#243

It is  NOT

the strongest of the species that survives,

nor the most intelligent;

 

it  IS  the one

that is most adaptable to

change.

Charles Darwin

#242 swine flu

Ouch! Swine flu (H1N1 influenza A) floating in air.

The first case of humans transmitting viruses to pigs?

Will there be a slaughter of pigs around the world?

Travellers returning from Mexico are quarantined in different countries as prevention and precaution measures. I’m reminded of the SARS that happened in 2003, almost around the same time.

This time around, it began on the other side of the globe, Mexico — 22 fatals and 568 infected to date. Hopefully there will be no pandemic. I believe, many Asian countries will take draconian approach to this. So what is the hallebaloo between Mexico and China or any Asian countries?!

Ironically New Zealand, a country where she has kept herself well contained, could be the country where her nationals were infected as result of a group of students visiting there. Hopefully there will not be fatalities or further spread!

Prevention is better than cure…rather — It’s better safe than sorry!

Update 6 May 2009: This website gives a comprehensive understanding http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/swine-flu/MY00675

UPDATE 27 May 2009: Singapore confirms her first case — a 22-year-old SMU girl-student who went to NY from May 14-24 (on holiday? purpose?). Unfortunately she passed through the thermal scanner at the airport eventhough she had developed coughing on-board but sought medical help late morning…

UPDATE: WHO declared swine flu a pandemic (June 13?).

UPDATE 25 June 2009: To date, Singapore has increased to 220 cases of swine flu — are these imported from the school holidays travels?

              By comparison, considering the small size of population, 220 cases is relatively high– less than a month when first confirmed!

#241 food poisoning

The hygiene rating for local food centers is questionable.

Previously under the HDB, complaints lodged that the food centers were not as clean and rats found visiting certain areas at dark but there was no case of death reported.

However, recently two elderly died after eating rojak (a local salad) and many had food poisoning at Geylang Serai food center. Two days ago, people had food poisoning from eating steamboat. (Steamboat is diners cooking uncooked food — meat and vegetables — over boiling hot soup under gas flame laid on the table.)

Rats were caught at night– around 70?

Today, foods sold in the wet markets or supermarkets are generally fresh.

Has the level of environment cleanliness dropped?

In the past, when locals were employed to do such menial tasks, there were no cases of emergencies reported except complaints. Today, are we depending too much on foreign workers? Mind you their level of cleanliness differs that of our locals. Who is to blame then?

#240 thai red-tees

Sad indeed to see and hear that the red-tees protestors (of ousted and exiled Thaksin) stormed into the venue where the Asian Summit leaders were to meet over the weekend. The leaders were evacuated and the meeting cancelled.

These protestors appear to become bolder and bolder as the day passes…

“The government can’t do anything,” said Lada Yingmanee, a 37-year-old protester. “We will show them what tens of thousands of unarmed civilians can do. The people will finally rule our beloved Thailand.”

Speaking to the crowd at Government House, the prime minister’s office, a protest leader, Jakrapob Penkair, said a state of emergency was “a declaration of war against the people of Thailand.”

He added: “They will try to disperse the crowds, but we will remain at Government House. We will start a people’s war.”

They became lawless to the point of attacking the car of the prime minister! Have they disregarded the Parliament which appointed Abhisit as their prime minister?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7989023.stm

 “I believe the people have seen what happened to me,” Mr. Abhisit said on television shortly afterward. “They have seen that the protesters were trying to hurt me and smash the car.”

Do these protestors have an alternative person in mind if they had wanted the present prime minister out? Or are these protestors fighting air?

Have the red-tees fallen into the hand of Thaksin who had been making nightly broadcasts (according to sources) from Dubai, UAE?

In the midst of the global financial crisis and economic downturn, are those without jobs joining in these groups hoping for a miracle? Or, is this one way of making a few bahts to survive for the moment?

“We need reconciliation, and I don’t see any sign that it is coming,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University. “Signs are pointing in the opposite direction, which is that things are going to get worse.”

It is a situation that Mr. Thaksin may be hoping to exploit, Mr. Thitinan said, in which he could return as the only person to bring the red shirts under control.

“Right now the red shirts are on the resurgence, and we don’t know where they are going with it,” Mr. Thitinan said. “But the pendulum is likely to swing to very suppressive tactics and brutal and harsh reactions from the right, the establishment.”

#239 oldest person in the world

Can you imagine living to 130 years old?

From the news on the BBC, I read and viewed this — Sohan Dosovah from Kazakhstan, the oldest person in the world — her eyes still bright and alert:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7992696.stm.

Kazakhstan’s famous ‘130-year-old’

By Rayhan Demytrie BBC News, Karaganda, Kazakhstan “Do you remember Tsar Nikolai’s era? When the Red Army came and when Vladimir Lenin died? Well I do. So take a guess how old I am.” Meet Sohan Dosova – the newly found treasure of Kazakhstan. She is 130 years old, at least she is according to her documents. The Soviet passport issued in the early 1980s states that Sohan Dosova was born in the Karaganda region on 27 March 1879. Now after a new national census in Kazakhstan, she has been “rediscovered”. “This is a truly unique case,” says Ludmila Kolesova, the head of Karaganda region statistics agency. “According to international standards we do not usually seek proof of ID when collecting census data, but when it came to Sohan Dosova we had to check her documents and verify this information with the social services department. They confirmed her date of birth.” Tea with butter Sohan Dosova can still walk, albeit with great care, assisted by a walking stick. She eats slowly, and her favourite snack is bread soaked in tea. Sohan chews her food with a single remaining tooth. Sohan says she can no longer dance, but she enjoys singing “My secret is to add butter to my cup of tea; this is how Kazakhs like their tea,” says Sohan, speaking a mixture of Kazakh and Russian. She can still see, but has hearing problems, so most of the communication is done via her granddaughters – and there is no shortage of them. Sohan had 10 children, and three of them are still alive. Her son had seven children. One of two daughters had six children, and the other, 22. “There is a small tribe of great-grandchildren,” says 53-year-old Gulgoim, her eldest granddaughter. But when pressed, Gulgoim was unable to say just how many. Sohan Dosova has lived her entire life in Aul, a village in the central Karaganda region, the industrial heart of the country. Most of the population work in the coal mining industry. Semipalatinsk, the first Soviet nuclear test site, is nearby. Some of Sohan’s grandchildren are mentally ill. They are among thousands believed to have been victims of Soviet nuclear experiments. But Sohan has stayed healthy. “She is in good shape, alert and active,” says Valentina Shamardina, a family doctor with 40 years experience. “In my whole career I never came across cases like this. When I first arrived to do a check-up I demanded to see her passport and it all looked correct. “I’ve never heard of anyone living that long.” Frequent visitors If Mrs Dosova really is 130 years old, that would make her the oldest person in the world. But if she ever had a birth certificate, it no longer exists. A Soviet passport issued in the early 1980s makes Sohan Dosova 130 In fact few rural Kazakhs born in those days are likely to have been registered. It was common for people to make up their date of birth. Her true age is simply impossible to establish. But the local media is satisfied she’s the oldest woman in Kazakhstan. Since the results of the census were made public, journalists have become frequent visitors to Sohan’s fifth floor apartment. “This place is small, I need a bigger flat,” says Sohan. “There are too many people living in this crowded apartment, there is not enough room.” Certainly her family appear to be hopeful that all the media attention might result in an improvement to Sohan’s living conditions. But up to now, no benefactor has been forthcoming. So Sohan continues to live a simple existence in her old age, watching television, laughing and smiling. Her granddaughter Nuken claims she loves dancing, but Sohan says she is too old for that now. “I can’t dance, my knees hurt… But I can sing.” And so she gives a gruff rendition of her favourite Kazakh song.

#238 offering directions when asked

I had an interesting encounter this morning during my morning walks.

A Chinese China gentleman asked in Chinese language, “Do you know where the school for safety first is?”

My first thought was the driving school nearby…I asked, “Safety first…what do you mean? I don’t know of such school.”

He continued to ask, “A school?”

“I know of many schools around here,” I replied without understanding what he was asking. He persisted and I gave him direction to the nearest school.

He walked on and I was heading for that direction. After a short distance, he turned around and we met again. I asked, “Is that not the place that you’re looking for?”

He said, “No, I’m looking for a school that teaches safety-first to foreign workers in building and construction work.”

I still didn’t understand him but decided to ask an Indian elderly man passing by while interpreting for him. To my horror he was asking for direction to an institute that trains foreign workers on industrial safety-first.

I gave him the wrong direction…did that out of goodwill!!!

I reflected: For such matters, would it be prudent if he approached a man rather than a lady passerby for direction?

Would it be better had I said I didn’t understand him and walked away rather than giving wrong direction?!

If I had walked away, would I give the foreigner the impression that I was callous and unfriendly? If I gave him the wrong direction, this would exasperate him even more!

#237 earning power

Can one’s earning power reflect how capable a person is in management of a corporation? Is one’s earning the gauge of his capability in running for offices in politics?

Recently theonlinecitizen.com posted that the Singapore Prime Minister gets $2.7 million per annum, topping the list of being the highest paid politician in the world — the US President, a token sum of $400K and many of the Western counterparts get much less!

You see in the West, if one wants to run for the top job in politics, one needs to be a millionaire first but in the Singapore context — if one  wants to be a millionaire, then join the existing political party and of course after stringent scrutiny on qualifications to office.

The rationale to reward high salaries to the governing leaders in Singapore is to attract good and able people into governance and to prevent leaders from using illegal means and ways of accumulating one’s wealth!

Mind you, Singapore is a tiny state to govern by contrast to the US or UK or France!

#236 church pastor paid 500K per year?

Fancy that..I read that New Creation Church pays her leaders — pastor, Joseph Prince — an annual sum of 500K and 2 others for sums of 100K each for work done in the church!

Mind you, when the pastor marries a couple in church, he gets an angpaw; at funeral wakes he is given an offering or gift; as a matter of fact for any occasion, even speaking engagements — a pastor receives extras! On top of that, he is given housing allowances, children’s education and transport allowance. Wow! Half a million dollars of pocket money! Does the pastor have to pay income tax for that he receives? All those gifts he receives – are these accounted for or these go into his own pocket?

Furthermore, the New Creation has to pay the venue used for Sunday services at Suntec City and other overhead costs. Where does this money come from?

I believe the money comes from the sacrificial giving of believers. Do believers know how much their pastor and some staff-workers are paid?

I thought the church ministers receive a stipend!

Is this what the Lord Jesus Christ taught His people to tithe — 10% of the monthly income – for the salaries of the pastor and senior church staff-workers or administrator or accountant?

This is sacrilegious! Is there judgment of God on this at the end of world? Can these ’servants of God’ be at peace with God?

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, God gave word on sin offering in chapter 4…

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in the Lord’s command –

If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring…(v.3)

If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty (v.13)…when some become aware of the sin they committed…

When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, he is guilty (v.22)…

If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s command, he is guilty (v.27)…

Is the church pastor not aware this portion of scriptures? Or these are not applicable today?

#235 hedgefunds & derivatives

I read about hedgefunds and derivatives needing more regulations on US news.

However I do recall in February of 1995, the Barings Bank founded in 1762 in Britain was bankrupted by a rogue trader who was then posted to Singapore to manage its securities arm of the bank. He speculated on some derivatives contracts that left a $1.4 billion hole in Barings balance sheet that brought its demise – the merchant bank that once financed the Napoleonic Wars, Louisiana and Erie Canal and was Queen Elizabeth’s personal bank.

Why were these instruments still in the market since?

Why did those American financial institutions rationalise in support for such instruments that had brought the demise of a 233-year-old merchant bank in 1995?

Is this one reason that created the financial blackhole which cause this global economic meltdown?

#234 thot-provoking

I read this piece on blog ‘a baseline scenario’ written by Sanjiv Gupta for Huffington Post (?) dated on 10 March 2009 under the title — The Change We Need I: A Bank for America — :

 …Rather, I want to use the crisis in our financial system to pose a fundamental question about our political system.

Consider: What is democracy?

We normally think of democracy in terms of some essential, precious rights not available in any other political system, not the least of which are the right to vote that made Obama President, and the right to express ourselves freely on websites like this one.

But now we’re compelled to ask: What does democracy mean when our lives can be so drastically affected by the Market, in which the most powerful players are people we haven’t elected, and institutions in which most of us have little say?

When the Market, an entirely human creation, can ruin us as effectively as a hurricane, sweeping hundreds of thousands of us from our homes, destroying the livelihoods of millions more, and washing away the retirement security of an entire generation?

When the actions of organizations wholly unaccountable to us can imperil our public libraries, parks, fire departments, and schools? When many of our elected representatives have facilitated these actions instead of protecting our interests?

If there is a positive side to the financial crisis, it is this: We can no longer avoid confronting the limits of our democracy when our lives and communities are thrown into such violent disarray by individuals and organizations so completely outside our reckoning. (3)

It is this same crisis, moreover, that points the way toward a more complete democracy, one in which we will have greater control over the financial system. That is because the core of any government strategy to rescue this system will be — and already has been — a massive injection of our money into it.

If we’re going to pay to save the financial system, we have the right to shape its future.

Banking and credit are the economy’s air and water. They’re too important to be left entirely to private operators whose only concern is maximizing short term profits. Yet even the most ardent mainstream proponents of nationalization assume that once this crisis passes, the government should, and will, re-privatize any financial institutions it takes over.

What then? What is to prevent these organizations from continuing to invent ever more destructive “financial weapons of mass destruction?” (4) Will they be any more accountable to us after the next cycle of boom, bubble and bust?

It is time we considered the possibility of permanent public ownership and control of a large part of the nation’s system of savings and lending.

How might this work? One way is the creation of a national public bank along the lines of a credit union. Credit unions are owned not by shareholders but by their depositors, or members. We would own a national credit union in which all of us could be members.

A national credit union would combine our deposits into a huge pool of capital to lend, invest, and do all the other things banks do. Crucially, we would exercise far greater control over such a bank than we ever could over institutions like Bank of America. Credit union members vote for their board of directors. Unlike private banks, in which the greatest influence is exercised by those with the largest number of shares, every member enjoys the same voice in a credit union — one depositor, one vote.

Would a national credit union be competitive with large private banks? Like existing credit unions, it would return profits directly to us in the form of favorable interest rates for loans and deposits. For example the typical yield on certificates of deposit at the largest credit union in my area is about one percent higher than Bank of America’s, and the yield on its best checking account is over 4%, compared to less than 1% for BoA. (5)

A national bank structured along these lines may also be safer than large private banks. Credit union managers are salaried employees who earn wage increases rather than exorbitant bonuses for good performance, which reduces their incentive to take wild risks with members’ money. This would not by itself guarantee the stability of a national credit union, but its managers and directors would at least be accountable to us if things went wrong.

This is just one way the government could use our money to create a national public bank; there are other possibilities. (6) Whatever its specific form, a permanent national bank could compete with private banks and demonstrate the benefits of a financial institution owned by, and accountable to, the people.

At stake here is not solely or even most importantly the stability of our banks; rather, it is the very character of our democracy. A large, public financial sector could be a critical piece of a new democracy in which we cannot be held hostage by organizations over which we have no control. In this new democracy, the heresy would be not the notion of public ownership of financial institutions, but rather the idea that these institutions should exert so much power over our lives without being accountable to us.

Let us use this crisis to move ourselves in the direction of such a democracy. Let us demand that the government use our money not merely to bail out Bank of America but to create a new Bank for America.
NOTES

…3. Simon Johnson, ex-chief economist at the IMF and currently at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has been one of the few mainstream commentators to correctly identify the financial meltdown as not just an economic crisis but a deeply political one. “This is, after all, a critical fight to save American democracy, and it’s good to know what we are up against.”

4. This is the now famous formulation of Warren Buffett in his 2002 letter to investors in his mutual fund (p. 15).

5. One reason this credit union may be able to offer better rates is that membership in it is open only to employees of the local educational institutions. This may be a more stable base of depositors than most private banks like BoA, and translate into better rates. This could be a problem for a large national bank open to all.

6. Gerald Epstein, an economist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, advocates a reversal of the proposal that the government should detoxify bank balance sheets by buying their bad assets. “A much better approach is to turn the formula on its head. Let the taxpayers keep the good banks and leave the bad ones for the bankers…And the bankers will have to deal with their own mess, rather than foisting it off on the rest of us.” With the new good banks, the government could create “a completely different banking environment, one with a completely different mandate and incentives” and considerably greater public accountability.