This is a very enlightening speech by the Cown Prince of Johore, HRH
brigadier general Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim in defence of his
right to speak for the raykat, his people against the abuse of power and
corruption by the politicians, in this case Nazri Abdul Aziz, Culture
and Tourism Minister of Malaysia.
There is a role reversal in Malaysian politics, with the Royalties now
being the moral authority and standing up against the politicians. It
was the other way in the past that gave Mahathir the opportunity to curb
the power of the Royalties. Now the Royalties are seeing the
politicians as the corrupt ones and standing up to voice their
displeasure and objections, to defend the rights and interest of the
people.
In any country, when the politicians are corrupt and abuses the power
given to them by the people, it is the right of the people to speak out
either directly or through their elected representatives. Politicians
are not gods and should not present themselves as gods or infallibles.
Here is the speech of the Crown Prince of Johore.
You are a minister, not a god from the heavens who lord above everybody.
Do not think the people of this country exist to provide you with
position and wealth, but the position exists for you to serve the
people.
When I voice out, I do it as the leader of my rakyat, on behalf of
Johoreans and Malaysians. All I did was to remind the leaders of the
country that they have a responsibility to serve the people, and for
this, I am attacked.
'Speaking for the people'
In the new world order, I envision a future that every person has a
right to voice their opinions. However, that is not the case in Malaysia
today, where ministers think they are untouchable. I am willing to be
cursed for standing up for what is right, rather than be loved for
defending what is wrong.
I am not a politician. I am only answerable to Allah, my sultan and the
people of Johor. I do not do the bidding of some puppet-master who pulls
the strings. Johor only has place for those who want to serve the
people, not for those who want to garner votes for their own interests.
There will come a time, when the Johorean people must decide what is
best for us and our future generations. Decide and unite we will, as
Bangsa Johor, to forge our future. United we stand strong, divided we
fall. I stand for my rakyat, not to joust for power, not to topple the
government, but to ensure the wellbeing of my people.
I never told anybody to step down or resign, only to remind politicians
of their roles and responsibilities. If you cannot deal with that, it
just shows your arrogance to the people.
Alhamdulillah, I have been blessed with a comfortable life, and I could
just live my own life and be oblivious to the worries of my people, but
here I am, standing firm by their side.
So for those wanting to tarnish my image and make me public enemy number
one, the people are smarter than that, and they can think for
themselves.
Do not use me to divert attention from 1MDB and other national issues.
This country needs politicians who are clean and transparent, who carry
out their duties with sincerity and integrity.
- HRH brigadier general Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, the Crown Prince of Johor.
3/04/2018
Kim Jong Nam - More fake news
KUALA LUMPUR – Kim Jong Nam, the
poisoned half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, told a
Japanese friend in Malaysia his life was in danger six months before he
was killed, a police official told a court on Tuesday.
Two women, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, have been charged with murdering Kim by smearing his face with VX, a banned chemical poison, at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13 last year.
They were charged together with four North Koreans, Hong Song Hac, Ri Ji Hyon, Ri Jae Nam and O Jong Gil, who are still at large, with the murder.... Reuter
The attempt to put all the blames for the murder of Kim Jong Nam on the North Vietnamese continues in the Malaysian court. The presumed murderers or suspects are the North Koreans and the innocent ones are the Japanese. In fact Kim Jong Nam's good friend was a Japanese by the name of Tomie Yoshio, who would send his drivers to drive him every where for free. And Kim Jong Nam confessed to this Japanese that his life was in danger. And for that, he asked for a driver, not a body guard, to protect his life according to this Japanese.
Anyone who knows the history of Japan and Korea would know that the Koreans hate the Japanese to the core for their brutal occupation and colonisation of their country. It was an era of humiliation that no Korean would forget or forgive the Japanese. But there would be the minorities in South Korea, similar to the bananas here, that would love the Japanese, definitely not the North Koreans.
Who would believe that the best friend of Kim Jong Nam was a Japanese and Kim Jong Nam trusted him so much that the Japanese knew his every movement? To the North Koreans, Japan and Japanese are enemies Number One. Who is this Tomie Yoshio?
There were other suspicious and questionable facts to the case. The unknowns that were not caught and charged, spoke Japanese and looked Japanese according to the witnesses.
Kim Jong Nam was a family member, trusted, and likely the front man for North Korea and running its foreign business operation, not a traitor. There is no reason for Kim Jung Un to kill him. In all probability he was killed by the Japanese and this Tomie Yoshio is a likely to be involved.
Kim Jong Nam knew that his life was threatened and he had the antidote in his pocket but somehow did not know how to use it when attacked.
In this case, the western media have tried very hard to pronounce guilty on the North Koreans and framing every report to say so but conveniently left unanswered, unreported, the part of the people that engaged the two women to do the job.
You do not need must effort to fish out the fake news in this case. The guilty parties are so innocent and the innocent parties are so guilty from the start.
Why are the Malaysian govt not blowing the whistle? They are privy to all the fake news that are being fed to them and would have a good idea who is really behind the murder. This is a clear case of a black ops.
Two women, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, have been charged with murdering Kim by smearing his face with VX, a banned chemical poison, at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13 last year.
They were charged together with four North Koreans, Hong Song Hac, Ri Ji Hyon, Ri Jae Nam and O Jong Gil, who are still at large, with the murder.... Reuter
The attempt to put all the blames for the murder of Kim Jong Nam on the North Vietnamese continues in the Malaysian court. The presumed murderers or suspects are the North Koreans and the innocent ones are the Japanese. In fact Kim Jong Nam's good friend was a Japanese by the name of Tomie Yoshio, who would send his drivers to drive him every where for free. And Kim Jong Nam confessed to this Japanese that his life was in danger. And for that, he asked for a driver, not a body guard, to protect his life according to this Japanese.
Anyone who knows the history of Japan and Korea would know that the Koreans hate the Japanese to the core for their brutal occupation and colonisation of their country. It was an era of humiliation that no Korean would forget or forgive the Japanese. But there would be the minorities in South Korea, similar to the bananas here, that would love the Japanese, definitely not the North Koreans.
Who would believe that the best friend of Kim Jong Nam was a Japanese and Kim Jong Nam trusted him so much that the Japanese knew his every movement? To the North Koreans, Japan and Japanese are enemies Number One. Who is this Tomie Yoshio?
There were other suspicious and questionable facts to the case. The unknowns that were not caught and charged, spoke Japanese and looked Japanese according to the witnesses.
Kim Jong Nam was a family member, trusted, and likely the front man for North Korea and running its foreign business operation, not a traitor. There is no reason for Kim Jung Un to kill him. In all probability he was killed by the Japanese and this Tomie Yoshio is a likely to be involved.
Kim Jong Nam knew that his life was threatened and he had the antidote in his pocket but somehow did not know how to use it when attacked.
In this case, the western media have tried very hard to pronounce guilty on the North Koreans and framing every report to say so but conveniently left unanswered, unreported, the part of the people that engaged the two women to do the job.
You do not need must effort to fish out the fake news in this case. The guilty parties are so innocent and the innocent parties are so guilty from the start.
Why are the Malaysian govt not blowing the whistle? They are privy to all the fake news that are being fed to them and would have a good idea who is really behind the murder. This is a clear case of a black ops.
3/03/2018
Little sympathy for no pay hike for ministers
AFP reported "that there was little sympathy in the city-state for the world's best-paid politicians.
The government has argued the huge pay packets are necessary to attract top-calibre talent and prevent the corruption that afflicts other Asian countries.
But the issue has long attracted public anger, and the government responded to criticism by slashing salaries after a review in 2012."
Many people may be grudgingly cheering this decision to stop raising the outrageous salaries of the ministers and even wanted the salaries to be slashed given the dismal performance of the ministers. But I have another take on this as the decision could bring about the demise of the country. The country cannot be run well if the ministers are unhappy for not having more pay hikes to their mouth watering salaries when every worker is getting a pay hike, no matter how small, some may get $10 or $20.
There are several arguments favouring a pay hike for the ministers.
One, it is a Singaporean mindset, or at least among the politicians, that after a few years there must be a hike, in salary, in prices, in fees and in taxes. You cannot keep a salary, price, fee or taxes at the same level for too many years. Since the last hike or cut in salary in 2012, it has been a looong 5 years without a hike for the ministers. This is unacceptable and unreasonable.
And two, there is inflation to consider. The life style of the ministers would be gravely affected if their salaries did not keep pace with inflation even though many have viewed that their out of this world salaries have out paced inflation by a 100 years. Their families will suffer, definitely. This is how some ministers would be thinking, true feelings. And with this kind of thinking, how can the people expect them to continue to sacrifice for the country when they could be earning millions more in the private sector?
Three, many would be thinking of leaving political office to seek greener pasture in the private sector now. These super super talents would easily make more than what they are getting as ministers. The country will suffer if they leave. There are no more such talents in an island where there is a dearth of talents. Would Singaporeans be happy if the PAP starts to recruit third world talents, with fake degrees, dubious experience and credentials and doubtful talents to be ministers? Many of these foreigners would not even pass our PSLE or O level examinations without cheating or faking.
Four, the most disappointing part is that the Ministerial Salary Review Committee already recommended a 9% increase or a mere $100,000 only. The ministers knew this and would be very unhappy that they are being deprived of such a small increase. It is like meat in the mouth and snatched away again. They would end up with a lot of saliva in their mouths.
Overall the morale of ministers would be low definitely. Remember, they are making very big sacrifices, sacrificing their privacy, their good lives, their families, to serve the people and country. How can the country be so mean to them. And all the time they have been scheming how to make the people rich, well taken care of in old age with plenty of money in their CPF? Singaporeans are ungrateful creatures. If not they should be holding a protest at Hong Lim to fight for a hike in ministerial salaries to show their appreciation to these selfless and honourable men and women.
From the HR perspective, all is not lost. There are many ways to raise the salaries of ministers without raising their salaries, like promotions, more deputy PMs, more senior ministers, ESM or even add the post of mayors to their portfolios, secondary appointments as chairman or directors here and there, big bonuses, study strips overseas, leadership allowances, innovative allowances, etc etc. Another way of raising salary without raising salary is to half the job size. Instead of one minister doing a job, have two or more ministers and each minister would theoretically only need to do a portion of the job. A two minister ministry would mean the job is divided by half, and being paid a full minister's salary for doing half the job. Very neat.
Anyway. the govt must seriously reconsider this decision not to hike the high pay of the ministers. It would affect their morale and performance. Must be, they are also human, just like they would be corrupt if salary not high enough. I am worried for Singapore and the well being of Singaporeans going forward. If the economy is not doing well, you cannot blame the ministers for not performing when you don't give them a hike in salary. First thing that comes to mind is the MRT.
Singaporeans should not expect their ministers to look hagged, lean, badly dressed and unhappy and troubled by a stagnant salary with no pay hike. The ministers must be well fed, happy, well dressed and with high morale so that they can only think of working for the people without any financial worry, or unable to give their families a Swiss standard of living. We are all in the same sampan. Their well being is our well being.
Ministerial salaries in the
financial hub are the highest on Earth, with an entry-level minister
paid Sg$1.1 million ($830,000) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
earning an eye-watering Sg$2.2 million.
The government has argued the huge pay packets are necessary to attract top-calibre talent and prevent the corruption that afflicts other Asian countries.
But the issue has long attracted public anger, and the government responded to criticism by slashing salaries after a review in 2012."
Many people may be grudgingly cheering this decision to stop raising the outrageous salaries of the ministers and even wanted the salaries to be slashed given the dismal performance of the ministers. But I have another take on this as the decision could bring about the demise of the country. The country cannot be run well if the ministers are unhappy for not having more pay hikes to their mouth watering salaries when every worker is getting a pay hike, no matter how small, some may get $10 or $20.
There are several arguments favouring a pay hike for the ministers.
One, it is a Singaporean mindset, or at least among the politicians, that after a few years there must be a hike, in salary, in prices, in fees and in taxes. You cannot keep a salary, price, fee or taxes at the same level for too many years. Since the last hike or cut in salary in 2012, it has been a looong 5 years without a hike for the ministers. This is unacceptable and unreasonable.
And two, there is inflation to consider. The life style of the ministers would be gravely affected if their salaries did not keep pace with inflation even though many have viewed that their out of this world salaries have out paced inflation by a 100 years. Their families will suffer, definitely. This is how some ministers would be thinking, true feelings. And with this kind of thinking, how can the people expect them to continue to sacrifice for the country when they could be earning millions more in the private sector?
Three, many would be thinking of leaving political office to seek greener pasture in the private sector now. These super super talents would easily make more than what they are getting as ministers. The country will suffer if they leave. There are no more such talents in an island where there is a dearth of talents. Would Singaporeans be happy if the PAP starts to recruit third world talents, with fake degrees, dubious experience and credentials and doubtful talents to be ministers? Many of these foreigners would not even pass our PSLE or O level examinations without cheating or faking.
Four, the most disappointing part is that the Ministerial Salary Review Committee already recommended a 9% increase or a mere $100,000 only. The ministers knew this and would be very unhappy that they are being deprived of such a small increase. It is like meat in the mouth and snatched away again. They would end up with a lot of saliva in their mouths.
Overall the morale of ministers would be low definitely. Remember, they are making very big sacrifices, sacrificing their privacy, their good lives, their families, to serve the people and country. How can the country be so mean to them. And all the time they have been scheming how to make the people rich, well taken care of in old age with plenty of money in their CPF? Singaporeans are ungrateful creatures. If not they should be holding a protest at Hong Lim to fight for a hike in ministerial salaries to show their appreciation to these selfless and honourable men and women.
From the HR perspective, all is not lost. There are many ways to raise the salaries of ministers without raising their salaries, like promotions, more deputy PMs, more senior ministers, ESM or even add the post of mayors to their portfolios, secondary appointments as chairman or directors here and there, big bonuses, study strips overseas, leadership allowances, innovative allowances, etc etc. Another way of raising salary without raising salary is to half the job size. Instead of one minister doing a job, have two or more ministers and each minister would theoretically only need to do a portion of the job. A two minister ministry would mean the job is divided by half, and being paid a full minister's salary for doing half the job. Very neat.
Anyway. the govt must seriously reconsider this decision not to hike the high pay of the ministers. It would affect their morale and performance. Must be, they are also human, just like they would be corrupt if salary not high enough. I am worried for Singapore and the well being of Singaporeans going forward. If the economy is not doing well, you cannot blame the ministers for not performing when you don't give them a hike in salary. First thing that comes to mind is the MRT.
Singaporeans should not expect their ministers to look hagged, lean, badly dressed and unhappy and troubled by a stagnant salary with no pay hike. The ministers must be well fed, happy, well dressed and with high morale so that they can only think of working for the people without any financial worry, or unable to give their families a Swiss standard of living. We are all in the same sampan. Their well being is our well being.
3/02/2018
The taxi trade - how to make money from the stupid
The statestimesreview has an article with this headline, ''ComfortDelgro wasted S$642 million acquiring Uber''. The reason given by the article is that ComfortDelgro drivers were introduced to Uber's dynamic pricing software but after a while most of them gave up using it, thus making the purpose of acquiring Uber totally wasted. This may be a simplified way of looking at the acquisition which would include things like gaining market share, disruptive technology and buying over a competitor. There must be very good reasons to spend $642 million to buy over a company, uppermost must be the bottom line.
So, with the acquisition of Uber, and maybe Grab will be the next target, ComfortDelgro could eventually be the major taxi service provider, again, with the biggest market share of the business. Sounds pretty logical. The acquisition of Grab, hypothetically, could cost another $500 million or thereabout. This would mean a total outlay of a billion dollar to stay on top, to regain the market share. The big question is how to make a billion dollar of profit and how long would it take to make this sum just to square the book?
Let's look at the business again. Before Uber and Grab, there were X number of customers and a handful of taxi companies, maybe 5. So with Uber and Grab, there will be 7 taxi companies but the number of customers would still be X. With the acquisition say of Uber and Grab, the number of taxi companies would be back to 5, ie ComfortDelgro/Uber/Grab becoming one company, and the number of customers is still X, caveat from new citizens. See the stupidity in the logic of acquiring Uber and Grab?
The pie is the same. Before and after, the pie is still the same. But by letting Uber and Grab to operate in the same market, the pie is shared by more players. The acquisition would mean technically the number of players will be as before but the pie is still the same. So, by allowing Uber and Grab to come in and to be bought over by ComfortDelgro, Uber and Grab made the money and scoot off, leaving ComfortDelgro with a billion dollar hole in the pocket, just to retain market share for the same piece of pie, or to return to square one. This analogy is hypothetical of course.
So, after Uber and Grab, another GrabU taxi operator may set up business again, the story could be repeated with ComfortDelgro buying over the new company, and GrabU would walk away with another few hundred millions. This musical chair game could go on and on and the stupid will keep paying and paying just to retain market share which is still X.
The same formula is being repeated in the telco business. Have Starhub and M1 been bought over by SingTel or the govt to maintain market share? And a new player has come into the market in Circles.Life. This telco needs not make profit. Just go for market share and eventually some stupid would make an offer to buy it over for a few hundred millions. And Circles.Life can walk away laughing to the bank. And the circus can be repeated all over again by other telcos and taxi operators.
It is so easy to make money from the stupid. And the stupid did not know why. This is an exercise to identify the stupid. Give you some clues. Who is the biggest loser? Who create the situation for the loser to lose without knowing why? The best part, some stupid would be thinking that they are fighting against competitors and very clever to buy over the competitors to retain their share in the market?
Hundreds of millions were wasted all for nothing. To gain market share that was there but given away only to be bought back by the hundreds of millions?
So, with the acquisition of Uber, and maybe Grab will be the next target, ComfortDelgro could eventually be the major taxi service provider, again, with the biggest market share of the business. Sounds pretty logical. The acquisition of Grab, hypothetically, could cost another $500 million or thereabout. This would mean a total outlay of a billion dollar to stay on top, to regain the market share. The big question is how to make a billion dollar of profit and how long would it take to make this sum just to square the book?
Let's look at the business again. Before Uber and Grab, there were X number of customers and a handful of taxi companies, maybe 5. So with Uber and Grab, there will be 7 taxi companies but the number of customers would still be X. With the acquisition say of Uber and Grab, the number of taxi companies would be back to 5, ie ComfortDelgro/Uber/Grab becoming one company, and the number of customers is still X, caveat from new citizens. See the stupidity in the logic of acquiring Uber and Grab?
The pie is the same. Before and after, the pie is still the same. But by letting Uber and Grab to operate in the same market, the pie is shared by more players. The acquisition would mean technically the number of players will be as before but the pie is still the same. So, by allowing Uber and Grab to come in and to be bought over by ComfortDelgro, Uber and Grab made the money and scoot off, leaving ComfortDelgro with a billion dollar hole in the pocket, just to retain market share for the same piece of pie, or to return to square one. This analogy is hypothetical of course.
So, after Uber and Grab, another GrabU taxi operator may set up business again, the story could be repeated with ComfortDelgro buying over the new company, and GrabU would walk away with another few hundred millions. This musical chair game could go on and on and the stupid will keep paying and paying just to retain market share which is still X.
The same formula is being repeated in the telco business. Have Starhub and M1 been bought over by SingTel or the govt to maintain market share? And a new player has come into the market in Circles.Life. This telco needs not make profit. Just go for market share and eventually some stupid would make an offer to buy it over for a few hundred millions. And Circles.Life can walk away laughing to the bank. And the circus can be repeated all over again by other telcos and taxi operators.
It is so easy to make money from the stupid. And the stupid did not know why. This is an exercise to identify the stupid. Give you some clues. Who is the biggest loser? Who create the situation for the loser to lose without knowing why? The best part, some stupid would be thinking that they are fighting against competitors and very clever to buy over the competitors to retain their share in the market?
Hundreds of millions were wasted all for nothing. To gain market share that was there but given away only to be bought back by the hundreds of millions?
3/01/2018
China has no military allies
This is the sneer the Americans keep broadcasting to the world and its
allies. China may not have military allies, but it has friends all over
the world and is the top and second biggest trading partners of more
than 100 countries. China does not need military allies for two main
reasons. One, China does not aspire to be a hegemon military Empire and
has renounced war as an option to settle differences between states.
China does not seek to threaten any country with sanctions or with wars.
Two, China is now more than capable of defending itself against any
external threat from the Americans or a combined force of hostile
military allies.
Is China concerned about the Quad, the encirclement by the American Empire, or the military exercises conducted by a pretentious regional power like India? With China’s military might today, and growing, soon it would have at least 6 aircraft carriers, China is not even bothered by the threats of an American preemptive strike or an all out war. As far as India is concerned, it is irrelevant, insignificant and would at most be a pin prick irritant. China could overrun India any time if India did the foolish thing again.
India is positioning itself as a regional power and aspiring to be a superpower with a third world economy and infrastructure. All the silly countries that think India is going to be a super power and eager to be a part of this ‘great super power’ and India as their regional master are welcome to defer to this ‘great’ military power that has never won a war except to bully its small neighbours and treating them as semi colonies.
Even if India is to form a military pact with the 16 countries that are holding a joint military exercise, it would at best be a joke. Economically, militarily, in science and technology, India is still a third world country in every aspect. And these countries want to call India boss?
Would China be worried about a little ant crawling around when it is in contention with the USA to be the Number One super power in all fields? India is just not in the super power league for another half a century at least, if it ever gets there.
Is China concerned about the Quad, the encirclement by the American Empire, or the military exercises conducted by a pretentious regional power like India? With China’s military might today, and growing, soon it would have at least 6 aircraft carriers, China is not even bothered by the threats of an American preemptive strike or an all out war. As far as India is concerned, it is irrelevant, insignificant and would at most be a pin prick irritant. China could overrun India any time if India did the foolish thing again.
India is positioning itself as a regional power and aspiring to be a superpower with a third world economy and infrastructure. All the silly countries that think India is going to be a super power and eager to be a part of this ‘great super power’ and India as their regional master are welcome to defer to this ‘great’ military power that has never won a war except to bully its small neighbours and treating them as semi colonies.
Even if India is to form a military pact with the 16 countries that are holding a joint military exercise, it would at best be a joke. Economically, militarily, in science and technology, India is still a third world country in every aspect. And these countries want to call India boss?
Would China be worried about a little ant crawling around when it is in contention with the USA to be the Number One super power in all fields? India is just not in the super power league for another half a century at least, if it ever gets there.
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