NCMP: WP -1 PAP -1

Prima facie there are contradictions but I am not interested. I would very much prefer the PAP to drop this issue. Leave that to us to make up our minds. Don't tell me you are doing this for us because you are not an disinterested party here. Besides I am not convinced that you are white enough in the first place. The more you indulge in such attacks to me you are scoring your own goal.

I resent that you think we are stupid and needed you to flag these things about the WP.

WP must find its way back

I have always felt that the PAP can only be destroyed from within. If you want to beat them there is only one strategy. Wait for them to do themselves in and they were on that path two GEs ago but they woke up from their complacency and mounted a strong comeback in the last year GE.

Unlike the CCP the PAP will always have difficulties testing their MP candidates and minister in the purifying furnace. It didn't help that they think the talent they had spotted are too valuable to risk destroying.  Compared to the competitive politics elsewhere these PAP wannabes are on the easy road. Then one day they become MPs and ministers the burden of testing them fall to us.

Not so for the opposition which face obstacles at every turn. The rejection email Lee Li Lian received was  an example of that. However I don't believe in making it easy for the opposition either because I remember those who can overcome the greatest odds as the unlikely underdog make the best leaders. Obama the unlikely candidate would have been a lesser President if he didn't have the odds stacked against him in the race to the White House.

WP needn't worry, neither us. The worriers should always be the PAP. Given enough time it is human nature that they will become complacent again. When that happens we shall fix them properly but would WP be ready? It is always the people and not another party that will fix the government.

As for WP they look like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. The situation have changed and what did they spend the last few months doing instead of understanding the new realities? If they do not know what is the smart thing to do, at least grasp that the old strategies no longer work.

What WP need are patient patriots more patriotic than the other side because their MPs may never in their careers get the chance to one day take control of parliament. That belongs to another generation. Meanwhile their role model isn't their secretary general but the now retired Chiam See Tong.

Never give up and never leave.

What about strategy? That is very simple, be whiter than white.

Useful accident stats

I find these stats very useful and I hope the new driver in our house take note of them too.

We have stopped going out on Friday evenings since we returned from Dubai and noticed the population had become noticeably larger. We used to take strolls along Orchard Road on Friday evenings when the kids were still in primary school.

Yep, my experience didn't disappoint me. I have often told the new driver that the car park is the riskiest part of her journey.

Men are more reckless? I think given time the ratio will approach closer to one. I just do not know how long it will take.

Local Chinese helping "Soros" short the Yuan

WSJ quoted Jim Rogers well,

Still, Mr. Rogers, a one-time partner of Mr. Soros, says his concern is that China’s slowdown is getting unfair blame for global difficulties, which he says stem from indebted governments in the U.S., Europe and Japan. “I see serious economic problems in the world, worse than we saw in 2008,” said Mr. Rogers, noting that he remains an investor in China’s yuan and listed stocks. “It’s clear these problems didn’t start in China.”

Speculators can succeed at shorting the RMB only because the wealthy and self centered locals have no confidence in the safety of their capital and chose to send their money out of China in a stampede. Speculators are only taking an unstoppable bus full of traitorous locals. If the Chinese government can figure out a way they will definitely severely punish these locals. We all know much of these flight money are not honestly earned.

Look at the data entrails from the previous month. Clearly many Chinese were mis-invoicing to take money out of China. Locals were doing the equivalent of shorting the RMB massively!

The PAP decided to strengthen their competitors

ST provided this graphic but I my thoughts is over the remarks of analysts on this proposed change to our system.

I quote Prof Mutalib,

The proposed move may also further deter a segment of voters from voting for the Opposition, said National University of Singapore political scientist Hussin Mutalib, as they know that “a sizeable number of them (Opposition members) will be in Parliament anyway”.

Now if NCMPs also get the same voting rights as elected MPs won't they begin to see themselves as sort of elected MPs as well? They didn't win but they were ahead of all the losers. This would legitimize their grassroots presence in the wards they polled well but not enough to win. In many instances the margin of loss might not be significant too. There is nothing to stop them from working to serve those who had supported them. They likely polled from 40 to 49%. If this is the outcome then Prof Mutalib logic would now work in reverse.

Full voting rights is not insignificant at all. Analysts seem to have forgotten the legitimacy that would give to NCMPs going forward. This is definitely a double edged sword for the governing party. It is good that the PM is not making the job easier for his party. They need to fight hard to win. This must also be seen as strengthening the opposition parties.

PSLE: What if we have learned to love our misery?

Recently I have started to wonder what if we have in the process of coping with the rigors of the exam based education system grown to love it. In this love-hate situation we would have trapped ourselves. We cannot decide if changing for the better is actually better. We cling to the PSLE not because we love it but we feel secure from a contemptuous familiarity we prefer over any new and better system we do not understand, and especially lack the confidence to succeed. This would be irredeemably damaging.

I am reminded of the Israelites when faced with difficulties in the wilderness they prefer to return to the familiar misery of slavery in Egypt.

Link to article.

Accepting changes to the political system

Broadly I only bought the proposed changes because I read the 1984 speech by Lee Kuan Yew. I had earlier blogged by reservations on January 17.

Nevertheless I am uncomfortable that there is so little debate on this. Of course that is because the government have enough authority to act with little consultation. We are back to judge us by the results produced mode. I think this is short term thinking as you cannot at the end of the day persuade people the changes are necessary or even superior by arguing in counterfactuals. I thought LKY was explaining the changes he tried to move the house and people on much better than LHL.

I hope there will be more discussion in the days to come. Perhaps there is but I have missed the news on that. This is what happen when such developments are distraction to those like me who are so busy with their work.