WP is a mess when it comes to making sure the TC finances are in order. We cannot understand why they couldn't hire a competent finance manager to make sure everything was in order. Is it true that what residents do not see the WP is less on the ball? But this is also true with the PAP. It is true everywhere. No wonder the Bible also warned us to be diligent even if the boss isn't watching because God is. Sadly the fear of God is uncommon these days. People do what they want as long as they are confident of not getting caught. I think it is only a matter of time.
One is a kettle and the other is a pot. Nobody calls you black if you refrain from judging each other.
To cut the very long chat short I finally suggested to him perhaps all the PAP want is to swing at least 5% of the votes in Aljunied toward the PAP this round. Just get the WP heavy weights out of parliament is good enough. As long as the PAP is not afraid of losing power they are also unafraid of bullying others. They have to judge the trade offs to be a net positive and determine the balancing point of not bullying too much and making WP look bad enough to gain that 5%. PAP must be pleased that all 89 seats are likely to be contested. The fear factor among voters of a freak outcome is much higher.
Here is the dilemma: if we have more opposition members in parliament the PAP spend less time in governance and more time in politics, it is more sensitive to voters' sentiment but will also trade off the long term for the immediate. If we have very few opposition MPs then the PAP becomes arrogant and will drop "With you, for you" and only keep "For Singapore" That is just the politically sweet way of saying the government will serve the interests of the elites from which it gets the revenue to fund programs for the middle ground and the poor. This is something they are still perplexed why people are unhappy - make the rich richer so that we have money for everyone. That is because they have a very narrow concept of living and humanity! This is translated from us to them that they are out of touch and out of reach elites.
"We cannot understand why they couldn't hire a competent finance manager to make sure everything was in order."
ReplyDeleteWho dares to apply?
I think hiring a town council management firm is nearly impossible but hiring a finance manager shouldn't be a problem.
DeleteAs they now run the town council themselves they should be with care and effort be able to hire the managers, supervisors and workers as well.
Can the PA also hire a good finance manager, ten years of adverse opinion and you guys do nothing. You call that self check. I seriously wonder how much of this is going on and no one trust your self checks anymore, not after TCs lost million and GIC and Temasek lost billions without any accountability or ownership. People should ahve been sacked but then..
ReplyDeleteGuess you are not writing as a professional investor. Problem is the majority of people are not informed investors either. The PAP better do a much much better job explaining this. It is not my job to help them except to point out that Warren Buffett himself did not escape unscathed during that crisis. Many new reputations were made during that time....
DeleteHow many of us remember the minibond and all those structured investments??
ReplyDeleteFirstly, PAP/AIM crippled them by removing the IT System which I presume handles all the invoicing, receipts, payments etc. I would imagine the entire back end. Recall that it was developed for almost ~$12m. I.e. BIG system.
ReplyDeleteWith the system gone, so historical records are pretty much taken OFF-LINE. So checking on something that takes 2 minutes with a system now takes hours as u have to do so manually i.e. dig through paper records
Opening balances are hence not readily verifiable which makes auditing a nightmare.
Auditors, being kiasu creatures that they are, will likely to qualify opinions if they are verify numbers
It was developed for 24 millions by all PAP TCs and sold to PAP AIM for $140,000, only to be leased back from AIM. A dormant $2 company w/o any staff and with the PAP headquaters as business address.
DeleteA complete lopsided contract with termination clause in favour of AIM. What does it shows? Political opponents are their enemies and voters collaterals that can sacrificed. A complete turn off for me.
On TC mess, WP walked into a PAP boobytrap. A disappointment they did not rise to the occasion, I hope they recover stronger.
ReplyDeleteOn dilemma, it is a non issue in current context. PAP needs more political competition not less. As it is, the system has and continue to weighed heavily in their favour. Need to encourage more quality talent to join the opposition though. See also http://www.airconditionednation.com/2015/08/28/dominance/
I shudder to think there be more boobytraps to be uncovered in the media, civil service, army and judiciary?