In his first public comment on the canine proliferation in Singapore, PM Lee's advice is to maintain a certain balance and not get worked up every time someone misspeaks."
At first glance the word seems to be taken directly out of the Orwellian lexicon of Newspeak, the fictional language in George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", a deliberately impoverished language promoted by the state. Closely based on English, it has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. This suits the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim is to make any alternative thinking impossible by removing any word or possible construct which describes the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on. One character in the book, Syme, says admiringly of the shrinking volume of the new dictionary: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."
The Merriam dictionary actually defines it as:
1: to speak (as a word) incorrectly
2: to express (oneself) imperfectly or incorrectly
MG "keechiu" Chan Chun Sing's own take on the same PRC scholar utterance preaches, "We must never justify the comment by responding to it in a manner that validates the comment." Now that could easily be misconstrued as cocking a snook at Baey Yam Keng's infamous repartee, "I think first of all, these are behaviours (sic) that this gentleman has picked up. We need to reflect upon ourselves, are we the way they described?" Did MG Chan mis-speak, or was it Baey, self -acclaimed somebody at a top PR company, who mis-spoke? Frankly, we don't give a hoot what these pups are yapping about, all that bothers us is that if they don't say what they mean, how can they ever mean what they say?
Yesterday PM Lee was reminded of what he told Lianhe Zaobao in April 2011, that he would not use by-elections to bring in losing candidates who contested in the GE, "as elections were a serious matter". Asked if he still held the same view, he said "I have to see what exactly I told Zaobao, the circumstances then. It would depend on the situation." Whether he mis-speak or mis-spoke, one thing's for certain, plenty of guys will be getting worked up.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Bad Habits
Established in 1854, Chijmes was once the original site of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. Chijmes became a lifestyle destination after a $100-million makeover was completed in 1996. Archbishop Nicholas Chia of the Catholic Church in Singapore took offence with the planned "sacrilegious night of partying” scheduled there for Saturday 7 April, eve of Easter Sunday. Naturally police reports were filed, and letters went out to various ministries with the alphabet soup acronyms like MHA, MCYS and MICA.
Director of organiser Creative Insurgence, Aaghir Yadav, pleaded in vain, “The overlap with Easter weekend was not intended to be offensive. We have since been in touch with the Archbishop’s office to explain our position and have apologised for offending anyone unintentionally,” he said. According to his AngMoh mindset, there was also nothing offensive with the "nun-inspired Cosplay costumes". Nice try, but no cigar.
Landlord Perenial Retail Management, through counsel, asked the sacrilegious parties involved to cease and desist, threatening legal action to ensure enforcement if necessary. He may not fear God, but lawyers are more scary in Singapore. Yadav capitulated:
The religious symbolism referenced has to be the young women (un)dressed in skimpy nun-like habits, with skirt lengths way shorter than mid-thigh length. Not exactly the outfit worn by Julie Andrews in "Sound of Music", a movie classic also with primary focus on the music, albeit not the kind Creative Insurgence had in mind for the Escape Chapel Party. A safer choice would have been Humpty Dumpty, as in Easter eggs, a thoroughly family oriented wholesome recommendation except for the cholesterol. But that would have been so incompatible with the SIN in today's Singapore.
Landlord Perenial Retail Management, through counsel, asked the sacrilegious parties involved to cease and desist, threatening legal action to ensure enforcement if necessary. He may not fear God, but lawyers are more scary in Singapore. Yadav capitulated:
"It has come to our attention that Perennial (Singapore) Retail Management Pte Ltd, the landlords for Chijmes has intervened to immediately stop the event planned for Saturday. Therefore, despite our best intentions to move forward - after having apologised for unintentionally offending the Catholic community - and to carry on with an event that aimed to showcase the sounds of one of UK's most popular recording labels and super-clubs, we will have to cancel the event.
We would like to reiterate that we used no religious symbolism in any of our marketing and promotional materials and had no intention to cause any upset. "
The religious symbolism referenced has to be the young women (un)dressed in skimpy nun-like habits, with skirt lengths way shorter than mid-thigh length. Not exactly the outfit worn by Julie Andrews in "Sound of Music", a movie classic also with primary focus on the music, albeit not the kind Creative Insurgence had in mind for the Escape Chapel Party. A safer choice would have been Humpty Dumpty, as in Easter eggs, a thoroughly family oriented wholesome recommendation except for the cholesterol. But that would have been so incompatible with the SIN in today's Singapore.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Gupta's Expensive Buy
We should be used to this kind of incestuous deals by now. DBS pays $9.1 billion to buy 67% of Bank Danamon Indonesia, the stake which is held by Temasek Holdings. What is the message here? That Danamon will perform better under ownership of DBS, or Temasek is tired of Danamon's record of returns since its acquisition in 2003?
Critics are already saying India import Piyush Gupta overpaid - a premium of 56.3 percent over last month's average share price. Another big spender, foreign talent Philippe Paillart, blew $10 billion for Dao Heng Bank in 2001, an investment DBS had to write down twice. Bank Danamon's shares surged 50 percent at the news, meaning Gupta will be blowing more money to acquire the outstanding shares. From whence did DBS and Temasek get its original seed money in the first place - you know the answer to this one.
The real interesting bit is to come - we are talking about the country that refused to sell us sand, and still pissed off with the extradition impasse of crooked businessmen parking their ill gotten funds here. Reuters are already reporting that some Indonesian bankers would try to block the deal and were considering a media campaign targeting public opinion in the hope of influencing politicians.
"You're going to see some movements to halt this deal in the coming days," said a senior executive of a rival local bank, who asked not to be named because of what he called the sensitivity of the issue. "This is about nationalism. We don't have to be afraid of Singapore ... We're going to raise this case to parliament, the central bank and (banking regulator) Bapepam," he added.
Bankers and industry analysts generally agree there is little scope for a rejection of the deal on strict regulatory grounds, but a politically focused campaign could prove unpredictable. Looks like there are going to be more excuses to delay the Hougang by-election.
Critics are already saying India import Piyush Gupta overpaid - a premium of 56.3 percent over last month's average share price. Another big spender, foreign talent Philippe Paillart, blew $10 billion for Dao Heng Bank in 2001, an investment DBS had to write down twice. Bank Danamon's shares surged 50 percent at the news, meaning Gupta will be blowing more money to acquire the outstanding shares. From whence did DBS and Temasek get its original seed money in the first place - you know the answer to this one.
The real interesting bit is to come - we are talking about the country that refused to sell us sand, and still pissed off with the extradition impasse of crooked businessmen parking their ill gotten funds here. Reuters are already reporting that some Indonesian bankers would try to block the deal and were considering a media campaign targeting public opinion in the hope of influencing politicians.
"You're going to see some movements to halt this deal in the coming days," said a senior executive of a rival local bank, who asked not to be named because of what he called the sensitivity of the issue. "This is about nationalism. We don't have to be afraid of Singapore ... We're going to raise this case to parliament, the central bank and (banking regulator) Bapepam," he added.
Bankers and industry analysts generally agree there is little scope for a rejection of the deal on strict regulatory grounds, but a politically focused campaign could prove unpredictable. Looks like there are going to be more excuses to delay the Hougang by-election.
Monday, April 2, 2012
A Matter Of Expectations
The Bukit Brown saga proved a new paradigm for "consultative governance" is in place. The man at the centre of the cemetery engagement effort, Tan Chuan-Jin, says he has no regrets about reaching out to interest groups on various policies. He attributed the disappointment of the soured interested parties to a "mismatch in expectations". "Everyone came in with their own expectations," he wrote, implying that everyone should have realised that the government's expectation comes first. Always have, always will be.
Following the Woodlands group who objected to the building of an elder-care centre at the void deck of their HDB blocks, residents at Toh Yi estate voiced their grouses on 8 February against similar intentions for a plot of land at the junction of Toh Yi Road and Toh Yi Drive.
On 5 March, HDB officials distributed a circular to all the 1,600 residents in the area confirming it will stick to its original plan to build a block of 130 studio apartments, despite howls of protest and a signed petition. It rejected alternative sites suggested by 230 residents in the estate,including one just 20m away near Block 17 instead. MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Sim Ann described HDB's decision as "a reasonable outcome that addresses the overall interests of residents in our estate".
On 1 April, the signboard is already is in place. Notice the dateline for application is 3 April - gives you the feeling that the plan was in place all along. The writing is literally on the wall. Sim Ann's "reasonable outcome" is not too dissimilar from BG Tan's. When Irving C. Johnson, who started the save Bukit Brown petition, called on the government to conserve what little is left of local history, the reply was a simplistic “Bukit Brown is needed in the future for housing." Quite likely the alternate sites for the Toh Yi project are also "needed for housing", as in more money to be made from private development instead of public housing requirements.
Whether the protesting parties are dead wrong or plain selfish is subject for separate debate, but it is clear that the wayang continues to play on like the insufferable afternoon soap operas. Why pretend to listen to alternative views when your mind is decided on a blinkered course of action?
Following the Woodlands group who objected to the building of an elder-care centre at the void deck of their HDB blocks, residents at Toh Yi estate voiced their grouses on 8 February against similar intentions for a plot of land at the junction of Toh Yi Road and Toh Yi Drive.
On 5 March, HDB officials distributed a circular to all the 1,600 residents in the area confirming it will stick to its original plan to build a block of 130 studio apartments, despite howls of protest and a signed petition. It rejected alternative sites suggested by 230 residents in the estate,including one just 20m away near Block 17 instead. MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Sim Ann described HDB's decision as "a reasonable outcome that addresses the overall interests of residents in our estate".
On 1 April, the signboard is already is in place. Notice the dateline for application is 3 April - gives you the feeling that the plan was in place all along. The writing is literally on the wall. Sim Ann's "reasonable outcome" is not too dissimilar from BG Tan's. When Irving C. Johnson, who started the save Bukit Brown petition, called on the government to conserve what little is left of local history, the reply was a simplistic “Bukit Brown is needed in the future for housing." Quite likely the alternate sites for the Toh Yi project are also "needed for housing", as in more money to be made from private development instead of public housing requirements.
 |
| Click to see the big rush to get it done |
Sunday, April 1, 2012
No April Fool Joke
SP Services says "the increase in fuel oil price saw a corresponding increase in price of gas which is used for power generation in Singapore" i.e. they are now shifting blame from the oil price to gas price. Oil or gas, surely there are futures contracts to hedge against?
The Energy Market Authority has this blurb about vesting contracts being introduced in 1 Jan 2004. The key policy objective of the vesting contract regime was supposed to curb market power in order to promote efficiency and competition in the electricity market for the benefit of consumers. The vesting contracts are bilateral electricity contracts between generation companies and SP Services. Under the vesting contracts, the generation companies are committed to sell a specified amount of electricity (viz. the vesting contract level) at a specified price (viz. the vesting contract price). This was meant to remove the incentives for generation companies to exercise their market power by withholding their generation capacity to push up spot prices in the wholesale electricity market.
EMA reviews both the vesting contract (last updated per addendum 4 in March 2011) and the parameters used to set the vesting price every two years.
So how is it the price to the consumer is jerked every quarter? When the Natuna Gas Supply was negotiated, surely it was on a longer term than quarterly basis? After EMA engaged Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) to review the tariff formula in 2009, the net result was that the fuel component of the tariff was revised based on the 3 months of the preceding quarter instead of the last month. But the vesting price is still tweaked every quarter. It's like what Gerard Ee and and his merry men did: after so much "deliberation", and paying some consultant $860,000, the Ministers are still living it up with at least a million dollars every year, thanks to the creative bonuses. And the taxpayers are still footing the bill - if not from the electricity bill, it's the ERP, COE, GST, HDB pricing, transport fares, health care charges, university fees, etc, etc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
