Missing Veritas

Veritas have been missing in this blog for a while. So I visited his blog, http://veritas-lux.blogspot.sg, to see what he has been doing. And as usual, he posted a very strong opinionated piece based on PISA 2012 report on ‘How Malaysia compares with its neighbours’ on the educational standards of students in Mathematics, Reading and Science.

I must say that his post would make many people very upset. But that is Veritas, holding nothing back and inviting controversies and challenges to what he thinks and says. He is definitely more controversial, hundreds of times more controversial than Redbean.

If Veritas were to put his comments here in this blog, it will blow the top of many readers.  Am I glad he keeps his strong views in his blog.

Incidentally Veritas is getting a lot of attention from those who don’t agree with him.

American provocations in South China Sea raising prospect of war with China

The Americans have thrown the first punch at China in the South China Sea. The early settlers of North America sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to kill the Red Indians and robbed their land. On Tuesday, USS Lassen sailed thousands of miles from stolen Red Indian territories they now called the USA, crossed the Pacific Ocean to within 12 nautical miles of Chinese islands in the South China Sea in a blatant show of force and spinning the story of freedom of navigation. Every country is watching this provocative and aggressive military adventure by the Americans in China’s territorial water.

China has allowed the Americans to make the first hostile move to show to the world who is the real provocateur in this incident. The deliberate intrusion close to Chinese islands was anything but friendly and a military challenge to China’s ownership of the islands. China would now have to respond to the provocation in defence of its territories.

Several American thinking analysts have spoken and giving all the stupid reasons that China, militarily weaker than the US would not dare to confront the American warship and would allow the Americans to do as they liked. That China is too pre occupied with the five year economic plan at the Central Committee Plenum and would not want to escalate the confrontation. So it is alright for the Americans to do all the provocations. China is all but a meek country that would not fight the Americans and would allow the Americans to push it around. China would back down when the Americans are prepared to show its military muscles.

These American thinking analysts could never understand that the 200 years of humiliation under the European powers would only make China want to stand up to the Americans, and stepping down under further provocations and to be humiliated again is not an option. If Xi Jinping would to back down, he would lose his power immediately. He would have all the military leaders and the people of China to rise to support him if he needs to go to war with the Americans. The Chinese people have enough of foreign bullying and would demand the Chinese leaders to go to war with the Americans.

China has been preparing for this day for a long time. China may not be able to launch an invasion of the US homeland, but to defend its territorial sovereignty, it has all the means to do so and effectively. It has all the weapons to take on the Americans in a conventional war. The Americans have nothing for the Chinese to fear in conventional warfare and as a defending force, China has all the advantages of a huge base and arsenal waiting for the Americans.

China will now have all the reasons to reinforce its positions in the South China Sea and be ready to take on the Americans head on.  The Americans came for war and showing the other cheek to the Americans would only invite war. China would have to rapidly build up its defence forces in the islands to take the American aggression  head on. The Americans have just given the Chinese the perfect reason to arm the newly created islands to the teeth. Xi Jinping will not allow Obama or any American president to push him around. It is war if the Americans were to carry out another provocative move. China will be ready and will be waiting.

The Americans will face a force that it has never seen before since the Korean War. China is not Vietnam or any of the defenceless Arab states, or the Talibans or ISIS. It will be a test of military might and political will.  Obama and all the hawks in Washington will now have a chance to prove how brave and good they are in fighting a real war with someone of the same weight class. Go ahead and prove that the Americans are made of real stuff and can push China around in Chinese territories.

The whole world is watching. And China has no other choice but to push back the American adventurism by force.

For the silly Asean countries, the Americans have made a statement of power, no one is to claim any of the islands in the South China Sea. They belong to the American Empire. The silly Aquino is giggling without knowing that he has invited the wolf into the region. The Americans have claimed Hawaii, the Marshalls, Guam and even Gan in the Indian Ocean. They used to claim the Philippines. Now they are coveting the islands in the South China Sea.

The equity casino is going to draw its curtain soon

Agencies reported that Stanchart has announced that it ‘is closing its equity derivatives and convertible bonds businesses.’ This is a follow up on its earlier announcement ‘to axe thousands of jobs globally as it dismantled its stock broking, equity research and equity listing desks.’

What this news is saying is that a big global bank is finding it tough to make money in equities, bonds and derivatives and finds it necessary to close down these businesses to cut losses. Is this move a trend that is also affecting other big banks, and what does this portend for the industry and the stake holders like traders, remisiers, research and backroom staff? Would Stanchart be the Pipe Piper leading a trail of banks and broking houses following behind to close down the same operations and cut staff?

It is strange that Stanchart is cutting down on equity derivatives when this instrument is supposed to be gaining popularity with rising volumes in daily trades. Or is it that Stanchart is underperforming the market and losing money while other players are laughing to the banks? What is the truth?

The truth will come in the next few months if other banks continue to trade happily in equity derivatives or starting to cut cost by axing their staff in equity and derivatives. The analysts and research staff would also be on the laid off list.

Wither the stock market and derivative industry? Is it flying high or sinking in quick sand?

The most frightening thing happened yesterday morning

The NEL MRT broke down in the morning just as the train started to run. And this was the morning of the start of the O and A level examinations, the biggest examinations of our highly stressed school system. The poor students who were caught in the breakdown, after mugging nights and weeks for this day, had another stressful encounter to face, how to get to the exam halls on time. Many were already feeling the stress of the examinations, now to fight for time to get to the exam hall must be very frightening.

How could the train fail on such a crucial day and put added pressure on our students? Sure it can. When a train system wants to fail, it will fail. But this kind of things never happened in the past leh. In the past our trains were simply reliable and could be expected to run and not to break down. Taking the train was a no event. Today taking the train is so dramatic with all kinds of things waiting to happen.

Never mind if this is the new normal, the new standard of efficient Singapore where everything is supposed to work with the push of a button. Ooops. Today, the new normal is to expect failures and breakdowns when you pray that it would not happen, and not on such an important and stressful day when the O and A level examinations were in full swing. Be prepared for the worst and more to come. Be always prepared and don’t take things for granted ok? Students taking examinations must plan for alternative route or means of transport just in case. This is another burden, another thing to prepare in addition to preparing for the examinations.

Sorry kids. Don’t expect everything to work. This is Singapore. You can bet if the results for those taking their exams yesterday would be affected. Poor kids!  The mental stress must be heavy on them. Having to slog and struggle for the examinations were stressful enough, and now this. How many students were late for the examinations?  They must be trembling in fear, yes fear and worried sick. Thank God, today’s newspaper reported that only less than 20 students were late. Is this supposed to be another miracle? Or is it that the students were smart enough to find their ways to the exam hall on time?

The magic wan is running out of tricks. Is this the beginning of things falling apart? The saga of hepatitis C and the number of deaths and people infected is still unfolding like a 3^rd World country.

Shall we call for Harry, Harry Potter?

The Evil of Religious Conversion couple with Deculturalisation

Now it seems is a fashion to be converted to one major religion or another. You can be converted to any foreign religion but you must not let others or allow yourself to be deculturalised from your own culture and tradition. When through religion you are deculturalised because of wrongful or biased concept you are no more what you are, a respectable person because your mind , soul and spirit are being captured and imprisoned by your new converted beliefs . In other words you will think and act the ways whatever religious doctrines or masters want you to believe to toe their line of thinking and behaviour. That's the reason why Western countries and Middle-East Arabic religious orders have been fighting tooth and nail for centuries to convert the world to their respective religions. And they are doing so not because they want to improve your life and make you a better person but because they want to capture your mind, spirit and soul so that they can hold sway over your life and destiny and in this way maintain hegemonic control over the whole world. Why allow the freaks and charlatans in the name of their religion to hold sway over you and your country and through their sham dissemination of fear about their wonderful gods and deities to play havoc with your own lives. They always tell us " Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. " There you see, to them only the poor whether individuals or poor countries can only dream of heaven while the rich and mighty enjoy unlimited wealth and glory in this world because they always pillage all the wealth and riches from other countries at will. They always tell you 'money is evil' but at the same time all the priests and religious leaders will compete endlessly and shamelessly to ask for donations or offerings from the people even from the poorest individuals.

What these major religions preach or taught whether in public, schools or learning centres are always biased against local practices and traditional cultures. In other words they try to stop us from practising our culture, tradition and customs. Many Asians, Africans and Native Americans pay respect to the dead through rituals of Ancestral reverence which is a way of giving the honour to deserving parents or ancestors for all the sacrifices they made for us and for our future generations and thus enable us to learn the secrets to immortality. It is atrocious that Chinese who become Christians are forbidden to hold joss sticks to pay respect to their dead parents or ancestors. However, the priests of Western and Middle-East religious bodies will pour scorn on the practice and twisted the fact by saying that the people have committed sin for they are worshipping the dead. This is far from the truth. The Western and Arabic practice of erecting a stone tablet in remembrance of their dead bears no difference to the aforementioned practice. The difference is that the West and the Arabs have the habit of practising cultural racism attributing every good thing in this world to themselves while blaming others for all the negative things .

Another bad practice is to bestow or adopt a religious name of that faith on the converted person and thus the converted individual become a misnomer in his own country, town or village because he has lost whatever semblance he has with his own countrymen.

It is time that people wake up and allow themselves some deep thinking, self-respect and dignity and not allow religious freaks and governments to hold sway over their lives with the end result the loss not only of their personal selves but also their own countries.

Author - Sun, Moon and Darkness