Mayors and more mayors

We have how many mayors in this little piece of rock? 5, 6? Do we need so many mayors? We don’t have any mayors before. What can the mayors do that the MPs cannot do? More important is who is paying their salaries?
 
We are having a bloated political machine, with so many ministers, second ministers, senior ministers of states, ministers of states, parliamentary secretaries, chairman of this and that committee etc etc. Why do we need to have such a big govt and paying so much for it? Can we have a smaller govt and do away with all the excessive political appointments?
 
Mind you, it is money from the people, paid by the people. I hope this kind of practices will be stopped and not copied by future govts in power. It is so easy to create more and more appointments and pay and pay since it is OPM. The money must come from somewhere. It does not come from their pockets but the people’s pockets.
 
Political parties must not be given a blank cheque to pay and pay with the people ended up paying for it. The people are not daft and know what is happening. It is ok to create more and more appointments and pay and pay if it is your grandfather’s company and paid by your grandfather..

Kopi Level - Green

CPF – Between the devil and the deep blue sea

The Hongkies have this saying, money earned is to spend. What is the point of making so much money and not spending it? I think they have a point. There are many misers who would earn and earn and build a mountain of savings but live poorly only to pass away leaving behind a fortune that they never have the good fortune to enjoy.
 
The Sinkie philosophy, or at least this is the official philosophy, is to save and save. Don’t spend, keep it for tomorrow. With this kind of con talks, oops, I mean wisdom, Sinkies will all end up with a lot of savings and feeling very secure and rich for a tomorrow that may not come. Many will die very very rich, but the end result is that other people will be spending their money for them, to enjoy their life time savings for the stupidity of Sinkies.
 
The more painful part, when the rich save, they save their extra cash and still enjoy a rich life, every moment of it. When the not so rich or poor save, they actually have to tighten their belt, forgo something today and hoping they could have a bit of something tomorrow. And the saddest part, they deprived themselves of the present, eat less, enjoy less and could end up unable to enjoy a tomorrow that did not come. They lose out upfront and lose out at the end.
 
Which is a better wisdom, to spend now or not to spend now? In the former, at least one gets to enjoy the present. In the latter, one loses out in both ends in the case of the not rich. In this either or case, isn’t it better to live now than hope for a better tomorrow?
 
The ideal is of course moderation. Save a bit when one can, save a lot when one can, and hope to live an easier life tomorrow. As for the conmen that advocate people to save and not to eat now, be careful and don’t be duped by them. Many conmen only give con advice for their benefits.
 
PS, saving a lot of money is the privilege of the rich. For the poor who don’t even have enough to eat, saving is double tragedy when forced upon them. In the case of CPF savings, how many died before they could spend a single cent on themselves?

Kopi Level - Green

Stock broking – Missing the woods for the trees

Jimmy Ho, President of the Society of Remisiers, spoke on the pathetic tales of stockbroking and the signs of doom and dismay. It is a dying industry that nobody wants to know. The Govt, MAS and the SGX are in a state of denial. They are not going to talk about it. Anyone who opens his mouth will have to tell how the industry is growing, more trading activities and a bright future in the horizon.
 
Jimmy Ho has listed several factors that contributed to the demise of the industry. Unfortunately I have to disagree with him. Yes, those are factors that are bringing down the industry, but they are not the main cause for what is happening today. It is not contra trading, it is not CFD, it is not no lunch break. It is the elephant in the room that no one wants to see or talk about.
 
The main cause of this near collapse of the stockbroking industry is something very basic, very fundamental. Really, nobody knows what it is? They are all the experts who have been in the business for ages and they cannot be missing the woods for the trees.
 
But don’t worry, they would not want to know, they would not be telling. They will let it happen, like the Lehman bonds and toxic notes. Then they will all plead ignorance. Dunno leh. No one will be held responsible when the market collapses totally. It is nearly there. It is unbelieveable that no one is crying wolf when the wolf is already in the chicken coop and devouring the last chicken.
 
This is negligence to the highest order. The market is very healthy and will get better. Don’t worry, the problem is contra trading. Contra trading will be stopped and all will be well. Seriously, trust me.
The truth is that the market has collapsed but no one is admitting. No one wants to be the harbinger of bad news.

Kopi Level - Yellow

NDP theme – Honour every Singaporean

This year’s NDP theme is to honour every Singaporean. It has been a long time that being Singaporean is an important thing. After a couple of decades of honouring foreigners and foreign talents, finally someone starts to notice that there are Singaporeans that deserved some recognition.
 
A reader wrote to Today’s forum to honour our past and forgotten heroes. There were so many historical figures that fought and die for this country. This reader, Edwin Teong Ying Keat, recalled a Tan Chong Tee of Force 136, a military unit set up by the British and its soldiers were mainly locals, fighting against the Japanese that many SE Asian countries today want them to return to be our policeman. To remind the people of Force 136 is proper and important at this juncture given that most young people have forgotten about these heroes and the cruelties inflicted on our forefathers by the barbaric Japanese soldiers in WW2.
 
For those who are still harbouring on the idea of honouring the foreigners, now that everyone of them is claiming credit for building this island into an economic powerhouse, we have not forgotten them. Maybe next year our NDP theme shall be honouring every foreigner and foreign talent, the new migrants. And many Sinkies can also feel like them, shouting, ‘We are immigrants too!’, ‘We are also foreign talents before.’ And all Singaporeans can hug the new migrants and foreign talents like one people.
 
With such a theme, it would make the statement that Singapore belongs to everyone here, new or old, more meaningful. After all the Sinkies never believe they own this place. It is ok to share with the whole world, and welcome everyone, especially the talented, as Singaporeans. Singapore will be the country for everyone, everyone is welcome. Sinkies don’t own this place. Sinkies are foreigners too, albeit earlier migrants, nothing special.
 
How about that huh? A NDP theme to honour every migrant, new and old, with Sinkies calling themselves migrants and very happy to share or give away their country to foreigners? When a people do not even know that they are the masters of their land and willingly share or give it to foreigners, they deserve to lose it. The honour foreigners theme would level the playing field between new migrants and old migrants ie Sinkies. And Sinkies love that I think. Sinkies love a level playing field to compete with foreigners in their home country, or in a place they do not believe belongs to them. They too are migrants, forever migrants and very proud of it. And before every Sinkie forget they are migrants, let’s celebrate being migrants. Just hope they don’t end up as new migrants in other countries, after being chased out from this island they once owned and called home.
 
Be happy sharing your home country with the whole world. This island belongs to everyone here. Let’s hope this year’s theme of honouring every Singaporean is not the last time Singaporeans are honoured here.

Kopi Level - Yellow

More excuses not to return CPF money at 55

A blogger by the name of Gemini wrote an article on this issue and posted in the TRE. He/she quoted an ST article as THE good reason, and I repost a bit of it here,
 
Sunday Times, March 12, 2006  - Mistress island
 
Welcome to Pulau Amat Belanda, second home to many Singapore men who visit their ‘weekend wives’ there
 
There is an island near Batam that receives, almost exclusively, male Singaporean visitors.
When the men get off the boat, they pay 25,000 rupiah (about $5) to register with the security men. Their passports are checked, and details such as their names, IC numbers and Singapore addresses noted.
Then they head to the homes of their ‘weekend wives’, rooms rented in stilted wooden houses. This is Pulau Amat Belanda, 30 minutes by boat from Sekupang port in Batam, an island that is a red-light district all on its own.
 
Almost every male visitor to the Indonesian island has an ‘exclusive’ relationship with a woman there, to whom they give a cash allowance of between two million and five million rupiah ($350 to $900) every month to keep them from straying….

The reason to hold back the people’s life savings is because they kept mistresses, not because they lost their money and begging the govt for financial assistance. Let’s be very clear about the justification of Gemini’s rationale. It is the men’s amorous activities that justified holding back their money in the CPF. From the article, these men are rich and can afford it. Their scandalous lifestyle is not acceptable to many on legal, moral or social grounds, but is that a good reason to hold back their life savings in the CPF? Is this not a judgment call on moral grounds to keep the men from straying? Can this be the reason to be a blanket cover to hold all the men’s money in the CPF just because of a few sexy men? And can this be a blanket cover for the holding back of the CPF money of women as well?
 
This is really frightening. Imagine if the govt are made up of men and women who think like Gemini. The next thing they will do is to freeze the accounts of rich men and women in the banks. Come to think of it this is quite possible given that there are so many priests and priestesses among the few good men and women in power. And if such a reason is seen as good, right, logical, acceptable, I have many more good reasons to keep the men and women from withdrawing their monies in the CPF at 55. My list will be so long that it will fill a library and will take 56 man years to write them down. So I will spare you people the agony and time reading them.

Kopi Level - Yellow