What kind of statement is this? Who is responsible for this trade war?
Who started this trade war and keep escalating? Casual readers reading
this statement without understanding how the trade war started would
give the impression that China is as guilty as a party to the trade war
launched by the American Trump.
It is important to get the facts right and say things that are factually
correct. China cannot be blamed for this trade war. The European
countries and those countries under attacked by the Americans cannot be
blamed for this trade war. This is a unilateral declaration of war by
the Americans against the rest of the world for trading under the
American designed world order and trading system.
The whole trading system is designed by the Americans under WTO and
other American controlled agencies and was working well, at least in the
interest of the Americans since its beginning. The Americans were the
main beneficiary of the international trading system as they are the one
that designed and fixed it to their advantage. It was Pax Americana,
with the Americans as the undeclared but de facto Empire feeding on the
rest of the world.
The situation started to go against the American interest when they over
indulged in their consumption and expenditure in conducting wars and
more wars, in building a huge military complex around the world that
they could not longer afford except to print more fiat paper money. The
Americans would not whisper a word of dissatisfaction if they have not
incurred trillions of debt that they know they could not repay and
continuing with the printing of paper money would eventually turn the US
dollar into a worthless banana currency.
Now they want the rest of the world to pay them to remain as the Empire
to rule the world under their new terms. Why would the rest of the world
continue to pay to support an Empire to rule over them? Why would the
world allow the Americans to continue to print money to support their
extravagant lifestyle, military adventurism, building a huge military
arsenal to threaten and bully every country at their whims and fancy?
The Americans are desperate to clear their debt before the USA becomes
officially bankrupt and the US dollar becomes junk paper. They want the
rest of the world to continue to feed them and pay for all their
expenses as the dominant power and in conducting wars. Can you believe
that, the rest of the world must pay the Americans for building military
bases everywhere, for maintaining all the naval fleets with aircraft
carriers to attack any country at will, for keeping the biggest nuclear
arsenal to use against them if they did not listen to and obey the
Empire?
China did not start this war and is only reacting and responding to the
attacks by the Americans. Or should China just do nothing and allow the
Americans to slam them at will, cannot retaliate? It is the Americans
that must stop this war. Once the Americans did that, there will be no
wars, just like if they stop all their military wars all over the world,
there will be no wars.
The Americans are the warmongers! The Americans are to be blamed for
this trade war and all the wars all over the world. Why afraid to tell
the Americans to stop their wars, trade wars and wars of invasion?
11/08/2018
PAP knows or dunno?
Below are some comments taken from Roy Ngerng's post in the TRE blaming the PAP for Singaporeans unable to retire because not enough money in the CPF.
Thus when Singaporeans cannot retire today, the fault lies squarely on the PAP.
(A) The PAP knew that flats prices will become zero, but still made Singaporeans use their CPF to inflate resale flat prices.
(B) The PAP knew that flat prices will become zero, but still made Singaporeans pay market prices for the land that the flats sit on.
(C) The PAP knows that flat prices will become zero, and decline in value, but still tell Singaporeans they will introduce a VERS which will not help much.
(D) The PAP knows that flat prices will become zero, and decline in value after 20 years, so they say they will introduce VERS after 20 years, because by then, VERS will not cost them much to them anyway – the PAP is kicking the problem down the road.
Finally, CPF changes, the Medisave, Medishield and increases to university fees were all started in the 1980s when PAP changed course. All these happened 30 years ago but it took about 30 years for the effects to finally unravel and be felt by Singaporeans today.
So, what will you do?
Roy Ngerng
I think Roy Ngerng got it all wrong, giving them too much credit or thinking that they are really smart and know everything. I think they really dunno what they were saying, like HDB flat value will always go up. That's why they came up with asset enhancement scheme to continue to improve and raise the value of the HDB flats. And the latest, VERS, is supposed to do the same, to protect the value of the HDB flat even if the lease is left with 20 years. VERs could keep the value from falling. Just believe. If only they know that whatever they do, when the lease expires, the value must be zero, they would not want to waste so much money on a depreciating asset. But it is good if the govt is going to pay for the upgrading at least to keep the flats looking good and not turning into a rundown estate.
If one is still convinced that they know, then one may be accused of saying that they must be lying right? How can they know and still say different things and do different things against the hard truth. This is why I confidently conclude that they are not that smart after all. They dunno!
Another way of looking at this is that they think the people are really daft.
What do you think?
Thus when Singaporeans cannot retire today, the fault lies squarely on the PAP.
(A) The PAP knew that flats prices will become zero, but still made Singaporeans use their CPF to inflate resale flat prices.
(B) The PAP knew that flat prices will become zero, but still made Singaporeans pay market prices for the land that the flats sit on.
(C) The PAP knows that flat prices will become zero, and decline in value, but still tell Singaporeans they will introduce a VERS which will not help much.
(D) The PAP knows that flat prices will become zero, and decline in value after 20 years, so they say they will introduce VERS after 20 years, because by then, VERS will not cost them much to them anyway – the PAP is kicking the problem down the road.
Finally, CPF changes, the Medisave, Medishield and increases to university fees were all started in the 1980s when PAP changed course. All these happened 30 years ago but it took about 30 years for the effects to finally unravel and be felt by Singaporeans today.
So, what will you do?
Roy Ngerng
I think Roy Ngerng got it all wrong, giving them too much credit or thinking that they are really smart and know everything. I think they really dunno what they were saying, like HDB flat value will always go up. That's why they came up with asset enhancement scheme to continue to improve and raise the value of the HDB flats. And the latest, VERS, is supposed to do the same, to protect the value of the HDB flat even if the lease is left with 20 years. VERs could keep the value from falling. Just believe. If only they know that whatever they do, when the lease expires, the value must be zero, they would not want to waste so much money on a depreciating asset. But it is good if the govt is going to pay for the upgrading at least to keep the flats looking good and not turning into a rundown estate.
If one is still convinced that they know, then one may be accused of saying that they must be lying right? How can they know and still say different things and do different things against the hard truth. This is why I confidently conclude that they are not that smart after all. They dunno!
Another way of looking at this is that they think the people are really daft.
What do you think?
11/07/2018
Mahathir waves his magic wan and saves RM3 billion
This is a feat no economists or finance ministers can do, not even the
US Treasury. What did Mahathir do to save so much money for Malaysia in
so short a time? He cancelled 3 mega projects, building high speed
trains and ports that he deemed are useless projects that would not
benefit Malaysia. Now with such a great achievement, the Malaysian govt
would have more money to proceed on his pet projects and the hot
favourite is the very important and beneficial crooked bridge. This
bridge is going to be his star and his legacy that was struck down by
the two previous PMs as nonsensical, building a very expensive bridge to
replace the efficient and low maintenance causeway.
His next big project is his Proton Saga, a moribund car that was going no where after several decades of production. Nothing in the car was made in Malaysia except maybe the rubber mat and the tyres. Now that the company has been literally sold and put an end to his legacy, he needs another car to keep his legacy alive. His dream of a Malaysian car is still alive. But how much of this car is going to be made in Malaysia? How about starting to build a car engine or buy one from another car manufacturer? A good suggestion would be to buy over the engine that Habibie built for his defunct locally built aircraft. I am presuming that the Indonesians built that engine and not bought from somewhere and only designed the body of the aircraft.
How much of a national car if the main engine of the car is not made in Malaysia? What is the point of building a national car that is anything but national or domestically produced and built? Did they build anything in the first Proton Saga that Malaysia can claim as made in Malaysia?
I remember there is another pet project mooted by Mahathir, the bridge to Sumatra, Indonesia. This may cost less than the 3 mega projects he cancelled and probably would have better economic value. And now that he has the money, this bridge idea could be revived.
Malaysia needs some big infrastructure projects to keep the economy going. Maybe Mahathir could buy over the factory building trains in KL. With the high speed train projects cancelled, there is now no reason for China to keep this factory operating in Malaysia. There is no demand for its trains. When the Japanese take over the high speed train projects, they would be using Japanese trains. Mahathir may be able to buy the Chinese train plant on the cheap, at a steep discount, fire sale. The price could be very attractive, and it can become a national project, Made in Malaysia trains, just the rolling stocks, without the rest of the rails and rail system. This is a factory ready for a takeover as the owners would be planning to close down its operation in Malaysia.
There are many possibilities for Mahathir given the money he created from his great savings by cancelling the mega projects.
Singapore ministers can learn a lot from Mahathir in how to save public fund and not thinking of wasting on mega projects.
His next big project is his Proton Saga, a moribund car that was going no where after several decades of production. Nothing in the car was made in Malaysia except maybe the rubber mat and the tyres. Now that the company has been literally sold and put an end to his legacy, he needs another car to keep his legacy alive. His dream of a Malaysian car is still alive. But how much of this car is going to be made in Malaysia? How about starting to build a car engine or buy one from another car manufacturer? A good suggestion would be to buy over the engine that Habibie built for his defunct locally built aircraft. I am presuming that the Indonesians built that engine and not bought from somewhere and only designed the body of the aircraft.
How much of a national car if the main engine of the car is not made in Malaysia? What is the point of building a national car that is anything but national or domestically produced and built? Did they build anything in the first Proton Saga that Malaysia can claim as made in Malaysia?
I remember there is another pet project mooted by Mahathir, the bridge to Sumatra, Indonesia. This may cost less than the 3 mega projects he cancelled and probably would have better economic value. And now that he has the money, this bridge idea could be revived.
Malaysia needs some big infrastructure projects to keep the economy going. Maybe Mahathir could buy over the factory building trains in KL. With the high speed train projects cancelled, there is now no reason for China to keep this factory operating in Malaysia. There is no demand for its trains. When the Japanese take over the high speed train projects, they would be using Japanese trains. Mahathir may be able to buy the Chinese train plant on the cheap, at a steep discount, fire sale. The price could be very attractive, and it can become a national project, Made in Malaysia trains, just the rolling stocks, without the rest of the rails and rail system. This is a factory ready for a takeover as the owners would be planning to close down its operation in Malaysia.
There are many possibilities for Mahathir given the money he created from his great savings by cancelling the mega projects.
Singapore ministers can learn a lot from Mahathir in how to save public fund and not thinking of wasting on mega projects.
11/06/2018
Singapore Harapan - A new chapter in the making
Lee and Lee or Lee versus Lee
Singaporeans have grown up with the familiar Lee and Lee combination. Other sub sets are Lee and Kua or Lee and Ho. Today a new combination is in the making, Lee versus Lee. Even with the family dispute coming into the open, no Singaporean could envisage the possibility of a Lee versus Lee in the political arena.
Over the weekend this Lee versus Lee combination is looking like a possibility. It was all over the social media that Cheng Bok had a breakfast meeting, or having breakfast with Hsien Yang in West Coast hawker centre. Wasn’t Hsien Yang in self exiled in HongKong? Not really. I have seen him the MBFC area a couple of times. Hsien Yang is free to move in and out of Singapore though his residence could be in HongKong for the time being.
The breakfast with Cheng Bock is stirring a lot of speculation that Hsien Yang, the reluctant political candidate, may be having second thought, that he has to enter the ring for many reasons, personal or otherwise. It is no sheer coincidence or unplanned for Cheng Bock to be seen together with Hsien Yang. And this meeting was meant to be made public, to give notice that things are happening, maybe to gauge the response from the public of such a possibility.
Yes, it is like sending out a test balloon, no offence right? So far the reaction from the social media has been quite encouraging. A Singapore Harapan needs strong personalities to carry it. Cheng Bock alone may not be enough. Hsien Yang could lend some weight though he has not been a political entity before. If he does get into the ring, at least it would cause a mini tsunami. People would definitely feel uneasy. For one thing, it is tough to sue such a Lee in court or calling him liar or demeaning terms freely like attacking other opposition candidates. He is no push over and has the finances to take on what comes may. He is a political pedigree. Hitting him is like taking a punch at Lee Kuan Yew.
Would the people welcome a Lee versus Lee in the next GE? Would the people be comfortable with another Lee potential PM in the making albeit coming from another corner, to challenge the sitting Lee in another corner, maybe to be the disruptive force of change that is sorely needed in a moribund and out of touch political machinery that has taken the people for granted and doing what it chose to do, ignoring the concerns and plight of the people. This is a Lee that is also a chip off the old block but with a totally different perspective of what is good for the people and country. This is a Lee that is not PAP, never a PAP (I think) and now may be taking on the PAP. OK, OK, there is PAP blood running through his veins.
When the time comes for change, the change agents would appear on the scene in the most awkward and unthinkable form, from unexpected quarters. GE 2019/20 is looking quite interesting from this development. The reluctant candidate has appeared. Think more unforeseen events can be expected before the GE. Would more able and brave men and women stand up and cross over to the Singapore Harapan? When this happens, Singaporeans would see a formidable and credible opposition front to take over the govt.
Today is Deepavali, festival of light. Singapore needs more light to lit up the darkness. Happy Deepavali to everyone and a brighter Singapore.
Singaporeans have grown up with the familiar Lee and Lee combination. Other sub sets are Lee and Kua or Lee and Ho. Today a new combination is in the making, Lee versus Lee. Even with the family dispute coming into the open, no Singaporean could envisage the possibility of a Lee versus Lee in the political arena.
Over the weekend this Lee versus Lee combination is looking like a possibility. It was all over the social media that Cheng Bok had a breakfast meeting, or having breakfast with Hsien Yang in West Coast hawker centre. Wasn’t Hsien Yang in self exiled in HongKong? Not really. I have seen him the MBFC area a couple of times. Hsien Yang is free to move in and out of Singapore though his residence could be in HongKong for the time being.
The breakfast with Cheng Bock is stirring a lot of speculation that Hsien Yang, the reluctant political candidate, may be having second thought, that he has to enter the ring for many reasons, personal or otherwise. It is no sheer coincidence or unplanned for Cheng Bock to be seen together with Hsien Yang. And this meeting was meant to be made public, to give notice that things are happening, maybe to gauge the response from the public of such a possibility.
Yes, it is like sending out a test balloon, no offence right? So far the reaction from the social media has been quite encouraging. A Singapore Harapan needs strong personalities to carry it. Cheng Bock alone may not be enough. Hsien Yang could lend some weight though he has not been a political entity before. If he does get into the ring, at least it would cause a mini tsunami. People would definitely feel uneasy. For one thing, it is tough to sue such a Lee in court or calling him liar or demeaning terms freely like attacking other opposition candidates. He is no push over and has the finances to take on what comes may. He is a political pedigree. Hitting him is like taking a punch at Lee Kuan Yew.
Would the people welcome a Lee versus Lee in the next GE? Would the people be comfortable with another Lee potential PM in the making albeit coming from another corner, to challenge the sitting Lee in another corner, maybe to be the disruptive force of change that is sorely needed in a moribund and out of touch political machinery that has taken the people for granted and doing what it chose to do, ignoring the concerns and plight of the people. This is a Lee that is also a chip off the old block but with a totally different perspective of what is good for the people and country. This is a Lee that is not PAP, never a PAP (I think) and now may be taking on the PAP. OK, OK, there is PAP blood running through his veins.
When the time comes for change, the change agents would appear on the scene in the most awkward and unthinkable form, from unexpected quarters. GE 2019/20 is looking quite interesting from this development. The reluctant candidate has appeared. Think more unforeseen events can be expected before the GE. Would more able and brave men and women stand up and cross over to the Singapore Harapan? When this happens, Singaporeans would see a formidable and credible opposition front to take over the govt.
Today is Deepavali, festival of light. Singapore needs more light to lit up the darkness. Happy Deepavali to everyone and a brighter Singapore.
11/05/2018
Go Jek going to operate in Singapore’s tiny market
The Singapore market, be it taxi driving or mobile phone, is really a
very small market. Once you have two or 3 players, it would be saturated
with the market share split by the few players. Why would Go Jek be so
keen to enter the market after Uber and Grab, that have already been
acquired? The answer is in the mobile phone business model. There was
once only one operator with 100 percent market share. Then they opened
up the market under the so called open leg policy, liberalization, to
allow Uber and Grab to come in, in the mobile phone market they allowed
M1 and Starhub to come in. And as expected, the market share was split.
The once only one operator then strangely realized that its market share was diluted by the new operators. This was bad and it needed to regain its market share, the whole market share. So what should it do? Buy up the new operators offering them a Singapore Premium to divest their investment in Singapore. And lo behold, the only one operator now had regained all its market share again, albeit after coughing out hundreds of millions of OPM. And the new operators took their prize money, pat their backsides, and laughed all the way to the bank.
Go Jek is jumping in, likely to follow this same successful formula. All it needs is to gain market share, even if at a loss. It would only need to hold on for a few years for the one and only operator to wake up to realize that its market share has been diluted again. And in panic mode it would decide to buy up Go Jek at a premium. And Go Jek would happily give up everything to exit the market, with a huge Singapore Premium. The only and only operator would again have the whole market share.
Why is this possible? Very simple. When one is holding a lot of OPM and needs to invest to be seen to do something, and if one has no idea on how to start a business, the easiest and most convenient way to show some results is to buy up another apparently successful company with a tested business model. The Singapore entrepreneurial story is about buying businesses without having to start one. It is not easy to start a new business and to be profitable when one has no idea how to start a business, without any business experience except some text book knowledge or knowledge from irrelevant industries or occupation.
After Uber and Grab, here comes Go Jek. And soon Go Jek will come to pass. And Go Jek will not be the last corporate raider in this sense. Many will come, to set up companies waiting to be bought over. Any company will do, no need high tech or high thinking. Kopitiam also can. The next target will be the share bike business. Some clever business entrepreneurs without entrepreneurial experience are eagerly waiting on the sideline, waiting for the right moment to buy up the bike sharing business, and pay the standard Singapore Premium to go with it. And the bike sharing companies could happily exit the market and laugh all the way to the bank, pocketing the OPM that has no owners.
This is Singapore’s entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial business model to buy and run a business.
Why invite outsiders to come in to steal a market share and then to buy it back?
The once only one operator then strangely realized that its market share was diluted by the new operators. This was bad and it needed to regain its market share, the whole market share. So what should it do? Buy up the new operators offering them a Singapore Premium to divest their investment in Singapore. And lo behold, the only one operator now had regained all its market share again, albeit after coughing out hundreds of millions of OPM. And the new operators took their prize money, pat their backsides, and laughed all the way to the bank.
Go Jek is jumping in, likely to follow this same successful formula. All it needs is to gain market share, even if at a loss. It would only need to hold on for a few years for the one and only operator to wake up to realize that its market share has been diluted again. And in panic mode it would decide to buy up Go Jek at a premium. And Go Jek would happily give up everything to exit the market, with a huge Singapore Premium. The only and only operator would again have the whole market share.
Why is this possible? Very simple. When one is holding a lot of OPM and needs to invest to be seen to do something, and if one has no idea on how to start a business, the easiest and most convenient way to show some results is to buy up another apparently successful company with a tested business model. The Singapore entrepreneurial story is about buying businesses without having to start one. It is not easy to start a new business and to be profitable when one has no idea how to start a business, without any business experience except some text book knowledge or knowledge from irrelevant industries or occupation.
After Uber and Grab, here comes Go Jek. And soon Go Jek will come to pass. And Go Jek will not be the last corporate raider in this sense. Many will come, to set up companies waiting to be bought over. Any company will do, no need high tech or high thinking. Kopitiam also can. The next target will be the share bike business. Some clever business entrepreneurs without entrepreneurial experience are eagerly waiting on the sideline, waiting for the right moment to buy up the bike sharing business, and pay the standard Singapore Premium to go with it. And the bike sharing companies could happily exit the market and laugh all the way to the bank, pocketing the OPM that has no owners.
This is Singapore’s entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial business model to buy and run a business.
Why invite outsiders to come in to steal a market share and then to buy it back?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)