Lim Tean: A disgraceful chamber of horrors

No I’m not going to link to TOC’s piece titled “A disgraceful chamber of horrors” where it reprts about Lim Tean KPKBing about how little MPs pay for parking vis-a-vis teachers (could be as high as $900 a yr) of $365 for HDB (throughout Singapore) and Parliament combined.

Meanwhile S’poreans are still waiting for Lim Tean’s jobs rally and defamation video promised for last September, then last November and for which he raised money from the public: Where’s yr defamation video and jobs rally Lim Tean?

And while Lim Tean makes such of the fact that mum was a hard-working teacher, funny he doesn’t tell us that pa was one of Harry’s right-hand men. Pa was CEO of PA.

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Investments: What rocks, what sucks

Relax S’poreans, Tun is not in control in M’sia

Tun is as harmless as Harry was in 2013 and 2014.

Remember the photos of Harry at a PAP do before his death? He had to be propped up: like a dummy I tot. Google the images up as I’m don’t intend to show our Harry as a toothless, mangy ex-lord of the jungle where once even a quiet chuckle from him got people worried. So sad.

Well as the PAP govt and fellow S’poreans, and anti-PAP types* get their knickers in a twist over Tun unfriendly remarks, I tot I’d remind them of  how harmless was our Harry was in 2013 and 2014 because Tun is just as toothless, mangy ex-lord of the jungle ass Harry was even if he is M’sian PM.

He may be PM and has all the powers that Najib used to have in ensuring that 1MDB was not investigated by the M’sian authorities.

But he can be easily removed as PM if Anwar, his gang, the DAP (Like Tun , Anwar needs the kilang and cina coolies to clean up the manure created by Tun, himself and Najib.) and the moderate Islamic party want to. They only have to hold their noses and sign up the Sarawak parties that left BN. These parties have 19 seats, a few more than Tun and M gang.

Look at the differences between DAP ministers and Tun on HSR and the repeal of various laws**, and how long it took to decide the remaining cabinet posts, and you will see how powerless he is.

So no need to be concerned about his unfriendly comments.

———————————————————————————————–

*They are now keeping real quiet and hoping that real S’poreans will forget that they only a few weeks ago were telling us that the sun shone from Tun’s ass. Example: Chua Seng Chwee has gone back to talking on FB about good food. A few weeks ago he was cheering on Tun whenever Tun attacked S’pore telling us that Tun is a really smart guy. (Related post: Anti-PAP S’poreans sucking up to Tun)

But Terry’s Online Channel is doubling down on its support for Tun. It tells readers that Tun’s unfriendly comments are all about the PAP govt being unfair to M’sia and comparing that unfairness to what TOC and the anti-PAP cybernuts say is the PAP’s unfairness to S’poreans. All TOC will achieve is ensuring that soft PAP voters will think TOC and its base are anti-S’porean fifth columnists. Sad.

**Btw, I had predicted that like the Anti-Fake News Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and Sedition Act will only be tweaked, not repealed: Waz this call for a leader like Tun M here?

Tun M’s crony, the Home Minister, said the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and Sedition Act will be reviewed.

The DAP wants all these laws repealed as per the Coalition of Hope’s manifesto.

Anwar and gang, the rest of the coalition, and the neutrals from Sabah and Sarawak are eating popcorn, watching and laughing. UMNO and the rest of BN are hoping they can help stir the pot. Sad for M’sia.

 

US beats s*** out of China again

The renminbi fell for a fourth successive session, hitting its lowest point against the dollar of 2018. The US dollar is heading for its biggest monthly rise against the offshore renminbi since the early 1990s.

And yesterday, Wall St recovered from a really sharp fall the previous day which was a wild ride: on Wednesday market was up strongly, then reversed sharply, losing its initial gains and a lot more.

But

there was no respite for Chinese stocks, as the CSI 300 index closed at a fresh one-year low, taking it deeper into bear market territory.

FT

America is Great Again.

 

Why Tun M, Anwar, PAP won’t, can’t reform the status quo

Reformasi is in the air on both sides of the causeway, with even PAP ministers talking of the need to change.

I’m the first to admit that because I’ve had an active interest in M’sia since the 80s, I’m skeptical that A New Hope will be followed by the Return of the Jedi. It’ll be followed by The Empire Strikes Back (though that doesn’t imply the return of BN or UMNO).

As for the PAP, pigs will fly first before the PAP reforms S’pore.

Whatever,

[Alan Blinder, Fed Vice-Chairman when Greenspan was Chairman] draws various lessons[for reforms based on his experiences in helping get Reagan’s 1980s tax reform package passed]. First, start with strong but broad presidential leadership. Second, leave technocrats to design a policy combining effectiveness and simplicity. Third, find some wily political operators with tactical nous to sell it. Fourth, come up with an eye-catching symbol that defines the package (in this case, a massive reduction in the top rate from 50 per cent to 28 per cent). Fifth, allow a degree of backroom bargaining while the deal is constructed. And sixth, make sure the package is agreed as a whole, rather than picked apart by special interests.

Advice and Dissent, by Alan Blinder

Think Tun will do this? I have my doubts. For one, he wants to ensure the continuance of Malay dominance.

And it’s not only Tun who wants to ensure cont’d Malay dominance.

Anwar has assured Malays and other Bumiputras that their rights under the new government would not be sidelined, while stressing to all not to be taken with the false propaganda about the Democratic Alliance Party, which is also part of PH. Like Tun and the DAP, he needs the kilang and cina coolies to clean up the manure created by Tun, himself and Najib.

“Felda and Universiti Teknologi Mara will not be threatened but kangkung professors can’t (be accepted),” Dr Anwar said.

As for the PAP, so long as they worship Harry,  Hard Truths will prevail. Sad. Because Harry between the 1950s and the end of the 1980s had no Hard Truths to guide him. He did what he did to get power, then retain power and in the process help bring material prosperity to S’poreans and S’pore. He changed course several times: from socialist to fascist lite, from democrat to authoritarian, from multiracism to “English and Mandarin tua kee”.

He only tot up Hard Truths when he became goal keeper to keep himself busy because as goal keeper he had little to do other than manage the team. He was the first of the player managers. Sad.

Advice from UK’s richest man

Through buying up and turning around the cast-off parts of big business, the Mancunian has made his £21bn fortune.

From operations once owned by the likes of oil giant BP, Mr Ratcliffe has created a company whose chemicals and raw materials go into nearly everything we touch every day.

And it only took him 20 years to do it.

Ineos is now worth £35bn, according to The Sunday Times Rich List – based on Mr Ratcliffe’s strategy of buying “unfashionable or unsexy facilities owned by large corporations where you’d know they would be sloppy with the fixed costs”.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-44101223

Sadly in S’pore, TLCs and other GLCs don’t sell underperforming units because they are insulated from pressure because they dominate the local economy.

Why I like Seah Kian Peng

Yesterday in Why Seah Kian Peng is right to say he’s “left of centre”, I said I would explain why I like Seah. I like him because he doesn’t let the Hard Truths of hypocrisy, morality and groupthink stand in the way of attempts to help an unfortunate group of S’poreans: unmarried single mothers.

In TRELand when the cybnenuts talk of unmarried mums, they compare them to prostitutes. Even PAP ministers, MPs and the IBers don’t go that far. They juz say “Undeserving poor. They bring it on themselves. Promoting moral hazard to help them.”

And sadly many, many S’poreans agree with them and the TRE cybernuts.

But Seah (and a few other MPs like Lily Neo) joins NGOs in trying to help them, and in trying to get the PAP and society to change their views on these “fallen” women. Power to him and the others.

Over the years, he has also spoken up for more assistance for unmarried single mothers.

In 2016, the Ministry for Social and Family Development finally announced that the Government is ready to extend the full 16-week maternity leave accorded to married mothers, to single mothers as well.

Their children also now have access to a Child Development Account, a savings scheme to help pay for childcare and healthcare costs.

MPs and women’s rights groups spent years campaigning for this and other benefits.

Mr Seah feels even more can be done to address their needs.

Unmarried mothers still do not get the Baby Bonus cash gift and parenthood tax rebates that even widows and divorcees, receive. When it comes to housing, they have to wait until they turn 35 to buy an HDB flat under the singles scheme.

“The challenges of raising children by themselves is already hard enough. But they have to still think about something as basic as housing. So on our part as a Government, how can we help?”

The Government has traditionally been cautious about equalising benefits for this group as it says doing so could send out the wrong signals.  A common argument is that such a move might be seen as condoning having children out of wedlock.

“Frankly, I don’t believe in this. But even if as a result, one or two people start thinking along those lines, so be it. We shouldn’t stop ourselves from helping people just because we fear a small group could end up abusing a policy.”

This concept should apply to every policy, he says, including to how much help should be given to the low-income in society and how even means-testing to assess a person’s eligibility for assistance is conducted.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/seah-kian-peng-mp-marine-parade-ceo-ntuc-fairprice-on-the-record-10459284

 

 

Why Trump thinks he’ll win trade war with China cont’d

Further to the equity mkt falls referenced in Why Trump thinks he’ll win trade war with China,a 0.5% fall in the Shanghai Composite Index yesterday left it more than 20% from a two-year high hit in January. it’s now officially in a bear market.

Meanwhile, last night, US equity indices recovered some of the previous day’s sharp falls.

And the Chinese currency also weakened to a fresh six-month low while the US$ is up.

Trump is making Making America Great Again.

Great if my bank offers this service

In early June, the govt released the Digital Readiness Blueprint to help every Singaporean navigate a digital future of cashless payments and other innovations.

Great if my bank, HSBC, offers this service

For people looking to buy or sell a home, it offers to research neighbourhoods, move furniture, remove garbage, paint a house and even decide which bins to take out each week.

FT

Here’s what RBC, a Canadian bank, is attempting to do

RBC aims to offer more end-to-end services — or “ecosystems” — covering wider customer needs than only financial, such as when they want to start their own business, sell their house, or find a new car. For instance, the bank is offering a service for entrepreneurs to register their start-up company with the government, provide it with cloud-based accounting software, supply a branding service and send it letterheads and business cards, all before it has lent the company a cent. For people looking to buy or sell a home, it offers to research neighbourhoods, move furniture, remove garbage, paint a house and even decide which bins to take out each week. Many of these services are supplied by partners integrated into RBC’s digital platform.

FT

 

 

Why Seah Kian Peng is right to say he’s “left of centre”

Here’s Chris Kuan KPKBing about Seah Kian Peng calling himself “left of centre” in this interview https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/seah-kian-peng-mp-marine-parade-ceo-ntuc-fairprice-on-the-record-10459284

He labelled himself “left of center”. Read his opinions (and his back pedaling when put on a spot by the journo) on various issues like taxes, using the reserves and solving social divide and inequality, you will realize straightaway, unless you are politically inert, that if this MP considers himself “left of center” then that is as good a reason as any that we must have a lot more opposition MPs. In other words, if the Honourable Seah Kian Peng is the best the PAP has in terms of checks and alternative / independent views or thinking on policy positions, then there is really little to no serious debates within the party, well not seriously enough to generate meaningful changes. But we do know that already, don’t we?

FB

The way Chris (and often me?) often describes the PAP (elitist, illiberal, and steals from the poor to give to the rich) makes it sound like a fascist party.

So any PAPpy that is a half way decent guy or gal (think Tharman or Liy Neo) is left of centre. So Seah is right to call himself as “left of centre”. Tomorrow I’ll give an example of his “progressive” views, views that even TRE cybernuts disagree with.

Btw, did anyone notice that

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

looks like this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

the flag of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s?

And this?

Add another one and we have a sign associated with the Nazis (National Socialists): the SS, a Nazi military unit that had two distinct branches. One branch were elite fighting men, feared and respected by the Allies in WWII. The other butchered Jews and other “lesser mortals”.

A more appropriate symbol for the PAP?

 

S$ currencies tua kee

As emerging mkts currencies are sold off, Sino and Indo currencies remain steady versus Trump’s $.

What kind of voter are u?

Remember this?

A Financial Times story today said – Mr Mahathir, who always enjoyed needling neighbouring Singapore and its long-ruling People’s Action Party, said the electoral earthquake would reverberate across the narrow Straits of Johor.

Mahathir told the Financial Times, “I think the people of Singapore, like the people of Malaysia, must be tired of having the same government, the same party, since independence.”

reminded me that the day after last GE I wrote

Which type of voter were you on 9/11?

1. Comfortable Nostalgia: “They tend to be older, more traditional voters who dislike the social and cultural changes they see as altering [country] for the worse.”

2. Optimistic Contentment: “Confident, comfortable & usually on higher incomes they are prudent & tolerant but think [country] is a soft touch.”

3. Calm Persistence: “Often coping rather than comfortable, they hope rather than expect things to get better.”

4. Hard-pressed Anxiety: “Pessimistic & insecure, these people want more help from government and resent competition for that help particularly from new-comers.”

5. Long-term Despair: “Many are serial strugglers; angry & alienated they feel little or no stake in the country or that anyone stands up for them.”

6. Cosmopolitan Critics: “Generally younger, more secular and urban-based, worried about growing inequality & the general direction the country is going in.”

Go to https://atans1.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/which-voter-are-you/  to see how I tot those who vote for the PAP, or Oppo can be categorised.

Btw, I now think that TOC’s editors, team and readers are now in the same categories as the majority of TRE posters.

I think based on the postings on TRE,  the majority of TRE posters would seem fall into the “Hard-pressed Anxiety” and “Long-term Despair” (i.e. the losers) even though TeamTRE belongs in the “Calm Persistence” and “Hard-pressed Anxiety”  categories: the only people who would spend time and money on doing what they believe is right, even if the losers are freeloading on their efforts.

TOC’s editors, team and natural readers would fall into the ”Calm Persistence”, “Hard-pressed Anxiety” and ”Cosmopolitan Critics” groups.

Sad. Seems like Terry (Once ”Calm Persistence” now “Hard-pressed Anxiety” or “Long-term Despair”?) has given up trying to persuade those who voted for PAP in GE 2011 and Dr Tan Cheng Bock in PE2011 that they should think about alternatives to the PAP.

 

 

Next mkt China wants to corner

Global electricity suppy via ita Global Energy Interconnection initiative.

The first stage, set to run until 2020, involves investment in domestic grid assets within other countries. The second phase would see the knitting together of some of those grids and that generation capacity.

FT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Western observers see a geopolitical strategy on a par with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a grand design that seeks to boost Chinese-led infrastructure investment in more than 80 countries around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Coming? Cyber law forbidding “anti-state purposes”?

(Or “Who said “Law should not protect the weakling but make the strong even stronger”)

A law has just been passed in Vietnam which

bans internet users in Vietnam from organising people for “anti-state purposes” and contains sweeping language under which users would not be allowed to “distort history” or “negate the nation’s revolutionary achievements”

FT

Such a law can be used lock up one PJ Thum (What Oxford really says about PJ Thum and Project Southeast Asia) and his side kick one Sonny Liew (Coldstore: Why Harry’s narrative or the highway).

While our Minister for Pets and Police could have said this based on what he has said about the authorities needing more powers

Law should not protect the weakling but make the strong even stronger.

he didn’t.

This was said by Hans Frank’s Hiltler’s personal lawyer immortal words (cf. Konrad Heiden,’The Fuehrer’, p. 567).

Why Trump thinks he’ll win trade war with China

On June 19th Mr Trump said he would slap a 10% tariff on an additional $200bn worth of Chinese goods. The new policy, which followed an announcement by the White House on June 15th that it would push forward with the original tariffs announced in March, sent markets plummeting. Stock exchanges fell around the world, from Tokyo to London to New York. Unsurprisingly, the losses were most acute in China, where the Hang Seng share index closed down 3% and exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell by 4% and 5%.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/06/20/americas-trade-spats-are-rattling-markets

Falls in US were peanuts compared to Chinese, HK because as Reuters Breakingnewsputs it

Any [Chinese] reprisals probably would have a limited effect on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other stock indexes. Though Apple generates about a fifth of its top line in China, listed U.S. companies overall find only about 4 percent of their revenue in the People’s Republic, according to Morgan Stanley research. And it’s far-fetched to think China will stop buying Boeing aircraft or Intel chips.

S’pore like this?

There’s a short speculative fiction story from Turkey

titled “R-09 and Pluto”, two artificially intelligent robots contemplate the limits of their brains. Humans, the bots agree, are afraid of their creation’s potential power, so rules are designed to limit the use of their full intellect and to keep them from questioning authority. What could happen, one bot suggests, if they broke those rules and freed their minds?

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2018/06/20/why-turkish-students-are-turning-to-speculative-fiction

Emphasis mine.

Reminder to auditors and listcos

The directors of listcos especially.

The judge said the purpose of publishing accounts was to provide the market and the public with information about the state of the company so “informed decisions” can be made by interested parties about their financial affairs.

FT report on the MD of a bank jailed for falsifying accounts

 

Why “S’pore is not a repressive country”

When an anti-PAP warrior living in an HDB flat posted this on FB

“In a recent interview with renowned CNN anchorwoman, Christine Amanpour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as categorically stated that Singapore is not a repressive country because in the last election, every seat was contested.

I find this reasoning rather one dimensional as whether or not an election is contested is not the complete picture. This is especially the case in Singapore whereby the opposition do face certain challenges before they even get to the contest.”

TOC

One Adrian Tan posted:

Got a lot of anti-PAP types living in “subsidised”, “affordable” public housing. If S’pore as bad as what TOC claims, why PAP govt no kick them out? 🤣😜

To which I’ll add some of the names of some of these warriors: M Ravi, Terry of TOC and Teo Soh Lung.

If they get kicked out of the HDB flats they are in living in, I’ll admit that S’pore is a repressive country. Until then, I’ll hold the view that S’pore is an authoritarian one-party state that 60-70% of voters every five yrs or so willingly agree to put up with for another five yrs.

S’pore: An illiberal democracy?

Goh Meng Seng (Silence of Goh Meng Seng) even claims that to part finance the fight against the PAP, he sold his HDB flat in 2010 or 2011 when he was NSP’s Sec-Gen. But it’s alleged that he never paid any monies into the NSP’s bank account.

 

Xiaomi: “Easy come, easy go” or why cybernuts happy again

Xiaomi, the [US]$100bn Chinese smartphone and TV unicorn? It’s now a $50bn unicorn after it decided to cancel plans for a Chinese depositary receipts issuance.

FT on Wed/ Thurs

This is the latest twist in a tale that will have cybernuts happy again that Temask and GIC always losing money.

Juz six months ago Xiaomi was valued at US$100bn after getting into trouble a few yrs ago: Xiaomi’s IPO will make anti-PAPpyists frus

Then a few months back, it became worth US$70bn: Xiaomi IPO: Why cybernuts will be happy again

Oh and Xiaomi has juz launched an IPO to raise US$6.1bn (amended from US$6bn). It had planned to raise US$10bn but the cancellation of its Chinese depositary receipts issuance made that impossible.

Whatever, the cybernuts will never accept that Temasek and GIC made money on this investment. The changes in the valuation reflect the difficult of valuing an unlisted investment, especially a tech company.

The real truths about public housing

Not Hard Truths but the truths about public housing as revealed by “Tan Jin Meng, a postgraduate from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He has an interest in social policy and economics.”.

But first, a reminder why the topic of HDB housing is a problem for the PAP administration what with its “asset enhancement” policies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever happened to asset enhancement since 2013 Q2 is a question being asked by more than the anti-PAP activists and their allied cybernuts.

Back to Tan Jin Meng and his truths about HDB: writing in CNA he says

An over-emphasis on home ownership can come at a cost to society. Time for a review of public housing policy

And

Singapore’s housing policy started out with the aim of providing basic, comfortable and safe housing security for Singaporeans. Over the decades, strong public policy support may have led to an over-emphasis on housing ownership, leading to unintended consequences …

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/emphasis-home-ownership-hdb-lease-review-of-public-housing-10423116.

But if time-challenged juz read these two extracts

The first explains that the PAP administration has by way of subsidies (Uncle Leong and cybernuts will ask though “Subsidies? What subsidies?”) created an entitlement mentality in public housing:

Addressing the 99-year leasehold issue or the retirement security issue without a cost to the home owner would effectively need a cross subsidy from future tax payers.

Any changes to housing policy that impact prices would need to consider the fact that most voting Singaporeans have a vested interest in keeping house prices up.

The continuous subsidy of housing in Singapore has been underpinned by the Land Acquisition Act of 1966, which had used historical cost for acquiring land, managing to keep new HDB flat prices low. In 1959, the State owned 44 per cent of all land, and by the mid-2000s, it was 85 per cent.

Effectively, the Government redistributed land wealth from land owners to the rest of the population, aided by a growing economy supporting prices. This, however, cannot continue forever as housing leases start to run out, our economy slows, and our population ages.

The Government had, over the decades since independence, resisted calls to liberally expand the social safety net, in order to avoid the development of an entitlement culture – that once you give someone something, you cannot easily take it back without antagonising that person, and you may end up with an intolerable burden for future generations.

Yet, housing remains one social programme where much resources have been poured into.

The other very important truth is

A house is not just a shelter. It is also a leveraged financial asset. You are taking risk on both property prices and interest rates. Singapore’s rapid growth over the first 50 years from independence has led many people to believe that home ownership is a “sure win”, as house prices also rose from wage and population growth.

Sounds like the “asset enhancement” policies got a lot to answer for, and so has our PM who was DPM and the economy czar in the 90s, when the policies were introduced to fix the Oppo.

“Asset enhancement? What asset enhancement?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only if buy BTO flat leh, PAP will say. Go back and read what the PM, DPM and other PAP ministers said.

Wonder if our our constructive, nation-building media’s articles from the 1990s are as amendable as the media articles in Airstrip One in “1984”.

M’sia: Time to buy?

M’sian mkt being ignored. One of least crowded emerging markets. Thailand and China look vulnerable because everyone’s there. Indonesia, Pinoy Land, Taiwan, Korea and India are in between. 

Akan Datang: Why CPF Life payments will begin at 85

This will happen because 85 is 2.4 years above the average S’porean life expectancy rate of 82.6 yrs.

Let me run readers thru the argument.

In CPF Life: How withdrawal age “moved” to 70, I explained how the CPF Life default age for receiving payments was raised to 70, while earlier in Why CPF annuity will begin at 75 I joked that Queen Jos was planning how to justify raising the age to 75.

Well Russia has an even better plan to screw the elderly. Russia today, S’pore tomorrow?

Russia recently proposed raising retirement age above the average life expectancy of Russian males (63 yrs)

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proposed increasing the pension age for men from 60 to 65 years old, and increasing the pension age for women from 55 to 63 years old.

… with many pointing out on social media it would make retirement age higher than the average male life expectancy in Russia.

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-44495136

In S’pore, according to govt data the average male life expectancy age is 80, the female life expectancy age is 86.1 and the average 82.6. Don’t ask me how the average is calculated.

Rounding the average up to 83, and learning from Russia, CPF Life payments will begin at 85, enabling the reserves to grow and grow because many male S’poreans will be dead before CPF Life payments begin.

Btw, remember if CPF Life plan dies, you die: not yr money.

There is a provision in the law governing the CPF Life Plans which states that payouts are contingent on the Plans being solvent. This is because premiums that are paid in to get the annuities are pooled and collectively invested. If the plan you chose doesn’t have enough money to pay out, you die. This is unlike the [Minimum Sum] scheme, where account holders are legally entitled to the monies in their CPF accounts …

(https://atans1.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/best-cpf-life-plan/)

 

 

 

 

Bit rich of Tun to say this about Trump

.“I have no plans to go and see him,” Dr Mahathir said of Mr Trump, whom he called volatile. “I don’t know how I can deal with a person who is so much like a chameleon.”

NYT

Remember this

“The belief that I dismissed him because I was afraid he would oust me is without basis. I dismissed him for two reasons only: he was unsuitable to continue serving in the Government and he was unsuitable to succeed me as Prime Minister.” — Mahathir’s 2011 book “A Doctor in the House,” on his sacking of Anwar as his deputy during the Asian financial crisis. “I may have made many mistakes, but removing Anwar was not one of them.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-10/mahathir-in-his-own-words-on-markets-islam-and-anwar-ibrahim

Then he said before the election he said he would make way (after serving two yrs as PM) for jailed opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim to be PM after Anwar is pardoned by the King.  Now he’s hinting he’ll stay on on PM.

And like Trump he’s taking a long time to announce his full cabinet.

Oh and remember this? HSR: I was right wasn’t I?

Sounds like Tun is Asean’s Trump. All he needs to complete the comparison is a couple of buildings named Tun. Akan datang.

HoHoHo: Singtel’s big World Cup balls-up

Fortunately for the PAP govt and S’porean footie fans, it’s in Oz.

[F]or Optus, Australia’s second-biggest telecoms company, the 2018 Fifa World Cup is fast becoming a public relations disaster.

On Monday the Singtel-owned operator, which holds the streaming rights to all 64 matches, voluntarily handed its television rival SBS the rights to broadcast the following two nights of world cup action. It made the decision following a consumer backlash prompted by technical difficulties with its own streaming services- and a public intervention by Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister.

FT

SBS is state-owned.

Anti-PAPpies want Kim to nuke S’pore isit?

Why liddat?

On FB, TRE and TOC and the Indian (I’m told, I don’t read it) the anti-PAP types are denouncing two PAP ministers for taking wefies with Little Rocket Man).

On FB in response to comments denouncing the PAP ministers:

There seems to be an assumption among people of a certain ideological bend that our ministers wanted to take the wefies. Has it ever occurred that Kim asked for the wefies as a goodwill gesture to say thanks to S’pore for hosting and paying his bills?

Adrian Tan

He’s a bit of a wimp for calling the anti-PAP types “people of a certain ideological bend” but he’s right about the assumption that the ministers wanted the wefies, and the possibility that Kim asked for the wefies as a goodwill gesture.

Imagine what would happen if the two ministers (not my fav ones*) said “No”.

Btw, since VivianB has also been denounced on FB, TOC, TRE etc of saying innocuous words like “impressive” when describing his impressions of North Korea which he visited recently. They want him to say, “The place is a shithole like Aljunied town council run areas” isit?

Our anti-PAP types hate the PAP so much that they openly want Kim to destroy S’pore because if S’pore is nuked PAP ministers will die. They forget that there are special measures to protect these ministers. How not to call these anti-PAP types, cybernuts?

The PAP couldn’t have wished for nuttier enemies, what with friends like Calvin Cheng (Err so why the silence on Calvin, minister?) and FATPAP.

---

*What I’ve written about them

VivianB’s other folly: F1

Our new PM/ Trumpets pls for me

HSR: I was right wasn’t I?

Trumpets pls.

HSR “delayed” not “cancelled” according to Tun. (Btw, someone pls tell TKL this. He thinks still cancelled according to his TOC article.)

In Will we ever get letter cancelling HSR?

I wrote

The two DAP** ministers want to send a letter saying M’sia wants to have talks on a review of the project with a view to revising the costs and timetable. They hope that lower costs means S’pore will be amendable to a delay in the start date, and not ask for compensation.

…

**Remember that Lim Guan Eng and his pa came to brief our Harry when the DAP won Penang in 2008. More like “kowtow” said my UMNO inner circle connection when I told him what the present finance minister told an ISEAS seminar in 2008.

Now Tun (and his anti-PAP fans here) has had to swallow sperm what with

The proposed high-speed rail (HSR) project connecting Malaysia’s capital city to Singapore has not been cancelled but merely postponed, Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, softening his earlier intention to scrap the deal entirely.

In an interview with Japanese media published in the Asian Nikkei Review on Monday night (June 11), Dr Mahathir explained that the project was put on the backburner because of its exorbitant cost of RM110 billion (S$37 billion).

https://www.todayonline.com/world/kl-singapore-hsr-project-postponed-not-scrapped-says-dr-mahathir

And

Mr Khaw’s Malaysian counterpart Anthony Loke said on Tuesday a negotiating party consisting of the Finance, Economics Affairs, and Transport ministers will make a trip across the Causeway to iron out a deal concerning the HSR.

“As it was announced last week, we will still negotiate with Singapore. We, the Finance, Economic, and Transport ministers will go to Singapore and negotiate this deal,” Mr Loke said.

As it is alleged by UMNO (Or so I’m told) that DAP leaders have to burn incense before this graven image daily, our ministers sure have to pang chance.

 

Must be cheap skate cybernuts visting Johor

Diagram shows that M’sia is even worse than Vietnam in not fleecing tourists: must all those freeloading TRE, TOC readers and other cheap skates taking adv of weak ringgit. Tun will not be happy. 

Waz the point of Social Service Office and Comcare?

When “Got CPF income” is the excuse for the PAP govt not helping a man in need?

“Got CPF income,” man told: so no help from Social Service Office or ComCare.

So CPF money is not yr money, isit? Going by this, how can the PAP govt dare say “CPF money is your money”?  Govt money isit?

 

Whether he gets aid or not from ComCare or the Social Welfare Office, should not depend on his monthly CPF payout because this payout is from his own savings, doled out to him in drips and drabs, instead of being returned the full saved sum to him, as was once promised, a long time ago. It cannot be considered income. 

Damage control at work but BS missing the point

MSF posted the following on FB on Saturday afternoon. Wah civil servants that hard-working meh?. Feel free to skip the BS and read my take.

Hi everyone

You may have come across a post recently about a ComCare applicant who did not qualify for ComCare Long Term Assistance (LTA).

We would like to share more about the case and our LTA scheme.

The applicant, Mr T, was referred to the Social Service Office (SSO) at Toa Payoh for assistance in Feb 2018.

The SSO assessed Mr T’s needs. To determine how much further assistance he required, the SSO considered his sources of income, money received and support provided by family, friends and the community.

Mr T has been receiving the following support:

1. The monthly rent for his HDB 2-room rental flat of $50 a month (shared by him and 2 other tenants), as well as conservancy fees, are paid for by a Buddhist Temple.

2. Mr T’s weekly kidney dialysis charges are fully covered by National Kidney Foundation (NKF).

3. His taxi trips to the dialysis centre are fully subsidised by an NKF taxi card.

4. The SSO is working with NKF to assess whether he needs more support when he travels to and from his dialysis appointments.

5. He receives full subsidy for his medical treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

6. TOUCH Home Care provides him 2 daily meals, under MOH’s programme, which are delivered to his home every day.

7. The Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) provides Mr T with monthly food rations.

8. Mr T receives monthly payouts of $620 a month from his CPF Retirement Account, which is sufficient for around 3 years.

9. He receives an additional $550 a month from a close friend who lives overseas.

10. From Feb to Apr 2018, the Toa Payoh Central Grassroots Organisations also provided Mr T with financial assistance, and visited Mr T.

Based on his daily expenses, monies received, and the community support provided, the SSO assessed that Mr T did not currently require ComCare LTA. However, the SSO will reassess his needs if circumstances change, and work with agencies and community partners to support him.

ComCare LTA provides long-term support to those who are unable to work due to old age, illness or disability, have limited or no means of income, and have little or no family support. As part of our ComCare assessment, we take into consideration the needs of the individual or household, as well as monies received and overall support rendered by the Government, the community, family and friends to the applicant. This reflects our partnership approach that involves the community and families

Members of the public who know of someone in need can call the ComCare hotline at 1800-222-0000 or approach the nearest MSF SSO (www.msf.gov.sg/ssolocator) or Family Service Centre (www.msf.gov.sg/fsclocator) for help.

He gets help from MOH, hospital and NGOs. Bugger all from ComCare or Social Service Office. So waz the point of these? Ownself create work for ownself so that Ownself pay ownself isit?

Why liddat?

Whatever, the explanation doesn’t answer why “Ownself money” makes one ineligible for financial assistance from Social Service Office or ComCare.

Related post: CPF Life: How withdrawal age “moved” to 70/ Silence of the activists

PAP definition of Middle Class?

An older managing director at a large bank complained of the struggles of the middle class. When I asked him to define “middle class,” he spoke of people like him, earning between two and four million dollars a year. Young analysts told me they were being priced out of Brooklyn, much less Manhattan, by rising hedge-fund plutocrats and their ilk.

New York based writer

Somehow, I tot of the PAP’s reasoning for the need to pay ex-SAF generals and ex-civil servants millions when they become ministers.

For some reason I tot about the PAP’s changing definition of affordability for HDB flats. Once upon a time it took only up to 10 yrs (Correct me if I’m wrong) to pay off the mortgage, now

The maximum loan repayment period is 30 years *. The maximum loan repayment period for HDB loans is 65 years minus buyer’s age or 30 years, whichever is shorter. The maximum loan repayment period for loans taken through financial institutions is 35 years.

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/eSvc/Web/Schemes/FirstHome/Assumptions

Sad.

Note: Text after quote changedtwo hrs after publication. Sorry, “Writer’s block”.

 

 

HoHoHo: Another great Temasek investment?

When Hainan Airlines, HNA’s flagship carrier and HNA’s main cash generator, earlier this week, said it would sell up to 20% of its Shanghai listed shares to 10 investors among whom was one Temasek Holdings, cybernuts were screaming “Sure to lose money”.

Well they might like to know that China is leaning hard on its banks to support troubled HNA’s refinancing activities.

A person familiar with HNA’s investment in Deutsche Bank said the German lender saw the call to support the bond issue as positive. “It’s not a bailout but support in financing, absolutely different to Anbang.”

FT

So a stake in HNA’s crown jewels, Hainan Airlines, sounds a good deal.

Whatever, with enemies like Phillip Ang (cybernuts go-to person for financial advice and analysis on our SWFs) and Uncle Leong, the PAP govt doesn’t need friends like Fabrications About the PAP or Calvin Cheng. Sad.

Einstein didn’t like us yellow slit-eyes

According to a piece in the Guardian about the diaries, he describes Chinese children as “spiritless and obtuse”, and calls it “a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races”.

In other entries he calls China “a peculiar herd-like nation,” and “more like automatons than people”, before claiming there is “little difference” between Chinese men and women, and questioning how the men are “incapable of defending themselves” from female “fatal attraction”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44472277

But “Chinese defend Einstein’s portrait of their people as ‘filthy’ and ‘obtuse'”: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/chinese-defend-einsteins-diaries-filthy-obtuse

Will people like Mr Ang and his family ever vote for Oppo?

Further to S’poreans unhappy enough to make mad Dog PM?

where I reported this survey which says

Singaporeans are less satisfied with their overall quality of life and democratic rights compared with previous years, according to a survey conducted by two National University of Singapore (NUS) dons.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singaporeans-less-satisfied-quality-life-democratic-rights-nus-survey-130122483.html

there’s

As far as Mr Ang Hong King, 72, is concerned, his three-room flat which he bought for S$6,000 in 1970, has served its purpose — providing a roof over his family’s head for almost five decades and counting.

The semi-retired driver and his wife raised their three daughters in the unit at Block 65 Circuit Road. Their children have since moved out, and gotten flats of their own.

Having no plans to move out, Mr Ang shrugged off the prospect of his flat — which is worth about S$250,000 now — losing its value in the future. “Price drop also never mind,” he said.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-no-easy-answers-hdb-lease-decay-issue-public-expectations-have-change-first

Somehow I doubt it. So long as Mad Dog and his fellow nutters refuse to accept that there’s a big group of voters out there contented (Note I didn’t say “happy”) with the PAP, S’pore will continue to be a one-party state where the voters are happy every few yrs to renew the status quo of a one-party state.

Once Mad Dog and friends accept this reality, they can think of ways to destroy this contentment. More soon on possibles tactics. But if they continue thinking that 60-70% of S’poreans are stupid, then they can continue howling at the moon and banging their balls.

 

 

 

More evidence PAP talking cock on minimum wages

The mounting evidence that minimum wages do not seem to reduce employment

One of these is a study by economists Doruk Cengiz, Arindrajit Dube, Attila Lindner and Ben Zipperer, which looked at state-level evidence and found no negative effect of mandated pay increases on employment. They found that minimum wage hikes tend to decrease the number of jobs just below the new cutoff, but increase the number above the line — implying that the wage hike isn’t killing jobs, but simply giving people raises.

Now, Kevin Rinz and John Voorheis, a pair of researchers from the U.S. Census Bureau, have an even more comprehensive study with even more detailed evidence. Looking at data on individual earners from 1991 through 2013 — a very long time period — the authors take careful account of factors like mobility and transitions into and out of the labor force. They find that minimum-wage increases tend to raise incomes for people at the bottom of the distribution, and that the effect doesn’t fade with time. Meanwhile, they find that the probability of people losing their income entirely — i.e., unemployment or dropping out of the labor force — isn’t significantly affected by minimum-wage increases.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-05/supply-and-demand-does-a-poor-job-of-explaining-depressed-wages

Interesting the writer Noah Smith says we should change our standard model of the labour market. Employer market power seems to be the rule, not the exception.

Well in S’pore where employers have have their fill of FTs (They KPKB that govt doesn’t give them the right to bring in more) and you can see why productivity is so bad.

M’sia: Bit rich coming from Daim?

The following remarks, by Tun’s right-hand man, had Tun’s anti-PAP fans here wetting their pants and comparing our GLCs and govt unfavourably with that of M’sia

“They don’t understand that they are put there in a position of trust,” Mr Daim said at his office. “And you have to make sure every single cent you spend is spent properly. There should be no abuse and you must account for every single cent.”

(Diam talking of M’sian GLC officials)

And

Mr Daim’s answer to the country’s fiscal problems is to clean up corruption, prevent leakages in state spending and ensure no political appointees in government-linked companies. He is proposing an open tender system for state procurement and informing “political personalities” he’d welcome those who decide to step down.

https://www.todayonline.com/world/mini-1mdbs-rife-across-malaysia-pm-mahathirs-top-adviser-says

The same remarks had people of my generation (and older) in KL sniggering.

When I was what today would be called a M’sian equities specialist (I was flogging and arbitraging M’sian shares in the 80s and 90s), Daim was M’sia’s finance minister for a lot of the time. He had a reputation of not being able to separate the personal and official, something FT reminded readers recently.

Whatever, I know Anwar KPKBed (when he was finance minister) that Diam was very greedy in his demands for goodies and getting upset at not getting them.

And our cynernuts are treating his words as the gospel truth?

M’sia to profit from Mrs Najib’s handbags?

200+ handbags were reported seized.

If they are mostly Birkins, M’sia could make a profit

A second-hand Hermes Birkin bag has sold for £162,500 ($217,144) in London, a new European record for the most expensive handbag sold at auction.

The 2008 Himalaya Birkin, with an 18-carat white gold diamond encrusted lock, exceeded its list price of £100,000 – £150,000 on Tuesday.

The record for a bag sold at auction – also a Hermes Birkin – is £253,700 ($380,000), set in Hong Kong in 2017.

It is the “undisputed most valuable bag in the world,” Christie’s said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44463624

Assuming 200 Birkins were seized and each is worth an average of US$180,000, then M’sia makes US$36m from selling them, and reduces the M$1 trillion debt by a little.

Related posts:

Poor Najib, not believed when telling the truth

What TOC didn’t tell us why Harry met Najib’s wife

 

 

Amg moh always tua kee

The recent summit meeting showed the usual deference shown to ang mohs but not other races.

There was a news report that Kim’s look-a-like (a Hongkie) complained that he was detained briefly for questioning by immigration officials, while Trump’s look-alike didn’t have such problems.

Wonder if Kim’s Air China faced problems that Trump’s Air Force One didn’t?

FTs at work, not juz beating up locals & stealing their lunches

What TOC, TRE and other anti-PAP sites, and even mothership don’t tell S’poreans about the great things FTs are doing here:

In a recent ranking of the most cited artificial intelligence research papers, which was studded with the likes of MIT and Google, a perhaps surprising name stood out: Nanyang Technological University. In fact, the Singapore university ranked second in the top ten only to Microsoft.

https://www.ft.com/content/4fb6269c-696b-11e8-8cf3-0c230fa67aec

Morocco Mole, Secret Squirrel’s sidekick, tells me that I highlighted what makes NTU great in AI in NTU’s global first in AI. And that these researchers are all FTs, though Secret Squirrel says there’s a true blue S’porean among the lot, but he’s not sure.

More of these FTs please.

 

CPF Life: How withdrawal age “moved” to 70/ Silence of the activists

I was going to explain how the dastardly deed was done but when TRE republished

Red alert! Achtung! S’poreans approaching 65, a TRE reader gave the answer, saving me the need to explain.

Lye Khuen Way:

June 11, 2018 at 7:50 am  (Quote)

The CPF Board do send out letters to those approaching their cohort drawdown age.
For those borned in 1953, it’s their 64th Birthdays.

There after, I believe it is 65.

The sly way they put it, is to suggest that you could delay your drawdown and receive more per month.

That applies to both Minimum Sum Scheme or those who opted for CPF Life.

Those who instinctively do not want any delay might just chuck the letter and the forms aside.

That’s where the devils come in.
Tuck away in the middle of the FORM, is a line that tell you that if you didn’t indicate that you want to start your drawdown from age 64,or 65,the DEFAULT AGE is 70.

Yes, Age 70.

I happen to opt for the CPF Life and somehow my enhanced topup application had already stated I wanted my draw down to start from age 64.

If unsure, call, write or better still go down personally to any of the CPF offices. Note that the Main CPF Board office is closed on Saturdays.

(Emphasis)

In places like the UK, or US of A or Europe, this kind of action

Tuck away in the middle of the FORM, is a line that tell you that if you didn’t indicate that you want to start your drawdown from age 64,or 65,the DEFAULT AGE is 70.

is not acceptable. It’s not Christian, kosher or halal. It’s politically toxic, playing games this way.

Civil rights activists would be KPKBing and rightly so.

Here it’s par for the course.

Worse our ang moh tua kees don’t care. They don’t have to rely on CPF Life payouts. People like Kirsten Han got pa’s and ma’s money just like Harry’s children.

And juz as bad is the silence of the Oppo politicians. Nothing from the Wankers’ Party or from Goh Meng Seng (Silence of Goh Meng Seng) or Lim Tean (Where’s yr defamation video and jobs rally Lim Tean?) the two talk, sing song artistes.

All so rich. It’s a fact that Lim Tean rents a black and white bungalow costing $15,000 a month.

Kim came on a Boeing 747

And it’s owned by China.

According to air traffic experts, the paper says, the Air China Boeing 747 carrying Mr Kim took off using a standard flight number – indicating it was heading to Beijing – before changing its call sign and route once airborne.

BBC report of Daily Mail story.

Looks like his personal jet is not fit for the short journey here.

US tua kee in aviation.

Btw, as he’s leaving five hrs after the Summit shows that Air China is charging him by the hour.

Ex ST tua kee’s delusions of respect

Wannabe be Sith Lord who left the Dark Side in a huff when she didn’t become ST editor KPKBed that ministers didn’t give two ST columnists (her buddies) no respect, and implied that this showed that they also had no respect for the mob, us plebs:

If respected MSM columnists who are not unknown to G get this kind of opaque and befuddling response (in Ms Fu’s case) or a blistering lecture (in Mr Heng’s case), what more lesser mortals?

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/comment-theres-no-humility-respect-082844791.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb

A FB post says it all by giving her and her buddies the finger

Ever tot, they have no respect for any local MSM columnist? LOL Re “If respected MSM columnists …”. They rightly treat local MSM journalists and columnists as running dogs or dog poo? 🤣

Adrian Tan

I think he got it about right. Why should ministers and civil servants have any respect for their well paid “running dogs”, propagandists who prostitute themselves day in day out for thirty pieces of silver? I don’t, and neither do many other ordinary S’poreans (many of whom are regular PAP voters). And ministers and civil servants shouldn’t either.

Ms Bertha Henson is deluded if she thinks local MSM journalists, columnists and editors are respected.

As my RI-standard mongrel says, “It’s an insult to us dogs calling them ‘dogs’. Dogs remain loyal to their masters, thru thick and thin.These are prostitutes, Judases, jackals or hyenas.”

To avoid any doubt, I’m not making any comment on the quality of the analysis written by the two running dogs columnists: I’ve not read the pieces. One of the joys of new media is that I can read really gd analysis about the situation here without having to read our constructive, nation-building columnists or analysts.

Sure, I may miss something interesting and insightful, but it’s not worth the wallowing in the BS to find these nuggets of gold.

And another thing: having sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver, how do I know that they have not prostituted (ie being intellectually dishonest) themselves as usual with these “new” views? Views that go against the grain of what they’ve written before, as friends who read their stuff tell me. That they still work for ST shows that at heart they are “running dogs” of the PAP govt.

Btw, Jeff Pang disagrees that the columnists and other MSM people should not be respected but with a friend like him (he admits that they are usually cowed into silence), they don’t need enemies:

MSM hardly speaks out against the government, understandably so. However, whenever they do, instead of understanding, they get unhelpful and offensive labeling like this.

I know what I’d do with a pet dog that bites me it feels like doing so without provocation: I put the dog down. That these two columnists have yet to be sacked, indicates that it’s all a “wayang”. They are juz acting a part.

 

 

M’sian economy: a safe haven in emerging mkts storm

Tun should chill out on his fears for the M’sian economy. His fiance minister and Najib  are right about how gd the economy is: Either Tun or his Cina finance minister is wrong: OK, OK vis-a-vis other emerging mkts.

Remember the Taper Tantrum of 2013? Back then, the talk was of the Fragile Five (sometimes known as the BIITS): Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa:  these large emerging markets had large current account deficits.

Well the tantrum is back with India, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and the Philippines recently raising their official interest rates but despite Tun’s KPKBing M’sia is in great shape. True getting rid of GST is not a great idea but with oil in the US$70s , there’s room for compacency: Mahathirnomics/ Luck of the devil.

Juz tell that to the foreigners selling M’sian equities.

TOC saying vote PAP?

I kid u not, Terry’s Online Channel has a gd word for the PAP govt and one of its flagship programmes.

This is what TOC wrote

S$1 million will easily cover the cost of most new and resale HDB flats in Singapore. The median price of HDB resale flats in every neighborhood is below S$1,000,000, so prospective homebuyers could afford a comfortable residence in even the most expensive areas of Singapore.

For example, the median resale price of a 4-room HDB even in Central was S$850,000 in the early months of 2018.

And

S$1 Million is Not Enough to Afford Most Homes in Many Major International Cities

Both quotes from https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2018/06/09/what-kind-of-home-would-s1-million-buy-in-major-cities-around-the-world/

Is TOC getting paid to say nice things about the PAP govt? One of TOC’s grouses is that mothership gets sponsorship from GLCs. So has TOC saold its soul too?

Btw, the writer is the only numerate person in TOC’s stable of writers and editors.

 

Our London ambassador on why Reformasi here is for the deluded

I’ve quoted a few letters from our London ambassador to the Economist showing that in return for a cushy, well, paid job, the lady has to shallow some sperm now and then.

But the latest letter got it about right in terms of the PAP’s dominance of S’pore politics. And it’s funny too:

Politics in Singapore

Your Banyan columnist (May 26th) notes that “voting is clean” in Singapore. Furthermore, that the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has won 14 general elections since 1959 because it runs “the country competently”. I thank Banyan for the compliment. After all, how many former British colonies are there where voting has always been clean and their governments consistently competent?

But Banyan insists there is more to the PAP’s longevity: a “favourable electoral system” and a cowed electorate, among other things. The PAP won 70% of the popular vote in the last general election. Could a “favourable electoral system” have delivered that? Your correspondents have been stationed in Singapore for decades. Did Singaporeans strike them as a people easily brainwashed into believing that the PAP and Singapore are “synonymous”?

Singaporeans are well-travelled, well informed and some even read The Economist. They continue to vote for the PAP because it continues to deliver them good government, stability and progress. The PAP has never taken this support for granted. As Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister, noted recently, the political system is contestable. We have kept it so. The PAP could well lose power, and would deserve to do so if it ever became incompetent and corrupt.

FOO CHI HSIA
High commissioner for Singapore
London

So Tun and the S’poreans who think the sun shines from his ass can keep on wanking:

A Financial Times story today said – Mr Mahathir, who always enjoyed needling neighbouring Singapore and its long-ruling People’s Action Party, said the electoral earthquake would reverberate across the narrow Straits of Johor.

Mahathir told the Financial Times, “I think the people of Singapore, like the people of Malaysia, must be tired of having the same government, the same party, since independence.”

Related post: M’sia/ S’pore: Academic nuttier than cybernuts

 

Productivity: Err maybe PAP not to blame?

And there are free lunches available: not juz for our Hali and millionaire ministers.

Cyberspace is full of complaints (self included)  that PAP’s FT is responsible for the low producitivity of the labour force.

But maybe we all wrong

One of the big thinkers on the economics of technology tells us why its impact is not being properly measured in GDP figures. Erik Brynjolfsson was co-author of the Second Machine Age, the book which really kickstarted the debate about the impact of automation and is director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy.

He says the problem is that official data does not capture the value of services like Facebook or Wikipedia which are essentially free. He points out that in the early 1980s, information services accounted for 4.6% of US GDP – and the figure is exactly the same today, despite the huge advances in the technology sector.

Prof Brynjolfsson and his team set out to prove that value was being created by services like Facebook by asking people how much they would have to pay them to give them up for a month. The average answer was $42 (£31).

Why does this matter? “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” he says. If we had some way of working out what technological advances had done to our economy, then we might understand that the last 10 years had not been as bad as we thought for our incomes.

“We haven’t got richer in terms of dollars or pounds or euros. But we have access to all the world’s information through Wikipedia, we can connect with friends and family – these are unpriced goods.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44168096

So there are free lunches available for the taking.

Whatever, money is not the measure of all things: another Hard Truth demolished.

 

 

Red alert! Achtung! S’poreans approaching 65

Responding to this Why CPF annuity will begin at 75 fat cat investor and ex-medical doctor “abc” said that

In case you didn’t know, the DEFAULT CPF Life payout age is now 70.

This is in the event you don’t get back to CPF before your 65th birthday.

I think this policy started (silently) in 2017.

I asked a financial planner if this assertion was right, and he said after checking with a colleague, “Yes”.

So if u want yr CPF Life payments to start at 65, tell CPF. Otherwise have to wait until 70: which will soon morph into 75 as I predicted.

As, I’m on the minimum sum and I’ll be checking to see if I have to give notice that I want my money from 65 onwards. Until I give CPF details of bank account where the money is to be paid into, I know the money will be rolled over but now I want to know if I don’t give them bank account details before I’m 65, will the payments start only when I’m 70.

Not at it really matters, I’ve not withdrawn any of my CPF monies.

Btw, anyone knows what happens if someone “opts” for payment to begin at 70, but dies between 65-70: will the estate lose “everything” i.e. the amountrs not paid out? If so better start receiving money at 65.

Anwar off to make a fortune

Anwar has said he’ll spend the next two yrs going round the world, giving lectures on freedom and reform. What he hasn’t added, is that he’ll make a fortune doing so, especially if as expected he gets the Washington Speakers Bureau to represent him.

No this is not part of the CIA, but a business, based in Washington DC, that arranges for ex-politicans etc to get paid for public performances lectures.

The FT reported in Nov 2016 that the George Osborne, the UK chancellor fired less than 6 months earlier had earned £320,000 from lecturing in the US.  He earned more than £140,000 for two speeches at JPMorgan. The Washington Speakers Bureau was his agent. The Clintons too are clients, I think. She too earned big bucks talking to banks’ staff and clients.

Seriously do find the time to read this:http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148930/anwar-ibrahim-qa-malaysian-democracy-icon-prison-dissent-and

Ex-ST journalists interviewed him.

Will Tun take up PRC offer that Najib declined?

Because Nabib is a pal of our PM.

Sometime back when China was upset that Ah Loong was carrying Trump’s balls and not Xi’s, there was a report that China offered its AR3 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) with accompanying radar to M’sia to be positioned specifically in Johor. It was a great deal for M’sia: low-interest payment of up to 50 years.

Najib as a friend of S’pore declined the deal.

So will Tun’s next move against S’pore (he juz called off a proposed equities trading link) be calling Xi to take up the offer?

Whatever, this deal will have Terry’s Online Channel’s writers and readers sticking their tongues further up Tun’s ass to reach the source of light that they think shines from his ass. They’d love the idea of Tun having surface to surface missiles able to blow up Changi Airport, the port and the CBD. They see him as a friend to suck up to because he like them hates the PAP. They even do this sucking up despite Tun disliking S’pore, not juz hating the PAP: the enemy of my enemy is my friend say these TOC cybernuts.

With enemies like TOC, the PAP needn’t fear losing power.

Related posts

— Tun will not be happy

— Tun following Xi?

 

 

Ang moh tua kee even in Africa

“A person would rather buy second-hand from America, instead of buying a new Chinese product,” says Nelson Mandela, a Ugandan trader

Economist

As usual Chinese sua kee.

Will we ever get letter cancelling HSR?

Not if the DAP ministers get their way.

Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole (my ISD contacts) tell me that that their pal Sang Kancil in the M;sian Special Branch tells them, there’s an unreported cabinet row in KL.

Tun it seems wants the Transport Minister to send a letter saying. “HSR is hereby cancelled. Sue M’sia, punk and make Tun Mahathir’s day. He’ll lease the Middle Rocks to China for free on condition they expand and militarise* it.”

Seriously, the DAP’s finance minister and transport ministers want to send a nuanced letter than Tun’s cancellation is “final” letter. After all, Malaysia’s new Transport Minister Anthony Loke had told Channel Newsasia that the project is “subject to review” if the country is in a better fiscal position later on: Still waiting for letter cancelling HSR.

The two DAP** ministers want to send a letter saying M’sia wants to have talks on a review of the project with a view to revising the costs and timetable. They hope that lower costs means S’pore will be amendable to a delay in the start date, and not ask for compensation. After all, M’sia was the one pushing for quick completion. Najib wanted it build by 2016, when he first suggested it in 2010, I think. S’pore took it’s time deciding and cybernuts in TOC, TRE, The Idiots etc were KPKBing that we should take up the offer: anything the PAP govt opposes, they support.

The other cabinet ministers and Anwar are sitting back, eating peanuts and enjoying the row.

Well if we don’t get a letter soon, the 60- 70%  who vote PAP will think Tun is as big a talk cock, sing song artiste as Lim Tean  (Where’s yr defamation video and jobs rally Lim Tean?) and Goh Meng Seng (Meng Seng doesn’t know his Chinese history), even though Tun was the straw that tilted the election result to the Hope League, and he has just stared down the king over the cabinet choice of a snake an Indian Christian as AG.

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*Tun following Xi?

**Remember that Lim Guan Eng and his pa came to brief our Harry when the DAP won Penang in 2008. More like “kowtow” said my UMNO inner circle connection when I told him what the present finance minister told an ISEAS seminar in 2008.

 

 

 

 

Today

A gd word for Duterte

The many controversies of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency have overshadowed his considerable achievement in reducing smoking rates. No he didn’t it by shooting smokers aka like drug users and dealers. He strengthened an existing law. In May 2017, he passed an executive order banning smoking in public, imposing a maximum penalty of a four-month jail term and a 5,000-peso ($95) fine: the S’pore way sort off.

Taxes on tobacco are also shooting thru the roof.

Tun and Trump: Talk cock, break things

Looks like Najib was faking it when he hinted he and Trump were bros. Tun and Trump are the real bros deal.

For starters, they both remind me of this quote by another POTUS

Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”

Lyndon B. Johnson

For another this is what Augustine Low wrote on TRE

Dr Mahathir has a fundamental strategy not unlike that of the one that has served President Donald Trump very well. He keeps saying he wants to Restore Malaysia’s Glory (Trump’s motto is Make America Great Again). Dr Mahathir is moving at breakneck speed, racing against time to do what he tells Malaysians is necessary to bring back the glory days. What he says is gold and he has the backing of his countrymen and women because he is seen as a saviour who can do no wrong – at least for now.

Tun has the same communication strategy as Trump: Talk cock, Move fast, Break things,

Full piece

The risks of letting Mahathir be Mahathir in the age of social media

When Dr Mahathir Mohamad was last the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Lee Hsien Loong was not yet Prime Minister of Singapore, and social media was not yet the phenomenon it is today.

But it seems that the Singapore government is treating Dr Mahathir the way it did some 20 years ago: Let Mahathir be Mahathir, let him say and do what he wants, we’ll keep mum and we’ll only cross that bridge when we come to it.

With the social media, everything that Dr Mahathir says becomes instantaneously widespread. His remarks that “the people of Singapore, like the people of Malaysia, must be tired of having the same government, the same party since independence,” immediately became the talk of the town. Thanks to the fact that it was all over the Internet and social media applications such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp in double quick time.

Singapore’s mainstream media did not even touch on those remarks. Because Singaporeans are not supposed to know? Because they would be deemed offensive by the government? Needless to say, such censorship does not hold sway anymore.

The government has always been quick to rebut criticism and unseemly comments, especially those seen as meddling in internal affairs. But it has kept mum about Mahathir’s provocative remarks about Singaporeans being “tired of having the same government” and about plans to build an island near Pedra Branca.

Dr Mahathir has tested the waters and sent out signals that he going to be combative, especially the way he called off the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail project – unilaterally, without even an official word to the Singapore government, displaying trademark nonchalance and disdain.

Dr Mahathir has a fundamental strategy not unlike that of the one that has served President Donald Trump very well. He keeps saying he wants to Restore Malaysia’s Glory (Trump’s motto is Make America Great Again). Dr Mahathir is moving at breakneck speed, racing against time to do what he tells Malaysians is necessary to bring back the glory days. What he says is gold and he has the backing of his countrymen and women because he is seen as a saviour who can do no wrong – at least for now.

Singapore’s strategy of letting things simmer down and take its course may no longer be relevant because the 92-year-old is a man in a hurry and the 24-hour news and social media cycle suits him just fine.

Clearly, the government is still trying to grapple with how to manage relations with Dr Mahathir. The strategy of two decades ago must be reworked.

Beyond showing their mettle and resolve, Singapore’s leaders also need to raise their game when it comes to agility and speed of response and communication.

Augustine Low

* The author is a proud but concerned citizen. Voicing independent, unplugged opinion is his contribution to citizen engagement.

Tun will not be happy

I’m sure M’sia’s defence minister will be forced to deny this this Mindef statement as fake news.

Singapore and Malaysia affirmed warm and long-standing defence relations, as the countries’ defence ministers met on Sunday (Jun 3), a press release from Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said.

Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and newly-appointed Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu met on the sidelines of the 17th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), in their first official meeting.

The ministers noted the good progress made in bilateral defence relations, such as the recent conduct of a new bilateral exercise between the two Air Forces.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-malaysia-agree-to-strengthen-bilateral-defence-10345038

S’poreans unhappy enough to make Mad Dog PM?

And Lim Tean (Where’s yr defamation video and jobs rally Lim Tean?) and Meng Seng, our very own Wu Sangui (Silence of Goh Meng Seng), ministers?

In The real reason why Reformasi won’t happen here, I pointed out that whatever the KPKBing S’poreans were not really that unhappy, and in  Why Reformasi won’t happen here, that maybe

Maybe they really don’t oppose the PAP? They juz make some noise, hoping the PAP will throw them some goodies? Bit like my dogs barking or whining to get my attention.

Now after Tun’s comments to the FT that

I think the people of Singapore, like the people in Malaysia, must be tired of having the same government, the same party since independence.

got the cybernuts who think the sun shines from Tun’s ass (Anti-PAP S’poreans sucking up to Tun) happy

there’s this survey which says

Singaporeans are less satisfied with their overall quality of life and democratic rights compared with previous years, according to a survey conducted by two National University of Singapore (NUS) dons.

The findings were unveiled on Thursday (31 May) at NUS’ Shaw Foundation Alumni House as part of a book launch for “Happiness, Wellbeing and Society – What matters for Singaporeans” by its Business School associate professors Siok Kuan Tambyah and Tan Soo Jiuan.

The survey found that Singaporeans, on average, were the least satisfied with their overall quality of life at a personal level in 2016, compared with the surveys in previous years.

Out of 15 choices, they were least satisfied with their household income followed by studies (for students), level of education attained, jobs (for working adults) and the standard of living.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singaporeans-less-satisfied-quality-life-democratic-rights-nus-survey-130122483.html

So do you think that the survey shows that Reformasi is coming at the next GE because S’poreans are that unhappy? I think not.

Btw, I think Siok Kuan Tambyah is the wife of Mad Dog’s Doctor-in-Chief, who has been doing a decent job keeping Mad Dog sane, though this recent outburst is worrying http://yoursdp.org/news/careshield_stop_making_public_healthcare_a_profit_making_business/2018-06-01-6245*.

Dr  Paul Anantharajah Tambyah’s wife is an associate professor in NUS Biz School. Strange if there are two lady Tambyahs in the same faculty. But then there were once two Indian Syrian Othordox Christians in the AG”s Chambers. They are a really tiny Indian minority here.

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Countering SDP’s views on Eldershield

*Here’s a good FB analysis from a pro PAP lawyer who is a fair-minded person

The SDP article claims that “government is making a handsome profit from ElderShield.”

An outright LIE.

ElderShield cover is provided by 3 private insurers, namely Aviva Limited, The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited and NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited. An insured is assigned to one of these 3 carriers randomly.

Hence, when SDP claims the G is making a large profit, there is no truth in this assertion.

In addition, the underwriting profit from ElderShield does not equate to premiums collected to date, less claims – i.e. no-one, not the insurance carriers, makes a 96% profit from ElderShield. The SDP claim is pure balderdash. This is because ElderShield is a disability scheme and insureds are likely to pay more in premiums upfront, and are more likely to receive payout when the insured cohorts get older.

Minister Gan explained all this in response to a question from Dr Daniel Goh of the Workers’ Party last February – see here https://www.moh.gov.sg/…/Parliamentar…/2017/ElderShield.html

In other words, in order to ascertain the underwriting profit, reserves for future claims have to be deducted. SDP’s calculation makes ZERO attempt to do this and is actuarial nonsense.

Quite shamefully false (as a matter of fact) from the SDP. Outrageous!

 

Fate of S’porean dating Initial Coin Offering

A report in the FT over the weekend that an ICO has raised US$4bn reminded me of this recent BBC report about a S’pore-based ICO

Violet Lim wants to get rich by marrying together internet dating and the latest investment craze.

“Our ICO is about love on the blockchain,” the founder of Viola.ai exclaims.

“You can use it to get curated matches, to buy flowers, to book restaurants or even get dating and relationship advice.”

ICOs – or initial coin offerings to give them their full name – are a way to raise funds by creating a new form of money from thin air.

Singapore-based Violet has been involved in the internet dating industry for years.

But she believes an ICO presents a way to raise $17m (£12.6m) from investors, who will get tokens to use in their dating activities.

Why, I want to know, do you need a token to buy flowers for your loved one and why does the service have to be on this magical blockchain which apparently solves every problem?

“We are trying to solve a very important problem in our industry, which is the lack of trust,” she replies.

And she explains that by entering people’s details on an immutable blockchain, Viola will be able to deal with “love scammers” who hide their true identity.

But her enthusiasm gives way to a degree of despondency soon after, when Google bans crypto-currency and ICO ads on the very day Viola’s public sale gets started.

“[It’s been] a very bad first day followed by a very bad first week,” a more muted Violet tells me.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44038181

It got a lot worse. The BBC asked finance blogger and former banker Frances Coppola to look at the S’porean’s ICO, and she was not impressed.

Of Viola she asked: “What’s the point?”

And she was not convinced by Violet Lim’s assertion that the blockchain would make dating more secure

“Why on earth would I want my entire dating history up on a public blockchain where everyone could see it?”

Well she wasn’t the only sceptic

As for dating-on-the-blockchain Viola, its founder and her team have decided to “pause” the sale and are monitoring market conditions to see when will be a good time to restart.

Another BS scheme bites the dust. There goes Violet’s and her team’s 5Cs ambitions, assuming she’s not a rich, clueless kid, playing with pa’s money.

 

Still waiting for letter cancelling HSR

It’s insulting to Tun to compare him with Lim tean because unlike Lim Tean, Tun is a man of many accomplishments, unlike Lim Tean who only knows how to to talk cock, sing song, and help the PAP by forming yet another new party “People’s Voice”*

But it looks like Tun is talking cock, singing song when it comes to HSR.

As of Friday evening, S’pore was still waiting for official confirmation that M’sia wants to cancel the HSR project, despite Tun saying that M’sia has cancelled the project. It’s been almost a week since he said that.

================

Related posts:

—  Anti-PAP S’poreans sucking up to Tun

— Either Tun or his Cina finance minister is wrong

=============================

Meanwhile S’poreans are still waiting for Lim Tean’s jobs rally and defamation video promised for last September, then last November and for which he raised money from the public: Where’s yr defamation video and jobs rally Lim Tean?

Whatever, with enemies like these, the PAP doesn’t need friends.

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*The name “People’s Voice” truly reflects the founder’s aim of talking cock, singing song.

Guy to blame for Trump becoming POTUS

As a banker, Mr Ross opted not to force the casino developer into bankruptcy.

FT

Wilbur Ross, billionaire, and US Commerce Secretary was that banker.

Why CPF annuity will begin at 75

Trumpets pls. Sometime back I wrote Why CPF annuity will begin at 75? (Piece is reproduced below)

Well now

A tripartite workgroup will be set up to relook the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates for older workers and study the “relevance of retirement and re-employment age”, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo announced on Monday (May 28).

Speaking at the Ministry of Manpower’s annual workplan seminar, Mrs Teo — who took over the manpower portfolio this month — said the new Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers will also look into ensuring fair treatment of mature employees at the workplace.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/cpf-contribution-rates-older-workers-relevance-retirement-age-be-reviewed-josephine-teo

Emphasis mine

Why CPF annuity will begin at 75?

By the early 2000s the state of health of American men aged 69, as reported by themselves, was as good as that of 60-year-olds in the 1970s; 70 really does seem to be the new 60.

Economist

So if liddat can work until 75 meh?

So if the PAP wants to raise the age when we can get our CPF annuities, it can quote the BBC and the Economist, its bible of Hard Truths for intellectual support.

In 1948 the average 65-year-old could expect to live 13.5 years.

People retiring now can expect to live much longer – 22.8 years.

If the trend continues as expected, today’s young people can expect to live into their early nineties.

Imagine the amount of money you spend on a pension is a pot of jam. Either you spread it far more thinly in future over more years – meaning a lower annual pension – or you are going to need a much bigger pot.

BBC

And

The Oxford English dictionary defines “old” as “having lived for a long time”. It illustrates the sense with an accompanying phrase, “the old man lay propped up on cushions”: the old person as one who has made all the useful contributions he can possibly make to society and is now at rest. When pensions were first introduced in Prussia, in the 1880s, this was probably a fair characterisation for anyone over 65. Not many people lived beyond this age; those who did were rarely in good health. But today many 65-year-olds are healthy and active. Donald Trump (71) may be many things, but old he is not, nor for that matter is Vladimir Putin (64), who qualifies for his bus pass in October. Yet governments and employers still treat 65 as a cliff’s edge beyond which people can be regarded as “old”: inactive, and an economic burden.

This is wrong, for three reasons. First, what “old” means is relative. Life expectancy has gone through the roof since Otto von Bismarck pioneered the Prussian welfare state. Today the average 65-year-old German can expect to live another 20 years. So can most people in other rich countries, meaning old age now arguably kicks in later than before. Second, the term carries an underlying implication about health, or at least fitness. But healthy-life expectancy has grown roughly in tandem with life expectancy; for many, 70 really is the new 60. Third, surveys show that the majority of younger over-65-year-olds increasingly want to stay actively involved in their communities and economies. Few want to retire in the literal sense of the word, which implies withdrawing from society as a whole. Many want to continue working but on different terms than before, asking for more flexibility and fewer hours.

https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/07/economist-explains-7

S’pore is tops for safe, happy childhoods

Reading comments on social media and on anti-PAP websites like TOC, TRE and The Indian, our kids have unhappy childhoods: all that exam stress caused by the PAP govt’s policies. But what the cybernuts don’t tell us is that S’pore is joint tops for safe, happy childhoods. PAP must have something to do with this right?

RANK COUNTRY
1 Singapore
1 Slovenia
3 Norway
3 Sweden
5 Finland
6 Ireland
6 Netherlands
8 Iceland
8 Italy
8 South Korea

Click to access EndofChildhood_Report_2018_ENGLISH.pdf

WHAT DO THE SCORES MEAN?
End of Childhood Index scores for countries are
calculated on a scale of 1 to 1,000. Countries with
higher scores do a better job of protecting childhoods.
The scores measure the extent to which children in
each country experience “childhood enders” such as
death, chronic malnutrition, being out of school and
being forced into adult roles of work, marriage
and motherhood.

Another reason why 60-70% vote for the PAP?

Mahathirnomics/ Luck of the devil

Investors are concerned that Dr Mahathir’s government will struggle to curb debts while implementing populist campaign pledges to drop highway tolls, increase fuel subsidies and abolish the goods and services tax*, which was set to generate US$12 billion (S$16 billion) or a fifth of state revenues this year.

FT

Or as averageguysg posted on this blog

I find it interesting to see what Tun M does. Let’s look at the situation Msia is in now:

1) Supposedly 1 trillion of debt. Can’t raid the reserves.

2) At the same time, they need to raise wages, improve healthcare and poverty.

3) While mega projects can create jobs and investment, they got no money to do it.

4) Also don’t want to open legs to China, so that kind of “investment” will not be pursued.

5) Can recover a few hundred million from 1MDB, but still only tip of the iceberg.

6) Plenty of pro-BN civil servants still need jobs even if you sack them.

7) Can cut defense projects, but also this is small money and may piss China off.

8) Want to improve education system, abolish vernacular schools etc, all this takes money and the tangible benefit will only come much later.

So how**?

Tun wants to spend money on the people (Nor make them Pay And Pay) while cutting taxes, and reducing debts and deficits: sounds like Reagan’s “Vodoo economics***”

Well if oil goes to US$100 a barallel, he’ll manage this feat.

If it falls to US$30, M’sia will be really bankrupt.

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Budget assumpions on oil

In the country’s 2018 Budget, the oil price was projected to be around US$52 instead of the above US$70 per barrel now. So now government would record an additional RM5.4bn revenue from higher oil prices, Cina minister said.

—————————————————————–

If it trades within the zone of US$50- US$60, “In the hands of Allah” and Anwar might think twice about becoming PM and inheriting a poisoned chalice: Tun will have done a “Hail Mary” pass to Anwar, while smirking.

——————————————–

Petrol subsidy

The prices of RON95 petrol and diesel will be maintained at the current levels of RM2.20 and RM2.18 per litre respectively, although after June 7, the price of RON97 petrol will be floated according to market prices.

———————————

Whatever don’t underestimate Tun’s intuition (or luck?). Someone in his inner most circle who recommeded in 1998 that M’sia get an IMF loan (and who thrown out of that magic circle for that advice and other “crimes”, but now back in the circle circa 2010) told me in the noughties that Tun M got it right and people like him and other economic literate advisers got it wrong. He added that even the IMF had changed its mind on the use of capital controls: something that was haram to the IMF when Tun introduced them to M’sia.

Btw, Read this about how analysts who supported the need for GST in KL, now downplaying its importance: https://www.todayonline.com/world/economists-play-down-concerns-over-malaysias-fiscal-health-despite-governments-populist. Some things never change: the sucking up to power.

Related post: Either Tun or his Cina finance minister is wrong

—————————————————————-

*”The scrapping of a Goods and Services Tax will blow a RM$21 billion (S$7.1 billion) hole in the Malaysian government’s wallet, but the country will still be able to meet its budget deficit target for 2018, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Thursday (May 31).

The lost revenue from the tax due to be axed on Friday would be offset by rising oil-related revenues, spending cuts on non-essential projects, increased dividends from govt-linked firms and a new sales tax expected to be introduced in September, he added.”

Agencies

**Easy leh. Shake down S’pore for money. We got the cybernuts ready and willing to help Tun subvert S’pore: Anti-PAP S’poreans sucking up to Tun. With S’poreans like these nuts, we need the PAP. If Tun M is still PM when the next GE is held: “Vote PAP to protect our right to Pay And Pay”.

Fortress Middle Islands could be such a shakedown ploy: Tun following Xi?

***Vodoo economics Also called “Reaganomics,” voodoo economics is the nickname for the hallmark economic policy of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States (1981-1989), who was trying to stimulate an economy that lay stagnant after the Jimmy Carter years.

http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/economics/voodoo-economics-5170

 

Tun following Xi?

In place of the crooked bridge to upset patriotic S’poreans and please the anti-PAP fifth column*

Dr Mahathir added that his government is thinking of expanding Middle Rocks, which was awarded to Malaysia in the 2008 ICJ decision.

“On Middle Rocks we have already built structures,” he said. “It is our intention to enlarge middle rocks so that we can form a small island for us.”

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pedra-branca-icj-malaysia-discontinued-challenges-10288912

Next build an airstrip and aircraft hangers? Then install surface to air and surface to surface missiles and anti-aircraft guns?

And to compensate the Chinese for contracts, he wants cancelled, he could award the Chinese the contract to build and fortify the place. The Chinese have the experience, reference what they are doing in the South China Sea. Goh Meng Seng for one will kiss his ass because he is imitating Meng Seng’s hero Grandpa Xi.

Alternatively, Tun can use Middle Rocks to build a new Forest City.

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*”A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favour of an enemy group or nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine.” Wikipedia

Think Goh Meng Seng and his pro Chinese comments.