Still smoking

PMI’s reputation is bedevilling its efforts to diversify into health products.

But SE Asians see money as path to happiness

Further to SE Asians believe money cannot buy happiness, yet SE Asians see money as path to happiness. Figure this out.

https://blackbox.com.sg/everyone/the-currency-of-happiness-can-money-buy-joy?utm_source=bb&utm_medium=edm&utm_campaign=hww-series

https://blackbox.com.sg/everyone/ingredients-of-a-good-life-how-do-southeast-asians-tackle-the-pursuit-of-happiness?utm_source=bb&utm_medium=edm&utm_campaign=hww-series

Think before u donate/ Lateral thinking at work

Margin call?

The stock price of China Tianrui Group Cement plunged 99% in 15 minutes before Hong Kong’s stock market closed on April 9, slashing the Henan-based cement maker’s market value to only HK$141 million from HK$14.6 billion ($1.9 billion).

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/hong-kongs-latest-problem-is-99-nosedive-2024-04-10/

Asean & Taiwan

An American is the God of Money

And its a wimmin: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Ms Yellen last visited Beijing only nine months ago. A restaurant where her team ate an informal dinner promptly advertised a “God of Money” menu in her honour, so that customers could order the same dishes she had enjoyed. Think of it as a bit of American support for China’s neglected services industry.

Economist: Daily Briefing

Grandpa Xi wasn’t impressed but the restaurant is still open.

Dragon with mountain of gold is less rich than 14 Americans

Spending More and More Money Only to Stay in the Same Place

It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place

Lewis Carroll

For cat lovers

Ho’s successor having to grapple with this?

The shell game investors in PE have been playing is that they try to draw out more (cashed out of older investments) than they have to pay out for new investments.

The game has changed, PE funds are calling for money while being unable to cash out of investments.

Contented PAP voter? Or a zen master

In response to a really rubbishy CNA article, there was the usual anti-PAP comments that the people cannot retire and that if they do they are starving.

Here’s a response that is zen-like

Plan for retirement. I know what I am talking about because I am 70 and a retiree. It is not just financial planning etc. What is important is that many retirees fail to live as a retiree. I do not go to restaurants, café, or costly eateries. I do not go for overseas holidays. I do not gamble, smoke, or drink. I have simple meals. The Internet keeps me busy. Or going for morning or evening walks which cost nothing. I live a simple life within my means. So the planning is for a life change more than financial because as they say about money, it is never enough.

Thank Putin

When Oz had a wetter climate

Chile is really long

Why bother to manufacture cars in Europe?

Interesting

Why us oldies have less mental problems than the youngsters?

Youngsters don’t do alcohol.

LTA U turn: What scholars missed?

Really bad analysis by people who should have known better.

My suspicion is that they tot the huge (I think one third) of people who are happy to use debit/ credit cards meant not seeing the deduction was no big deal for users.

The analysts (not from RI?) forgot the benefits of using debit/ credit cards: all-in-one card, no need to worry about topping up, and delay in debiting. For debit cards, debiting can take up to 5 working days and with credit cards, need only settle on the due date.

Delay deduction or payment on the now defunct card, and S’poreans would have accepted SimplyGo.

Temasek’s propaganda

In an uncertain and volatile era, Temasek’s long-term portfolio construction is shaped by four key structural trends: Digitisation, sustainable living, future of consumption, and longer lifespans for long-term growth. Discover their relevance and how Temasek leverages on them.

Constructive nation building CNA

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/brandstudio/Temasek/StructuralTrends?cid=adv_fb_paid-fb2_20240111&fbclid=IwAR3ma0GWwwqKlPHgQoB_bplSzZmklHKAX6NY54SKqM0uvXIMekmSz4N7z8E

Banzai

While other markets are down (China) or flat (US)

The Nikkei 225 index has gained 6.3 per cent so far in 2024 while the broad market cap-based Topix has climbed 5.4 per cent. 

FT

Taiwan: Also no affordable public housing

Ziwei can still remember the months she spent huddling alone in a tiny shoebox apartment in Taipei.

There was no window in the 10-sq-m studio, just a small vent near the ceiling. It perpetually stank of sewage, even after she stuffed her shower drain with plastic bags. And the walls were painted in just the oddest shade of orange.

“With no windows, I felt so sad,” the 32-year-old recalled. “I would stay out really late every night, and I would come home only to sleep.”

But it was all she could afford in 2019 after breaking up with her boyfriend and moving out. Though she was a civil servant – considered to be a good job – her monthly pay was NT$40,000 ($1,285; £1,011) at the time, well below the national average.

Low wages and housing will be on the minds of Ziwei and six million Taiwanese voters under the age of 40 on Saturday, when they choose their president and parliament.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67945643

But there’s real democracy to compensate.

Oz: Where they don’t have “affordable” public housing

Only “unaffordable” private housing: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67723760

Vote wisely.

Almighty dollar

We prefer illusions

Rashomon (1950)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Joseph Conrad in his novels made this point but in long winded narratives.

Happiness

Right place at the right time

Tot for 2024

Juz how big is Oz?

Don’t account for small joys

Why go green in 2024?

Green stocks had a bad year,

Reminded me of someone with an MBA

It was an MBA from one of Oz’s best universities.

He could only get contract-type jobs,. This was in the noughties.

What goes down can go up

Prosperous holidays all u brave HODLers. U deserve it.

Price changes with value

Came across this on FB.

A bottle of water at Costco is $0.25.

The same bottle in the supermarket is worth about $0.50.

The same bottle in a bar costs $2.

In a good restaurant or hotel it can be worth up to $3.

At an airport or on the plane, you may be charged $5.

The bottle and the brand is the same, the only thing that changes is the place. Each place gives a different value to the same product.

When you feel like you are worth nothing and everyone around you belittles you, change places, do not stay there.

Have the courage to change places and go to a place where you are given the value you deserve. Surround yourself with people who really appreciate your worth.

Don’t settle for less.

What can spoil the party?

OECD says markets wrong on interest rate cuts.

Global debtors and creditors

J. Paul Getty

Why the PAP millionaire ministers doling out more of our money to us

Grateful?

All adult Singaporeans to receive up to S$800 in Assurance Package support in December

Constructive, nation-building media

And remember the $500 vouchers next year.

And ask yourself where got enough?

The good news is that global food price inflation set to fall in 2024, says Rabobank. It predicts prices of sugar, coffee, corn and soyabeans will weaken as production increases. Rabobank specialises in lending to the agriculture business.

The bad news remember GST going up next year.

Inflation

Once upon a time

Someone on FB posted an image of a SS one cent coin. Someone added this image.

Buffett at work

Bloodbath in bonds continue

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose above 5 per cent for the first time since 2007 before falling back to  4.85 per cent

The bloodbath in bond markets continues as investors bet that the Federal Reserve would maintain higher interest rates for longer.

Equities look sick. I got big FD deposit end of month. Will buy S’pore dollar bills. SAD.

On the bright side America’s economy has proved surprisingly resilient to tighter monetary policy. On the cloudy side, this suggests a delayed path to interest-rate cuts.

They made S’pore their home

Do the really rich buy stuff from LVMH, Richemont and Kering?

Going by their PE ratios, they are not purveyors of luxury goods. They are investments for plebs, Chinese and Americans.

Devasting blow to Jewish psyche

“Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day,” said Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president. “And not since the Holocaust have we witnessed scenes of Jewish women and children, grandparents— even Holocaust survivors — being herded into trucks and taken into captivity.” 

Quote from FT article

And it waz Hamas wot done it.

In Hell Hitler must be smiling

Capitalism at work

Investors want capital discipline, so US shale bosses hold back drilling despite oil prices around US$85 (It was around 90+ the last month or so). They also don’t like Biden’s policies on fossil fuels. policies that they think will ruin them and make America subservient to China.

What do u think?/ What do u want?

Stay tuned to find out other interesting Singaporean insights and sign up as a Happy Dotter to gain rewards while sharing your views!

Tap the link to sign up now – bit.ly/HappyDot-SignUp

FB post

Strategy matters/ Nothing remains the same

Apollo went into the insurance business, Blackstone courted rich retail investors. Investors priced Apollo as a quasi insurer: lower multiples.

The retail trade paid off for Blackstone

But things never remain the same in finance. And Apollo may have the next laugh.

Details at https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/apollos-divergent-path-outshines-blackstone-2023-09-28/

What a coffle of asses

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have signed a mutual-defence pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (ass). All three members of the ass are run by military juntas following a series of coups over the past two years.

Economist

What do African coup leaders have in common with PM?

Other than that they are paper generals?

In August and July there were two military coups in Africa, one a month. The 2020s have already brought 14. In the 2000s there were just 22; in the 2010s, 17.

Most of them have one thing in common. While the coup leaders pledge a swift return to elections and civilian rule, they don’t offer a timeline. There’ll be a return to civilian rule after free and fair elections they say: but no timeline.

If this sounds familiar, this is because the absence of a timeline is present here when it comes to PM handing over power to the 4G leaders.

PM Lee says political succession ‘back on track’, with recent controversies posing no delays

Constructive, nation-building media

But

The timing of the handover remains unknown and whether Lee or Wong will lead the PAP through the next general election — due to be held by Nov. 23, 2025 — is unclear. 

FT article

My best guess is that if PM is really that smart, he’ll handover to LW and the other 4G team before next GE. The PAP will get 70% of the popular vote easily. Tharman’s big win shows that S’poreans trust the PAP leaders (Yes yes I know the presidency is not about politics) even if they have problems with BS like reserved presidents, the Speakership of parly being an easy route for desk jockeys to become reserved presidents, GST rises when inflation is high etc.

85 US of A trainers spit in Putin’s face

He can only pretend they didn’t.

Invading Ukraine wasn’t such a good idea in the first place. The evidence keeps accumulating that trying to make Russia Great Again by trying to include the Ukraine in its sphere of influence enables America to Remain,

From the Economist’s The world in brief

American troops on Russia’s doorstep

American soldiers are in Armenia for military exercises, which start on Monday and continue for ten more days. The drills are supposed to prepare Armenian troops for international peacekeeping operations. They are small scale, involving just 85 American soldiers. But their presence has upset Russia, which has historically positioned itself as Armenia’s main regional ally. It has also rattled Azerbaijan, which has fought two bloody wars with Armenia in three decades.

Russian officials say that the exercise furthers American efforts to draw Armenia into the West’s sphere of influence. Armenia is increasingly unhappy about the influence that Russia has. Earlier this year Armenia cancelled drills with Russia and other members of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation. Its government says that Russia has failed to defend Armenia against Azerbaijan, which has reportedly begun to amass troops near their border. If Armenia is indeed gravitating towards the West, Russia has only itself to blame.

Expanded BRICs v G7

Weak unexpected auction of US 30-year bonds spoils party mood

Watch NY tonite. All other markets will be quiet and nervous.

The US sold US$23bn in long-dated bonds at a yield of 4.189%,
a shade above market levels ahead of the bid deadline. The coupon on the new debt
was the highest since June 2011 reports the FT.

The FT also reported that Action Economics said the soft pricing wrongfooted markets,
“Yields have spiked higher, led by the long end in a bear steepening trade.”. This implies investors are expecting the cost of money to rise in the future, something the market is bot expecting according to conventional wisdom.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.09 percentage points to
4.1 per cent, reversing declines in the first few hours of the trading session. The
two-year yield added 0.04 percentage points to 4.84 per cent. Bond yields rise as
their prices fall.

FT

Why the EU may secretly wish that there’s a perpetual stalemate in the Ukraine

If Ukraine wins, the EU will have a massive problem on its hands, how to keep its promise that Ukraine will be a member.

It’ii be 5th largest member by pre-war population and the poorest. It’s really dirt poor.

Best for the EU and the its members (especially the poorer members) if the conflict is frozen. Putin has friends, and it’s not only Trump.

Can’t catch a break

Wildfires are sweeping through many Mediterranean and south European coumtries

GDP growth will be affected in Greece, Croatia, Spain and Italy because tourism is impt in their economies. Tourism was affected by the pandemic, and now fires.

More on the dangers of working in really hot, humid weather

Further to What heat does to us/ Humidity danger zone/ Heat exhaustion v Heatstroke, as the short respite of cooler temperature has ended, there more on staying safe.

China: Exports of electronics dropped while those of batteries and cars rose

SE Asians hard of hearing

No wonder they ignore China’s shouting that it owns the South China Sea.

Seriously must be something genetic. The original populations of the Western Pacific and SE Asia are descended from the same Adam and Eve in Taiwan.

What heat does to us/ Humidity danger zone/ Heat exhaustion v Heatstroke

When Germans get going

They get things done.

IMF: “Things are looking better” than a few months ago

If my fortune teller were liddat. I’d stop seeing him or her. Fyi, I think palm readers are the most accurate. Told me that circa 2020, I’d recover in full from 1997/ 1998 losses. Pretty accurate.

Marriages that last

Curiously, cost-conscious couples may enjoy longer marriages. Economists in Singapore and the US have shown that a union’s duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony.

FT’s Lex

China, India and Indonesia are the future

We are lucky to be near Indonesia.

Buffett’s “our favorite holding period is forever is BS claims writer

Buffett buys and sells multi-billion-dollar slugs of stock, not necessarily on a whim but certainly with great regularity. In a 2010 study of how markets react to Berkshire’s trades, researchers found that of the 230 different stocks the company owned between 1980 and 2006, it held 60% of them for less than a year, or considerably less than forever. It kept just nine of them for at least a decade.

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/warren-buffett-he-invests-just-like-us-2023-06-07/

My view is that Buffett is doing what Keynes may have said

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?…”

Attributed to Keynes (and Churchill)

It seems the assumption behind the writer’s piece is that investing in stocks is easy peasy because facts don’t change. Well facts change. Think why Buffett sold off TSMC shares weeks after he bot them. China and the US were escalating tensions.

It’s the writer of article that is BSing, not Buffett. Buffett’s just investing rationally. He’s not like this tai tai who die die held on to her SPH shares that was her reward for marrying an elderly man when she was 25, Tai tai’s luck runs out, heading for Woodbridge?.

“When the facts change, I change my mind.”

AI battle

Neck to neck.

A reminder why we must vote wisely

In 2016, about 52% of UK voters voted to leave the EU. They are regretting it now.

When you vote for or against our PAP millionaire ministers, think before you vote.

Work-life balance is important

Junior doctors (any doctor not a consultant) and nurses are striking in the UK’s National Health System because of poor pay.

But those leaving cite work-life balance in addition to pay as a reason to leave.

Tesla has no suspension

Musk believes in bumpy rides.

Educated lose out when AI gets used

We can send the FTs home and raise productivity

Thanks to AI.

Vote wisely

Note HK is above Israel in the rankings.

Eat your heart out Chinese poor, US capitalism works better

America’s lowest-earning workers are enjoying higher wage growth than top earners. This after taking into account the effects of the recent bout of high inflation.

Dog eat dog US capitalism and rowdy democratic politics helps the US poor.

US small caps are disappointing

Can’t help feeling sorry for Michelle Yeoh

She puts the mamas in their place by being the first ethnic Asian to win the best actress award. And her team adds insult to injury bt making sure that it’s an all East Asian sweep.

And what happens?

The Fed and allies saves the world on the same day.

Btw, my friend was her school mate in the Ipoh convent school. Could have even been in the same class.

Where young S’poreans and Japanese think alike

Singapore’s total fertility rate hit a historic low of 1.05 in 2022, down from 1.12 in 2021

Constructive, nation-building media

And both govts have the same answer, offer more money. But money not enough. Literally because the $ on offer are “peanuts”. And there are other non-monetary reasons.

HK v S’pore

This year HK residents will each get HK$5,000 (US$637) in vouchers. Last year they got HK$10,000.

Very generous compared to the crumbs our millionaire ministers throw our way. Maximum a S’porean (elderly and very poor) can get is S$750 (US$560)

From an MoF press release

Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers, GSTV – Cash (Seniors’ Bonus) and Assurance Package MediSave

6       On top of the GSTV – U-Save and S&CC rebates in January 2023, eligible Singaporeans will receive the following benefits in the upcoming months of January and February 2023.

1. On 3 January 2023, every Singaporean household will receive a total of $300 CDC Vouchers. This comprises $200 CDC Vouchers under the AP and $100 CDC Vouchers from the $1.5 billion Support Package announced in October 2022. The CDC Vouchers can be used at participating heartland merchants and hawkers, and supermarkets. More details will be announced by the CDCs soon. 
2. In February 2023, lower-income senior Singaporeans aged 55 years and above will receive up to $300 cash, under the GSTV – Cash (Seniors’ Bonus).
3. In February 2023, eligible senior Singaporeans aged 55 years and above, and Singaporean children aged 20 years and below will receive $150 in their CPF MediSave Account under the AP MediSave.

Double confirms what I always tot about Starbucks coffee

I always tot that Starbucks coffee lacked the caffeine kick. I wasn’t wrong. According to a UK consumer survey, Starbucks coffee is caffeine challenged (OK lite) compared to other high street coffee retailers .

• Costa had the strongest medium cappuccino with 325mg of caffeine – equal to four cups of tea
• A Starbucks cappuccino contained the least at 66mg – less than the 75mg in a single tea bag
• Greggs and Pret a Manger had the second and third-strongest cappuccino at 197mg and 180mg respectively
• Pret‘s single espresso was strongest at 180mg
• Starbucks espresso was bottom of the table at just 33mg
• Pret topped the list for the most caffeinated filter coffee at 271mg a cup
• Greggs was a close second at 225mg
• Starbucks was again the least caffeinated at 102mg

Source: Which?

BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64472214

Risk On

And this chart came out the Fed chief said last night that he’s relaxed about bullish markets. Game on until April. A perma bear says the markets will keep on rising until April before correcting. Jeremy Grantham is a perma bear whose calls on market rallies are better than the average bear, or even bull.

Why is the US of A the Hegemon

The legislators are Christians.

Almost 88% of the members of the 118th session of Congress say they are Christian, but only 64% of Americans identify as Christian.

Economist

Elon breaks record

From November 2021 to December 2022 he lost around US$165bn, reports the Guinness World Records (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/94151-largest-loss-of-personal-fortune)

The figures are based on data from Forbes, but Guinness said other sources suggested Mr Musk’s losses could have been higher.

Digital S$

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mas-digital-singapore-dollar-trial-crypto-2032946

Santa morphs into Tai Shen

May the 2023 recession be shallow and short.

But don’t count on the traditional Chinese New Year rally. Santa, in a break of tradition, didn’t visit Wall St. There was no Santa rally. No resents for the traders.

2022 shows Tech giants have feet of clay

(Netflix is no tech giant, the others are. Btw, its market value has dropped by 50% this year.)

Meta has nearly two-thirds of its value was wiped out, leaving its market capitalisation at just over US$300bn.

Bull market will resume? Doubt it

Interest expectations don’t align with Powell’s words.

They keep ignoring his words  Jerome Powell said that policymakers had no plans to start lowering rates until they were confident that inflation was moving down to 2%. “The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy,”

When the stockmarket peaked in America on January 3rd, bond markets thought that the upper bound of the Fed’s policy rate of 0.25% would rise by just 0.75 percentage points by the end of the year. In the event, it stands at 4.5%.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/12/20/the-year-of-the-rate-shock

Time to declare victory on inflation?

And move on?

Why UK workers are striking

Why too much rain is no good for us

Ok, OK not us but the whinging, lazy Australians.

Further to Rain, rain go away, here’s why the Australians are not happy that its raining heavily

There’s the biological impact: overcast weather blocks sunlight, lowering serotonin – dubbed the body’s happy hormone – and affecting sleep.

Then there’s the behavioural effect: rain can stop people from getting outdoors and doing activities that give them a sense of wellbeing, achievement, or social connection, Prof Felmingham says.

“All of these contributing factors compound each other. If you’ve got really relentless rain, we have got clear evidence that can lower mood, lower energy levels and bring a sense of frustration, loneliness or boredom at times,” he adds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-63382895

What a bunch of lazy, laidback bums.

I mean look at us: it rains heavily in SE Asia.

Rain, rain go away

Australians want to play

In Sydney

More than 2.3m (7.5 feet) of rain has fallen on the city – three times the annual average in London.

It’s been a similar story across the rest of Australia’s eastern states. Repeated, widespread flooding across all four of them has left thousands of homes uninhabitable and killed more than 30 people this year. Just this past week, two people died as towns in central western New South Wales (NSW) went underwater.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-63382895

More rain in Sydney than in S’pore

Not seen this in our constructive, nation-building media

HK scientists from the Chinese University of HK have developed a gut microbiome to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections. The biome, SIM01, improves gut microbiota balance and boosts immunity.

Maybe got lost in SPH’s/ST’s new digital platform.

A-rabs getting richer

Want an Indian PM?

The price of pasta, cooking oil, chips and bread rose sharply in the UK.

Item-level price changes of lowest-price option of 30 selected everyday groceries, September 2022 compared with September 2021 (%)

Why self identification is BS

Productivity? What productivity?

Last year, there were lots of reports that productivity had increased because people were working from home because of Covid. Reasons given were the absence of commuting and distraction, and so on.

Now we are told, there’s a problem with not working in the office: Fortune reports under the headline

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink thinks he has a solution to inflation: Bring people back to the office

that

BlackRock’s drive to get people to return to the office “is going to be a key element in bringing down inflation: rising productivity.”

So what’s the truth?

Maybe, there’s too much BS and that results in lower productivity.

Climate change

A study by the World Weather Attribution Group has found that recent flooding in Pakistan was 50 per cent more intense due to climate change. Heavy rain has affected more than 33mn people in the region.

Actually my only reason to report the above is to use this wonderful illustration from the Economist showing the devastation and the map of the area

Visualising 3,000 sq km

The past few days brought dramatic movement when a counter-offensive by Ukraine’s armed forces broke through Russian lines in the east. It has been very successful, Between 6-10 September, 3000 sq km were regained.

The president said it’s now actually 6,000 sq km.

The territory regained is not the important factor. It’s the swift defeat of the Russian army. This victory gives Ukraine a massive morale boost to its own troops and to its western partners, while severely denting Russian confidence. The recent Russian offensives took months and seized less territory.

Guderain, Manstein, Hoth, Kleist, Rommel and the other panzer generals would be proud of the way the Russians were beaten: hot knife through butter.

Ukraine’s best friends

A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

A recent comment by a Ukrainian officer, “They abandoned their tanks and equipment ”. They did this before at the gates of Kyiv. Sounds like Russian soldiers are helping Ukraine defeat Putin’s “special military operation”.

Check this out at Cynical Investor’s takes on S’pore’s History: Not the People’s Princess, but the People’s Queen.

Black humour: Wankers fix dissident

The Workers’ Party leadership has convened a disciplinary committee to look into my Facebook posts on their handling of the Raeesah Khan matter in Parliament. The committee has called me up for an interview:

“to hear the reasons and rationale behind the above public statements made by you as: 1) Your posts had revealed the inner workings of the Parliamentary caucus of the WP Members of Parliament, and allowed our political opponents to have an inside understanding of how the WP operates; 2) Your posts had cast a cloud over the character of the leadership of the WP.”

Daniel PS Goh on FB

Can’t stop laughing at this

“Your posts had cast a cloud over the character of the leadership of the WP.”

Who made fools of themselves and the WP? And who are being investigated? Certainly not Daniel.

Many moons ago, I posted

Excuse me, Mr Singh, you Wankers have something more important to do.

The WP needs to regain public credibility that it lost when you admitted that you, Auntie and Feisal had kept quiet for three months after you and the other two knew that she lied. The three of you have to explain to the WP and public why the three of you were so stupid. I mean all of you are graduates, and you and Auntie have legal qualifications. Where were your legal brains? In your asses?

Pritam beyond his level of competency

Since then, the Committee of Privileges (Cop) recommended that Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor “for his conduct before the Committee” because further investigations are needed to decide if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted. Faisal was also referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations into his refusal to answer relevant questions by the COP. Auntie got away because she ratted on the other two though WP doesn’t think she ratted on them.

And the Public Prosecutor referred the cases against Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap to the really cops for investigation.

We are awaiting to see whether they’ll be charged. I’ll be posting soon a post on what a retired senior DPP thinks about the cases. He’s no PAP man.

Btw, is the PAP trying to “save” Pritam by raising the fine threshold for MP disqualification from $2,000 to $10,000? And if so. WHY?

All in all, its my opinion that the actions of the three stooges in the RK saga are prejudicial to the public and WP’s interests. Yet the Wankers are going after a cadre who publicly asked the Wankers for public accountability. Public accountability (co-driver) is the reason why many S’poreans vote for the WP.

Maybe the Wankers led by the three stooges really don’t wish S’pore well. They really are like Kirsten Han and friends: Kirsten Han trying to defecate herself and PJ out of self-made crater and Kirsten Han and friends are White Lefts.

Maybe I should be crying? And not laughing.

How to get S’poreans to breed like rabbits

Or at least like Americans, Swedes or Icelanders.

Make it compulsory for the men to do at least 30% of the housework or chores.

Look at S Korea where data released by the government showed the fertility figure had dropped to 0.81 – down three points from the previous year, and a sixth consecutive decline. Ours is1.14 births per woman (2019).

Why we need more babies or more FTs

A declining population can put a country under immense strain. Apart from increased pressure on public spending as demand for healthcare systems and pensions rise, a declining youth population also leads to labour shortages that impact the economy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62670717

This is not BS or the PAP’s Hard Truth. It’s Demographics 101.

Would Jesus vote for the PAP?

The storm in the tea cup over the repeal of s377A of the Penal Code and same sex marriage had me asking myself the above.

After all, he believed in free lunches: all that free bread and fish. And in free wine at weddings. And he despised rich people, especially the “banksters”. Remember him beating up the money lenders at the temple? And the Jewish establishment didn’t like him.

Doesn’t sound like a PAP voter does he?

Our version of “sulfur and fire”

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the merciful and benevolent God of the Old Testament by way of “sulfur and fire” because of their wickedness. The wickedness was believed to be anal sex.

Could we go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, now that the PAP govt will decriminalise sex between men?

Our dear leader last night told a rally that his PAP govt will repeal section 377A of the Penal Code. This colonial-era law punishes acts of “gross indecency” between men with up to two years in jail. The law is not “proactively enforced as PM once put it. So why bother?

Because the LGBTs have money and will be a new source of tourist dollars?

Btw, our “destruction” will come by way of higher inflation, slower growth and a GST rise.

Law exam cheaters are so post-modern

Recently, the constructive, nation-building media continued its reporting about the lawyers who cheated in law exams with an update on what’s happening to some of them: nothing good and still being publicly named and shamed.

But at least five of them deserve whatever is thrown at them because they are so post-modern and post-truth:

Five of the law students had communicated with each other and shared answers in six of the papers for Part B of their Bar exams, including one for “Ethics and professional responsibility”, through WhatsApp.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/6-more-bar-exam-cheats-withdraw-1969466

Bet you they were laughing and proud that they cheated in “Ethics and professional responsibility”, showing how cynical they are on the ethics and professional responsibility of the legal profession.

As a legal trained lawyer who worked in leading corporate law firms before becoming a barrow boy and M’sian equities specialist, I have cynical views about the legal profession, but I don’t mock the profession like these idiots.

When ethnic Chinese were 20% of the population/ First FT

When Raffles landed here in 1819, there were 150 residents, thirty of whom were ethnic Chinese. There is no evidence of there being any ethnic Indian resident.

But we know Raffles brought one in: Naraina Pillai. Our very first FT. More on him at What the 2019 statues tell us.

Wokeism

Came across this on FB. Happy to attribute it if I know the source.

Profile of people who will choose the next UK PM

 Around 160,000 Conservative Party members will choose the next British PM

They are the more well-off British.