Fake Buddhists Monks (Sunday Times 8 Jul); and
Fake Buddha Tooth (Sunday Times 15 Jul)
Last week it was fake monks begging for alms in Singapore. This week it's questionable Buddha's relic. $45m was raised to build a temple to house a tooth said to be from Buddha. Experts sy it looks like a cow's tooth. Frankly, if I know anything about buddhism, Buddha should be turning in his grave (if he had one) if he knew people were keeping pieces of him let alone worshipping it. People who donate money to house relics, even if authentic, for worship seems not to have understood the teachings of Buddha.

A tale of true humanity (ST, 14 July)
On Hainan Island, a rag-and-bone odd job labourer has been taking in and adopting baby girls abandoned by their natural parents trying to have a son to carry on the family name. All over almost 2 decades he has taken in 10 or more girls. With his meagre income, he still manages to ensure that his children, natural and adopted, get an education and have a better future. When he sent his eldest adopted daughter, who was 19 by then, off to Shenzhen to work, it was a tearful separation as she had never left home before. The father cried all the way back on the bus. When the daughter offered to send money home for the family to celebrate Chinese New Year, he told her to keep the money for her own use, as he did not raise their children in order to make money from them.

As I read this story, I was thinking that if this man applied for PR status in Singapore he would probably be denied. He had no education, and no wealth to offer Singapore. And yet, what he could offer was the immeasurably more precious human heart and the compassionate soul.

Instead, we accept the rich and "talented" who are not afraid to use their talent to further enrich themselves materially (and in so doing, enrich Singapore). While some are probably nice people, the selection criteria probably doesn't favour philanthropy or compassion.

If Singapore is already crassly materialistic, the future with more immigrants of similar ilk, does not seem likely to be any different.


Who's misbehaving?

With the headlines, "Ok. Ok. I'll behave. Don't shoot." The Sunday Times (15 Jul) probably thought it was a fun picture to show a Spl Ops Command Officer pointing his gun at at 11-yr-old.

The Officer should know better than to do that. His weapon is not a toy, and even in basic weapons handling he should have been taught
1) Treat all firearms as loaded. 2) Never point a firearm at anything you do not want destroyed or killed.

There is a third rule: never let the breaking of the 2nd rule be captured in the national press. Yes, it's NDP, and maybe the kid was willing to pose for it, and maybe the dumb photographer asked for the pose. You should still be professional enough (or at least smart enough) to say no.

Guess who's gonna get a reprimand?

About Sovereignty

Brunei and Singapore celebrated 40 years of currency interchangeability by releasing new $20 notes with a same back - scenes from Singapore and Brunei, but with different fronts - Brunei $20 with their sultan, and Singapore $20 with Yusof Ishak.

At the press conference, Brunei described the notes as signifying that the countries were two sovereign nations on one side, and the close cooperation we had on the other. One comment left on the ST online was that this currency interchangeability meant that Singapore was vulnerable to the manipulations of Brunei. For example. North Korea is believed to be counterfeiting US currency. Our arrangement with Brunei would open us to the same risks.

However, that is only a possibility and not a probability, and the comment was alarmist at best and I don't think anyone took it seriously. However, what is interesting was mention of sovereignty by the Brunei leader, and the confidence that this 40 year cooperation should continue. Actually, if either country should be worried, it should be Brunei, as they have the natural resources to back their currency, but Singapore's backing is based on years of building up the reserves. In the early years, they probably had a greater risk that Singapore would just print money, and flood Brunei with "cheap" Singapore dollars. Even now, Brunei with less than 1/10th of Singapore's population probably have more reason to feel threatened but does not.

Both countries deal with each other with mutual respect as sovereign nations. There is no question that this arrangement would threaten the sovereignty of either.

In contrast, Malaysia feels their sovereignty is threatened all the time, whether it's the water issue, the causeway/bridge issue, our land reclamation programme, or our investment (or consultation) in the Iskandar Development Region.

Indonesia also feels necessary to raise the issue of their sovereignty over the Defence Cooperation Agreement which was tied to the Extradition pact. Now they want to amend the DCA because they feel their sovereignty is being threatened.

Thailand also felt necessary to raise the "Singapore boogeyman" with their concerns over the security of their mobile phone communications because of the Singapore ownership of one of their telco. The coup general has since admitted that it was a strategy to rally support of the the Thai people.

I thought it interesting that Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, all vastly bigger countries with larger population than Singapore would worry that a small island state of 4m people could threatened their sovereignty, while Brunei, one of the smaller countries in the world (tho still larger than Singapore) with a population less than 1/10th of Singapore is not.

Of course, it's arguable whether a currency interchangeability agreement is more threatening than any of the other issues. Probably not.

M'sian PM weds again
ST 9 June

Congrats Pak Lah!















The Judgement of Paris.
ST online 9 June
Judge overrules Sheriff electronic monitoring and orders Paris back behind bars. It's a simple life.

Wild Ride in a Wheelchair
ST, 9 June 2007

And here we were wasting our time getting bus fitted with wheelchair ramps! :-)

NETS faces competition? What competition?

Nets' chief executive officer Poh Mui Hoon said that Nets has 'no choice' but to increase fees to ensure that banks will continue issuing their cards.

There are some 600,000 debit cards in use in Singapore now and as these pay better revenue, the banks prefer to issue them. If Nets does not offer the issuers better rates, it will disappear from the scene, like domestic debit schemes in Portugal and Belgium did, she added.

Does she think we are stupid or what? Banks will stop issuing NETS card? What NETS card? You mean the one we use to draw money from ATMs? So banks are going to stop issuing ATM cards? The first bank that tries that will see a run on their bank as deposits are withdrawn and accounts are closed.

NETS is owned by the banks (DBS, OCBC, & UOB) so the argument is that NETS is in competition with itself (the debit cards) so need to raise fees?

And so what if they haven't raised rates in 22 years? As someone else has pointed out, these are rates, it grows as the turnover increases.

I'm moving my money to Citibank. They have ATMs at every MRT station. That's pretty convenient.

About 2 months ago, there was a launch of a residential development in Johor with hundreds of bungalows for sale following the wake of a few optimistic announcements of developments in Johor known as the Iskandar Development Region (IDR).

I don't have that kind of money to invest, but even if I had, I was skeptical. Quite a few Singaporeans have been burnt in such land development schemes that intentionally or not became scams.

A few weeks after that promo at HDB Hub, there was another promo at Suntec, and this time a man turned up with newspaper cuttings and a testimony to warn potential investors of the risks of investing in M'sia. He was one of those who had been burnt previously. He had invested in a development project but halfway through the developer ran out of cash or just ran out. The project was stalled and remained unfinished, and uninhabitable. Then looters started stealing whatever was there.

The Singapore investors had no recourse, no help, no hope.

The new IDR has the backing of the M'sian govt and it is clear that they are committed to the project and the vision of what it promises.

But the people are not behind it. How long can they be committed? How sure can we be of the commitment? What happens if, because of Singapore's investment in the IDR, the PAS wins Johor in the next election?

The M'sian govt is making all the right noises, but the people are making all the wrong ones.

What we have here is a barking dog who's also wagging it's tail. Which end should we believe?



Technorati Tags: Singapore, Malaysia, Iskandar, Johor, Investment, Politics, Causeway

Dealing with Govt is a pain.

Bernie Ecclestone candidly said that he found dealing with the Singapore Govt, a pain. Mahathir had previously said that Singapore Govt is also inflexible.

A glimpse into the back stage negotiations was given when it was revealed that at all stages the govt kept raising operational issues and questions that had to be resolved. I think businessmen like Bernie Ecc and Ong Beng Seng were used to shaking hands on the deal in principle and sorting out the niceties and details as they arise. Their personal relationship and trust would smooth over any bumps.

However with govt personal ties only goes so far. Personality is not a good basis for business with the govt. Mahathir and Abdullah are a contrast in styles and approach and Singapore's relationship with Malaysia, is more dependent on the personality of the Malaysia leader than the shared economic interests and potential for collaboration.

Similarly, on hindisght, the security of Temasek Holdings investment in ShinCorp could also be said to be tied to the personal influence of Thaksin, rather than on indisputable legal foundations.

The fact is that govt leaders changed. Sometimes as a matter of succession, sometimes a little more forcefully, like Thaksin. Furthermore, there is a tendency to treat the govt as the safety net when things go awry. That's when the govt will see its commitment and expenses grow beyond the budget.

So it is good and prudent to spell out the details of any deals clearly. Good fences make good neighbours. Good agreements make good deals.

Blogging for Change

There's quite a bit of navel-gazing and meditation going on as bloggers asks, "What is the point?" This after all the sound and fury did nothing to change the govt's plans to proceed with the Minister's pay hike.

One suggestion is to stake out your battleground and build up your support:
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/05/16/the-next-step-proactive-blogging/

But that's just tactics. The lessons just doesn't seem to catch.

Bloggers and political critics don't seem to get it.

For years, the govt did not agree to casinos. It was only when the casino option was seen as being necessary for Singapore's economic success that the govt reversed its position.

The govt had stopped motor racing, and even rejected a bid to host the F1 in Singapore. It reversed that decision when it saw how much Malaysia was benefitting from the F1.

The anti-gay laws on our law books have been there for years and the govt is still defending their anti-gay stance. But there are some evidence linking creativity to the "gay index".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IE17Ae01.html

And Singapore sees creativity as a major ingredient for Singapore's future success, so that means we may be reversing those laws soon.

So go ahead and blog about man's inhumanity to man (or PAP's inhumanity to man), and human rights, and freedom, and justice, and human dignity, and ideals, and nobility, integrity, and sentimentality. It will make for great reading.

But if you want to get the attention of the government, you got to show them the money.

New Sand, New Maids, World's fastest walkers.

British researchers have concluded that Singaporeans are the fastest walkers in the world, which is a proxy measure of just how fast-paced life in those cities are.

How did Singaporeans get to be such fast walkers? Like all things, training.
First of all, our MRT train doors are times to close almost immediately after opening. This gives Singaporeans only a split second to get into the train, so they have to move fast! even as they sidestep the commuters trying to get out.

Second of all, our pedestrian crossing lights all come with a countdown timer so you'll be timed as you cross the road. Surprisingly, we have received reports that rather than increasing the walking speed, pedestrian crossings actually slows people down. Numerous drivers have cursed these slow-moving cattle that cuts down on their turning opportunity.

Pedestrians who are usually capable of walking far and fast, sudden come to complete stops when they get on escalators and travellators. This phenomenon is still being investigated.

Anyway, the jaded Singaporean asks, what's the practical use of such a finding? It's not going to change my life!

Ah but that's where you're wrong sir!

Think about it at about 20m per 12 sec (the study found that we cover about 18m in just over 10 sec), the average Singaporean covers up to 100m in 1 minute.

That means that if your home is now within 500m of an MRT, the town centre or other public amenities, you can now truthfully claim that it is just a "5 minute walk" from those amenities.

1 km away? Just 10 minutes walk!

Buangkok Station could have been open earlier!

Newsand

So after Newater, there is new sand. Fortunately we don't have to shit it out. New sand uses copper slag waste which is from our shipyards where the copper slags are used to blast clean vessels. The used slags are used to replace sand for making concrete. Eco-concrete is expected to be as strong as regular concrete.

There are also other advantages. The copper in the concrete may mean that lightning strips may not be needed for buildings constructed with eco-concrete. Of course it also means those metal thieves could leave a gaping hole in your wall. You would also be living in a Faraday cage and your cellular phone signals may not get through.

Hmmm eco-concrete may be the ideal material to build future cineplexes!

New Maids
After Philippines imposed a minimum wage for their maids, Indonesia has decided to follow suit. At this rate we will have to come up with new maids to replace those.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/japans-makes-maid-robot-that-surprisingly-looks-like-gundam-not-a-sexy-lady-240846.php

Let's get some Japanese robot maids.

The worst investment ever!

Let's say you heard of a job opening up. It's contract work. 4 years. Pays $100,000 per year. Would you spend $10m to try to win that job?

Shift now to the US Presidential election campaign. The job is a four year term. It pays $400,000 a year. The two leading Democratic candidates are expected to raise and spend $500m each to win the presidency (ST 9 May 2007, "Cash fuels the race for the White House").

There are things not upfront in the picture.

Pipeline is a go

M'sia's PM has announced the $11b northern pipeline to shortcut travel through the Straits of Malacca is on. And this guy's not prone to saying one thing and doing another. Competition for Singapore is on!

But I thought I read somewhere that it takes 3 days to offload a supertanker (VLCC) and just 2 days to go down the straits. Well, it's an option.

I'm sometimes bemused by people's reaction to things that do not concern them.

Wong Li-Lin, a judge on "The Dance Floor" collected some money to give to a dancer she felt had talent, tho did not win, as the winner is determined by sms voting. (i.e. popularity).

She did no disparage the winners, but understanding the tough life of a dancer decided to encourage the one she thinks has the most talent.

That's like anyone of us giving money to a cause we believe in. Should you question the choices of someone who gives money to SPCA when there are elderly in need of food and shelter? Should you quarrel with people who donate to the arts when there are developmentally delayed children who could use the money for special education?

Choices.

So apparently, the blogosphere is dying.

http://diodati.omniscientx.com/2007/05/02/state-of-the-singapore-blogosphere-may-2007/

Must be the thinning Ozone layer.

Bloggers have bee closing down their blogs. The disappointment over the ineffectiveness of blogging as a way of changing the government's decision was the last straw, it seems.

It's unfortunate. Think global act local. Or in other words, give me courage to change what I can, serenity to accept what I cannot and wisdom to know the difference.

Too much courage, not enough wisdom and serenity.

So over lunch I was talking to my colleague about this. Perhaps, I said, this was all a conspiracy. By making such a big deal about this, and then dashing the hopes of the bloggers, the government had anticipated that bloggers would then curl up and die from sheer frustration and exhaustion.

Nah, said my colleague. The govt is smart, but not that smart.

Well, yah. Maybe not this time around, but the govt can learn. The next time it has a very controversial plan, it will first discuss another slightly less controversial plan, dash all the hopes and see bloggers die off. Then it will introduce the very controversial plan and not worry because all the critical bloggers would have died off! That's now a standard operating procedure for govt controversial policy announcement.

Those whom the govt seek to destroy, they first make mad with frustration.

Passion needs a climax to satisfy and sustain. Without a climatic resolution, there is dissatisfaction, frustration, and disengagement.

To endure in this, passion needs to be tempered with pragmatism, and wisdom.



Technorati Tags: singapore, blogs, singapore politics, conspiracy, minister's pay

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The influence of Bush

Okay, so George Bush is a lame duck president at this point in his presidency, but not even in the top 100? That's ridiculous!

Time Magazine list of 100 most influential persons in the world did not include Bush, but had Oprah and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) made it.

I may not agree with or like Bush. I question his intelligence and his religiousity puts him almost in the same fanatical league as the terrorists he is fighting, but as the president of the US, he still wields power and influence. Certainly as president of the sole superpower, his influence even at his lowest level is still higher than most people.

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You don't know what you're talking about!

http://singabloodypore.rsfblog.org/archive/2007/04/11/singapore-ministerial-civil-service-pay.html

Singaporeans will be Singaporeans. Whether in authority or fighting authority, they have the same response to foreigner's opinion that they don't accept.

When foreigners criticise Singapore's government or our way of doing things, the government responds by blocking the publication and telling them to mind their own business.

When a foreigner praise the PAP, anti-govt citizens tell the alien that he's just a visitor and don't know what he's talking about and to mind his own business.

I guess when you've become the thing you oppose (or use the same tools or weapons) they've already won.

And such ridiculous hyperbole: "People living on less than a dollar a day With no food, no home and no education is better than people living in social inequality with no justice, no freedom, no democracy, the rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer after
another 40 years of ruling."

It's only because you have food, a home and education that you can complain about social inequality, injustice, lack of freedom and democracy.

Or by social equality do you mean everyone is equally poor?

Youth is wasted on the young, and Singapore is wasted on the Singaporeans.

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Calvin asks, "Dad, how come old photographs are always black & white? Didn't they have color film back then?"

"Sure they did," answered Calvin's dad. "In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It's just that the WORLD was black and white then."

"Really?"

"Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was a pretty grainy color for a while, too."

"But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?"

"Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane."

"But... But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray then?"

"of course, but they turned colours like everything else did in the '30s"

"So why didn't old black ad white photos turn color too?"

"Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?"

Later, Calvin says to Hobbes, "The world is a complicated place."

Hobbes replies, "Whenever it seems that way I take a nap in a tree and wait for dinner."

-----------

I like this story because it illustrates the point that truth is usually simple and lies are complicated. So the whole thing about Minister's salary - simply put, in black and white, is about greed and enriching the rich.

Or is it?

The explanation for why Ministers pay must go up is also simple: it's lagging behind the benchmark and if Singapore is to attract talent in govt, it must pay Ministers better.

Then all the arguments about why Ministers' pay must stay low are complicated explanations about altruism, sense of duty, national service, honour, privilege and all that.

Someone did an interview with David Marshall, former Chief Minister of Singapore and he denounced the high $60,000 and $90,000 monthly salary of the PM and the Ministers then (1994). See this link:
http://thinkhappiness.blogspot.com/2006/08/meeting-david-marshall-in-1994.html

He went on to say that he only made $8,000 a month.

But that was 50 years ago. $8,000 a month in 1957 dollars? Back then you could get a bowl of mee for 5 or 10 cents. Now the cheapest you can get is $2. That's 20 to 40 times more. Extrapolating from that, $8k then is equivalent to at least $160k now. And that's not too far off from the new pay.

So how should ministers be paid? Should they serve for the sheer "joy and excitement of public service" as David Marshall says?

Complicated.

I'll take and nap and wait for dinner.

What's the Best Government for Singapore

Where the Economy is run by the PAP, the trade unions is headed by the Workers Party, and the Town Councils are run by Chiam See Tong?



Just a question. :-)

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MM Lee said that he understood the emotions associated with the issues, but that he found the fuss over the Minister's salaries "completely unreal", because there were larger issues at stake.

One might comment that MM Lee is out of touch with what's "real" if he found the "hoo-ha" unreal.

I think he moves and thinks at a level that most of us never reach. I say this with respect. But others would say the same with disgust.

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Bypassing Singapore

Malaysia is planning to build a 312 km oil pipeline to short cut travel through the piracy-prone Malacca Straits (Straits Times, 17 April). The pipeline would save about 2,000 km in travel. The plan is to build an oil refinery on the west coast of Kedah where crude oil would be received and refined, and then sent over the pipeline to the Kelantan coast where the oil will be distributed to other countries, notably China, which has an insatiable appetite for fuel as it develops.



Meanwhile, in another report (ST 17 April also), NTU researchers found that piracy attacks in the Malacca Straits have hit a 10-year low.



So... no need to build oil pipeline that would bypass Singapore, or refinery to take business from Singapore.



This is the Kra canal threat in another form.



Hmmm.... threat of pirate or terrorist attack on shipping, particularly oil tankers in the Malacca Straits, or threat of terrorist attack on oil refinery or a 312 km static pipeline? At least the oil tankers are a moving target, no?



Then again, Northern Malaysia borders Southern Thailand where there have been a lot of unrest. Again, a security issue.



And didn't Malaysia lose like million dollar shipment of Intel Chips in Penang to some daring robbers?



Then again, maybe it's best to spread the risk about. Maybe the terrorist will see Malaysian refineries and oil pipelines to be an easier target than Singapore's oil refineries and bunkers.

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The elephant in the living room

I don't mean this elephant:

Task of jumbo proportions, not for the squeamish
http://sewerserpent7.livejournal.com/#asset-sewerserpent7-528

I mean the Great Debate on Ministers' Salaries Part III.

It was debated to bits while I was overseas. Then when I was back, it was debated again. Like most if not all Singaporeans, I couldn't accept it at first. Then I did. Maybe it's because I know people and I'm not the envious sort. I've accepted it as necessary and I haven't really followed the news. There is no new arguments from either side. The only new twist is the juxtaposition with the debate a few weeks ago on the public assistance handouts. Tens of dollars vs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It's been talked and blogged to death, but if I don't say anything about it, I may seem out of touch with reality. Or Singapore. Which some people claim is unreal.

I think most people can't accept paying Ministers higher salaries because there is some kind of envy, some kind of socialistic robin hood need to take from the rich to give to the poor. Some kind of idealistic self-delusion where they tell themselves, if I were in their shoes, I would NEVER do what they did, those selfish bastards.

It makes people feel good about themselves. Feel superior. Or maybe they just don't want the rich to get richer. They just want themselves to get richer.

It is an emotional issue and people confuse the issue, drag in irrelevancies, make non sequitur leaps of logic, confound the situation with unrelated matters, and make unwarranted comparisons.

For example, one argument and it's variant is that Ministers a) do not need that salary, b) do not deserve their salary, c) should not need that salary to serve, d) are not doing work that is worth that kind of money, e) are overpaid compared to other leaders who have much greater responsibility, and f) should not be benchmarked against the private sector because it doesn't matter who's up there, it's always the top people.

This argument misses the point completely. It's not so much about what the job of Minister pays. It's what else the person can make in other jobs. If you are a brilliant professional who can make $4m a year, why should you give up a lucrative career for $1.2m a year? or $1.8m? For the sheer joy of serving? Riiight.

Most Singaporeans will say, tell you what, why don't you play-play run the govt, don't bother me, I have to go make some real money. And if we get some cheap talents who don't make the grade, would the brilliant professional then decide to step up to the plate and serve? Well, he might. Or he might just go someplace else where he can do better business or make more money.

The Ministers' salaries have to be substantial enough so that good minds will weigh the "sacrifice" of foregoing their lucrative careers as not too much of a deterrent.

The problem is not that our current crop of ministers will leave if we don't up their pay. The problem is that the govt will have trouble recruiting potential new leaders if we don't.

So I say, pay them to attract new blood. Don't let Singapore become like NKF. T. T. Durai started with good intentions. Then he "lost the plot."

Pay them well upfront. So they don't have to wheel and deal and try to give their families a better life in unethical ways.

Benchmarking Minister's Salaries to the lower income

Another interesting article on the Online Citizen. This one proposes that Minister's salaries be benchmarked to the lower income.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/04/09/ministers-salaries-losing-touch/#more-276

Left my comment there too. Hmmm... might be turning into a commentary blog? *sigh*

Mr Leong does make a very good point about benchmarking to the lowest income to motivate political leaders to raise the income of the lowest paid workers in Singapore.

There would seem to be an inherent bias that if I know my pay is benchmarked against the top 50 paying professionals, I would be motivated to see what policies i can make to raise their salaries.

That said, the salaries of the top 50 or 100 people in any field in the private sector are not likely to be affected by govt policies much. I’m pretty sure that Wee Cho Yaw’s salary is not much affected by govt policies directly. Moreover, the richest in the country are also the most mobile. Given enough disincentives or disadvantages, they will leave taking their business and their capital with them. In IR-speak, we must know how to treat the whales well.And while there is a lot of things the govt can do to raise the salaries of the lower income (e.g. minimum wage, protecting industries,preventing layoffs/retrenchment) in the long term, these policies maynot be in the best interests of Singapore. I agree with the principle that the income of poor should be a deliverable that contributes to the decision as to whether Ministers salary goes up or down, but at this point it is at best a concept.