Half Time Scores

Some stock-taking is in order.
1. My last posts indirectly challenged some economic gurus about their having likened this crisis to the Great Depression of the 1930's. Their recent writings have clarified that they meant to compare the PRESENT pace of job creation, deflationary effects on the economies and stock markets, rather than the ABSOLUTE material (and economic) comforts available to the average human being during the 2 periods. I will only say the tone of their writings AT THAT TIME sounded more dire. Which led me to keep this online "diary". If all that's being bandied about is the economic calculations, size of budgets, percentage growth or declines etc, I will certainly defer to the people in charge of the econometrics and statistics. In fact, Singaporeans will recall that some of these numbers are part of "Official Secrets". Ask the Finance Minister.
2. Once the clarification is published, it would seem I am quarelling with no one. I am all alone. THAT is depressing.
3. Thankfully - it's going to sound terrible soon- the latest polls reported by newspapers regarding happiness, and loneliness/isolation, my sense of feeling alone and uncared for is fairly commonplace.
I'm not rejoicing that other people suffer like me. Really I'm not.
It's a good chance to stress again that appearances can be deceiving. Even the numbers. Let's take someting obvious. You can be in a crowded room, yet feel so isolated and disconnected that loneliness is the strongest emotion that comes to mind immediately. Conversely, the SAGE can be all alone with no one around for miles, yet feel SO connected AS ONE to the universe and the cosmos beyond, that there is no "I", but "US". That dude is certainly FAR from feeling isolated or sad.
For the majority of us, "icons of mediocrity" (my pet name for Singaporeans), what then?
I guess (maybe only) the techie would approve of my answer: stay connected to others. Keep connecting with others. Don't lose touch with one another.
It is well to note that one of the most (frequently) permitted criticisms made against our political leaders is that they are "out of touch" with the common man.

Following Up - Why Do It?

Normally, I subscribe to the viewpoint that if your audience don't get it first time round, forget it. "If anyone has eyes, let him see. If anyone has ears, ;let him hear."
Not yesterday's post. Why? Unlike any other conspiracy theory, it actually affects ALL of us (melodrama intended).
You see, when it gets a little crazy and things look like they're spinning out of control, most people either:
a. turn to God or whatever superpower they believe in; OR
b. try to harness("exploit" may be more suitable) some bigger force to their advantage.
I should know; that's the unspoken expectation people have when they turn to the law.(Then blame the lawyers for the loopholes and imperfections in man-made rules).
People who choose b will naturally suck up to the "Chosen" in my last post. Sucking up leads to playing by their rules. Domination sequence completed.
People who choose a aren't out of the "danger zone". Somewhere along the way, their need/desire to regain sanity or control over the situation just makes it easier to psyche themselves into believing that God/the Being is telling them to play along with these "Chosen" people. The divine message is that they will unwittingly play into the hands of God, so all will be fine. There's even a biblical verse for it: "Render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's". Ergo, domination sequence completed.
See how serious it can be? The picture of shophouses against the skyscraper against sky seems apposite to my words from "The Sound of Silence":
"Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words like silent raindrops fell
In the night
And echoed in the well
Of Silence"

An Important Digression

Here'e the worst kept secret: there's a group of people who believe that only a "chosen few" who would ultimately be the winners at life, the universe and everything. These "chosen few" may be called "elites", "powerplayers", "kingmakers", "czars" or even "illuminati". That doesn't matter.
What matters is they have the wrong attitude towards the "non chosen". They think it is easy to manipulate the rest of the world. Of course, the way many people react to media hype tends to perpetuate this myth and elevate it to the ranks of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When life hands you a terrible hand, when the cards are down, just remember: a prostitute with STD, facing the odds of giving birth to a deformed child, chose NOT to abort the pregnancy. The child grew up to be Beethoven.
There's also a scientific principle to this. It's called the Butterfly Effect. The best speech ever given by Winston Churchill? "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!"

Exaggerations In An Age Of Selfishness

I am as against false modesty as the next person; but self aggrandisement repels me in equal, if not stronger, measure.
Why the outrage? Well, where do I begin? Right. I started this blog as someone concerned about the financial upheaval in which Wall Street threatens to completely overwhelm main street. I did very poorly in Economics in my GCE A Levels (actually it is regarded as an 'O' level subject at Pre-university level). I would never presume to question the wisdom of professors in economics.
But, look what happened!? Prof Paul Krugman foresaw the "Return of Depression Economics". I said in Feb 2009 that this is NOT as bad.
I think I should either:
A. Claim to be Nostradamus' successor; or
B. Anticipate a conspiracy theory to divert attention and resources from the problem of climate change, carbon emission, and the depletion of the ozone layer.
They now talk about the H1N1 Swine flu "pandemic". WHO now says it may have "overreacted". What are the people in charge doing?!

A Surreal Month

It has been a month since my last! Sole breadwinner with economic burdens, fears of even more financial hardship, family disharmony, job stress, breakdown in other relationships....take your pick. Anyway, who am I to comment on Thaksin's problems!!??At least he had some Singapore tax dollars in his pockets for his troubles.
Still, the headline news appear less gloomy on the finance front. At least there's less comparison to the Great Depression which few of us have been through.
Perhaps there's a growing realisation that the troubles of the asset-or-cash-rich isn't that interesting anymore. Or maybe it's just denial kicking in.
A friend told me that the least a Singapore parent should do is cut the amount of tuition his children receive and reclaim some of the teaching responsibility instead. If nothing else, the parent-child bond would improve.
What about the grades? "Those who matter won't mind", eh? If all else fails, let's play "Don't Forget the Lyrics" online. Only, the twist is we use the lyrics of different politicians and their failed predictions. Start with the Singapore governments forecase in Jan of -5.5% growth. What's the currently correct lyrics? -9%. Compared with President Obama's lyrics: signs of economic recovery are present. Colour of the lyrics? Purple (for the prose).

My Ironic Life Story

Just to start the ball rolling with a hypothetical question: what if there were no hypothetical questions?
A blog's a diary, right? So...the meaning of life...mine as a case in point.
At 25 years of age, a well meaning medical undergraduate (now a well-connected doctor) persuaded me that I should donate sperms to a fertility clinic because:
(a) I would help childless couples;
(b) I would get paid ( a pittance - $180.00 per six shots over 2 months).
At 25, I thought no more beyond an assurance that I would never get to know the recipients' identities and the chances of consanguinity are infinitesimally small. (Just to be safe, note the year you donated, and the year your own child is born. Don't encourge my child to date anyone with that age difference).
For the record, the clinic contacted me to convey news that the recipient of my sperms was successful, and they were passing the receiver to let me hear the thank you from the couple - but no more than that. Absolutely.
Oh, and my first test revealed a low sperm count (possibly because I masturbated the night before - or an ominous sign. See the later part of this post.)
I wasn't a very thinking person back then.
Then came the octo-mum, who had been artificially inseminated , had 6 babies; and now wanted more and ended up with 14 babies she cannot afford to raise on her own.
Then came a book, Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland, about a baby boy, given up by his mother, who tracked her down 20 years later, for her to find out he had multiple sclerosis (lke Stephen Hawking). Like the octo-babies, the boy had foster parents who just couldn't heck child rearing responsibilities.
Also, like her, he had a natural talent to sing any song backwards (like when you play the recording backwards on a record player/open reel casette tape player). He then dies on her, but thereafter reunited her with the biological father - whom she could not remember earlier (because she was stoned drunk when it happened).
Well, what if my "baby" had been donated to a couple who are either naturally incapable of parenting , or met with some accident? Shouldn't he/she be told how to find me? As it happens, I'm financially better off- compared to 20 years ago, but am disgnosed as suffering from an extremely low testosterone level for a 45 year old (it's worse than a 60-year old's, I'm told). Or what if, like me, he/she is extremely timid and shy and does not know that some undefined lifechanging moment is just waiting round the corner for him/her. How can I let him/her understand that each of us, like the humans in the Matrix, has something unique, even if we are not in the headline news? We could still be the vote that brings the next Roosevelt or Hitler to power? The soldier or official who disobeyed a tyrant, or fired into Tiananmen protesters, in any event sparking a historical riot or revolution. Each of us carries the DNA to be the One. It just needs an awakening. By the right one.
In the case of my offspring, I'm quite sure there's an innate ability to remember the long forgotten tune and lyrics of a song sang in the kindergartens in 1969. and freeze in our memory events which happened more than 35 years ago. Believe me, this might be pretty useful if you have classmates who are likely to make the news headlines. Or simply recalling at will an old episode of Rockford Files. Or Petrocelli. Or the Rookie - with Kate Jackson before she was Sabrina in Charlie's Angels. Scary , huh?

How Much We'd Spend To Get A Better Picture

This morning, a professional photographer shared some information about the latest in digital photography with a friend of mine. In essence, a very good camera is about S$7,000.00. But it'll soon cost you another $7k to get the latest upgrade. By which time the 1st $7grand camera you got was worth only $3,500.00. But production houses, a camera man's customers, would insist you have the latest equipment, however little improvement there may be in the latest gizmo.
Tough?
On another vein, my customers yesterday paid more than $200.00 to get a fengshui master to confirm that their intended business venture can expect to see a good return on the investments very soon, by next year at the latest.
Come to think of it, isn't this what most governments are doing? Telling their citizens they must approve of multi-billion dollar "stimulus packages" to improve the prospective picture of their economies?

A Light Fix - Just For Me

Just had my weekly fix of "Boston Legal Season 4". The star billings this week is definitely NOT awarded to Denny Crane or Alan Shore. It's to England-born-and-bred Tara Summers - see picture - playing newbie Katy Lloyd. Her accent (dipthongs, actually) is marvellous, especially employed in (gently) telling a US Judge not to be a cultural snob by taking away custody rights of a Mexican father who discovered his 10-year old son is a bullfighting genius. Brilliant.
Also gaining kudos is a gay 4 star general who successfully sued the US Army for sacking him for coming out (admitting his sexuality). The Judge hated Shirley Schmitt (Candice Bergen)- her arguments didn't work- but he just loved this heroic man.
Btw, there are blogs and forums on each episode out there!!! Alright, I'll own up to forcing my not-very-inclined-towards-English staff to brush up on passion about work by watching BL on Wed , 12 midnite. Watch it, it's free to air.
As I blog, the US stock markets are holding on to modest gains. Is the worst over? No, just signs that everything's extremely exaggerated, as always. Many called it "dead cat bouncing back to life".

Netponsibility, Not NetPornography

I see people. Depressed people.(Come on, someone must have remembered this line from "6th sense" the movie) People turning to the heavens, asking "why me?" So, in 2 previous postings, I tried to say that the Gods (if they are what we think) maybe decided that this financial mess which men have created would be a good chance to clear the climate mess which was also caused by humans' wasteful actions.
Just after I suggested that recovery may just be around the corner, the US stock markets surged by hundreds of points.
So now I'm psychic. But just to be safe, remember: the Net takes no responsibility for well-being, financial, sexual or otherwise. Don't ever take it seriously.

A Bit Of Stock Taking

Want to know my definition of a philosopher? Someone who simply can't help taking himself too seriously. How do I know? I'm a "philosopher".
Exhibit A(to P) for the prosecution - my previous postings. How long before they descended into gratuitous (read "no-one-asked-you-for-an-insight-did-they") commentary on the current crisis? Every 2 blogs, I believe. Hey, this is the Internet. Not to be taken as guide, philosopher (there!) and friend, is it? As a parent, I'm definitely not letting my kids believe all that "be an all night sex machine" cr*p. Hell, even if I were not a parent, I won't want my lover to think that. (groan, the inadequacy).
Here's the thing. I happen to think we're going to recover much faster than expected; maybe it's connected to the whineging going on. Once we move past the "what shall I do, where will I go, how will I live", the corner is waiting to be turned.

Fantasy Galore

Advanced Norse-Grecian Extraterrestrial Lifeforms (ANGELs) gathered on the head of a pin to decide on the fate of humans on planet Earth. 2 pressing issues were on the agenda: Global warming and financial mismanagement.
The meeting began with Odin, aka Zeus (depending on the preferred jurisdiction), giving a brief account of the problem.
Human beans consume more than they need. Then they shit. This produces greenhouse gas which overheats the planet. They also need to make more money to support their overindulgent lifestyles. So they generate financial bullshit, which overheats - and overhypes - their borrowings which they cannot repay.
End result? No more natural resources, no more money. Left to their own devices, they turn to age-old remedies. They pray for our divine intervention (see Arthur C Clarke, who suggested that a technologically advanced race would seem like gods to the primitive culture) in the temples which we, in moments of vanity, inspired them to build in the first place.
What, asked Odin, can we do? What should we do?
Athena, Odin's twin in wisdom, proposed that ANGELs not intervene with free markets and monism (the worship of money), which are men's own invention. In due time, lack of money would prevent humans from consuming the natural resources. Consequently, the eco-balance will be restored, global warming will be checked. Voila!
There being no better alternative, the ANGELs, treated like gods, unanimously resolved to stand by and do nothing at all.

The Dilemma of Singapore Sam

Sam Seng of Singmoney.com a.k.a. jiang-zua-ji is really stuck. Like all patriotic Singaporeans looking out for himself and, where possible, his neighbours, he wants to be part of the solution. Only this time round, the leaders cannot seem to pick the right people to spend on the stimulus package. Just weeks earlier, world class banks like Citibank and UBS wiped billions off the investment portfolios of the government linked companies.
If Seng lacked anything, it is self-confidence. "So many scholars, so much PHd's, such strong reserves, they also got it wrong. Me? Forget it, I'm even worse!"
Informed common sense says, spend a bit more. You might save company A from closing down, help save the shopowner from bankruptcy, or the job of the shop assistant. However, self-preservation says, what can my spending do if no one else gives the shop business. Furthermore, I might go bankrupt myself. Can I afford it? Let someone else be the hero.
If ever a society lacked the belief that an individual can make all the difference, it's the utilitarian society that largely encourages the sacrifice of the one person for the greater good of many.
One last thought for risk managers: the rating agencies who got it so wrong in rating securities corrupted by the sub-prime mortgages mixed with the good stuff as AAA grade, they mismanaged big time at the worst possible time. It's time to take a risk. Anything is better than inaction. But who can be trusted with the spending solution?
Addendum: What would I do? I'd follow the classic words to being a Man:
"If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss" - That's what it takes, that's what we must do.

A Most Unlikely Story

As the financial and job markets continue to seek inspiration, I'll try a little free association with people whose every spare moment (including moments they cannot afford to spare) are devoted to building miniature houses. Let's see how long it takes to liken them to this current financial situation.
First, it begins with some odds and ends left over from some handiwork around the house. The hobbyist is fascinated with the idea of a dollhouse. Soon, she becomes a property developer. Why not recreate, say, Buckingham Palace? Soon, she asks around for toy soldiers and, maybe some princes and princesses. "They're so lovely; let's make them some gold-encrusted jewelry and buttons. Out come the credit cards.
Before you know it, the mini-developer is importing miniature bricks for the tower extension.
"Er, am I paying up on my credit card purchases on time?" Next, come the complicated derivative swaps. Let's go online and sell or exchange items. Maybe I can time-share the dollhouses. (Forget that the dollhouse was never really completed before all the focus was on the palace). Some online fool sends miniature items for the dollhouse, but it went towards the Buckingham Palace building fund - plus some profit for the expenses incurred by the "dollhouse builder", plus bonuses (justified as "expenses" and "pre-contracted payments"! More online enthusiasts are sucked into a big Ponzi scheme.
In the end, the Buckingham Palace becomes too big a project to fail! Hah.

Eureka!

When dour and dull Gordon Brown comes up with a speech (to US House of Congress) which matches Obama's for cadence and alliteration, I see the beginning of a glimmer suggesting the light at the tunnel's end is round the corner. Take a look:
"And let us be honest – tonight too many parents, after they put their children to bed, will speak of their worries about losing their jobs or the need to sell the house.

Too many will share stories of friends or neighbours already packing up their homes, and too many will talk of a local store or business that has already gone to the wall.

For me, this global recession is not to be measured just in statistics, or in graphs or in figures on a balance sheet. Instead I see one individual with their own aspirations and increasingly their own apprehensions, and then another, and then another.

Each with their own stars to reach for, each part of a family, each at the heart of a community now in need of help and hope. And when banks have failed and markets have faltered, we the representatives of the people have to be the people's last line of defence.

And that's why there is no financial orthodoxy so entrenched, no conventional thinking so ingrained, no special interest so strong that it should ever stand in the way of the change that hardworking families need.

We have learned through this world downturn that markets should be free but never value-free, that the risks people take should never be separated from the responsibilities they meet.

And if perhaps some once thought it beyond our power to shape global markets to meet the needs of people, we know now that is our duty; we cannot and must not stand aside.

In our families and workplaces and places of worship, we celebrate men and women of integrity who work hard, treat people fairly, take responsibility and look out for others. If these are the principles we live by in our families and neighbourhoods, they should also be the principles that guide and govern our economic life too.

In these days the world has learned that what makes for the good economy makes for the good society.

My father was a minister of the church and I have learned again what I was taught by him: that wealth must help more than the wealthy, good fortune must serve more than the fortunate and riches must enrich not just some of us but all.
And these enduring values are the values we need for these new times.

We tend to think of the sweep of destiny as stretching across many months and years before culminating in decisive moments we call history. But sometimes the reality is that defining moments of history come suddenly and without warning. And the task of leadership then is to define them, shape them and move forward into the new world they demand.

An economic hurricane has swept the world, creating a crisis of credit and of confidence. History has brought us now to a point where change is essential. We are summoned not just to manage our times but to transform them.

Our task is to rebuild prosperity and security in a wholly different economic world, where competition is no longer local but global and banks are no longer just national but international.

And we need to understand what went wrong in this crisis, that the very financial instruments that were designed to diversify risk across the banking system instead spread contagion across the globe. And today's financial institutions are so interwoven that a bad bank anywhere is a threat to good banks everywhere.
Hear, hear Mr Prime Minister. May I also add that a bad case of injustice is a threat to justice everywhere.
Plenty more to that speech - oddly published in full only by Guardian.co.uk's website.

Wednesday In Snoopy's Work Week

Remember the famous cartoon beagle's description of Wednesday, smack in the middle of the working week? I believe the sentiment goes "Please God, Let Me Die!!!!!" (Friday is "Shopping Day!!!!")
Well, Wednesday's now, I look forward to CSI (Las Vegas, the first of Jerry B's serialised crime scene drama) and Boston Legal.
There's something very comforting about the scene where 2 utterly cynical guys sit on the rooftop and contemplate their wins and losses. More often, there's a philosophical sense of loss (of ideals, physical ability) or passing of an age of innocence and simplicity.
Having nearly lost everything myself, I share the sense of looking around this financial storm and , like Danny Crane and Alan Shore,find contentment (philosophical or otherwise sheer schadenfreude or glee at the foibles of others)in knowing that when all is lost, or won, the victim or the victor is much the same person. (In their case, they remain silly old men given to dressing up as pink flamingos - I kid you not).So, if my recent posts are kind of sombre, get a bird's eye view of things. Rudyard Kipling considers winning or losing but mere faces of some "great impostor".
Of course, sometimes the naming guys get it right. The picture is like the parliament or townhall of Hamburg. Its called Rathaus, pronounced "rat house". How about that?
Addendum: If anyone's interested, the actual lines in Kipling's "If" reads as follows:"If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same"

Turbulence Ahead - Cabin Crews, Doors To Manual

It's not possible to hold this one back. Warren Buffett, the czar of stock investing, just admitted that he made some dumb investments in 2008!
For someone who created a mantra of not investing in any business he did not understand, that's earth-shattering. Until you consider the next announcement.
AIG just announced US$62b of losses in the 4th quarter of 2008, after the US government provided a US$150b bailout! Another US$30b bailout plan was announced by the US government yesterday, just before the US$62b loss was revealed to a stunned US stock market.
Now, I'm not really sure if Warren Buffett has much invested in AIG, but there was definitely news that he was into insurance in 2008. Hmmmmm.....Anybody out there with information?
Honestly, such amounts of money are beyond my comprehension. But, does anybody really understand the mechanics of restoring confidence in any marketplace at all? Or even understand what is really going on? Insurance companies' premiums, from what little I know, are based on carefully compiled statistics as to the risk of any insurable event happening. I also happen to know that the mathematicians making the computations are highly trained brainiacs. I don't think they got the numbers wrong. Which leaves the possibility of fraud. Given the massive scale of fraud being uncovered once the markets crashed, the insurance companies must have paid off tonnes of money for claims against the ratings agencies, bankrupt banks and other financial institutions once thought "too big to fall". If that is right, bailouts might simply not be possible. You bail out ratings agencies and banks, you bankrupt the insurers. You help out the insurers, more victims just keep coming out. Remember funds which guarantee some sort of capital protection or other? Probably insurance-linked.
If you think this is getting too sophisticated, you're probably right. The head hurts. Maybe, just maybe, let's go back to simpler stuff. Mattress savers, upgrade to banks. Bank savers (guys into fixed deposits only), upgrade to government bonds. Stop there. Don't just give it to guys who have shown that they are going to buy corporate jets, throw lavish parties etc. Give or lend directly to your businessmen. Better still, earmark it for salary payments or CPF. Then the entrepreneur has to make sure he turns a profit.
Somewhere, somehow, I think the true positive out of this crisis may well be that until people believe that big money is being paid to ethical (or make that financially responsible) people, the much needed market confidence will not happen.
Ok, photo-op.

Checking The Weather?

While I believe (somewhat) in the fundamental inter-connectedness of all things (so sue me, dear departed Douglas Adams), the responses of my fellow Singaporeans never fail to astound. Last week, some STOMP blogger posted a picture of a double rainbow as a sign of better times coming. On that same vein, some chap from US of A claimed that economic recovery in America could come as early as late 2009.
Then, dramatically, during the weekend, the Merlion was struck by lightning, and the Net was abuzz with talks of the demise of Singapore. In a separate news conference, our PM said the recession could yet last many more years.
So, in the same week, 2 diametrically opposed viewpoints. Who is right?
Well, one sensible middle path is to disregard both prognoses, and focus on what each of us can do to get through this. Re-finance loans and mortgages, take up another job, hold jumble sales of items you hardly use, rent out spare rooms, whatever. Every bit helps. I particularly like the news that people are exercising more, losing some excess weight and spending more time at home with their families. Can't have enough of that.
The cutest suggestion came from an old schoolmate I met along the five-foot way near our respective workplaces. I was saying, the time has come from those who kept their money in mattresses or beneath their pillows to bail us out. He says, even better - government servants who managed to squirrel savings because most of their expenses are paid for (like transport and meals - think army guys, diplomatic corp etc). They should spend and save us all. Hmmm, on a separate note, the Merlion was struck in the head, wasn't it? (Head = Ministers and their civil servants, get it?)

Another Week Passes By

As we muddle through stimulus packages (sounding like sex tours, say comedians like Jay Leno), expert forecasts (remember the guys who said the US crisis' impact on Singapore would not be too adverse?) and so on.....I recalled an old cliche : necessity is the mother of invention.
If so, it is certainly necessary to think more creatively, not simply muddle through more "same old, same old". To climate change guys, come on, be like Bruce Willis in Armageddon! Remember, they blew up a comet or something to save the earth? To the money guys, please redistribute wealth. Nationalise wealth, not banks too big to fail. Either way, the critics will sharpen their knives at you. They care not that they have no better alternatives; not their job.
Let me show you a game I saw. See photo. You pay about $0.20 per try to fish the prawn. The mechanism's quite interesting, although you can't tell from the picture. If you succeed, just grill on the barbecue cooker next to the store. You fail, well, the storekeeper's got spare change. I don't see it in Singapore.

I know; the photographs have dried up, so here it comes.
Presenting...The Little Mermaid, a statue that sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour. It was unveiled in 1913 and has been the victim of vandals since the 1950s. She has lost her head at least twice and her right arm once, she was blasted entirely off of her rock in 2003, she’s been painted on several times, and she has had several “additions” over the years, including a burka, a dildo, a bra and a head scarf.
Yet here she remains, my photo taken in 2008. Someone once told me: if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger.
So, Li'l Mer, you go girl. Show the Singapore whinger a thing or two. Some banking fella just claimed we're going to lose 99,000 jobs by 2010, bringing unemployment to 5%, unprecedented in Singapore.
I bet he's wrong. Obama supports my belief, how about that?

A Wider Perspective

This is a little more serious than before:( . A comment about yesterday's post that a 20% discount at a thieves' bazaar should mean that thieves are having to steal more to make up for the discount got me thinking: what kind of fool worldview leads me to such preposterous conclusions.
And then it hit me - thieves don't sell the stuff they stole. "Fences" (people who sell for thieves) do. The fence works at the market, stealing money from buyers because neither thief nor fence can give legal ownership of the stolen goods! So, in the overall context, the 20% discount is truly an offer to steal less.
Relating this episode to the world (ambitious project, that), American financiers sold seemingly AAA-rated investment packages as safe and profitable ways for everyone to grow their hard-earned money. In fact, the "packages" contained "toxic assets", such as sub-prime mortgages, (Ben Benanke/Hank Paulson's words) and many people lost big time. To me, and quite a few others I'm sure, this is worse than the combination of thief and fence - there is an organized deception here, that the "instruments" are "structured products", which deceptively suggest that they have been carefully studied and approved by knowledgeable people, especially the ratings agencies.
So why isn't this phenomenon confined to the US of A? Because many other foreign banks, sovereign wealth funds, government linked corporations, etc, also invested in these packages.
So, the question is - what makes them any different from the guy who buys from the fence at Sungei Rd?

A Fresh Start

Right, after a weekend's recharge, how is the world? In Singapore, some big names in F & B (food and beverage) continue to shock. Angelo Sanelli, one of the best known names in pasta, has left his flagship Michelangelo's group. On a completely different market, Sungei Road, affectionately known as "thieves' bazaar" in the '70s, was reported to have slashed prices by 20%. Imagine a thief offering to steal less of your stuff?
Luxury stores have been known to offer discounts , reports the Sunday Times 22 Feb 2009.
Know what I think? All the talk about "bottoming out" is just denial. There's more bottoming to be done. A fresh start would be to stop all this denial and actually add a 20% discount to how low each company's net value is.
There's a fresh start.
At least, we can start looking forward to positive news from there on. If any world leader is reading this post (fat/slim chance), let him/her take note. When you are unprepared, that's the first thing your audience notices.

My 1st Down Day

"Where is the moment when we need it most. You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost ..." Daniel Powter rocks today.
Naturally, my day sucked. Big time.
On top of that, news of more people being conned of their hardearned savings just keep piling up.
But, that being said, the thought of coming back to this blog and counting the 4 good days before really helped. Hearing my kids say they missed me, ah.....
Smiles are warming my cockles. Right, let me just sign off with this thought: you can choose to feel glad/sad. I choose to be happy. Go, ManYoo!

Don't Just Relax 1 Corner, Live Till U Kena Shiok

1st, some clarifications are in order. The picture on yesterday's post is a blind musician smiling like a newly-minted millionaire.(I promised happy pictures , right).
2nd, on the same theme of free stuff. I caught the 4th Season of free-to-air (ie tv programmes where you do not need to pay $ to cable company to watch) Boston Legal.
Quite delicious to see John Larroquette take on the role of office disciplinarian in place of Rene Auberjois. Even more delicious that he's sleeping with Shirley Smitt (Candice Bergen) who (in case you don't follow the series) is the unattainable (wet)dreamgirl of office naughty-boy lawyers, Danny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader). The only let down is that James Spader's usually eloquent Alan Shore was not his usual self, because he went ga-ga over the opposing counsel's lady lawyer (who was having sexual trysts with Spader's character, Alan Shore) in the court lift (of all places). Mind you, he was arguing that his client should be excused from honouring a $2.3m pledge to fund Stamford University's research into climate change because she just discovered that an oil company just pledged $100m in the same program. The client's point is that the $100m corrupts the independence of research against the use of non-fossil fuel (used in petroleum) in the interest of the oil companies!
Us lawyers live for this stuff. Come on David E, you can do better than that.
Overall, considering the acting chops of this stellar cast, I saw better acting from the cast of this season-opening episode of CSI(Las Vegas).(Strange for a CSI eposide, the action is quite tame and acting quite good - as compared with, say, David Caruso's CSI Miami Horatio Caine with his melodramatic lines like "do it", "give me birds in the sky". Don't ask me why it's alright for Leo DiCaprio to say "I am the king of the world!") Anyway, please don't subscribe to cable just because I blogged that! Remember, in a few weeks, CSI will likely be aired on Mediacorp's free-to-air. Unless you're already hooked by SCV(Singapore's monopolistic cable network).
3rd, wouldn't it be more creative if politicians who found themselves victimised by nude pictures of them being circulated on the Net, do a Paris Hilton instead of quitting? That is to say, they might consider offering to give free videos of themselves to people who sign declarations that they voted for the victim? Ok, scratch that, silly thought. But hey, ideas are free, so long as they are not treasonous.......right?
Weather forecast - would you believe , in the midst of this job loss crisis, there are still people who say "this job sucks, I won't do it". Really.

What We Can Still Enjoy For Free In This Financial Squeeze

Some practical stuff first:
1. Chinese and Hindu Temples actually offer free vegetarian food. If you feel bad about eating for free, donate what you think you can afford in the donation box. Ok, please be honourable about it. Don't bring plastic containers for the next 3 meals, please.
2. Singapore libraries provide free internet access and free electrical powerpoints. Not to mentioned air-conditioned comfort on an intolerably hot day. Go on, especially if you paid taxes.
3. On weekends, Chinatown and Little India provide free shuttle buses to Orchard Road. Also, free shuttle services run from Clementi Rd to IMM Jurong, and Compassvale to Parkway Parade, I think. 11am to 9pm.
4. The museuems are free on Sundays and Public Holidays. Free entertainment. Sometimes, free movies are available at community centres, Fort Canning etc.
5. For the really desperate, there's Mr Bean shows at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Ok, now for some erm...well... you judge for yourself.
6. Smile instead of make-up. I swear, one day I saw a slightly plump lady, some wrinkles, a trace of greying hair gave a perfectly radiant smile. The next moment, I saw a slim (read - no visible trace of fat), younger lady, no grey hair with a stretched face suggesting some cosmetic surgery. However, her look was sour; weighed down perhaps by this climate of possible retrenchment. Guess who looked better?
Ok, just so there's no confusion, the picture with this post is not related to these ladies.
7. Watching some poor worker bee scurrying around, possibly to save his job. It's a matter of perspective: if I've been retrenched, I could empathise with him and feel sad, or thank heavens I'm now free from that worry (about losing jobs). If I still have a job, I could feel thankful I'm not scampering about like that; or curse our respective bosses. Either way, the choice is also free:)
8. Look at postings like mine. Again, you can join the crusade to enjoy life, or cuss like a sour puss.

Oops, I Goofed!

I didn't really answer my question , right? Is this really like the Great Depression in 1930s?
I'm no economist, so I can't really make the statistical comparisons, such as cost of living indices, purchasing power parity etc (ow, my tongue is hurting....)
I guess it's much better in some ways, and much worse in others (so lamely equivocal).
How is it better? Well, the technology's much better, there's quite a lot of cool, free stuff which empowers the individual. For instance, I can learn how to create animated pictures, learn to play the piano and even master some foreign language all from the internet. (It's especially good if you're using free internet access from Singapore's public libraries - some of them have power sockets so, even the electricity's free). In short, life's more fun. Really!
What's worse, then? Well, the scale of sheer scale of greed and outright dishonesty which led to the markets collapse, banks and financial institutions tottering, it's a shame to be part of the human race (don't even get me started on global warming). If you believe in penance, it would seem like cosmic karma that heat waves, and financial disasters are happening before our eyes.
Whoa, wait a doggone minute! Is there a point to all this rambling? Well....yeah (sort of). We can all do something about it. Dammit, we're a little smarter, now. The range of skills which the average Joe Blo is capable of, is simply staggering. So what can we do? I don't know, post blogs, send flyers, contact your friends in places high and low . Start self help groups, engage in recycling. Maintain networks to help the needy. Volunteer to put out neighbourhood fires. Feed a hungry child. Teach someone to fish, write a song. Live!!!!
The 1930s never had it this good:)

A Very Bad Beginning

I wanted to start this blog much earlier (like before 31 Dec 2008), to encourage my friends to look on the bright side; but a series of unfortunate events blocked my blogging (writer's blog?)

After endless rounds of procrastination, I decided: it's now or never.

You see, I feel destined to do this somehow. I read somewhere that a lawyer who lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s kept a diary throughout the economic upheavals which saw a lot of shattered lives and dreams, but somehow he kept at it and emerged from the dark times into a revitalised America which made a huge impact on the world order.

Well, I am a lawyer, who was punished (unfairly, in my view) by being prevented from earning a living doing what I did best: lawyering (which is not to say that I'm outstanding in that field; just that I seem best able to earn a living in that way). However, I am now immensely grateful that the inevitable result of my suspension was that I was forced to sell down whatever I could to provide for my family, being the sole breadwinner.

The end result of that "tragedy" (still can't believe I can now use inverted commas on this word; I was all but crying my eyes out on the inside) was that I had absolutely nothing to invest, nor place with esoteric financial instruments which turned out to be massive scams!

Now that I've come back to practising law with a vengeance (barely exaggerating), I found myself climbing from rock bottom (or ground zero) way ahead of the economy.

But, enough about me. The surprise is, I have found other places which thrived and prospered beside myself. Here are some images from Taiwan, where I'd recently visited. Look on and, I fervently hope, smile and whistle/rap/dance a jig. Life is good!

If I chance upon other scenes which show that the human spirit (and determination to survive)continues to thrive, I'll upload for you to see.