Top 3 posts in TRE by number of comments

Below are this week’s top three posts in the TRE by the number of comments they have attracted.
 
“Khaw: Best to live with children & rent out flat” - 3rd position
 
“Teo: Degree no longer a ‘one-way ticket to success’” - 2nd position
 
“Lim Swee Say: Cleaners are no longer cheap labour” - top position
 
The article on Boon Wan’s comment has hit 97 at this point of writing this post and is at Number 3 position. Chee Hean’s is at number 2 with 102 comments. And top of the table is Swee Say’s comment on ‘cleaners are no longer cheap labour’ with 107 comments at this moment of writing this post.
 
The comments are very colourful and often borders on PG stuff. When you are unable to sleep, these are recommended readings to keep you occupied.

Kopi Level - Green

Education is the way, the greatest leveler

If you have children, (I have), I will encourage them to study hard, get a govt scholarship, bestest an OMS, or betterer best, a President Scholarship, then come back and join the Administrative Service. That is the road to success. I remember someone said this, can’t remember who. I got dementia. Anyway, I think it was good advice. Maybe it still is. No? Who said No? Kee chiu!
 
Please do not advise me not to send my children to the universities. I will clobber you. I will take my ‘char kiak’ and knock your head. How can you give me this kind of bad advice? If university degree is no good, the MOM and ICA would have stopped taking graduates from other countries to work here. Why you advise our children not to go to universities and keep on bringing in foreigners with foreign degrees and degrees from you know where?
 
I swear I will take the good advice to send my children to universities, to get a govt scholarship and to join the Administrative Service. Don’t tell me this is bad and wrong. I don’t believe you.

Kopi Level - Green

Tan Jee Say’s olive branch to alternative parties

The new kid on the block, Singapore First Party, is taking the initiative to offer an olive branch to all the other alternative parties. In Jee Say’s letter to all the alternative parties, he diplomatically listed the parties by alphabetical order to avoid controversies, he requested to have a cordial meeting with the leaders of the other parties. Below is the text of his letter,
 
‘We are proud to be able to join you in wanting to build a better Singapore for all Singaporeans. You have all contributed much in this effort. As a new party, we can learn a lot from your experiences. Accordingly, we would like to pay a courtesy call on each of you, to introduce ourselves to you, discuss your experiences and find out how we can complement you and work together with you for the betterment of Singapore.’
 
The letter was all politeness and humility, wanting to learn from and to share with the other parties. It is unlikely that any of the parties would turn him down to appear arrogant and aloof. Many observers read this letter as a first step towards opposition camp unity. This is something that has been seen as the Achille’s heel of the opposition and a closing of ranks, to work out a common strategy to take on the ruling party is highly awaited and desired by the voters who want to see a serious challenge to the dominance of the PAP.
 
In many ways this is a daunting task and highly difficult to achieve. Otherwise it would have been done long ago. Understandably every party would have their own views on such a move and many have their own constraints to want to come together. There are misgivings, rightly or wrongly, that would keep the alternative parties apart. But intentionally wanting to keep their party out of the loop, to be a lone hero, may not be seen as a good thing unless they could mount a serious challenge to form the govt.
 
Ideally the alternatives could come to a common agreement and position on how to fight the GE as a united force. Saying it is easy, but doing it is tough. This does not necessarily mean they would not be able to come together. On the other extreme, a very loose form of unity or understanding could be worked out whereby the alternative parties would go for the lowest common factors. This could be just a non written agreement not to fight or contest against one another in a 3 corner fight. It could also mean no attacks on each other’s position if they don’t agree to work together as a united force. There would be a lot of give and take with the hope that the bigger parties be as accommodating as they could possibly be and the smaller parties be as least demanding as they should.
 
The assumptions here are that the alternative parties are willing to talk and do a bit of horse trading among themselves. What would be unfortunate is for some to be difficult and not wanting to talk with the other parties. A lot of goodwill and wisdom is needed here for the alternative parties not to spoil the broth and do themselves in. The big brother at the moment is the WP. Would the WP be a gracious big brother or be an uncompromising one?
 
Is there hope that they can come to some understanding or would it be a big disappointment? In the recent by elections and the last GE, it appeared that eventually wisdom, common interests and not to do each one in could see them rise above the level of mediocrity. If the bad boys and bad attitude come from the smaller parties, things could be easier as they are inconsequential and can be ignored. At worst, among the bigger alternative parties, they must talk to each other for the good of everyone without risking bad blood and someone behaving badly to upset the apple cart.
 
May goodwill and the general good of the people prevail for a resounding and beneficial ending in the coming GE.

Kopi Level - Green

So sad, but I want to rub shoulder with this FT…he is sooo rich and talented

Below is a letter to TRS post by a Tan to give more details of what was going on in this case.

Dear TRS

I refer to "PRC family allegedly tried to take over $40 million assets of 87 year old widow".

I am a resident at Gerald Crescent and would like offer some insights into the recent saga between Madam Chung and Yang Yin, the China tour guide who tried to swindle the widow’s millions. The background story has already been published but I will offer more supporting evidence. As one of the residents living near this particular bungalow, I have spoken to Mdm Chung and her family on some occasions and have heard from them, and other neighbours, more about Mr Yang Yin.

Yang Yin recently tried to apply for Singaporean citizenship. In order to get his PR in 2009, he used money taken from Madam Chung to purchase a degree from a “University of Financial Trade” in Beijing to aid his application. However, the university does not at all exist.

To further his application, Yang Yin also set up a shell company named “Young Music and Dance Studio” to declare his occupation as a dance teacher. Despite the shell not having any active students, the ICA approved his PR application without any due diligence.

I subsequently wrote to the ICA in 2012 to complain but this fell on deaf ears.

Over the past 5 years, Yang Yin has taken countless art pieces from Madam Chung’s private art gallery to sell off at a discounted rate to their worth. Her private art gallery occupies an entire building in the grounds of her bungalow and contains numerous priceless art pieces. He has additional represented himself as an art expert to further this goal [Please see his namecard].

To further his citizenship application, he has also participated in numerous PAP grassroots events while claiming to help the PRC community in Singapore as the “Executive Director of the Singapore Chinese Immigrants Association” and a “Director of Singapore Chamber of Commerce”. He has numerous interactions with PAP MPs and ministers. He even has had the opportunity to take pictures with PM Lee.

Over the past 5 years, he has taken millions in cash from Madam Chung and lived lavishly off the proceeds, including taking monthly holidays to China and Japan on first class flights while staying in luxury suites. At the same time, he has neglected Madam Chung to the extent that the former multi-millionaire does not even have $1.50 to buy bread.

Tan

Kopi Level - Green

Mickey Mouse stocks

Goh Eng Yeow wrote an article in ST about the Mickey Mouse stocks in the SGX a few days ago. To him this is not desirable and not the norm. I think it is disgraceful in away, a joke. How can a main board stock be worthless or be worth less than 1c? Please don’t laugh, this is serious business, maybe a very sophisticated strategy of great minds, too deep and complex for ordinary beans to figure out, like toxic bonds and derivatives, for a main board stock to be value at less than 1c. Is this is a new game designed by intelligent gamers for daft investors?
 
On the other hand SGX is reducing the board lot of 1000 shares to 100 shares. Would they go further to reduce them to unit share to increase liquidity? They have also reduced the bid value to 0.1c to induce liquidity. Now, is it funny, is it strange, fishy?
 
How did the dominance of penny stocks in the main board come about and remain so for so long? Was it by design or by fluke? This thing did not happen over night. It has been like that for several years. And by reducing the board lot size and bid value to less than Mickey Mouse, what are the likely effects? More Mickey Mouse business?
 
My guess is that Mickey Mouse stocks are desirable and intended to some quarters. I may be wrong, but I am only guessing. The question is why? Who benefits from Mickey Mouse stocks and Mickey Mouse bid sizes and bid values? Knowing the answer will explain why Mickey Mouse stocks are desirable and allowed to exist in the main board. What? Small investors are the beneficiaries to Mickey Mouse stocks? Try again.

PS. Is this the stock market version of cheap foreign workers is good for the market? We have a Sesdaq for cheap and high risk stocks. There is no place for super penny stocks in the main board to cheapen the stock market aka Sungei Road bazaar. The main board must be a place for quality stocks.

Kopi Level - Green