It's quite obvious that this is coordinated - it can't be that so many newcomers just turn up out of nowhere and run for exco posts.
The most troubling thing about the new exco is that they refuse to disclose any information about their agenda, instead choosing to issue out meaningless vague statements.
Whatever cause this unknown group intends to promote, it doesn't justify taking over in such a fashion. Besides, if they had something to vent, why couldn't they use dialogue and SAY it out first rather than choose such a sneaky measure? And of all things, the new exco is comprised of high flyers, who of all people should have known this fact the most.
With that, is it surprising that everyone is so suspicious of them?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thailand: the army steps in
The army has finally taken sides and started taking action to disperse red shirt protesters. Even then, it seems like the army is divided, with certain officers being quoted as facing a dilemma over whether to follow orders to quell the rebellion or not. This isn't surprising given that the red-yellow divide tends to be along socioeconomic lines; it is inevitable with any army that most of the soldiers, particularly the rank and file and junior officers, come from lower socioeconomic classes.
As said before, the army's quelling of the protests only stops the violence in the short term, and definitely doesn't solve any of the underlying issues. It only raises more questions about double standards - the PAD was able to blatantly seize various public buildings and airports in the country without any reaction from the government.
Now, the question is, what is the UDD going to do in reaction to this? They have several options besides waiting for the next elections: an underground guerrilla campaign, provoke the military to crack down and thus bring international pressure on the Thai government, or perhaps even incite a mutiny in the army. Who knows? The only thing for sure is that they will retaliate in one way or another.
Either way, the Abhisit government doesn't seem to last very long in this power play.
As said before, the army's quelling of the protests only stops the violence in the short term, and definitely doesn't solve any of the underlying issues. It only raises more questions about double standards - the PAD was able to blatantly seize various public buildings and airports in the country without any reaction from the government.
Now, the question is, what is the UDD going to do in reaction to this? They have several options besides waiting for the next elections: an underground guerrilla campaign, provoke the military to crack down and thus bring international pressure on the Thai government, or perhaps even incite a mutiny in the army. Who knows? The only thing for sure is that they will retaliate in one way or another.
Either way, the Abhisit government doesn't seem to last very long in this power play.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thailand's red shirt revolution
Now the red shirts have managed to disrupt the ASEAN summit in Pattaya, to considerable embarrassment of the government.
Not surprising, given that nothing was done to stop the PAD from seizing buildings and airports last year. The message sent to them was that blatant violence can be used to achieve their means.
This protest was inevitable anyway: there was plenty of discontent in the masses bottling up against the royalists and the elite. With little way to vent their anger, it was inevitable that it would come to this.
Now it's a question as to whether the army decides to get involved, and on who's side. If things come to a head, the power struggle between Thailand's elite and masses could well turn violent.
Either way, this problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon. And the region ends up as the losers.
Not surprising, given that nothing was done to stop the PAD from seizing buildings and airports last year. The message sent to them was that blatant violence can be used to achieve their means.
This protest was inevitable anyway: there was plenty of discontent in the masses bottling up against the royalists and the elite. With little way to vent their anger, it was inevitable that it would come to this.
Now it's a question as to whether the army decides to get involved, and on who's side. If things come to a head, the power struggle between Thailand's elite and masses could well turn violent.
Either way, this problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon. And the region ends up as the losers.
North Korea's missile launch
If anything, North Korea's missile aka fake satelite launch would most probably gain it more bargaining chips, since it is now one step closer to a nuke delivery system.
From the response of the international community so far, it seems to raise a few questions:
- Pyongyang claims that the purpose of the launch was for peaceful purposes - to put a satellite broadcasting revolutionary songs and whatnot (of all things). Why did the international community do nothing to blow this lousy excuse? They could have at least demanded to send observers to inspect the so called satelite, the launch or both.
- Why should Japan allow North Korea to blatantly overfly its territory with such a rocket? The next time, North Korea might well load a few WMD warheads downrange as a gift during the next test.
This looks almost exactly like what history has already taught us so many times: let a bully take an inch from other countries unhindered by the international community, and soon they'll be out to get a mile. Britain's appeasement of Hitler and America's refusal to fight so as to win in Korea and Vietnam comes to mind.
Now that North Korea has launched its rocket, the international community should try to get them where it hurts - their money supply. Much of North Korea's income is derived from sales of illegal stuff like drugs and arms, and much of it is carried by ships. Increasing naval patrols, stopping more ships going to and from North Korea in the seas around would well hinder the flow of such contraband, and not least cause them much embarrassment when their activities are brought to light.
That said, one must hope that China and Russia do more when concerning North Korea. Both would gain something big out of it - with less instability coming from North Korea, northeast China and the Russian Far East Federal District would enjoy more development. Also, China's might be able to counter the notion that it makes friends with dictators for resources, like in Darfur and certain conflict areas of the world.
Hopefully, the international community finds a way to really give North Korea a slap in the face.
From the response of the international community so far, it seems to raise a few questions:
- Pyongyang claims that the purpose of the launch was for peaceful purposes - to put a satellite broadcasting revolutionary songs and whatnot (of all things). Why did the international community do nothing to blow this lousy excuse? They could have at least demanded to send observers to inspect the so called satelite, the launch or both.
- Why should Japan allow North Korea to blatantly overfly its territory with such a rocket? The next time, North Korea might well load a few WMD warheads downrange as a gift during the next test.
This looks almost exactly like what history has already taught us so many times: let a bully take an inch from other countries unhindered by the international community, and soon they'll be out to get a mile. Britain's appeasement of Hitler and America's refusal to fight so as to win in Korea and Vietnam comes to mind.
Now that North Korea has launched its rocket, the international community should try to get them where it hurts - their money supply. Much of North Korea's income is derived from sales of illegal stuff like drugs and arms, and much of it is carried by ships. Increasing naval patrols, stopping more ships going to and from North Korea in the seas around would well hinder the flow of such contraband, and not least cause them much embarrassment when their activities are brought to light.
That said, one must hope that China and Russia do more when concerning North Korea. Both would gain something big out of it - with less instability coming from North Korea, northeast China and the Russian Far East Federal District would enjoy more development. Also, China's might be able to counter the notion that it makes friends with dictators for resources, like in Darfur and certain conflict areas of the world.
Hopefully, the international community finds a way to really give North Korea a slap in the face.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Newton hawkers overcharging
This is one of the few times that such a case like makes it to the newspapers.
Of course, we know that this sort of things is pretty rife here: Sim Lim square, car workshops making false insurance claims, various shops all over the place, etc.
People may compare and ask why the authorities only seem to respond to tourists getting ripped off and not locals, but enough has been said on that on the blogosphere.
If this continues unabated, sooner or later Singapore is going to go down.
Why do most people trust Japanese or Swiss products and are willing to pay more for them over Chinese products? Simple. Trust. They trust that the product is built to quality standards and works. And to gain people's trust, one needs honesty. Like not substituting inferior parts or defective goods.
The same things apply to just about any other sector, and as a country even more so for Singapore. We have no resources, relatively little history, and definitely no large market like China that might attract the rest of the world. This means that the only thing that we have to justify paying more than any other regional country is in these soft values - honesty, clean government, stability and such.
Plenty of tourists come here because they want to see somewhere without the corruption and traps normally seen elsewhere around the region.
If we Singaporeans are perceived to be dishonest cheats trying to rip people off, we can soon expect us as a whole - and not just our tourist industry - to be hit big time.
Of course, we know that this sort of things is pretty rife here: Sim Lim square, car workshops making false insurance claims, various shops all over the place, etc.
People may compare and ask why the authorities only seem to respond to tourists getting ripped off and not locals, but enough has been said on that on the blogosphere.
If this continues unabated, sooner or later Singapore is going to go down.
Why do most people trust Japanese or Swiss products and are willing to pay more for them over Chinese products? Simple. Trust. They trust that the product is built to quality standards and works. And to gain people's trust, one needs honesty. Like not substituting inferior parts or defective goods.
The same things apply to just about any other sector, and as a country even more so for Singapore. We have no resources, relatively little history, and definitely no large market like China that might attract the rest of the world. This means that the only thing that we have to justify paying more than any other regional country is in these soft values - honesty, clean government, stability and such.
Plenty of tourists come here because they want to see somewhere without the corruption and traps normally seen elsewhere around the region.
If we Singaporeans are perceived to be dishonest cheats trying to rip people off, we can soon expect us as a whole - and not just our tourist industry - to be hit big time.
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Budget
This year's Budget comes amid a time of great recession. Never before has the growth forecast been revised TWICE in rapid succession before a budget announcement.
Despite that, I'm impressed by the measures put up by the Government in this year's Budget.
The Government's focus on saving jobs is a lot better than welfare schemes: it at gives people something productive to do, and more importantly, gives them a guaranteed income that they have control over. When people are on welfare, they don't spend so much, simply because they don't feel that they have the control over their cashflow. Of course, something has to be done to help those already retrenched, but schemes to help them like workplace training & allowances have already been in place for some time, so it's not worth mentioning them here.
However, it's not very clear whether this would apply to contract workers: they are the most vulnerable to job cuts, since they aren't even permanent staff. Hopefully something can be done to help them.
It's also good that the Government is also looking at the long term issues. Historically, recessions were the best times to make investment, since everything is going at pretty cheap prices.
Once the construction contracts from the boom time are completed and the construction industry gets idle, it would be a good time for the Government to use to make Singapore's infrastructure more elderly friendly.
However, I'm not so sure about having a blanket property tax rebate. Giving the rebate to landlords and encouraging them to pass it on to tenants is essentially giving the landlords money: it's highly unlikely that greedy landlords will pass the savings on, and this was pretty much the case the last few times that this was done.
As it is now, some greedy landlords are still trying to increase prices. Given this, probably a better method might be to put up some sort of rental price control - in principle restricting rental prices to a reasonable price. Landlords would have no choice but to rent out anyway, since the building can't be moved and they still have to maintain and pay property tax for the property.
Anyway, hope that this Budget helps Singapore tide over the recession.
Despite that, I'm impressed by the measures put up by the Government in this year's Budget.
The Government's focus on saving jobs is a lot better than welfare schemes: it at gives people something productive to do, and more importantly, gives them a guaranteed income that they have control over. When people are on welfare, they don't spend so much, simply because they don't feel that they have the control over their cashflow. Of course, something has to be done to help those already retrenched, but schemes to help them like workplace training & allowances have already been in place for some time, so it's not worth mentioning them here.
However, it's not very clear whether this would apply to contract workers: they are the most vulnerable to job cuts, since they aren't even permanent staff. Hopefully something can be done to help them.
It's also good that the Government is also looking at the long term issues. Historically, recessions were the best times to make investment, since everything is going at pretty cheap prices.
Once the construction contracts from the boom time are completed and the construction industry gets idle, it would be a good time for the Government to use to make Singapore's infrastructure more elderly friendly.
However, I'm not so sure about having a blanket property tax rebate. Giving the rebate to landlords and encouraging them to pass it on to tenants is essentially giving the landlords money: it's highly unlikely that greedy landlords will pass the savings on, and this was pretty much the case the last few times that this was done.
As it is now, some greedy landlords are still trying to increase prices. Given this, probably a better method might be to put up some sort of rental price control - in principle restricting rental prices to a reasonable price. Landlords would have no choice but to rent out anyway, since the building can't be moved and they still have to maintain and pay property tax for the property.
Anyway, hope that this Budget helps Singapore tide over the recession.
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