Meritocracy versus Marriedtocracy

Since Professor Michael Hor Yew Meng assumed his Deanship in Hongkong University’s Law Faculty, after being by passed for the post in NUS when he was Number Two and first on the waiting list, there have been this funny talk of Marriedtocracy in Sin City. This is best exemplified by Michael Hor’s reply to the media when asked why he was found not good enough and a junior guy, a foreign talent was offered the top job instead, Michael’s reply, ‘I don’t know.’
 
What is this thing called Marriedtocracy? Simply, it is merit by marriage, as was suggested in the rumour mill. One can earn merits by getting married in Sin City. I think this is nothing unusual. It happens everywhere, in different degrees. It is just that in a small City state, oops, I am being dismissive as some think we are the biggest country in the world, when everyone knows everyone, when everyone is living next door to the Who’s Who, there can’t be many secrets that were unknown. All, or nearly all, secrets are public knowledge.
 
This rumour of Marriedtocracy over Meritocracy is just mischievous. There is no such thing in this corruption free state. Everyone is appointed based on merits. This is the secret to the City State’s success story. You can’t have dunces appointed based on Marriedtocracy and expect them to do well. It must be real merit at work. Or else it is only a matter of time when merit sounds more like married. The truth about married, or merit, will surface with time. Merit can last and can survive the test of time. Married often does not last and would lead to divorce, separation and unsavoury marital affairs.
 
As long as the City State continues to prosper, you can bet that Meritocracy is the guiding principle of appointments at the top level. Everyone at the top looks so meritocratic, so bright. But if it flounders, then you will know that Meritocracy should be written as Marriedtocracy instead. The proof is in the eating of the pudding.

PS: I did not coin this term. Pick it up from a post in TRE.

Kopi Level - Green

National Day Protest Rally at Hong Lim

Topic:  Should we unite to build a fair and just society for our fellow Singaporeans?
National Day at Hong Lim Park 4pm to 6pm




A protest rally will be held on National Day organised by Han Hui Hui and her friends.Below are a few of the examples that speakers will talk about on 9 August, 4pm to 6pm at Hong Lim Park:

Foreigners taking our jobs
Lowest public healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP in the world
Lowest real rate of return amongst pension funds in the world
Most expensive public housing in the world
30% of households spend more than what they earn
Hardly any real wage growth
High cost of living – Most expensive city in the world

The speakers include Leong Sze Hian, Patrick Low, Benjamin Matchap, Tay Kok Weng, Pek Chee Yong, Roger Caleb Chua etc etc.

For those who are not attending the NDP at Marina Bay, this is another event that they could attend without the need for an invitation.

Kopi Level - Gteen

SGX is in the pink of health

After two months of public consultations and another two months of thorough studies, the MAS/SGX have came out with several recommendations that would ensure the stock market to be in the pink of health and will continue to grow and grow with reduced risks, and the small investors well protected, with better liquidity and with more choices of stocks for the small timers to invest in.
 
It is a signal that all is well. There could be a few possibilities in the recommendations by the MAS/SGX. A slew of big and drastic changes could mean that things were not healthy, and thus the need to bring out the chopper to get the bad parts out of the way. And if there is nothing substantial that needs to be changed, just a minor tweaks here and there, it is as good as saying all it fine, nothing much needs to be done. Or there is nothing wrong with the stock market, really, sure.
 
Initially I was disappointed to think that the few minor changes would be too small to make any impact on a sick market. I was expecting some dramatic and major changes to save the market from dying. Obviously I was very wrong. There is hardly anything wrong with the stock market. I was being paranoid and saw only the bad stuff that was not there in the first place.
 
For those who think that the changes could be the last nail that goes into the coffin, they will be disappointed. The measures would surely help the market to revive, to survive and to grow in strength.
 
Mark my word, the market will be simply great and more buoyant, with more liquidity, and more investors will be swarming in to invest in the market when the new measures are introduced, just like all the previous introduced.
 
What are the new measures? Never mind. It is the result that is important.

Kopi Level - Green

6.9m dream scuttled by Fukushima

The talk of 10m population is getting to sound sillier after Fukushima. Now 6.9m is already out of synch when nuclear power has been put on the back burner. The basic factors to support a big population in a resource poor island, not enough water, no indigenous food supply and power sources like oil, geothermal heat, hydropower, etc are simply not there to sustain a big population. Nuclear power was thought safe and feasible to fulfil such megalomanic dreams of 6.9m or more population. This has been ruled out since the fallout of Fukushima confirmed that nothing is safe as the snake oil sellers would want you to believe.
 
Without nuclear power, with a near total dependency on foreign sources of food supply, one cannot imagine how serious would be the socio economic problems the island with face in an energy or food crisis when the population is 6.9m or more.
 
Every snake oil seller is talking about the economic growth arising from bigger population. But what would a bigger population demand from the system to be sustainable in the long run? The assumptions, continue prosperity and economic growth leading to a strong dollar to buy all the food and energy needed. Other assumptions, food supply and the cost of energy are stable, cheap and reliable. Any fluctuations in these supplies could bring down the whole socio economic system like a pack of cards.
 
Small or big have their advantages and disadvantages. Both are like knives that could cut both ways. Perhaps a major health epidemic like the Ebola could wake up those having sweet dreams that all is well and the bigger the population the better things will be. A hit by something like Ebola will be unimaginable in a dense city state full of people. The only advantage is that a bigger population will see more victims but also more survivors after the plight is over.
 
The 6.9m dream may have been scuttled by Fukushima. But more snake oil sellers are appearing and advocating for bigger dreams. How would 10m or 20m stand when 6.9m is unsustainable without nuclear power? Really we have so much money to buy all the fuel we need to support 10m people?

KopiLevel - Green

Ebola threat is real and imminent

This is copied from John Harding’s blog dated 3 Aug 14.

‘There are fears of a world-wide Ebola outbreak after a passenger from Sierra Leone collapsed and died as she got off a plane at Gatwick. If the woman had Ebola the virus could spread globally as Gatwick services over 90,000 passengers every day.
The woman, 72, became ill on the gangway after she left a Gambia Bird jet with 128 passengers on board. She was sweating profusely and vomiting. The aircraft was immediately quarantined.
According to officials, “The passenger was taken to hospital and sadly died. The patient was not symptomatic on the plane and therefore there is no risk of Ebola being passed on to either flight crew or other passengers.”
This is incorrect, as the woman could easily transmit the Ebola virus to others on the aircraft as could her vomit once as she exited.
The passengers from Gatwick have since departed for nearly every country around the world.’

It is unbelievable that the Brits allowed the passengers to depart without quarantined them. It is like go forth and multiply, Ebola. The 128 passengers could be the angels of death, bring Ebola along with them. It is very difficult now to track those people they have come into contact. So were the crew of the Gambia jet.
 
Is this the beginning?

Kopi Level - Yellow