MAS and CAD to probe market misconduct

This is a good piece of news for the stock market. The dying stock market would need a complete cleansing or detox if it is to regain its health. The question is to diagnose the cause of the deadly problem. Is it cancer or cough and cold? Is it such some superficial skin rashes or rotting in the core? Without a proper understanding of the real cause of the problem, without a will to tear off the rotting parts, we may end up with another round of cosmetic changes while the market continues to be kept alive with mechanical ventilators.
 
It would be good if the MAS and CAD start a thorough review of the SGX trading system, what HFT and computers plugged into the SGX main computers are doing, what advantages are they having and whether they have compromised or violated the Exchange’s rules and regulations on fair trading.
 
The NYSE is rigged and acknowledged by an ex board member. Does our Exchange have the same problem? MAS and CAD must ensure that our system is not the same as NYSE, it must be absolutely be free from rigging. There is something very sick with the system and unless the real cause is flushed out, the market will not survive for long. It is also very sinful and wicked at this point in time to encourage the young and innocents to put their hard earned money into the market.
 
The MAS and CAD are in a very favourable position to know what is going on and to save the market before it is too late. Do the necessary and not the unnecessary. The viability of the market is at risk and there is a clear and present danger that it would be destroyed if the parasites and viruses in the system are not eradicated.
 
It is high time that all the tubes and cables attached to the SGX main computers be unplugged or chopped off. This is the likely cause of the cancer that is killing the market. Ignoring this problem then MAS and CAD would be wasting their time and resources and be as good as chasing after shadows. Look inside first before going on a wild goose chase. The problem could be systemic.

Ariffin Sha is back

Saw this young man speaking at Hong Lim Park’s rallies and read some of his writings and came out impressed by his oratorical and writing skills. He is a young man but very advanced in his mental age. There is a lot of potential in this man, 16 year old, I think.
 
Then Roy Ngerng and friends were arrested and charged for public nuisance and there were comments that suggested this young man had given evidence detrimental to Roy Ngerng and his friends. They were together but apparently something was wrong. Ariffin also announced his departure from the political scene, taking a sabbatical for a year. The controversy was not favourable to Ariffin.
 
Surprisingly Ariffin has returned with an article in the TRE/TOC titled, ‘A flyer drop, a political low blow’. Below are extracts from his article..
 
‘I couldn’t help shaking my head when I read the TODAY Report of how PAP ‘activists’ distributed fliers in the middle of the night which bombarded residents of Aljunied GRC with messages against the Workers’ Party.
 
I still clearly recall the robust parliamentary debates between the powers that be and Workers’ Party over the definition of “constructive” politics not too long ago. …
 
Let us not kid ourselves, this is nothing but an appalling political low blow.
Is the kind of “constructive politics” that the secretary-general of the PAP was talking about? Are these the “party values” that PAP Aljunied Branch Chairman Victor Lye boasted about?...
 
This incident is a potent manifestation of the hypocrisy of the powers that be. Let me be the first to admit that although this is not surprising, it is indeed disappointing….
Make no qualms about it, at the end of the day it is not the PAP or the opposition who define the political culture we develop. Ultimately, that decisions lies in the hands of the voters. Through the ballot box, the residents of Aljunied GRC will make clear whether they want to give a nod to the “values” of Victor Lye and team or continue supporting the Workers’ Party.
 
And mud-slinging is politically impoverished, because it puts the accuser in a light much worse what he wishes to cast on the accused.’
 
Ariffin Sha is back in his original self, critical and questioning and with fire in his belly. He has cut short his sabbatical to be in the fray of local politics again, in his former self. Who is the true Ariffin Sha?

The Empire all out to contain China but left out in the cold

Not too long ago there was this naïve professor whose article was published in the ST claiming that the US was not out there to contain China. Only the gullible and ill informed would believe his innocence. The Trans Pacific Pact was a political trade pact designed primarily to excluded China and with China as its main target. It is still struggling to get its feet off the ground with only the die hard American allies wanting to be in. The intent to exclude China was simply too glaring to go unnoticed.
 
Since the days of the Cold War, the US has been blocking China in every move it took, trying to contain and isolate China with the singular objective of keeping the US as the dominant and undisputed world power. China on its part has been trying all it could to break free from the American containment policy and is constantly finding ways either to break into the American dominated international system or to develop its own parallel systems and organizations. If China cannot join in the game, China will develop its own game and play with other willing players.
 
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a China initiative to provide an alternate organization to the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank controlled by the Americans and Japanese. The AIIB’s stated mission is to provide financing for big infrastructure projects that would benefit its members, especially countries that were not in the good books of the US and Japan. China is offering smaller states an option to finance their development without having to be allies or semi colonies of the US. It is a financial institution providing badly needed funds, not a military or political institution.
The US has be pulling all the brakes to keep its allies and semi colonies out of the AIIB citing lack of transparency, corruption and whatever excuses it could fabricate. It is assuming that the rest of the countries joining the AIIB are idiots and would blindly allow China to control them and the bank.
 
South Korea and Australia and of course Japan are thus coerced to stay out of the AIIB against their national interests. The European countries too have been pulled back and likewise kept out of the AIIB. The UK is an exception, it is one and only G7 country that is independent enough to say no to its former colony, the Americans, and has joined the AIIB as a founding member to the fury of the Americans. The Americans have come out openly to rebuke the Brits for disobeying the order of the Empire. The Brits have done their sums, and being strategically forward thinking, knew where their interests are best served. They would want to maintain their pole position as the Number One financial centre in Europe and would not let this golden opportunity to slip by. They must be celebrating and wishing that the rest of the G7 would stay out of the game to give them a monopolistic advantage to work with China and AIIB.
 
The spat between the UK and US is out in the open with the US badmouthing the Brits and revealing its intent to keep China out of the loop, to be isolated from the rest of the world dominated by the American system. The Chinese have found their way, together with the other side of the camp, to build a new financial system independent of the Americans. To the Americans it is all about political dominance and even a financial institution is seen as unfriendly and must not be allowed to succeed.
 
Succeed AIIB would be and with the big war chest of the PRC and the BRICS countries, it is going to rival the World Bank and IMF to offer funds to needy countries. And needy Asian countries would form a long queue to where the nectar is. How long would South Korea and Australia be able to stay out of the AIIB where things are happeining? How long would the rest of Europe stay out and compromise their national interests and seeing the British gaining an easy and convenient advantage over them by joining AIIB instead of toeing the American dictates? What is the price for staying out of AIIB when they should be in?
 
Is there any kids out there still claiming that the Americans are not out to contain China?
 
The above was written yesterday and today the whole picture has changed. With the British breaking the ranks, the dam has been breached. The French, Germans and Italians wasted no time to announce their joining the AIIB as founding members yesterday. The rest of the G7 would be held in the balance. Australia and South Korea would be pinching themselves silly for not being able to join the AIIB as Asian countries. Would they have the strength to disobey the Emperor and join the AIIB?
 
The attempt by the Americans to lay a blockage against China, to contain China, would in advertently lead to its own isolation. Now it stuck and hang high and dry with this AIIB initiative and would be too embarrass to ask, ‘May I come in?’ It would be left out there in the cold, by its own Cold War mentality.

The cardboard Policemen

Many of you must have heard of the story of tying an elephant with a thin piece of rope to a flimsy piece of stick on the ground. And yes, the elephant would not try to walk away, believing that it would be a vain attempt. It tried furiously when young, tied with strong chain that would not give way. Now conditioned, the elephant still remembers the experience and would not waste any effort to break loose.

The cardboard policemen is an ingenious idea to keep Singapore safe. And this is particularly effective given the conditioning of the Sinkies over 5 decades that they even believe that they are daft, that their life long savings do not belong to them, that they are paying good money, hundreds of millions to the most talented individuals to rule them. And they have been conditioned to fear the authority, the men in blue. A cardboard policeman will do the trick to maintain law and order. Cheap and good.

And the facts cannot be denied. Soon we can expect the authority to come up with a string of statistics to show how crime rate has fallen because of the appearance of the cardboard policemen. And they even have the pleasure to choose a nice looking one, not a fearless Rambo that would kick butts, to instil fear, just a sweet looking guy will do the trick.

With the cardboard policemen on duty, the Police Force could easily increase in numbers by several divisions, each cardboard policeman costing a few dollars, and would work 7/24 all 365 days of the year, tirelessly. Chee Hean can tell the police chief, how many men do you need, just tell me and you can have them. Give the man a tiger, and a medal for this great idea. See, Singaporeans are so easy to be kept away from making trouble. I think, till to date, not a single cardboard policeman has been disfigured, stolen, damaged or burnt. Just make sure the female fans would not bring them home to adore. That is probably the only risk faced by the cardboard policemen.

I am not sure how the foreigners would react to the cardboard policemen. Would they giggle at the sight of one, would they pee on it, or would the lusty ones use them for self gratification? I think this is a small price to pay for such an effective policing force that is practically free, maintenance free, no training required.

Welcome to the land of the cardboard Police Force. Oh, just a note of caution. This concept is only applicable to Singapore and to police Sinkies. Don’t think it will work in other countries. The requirement is decades of conditioning, driving fear into the heads of the daft Sinkies, that the sight of a cardboard policeman will keep them away from crime.

Did anyone say more crimes are committed by Sinkies and not by foreigners? If that is true, then the cardboard policemen are ineffective against Sinkies but effective against foreigners. Now, which is which?

If this concept can be extended to soldiering, we can scrap NS totally. Would that be nice?

The angst of Lily Neo

Lily Neo spoke in Parliament about the increasing angst instead of gratitude towards the govt came under some strong rubbings in the social media. Despite her good intention to tell the govt that things were not so right as the govt would want to believe, she was yelling into the ears of the deaf frogs and risking being slapped like her colleagues in the past. The messengers of bad news are not welcomed and Amy Khor is a good testimony to how it felt being rebuked by the PM of the day, a public dressing down amounting to labeling her something like betraying her party. All she did was to say something for the people, not much different from what Lily Neo had said. It is no joke to get a dress down by a PM and reported in the media. She has since learnt her lesson and saying all the right things and is now a minister of state. Lily Neo got to learn from her to say the right things if there is still time for her to be promoted.
 
Lily Neo was lucky not to be slapped this time. It was a risky thing to say in Parliament. Inderjit did the safest thing, to avoid a public dressing in Parliament, by saying his peace in his facebook. That is pretty ingenious of him after his disappearing act to the toilet during the PWP voting.
 
Angst or no angst for the moment is determined by the people in power. When one is in power, everything is right and legal and good for the people and the party. The bold and brazen policies of touching the people’s life savings would be put to a severe test when the party falls from grace. The brushing aside of the people’s objection to the influx of foreigners, the dismissing of a generation of PMEs as collaterals for being replaced by foreigners would be a sour point that would not be easily forgotten as the livelihoods and well beings of many Singaporeans were badly affected.
 
There are many policies that are the angst of the people but not acknowledged by the deaf frogs. Everything is fine, for as long as they are in power. Who would know what the next govt will do to these policies and how the people would react to all the parties that caused all the angst to the people? The politicians, the top civil servants, the elite, the academics and legal professionals have all been reticent to the barrage of heavy handed policies, without protesting and in a way agreeing that there is no violation to the people’s rights and interests. It is good if there is really no wrong doing to answer for. If there are, many are complicits to them and will have to face the wrath, not the angst of the people when the day comes. For those who voted for, supported the controversial policies, they cannot say they did not. For those in a position to speak up but don’t, they have nothing to speak in their own defence for appeasing to wrong and harmful policies as an after thought.
 
When fortune changed, when the winds of change changes the power balance, many rights would become wrongs and wrongs would become right. All the angst would become real, not imaginary, not to be swept under the carpet. For the moment, everything is fine, everything is just perfect.
 
What angst was Lily Neo talking about? Got angst meh?