Disney realises Muslims got money (All those rich A-rabs) and so Marvel will have a new a superhero (Ms Marvel) in an up-coming film. Another Indo Pakistani war has started. Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood superstar already voices the character in the mobile video game Marvel: Avengers Academy. And Indian-Americans rooting for her to star in the film, but Pakistani-American say the role should go to a Pakistani-American rather than Indian.
From selling books online to publishing local literature, Epigram’s latest venture is the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop located in the URA Building at 45 Maxwell Road.
Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, with its 11-metre long bookshelf, is so laid-back and cool, you’ll feel super cool just being there.
There’s an interesting backstory to Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop.
Edmund Wee (Quiet activist looking at his bank statement and smiling and Sci-fi can help defeat the PAP?), the publisher of Epigram Books almost persuaded senior URA managers to lease him space at the URA building for a bookshop selling books published here or on S’pore at a rent he could afford i.e. below commercial rates: book shops here are struggling because of the rent.
But fear of the cybernuts’ hero (AGO’s report: “Ownself can check ownself”), the Auditor-General made them hesitate. they didn’t want the anti-PAP cybernuts accusing them of corruption and favouritism and quoting the AGO’s comments against them.
But someone from URA (Must be RI boy or MGS gal) had a brilliant idea: rent the space to an upmarket coffee shop at market rates, on condition that the coffee shop subleases part of the place to Epigram. The end result of talks between Huggs and Epigram is Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop. 
The picture in the first link shows how the books and coffee tables shared the small space. Even Queen Jos to would have problems having sex here.
Heng was reported as saying that more adversarial politics won’t be good for S’pore.
Around the same time, ST recently published a letter from a Dr. Huang Shoou Chyuan who said that opposition politicians deserve national honours too. One P Ravi (Remember him? He recently announced on FB that he let his membership of the Chiams’ Party lapse and has joined TCB’s Progress S’pore Party.) wrote on FB that he agreed and cited one Mr Chiam who deserves such an award. A TOC regular contributor (not one of Terry’s bunch of Indians based in India) also agreed with the good doctor.
Here are my tots on how Heng’s, and the letter writer’s, P Ravi’s and TOC contributor’s views are nonsense.
Effective (i.e. dangerous to the PAP) oppo leaders have been recognised and honoured by the PAP. Think JBJ and Dr Chee: they have been sued for defamation by PAP members and made bankrupt in recognition of their prowess as opponents of the PAP who needed to be “fixed” to ensure that S’pore remains a de-facto one party state: What makes America Great, and LKY unnecessary.
Even Dr Tan Cheng Bock (once a senior PAPpy) was honoured by the PAP. He was disinvited from an Istana function honouring grassroot leadsers after he nearly beat the PAP’s preferred candidate in the presidential elections. And he has never been invited back. And many S’poreans, self included, think the constitution was amended to ensure he couldn’t ever be eligible to stand as a presidential candidate.
As a poster of FB put it when commenting on Heng’s comment that more adversarial politics won’t be good for S’pore: “There is much irony in such a litigious and punitive govt saying there shouldn’t be adversarial politics.”
True Chiam wasn’t honoured in these ways but maybe they didn’t think he was that dangerous an opponent? Maybe they saw him as a “useful idiot”?
Seriously, Chiam, was given a great honour by one Harry Lee. He was one of Harry’s honorary pall-bearers. Given Harry’s status in S’pore’s official narrative (Coldstore: Why Harry’s narrative or the highway), Chiam’s honour ranks higher than the Order of Temasek.
But I suppose P Ravi would rather forget about this great honour conferred on Mr Chiam because it could be interpreted as double-confirming to cynics that the PAP thinks Chiam is their useful idiot.
The Americans were very aggressive, while the Chinese were very wishy washy, mouthing platitudes.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham members represent sectors ranging from financial services to logistics and tech) has called on the government to take immediate action to restore business confidence in HK, including a complete withdrawal of the controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.
It suggested the government restore confidence by “formally and completely” withdrawing the extradition bill “to remove any room for continued public doubt” among other measures, it said in a statement.
What I found funny was that this statement was sent following a survey of its members. Only 12% responded to the survey according to the FT yet
“A clear majority of our membership surveyed over the past week said the government needs to address the underlying causes of the protests and not simply to paper over the cracks of social instability with a short-term law-and-order fix,” said AmCham President Tara Joseph.
(BBC report)
Meanwhile, the Chinese comments were pretty mild.
“We hope that… people will stand firm in defence of the rule of law,” a spokesman for the government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said.
Adding “We call on the general public of Hong Kong to be aware of the grave nature of the current situation.”
He condemned “the evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements” in Hong Kong.
“We noticed he Hong Kong government has earnestly reflected on its inadequacies over its work on the extradition bill, and Carrie Lam said on July 1 she would change her governing style to be more open and tolerant in listening to Hong Kong people’s feedback.”
HK has seen eight consecutive weekends of protests.
I refer to Air conditioners make cities hotter, and to the fact that it’s really hot the last few weeks.
White streets in Los Angeles, California
The concrete jungle of LA gets up to 6F* hotter than the surrounding desert, with 2019 already setting records for hottest ever days, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
LA … aims to cool the city down by 3F** by 2035.
One of the city’s tactics is using a light-coloured material over one street in each of the 15 council districts, in order to test out the impact.
The material, known as “cool pavement”, reflects rather than absorbs the sun and so remains cooler than typical black roads.
However, it is more expensive and doesn’t yet meet safety standards for wider, busier streets in the city, hence the demo phase.
One “cool street” in Canoga Park measured 70F*** shortly after being laid, as opposed to 93F**** found on a nearby intersection road.
City officials also hope the cool pavements will help cool the insides of nearby buildings and lessen air pollution.
We are already using the other ways suggested in article including garden roofs, so why not try this.
*-14.44C
**-16.11C
***21.11C
****33.89C
On the face of it, the latest manufacturing data is not good news for Heng especially if as expected the PAP govt wants to call a 2019 election and wants 65% of the 65% of the popular vote: the pass mark for bragging rights that they have the people’s mandate.
Problems for the PAP govt
Economy: “Only cold spell coming, but not Winter”. But to be fair to the PAP: IMF affirms support for PAP policies.
The headwinds other than a lousy economy going into a GE:
— Another reason why ground is not sweet for the PAP.
— Why one-party rule sucks for Xi, Lee and Heng
Manufacturing output experienced its sharpest fall in three-and-a-half years in June, as trade tensions and a global slowdown continue to weigh on our very open economy: the canary in the global economy.
Figures published by the EDB on Friday showed that manufacturing output fell by 6.9% during the month year on year, marking the sector’s worst monthly performance since December 2015.
But here’s the good news for Heng: analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an even worse drop of 7.9%. The economy did better than expected.
There’s even better news for Heng and his millionaire ministers: on a seasonally adjusted month on month basis, manufacturing output expanded by 1.2% in June. Remember Chris K, no friend of the PAP says that month-on-month figures or quarter-on-quarter numbers are a better guide to the probable direction of the economy.
Remember that Dr Tan Cheng Bock said that a worsening economy would make people worry about changing the status quo. Maybe his team read what I wrote in 2015, when the global economy wasn’t looking good: Time to worry? No worries, vote PAP like in 2001 LOL?
Likewise an improving economy make people worry about changing the status quo: I mean if Mad Dog gets in via a Coalition of the Spastics, the economy will get rabies. And rabies kills.
Btw, read Economy worse than PAP, MSM, alt media spin to understand why the PAP wins the propaganda war. With TOC’s bunch of economically illiterate Indian writers based in India, the PAP doesn’t need friends.
Sir James Dyson (Ang moh who bot S$73.8m flat) will purchase his second luxury property according to a report in ST
It says that the S$45m (US$33m) has an infinity pool and indoor waterfall.
The purchase comes after his company moved its HQ from the UK to S’pore: Ang moh manufacturer employs more people here than in China and planning to employ a lot more is to build the first of its electric cars in Singapore, choosing the country over the UK and China..
Earlier this month he bought what is S’pore’s biggest and most expensive penthouse. BT reported that he paid S$73.8m (US$54m) for the “super penthouse”, which has views of Marina Bay Sands and the financial district.
Wonder what TRE’s Oxygen thinks about these purchases. He’s been saying property here is a “sell” ever since he started posting in TRE (at least 8 yrs ago). And he also says the end of PAP rule is nigh.
Meanwhile, I look at my bank statement, see the income from reits and smile.
Singapore’s GDP growth drops to 0.1% in Q2, lowest since 2009’s Great Recession
TOC headline
Singapore’s GDP foretasted to grow by 0.1% in Q2 2019
TRE headline
Now these aped the MSM spin
Singapore economic growth slows to 0.1% in Q2, lowest in a decade
CNA
Singapore growth forecast risks sharper downgrade as Q2 GDP scrapes in at 0.1%
BT
Singapore’s economy grows just 0.1% in Q2, lowest in decade and worse than expected
ST
As Chris K KPKBed, the MSM headlines and opening paras put the best spin out a bad situation.
The reality is a lot worse
How bad things are
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, GDP contracted by 3.4%, way below the median forecast of 0.1% in a Reuters poll. This was a reversal from the 3.8% growth in the previous quarter and marked the worst quarter-on-quarter performance since the third quarter of 2012. The economy also registered its lowest growth in a decade, expanding just 0.1% on year in the second quarter, missing a forecast rise of 1.1%.
Question is why is alt media also helping out the PAP govt?
In case of TRE it’s likely that this was “an honest mistake”: TeamTRE are volunteers and stretched. And their cybernut readership is only booing at the PAP. Ask them to help out and they disappear.
In TOC’s case, the bunch of Indians based in India writing for TOC don’t know jackshit nor do they care about the S’pore economy. TOC: A lot of bull.
At least FTs work here and pay GST and other taxes. Terry’s team work overseas. And TOC and its cybernut readers criticise the PAP govt for allowing in FTs?
WeChat has 1.1bn users in China (Peanuts round the rest of the world including HK), but Facebook has long outgrown the US market to boast 2.3bn* users worldwide according to Matt Sheehan at MacroPolo. He has been looking at the quality of data collection and analysis in China and the US and compares the capabilities of the US and China.
*2.4bn as of June.
Trump realises that S’pore’s freeloading off the US, and has told the US trade representative to fix the freeloading. The good news is that China and a whole host of countries are in the same situation.
In a memo to Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, on Friday, Mr Trump has yet again attacked the World Trade Organization, saying it allowed too many countries to claim the status of a developing economy and special treatment that is damaging the global trading system (i.e. damaging America).
As well as usual suspect China, he mentioned other countries that he thought should not be classified as developing., This included S’pore and two other Asian city-states such as Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He also said Turkey, South Korea and Mexico claimed the status of a developing nation, even though they were part of the OECD group of advanced economies. On these three countries I agree with him that their status of “developing nation” is illogical.
What about India meh? Can developing nation afford to send robots to the moon, even if the rocket is rubbish? Failed to launch first time. Had to repeat. Secret Squirrel’s sidekick, Morocco Mole, says his Indian cousin twice removed says the fault lay with made-in-India software. And we still relying on Indian software expertise for projects like SingPass? Re: SingPass technical support versus that of OCBC and HSBC and SingPass sucks, really sucks. (To be fair to SingPass, it does work well after one gets into the system. But getting to that stage was a struggle as the posts show.)
He reminded the benefits that came from having developing economy status at the WTO, including procedural advantages in disputes, softer tariff cuts, the ability to maintain export subsidies and weaker commitments in negotiations.
Related posts:
If China withdraws behind the Great Walls
Why Sino-US Cold War is great for our economy
“The best hope for Ireland and for Europe… is that Johnson will be guided by three of his worst traits… he doesn’t mean a word he says, he is obsessed with power, and he is willing to betray those closest to him in the pursuit of that power,” says an Irish Times editorial.
BoJo is threatening a no-deal Brexit. The UK will suffer the most vis-a-vis the EU as a whole. But Ireland will lose the most among the EU nations, and will suffer more than the UK.
Hence why the editor of the Irish Times is drowning his sorrow and bile in pints of Guinness.
Donald Trump appeared at a right-wing rally in front of a fake presidential seal, doctored to make apparently satiric references to Russiaand golf.
The tweaked image flashed up on a screen behind the president as he spoke to a summit hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USAin Washington earlier this week.
The normally solitary bald eagle was seen with two heads, made to resemble the two-headed bird on the official Russian coat of arms in a mocking nod to Mr Trump’s woes with investigations into Moscow’s election meddling.
Organisers said they didn’t know how it happened: “An honest mistake”?
But first did a cybernut write this?
“The Passengers and the Creator”, plays out on a Boeing passenger jet. For its occupants, the aeroplane constitutes the entire universe. A closed economy of human flesh and sex-slavery sustains a surreal hierarchy based on seat numbers; eventually the hero finds a way to guide the plane out of the band of night in which it has been perpetually flying, down to Earth and into the light.
…
Some readers have detected an allegory for the … state—a people imprisoned by their mindset, cocooned in a bubble that must eventually be pierced.
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/06/22/chinas-grand-gloomy-sci-fi-is-going-global
An allegory for a PAP-ruled S’pore?
“Where a people imprisoned by their mindset, cocooned in a bubble that must eventually be pierced,” sounds like shumething a cybernut like TRE’s Oz-based Oxygen, or Bapak could concoct while masturbating that after the next GE, Mad Dog could could form a coalition of the Spastics to defeat the PAP.
Well the writer is Han Song, a Chinese sci-fi writer compared to Philip K. Dick, an American dystopian who is a favourite of mine. The missing word is “Chinese”.
Well this S’porean (Quiet activist looking at his bank statement and smiling) is helping the cause of a more open society by publishing novels by S’poreans (including people working in the constructive, nation-building SPH group (SPH journalists so free meh?), many of which have sci-fi themes:
Related posts
New Hope: How the young can end PAP rule
“The Gatekeeper”: Our home-grown “Animal Farm”
Interesting the difference between Western sci-fi and Chinese sci-fi
While Western sci-fi is often alarming, the truth is usually worth discovering. Even in the grimmest Western fables, such as the film “Soylent Green” (1973)—which ends with the revelation that the titular foodstuff is made of people—audiences at least have the comfort that drawing back the curtain might lead to positive change. Mr Song suggests that, by contrast, Chinese sci-fi makes a dystopia out of the act of discovery itself, often presenting the truth as not worth knowing, or not worth the risk. Parallels with the highly controlled flow of information in today’s China, and the danger associated with even trying to circumvent it, are hard to ignore.
McKinsey Global Institute thinks the world stands to lose up to U$37tn if China withdraws from the world as a result of tensions with the west. Tech forms a big part of this amount. Btw, 90% of technologies used in China follow global standards.
Automatic helps
workers to equip their home offices and helps them meet the cost of renting a work space, or for drinks if they work in a coffee house. But that is still cheaper than an office.
Automattic’s staff work across 70 different countries and, instead of paying for a central office, the company pays to fly staff to regular meet-ups throughout the year.
Recently, I wrote SAF got this meh? and asked if SAF had anti-drone weapons because Changi Int’l recently had problems with two drone intrusions, resulting in disruption of flights. Two men were subsequently arrested and will be charged in court.
A regular reader (also of the constructive, nation-building ST) sent me a link from ST, the opening paras read
Fly a drone within 5km of an airbase, and you could find it taken down by one of the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) latest weapons.
The Jammer Gun, when fired, emits a signal to jam the control signals of the drone, which will then be unable to survey the premises of the base.
The RSAF also has the Drone Catcher system, which uses a net to snare errant drones. The two weapons will be in action this weekend (May 26 – 27) at the open field next to Jurong East MRT station.
ST
Why only airbases protected? Why not Changi Int’l?
If these weapons worked as advertised, they’d have been shot down the drones. But maybe, they don’t work as advertised? Hence their absence from Changi? If the weapons don’t work at an SAF base, the public will be none the wiser, even if an intruding drone damages the base: “Top Secret – Drone attack succeeds”.
But at an airport, good luck keeping a weapons failure a secret. Too many civilian eyes.
On the same day I read about S’pore’s declining birth rate
The number of babies born here last year fell to an eight-year low, posing more demographic challenges for an ageing population.
The Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2018 said 39,039 births were registered last year, a 1.5 per cent drop from 2017.
I read a BBC article about a couple who built a house on the back of a flatbed trailer in County Down, NI. See photo below.
This reminded me about a story about a tiny apartment in Tokyo: width the length of outstreched hands but over two stories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYVJbupG3Xg
“You don’t need much space to have sex,” Jos Teo. More at: MOS Josephine Teo was misquoted
As the letter to the Editor of the Economist (see below) points out
— “The promise of universal suffrage as the ultimate aim appears in the Basic Law”, HK’s “constitution” that was approved by Beijing. One in the eye for China for being that stupid. Another in the eye for now changing it’s mind. Why pretend in the first place?
— The British only took “action to return power to the people until they learned that there would be no hope of extending British rule beyond 1997”: “Perfidious Albion” as the French would say. Saboing China isit? Planting a bomb and hoping it would explode after they left?
To be fair to the British Foreign Office, the mandarins there were appalled by the decision of Chris Patten (last governor of HK but the first British politician to hold that post) endorsed by the British cabinet to give the HK people democratic rights which the British had long withheld from them.
The mandarins like the Chinese leaders thought that HK would be returned to China on an “as is” basis. The clock on political and social changes had stopped at the time the Sino-British joint declaration on the future of Hong Kong was agreed upon, unless both sides agreed to changes. But Patten saw a loophole in the declaration, and sensed that China did not want to make HK people more fearful of China by publicly kicking up a huge fuss about giving the HK people democratic rights previously denied to them.
The letter is from a pro-China member of LegCo. She was the Secretary for Security and tried to pass some really draconian laws but the Hongkies demonstrated and the laws never passed.
I must take issue with “China’s chance” (June 22nd), which ascribed the recent turmoil in Hong Kong to China’s alleged suppression of Hong Kong’s freedoms and reluctance to grant the territory universal suffrage in electing its chief. China has gone much further than Britain in democratising Hong Kong. The promise of universal suffrage as the ultimate aim appears in the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, not in the Sino-British joint declaration on the future of Hong Kong. Nor did the British overlords take action to return power to the people until they learned that there would be no hope of extending British rule beyond 1997.
It is naive to suggest that universal suffrage will solve all Hong Kong’s problems. Its people, especially the young, are deeply angered by the acute housing and land shortage, the widening wealth gap, worsening living conditions and the narrowing opportunities for upward mobility because of competition from a rising China. Hong Kong, however, is not unique in experiencing deep divisions because of growing disparities.
Universal suffrage to elect the city’s leader, with groups fighting on opposing ideological or socioeconomic platforms, would serve only to amplify the existing schisms. Britain’s recent political polarisation among Remainers and Leavers is a cautionary tale for those who have romantic illusions about democracy. Our city’s priority must lie in tackling deep-rooted social and economic problems with a view to improving the livelihood of our people.
regina ip
Member of Hong Kong’s
Legislative Council
Hong Kong
Maybe PAP govt should have offered her a job in the civil service after she resigned as Secretary for Security. She’s their kind of FT: what with her dismissal of universal suffrage, and emphasis on security and keeping the masses contented. But she really has talent, and has a mind of her own, like many Hongkies.
Related posts:
I refer to the drone sightings that closed Changi Intl: Where’s SAF and police when Changi Airport needs them? . Photo from Reuters shows French anti-drone weapons. Do we have something similar?
Drones post threat to PAP govt: Traingate: Only TRE reader sees the big picture.
Related post:
Akan datang: Drones to supply ships in harbour
It’ll do for our economy what the Vietnam War did for HK and our economies: spur economic growth
Further to Will the last US MNC leaving China switch off the lights, the charts below show almost nothing is made in America. Almost everything is made in China, and almost the rest in Asean i.e. countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and M’sia.
As the regional trading, financial heart and hi-tech manufacturing centre (Think Ang moh manufacturer employs more people here than in China and planning to employ a lot more) of Asean, we’ll benefit (Think Ang moh who bot S$73.8m flat).
Bang yr balls Oz-based TRE cybernut and funder “Oxygen”. Left S’pore a long time ago but still hates S’pore and wishes us ill. But still has CPF account. Used to evade Oz tax, it’s alleged by Secret Squirrel.
But of course short term we suffer: “Only cold spell coming, but not Winter,” says Heng.
Vote wisely. Remember: IMF affirms support for PAP policies.
In cities, that means millions of units – including those on cars and buses and trains – constantly pushing out heat into the atmosphere. Studies have found the extra heat from air-conditioning can raise temperatures by as much as 2C. And when it gets hotter, our thermostats turn lower and the cycle continues.
After further upsetting shareholders unhappy with his pay, by calling them”immature and unhelpful” (HoHoHo: StanChart CEO upset that investors angry about his salary), he issued a statement saying
I regret my inability to get my points across in the manner I intended and certainly meant no disrespect to our shareholders.
He explained that when talking to FT
about leadership I urged a conversation about the pressing questions of inequality, fairness of executive compensation and the role of corporations. The focus on a single component of pay, which in the case of Standard Chartered had no effect on total compensation, has crowded out this important debate.
Ha, Ha, Ha. Pull the other leg, it’s got bells on it.
The FT helps him out
He bristles at the suggestion that he is overpaid. Although he was Britain’s second-highest-paid bank CEO last year — his total package was almost £6m — he earns a fraction of what he did at JPMorgan. Critics counter that StanChart’s share price has fallen by about 20 per cent since he took over in 2015, versus double-digit gains for competitors HSBC and DBS.
(With friends like the FT who needs enemies?)
The very latest from the FT is that Temasek has told the directors of StanChart to sort the matter out in a way that wins support from the bank’s other large shareholders. FT reports the bank is considering asking its chief executive to take a pay cut.
What? He’ll resign given that he’s paid peanuts (albeit his performance amounts to monkeying around). But maybe that’s what Temasek wants?
Related post on the mess StanChart is in: HoHoHo: StanChart accused of more crimes
The good news is that the accusation comes not from the US marshals that have been making life difficult for the go-to bank for Iran’s activities to by-pass US sanctions, but by whistleblowers in a civil law suit.
StanChart has been accused of handling U$56.8bn of dollars in allegedly illegal transactions with Iran-connected entities in a civil suit. They allege StanChart cleared far more transactions in violation of Iran sanctions between 2009 and 2014 than the US government used as the basis for fines paid by the bank in April (This prediction came true: HoHoHo: StanChart gets into more trouble).
The new claim filed on Thursday piles further legal woes on the emerging markets bank which has been hit with a series of penalties by US law enforcement and regulators in the past seven years for lax financial controls and for handling transactions for companies in Iran and other sanctioned countries.
FT
Quiet so. and CEO still KPKBing about his pay: HoHoHo: StanChart CEO upset that investors angry about his salary?
Weekend reading:
HohoHo: StanChart’s strategic plans are sounding like our restructuring plans
Further to Apple planning to leave China with help of Taiwanese Foxconn, big US MNCs such as HP, Dell, Microsoft and Amazon are looking to shift big amounts of their production out of China, says the Nikkei Asian Review. The potential exodus reveals how the US-China tech war is accelerating the already underway cost-push migration of capacity to SE Asia.
The plans vary for each company.
HP and Dell, which together command about 30% of the global personal computer market, are planning to shift up to 30% of their notebook production out of China. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are considering moving some of their game console and smart speaker manufacturing out of the country.
Others are evaluating options.
These plans have not changed since President Donald Trump signalled at the G20 meeting in Japan a possible softening of a ban on US businesses exporting technology to China. US policy is too uncertain, it says
But can US MNCs manage to move? Nikkei doesn’t bother to analyse. Watch this space for analysis.
FT reported that underperforming Credit Suisse CEO (share price has collapsed since he became CEO), Tidjane Thiam, could be a candidate to head the IMF. Facts: the Franco-Ivorian CEO has long been linked with the post as a possible dark horse candidate (No pun intended: he like Tharman are long odds candidates). He has been Ivorian fiance minister and CEO of a British insurer. His academic credentials are also a lot better. 
It quotes his friends as saying say he would be an ideal choice, enabling the IMF to make a switch to an emerging markets nominee that could still be acceptable to France. (French nationals have held the managing director role five out of 11 times since its post-war foundation).
As readers will know, the post of IMF head, is in the gift of the Europeans. They have always given the post to white-skinned Europeans. The Americans choose the World Bank CEO has at least gifted the post to an American with a yellow skin.
The BJP in Hindustan India and Tamil supremacists around the world are still smarting that an ethnic East Asian became World Bank president (They thanked the Gods he wasn’t an ethnic Chinese, only etnic Korean): hence their alleged support for Tharman.
Weekend reading. Tharman the wannabe stand-up comic:
Property: Tharman trying to crack jokes again
Tharman trying to tell jokes again?
Tharman joking again? Or trying to BS us?
Will Hougang make the PAP moan the inflation blues, not joke abt it?
The FT had a piece on Tuesday in which Bill Winters, the CEO of StanChart, criticised shareholders after almost 40% of them voted against the bank’s pay policy at its annual meeting in May: Temasek stood by him. They were upset about the pension contributions made to Mr Winters.
“Picking on individual pension arrangements . . . and suggesting that there is some big issue there is immature and unhelpful,” the CEO of StanChart KPKBed.
On Wednesday the FT quoted shareholders hitting back.
Five top-20 shareholders (not Temasek with 16% though) in the bank told the FT that they were unimpressed by Mr Winters’ decision to attack shareholders. One big asset manager described the chief executive as “tin eared”.
Another large shareholder said: “As an immature investor, I’m going to not make any rash comments, but look forward to the fallout coming.”
Whatever, underperforming CEO (HoHoHo: Time for StanChart’s CEO to go? and HO Ho Ho: What Temasek forgot when it bot into StanChart) it seems is behaving like millionaire PAP ministers when it comes to money: StanChart mgt think they like PAP ministers isit? and HoHoHo: StanChart CEO learning from our ministers.
Sounds like what Secret Squirrel told me is true: Temasek has warned him his end is nigh if he can’t improve the bank’s performance soon. So he’s frustrated and angry and hits out unthinkingly.
This outburst can’t help his relations with Temasek as there are now many comments online on FT website pointing out Temasek’s failure to get rid of him.
To be fair to him, his pay is “peanuts”. He got a lot more as a JPMorgan senior executive.
After diplomatic cables in which the UK’s US ambassador said Tthe rump administration as “dysfunctional”, “faction riven” and “inept”were leaked, the Donald was mad. When Fox tells him that sterling has collapsed against the US$, he’ll be even angrier. Remember he was upset with the European Central Bank when it said it would take actions that analysts say would weaken the Euro. It’s only down 1%.
True, its lowered its guess-estimate for this yr’s growth to 2% from 2.3% (made in May), but eat yr heart out Mad Dog, Lim Tean and other nutty anti-PAP types.
It said “investment is expected to pick up on digitalisation” and as businesses adopt new technologies. “Over the medium term, growth should stabilize around 2.5 per cent, increasingly driven by modern services alongside other trade-related sectors.”
Vote wisely.
Reminder: How bad things are
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, GDP contracted by 3.4%, way below the median forecast of 0.1% in a Reuters poll. This was a reversal from the 3.8% growth in the previous quarter and marked the worst quarter-on-quarter performance since the third quarter of 2012. The economy also registered its lowest growth in a decade, expanding just 0.1% on year in the second quarter, missing a forecast rise of 1.1%.
Huawei is planning extensive job cuts in the US, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing anonymous sources. Huawei has declined to comment.
“In order to fix [something], you need a passionate anger about something that doesn’t work well,” James Dyson once said. He’s the man who bot a S$73.8m flat (Why S$73.8m flat is a steal). He is British and he manufactures and sells consumer products (hairdryers, vacuum cleaners and air filters) that are modern looking, well-engineered products. They are also very expensive, even if they are manufactured in the region and China, and not the UK.
Dyson, his private company, already has facilities here (and employs more people than in China — see Ang moh manufacturer employs more people here than in China and planning to employ a lot more) is to build the first of its electric cars in Singapore, choosing the country over the UK and China.
Dyson is planning to break into the automotive industry with a series of electric vehicles, using its existing knowledge in batteries and electric motors to give it the edge over established manufacturers.
What ST & CNA not saying abt Dyson’s move of HQ to S’pore
“The appeal of Singapore is zero tax”: How EDB got Dyson to come here
A Mr. James Dyson recently bot a flat for US$55m (S$73.8m). This tops a flat that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin bot years ago for US$44m.
According to FT’s Lex, Dyson is paying around 40% less per foot than Mr Saverin but that “that could reflect a lower level of luxury”. It goes on
A 26 per cent discount on the list price for the 21,108 sq ft flat is a surer sign of a bargain.
I know economists are forecasting a recession (How bad things are described at the footnote*) but was surprised the constructive, nation-building ST Super-lite reported this fact in the following manner:
The Government is “not expecting a full-year recession at this point”, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Friday (July 12), but economists are warning that there is a high likelihood of a technical recession ahead.
Showing that it no ak Heng (Heng trying to make distinction between “a full year recession” and “technical recession”, using economists to show its disrespect isit? Or is ST Super-lite juz clueless?
Waz more the economists were given a lot of pixel space to comment:
WHAT ANALYSTS SAY
Economists said that Singapore’s economic prospects have clearly deteriorated due to downside risks such as the trade war, as well as the slowdown in China and global growth, and the worsening tech cycle downturn.
Nearly all analysts interviewed by TODAY said chances are high that there could be a technical recession, which is defined by two consecutive quarter-on-quarter declines.
Referring to the latest result as “a near stall”, OCBC bank’s head of treasury research and strategy Selena Ling noted that the first half of this year’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) year-on-year growth was at a “paltry” 0.6 per cent, the weakest first half growth since 2009.
It “clearly heightens the risk of a technical recession if growth momentum remains tepid going into the third quarter,” she said.
Mr Joseph Incalcaterra, HSBC Global Research’s chief economist for the Association of South-east Asian Nations, said that the weakness in Singapore’s GDP is “a harbinger of further growth deterioration across the region”.
He added: “What surprised us is how broad-based the deterioration was in Singapore, suggesting that unlike other neighbouring economies, domestic-facing sectors are not strong enough to offset external headwinds.”
Dr Chua and Ms Lee from Maybank Kim Eng, who had previously forecasted a “shallow” technical recession, have downgraded their outlook to a deeper one.
Retrenchments in manufacturing and trade-related sectors are likely to worsen as firms cut back on hiring amid rising uncertainties, they said.
Mr Alvin Liew, an analyst from United Overseas Bank, said that the official forecast could be downgraded to a range of 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent in August, highlighting the possibility that the Government’s 0.1 per cent year-on-year flash estimate for the second quarter could be revised into negative territory as well.
MTI’s forecast had put GDP growth at between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent for the whole of 2019.
Remember that S’pore is seen as one of the barometers for global demand given its export-orientated economy: S’pore: the canary in the coalmine
Related posts: PAP: tropical White Walkers?
Winter’s here, and it’s an Antarctic winter
Winter is here, how big will the anti-PAP vote be?
Expect MAS to “manipulate” S$ lower
Even MSM tells us “Ground is not sweet economically”
Ground is not sweet economically/ Authorities may have to do something but no gd options
—————————————————————————————————
*How bad things are
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, GDP contracted by 3.4%, way below the median forecast of 0.1% in a Reuters poll. This was a reversal from the 3.8% growth in the previous quarter and marked the worst quarter-on-quarter performance since the third quarter of 2012. The economy also registered its lowest growth in a decade, expanding just 0.1% on year in the second quarter, missing a forecast rise of 1.1%.
Real Wild West cowboy banking (Beats HSBC: Doing God’s Work by being the drug cartels’ favourite bank and HSBC: great customer & shareholder service.pales
Burundi’s state prosecutor has accused one of the country’s main commercial banks of letting money flow to militia groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, thereby threatening the security of the east African country.
Interbank Burundi denied the accusations in court in the capital, Bujumbura, on Wednesday.
Last week in Bujumbura, two officials of Trust Merchant Bank of the nearby city of Uvira in DR Congo were arrested with $1.5m (£1.2m) in cash from Interbank Burundi on their way to Uvira.
The prosecution said it was investigating reports that the cash was being channelled to finance militia groups in eastern DR Congo.
Interbank Burundi denied the allegations, saying it was playing a routine, intermediary role to facilitate money transfers between Trust Merchant Bank Kinshasa and its Uvira branch.
The court in Bujumbura is to give its verdict in 10 days.
BBC report
Update on 15 July at 4.30 pm:
“We have informed the court at the Pre Trial Conference this morning that the case is being withdrawn. We would like to wish the couple the very best and will pray for recovery,” the lawyer wrote.
M Ravi’s FB post
Law Society should investigate if he was professional negligent in filing the suit, in addition to find out if he’s taking his medicine.
——————————————————————————–
Recently, Ravi got back his practicing certificate. He can now practice law: a mixed blessing for an unfortunate couple he’s doing pro bono work, as I will explain.
But first when he got back his cert, I had high hopes for him because he gave an interview to the constructive, nation-building media in which for first time ever he admitted openly that he had gone bananas and apologised to those he had hurt (physically or mentally). (M Ravi apologises for assaults after pleading guilty and Shameful silence as M Ravi’s cows come home)
This was a first because after he recovered from his two previous maniac spells, he refused to talk about his illness, even though he had gone bonkers in public, causing rows. He even sued the Law Society, but now he thanked the Law Society.
I was happy for him because even if I tot he was a BS of a lawyer, I admired his courage (JBJ’s real son?)
Well reading this extract from TOC (about a husband trying to use his CPF to pay for his wife’s cancer treatment when she’s terminally ill: even the doctors treating her say it’s unlikely she’ll survive), it’s clear Ravi’s had a relapse and should not have got back his cert:
CPF Board savings withdrawal policy restricted to recipients aged 55 and above “mindboggling” and “irrational”: Suriia’s lawyer M Ravi
M Ravi had previously raised several concerns regarding his client’s case.
Firstly, he argued that Section 18(d) of the CPF Act allows a CPF member to transfer a portion of his fund from the Ordinary and Special accounts to his loved one’s account. However, according to the CPF Board’s policy, the money can only be transferred to someone who is 55 years of age and above.
“Now, to me, this policy is irrational. A policy which is irrational in the administrative law sense becomes unlawful.
“In other words, what the CPF Board is saying is that although they are sympathetic to the fact that Sarojini is suffering from 4th stage cancer, she has to wait until she turns 55 for Suriia to transfer the money, with the Board’s consent, from his account to Sarojini’s Medisave account.
“To me, this is mindboggling and to say the least, it rankles the soul,” said M Ravi.
The human rights lawyer also argued that the CPF Board’s policy deprives Sarojini of her right to life under Article 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, which stipulates that “no one should be deprived of his life or liberty in accordance with the law”.
M Ravi had consequently filed a Mandatory Order to the court “to compel the CPF Board to allow” Suriia “to transfer to his wife, portion of his CPF funds to her” on Wed (10 Jul).
“Suriia also seeks a Declaration from the court that the CPF Board’s policy made pursuant to Section 18D of the CPF Act is unlawful and unconstitutional, insofar as it prohibits the transfer of funds from Suriia’s Ordinary and Special accounts to his wife Sarojini’s Medisave account,” he added.
I won’t bother rebutting this nonsense* except to say lawyers who know and like him think he’s bonkers in his reasoning.
This
The human rights lawyer also argued that the CPF Board’s policy deprives Sarojini of her right to life under Article 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, which stipulates that “no one should be deprived of his life or liberty in accordance with the law”.
reminded me that I once upon a time wrote
M Ravi’s grandfather’s parliament, is it?
Will M Ravi’s barrage of constitutional challenges change anything?
M Ravi kanna “brainwashed” by ang mohs?
Btw, fyi:
Understanding M Ravi’s bi-polar disorder
An inconvenient fact for M Ravi’s groupies
Added after publication
*A reader, a fat cat doctor turned bizman explained
[Y]ou’re allowed to transfer your CPF to your loved ones’ accounts, after setting aside the BRS (or 1/2 of the old Minimum Sum with property pledge).
If you’re below 55, you can transfer your remaining Ordinary Account.
If you’re above 55, you can transfer your remaining Ordinary plus Special Accounts.
He then added:
Under most other state pension plans elsewhere in the world, they wouldn’t even be able to utilise any part of it for medical / insurance expenses. And no “refund” of pension savings due to terminal prognosis (which the wife got back all her CPF OA & SA in cash).
Ok ok, in angmoh countries, she would qualify for maybe disability welfare and perhaps also free medical. But the big caveat is that such free or heavily state-subsidised medical is restricted to their govt medical system & hospitals, which are either no better & often worse than Singapore’s govt medical system.
And they are not into govt hospitals …. they are using Mt E & PCC.
Another funny thing is how they claimed the private specialists mentioned that she can be treated, but when interviewed by MOH, the private healthcare providers stated that her condition is incurable.
Knowing how vested & fucked up the private healthcare industry is, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a “difference” in “opinions” being conveyed to the patient, but in this case it shouldn’t be because the private medical certified her case as “terminal” i.e. death expected within 12 months, in order for her to get CPF to give her back her OA & SA.
Coffee powder used in a US$4 cup of coffee is costs US$0.50: 12.5% of the total cost. Secret Squirrel’s second cousin removed who owns a coffee place in an atas mall, says that in S’pore, the % is around there too.
Note that in the illustration “Mark up” is not the profit. It includes rent, wages etc.
AstraZeneca takes lessons from fast food to serve China
In face of competition from generics, group relies on sales volume rather than priceFT headline
The latest news that Huflux is talking to the camel drivers (Hyflux: Can believe or not?) after telling them to go f**k their camels reminded me of a comment I once saw on TRE:
Hyflux will be known as Big Flush?
His orders must be obeyed: no questions allowed.
Prayuth Chan-ocha, the general who has been Thailand’s prime minister since leading a coup in 2014, seems to be threatening another coup: against MPs who support him. Mr Prayuth is upset at his supporters in parliament: they have been squabbling over cabinet posts.
Reminds u of any S’porean? Kee Chiu anyone?
Related posts:
Why paper generals, not private sector CEOs make it to PAP cabinet
Lesson for paper generals: How an economy fares after a coup
At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is — nothing. You figure, the snake hasn’t bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it.
Ross Perot who died recently. He was a billionaire (computer services), GM director, and US presidential candidate. He failed to be president but his agenda of balancing budget and cutting welfare, was taken up by Bill Clinton who won.
We don’t complain about what other people eat. In Australia, they eat kangaroos. Kangaroos are cute too, aren’t they? I think you should respect a country’s culture and history Shintaro Maeda, mayor of Shimonoseki.
FT
Heng’s recent comments on the need of GST to rise by 2 points soon despite a weakening economy (Btw, How PAP can win 65% plus of the vote), his earlier comments that we must have FT’s by the cattle-truck load (OK population of 10m) and so on show that die-die he must defend all the actions of the previous PAP govts.
He cannot blame predecessors for cock-ups because “PAP is always right, PAP never wrong”. This is said about Xi but applies to Heng and other 4G, 3G and even 2G PAP leaders and ministers (Emphasis mine):
Not only might the horizons of the leaders of the Chinese Communist party on matters of jobs and economic growth be just as short as those of democratic politicians, their choices may be more circumscribed. A democratic leader can blame a sequence of errors by previous administrations for the current parlous state of the stock market and the economy. Mr Trump can (and does) blame his predecessors for negotiating bad trade deals …
By contrast, even though Mr Xi inherited an over-leveraged economy, he cannot blame his predecessors for the difficult hand he was dealt or for the current slowdown. They too were from the party, and if the party is fallible, does it not follow that people should have the right to vote for a different regime?
He has to maintain the fiction that the party has always made the best decision under the circumstances. That means the Chinese administration has to rescue the stock market if it tanks, and flood the economy with stimulus if growth slows significantly. In fact, it has very short horizons when reacting to potentially adverse economic developments. Chinese investors, confident that the government will bail them out if too many fail, pile in to risky assets without adequate diligence or fear, preventing Chinese markets from allocating capital appropriately.
Raghuram Rajan, author of ‘The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind’
Mr Rajan was head of India’s central bank and was also a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
Will resale flat owners still vote for PAP in next GE? contd
Exposed: Flaws in PM’s HDB spin
The real truths about public housing
Why 30-year old HDB flats difficult to sell/ Why PAP rule will end in 2029
And why changes in policy take so long and the explanations for change so convoluted: example welfare for us oldies, Merdeka Generation: PAP cares for u, really they do, and minor changes in education, No more streaming? Really? What a load of BS.
Here’s another reason why Lee, Heng and other PAP millionaire ministers always blame world economic conditions, never their policies:
Mr Xi’s tight control over policy also makes it hard to diffuse blame. He must defend his own departure from his predecessor Deng Xiaoping’s dictum that to prosper, China should hide its capabilities and bide its time. From his early days in power, Mr Xi asserted that “the Chinese nation has gone from standing up, to becoming rich, to becoming strong”. Some argue his actions have been tantamount to waving a red rag at the Americans, and are directly responsible for today’s trade imbroglio. To quell criticism that he has dragged China’s growth down by challenging the US geopolitically too soon, Mr Xi needs a positive resolution to the conflict.
(Rajan)
Both by our constructive, nation-building media and alt media. Both focus on faking the news to further their pro-PAP and anti-PAP agendas respectively.
I got these four great insights on the situation HK from the Financial Times.
Inside, it was chaos. An alarm was ringing, papers were scattered over the floor, the walls were covered in anti-government graffiti. On closer inspection, though, it was a finely calibrated act of provocation; protesters had vandalised the emblems of power but had been careful to leave libraries and cultural artefacts untouched. They’d even left money in the fridge to pay for drinks they’d consumed.
Louise Lim on what she saw inside the the thrashed LegCo
PAP BS that the violence was mindless. No wonder there was wide-spread approval of what the thrashers did.
The police’s reasoning for allowing the storming
Police defended their withdrawal from the Legislative Council complex, saying a decision was made on safety grounds to avoid possible “physical encounters” with protesters in a confined space. The force said protesters had used “poisonous and inflammable chemicals” to attack police officers during the day and if they had attempted to ignite these chemicals inside the building, the consequences would have been “unimaginable”.
One could be sceptical of the reasoning, but I never saw this reported here. Why?
This from an FT reader on the uselessness of the Chinese propaganda machine in HK
“It’s simply amazing that foreign powers can exert such an influence on this generation of Hong Kong youngsters who are often criticised for their poor command of English. The whole CCP propaganda machine in Hong Kong that has received limitless funding for the last 22 years, should be summarily dismissed for gross incompetence!!”
Gives the lie that our constructive, nation-building media imply: that the HK people are ang moh tua kees.
And last but not least, this illustration sums up the situation:
Repression? What repression? Obvious Kirsten Han doesn’t do quantitative data, only subjective feelings isit? Another example of her failure with numbers: Repression? What repression?/ Alt media cannot be trusted.
If u draw a straight line down from where S’pore’s is located on chart below, you’ll hit France, I’m told. Now France isn’t repressive, is it, Kirsten Han? Eat yr heart out ang moh tua kees, cybernuts and other anti-PAP types. Repression? What repression?
We are liberal by advanced country standards: not very liberal but we have France for company.
A really smart ang moh tua, cybernut or other anti-PAPpy (But there are none) will point out that the Heritage Foundation is an arm of the CIA and Wall St. But there’s no evidence for this assertion.
Related post: “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech”
He sold too soon a huge stake in Tencent.
From an FT reader commenting on an article on Richard Li who is now in the biz of building a major Asian life insurer (FWD) to challenge the likes of AIA. (Btw, his insurtech, subset of fintech, biz is based here.)
Richard Li never made it as a tech investor. But he came tantalizingly close, once. Back in the late 1990s his company PCCW happened to invest in a small nobody company in what was then the Wild West Chinese border town of Shenzhen. This nobody company was called Tencent. At one point, Mr Li owned something like 40% of it, for which of course he paid peanuts. But then, in 2001, he sold his entire stake to a bunch of nobody South Africans that no one had ever heard of, doubling his amount of peanuts in the process. We know the South African buyer today as Naspers, whose investment in Tencent entered the record books as the most successful venture capital investment ever made.
Really unlucky chap despite being born with a silver spoon in hisa mouth.
A British schoolboy coming here to compete in a literature quiz wants to see “Marina Sands and the Gardens by the Bay as well as a trip to Universal Studios”. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-48840398?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education&link_location=live-reporting-story
Does he, his parents or teachers know that Marina Sands is actually a casino and Universal Studios is beside another casino?
But first I was wrong. I told Terry that if the do was cancelled, no need to refund me. I said I was sure that a dead rat would be found on a surprise inspection of the place juz before the frunction.
I’m glad I didn’t attend: Lim Tean, Tan Kin Lian, Mad Dog and Tan Jee Say were there. Though it would have been nice to say hello to Uncle Leong, Chopra, Remy Choo, Dr Paul and Tan Cheng Bock, Terry and that pretty gal in white and black on the left of group photo.
I’m no fan of the fake news reporting of TOC, but Terry has his heart in the right place: Why continued one-party rule is not good for us.
Samsung is being sued by Australia’s consumer watchdog for allegedly making misleading claims about the water-resistant properties of its phones.
The above came out on the day that Samsung said it still believes its folding phones will be a ‘driving force’: it’s preparing to relaunch Galaxy Fold after initial problems (The sets tech reviewers received cracked when folded.)
Seriously, people who used to like Samsung smartphones are not happy. Friends have complained that newer models are not well made: niggering, irritating faults. A family of Samsung users moved on after this incident: family member’s one week old Samsung had water contamination problems after she wore it on her arm band and went jogging with it. Her sweat penetrated into the phone and Samsung would not replace it even though it was only one week old. Not covered by warranty: fault of user staff claimed.
A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore shows nearly half of multinationals in Asia think south-east Asia has become more attractive as a result of the US-China friction.
Cybernuts should remember that S’pore is in SE Asia, and the regional centre for shipping, air transport, finance and commerce.
If there’s a recession or worse, cybernuts suffer the the most barring those like long-term Oz resident Oxygen who still has a CPF account even though he demands “Return my CPF” saying CPF has no money. As a quitter, he can take his money out of CPF, but he doesn’t because it’s alleged he uses his CPF account as a means of cheating the Oz tax authorities, despite getting extensive welfare benefits. (Btw, he also dances on the graves of innocent children, TRE grave dancer doesn’t deny grave dancing, sneering at their parents for trusting the PAP.)
When TRE used this Ground is not sweet economically/ Authorities may have to do something but no gd options, there was this response that the cybernuts will suffer the greatest:
Jman:
June 30, 2019 at 10:48 am (Quote)
This is the price we have to pay for the many nice things we have. We have some of the nicest stuff in the world, strong currency, high asset prices. Which puts our cost structure at the very top. And because of all that, only those Singaporeans who can perform to the top level, push things to the limit constantly, and run nonstop are going to get any decent life in such an environment.But when the chips are down, we’d be the first to go. And then the weeding will start from the weakest among us and gradually work its way upward. And if it lasts long enough, eventually the top bosses and civil servants and ministers will also get hit. And many Singaporeans who are sour about public service pay will have their day.
But when we get to that day, these sour Singaporeans have to remember that they are at the bottom of the hull of the ship. And when the ship sinks so badly, there will be many Singaporeans who will be far deeper underwater and far worse off than they are today.
Success fails. In the long run entropy sets into any successful political system, as people take its successes for granted and forget what actually made it work.
Martin Wolf of FT in “Why democratic government is showing strains in the US and UK” where he bemoans that nostalgia, identity politics and declining influence of elites sped the rise of populist entertainers.
Getting rid of the PAP’s ability to suka suka change the Constitution should be the aim of an Opposition that cares for S’pore. But Mad Dog and Lim Tean both think that a Coalition of the Spastics can win next GE. Sad.
Where the PAP vote banks (Pioneer G not included) can be found (Winter is here, how big will the anti-PAP vote be?)
Even with a united Opposition and with clowns like Mad Dog, Meng Seng, Lim Tean and Tan Kin Lian (Secret Squirrel says he’s planning to stand in a GRC as part of Meng Seng’s losing team) not standing, and with credible people like TCB, Paul A and Nicola Seah (next chairman of Wankers’ Party when aunty steps down) standing getting more then one third of seats in parly is an uphill task because of the GRC system.
(Btw, if the WP wants to retain Aljunied GRC, Auntie, Low and Bayi should make way for new blood: PAP confident of winning back Aljunied)
It’s a long and winding road to a two-party system. No thanks to Mad Dog who mauled the SDP’s three MPs when he became the SDP’s leader. And he still think’s he’s the Messiah of democracy here?
Further to HK: Frustration, Carrie’s gambit or PRC black ops?, where I voiced tots that the thrashing of LegCo could have been a PRC black ops operation (“Peanuts” mob and police “cooperation”), it’s now clear that it was more the result of the frustration of some useful idiots and a head prefect’s gambit that the useful idiots accepted. We’ll have to watch and wait to see who wins.
Hong Kong protests: Parliament ‘never represented its people’
On the night of 1 July, hundreds of protesters forcibly broke into Hong Kong’s parliamentary Legislative Council building.
Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, who did not take part, explains why protesters felt that action was necessary.
With useful idiots as Joshua Wong (He reminds me of our very own Mad Dog, now thankfully under sedation by RI doctors from the SDP), Xi doesn’t need to send in the PRC armed police.
Here is what a protester who was part of group that thrashed LegCo said
“Some people might say this is wrong but to us it is a necessary evil,” said one man wearing a gas mask, who identified himself only as Henry, as protesters threw eggs inside the Legislative Council, Hong Kong’s de facto parliament. “One million of us marched peacefully, two million of us marched peacefully and yet the government didn’t listen to us.”
FT report
Police inaction has led to suspicions that the break-in was encouraged* (Wilder speculation has the break-in attributed to PRC operatives and the usual “useful idiots”**)
At around midday, dozens of demonstrators broke off from the main protest and made their way to LegCo.
They effectively besieged the building, as a large crowd of several hundred watched from a distance, before eventually smashing their way through the glass facade.
Inside, they defaced the emblem of Hong Kong in the central chamber, raised the old British colonial flag, spray-painted messages across the walls and shattered furniture.
At about midnight outside the building, protesters clad in plastic helmets and brandishing umbrellas retreated from a baton charge by riot police, who quickly overcame their makeshift barriers.
Within an hour, the streets around the building were clear of everyone except the media and police.
BBC
Watch these
Related posts:
HK protestors prove George Orwell’s point
Why Hongkies sang ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’
HK demonstrations: What I’d like to know
*Why did Lam remove the guards, inviting in the provocateurs?
**Were these protesters provocative agents of Communist China?
By 15%.
GIC’s annualised 20-year real rate of return, its main performance metric, was 3.4 per cent up to the year-end in March. That compares with a real rate of return of 3.9 per cent since 1998 at Norges, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.
FT
Please remember that GIC (like Temasek) says it needs to be non-transparent to make money for us. Well tell that to the Norwegians who even tell the world the colour of the underwear of the fund managers.
Btw, GIC is investing less in stock markets, more in private equity. Who isn’t?
When TRE republished Ground is not sweet economically/ Authorities may have to do something but no gd options and Even MSM tells us “Ground is not sweet economically”, where I talked of the White Walkers arriving at Changi Int Airport, TRE used this image:
I realised I was wrong, the White Walkers have been here since 1954. Thinking further about it, the PAP must be a mutant version of the real White Walkers since S’pore’s a hot place. But then maybe not because maybe the fact that the PAP likes air conditioning (Harry said it’s one of greatest inventions: ang moh said it first though) explains how White Walkers can thrive here despite the tropical heat.
What do you think?
Neil Mellor at BNY Mellon, makes the case that so long as a weaker renminbi does not ensue, “there could still be positive implications for markets if no agreement, or an agreement to continue talking, were to trigger another, and possibly more substantial, round of stimulus from Beijing”.
That could well boost regional currencies, including those for Taiwan, South Korea, S’pore and the Philippines. A broader rally would bolster commodities, the Australian dollar and eurozone equities.
Our Pet Minister* (The PAP sees voters who own pets as an important constituency*) likes to draw attention to the scientific literature that show that cannabis and other drugs are harmful, as the reason not to decriminalise them.
Well there is plenty of evidence that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful.
So why PAP no ban them?
Ang moh tua kee at work (West’s ‘human rights superiority complex’)? Our colonial masters didn’t ban alcohol and tobacco but banned these drugs, so their PAP running dogs followed blindly isit?
Fyi
[A] report published today by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an independent group of 26 former presidents and other bigwigs. They conclude that, as far as the scientific evidence is concerned, current drug laws have no rhyme or reason to them. The commission blames the UN’s drug classification system, which sorts some 300 psychoactive substances into “schedules” according to their harms and benefits. Some, such as morphine, have medical uses. Others, such as psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms), are used mostly recreationally. Drugs without any apparent medical utility are automatically placed in the most dangerous category—and subjected to the strictest criminal penalties—regardless of the risk they pose.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug
*He and his side kick Louis Ng (PAP MP still sore at childhood failure?) got more power then the ministers responsible for Malays, Indians and Eurasians combined. Says something about the power and influence that pets who really own their so-called masters have in S’pore. Minorities can only envy these dogs and cats.
MAS to issue up to five new digital bank licences: SM Tharman
Constructive, nation building media
It’s a nap that two of the licences will go to SingTel (or a SingTel jv) and Hong Leong Group
SingTel or a jv led by it will get one of the two digital full bank licences, which will allow licensees to provide a wide range of financial services and take deposits from retail customers. The focus of a SingTel bank will be regional remittances via its regional network of telcos. Think of all the Peenoy and Indon maids who remit money via remittance firms.
Grab or Go-Jek could decide to try to cut a deal with SingTel, rather than apply for a virtual bank licence themselves because they can bring to the party a regional presence via their apps etc. But SingTel may be too greedy to do a jv. I suspect the authorities will make SingTel tie up with Go-Jek or Grab. But the other co will not be left out in the cold (see below) because I think the authorities want competition here between the two and because Temasek has stakes in both: Temasek, GIC got this right in our backyard. Related post: Offered money, Grab it
Hong Leong group will get one of the up to three digital wholesale bank licences, which will allow licensees “to serve SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and other non-retail segments”. Hong Leong Finance is a de facto SME bank though people like Inderjit Singh and Jack Sim are not happy with the way it does biz, and are forever KPKBing for really cheap financing for SME owners, even though it’s a fact that SME owners often divert biz loans to buy property.
Grab, Go-Jek and Razor will try for the other virtual bank licence, though I think they’ll have to find a S’porean partner because
Companies headquartered in Singapore and controlled by Singaporeans will be able to apply for digital full bank licences.
Foreign companies who wish to apply must form a joint venture with a Singapore company, the authority added. The joint venture must meet the headquarter and control requirements. Digital wholesale bank licences are open to all companies.
I’m sure they will try to get M1 owned by Keppel and SPH to partner one of them.
But as I said for Grab and Go-Jek working with SingTel could be a better bet if SingTel is not too greedy. The other could then tie up with M1.
As to Razer? Razer? Who the f@#! is Razer?
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor 