And I pay you millions for?

Recently, I watched on the state-media mainstream news featuring MM Lee speaking about the GIC losses, not sure what event it was but with lots of camera focus on the ang mohs listening to our God-like leader with smiles and nods. I do not know why it felt like they were going.."Yah yah, I also did not see it coming, but I am glad I have my million dollars salary and my mega-millions more bonuses in my swiss account and my very own private island already!" or in local terms, the ang mohs seem to be saying "Buy ah, Buy ah..don't buy don't have already!" A common term heard between my friends as they urge each stupid question like "DBS $8.50 very cheap ah, should I buy?" - It is now at this moment priced at $6.92 cents, ~20% drop. And Citibank is priced just a tad over $1 and it is reported that the GIC converted its preferred notes at a price of $3.25 per share. Wow...what an astute move which I guess we just lost 2/3 of its value.

’We became cash-rich and when the market fell, we went into UBS and Citi,’ he said. ‘But we went in too early. That’s part of the ride.’

‘How could we have known this was the extent of the damage? You look at all the big-name banks - they have gone down, misjudged the situation, ruined their careers,’

- our highly esteemed octogenerian politician Lee said.


So really why do I need to pay you those millions again? Maybe I should be thankful that we did not end up like Iceland, whose country debt is 850 percent of GDP. This tiny fishing nation, of population 300,000 citizens suddenly woke up and found that they bore some kind of responsibility for $100 billion of banking losses—which works out to roughly $330,000 for every Icelandic man, woman, and child.

Oh maybe we should be thankful we are not in a dire straits as debt-drowned United States which has reached just 350 percent of GDP equivalent of debts. Which is about 6.4 trillion and national debt equates to USD$30,400 per American person, or USD$60,100 per head of the U.S. working population as of February 2008.

Well, in any case. I am not sure if I felt responsible for the estimated $100 billion lost in both GIC and Temasek. That is equivalent to about $20,663 for every single living person in Singapore (4.84mil); or $27,452 for every Singapore Residents (Singapore Citizens 3.16mil + PR 478k); or $33,806 for every employed person in Singapore. Numbers which I can relate to as I am included in that statistic.

Astounding numbers henceforth, is if we just blame the government officials for it - 93 MPs + 1 ribbon-cutting-key holder Head of state - that is about $1.06 billion per government official. But to be fair, we should throw in the 350 or so Temasek employees and board of directors + GIC's 1000 staff worldwide. That should be more accountable, they lost only $69.3million per person.
And to think we pay some of these jokers 300k a month who constantly have been telling the people to shut the f*^k up and let them do their thing, f@$k transparency, f#*k accountability - can eat one huh? Well eat these numbers!

Many have seen this coming, countless of warnings by many people, hell! books are written foretelling this crisis. Maybe its time we start interviewing these gurus if they would like to be paid $300k/mth and get nice colonial rental houses with pools. I really wonder if the our elite scholars deserve the recognition and power they have so far. I personally would rather have someone who knows what he is doing, reporting to me with full transparency where his knowledge would actually make $. And unlike those ignorant fools who feel so freely dispensing our hard-earned reserves - that is unless those reserves are already treated like spare loose change of their own pockets.

This is all based on mid-year 2008 estimates and the various Temasek and GIC websites.

Human Rights

Watching a U2 Milan Vertigo DVD on a lazy Sunday afternoon brought this up.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948. Singapore became an independent State on 9 August 1965 and a Member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965. Bono flashed this declaration after singing "Miss Sarajevo".




Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

I like Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Sometimes in Singapore, some have lived so far away from human touch, they think they are Gods and deemed other humans as lesser mortals. Hard to forget this. Should never forget this. Especially when higher mortals are CIVIL SERVANTS meant to serve with servitude to the public. The form of servitude meant here is not as indicated in Article 4 which refers to slavery. But sometimes I feel we get all caught up in this rat race here, we are slaves. Slaves to the system.
And an answer to our Minister V. Article 19 - Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This blog is my opinion and an expression. Take it or leave it, but noone has the right to shut it.

Better business leader

I am amused when ChannelNewsAsia's host Joanna Leow, on today's Business morning hour around 850am,interviews some guru about how business leaders should lead their companies in such difficult times. When the guru explained that leaders should set an example in the company and reach out to them, and keep in communication with the staff, she quickly cited a rhetorical example cum question: "Oh like President Obama in yesterday's fireside address to the people of America?"

I am not sure to be amazed, saddened or shocked, firstly it was meant for business leaders, but the way America bails out corporations these days, she is not faulted for thinking so, especially when our nation is functioning like Singapore Inc. And secondly, she did not cite our great leaders of Singapore. Especially given the fact perhaps her KPI depends on it since our state traditional media tends to be biased towards the ruling party of our "democratic" nation. Oh but wait, there isn't much to cite given the fact that we the citizens of Sillypore have been recently faced with:

1) told to throw our aged to a lower-cost neighbouring country because its more expensive here;
2) been labelled a lesser mortal because we feel that some perm sec spending 45k on cooking lessons is indigestible with the common people;
3) threatened that new media is being watched - bloggers can be identified and prosecuted even if they seem to be anonymous;
4) and also been told to embrace the wonderful "miraculous" Jan budget despite calls by opposition to relook to a more focused attention on helping the retrenched which can hit 100,000 this year, while finding out that we lost at least a $100 billion by our scholar/elitist filled GIC and Temasek entities. A humongous sum which could afford to pay for each and every working Singaporean a sum of at least $50k per annum. And I think theoretically that will bring us out of a contraction expected for the next few years.


Anyway forget about all that crap, but I really applaud President Obama's speech, it make me believe in the American system and I understand why so many people strive to go to the land of the free though it is in so much shit. And I believe Joanna was taking an hour break through the live telecast of Obama's speech yesterday and was like me, totally impressed. But the sorry fact that I have to live with is that I am a Sillyporean awaiting for something similar and to look towards my leaders - business leaders or not.

In case you missed out on Obama's speech - Video and Text.

Balloon

Having a feeling right now, which I cannot describe. Sort of a childhood flashback or a longing. I felt that I have finally lost my balloon, as it lifts higher and higher. Often I feel I would be somehow tall enough, smart enough to get it back, and that it will always be there floating near enough, but this time I really lost it. You look out into the skies and you see the balloon floating further and further away...as I stared up ahead and gripped my hand tight, I wished I had held on to it and never had let it go.

Finally

Thinking about it days and nights, often wondering when and how. It constantly flashed across my mind - Eventually it will come, just be patient. Many times, I rushed and failed. To sense and mind, a long-awaited maturity finally set in. When everyone around you has stopped playing and started shopping for prams and diapers; when raising families is a norm, it finally caved upon the puerile psyche.

Slowly, the unfolding starts, revealing parts of the unknown. Apprehensive over what might unfold, I stopped buying toys, shoes, unworn tees. Collections of alcohol, shot glasses, intricate toys, shoes I've amassed over the years stopped in its tracks wondering when I will ever get my own place to display them. Will I ever find "the one" who will accept the infantile?

All along it should never be an acceptance, but the growing out of an unacceptable state of mind. I realised the importance of what IFs and how it should BEs.

I finally know what I want. It's not about making choices or taking chances, it's about knowing what you want and accepting it. It's about knowing what you do not want and not accepting it. Yes, my mind is often in the state of uncertainty, flipping switches in states of 1 or 0.

In saying that I guess, I need to sort out my love life first. Which will lead me to setting up my own family, the part which I am missing and finally ribbing my brains out.

And in my family, rules have to be set. No tolerance of things I hate. If I can do it, why can't the person I choose to share my life with, have done it?

I detest :

1) gambling
2) smoking
3) cheating
4) sloth
5) greed
6) stupidity
7) impatience
8) bad sportsmanship
9) unfilial
10)untrust

Many of which I am guilty of myself and thus at times I do dislike what I have done. If you are a friend, acquaintance, hell-no do what you want. But if we are to be eternally fused together, going forward the feets have to be moving together. We have to be helping one another and understanding each other's limitations, fears, dreams, hopes and goals. So there is a need to know how it should be, how I need to get there.

For the last few years, realising what I have lost and what I want back and I can only reflect upon how did I lose it and how I need to change and improve myself. That's how it should be to lead me to the what if.

So for now, singlehood is a choice as I ponder if I should get my own place amidst such difficult times, but I do need to start living on my own and await the elusive "one" whom I believe will come in "her" own time. The only question that I will stumble over is what if "she" never comes. Only heaven knows.