So mean testing is here

I only have a few simple questions to ask? Why are the hospitals insisting on providing expensive wards when many people do not want them? Are the hospitals serving according to the needs of the people or dictating their needs to the people? Why can't or won't the hospitals provide more C and B2 wards when the demands are there? This is another case of who is determining what is good for the people. Unfortunately the people have very little say in this. And the hospitals are determining what they should pay. You got money you must eat in restaurants.

Fair to who?

HDB has replied to See Leong Kit and again said that market pricing is the fairest way to go, but fair to who? Would the new buyers buying the same batch of flats and paying another $180k or $200k think that it is fair? There are many questions to be asked. What is the mission of HDB? Where are the statistics to show that there is a big market subsidy? What are the comparable flats that HDB is using to compute these new prices? Are the pricing static or forward looking? Or are they pegged in a similar model as electricity prices? With the property markets coming down rapidly, would the current pricing be fair to the new buyers? Actually these questions are unlikely to get a reply. The HDB has replied and case is closed. Those new buyers in the second batch should blame it on the market prices and accept the fact that they have to buy the flats from HDB at the new inflated prices. They must pay the higher prices to be fair to other buyers of other HDB flats. I don't buy the logic. But what is fair to one may not be fair to another. Who is to decide what is fair? Equal pain or equal gain?

Madoff With Hedge Funds' Money

By ALEN MATTICH A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN LONDON -- ....According to press and blog reports, the SEC never investigated Bernie Madoff, never even put him through routine checks, because, well, he was too cuddly. And too well respected by his peers. OK, not quite never, back in 1992 they had a sniff about suspicious goings on in an unregistered Florida trading scheme, which they traced back to Madoff. But none of the accusations stuck and Madoff was left to make off with investors' money, unhindered forever after. Made all the more invulnerable by his status as a Wall Street institution. Because if Bernie Madoff, ex-chairman of Nasdaq, boss of one of its biggest market makers and manager of the most solid, long lived and steadily performing of all hedge funds wasn't purer than Caeser's wife then who was? Who indeed? 'This is how reputation and track record can blind people into complacency. - Redbean'

Myth 202 - Let the experts manage your money

I am sure many of you must have heard of this advice. It is an advice based on track records and experience. The experts must be the experts. Let the experts manage and invest your money and you can sleep well. You can see all the adverts in the trains and on TV as well. Wow, let other people manage your money. Have faith in the experts. Singaporeans are sooooo trusting. Actually so gullible. We have the minibonds. Hopefully no one puts money in Madoff's fund.

Myth 201 - PAP is the only party that can run Little Red Dot.

Myth 201 - PAP is the only party that can run Little Red Dot. By Green Peas Present and past PAP leaders have been trying to inculcate into our mindset that without the PAP, Paradise will not be paradise any more. There will by chaos, riots, unrest, serious unemployment and our mothers and sisters will have to go to foreign land to become maids. They want to make us all believe that PAP is the only party that is capable of running the Little Red Dot. See what has happened in Thailand. Thaksin's party has been changed from TRT to PPP and now to PT. So what is in a name? It is not the brand name that counts. Names can be changed over-night at whims and fancies and expediency. It is the people who really counts, not the name of the party. And who are the people who really counts that we depend upon to run the Little Red Dot? The civil servants, the administrative service, the police, the armed forces and civil defence, as well as the quasi-govt staff who draw a salary every month. These are the people who actually run the country. Heads (not leaders because we don't have real leaders) can come and go, but the permanent staff are always there. I have been in a govt dept where scholars just come in and warm the seat as my boss for two years and then off they go after stirring up some shits without having to care who would do the cleaning up for them. Oh wait a minute. But people say they are there to plan and give guidance. Sure they seems to be there to plan and give guidance. But the next guy that comes in would turn the previous guy's plans and policies upside down. So what guidance are we talking about? Confusion! Disruptions! Discontinuity! So what is the remedy for the permanent staff? We continue to "run" the country the way we know too well, with or without the scholars. Scholars come, scholars go. They never last more than two years. Remember, they need to chase and climb the ladder up the hierarchy of their own selfish progress and promotion. Oh, yes! Didn't somebody said, "Meritocracy"? So, is PAP the only party that can run Little Red Dot? Or is it only a myth to cast fear and create a dependent mentality?

In absence of propriety

Why did the American financial woes grew so big and for so long? A lack of propriety, when everyone who is supposed to do his job, failed to do so. There was total negligence, no due diligence or worst, collusion. The consequences, the thieves and conmen had a field day doing what they wanted without any interference from the regulators. The first failure was the auditors. They were the first line of defence. Why are organisations paying so much for these auditors for not doing what they were supposed to do? And why is there, yes, why is there no one to watch over the guards? And the auditors are keeping very quiet because everyone is pointing the fingers in all directions but not at them. They must be held responsible and charge for the crime or as collaborators of the crime. And that includes guarding the regulators. Obviously the regulators were all sleeping or in cahoot with the thieves and con men. Or they might be beholden to them in some ways. Everyone got very rich, extremely rich in the process. And paradise is trying to emulate this great model of success. When people or organisations are responsible to do their jobs did not do them for some reasons, it is the recipe for disasters. The American lesson must be learnt fast and the flaws corrected.

Wage trap and housing policy

The truth is hitting us faster by the days. Our workers' salary cannot keep going up like the PMETs. No matter how we try, the larger pool of hungry and equally adaptable workers in the world will compete with our workers for jobs. And there is no way we can keep pushing our wages up. In fact the trend is to push them down. How is this going to affect the cost of living here? Everything is up, gravity defying. Now public housing for 4 rm flats in prime area are costing $500k, 3 rm flats $400k. How can our workers pay for such luxurious public flats? As the prices of flats cannot come down or many HDB owners will lose the value attached to their only asset, it can be expected that more and more will opt for rental flats. How many working class young people can afford to pay for a $300k flat? It is time that HDB turn to building rental flats and the existing HDB flat owners can hope that there will be people with the money to buy their flats with a profit down the road. Look out for en bloc sales. These people will be cash rich to buy cheap HDB flats. Or they may upgrade to private properties with their new found cash.

Days of paying millions to employees over?

Other than fraud, con jobs, collusion, mismanagement, the other major cause of the financial breakdown in the US is the paying of crazy millions to the top management teams. This practice came out as a scheme among the top management and the board of directors, a case of 'I pay you and you pay me' at the expense of the minority shareholders. And the amount they were paying one another kept going up from tens of millions to hundreds of millions to a few individuals. And what did they get? A bunch of cheats and conmen doctoring the company accounts to reflect profits and roaring businesses, but actually an apple rotten from within. Employees are employees, even at top management level. How could these people command millions and millions while the organisations kept going down? But would this insanity stop and the paying of multi million dollar salary come to a halt?

Myth 200 - Workers need to be represented by worker's parties?

Can a worker's party not representing the worker's interest or with a membership of workers? Can a worker's party operates without trade unions under its umbrella? In every country, when a party calls itself a worker's party, it normally has a list of trade unions in its organisation. In paradise, it is very strange that trade unions are under govt link organisations instead of worker's party? You do not need a worker's party to represent the workers. This is a unique formula.

Telling the good stuff

This was easy in the olden days when things were either black or white. In the ever increasing complex modern world when grey is bigger than black or white, trying to say that things are white when they are not is going to be tricky. This is made more difficult by the higher literacy level and worldly wise population. Everyone can now see a rotten fish when they see one no matter how many layers of gold plating were coated over it. It thus takes a very brave man or woman to proclaim that something is white in a public forum or with international audience when it is not. Whew, what a task. For the people put in such a position, often it only compromises their own integrity and reputation as decent and honourable men and women. How could someone stand up on stage and claim, with a straight face, that there is no shit when shit is everywhere? Earning a decent living nowadays is not so simple. Righteousness, morality, decency will have to be sacrificed for the right to lead a comfortable life. I try to tell the good stuff as often as I can here. But I will look very fake if the good stuff that I claimed were not really good at all. So it is a very sticky situation. I can only tell the good stuff when they are really good to retain some credibility here. Similarly, I can only tell the wrong stuff if they are really wrong for the same reason.

Why an A Team will succeed

I posted on a hypothetical A Team with members like Tan Kin Lian, PN Balji, Leong Sze Hian, Goh Meng Seng and maybe Subhas Anandan to stand in a GRC in the next GE and I think they will get elected quite easily. I received comments that they may not really be that good. That I agree. How good is the A Team is relative as there are many better people out there to form even better A Teams. For the moment, a team like the above is the best the opposition has ever assembled. This team, if they could come together, could stand in any GRC and win. That's my assessment. I mean any GRC with no exceptions. No GRC team in the ruling party today is infallible or formidable given the current situation and climate for change. And the ruling party has done itself a disservice by painting their A Teams too highly, and with a pay package that demands that they perform like super human beans. Unfortunately they could not and came out looking like very ordinary. Given the high expectations and mismatch in perception and reality, the people must be very disillusioned with the A Teams. Any opposition party that could put up teams like the above will be a tough proposition for the ruling party to take on in the next election.

Any lessons to learn from the Madoff con job?

The cats have been led out of the bag and everyone is shock and asking many obvious questions. Why such a big con job could be so big and go on for so long in an industry that is highly regulated? Reputation seems to be the biggest valiant in this case. Madoff has built up a reputation over the years as a man of integrity, trustworthiness, unquestionable faith and ability. And people just simply trusted him, blind faith? Again this is the same moral. Never trust anyone blindly. Anyone asking you to have faith and just trust him without questions, must be questioned immediately. Don't be a fool at the end of the game. Nepotism played a big role too. His key executives were from the family, brothers, children and who else. With an inner circle that is thicker through blood, everything can be concealed and no dirty laundry aired. Look out for this formula and run. Transparency, a familiar word. No transparency means something bad to hide. Period. His was a secretive operation. How could that be when there is a Securities and Exchange Commission doing regular checks and investigations on all financial institutions? Are we saying that the SEC was not doing its job or they chose not to do the necessary? Can we trust the SEC or the regulators? The Americans are saying that all the warning signs were there. So negligence or working in cahoot? 'They trusted him with everything' is the title of one article in the Sunday Times. Trusted him with everything! Isn't this frightening? We can't even trust gods with everything, how could we trust another human bean with everything? Singaporeans take note. Never trust anyone with everything. Never put all your eggs in one basket. The ancient truth never fail to show how silly human beans are at the end of the day for being too trusting. The truth shall set you free. Insist on the truth. Not the tooth.

Ponzi scheme in Singapore?

Former chairman of Nasdaq, Bernard Madoff, is being charged for a massive fraud involving US$50 billion. He was running a huge hedge fund and paying good dividends for 15 years. What an unbeliever track record! For those who are staunch believers of track records, please take heart to this. Track records can be cooked anyway the chef wants it to look. What happened to Madoff was that he paid his old investors with money collected from new investors. He was losing money all the way. But through this version of the pyramid scheme, he collected new money to pay old debt that were due. Familiar? His con job could go on forever if he could find ways to keep the investors invested. Or he could bring in more and more new investors to cover up for the older investors. Or if he could delay the pay out to the old investors by keeping their money as long as he can. He should learn from the Redbean Bond. Keep the money and don't pay out. Just send to the investors their growing investments. That would keep the investors very happy and he could conceal his losses forever, and continue to pay himself handsomely, and crow about it. Unfortunately he could not hide it any longer. He could not bring in more investors to build a bigger and ever bigger pyramid base. He could not con more people to put money into a scheme that need not pay out for 20 or 30 years. When he has to pay according to the contractual terms, no delay is allowed, he is dead meat. Things will be different if he could shift the goal posts. Such a scheme cannot go on forever. It is only a matter of time before the pyramid collapses. And there are many such schemes in Wall Street. And all are collapsing. Wonder if there are any here? Why did I have this uneasy feeling, a bad hunch?

Club, club, club, how many kena clubbed?

It is in the news today that Seletar Golf Club is the latest victim to the minibond fiasco. $5m was reported to be invested in similar product and probably nothing much will be left. Fortunately Seletar had made $5m of profits over 5/6 years to offset this loss. Otherwise the members may have to cough out some money to patch the hole. Maybe because of this that the members are reported to be quiet and not kicking a fuss. The members are very understanding. With this first revelation, perhaps more clubs will also stand up to admit that they too were clubbed. Now, the members of other clubs may not be as easy going as Seletar members, or if the losses are much more, then temperature will rise.

The evolving A Team

The recent events that are turning paradise topsy turvy is churning up an unexpected result. We are seeing the spontaneous appearance of people into the political scene. This is the kind of development in history, that in times of crisis or of need, able men and women, some kind of mavericks, will stand out to find their rightful places, to do the needful. Tan Kin Lian is one of them. Then you have Leong Sze Hian and to a certain extent you have Goh Meng Seng, and a few others sprouting out in the field of Hong Lim. Another one that is increasingly making his presence felt is PN Balji. And when Subhas Anandan made his mark yesterday in the Probono, he too could be another new maverick in the making. Among them we can easily field an A Team for a GRC. A Team like this will easily win in the next GE. And as the day progresses, more of these men and women will step forward to be counted. This is the kind of development that will occur when change is inevitable and is near.

Telling the good news

In these trying times the media could sing a few songs of greatness to cheer up the people and lift their spirits higher. There is no need to fear. The financial crisis is nothing if we know that we have the best leaders the world can offer in charge. If money paid is a judge of the talents of govt leadership, we have the best. Each of our minister is probably 5 or 10 times better than the best of the West. And if we are to compare to Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao, our leaders are better by hundreds of times over. So the people should not feel depress that we are being dragged along by the financial crisis. Everything is in control. And also we have so much money in reserve that we can use them to benefit the people. Cheer up, nothing to worry. Let's crack a few little jokes to put a few smiles on the people's faces.

More leeways for judges

This is the interesting headline in the ST. In fact the ST devoted several full pages to the revolution that is going on in the legal fraternity. There were proposals that judges be given more leeways to pass sentences. And frivolous prosecutors could be fined and the victim be compensated. The most remarkable of the changes is Walter Woon, the Attorney General, defending the perception of two laws, one for the rich and one for the poor. Instead of using the stick, he took pains to tell his learned friends that this was not so. Imagine if people are being hauled for contempt of courts or the legal system for questioning the fairness of the courts of law. We are progressing by talking to each other instead of treating everyone as an adversary. Good for Singapore going ahead. Would such an approach be the new ethos applicable to all Singaporeans?

The good news - More job losses

Some may take this news negatively, especially when they are going to be hurt badly. From the national point of view, from the employers' point of view, this is good news. There will be more workers available, hungry some more, and they need not have to pay them an arm or a leg to get them. So operating cost will go down. We will become more competitive. And the residents who are afraid of foreigners, they may see more of them returning home. Then their neighbourhoods will be back to normal. Singaporeans losing their jobs can go for retraining to become construction workers. And the ladies, maybe can be trained to be domestic maids too. Think positive.

Obscene profits at the Pinnacles

The craziness of the $200k increase in the price of the second launch of Pinnacle Duxton flats is again in the news. See Leong Kit wrote to The New Paper asking HDB to justify the hefty increase. Silence. I think this was casually raised in Parliament, or some MPs did asked a few questions about it and the answer was given. So case closed. The fact that it was raised in Parliament and no further follow up action is taken can be seen as an approval, that everyone in Parliament agreed with the increase. So it is an acceptable thing to do. So, all the kpkb in cyberspace will be pointless and there is no need for HDB to reply. And many like See Leong Kit still could not see the point and were asking for the costing. The costing is no longer an issue. It is market pricing. If HDB can provide data to show that similar flats are sold at those prices, that is good enough. OK HDB should at least put up some data to prove that similar public flats, not private flats are sold at those prices and how many were transacted. The logic of market pricing is not to be questioned any more. It is a govt policy. Oops, it is a HDB policy.

Sanctity of Office violated

Conflict of interest, opposing goals, human greed, have led to the violation of the sanctity of many offices and professions. The medical profession's primary mission is to heal and save lives. The legal profession is to see that justice is served. Both now come with a huge price tag. You don't get heal or get justice if you cannot pay the price. And this violation is not only confined to these two professions. It is so stark and blinding that no one can see it any more. It is like me looking into the mirror in the morning and still claiming how beautiful I look, with all the scars, blemishes and wrinkles. But I am so used to them that I no longer see them. Or at most I will apply a little cosmetics over them, get a plastic surgeon to pull at the wrinkles to give it a little freshness. Then I go around thinking that all is well and good. The fact is that the little cosmetics is only a make belief. Everyone can see the fakeness of it. When the sanctity of a good office is violated and the violators are so happy that that is the way to go, there is nothing that can be done except to wait for nature to take its toll. The time will come

10% interest and principle protected

With the minibond fiasco, the people are so frighten of financial products and institutions that they are all keeping their money under their beds. But that cannot do as inflation is eating away their money and they are all hoping for a product where they can grow their money and with their principle protected. The CPF is encouraging people to put in more money into the special account to earn higher interest rate of 4% and principle guaranteed. I am starting a Redbean Bond with principle guaranteed and paying 10% interest per annum. Your savings will definitely grow over the years and you will get a monthly report on how much you have. No headache and no fear. By the time you reach 80 or 100 years, your saving will balloon into a mountain of gold. Oh, one condition, the Redbean Bond is to grow your money, but you cannot take it out.

Two laws in paradise?

Fame criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan speaking his mind on the different treatment of crimes and offenders in our courts and also the boorish behaviour of judges. Ooooh, would this be a contempt of the court? He is questioning the arbitrary decisions of judges and 'wonders if there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.' Now, this is touchy business and the public who have no understanding of the courts of law should not get involved. Let's see if TOM or readers of TOM would start a discussion on these issues. I have so many things to say but as a layman, better to leave them to the learned counsels to their discourses.

Spread the good news

"In a crisis, it's to 'calm nerves, boost confidence'." This is the role of the media according to Boon Yang. It has a very important part to play in the way it imparts information. The media has been playing a very negative role in the recent financial crisis, fanning the fear, scaremongering etc which result in aggravating the already low morale and confidence of the masses. Shit, I must also have played a huge part in scaremongering as well. Better to spread some good news especially when Christmas is around the corner. I heard my neighbour struck Toto last week, got $1.5m and is buying a condominium soon. And there are a lot of jobs available in the construction industry. And the govt is going to give away hong paos to those badly affected by the crisis. And the minibond victims will be compensated. What is the role of the media if it is not to report news and tell the truth? If a media's role is to spread good news in bad times, or say only the good stuff, what kind of media is it? The first thought that came to my mind in North Korea. The media there only spread the good news.

Myth 199 - Fallen myths

Two big myths have fallen. The myth of paying big money for top talents is now a myth that will circulate in cocktail parties as a joke. All the supertalents in top American financial institutions and giant corporations, including the motor companies are laughing stocks. Paying them millions and millions and what did the shareholders get? Bankrupt companies. Oh, hold it a minute. The companies could be worst off if not because of their talents. And in times like these, their talents are even more needed. The second big myth to bite the dust is big names, reputations and track records. All the big American financial institutions are big names with proven track records, plus supertalents, tested and proven. What happened? An organisation is as good as the people running it. The people running an organisation now are not the same people who built them. Or if some are still around, the mission, priorities and values may have changed. Don't be complacent. Count ourselves lucky not to have employed these great talents at cloud nine salaries. Or are we thinking of picking them up now that they are losing their jobs?

Low talent caught cheating $1.22

The low talents deserved it. Want to cheat also dunno how to cheat and got caught some more. And of all things, trying to cheat $1.22 to save paying MRT fare! Lee Heng Anne, 55, was caught for doing exactly this. And she was fined $700. Why can't these low talents learn to be smarter? They must learn from the high talents, want to cheat, cheat a lot and find ways to call it anything else except cheating. Do a little window dressing and may get away scot free some more. Cheat big requires a lot of talent. Look at all the Wall Street CEOs, anyone caught for cheating? The best is the CEO of Merrill Lynch for asking a US$15m bonus. He said the company's problem could be worst if not because of him and his talent. He deserves the bonus for such a good justification.

The landlord's logic

When everyone is increasing the rental or the sale price of the properties, I must also increase lah. But your propertiesre built 30 years ago and your cost of maintenance did not go up so much, why are you doubling or tripling your rental and price? It is business lah. Business means make profit, as much as the other party can pay. And don't forget, my own pay and bonuses must go up to keep up with my higher standard of living.

Tenacious pursuit of a cause

The fortnight outings at Hong Lim where the minibond bond victims congregate to hear the sermon from the mount is still going on. The number is dwindling. I am surprised that it could go on for so long. But knowing the habit of Singaporeans it will die a natural death. Soon no one will be there except for Tan Kin Lian and his friends. It will be just another event gone by and assigned to the dusty collections of history. Many issues that touched the people very dearly too were sent to oblivion. There is no tenacity in the Singaporeans pursuit for a cause except for the rebel. Rebels there were and still a few. They are the one who will stick to their cause and tailed their targets everywhere. Unfortunately there are too few of them and with even fewer supporters of their cause. Time will take care of everything. What would happen to the minibond case if there is no Tan Kin Lian? What would happen to the case when the attendance in Hong Lim becomes zero?

The fairness of natural justice

On Shu Kio, the wife of Richard Yong of NKF fame, has pleaded guilty in Hong Kong for money laundering and could face up to 14 years jail and a fine of $1.1m. And the money she transferred out, $4.6m may also be gone with the wind. Richard Yong had served his due for his part in the NKF. But On Shu Kio is at best a collateral damage. And she is paying an extremely high price for it. In fact Richard Yong and wife paid the heaviest of all. This prompts one to ask how big is Richard's role in the NKF to deserve such justice. Several of the board of directors of NKF were dealt with. Some spared. And they are still hunting the lone foreigner in India. They will catch him one day, hopefully. But India is such a big place. Richard Yong and his wife should have gone to China, an equally big place and probably they will still be hunting for them. How fair is natural justice?

My A Team

What is an A Team? I can handpick many A Teams according to my fancy. For one, I can pick from all the President or Overseas Scholars and I can even fill the whole Parliament, all 84 of them. Another version of my A Team is to pick the best of each profession, a few doctors, a few lawyers, a few architects, a few engineers, a few academics. There you are, another A Tea, all excellent in making money. Or to be more colourful, I can pick Jack Neo, Zoe Tay, Christopher Lee, Tao Li, Lam Chi Beng, Mamat Mardan, Agu, a few more sportsmen and women, and I will have an A Team of celebrities. All these great talents of the respective fields have one thing in common, talent in what they are doing. The question is where is their interest, where is their heart? No matter how great they are in their respective professions, do they bring along their hearts to serve the people, care for the people, put the people's welfare first? What is likely to happen is that a footballer may think of how to make football more profitable, an actor may want to make more money for the movie industry, or a top professionals may transfer his knowledge in making money to making more money from the people instead of for the people. What we need is an A Team with a heart, thinking of how to make life better for the people, not slamming them with a few hundred thousands and make the people pay for the rest of their lives, not increasing fees, fares to make more profits from the people. Where is such an A Team? I can't find it among my A Teams of super talents.

Myth 198 - Fear of collapse with new party

There is this myth that is circulating that the demise of the current ruling party will lead to the collapse of paradise as a country. Without the current ruling party, there will be uncertainties, fear and flight of capital and investments, and everything will simply breakdown. It is just like being under the curse of a wicked witch, overnight and we are gone. To believe in such heresy is being too simplistic, too naive and, very insulting to the intellect of the people. What is very likely for a new party to come to power is that there are enough able men and women to be elected to replace the current ruling party. And these able people need not be first class honours in everything. As long as they are able and decent people with sufficient knowledge/education, and a good heart to lead, they will be good enough. This country is not run by 82 politicians. It is run by an army of very able men and women in the civil service, stats boards and the uniformed groups. They will not simply disappear at the stroke of midnight. They will continue to serve whichever party that comes to power. To claim that the demise of the current ruling party is the end of everything is like saying that all these thousands of able men and women are of no significance, that they have no ability and no mind of their own. They could not function without the current ruling party. In reality, among these able men and women, many are even brighter than many of the politicians that we have. There are enough talents among them to form several cabinets, to fill the GRCs many times over. Paradise will survive with or without the current ruling party. In the 70s we used to claim that one block of 5 rm HDB flat has enough talents to run the country. Today, there are hundreds of blocks of 5 rm HDB flats, executive flats, and not counting the landed properties and private properties. Who say we have no talents? Is paradise in such a deplorable state, so fragile and vulnerable? What the hell have we been doing all these years to nurture and cultivate the best of our talents and then claim that we have no talents? Didn't we have been told that we have the best civil service, the best armed forces, the best of everything? But no political talents!

Fixing the affordability myth

HDB flats are affordable! You must believe that this is true. I swear that this is true. Yes, it is true under certain conditions. There is enough money in the CPF. If not enough, it can be made enough by increasing the amount available from the CPF. But this option is at its limit and can hardly get higher unless money from the Special Account and Medisave Account can also be used. Another way is to prolong the payment, from 20 years to 30 years to 50 years. And all these assume that the flat buyer is forever employed in all his 30 or 50 years of living. What Singaporeans should ask for is for a reduction in the amount of CPF that can be used for purchase of HDB flats. And the duration for repayment should also be shortened. This will allowed more money to be saved for retirement and no need for any CPF Life or fearing that there is not enough money left in the CPF after paying for an affordable HDB flat. Ok, some of you must have stood up and wanting to pounce on me for suggesting reduction of CPF and the duration for repayment. Let me explain. If the people has only $X in the CPF, or the repayment is shortened to say 10 or 15 years, his affordability must come down if not all of $X can be used. He can only afford to buy a flat that cost less than $X. Now you get what I mean? The policy of pricing HDB flat is based on affordability and not on the cost of building the flat. So if the buyer can afford to pay less, the price of HDB flats must come down accordingly. The problem today is that a buyer can use nearly all his CPF and can stretch to 30 or maybe 50 years. This will increase his affordability to buy more expensive flats. So HDB can price its flats accordingly and proclaim that HDB flats are affordable. Today's affordable is all your money in the CPF for 30 or 50 years. This is translated to mean you will not have much of a saving until you have paid off the affordable flat. Got it?

Living in the past

This post could also answer some of the questions by Grunt above. I have read Lee Wei Ling's article 'Medicine is not just a career, but a calling' in the Sunday Times. What came out clearly is that Wei Ling is one of those near extinct specimen that is still living today, out of phase and out of time. The world has changed so much that chivalry is dead, compassion and helping the needy are only for publicity, not intended to be a genuine calling from the heart. This is best manifested in the high profile and high budget shows to attract people to part with their money by the sheer power of the media and show biz personalities. it is all a show. Medicine and medical science have advanced in leaps and bounds. So has human values and greed. Today, if a medical professional, or for that matter any professional, who is not earning enough to live a flashy lifestyle, he is a failure. He may be sidelined by his peers or scorned at for living in the idealistic past. Everything must be priced as high as the client can afford to pay. It is called 'affordable'. There is no time to bother about the actual cost or how deep a hole the client has dug to bury himself. This kind of thinking can be seen in another article in the same paper on the price of new HDB flats by Joyce Teo. She quoted a Albert Lu, the MD of C&H Realty who said, 'for those seeking a new flat to live in, it would not really matter whey they buy. If they were to buy high and sell low, they would also be able to buy a replacement home at a low price.' If this kind of rationalisation is acceptable, then HDB should go ahead and price at any price it wants, after all the owner is going to stay there for good. So buying a 4rm at $500K or $300k does not make any difference if it is owner occupied. Really? What a clever professional view! Back to Medicine is a calling. Yes it is a calling. Money is calling. The frightening thing is that many of our national leaders answered the calling to serve the people and they came from professions where the calling of Money is stronger. Now we can understand why money is the key in policy making. And why affordable has taken on a new meaning.

Long term investment and potential long term losses

The losses incurred by our investments in foreign banks is now under public scrutiny and attacks. Many people are just very unhappy and are very concerned about the huge losses from public money. They have not related to how these losses could ultimately affect their savings in their CPF or to the overall financial well being of the country. If the losses are realised, and huge, it must come from somewhere. There must be a big hole somewhere waiting to be patched. The only comforting news is that it is long term investment, maybe 10 years, 20 years or 200 years. In the long term, everything will be alright. The stock prices will come back up, the property prices will come back up, and so will be our investments. These are the general expectations of how things will be from past experiences. What if the fundamentals have changed? What if the rot is of a different kind, HIV or a new mutant that is incurable? The problems with the banks we have invested, and in many of these foreign banks are of a different nature. They are not structural or cyclical. They are due to frauds and mismanagement. Many of these institutions are empty shells, being robbed over the years by their management but dressed up as respectable and sound financial institutions. The money they are asking for their rescue is mindblogging. If the trouble of these banks are cyclical or structural, it is only a matter of time before they return to their former health. The question now is that it may not happen at all, or it may take a few generations to rebuild them from scratch. The same analogy can be applied to our stock market. Under normal circumstances the stock prices will rebound and go back to where they were before. But would it be that way? To understand this we must know why the stock prices were high and why they became so low. If they are just structural or due to cyclical economic swings, then there are hopes that they will come back. What if the high and lows were due to different factors, systemic flaws, structural flaws? As examples, what if the listed companies were run by crooks that we have no control over them, or the business models and the accounting numbers were all fictitious? What if the high prices were due to in flow of foreign funds which have dried up? What if the foreign funds that were here were just for short term, to exploit the weaknesses of our system and run when they have made enough or being exposed, or the systemic flaws were patched up? Maybe instead of investing in bankrupt or empty shelled foreign institutions, it is better to plough the money into our own healthy and well regulated companies and stop throwing good money away at organisations that we have no control whatsoever. We need to build a healthy base at home and attract good quality money here, not the other way. In the long term, a rotten apple can never be returned to what it was before. Bad investments in rotten apples are simply bad investments, down the drain. Habis.

The new cyberspace contest

The coming General Election will pit the TOM with Cyberspace head on and the impact is going to be startling. GEs of the past were mostly a one sided affair with the ruling party monopolising all the means of communication with the electorate. It was only in the last GE that cyberspace appeared and shifted the ground slightly. This time round it is not only going to shift the ground, it is going to be a major player to compete for the attention of the voters. And knowing how hungry voters are for alternative news and views, many will be searching in cyberspace to hear what they want to hear. What will still be available to the ruling party? The old media, newspapers, radio and TV, and a few blogs which are the off shoots of TOM. These will be the providers of the official views. You can count them in two hands. On the other side of the fence there will be at least 50 to 100 blogs and forums contesting against the official views. Some will be neutral but many will just take the views that are least reported in TOM. And many of these blogs and their visitors will find such views more interesting and refreshing. Then there are the opposition party blogs and websites that will air whatever they want, policies, agenda, plans and rebuttals. The latter is going to be very important as this is generally denied from them. Without the ability to rebut, often, or as in the past, they will look inept or incoherent. Now they are able to explain away the stuff their attackers threw at them. TOM, radio and TVs will still have the bulk of the readership and will still have the upper hand. But the sprouting up of many alternative blogs and forums will put a big dent into their armoury. And if these alternative blogs could put up well argued positions, rational and logical views, credible views, to win over the voters, the results of the next GE is not going to be so predictable. It is going to be a contest of ideas in cyberspace and the opposition parties are going to have the upper hand in numbers with each blog/forum reaching out to smaller groups of visitors. The aggregate can be quite substantial. And so far there is no answer from the other side. It is like a huge conventional army staying its ground to fight a big battle while the enemies were all over engaging in small skirmishes and guerilla warfare. It is an asymmetric electoral warfare.

Living dangerously

PowerSeraya, the third and last power station is sold to YTL, a Malaysian conglomerate. Irrespective of whichever country buying it, should a strategic asset like the power stations be sold and be managed by any country other than the state? Should we sell our water treatment plants as well? Next, shall we sell out ports, Changi and PSA? Or shall we sell SIA and NOL? Where will the selling of strategic assets ends and when will the people stand up and ask, is this the right thing to do? Or are the people so complacent that nothing will worry them? I just don’t feel comfortable going down this road. Do we need the money so badly? Are these money put to better use than to hold on to these assets? Or are we trading our strategic assets for non strategic assets? Why are Singaporeans so indifferent to what is happening to the country and their future wellbeing? I have seen privatized security services hiring foreigners, including carrying of arms, to guard key installations and controlling movement of people. Does anyone think it is a good idea that foreigners should be allowed to carry arms in our own backyard? Having a contingent of Gurkhas is already an aberration. How far down shall we go down this road? We still have the police force and the armed forces in our control. When will they be filled by foreigners? Oh, I heard that the obviously foreign looking personnel in uniforms are PRs or new citizens. So, issuing them PRs and pink ICs immediately qualified these foreigners as one of us? We are living in a very dangerous world. Having people with unknown background guarding our buildings and installations is not a joking matter. Or maybe I am wrong.

Mukhriz Mahathir

My earlier reading of Mukhriz found him to be fairly neutral and rational, unlike his father. Since his intent to seek a political career, his latest proposal to abolish Chinese and Tamil Schools and the reasons given by him exposed what he really is, another Mahathir. The reasons for the Chinese and Tamil to want their own vernacular schools is not simply a case of retaining their ethnic identity but more a case of over coming the discrimination by Malay National Schools and govt policies that obstructed non Malay children from pursuing their education despite their ability to do so. The past practices of unfair quota and allocation of school places and university places have forced the two minorities to find alternative means to educate their children. That is why there is a Tengku Abdul Rahman University. If the govt could implement education policies fairly and provide equal opportunities for non Malay students to pursue their education, vernacular schools need not come about. With hindsight, the abolishing of vernacular schools is a big step backward for UMNO and it can expect the opposition to be strong no matter how they try to dress it up. The Chinese and Indian communities know that only they themselves can look after their own welfare and interests. Even when they are prepared to pay for their own schools, this was also denied by the past UMNO govt. Mukhriz is opening up an old wound.

FTs versus the Prodigal sons

Our govt is very gracious in granting citizenship and PRs to foreign talents. We are bringing them in by the tens of thousands annually. I am wondering why are there still Singaporeans who want to return but unable to because they skipped their NS at a time when they were young and innocent? Could we treat them a little better than pure foreigners and work out some arrangements that are acceptable to all parties concerned? I believe a born ex citizen who chooses to return is more valuable than a completely new one. It is like the return of the prodigal son. We have our rules and laws, but with so many supertalents working on it, a middle way can be found to bring back our prodigal sons insteand of hugging unknown foreigners.

TOC evolving itself

I am glad to see TOC evolving and transforming itself into a platform to air issues that are close to the hearts of Singaporeans. Other than just the cyberspace, the use of Hong Lim to speak on issues should allow TOC to reach out to more people. The latest agenda includes several new speakers and issues and there is an immediate audience in the form of the unhappy minibond victims. They should form the base for a crowd and other interested and concerned parties can also join in. Hopefully this will draw in more people to Hong Lim and the painful and unpleasant issues facing the people can be revived instead of being buried. There are many issues that TOC can keep talking to raise the consciousness and awarenss of the public. Do not let these issues be forgotten.

A sound legal defence

'An Australian journalist was sentenced to 10 months' jail by a Singapore court on Tuesday for drug offenses.... In his mitigation, Lloyd's lawyer Hamidul Haq told District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim that Lloyd did not consume drugs for "recreational purposes." Instead, he took them to "self-medicate" as he was suffering from chronic post -traumatic stress disorder. Haq said Lloyd had covered many tragedies such as the Bali bombings and the 2004 tsunami disaster. And Lloyd used the drugs to stay awake as he was constantly plagued by nightmares when he fell asleep.' The above was posted in YPAP forum by rajapisang. I have another interesting defence plea which I am not sure will be acceptable but worth trying. The next defendent of a drug case may want to try quoting the pain of losing his life savings in the minibond fiasco and having nightmares everytime he closes his eyes. Taking drug is the only way to escape the pain.

The changing good life

In the 50s and 60s, a good life is to be a chief clerk, stayed in a wooden bungalow with a big compound, husband worked and wife a housemaker, 5 and a half day week, and retired to smell the roses at 55. This is not too different from the Australians, a big sprawling home with a lot of space, dunno about single pay packet, 4 or 5 day week, and likely to retire at 50 to enjoy the rest of his years. But enjoyment starts every weekend which is likely to be a long weekend, either in the mountains or some beaches far away. And work stops at 5pm sharp everyday. The good life of Singaporeans today is to be a minister or top civil servant, (cannot aspire to be a president, that is bad), 5 day week, two ministers better still, and work till 85 or drop dead whichever is later. And Singaporeans are expected to love working and working. This is the better tomorrow for Singaporeans.

Our hotels are safe

We have the best men and most advanced surveillance equipment installed in all the hotels. And now we have the benefit of experience from the Mumbai attack to help us close the gaps. I think one of the things that all hotels will be doing is to vet their chefs for links to terrorist organisations. Their Indian counterparts would have provided them with vital information on what a potential terrorist would look like, the age, colour, height, passport etc etc. We should be on the look out for them. I only hope that there is an attack on key vital installations like airports, govt buildings, shopping centres etc so that we will have all the information we want. Other than chefs, I think terrorists may also seek jobs like security personnel of such installations. And if they do, they will have a whale of a time every night to inspect every aspect of the installation and to prepare for the attack. But I still have a problem. How could one detect a potential terrorist when his main task is to conceal all his background, links and intention to blow up the place? I think every terrorist will be a model employee where the boss will even think of marrying his daughter to him and let him take over the running of the organisation.

A home song 8

My beloved homeland I was only fifteen when I bade her goodbye Stepping out into the night, misty in my eyes But before the tears would flow, The sky opened up, and my head went low I will miss her, whenever I’m not here Spring was refreshing, with the smell of new Summer mesmerizing, with flowers of varied hues Then autumn, a little sadness of a year going by And winter came, glistening snow and wintry chills I still miss her, every moment of the year Sprawling fields of tulips and daffodils Snow capped mountains and low lying hills Mysterious forests and haunting tales Flowing rivers steeped with medieval adventures I still miss her, no place can hold so dear Cottages, castles and chapels filled my eyes Faces painted by the weather and climes of time They brought along, songs and wines, all so fine I feasted everyday, everywhere, losing myself in time I still miss her, my beloved homeland, the land I left behind Chorus I can hear her crying, ringing in my ears I can feel her heartbeat, thumping through my soul I can feel the tenderness of her warm embrace How I long to be in her arms, intoxicated in her loving graceI was only fifteen when I bade her goodbye Stepping out into the night, misty in my eyes But before the tears would flow, The sky opened up, and my head went low I will miss her, whenever I’m not here Spring was refreshing, with the smell of new Summer mesmerizing, with flowers of varied hues Then autumn, a little sadness of a year going by And winter came, glistening snow and wintry chills I still miss her, every moment of the year Sprawling fields of tulips and daffodils Snow capped mountains and low lying hills Mysterious forests and haunting tales Flowing rivers steeped with medieval adventures I still miss her, no place can hold so dear Cottages, castles and chapels filled my eyes Faces painted by the weather and climes of time They brought along, songs and wines, all so fine I feasted everyday, everywhere, losing myself in time I still miss her, my beloved homeland, the land I left behind Chorus I can hear her crying, ringing in my ears I can feel her heartbeat, thumping through my soul I can feel the tenderness of her warm embrace How I long to be in her arms, intoxicated in her loving grace The above is copyrighted by redbean

Ah Seng, Ahmad and Muthu wanted

With the threat of terrorist attacks getting closer and more dangerous, it is time to call on Ah Seng, Ahmad and Muthu to come forward to protect this country. They may not be any big time celebrities, not anyone that is going to be noticed or missed if they disappear from the surface of this globe, but they can play a vital role to protect the people here. Can we give some recognition to these nobodies? They can give us a peaceful sleep knowing that they are out there looking out for us. They are the people we can rely on in times like this.

Providing the people a good life

It is very difficult to define what is a good life for a Singaporean. There are the intangible, religious or immaterial aspects of living that some people will find more important than others. I know that this is very controversial but from the perspective of a govt, maybe a simpler definition base on material comfort could be a useful guide as a national objective. Spiritual or religious wellbeing is something that is beyond the govt. In my opinion, a govt that can provide the average Singaporean with an affordable 4 rm flat and a small car(OPC also ok) and live comfortably without having to make ends meet every month would have been very successful. A supervisor or executive is a good reference point to take as they form the base of the population, and it is not unreasonable to expect them to live at a decent standard of living. If at this level they can say that they have a good life, the higher income Singaporeans would have nothing to complain about and the lower income would not be too badly off except for the extreme end. If the govt can focus on such a standard of living for its people and design all the policies and cost around it, then Singaporeans can look forward to a better future, and more good years. If there is no such reference point, and cost is allowed to run away, and the bulk of the population falls to a level where everyone is struggling to make ends meet, then the govt has failed despite all the beautiful infrastructures and all the wealth accumulated by the nation. The 4 roomers are the average Singaporeans. Their well being is an indication of the well being of the country, of whether the govt is doing its job and implementing its policies correctly. Why did I feel that a simple objective like this has been forgotten and govt agencies, private or public, only think of how much money to make from the people instead of how well they are living?

From subsidy to market subsidy to market price

The word subsidy in the context of HDB flats were hammered for many years until it takes the form of market subsidy today. It was called subsidy at the very beginning until a lot of digging revealed that it was not subsidy as people knew or expected but a kind of subsidy off the market price. When I looked into HDB website, I found that the prices of Pinnacle flats were priced at resale market price or at best a $2k subsidy using the average prices provided in the site. Until HDB explains where is the subsidy and how they got to price the second batch of Pinnacles at a subsidy or discount from market price, this is what it is. Market subsidy is near to market price or at market price.

Terrorists were foreign talents

The terrorists were foreign talents and it was reported that some were hiding in Taj Mahal Hotel as trainee chefs! Wonder how many of them were hiding in other establishments that were kind enough to offer them employments and suffered the deadly attacks. Anymore in hiding and waiting to hit the second wave or third wave? They should have scrutinised their foreign talents more thoroughly. But on second thought, it is difficult for an open economy that welcomes foreign talents to do so. They could even forged their certificates and country of orgins. Malaysia connection? Just a ruse.

Instant counter strike force

The speed in which the terrorists struck and the killings that followed demands the response of an instant strike force to be always ready to counter attack in 10 minutes or less. Once the terrorists are in and open fire, the only thing to do is to take them down as quickly as possible with a ready trained force. Any delay will only cause more lives and destruction. The privilege of intelligence gathering and border checks, coast guards etc is only a first line of defence. Once broken, it is all decided on the ground, the battle field. Do we have the capability of mounting special counter strike forces at the press of a button and be at the scene in less than 10 minutes?

Relentless attacks on Tan Kin Lian

There is increasing momemtum in cyberspace to run down Tan Kin Lian. The attacks and biased questioning of his intent and his integrity appear to be quite coordinated. It is relentless and will get wilder if no one is putting a stop to it. I do not know Tan Kin Lian nor have met in socially. But from what I have seen and heard, he is no better and no worst than the best politician we have today. Just like in hollywood, Richard Gere, George Clooney, and who else, are the perfect screen idols that the media is churning out. Do you know the other side of the story? Everyone has many facets in their lives, the good and the not so good, and the warts. Let the one who has not sinned be the first to cast the stone. Human beans shall not pretend to be as white as gods, no blemishes. And small people shall not be used to go around tarnishing other good men with small blemishes. Your gods may have warts the size of a mountain. At this stage of our political development we need more able and good men to stand out to serve the people. The last thing we want to do is to run everyone down just because he is not one of us. A little graciousness is the order of the day. Those who are ungracious shall not talk about graciousness. Let the thugs be thugs and good men be good men.

Greed and irresponsibility

'Too few bankers challenged the wisdom of lending poor people more money than they could afford to buy houses that were over-priced. As for those who did best out of capitalism, too often they flaunted extravagant lifestyles. No wonder the public has turned on them with a vengeance now that capitalism has gone off the rails.' The above was quoted from The Telegraph and posted at TOC. It succintly tells the same story around the capitalist world of greed and profit at all cost, without morals and responsibility. Bankers just want to lend as much as they could for profit. Developers just build and build to sell at ever higher prices. And everyone singing, oh so clever. Profit is good. No one, including the bankers, bother to ask whether it is value for money. Sell the properties as high a price as one can get. To be able to get suckers to buy is a great talent. The suckers can die later, doesn't matter.

Abusing Hong Lim Park

Tan Kin Lian's gathering at Hong Lim was affected by an Indian Cultural Event staged at the same venue. And the attendance to Kin Lian's talk was dwindled to 200. Surprisingly many still chose to turn up despite a call to cancel the talk. Why should a cultural events be staged at Hong Lim when approval for such events should come quite easily anywhere? Hong Lim as it is reputed for, is for the airing of social political issues that cannot be done anywhere else. Community and cultural activities organisers should bear this in mind and hold their events at other more appropriate venues.