My friend made this astute observation, "In this election, two are campaigning as MPs, one as senior minister, and finally only one as president"
To my kids when you have time, can you tell which ones they are?
Tan Cheng Bock
Tan Jee Say
Tony Tan
Tan Kin Lian
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tan Cheng Bock rebuts his critics
Good family doctor common sense logic here. No fear mongering which is completely out of character with the PAP. The most Wee Kim Wee like but with plenty of evidence from his track record that this guy has courage.
As usual I am writing for my family and myself; not trying to sell Tan Cheng Bock to others. By now, I have realized that everyone has their preferred candidate and mostly you can't reason with them. Who is right or wrong about the choice of President, we will eventually learn by a stroke of fortune or the hard way. In life we should never always play it safe. We should always be brave and courageous. Why have we allowed ourselves to be so fearful to the point that we don't want to have children? To make it perverse, we don't even want to admit to that.
If we play it safe, some of our critical problems will keep growing until they are no longer solvable. Without admitting it, we are as good as other societies which kick the can down the road.
Tony Tan and Tan Kin Lian are out for me. The choice is between Tan Cheng Bock and Tan Jee Say. Should not be a problem deciding when the time comes.
As usual I am writing for my family and myself; not trying to sell Tan Cheng Bock to others. By now, I have realized that everyone has their preferred candidate and mostly you can't reason with them. Who is right or wrong about the choice of President, we will eventually learn by a stroke of fortune or the hard way. In life we should never always play it safe. We should always be brave and courageous. Why have we allowed ourselves to be so fearful to the point that we don't want to have children? To make it perverse, we don't even want to admit to that.
If we play it safe, some of our critical problems will keep growing until they are no longer solvable. Without admitting it, we are as good as other societies which kick the can down the road.
Tony Tan and Tan Kin Lian are out for me. The choice is between Tan Cheng Bock and Tan Jee Say. Should not be a problem deciding when the time comes.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
SBF says Presidential polls could affect jobs
This morning the WSJ also wrote a story on PE. It didn't suggest that investors would be alarmed.
The SBF is just a paper tiger. I wonder how much this chap spoke for his members. May be only those who badly need foreign workers?
And here is what the SICC said before the journalist ends the article. I quote:
Asked his views of the SBF statement, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) chief executive Philip Overmyer said its members felt it would not be appropriate to comment on the election.
SICC represents more than 500 foreign companies here.
But Mr Overmyer said: 'Companies don't like confusion and don't like changes that might impact their success and operations. To the extent that the general overall policies of the Government continue, I think the large MNCs will continue to be content and happy to be here.'
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The warning from the business community on choosing the next President
The business community here is making their worry public. They are afraid of what politics is morphing into in Singapore. Should I read their advice to vote for stability, predictability and hence business friendliness as a threat that rice bowls are at risk?
Why do we even have such an issue in the first place when we never had before? I think it is because we are polarizing into a society of haves and have nots. Up to the point when enough people feel that the social contract is unfairly stacked against them, especially when they think their children's future is bleak, they will take a chance with change.
This government provide handouts through complicated and hard to understand schemes. It is good that people receive help, but it is terrible that such help also diminish their self respect and hope for the future, again especially for their children. At the end of the day, nearly everyone wants to work rather than receive handouts.
I don't know what the results of this PE would be. The sense I am getting is that Tony Tan will win. If so, the SBF couldn't be happier.
I don't think Tan Kin Lian would win and I hope he doesn't lose his deposit. I am even starting to regret writing about this possibility, but only because he had publicly articulated the possibility himself.
Each of the other three candidates, they bring with them different risks and possibilities if elected. I think we can make something positive from any of them.
In an ideal world, businesses would take care of their employees and customers. We don't live in such a world. The real world is one where businesses take care of senior management and shareholders. Everywhere in the world, government have the job of redistributing wealth to the masses. Very few tycoons are as farseeing as Warren Buffett who astutely recognizes that it is in the long term interest for his community to give more to the larger society.
The option to be more wealth redistributive will not meet with retribution from investors if our competitors are also doing the same. Given the economic and political winds elsewhere, I think that is coming and that would be the new price that would help our forever status as a price taker to tilt toward more socialism without the collateral cost of investors decamping.
The trick is to hold on long enough for the new global price. Better still, anticipating this, we act preemptively. That is our salvation.
Update: 6.25am the next day, while waiting for my daughter to get ready for school.
TOC says, "Must watch, very the power" beautifully singlishly written. I am not a Tan Kin Lian or Tony Tan supporter though.
http://pe.channelnewsasia.com/stories/el...
This government provide handouts through complicated and hard to understand schemes. It is good that people receive help, but it is terrible that such help also diminish their self respect and hope for the future, again especially for their children. At the end of the day, nearly everyone wants to work rather than receive handouts.
I don't know what the results of this PE would be. The sense I am getting is that Tony Tan will win. If so, the SBF couldn't be happier.
I don't think Tan Kin Lian would win and I hope he doesn't lose his deposit. I am even starting to regret writing about this possibility, but only because he had publicly articulated the possibility himself.
Each of the other three candidates, they bring with them different risks and possibilities if elected. I think we can make something positive from any of them.
In an ideal world, businesses would take care of their employees and customers. We don't live in such a world. The real world is one where businesses take care of senior management and shareholders. Everywhere in the world, government have the job of redistributing wealth to the masses. Very few tycoons are as farseeing as Warren Buffett who astutely recognizes that it is in the long term interest for his community to give more to the larger society.
The option to be more wealth redistributive will not meet with retribution from investors if our competitors are also doing the same. Given the economic and political winds elsewhere, I think that is coming and that would be the new price that would help our forever status as a price taker to tilt toward more socialism without the collateral cost of investors decamping.
The trick is to hold on long enough for the new global price. Better still, anticipating this, we act preemptively. That is our salvation.
Update: 6.25am the next day, while waiting for my daughter to get ready for school.
TOC says, "Must watch, very the power" beautifully singlishly written. I am not a Tan Kin Lian or Tony Tan supporter though.
A lovely flowering tree
The real thing is so much more beautiful
Burnt myself :(
Will hear the full story later in the day.
Political an eye for an eye between the Government and WP
It takes a rare character to be like Gandhi, Mandela or Martin Luther King. To be practical, it is more realistic to assume we will not produce them. Because as Gandhi said, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
First World Parliament, First World Government? It is a strain.
We are today because we could not reproduce and appropriately evolved from our sterling beginnings. Failure provides the opportunity for alternatives. Successful self renewal from within the PAP is a busted myth.
How many times have I blogged that Singapore is gradually becoming like any other first world city. We are getting less special and our premium is eroding.
Update:
www.channelnewsasia.com
The adviser to the Hougang grassroots organisations, Desmond Choo, shared with the media some difficulties faced by grassroots volunteers there in leasing land managed by the town council of Hougang.
And truly giving to each deemed opposite as good as each get! Who set these unwritten rules of engagement that yielded such outcomes?
www.straitstimes.com
Hougang SMC grassroots advisor Desmond Choo is applying for the transfer of the management of six plots of land from the opposition-run Hougang Town Council to the Peoples Association (PA).
Update: August 25
Got this from ST forum discussion thread. If it disappears, I believe the substance of it can be found at WP website. See http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=42260 Low Thia Kiang gave a point by point rebuttal of Desmond Choo's allegations. I wonder how Desmond is not going to lose credibility.
The PAP's moral capital is diminishing. When that is finished, other forms of corruption will appear.
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