

I was so busy socialising today that I almost forgot to wish our Indians happy Deepavali, or has it been changed to Tiwali. Anyway, I am still more comfortable with Deepavali, having grown up with this term for more than 60 years.

Cheers

The rich knows no bound

Come November 4 ERP gantries will have their fees raised from $5 to $6 a pass. That is two bowls of noodles or two plates of char kway teow. To the rich, it is cheap cheap cheap. To the not so rich, it is arrrgggh. Every pass is so painful.

But this is necessary as these roads are now clogged, like the drains and canals during a flash flood. You want progress, this is what you should expect and be paying. How high will the fees go up when we have 6.9m people here?

Did you ask for it, do you have a choice? No the choice has been made for you. You should be grateful that such tough decisions are made for you. It must have hurt those people deeply for having to make this decision. They must have sleepless nights and nightmares after voting for it in Parliament.

But they will feel good and their conscience is clear. They are doing it for the good of the people, yes, for the good of you and me.

Please say thank you. And thank God that it is not $10 a pass already. This is progress. Only with progress, with a growing GDP can the motorists pay this kind of gantry fees. Count your blessing that we can afford it and the charges are so affordable.

Strategy versus strategy – China versus India

Two Asian powers expanding their reach and influence into Southeast Asia. On the East there is China claiming the little rocks in the South China Sea with potential for oil. Just potential, but still quite good chances of striking some black gold. From the West there is India setting its eyes on the Jewel of Southeast Asia, a thriving and very rich little city with added strategic values militarily and economically.

While China is being challenged by several of the Asean countries, with the USA hiding behind them, India is in Singapore, welcomed and unchallenged. With CECA in her bag, India could literally transfer and transport whole cities of its industries and businesses and people into the island, legally. And with the agreement, it could even sue the City’s govt for trying to obstruct or delay the transmigration of its people and businesses into the City. There is no competition and no USA hiding behind to throw obstacles along the way.

As of today, unofficially, there are probably more Indian nationals in the City than the Indian citizens of the City. Combined they could be the second largest ethnic group in the City, overtaking the Malays. If there is no slowing down to the migration of Indian nationals, it is only a matter of time that ethnic Indians will be competing with the Chinese citizens as the biggest racial group in the island City.

The acquisition of this City will come along with all its riches, a thriving city state with all its assets, national reserves in the trillions, institutions and a well educated population. And most important of all, controlling a choke point in the sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Controlling this strategic City is controlling the gate to the region and passage through the region. It is a master stroke, a master strategy many times more superior to controlling some little uninhabited islands in the South China Seas and risking wars with the littoral states and the USA.

Taking over the city state could be just a formality, if the islanders are happy with the arrangement or sleeping and without knowing what is happening until the rice is cooked. It would be a fait accompli, or a de facto ownership of the island, with the consent of the Sinkies of course. Quietly and stealthily, one business park at a time, one housing estate at a time, the acquisition is real and expanding.

The two Asian giants, each one setting eyes on expanding their control and influence into the region but aiming for different assets. Controlling and taking over the city state would be many times more valuable and strategic than the rocks in the South China Seas.

Why Anonymous Collective hacked into ST Online site?

The Anonymous Collective, better known as The Messiah, has hacked into the ST Online site early yesterday morning. They gave the reason for the hacking as a reaction to a reporter by the name of Irene Tham for putting up a misleading article on them. This is what the Anonymous Collective said.
 
'Greetings Irene Tham & Straitstimes.com,
 
I am The Messiah from the Anonymous Collective. We are a decentralized non-violent resistance movement, which seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the organized criminal class. We oppose any form of internet censorship among other things.
 
Allow me to explain our intrusion.
 
Earlier today upon discovering the existence of a Youtube video of ours (click here), a straitstimes correspondent by the name of Irene Tham chose to publicize an article distorting our words and intentions (click here). She chose to conveniently modify the sentence “war against the Singapore Government” into “war against Singapore”.
That in our opinion can be very misleading and unfortunately we suspect that must have been her intentions. Look what she made us do!
 
Irene Tham, since you had the ignorant nerve of invading our world (the internet) to speak blasphemous lies, then we took it upon ourselves to invade your tiny little space to voice our issues over a few matter. We sincerely hope you wont mind…. '
 
We can see the switch in the objective from opposing internet censorship to this reporter. The point here is that the ST reporter is being accused to misleading the public by changing the words and thus the content and intent of Anonymous Collective. The AC said that their actions were targeted at the Singapore govt while the reporter changed it attacking Singapore. The difference is quite significant.
 
Did the reporter misinterpret what the AC wrote or was the change intentional? Did the paper double check to make sure what the reported was factually correct? I leave this to the readers to make their own judgment. What follows is that the AC is demanding an apology from the reporter to the citizens of Singapore within 48 hours, failing which she has to resign from ST ‘…for trying to mislead them with her hate.’ The AC added, ‘in the event our demands are not met in the next 48 hours, we will place you in our “to do” list and next time you wont be let off this easy.’
 
I am not sure what is this ‘to do’ list but it sounds like a KIV until a next time something like this happens again. What is interesting to note is that you have a virtual body making threats and warnings of actions against an institution like the ST and of course the govt of Singapore. This is the first of its kind to happen. The audacity is stunning. It is a case of I can hit you but you can’t do anything to me. Sound familiar?
 
It is interesting to see how ST reacts to this warning and challenge. Would ST simply ignore it as something from the wilderness? Or would it take this threat seriously and Irene Tham would make an apology or be dismissed? How would this go? Would a virtual body from virtual space have the clout to do this to an established big organization like the ST? This is a big change in the nature of things, the natural order of things.