800 more chips on the table

800 chips of $1m each are on the Merill Lynch table. Temasek had earlier bought US$4.4 bil worth of Merrill Lynch shares and with the additional $800 mil through exercising its option, it now holds near to 10% of Merrill Lynch. Would this large holding qualify Temasek to have a say and the management of the company? Or we are so trusting to let the Merrill Lynch managers to run the show at will and believing that they will manage the company for our interest? What are the safeguards to protect our investments? It is incredulous to put in so much money and did not have a say in the company. Today paper reported that 'Temasek is currently sitting on paper losses of US$1.2 bil from its investments in Merrill Lynch and Barclays.' As long term investments, the returns will come in in a matter of time. As for concerns on the long term time frame and lack of disclosure on grounds of secrecy, investments in such high profile institutions cannot go unnoticed. These organisations are subject to public scrutiny in their own countries and any mismanagement or poor showing will be exposed quite quickly as in this case. They may hide and delay as much as they like, but they can't hide forever or for too long. The truth will be out sooner than expected.

More money into UBS?

'Singapore's GIC may participate in UBS rights offering - report April 14, 2008: 09:17 PM EST SINGAPORE, Apr. 14, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- The Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) may participate in the 15-billion Swiss franc ($15 billion) rights offering of Swiss investment banking giant UBS (NYSE:UBS) AG, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. This will be the second time that GIC will be injecting capital into UBS following an 11 billion franc investment in December last year....' This time they are going in with eyes wide open. The first time they went in there were some uncertainties and a little wet behind the ears. This time there is no excuse if they foul it up. Basic questions, is this a bottomless pit? Are all the woms out crawling? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? What are the safeguards and protection to our investments if there are more than meet the eyes? The worst thing that can happen is to put in good money after bad money. Better do all the homework thoroughly. Billions of our money are at stake.

God works in his own mysterious way

The world is in upheaval. Things are changing, and changing very fast. And things that are happening are all simply unbelieveable. Things that we see, things that we hear, all so unbelieveable.

Myth 178

MPs know what they are talking All these years we have been relying on the MPs to explain govt policies to us, the people, the uninformed masses. We were all ears, eagerly listening and copying every word the MPs told us. They were expected to know what they were saying, to understand the intricacies of govt policies. And it is their job to explain to us. Now the common people must be asking whether the MPs understand the policies and explaining the right thing to us. And this also applies to the news workers. When they report or comment, do they know what they are reporting or commenting? Do they really understand the what the polcies are all about? Maybe some MPs and news workers know, maybe some don't know and gasak butak. I also gasak butak. Not sure if right spelling or not.

More trains running

MRT has increased the number of trains running and reduced the waiting time for the next train. This must have brought some relief for commuters as the trains should be relatively less jam packed and there will be more air to breathe. With the increase in frequency and the same number of commuters travelling, the cost will definitely go up relative to revenue. And if MRT cannot generate more revenue from its other sources of income, eg rentals and advertisements, the profit will definitely go down, or may not rise as much in percentage term. And if the company must register growth in profit to satisfy the shareholders, and to pay more bonuses to its staff, what is the next logical development? Commuters must be prepared for higher fares for sure. There is no magic formula when the trains are operated for the primacy of profit first and national service second. It is not like national service pay where a NS men can be paid a few hundred bucks and if not enough, go back to parents for more pocket money. The public transport is a private business organisations and does not have a duty to perform national service, just like restructured hospitals. Soon schools too will not be doing national service. And many ministries may go along the same concept. Sit tight and enjoy the ride while you can. I am also being proactive, looking ahead.

I told you so

Yesterday I was talking about govt collecting a lot of money from the people and the people can expect this to be paid back. And HELP is everywhere. Today, the announcement is like Christmas is here, 8 months early. $3b payout will be given to all Singaporeans from last year's budget surplus. What this amounts to is that a 3 room HDB occupants could get about $5k while a 5 room could also get around $4.9k. Bee tang man. Time for celebration and say a big thank you to the govt. This is sharing the wealth of the nation to everyone. No where in the world got such a thing. Only uniquely Singapore. Now stop complaining please.

Recent achievements

Time to take stock of the recent achievements of the govt ministries. The MOH has completed its plan to make sure that everyone is able to pay his medical bills when admitted to hospitals. The bill is large, it did not do much to bring down the hospital costs, but it did got the various medical insurance schemes going and potential patients can feel better that the insurance will take care of the bills. They only need to pay a few dollars more a month to the medishield. The second achievement is old age problems. The MOM knows that people will live longer, to 85 or 100 and need more money to keep themselves alive. They fear for the old people, that they will have no money to spend at old age. This problem is also solved through the Long life annuity scheme. So Singaporeans will now have more money to spend when they grow old. Transport problem is also solved, or at least temporarily solved through more ERPs and lesser COEs. Then in the not too distant future the Circle Line will come on stream. This will definitely help. For those living the in the extreme east, west and north, their problems of getting to the city may still be the same as they converge there daily. But this too will be taken care off with decentralisation in the future. In this short span of time, three major problems were solved. Looking forward, the outstanding one will be high education cost. A solution will be found soon. Security will be no problem despite the little glitch recently and can be said to be well controlled. Not bad for the report card.