SGX – The elephant that no one wants to see

It was not just an elephant that no one sees, but no one wants to see or talk about as if there is a dark force telling them not to say anything about it. SGX held a public dialogue and it was a damn big deal. It never happened before! They never think it was necessary to do so. Mohamed must go to the mountain, don’t expect the mountain to come to Mohamed. So there was a public forum, for what, to hear about the elephant, to talk about the elephant? Anyone going there with any inkling of hope that something meaningful would come out of it must have his mental faculty checked.

The people in charge in the SGX and MAS are not idiots. They are the super talents of the land, the crème ala crème of our establishment. They did not know what is happening, they did not know the elephant was there, they could not see the elephant? Heard of the emperor’s new clothe? Who in his right mind, earning millions happily would dare or want to risk telling the emperor he is naked and get slapped?

So what did SGX try to do in the dialogue? As usual, telling the good stuff and hoping the audience would hear only the good stuff. They said, ‘bo how seow bo kong’ if you know what it means. The stock market is very healthy, really, as good as it could be, we are performing better than many major markets in the whole wide world. Ok, enough of ‘how seow’. And sure enough, the remisiers and everyone in the industry present at the forum could not stomach the ‘how seow’ being thrown at them. They did not want to hear the ‘good stuff’.

Hey, don’t think the remisiers, dealers and sundry are really daft, blindly reading the media and hearing only what people wanted them to hear. They are the practitioners, the people on the ground, losing their pants, their clients losing their life savings, and many are quitting a moribund industry. The stock market is doing well, according to who and on what criteria? No sensible person would say that without looking silly.

Ok, I confess I was not at the session, knowing what it would be like it would be a futile and time wasting effort to be there. The only thing good coming out of it, if you think it is good, is for the letting out of steam and frustration, to tell them to look at the elephant.  Luckily the remisiers and dealers did not riot or throw their shoes at the panel. But many would leave the forum more frustrated than ever, knowing that no one that is in a position to do something was there to listen and to want to do something right. They were there to tell everyone that everything was fine, just like when they first decided to bring in the foreign funds and introduced all the changes to make high speed computer trading a bliss, at the expense of the rest of the players, taking advantage of computer power to cheat and fleece the innocents.

Remember what they said? The big funds, the computers plugged into the system, were the way going forward. This was the new thing and must follow market practice. There would be plentiful of liquidity and plentiful of trading activities. The stock market would spin out of control and everyone would be doing roaring businesses. Oops, this last sentence is just my exaggeration. But they did said the future was so bright and business would be so good that tomorrow could only be better. The rest is history.

Yes the stock market is very healthy. In another six months or so, maybe half of the remisiers and dealers would also pack up and leave. The broking houses would be operating on half strength and trying to break even in a losing battle in the best stock market in the world. Now, if the market is so good, why would the Singapore Business Federation rush a paper to appeal to the govt to reinvest in the local stock market that they could not raise fund from the market, a key function of the market, and they had to call the stock market a moribund stock market? Are they lying or someone else is lying?

And if the market is so good, why are the remisiers and dealers fleeing and why are the broking houses starting to make plans to cut staff and downsize? And why were the SGX and MAS deemed it necessary to break protocol, to come to Mohamed, to want to listen to Mohamed? Oops, sorry again, my mistake. They came to tell Mohamed the good news, that everything is fine, just fine.

Ok, let me hold my horses and quote a few comments that Rajan whatsapped to me from SI chat to give you an idea of the farce that happened at the forum and you can make up your own mind on the fruitfulness or futility of the chat session. This is the culture of the establishment. If they cannot convince you, they will confuse you. Remember the clown saying everyday that public housing was affordable? Actually more clowns are still singing the same tune.

 

Ok, here are the quotes:

1. If the remisiers, dealers are frustrated, what would the tens of thousands of lousy listing sufferers from S cheats to sinking SMEs do?
2. The outpour of anger and frustration among dealers and TRs was ‘encouraging’.
3. SGX began the day saying how Singapore exchange healthcare stocks has outperformed…put out a chart that’s says How our index has out performed SSEC since 2007(the grammar and typo errors are inherent in the posts). This went on for an hour, I can’t believe it, …’until a young man from DBSV interrupted and pointed out that they are cherry picking data points. The healthcare computation index was skewed and that if they had used another time period, the outcome would be different. (KNN)
4. He then went on to talk about how sick is the market. At lunch time yesterday half of the counters on sgx were not traded. The top 100 counters has only certain values etc etc. Things get heated up.
5. Soon remisiers one by one poured out their views on how S cheats, lousy SMEs, business trusts etc etc destroyed wealth savings of their friends, themselves and clients.
6. The outpouring was great.
7. It’s heartening to hear TRs questioning the morality, the extend of greed, the damage done to the investing public, the lives of those who depends on the industry from remisiers to backroom were given a chance to air.
8. Heard the young man talked about…remisiers, ex simex driving taxis and colleagues leaving…he grieved at the sorry state of affairs in the industry after years of mismanagement…How billions of market capitalizations were lost…lives broken….

 

The above comments are not new, did not happen yesterday. And you can bet that the people in the govt too knew about it. The sad thing is that all their heads were buried in the sand. No one dares to tell the truth, no one wants to tell the truth, no one wants to know the truth. You can bet Hsien Loong, Tharman, Heng Swee Kiat and every minister know what is happening to the stock market. The big question, why the reticence, why the inaction? Why is everyone looking the other way? This is the biggest mystery. This is the pathetic state of things. Who is responsible for this shit?

 

No one really, no one is responsible though many are taking millions and millions as salaries. ‘No one owes you a living. You die your business.’  Heard of the phrase ‘bo cheng hu’? Did the dialogue achieve anything or meant to achieve anything?

 

Thank you for bearing with me.

The philosphy of Goodlife Makan

The ESM has launched a new initiative in his Marine Parade ward to bring life to the senior citizens. It is called Goodlife Makan, where the seniors are encouraged to do things together, and what else is better than food? Goodlife Makan is all about the seniors and makan. And if I am not mistaken, Monfort Caré is taking care of the cost of the project.

“When we discuss challenges facing old people, we tend to look at them as problems – who will look after them, do they need more funds, what will be the cost of looking after them? That is the wrong approach. It's how to turn that into strengths - what can they do for themselves? How can they help others?” said ESM Goh.

How true is the above statement. Old people all got problems. The poor ones got poor problems, the rich ones got rich problems. Some got no money and would really appreciate Goodlife Makan for a day of free makan, I am presuming here, and a day of socialising. Some got so much money that the money becomes a problem itself.

Yes, the right approach is to turn their challenges into strength. The poor should just enjoy themselves without having to pay for it since they got no money anyway. And the rich should be given the opportunity to show their generosity and pay for the makan. Like that win win. The poor would be grateful to the rich and the rich would be thankful there is a useful way to spend their money. Otherwise so much money would only go to waste. Now they can really do something for themselves, to enjoy the pleasure of sharing a little of their wealth and good fortune with those that have little.

Nice thought on a Sunday morning. But putting it into practice is not easy.

Japanese history repeating itself

Historians read the past to understand what is happening today. There is another way of looking at history by looking at what is happening today to understand what happened in the past. The history of Japan during WW2 is still cloaked with controversies. Who were the real villains that led Japan to its barbaric invasion of Asia and South East Asian? The verdict at the military tribunal put the blame on the Emperor Hirohito, the father of present Emperor of Japan. Many members of the royal families were also found guilty, among them many princes who held command positions in the Imperial Army.

Did the tribunal nailed the real culprits that led Japan to the disastrous war or the Emperor Hirohito was made a scapegoat and the politicians and soldiers who wanted the war and did the butchering of the people they invaded? Emperor Akhihito is now touring the Pacific countries, including Japan and is showing remorse and repentance to the victims of the Japanese invasion and barbarity.  He acknowledged the crimes of Japan in WW2 but was not allowed to say much by the politicians, just like his father during the WW2. The Emperor was just a figure head if what is happening today was the same as the past. The politicians called the shot then and now. Japan was dragged into WW2 by the politicians and the soldiers, not by the Emperor.

While the Emperor and other members of the Imperial household have spoken about the horrors of wars, and feeling repentance over the criminal acts of the Japanese Imperial Armies and the politicians then, the politicians today are shutting up the Emperor and embarking a another mission to rearm Japan, tearing away the pacifist Constitution, and going around the world thumping their chests that they would want to engage in wars. They are building more weapons of wars and signing military alliances and supporting and agitating for wars.

Should Japan embark on WW3 and lose, the fingers must point directly at the politicians and Shinzo Abe and his gang in the govt. They are the ones that are pushing Japan to the path of militarism and war. The Imperial household has nothing to do with what the politicians are doing and wanting to commit Japan on a war path.

In the next war tribunal, the Japanese Emperor must not be made another scapegoat to take the blame from the politicians. The evidence is all there and mounting up daily, the deeds and words of Abe and his gangs of militants.

National Day a day of mourning

How many countries would celebrate or mark their National Day as a day of mourning? 26 Jan is the National Day of Australia but also the day of mourning. Here is why.

‘Sydney, Australia - For many Australians the national Australia Day holiday is a chance to celebrate their country with a day off from work and a drink. For Indigenous Australians, it is a day of protest and mourning.

Several thousand Indigenous Australians and their supporters marched through the streets of Sydney to protest at what they have renamed 'Invasion Day', which marks the 1788 establishment of the first British penal colony.’ Al Jazeera

Now you know why. Every story and event has two sides. The winner’s side and the loser’s side, the conqueror’s story and the defeated’s story. 26 Jan is the day the British, I think led by James Cook, landed Australia and robbed it from the native aborigines, then later gave the land to their convicts from England. Yes, the white Australians would celebrate this day just like the white Americans would celebrate Thanksgiving Day, the day Columbus landed on North America and robbed the continent from the native Red Indians.

The bananas have also been celebrating Thanksgiving Day and some may join the Australians to celebrate Australian Day without knowing why. To the natives of both continents, both days are days of sorrow, genocide and mourning. One side would be celebrating stealing the lunch of the natives and their land and killing them, the other side mourning for the losses of their land and people and subjugation.


Ignorance is bliss but also stupidity and looking silly. You may still want to ask why such events were not reported in the western media.

The Philippines is not the Sick Man of Asia

There have been many misguided comments that the Philippines is the new Sick Man of Asia. This is not true. The only semblance of a Sick Man is its economy, that is not doing as well as the Asean states. Other than this, the Philippines is every inch a proud sovereign state. The Pinoys are a proud people and had recently driven the colonial master, the USA, out of their country. They have reclaimed full independence of their national sovereignty, with no foreign bases and soldiers in their country. They are even standing up to fight China and competing to claim islands in the South China Sea as theirs. They even want to claim or take over Singapore as their new colony. They may not be rich, but the Philippines is anything but a Sick Man of Asia.

Reflect what qualified China of the 19^th Century as the Sick Man of Asia, the conditions of the country and people. China was not only economically weak, the country was cut up by foreigners with foreign concessions where foreigners lived like they owned the country, in their own enclaves in Shanghai. The foreigners have more rights in China than the locals. When they ended up in court, the court would rule in favour of them. And the corrupt elites were sleeping with the foreigners, allowing more foreigners into the country, taking over businesses and anything that had economic values, even messing around with the govt. The foreigners were having all the good jobs and top jobs in the country.

What about the locals? The local Chinese were kicked aside, no jobs and begging the foreigners for jobs. The foreigners were in control of everything. the govt, the economy and jobs and wining, dining and partying everyday. The natives lost all pride as citizens of the country. Got bashed by the foreigners, kicked around by the foreigners, insulted and abused by the foreigners, as good as no talents. And the natives could not do anything and the govt could not do anything. The elites would not dare offend the powerful foreigners. The natives lost all fighting spirit in their own country. Many escaped overseas to find jobs and to look for a better life. The people lost hope in their own country and their elites.

Did the Philippines meet these conditions? Some, but not all. The Pinoys are still in charge in their own countries and foreigners could not boss around with them of abuse them. The foreigners know that in the Philippines, the Pinoys are the owners and they better behave well in front of the Pinoys. They would not dare to beat up a Pinoy. There is still pride in the Pinoys. How can they be called the Sick Man of Asia?  It is not just about money? Money is dignity? It is national pride, the pride as a nation, as a people. Lose that, you become the Sick Man of Asia.

A Sick Man of Asia is when a country is taken over by foreigners, run by foreigners, foreigners could boss around with the locals and the locals are helpless when abused by the foreigners. When the foreigners formed and lived in foreign enclaves and sneering and despising the natives. And the natives lost all pride and spirit to live, lost confidence in themselves, all planning to run away from the country, when their very own govt cannot protect them, cannot offer them good jobs, and the good jobs were taken over by foreigners.

I definitely disagree that the Philippines is the Sick Man of Asia. They even despise daft Sinkies.