Young men favourable to Police BMWs

Over heard some young men talking about their intent to apply to join the Traffic Police for the simple reason to be able to drive around in BMWs.  Driving such nice and high performance cars in this island when car ownership is increasing becoming a dream, the opportunity to drive BMWs is definitely very attractive and alluring. The Police should capitalise on this new acquisition in their recruitment drive for more traffic police officers. They used to be content to drive around in high performance but relatively cheaper Subarus which were great cars to drive. Now with BMWs, it would be ooh la la. And the officers would be very on the ball, driving the BMWs 24/7 on the road. It is like it is a pleasure to work. The person who recommended the BMWs must be rewarded for such a great idea, work with pleasure and pride. But don't get carried away and ask for Ferraris or Lambos.

This is a positive trend for a super rich city state with all the best superstructure and carefully crafted environment. The BMWs, like the expensive office chairs and Brompton bikes costing thousands of dollars would fit in nicely to give a classy and expensive image of economic progress and success.

Just a few decades ago, govt offices were the rundown buildings left behind by the colonial masters and with iron cabinets and aged wooden furniture. Today all govt offices are not only modern and well designed but also sensibly furnished to complete the picture of a first world country. The only outlandish or out of place 'furniture' in this first world city state is the walking populace from the third world and their third world behaviour that are fast catching on with the locals. Many parts of the manicured city states are taking a likeness to third world neglected corners of their countries.

Would they be thinking of Harley Davidson to replace the current batch of Japanese bikes for the mobile traffic police? If they do that, the Police Recruitment office would have a long queue of applicants waiting to join the force.

Nice. Singapore is living up to it as a rich nation. Got money must spend. If not like CPF, keep long long for what, keep until mati? Luckily got smart govt to teach the people to spend by having more compulsory insurance schemes. Don't spend also cannot.

Malaysia heading for big big trouble

With Mahathir returning to rule Malaysia and the nonsense he is spouting, the projects he is tearing apart, Malaysia is going to face more troubles than expected. But what Mahathir is going to do to harm Malaysia is nothing if he knows the deck of cards in his hand.

Look at the USA and what Donald Trump is doing or undoing to the treaties, agreements, ties and alliances built over the decades of the American Empire. Get the clue? Donald Trump is a greenhorn in politics, no experience in running a country! And he is leading America to self destruct in the name of making America great again. He just does not know what he is doing. Running a business empire is totally different from running a country. You need people with experience running a country to run a country, or at least some experience in running a town council to start with to run a country. Trump did not have any of these experiences to fall back on.

In Malaysia, only two persons have experience in running a country, in Mahathir and Lim Eng Guan. Mahathir ironically is the only one of two experienced politicians that have the required experience to run a country. The rest of the ministers and MPs are 'bodoh' or ignoramous, in Singapore's definition, with no experience in running a govt. Definitely they have no experience in even running town councils.

See, how can the Malaysian govt ever think of running the country well when nearly all the ministers and MPs have kosong experience to do so? They will be eaten up by the very experienced Singapore ministers and MPs, all very well trained, from being apprentices to being managers of town councils.

I would recommend that Mahathir send his ministers and MPs to Singapore to understudy the experienced politicians here and learn from them on how to run a govt efficiently.  There are many tricks they could learn from the Singapore politicians, like how to raise taxes indiscriminately, oops, I mean cleverly, with clever excuses until the people willingly pay and would not protest. The Malaysian govt can be very rich by increasing the water fees giving the same reasons as Singapore gave to the people, to teach them the value of strategic assets. 3c can sell $1. Or the equally clever sugar tax. Heard of that? Malaysia would have all the money to pay for all the infrastructures with these taxes. No need to delay the HSR and all the mega projects. There is another big area that the Malaysian ministers and MPs can learn from Singapore, the people's nest eggs in the EPF. That is a pot of gold waiting to be harvest. If they still did not know what I mean, just think insurance schemes for the people, to help the people, for the good of the people. The trick is 'compulsory'.

There are really many many good things that the Malaysian greenhorn no experience ministers and MPs can learn from Singapore. And all of them would become instant knows all of everything, become super talent. Oops, they may also ask for million dollar salary to keep them from being corrupt. And Malaysia will be corruption free. Sui boh? Mahathir better work fast to send them here for training before they failed badly and ruin the country before the next election. Talking about election, they can also learn from their experienced Singapore counterparts on how to win and win elections despite all the controversial policies and taxes and fee hikes. See, experienced politicians can do a lot of things and get away with it with no protest or uprising from the people.

Knowing that Mahathir has his pride, he will definitely not want to send his ministers and MPs to learn from Singapore and Malaysia will surely get into big big trouble. How can people with no experience in running a town councils or govt be allowed to run a country? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

PS. Maybe for a start Singapore can lend them a few of our top ministers to raise taxes and introduce insurance schemes using the EPF funds.

Silver lining for Singapore Stock Exchange

The light of the dying stock market is getting dimmer as days go by with better quality stocks finding it meaningless to remain in the exchange and getting themselves delisted. On the other hand, good companies/stocks would find listing in other stock markets more effective to serve their needs. The SGX is now one of the smaller exchanges in Asia, even smaller than neighbouring exchanges of Asean countries.
Broking houses are finding it hard to hold on to their remisiers and remisiers are leaving the industry almost daily. The strength of remisiers is almost half of what it used to be during its heyday. And there is no light at the end of the dark tunnel. There is pessimism and resignation in the air.
 
But all is not lost. In moments of despair a silver lining has appeared that may give some hope to those still clinging to a dying industry. The SGX is trying its best to revive the market with all kinds of things, looking clueless as to the real causes of its impending demise. The latest is to link up with other exchanges where the better companies chose to list to share a bit of their good fortune. However, this effort is not looking too promising as good exchanges would not want to waste time tying up with unpromising exchanges. Anyway, if good exchanges are not willing to tie up, any exchange will do as long as they are called stock exchange. Never mind the quality and substance as long as there is some form resembling a stock exchange.
 
The best hope to get more listings in the SGX lies in the super SMEs, like super penny stocks. This comes in the form of hawker stalls, foodcourts and restaurants where there is now a new buzz with the stalls gaining better image and business from Michelin. Many stalls and restaurants are now awarded the world famous Michelin star or stars as recognition of the quality of their products. With the Michelin star/stars decorating the stalls and restaurants, they would make good potential candidates for listing in the stock exchange. And with so many of them gaining more stars, maybe the SGX could set up a board, a third mini board, just for hawker stalls and restaurants with Michelin stars. There should be a few hundred such establishments out there eager to be listed in the stock exchange and to go international.
 
There is a glimmer of hope that the stock exchange would not die so fast with this new blood of Michelin stars. Say a big thank you to Michelin stars and hawker stalls. The future of the stock exchange can shining like the Michelin stars.
 
Outram Park Char Kway Teow can start the ball rolling. IPO managers, quick, hunt them down.

Mischievous slant of Reuter report on China

Read the Reuter report below with its standard western slant and lies to discredit China in whatever China is trying to do to help Africa to develop and uplift the quality of life of Africans. The article started with the facts of China pouring in billions of dollars to help Africa in their badly needed infrastructure projects without which Africa would continue to be the neglected continent after being robbed and looted by the white colonialists. The colonialists came just to take from Africa for free and left the continent under developed.

China today came to offer cheap loans which the whites would not offer and to build infrastructure projects at a fraction of the cost if the whites were to do them. And in return the African states repay the loans with minerals that the whites would not want to buy. But the slant of the Reuter report is that the African states would be in huge debt that they could not pay.  The truth is that the African states are selling their minerals to China and with the money they repay China for the cheap loan. Both parties have done their sums and the payment for minerals would be enough to pay for the infrastructure projects.  The whites need not worry about the African states unable to pay or to cast doubts about their ability to pay. What is so bad about that? Why would they be in debt when they can sell their minerals that would have gone to waste if no one is buying? Why aren't the whites buying up their minerals? Oh, waiting to recolonise them again and take the minerals for free, like in Iraq?

The white colonialists did not buy the minerals. They looted them away for free from Africa. The Americans and the ex colonial powers are only interested in wars and selling weapons. China is the only country out there in Africa helping them to rebuild their countries for peace and prosperity, not wars. The real white thieves are yelling thieves. China providing cheap loans is bad?

Here is an extract of this set piece mischievous white man's article in Reuter. You can find them all over the western media with the same theme and agenda. The sub heading is already telling a mischievous lie. Loading up on Chinese debt? Why won't the Africans load up on white debt but prefer cheap Chinese debt? Either the whites refused to lend them for infrastructure projects but only to buy weapons or the white debt were too costly.

LOADING UP ON CHINESE DEBT

Africa is in the midst of a boom in infrastructure projects, managed and cheaply financed by China, part of Xi's "Belt and Road" initiative to build a transport network connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

China has pledged US$126 billion for the plan, which has been praised by its supporters as a source of vital financing for the developing world. In Senegal, Chinese loans have financed a highway linking the capital Dakar to Touba, its second main city, and part of an industrial park on the Dakar peninsula.

China's ambassador to Senegal Zhang Xun was quoted by the local press in March as saying China had invested US$100 million in Senegal in 2017.

"Senegal takes a positive view of China's role in Africa," Sall said at the news conference. "For its contribution to peace and stability and equally ... for the financing of budgets."

But critics say Africa is loading itself up on Chinese debt that it may struggle to repay, with estimates ranging in the tens of billions of dollars. That could leave African nations with no choice but to hand over controlling stakes in strategic assets to the Chinese state.

U.S. officials have warned that a port in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, a host to major U.S. and French military bases, could suffer this fate, although Djibouti rejects the fear.

In Guinea, meanwhile, one of the world's poorest nations, China is lending US$20 billion to the government in exchange for aluminium ore concessions.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/in-senegal--china-s-president-xi-pledges-stronger-africa-ties-10551816

Singapore's lucrative part time jobs

Many graduates from Singapore's world class universities are choosing to work part time in Singapore out of free choice because part time jobs not only give them plenty of freedom but also free time, and some to be their own bosses, driving people around at their own time. Part time jobs have indeed flourished in Singapore at least among Singaporeans as occupation of choice. I am not too sure about non Singaporean locals or foreigners. These are stupid people that want permanent jobs and could not see how good part time jobs are, and how lucrative.

The most lucrative part time job in Singapore of course is being MPs. This job is part time in many ways and still being paid $16,000 a month or thereabout.  Ok, ok, for the millionaires, this is peanuts. But this is a handsome sum of money to 90 percent of Singaporeans, highly desirable and admirable. How many Singaporeans could earn this sum of money working full time? Only the millionaire politicians would see this sum no up. And this part time MP job also means attending parliament, a very vital area of an elected MP's responsibility is also part time. Want to attend then attend. If got other more important commitments like an MP's other full time occupation, the latter would take priority because it is full time and MP is part time.

Actually there are many other higher paying part time jobs like directors of company. If a director is being paid $120k a year in director fee, you know how lucrative it is? Company directors are not full time jobs. Board of directors meeting are often held once a month or sometimes once in two or three months. Assuming it is once a month, a $120k director's fee would mean each meeting a company director is paid $10,000, for 1 or 2 hours sitting in the boardroom tweedling his thumbs or having nice snacks and coffee.

And this is not the most lucrative if you know how much the chairman of a company is paid versus that of a company director. Let's say a chairman is paid $2.4m a year, divide that by 12 assuming there were 12 monthly meetings like the directors, it would work out to $200,000 per meeting. Not bad really.  And if the company is really big, like a MNC and the chairman is paid $12m a year, it means each meeting he chairs he is being paid $1m for 1 or 2 hours of being there.

How many chairman are full time? Mostly chairman are part time job. See how lucrative part time jobs can be? Ok, Ok, forget about the graduates that ended in part time jobs because the good permanent jobs are filled by foreigners. Not all part time jobs are desirable or lucrative. Only very selective part time jobs are lucrative and highly desirable and enviable. Some people are just so lucky to end up with such cushy and super well paid part time jobs and doing or contributing you know what.