MH370 – Suckers are born every minute

‘Australian authority to announce new search area for MH370
(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-06-23 09:50

CANBERRA - The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed with Xinhua on Sunday that the agency is working on analyzing existing data and information to refine a new search area for the missing Malaysian Airline flight MH370.
Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan said the new search area will be announced by ATSB on Wednesday.
Dolan told local media earlier that the new search area would be hundreds of km south of where the first phase of underwater search had covered….’
 
When is Australia an authority on where the MH370 was supposed to crash? After 3 months of wild goose chase, is China still willing to be led by the nose by the Australians to search in God knows where in the hope of finding MH370?
 
What expertise or information that the Australians had or in possession to be in an authoritative position to tell China and the rest of the interested parties where to find MH370? If there is anyone that really has some clues on the missing aircraft, it must be the Malaysians. Even Immarsat’s satellite pings were more like fabrications. If China is so desperate to look for the aircraft, it is better that they rely on their own resources and intelligence network whose information would likely to be more reliable than all the western countries can provide.
 
China should stop being a sucker or a gullible and willing victim of misinformation. The western countries are likely to lead them by the nose on another wild goose chase.

Kopi Level - Yellpw

Irene Yap – An honest revelation of human ugliness

Don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about physical features. I am talking about ugliness within as opposed to inner beauty. The cries of Irene Yap in a public forum must have touched many hearts. Many could feel her anguish and cry with her. How could a society allow a 76 year old lady to go begging the govt for the return of her life time savings? And how could people think that her plea was annoying, and even suggesting that she was mad?
 
Where is the human milk of kindness? Oh, there is a kindness movement promoted by the govt and the grassroot leaders are supposed to spread this kindness message among the people. In the case of Irene Yap in the public forum, I must say that kindness and empathy for the unfortunate were totally absent. It looked more like a farce for people to get agitated by an old lady begging, not for charity, but for the return of her own money. Can people be so vile and contemptuous?
 
Irene Yap’s case has been turned into a tragi- comedy. The tragic part is obvious. And it gets worse when people could not empathise with her plight. How can anyone be annoyed with an old lady pleading for her money? And how could anyone think the whole episode was a comedy? If you look at the candid video clip, you cannot fail to notice a woman in red, literally ‘chio kah peng’. In hokien this can be translated into ‘laughing until falling off the chair’. Yes, a woman, supposedly a grassroot leader I think, was having a good laugh while Irene Yap was nearly in tears.
 
This woman in red laughed until her whole body fell forward with her head nearly hitting the ground. It was a boisterous and spontaneous uncontrolled laughter. What could have caused her to be so hilarious? The pathetic plea of an old lady they thought was mad and talking nonsense? Or was it something that her neighbour, another grassroot leader sitting beside her, said about Irene Yap?
 
Where is the empathy? The display of intolerance and impatience to the old lady was shameful. Really. Unfortunately, Irene Yap is now a celebrity for the wrong reason. Perhaps Roy Ngerng and Han Hui Hui could invite her to Hong Lim on 12 July to make her plea once again in public. The crowd in Hong Lim would definitely share her grief and feel sorry for her. There will also be another kind of crowd that may go there for a good laugh, like the woman in red. ‘Chio kah peng!’. Now where are William Wan and his movement of kind people? No kind people? No one think it right to admonish the two women like they scolded Sinkies for being xenophobic or rude to foreigners.

Kopi Level - Green

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