Ng E-Jay's Financial Markets Trading
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SANTIAGO, Chile: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday that the current downturn Singapore is facing is nothing quite like what the country has experienced before.
Speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his visit to Latin America, Mr Lee said that while there is still bitter medicine to be taken, the Singapore government has put a bit more sugar coating on the pill.
ST letter by Mr Toh Han Shih
ST link
I REFER to Tuesday’s letter by Mr Li Hongyi, ‘Case yet to be made’, which mentioned the challenges facing multi-party democracies.
British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill said democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. Although democracy has its problems, it provides the checks and balances necessary for the proper functioning of a government acceptable to its people.
THREE men who wore T-shirts depicting a kangaroo dressed in judge’s robes were yesterday sentenced to jail for contempt of court, after they refused to apologise for their actions.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) assistant secretary-general John Tan Liang Joo, 47, was sentenced to 15 days’ jail.
SIX more primary schools will be home to student-care centres by the end of next year as teachers and parents warm to the idea of in-house before- and after-school programmes.
Principals say the set-up allows instructors to align the centre’s programmes with the school curriculum. It also eliminates the need for students to travel before and after class.
Written by Charles Tan, for the Singapore Democrats
25 November 2008
10th December 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The story is familiar to those who know its history. It was created to prevent the atrocities that were committed in the First and Second World Wars and first adopted by 48 countries in the United Nations’ General Assembly in 1948.
As the years went by, Asian autocrats would dismiss human rights as a Western invention. Geoffrey Robertson QC, in his book, Crimes Against Humanity, countered these allegations by arguing that Asian states have in fact, been part of the process in the writing of the document.
Written by Chia Ti Lik
21 November 2008
I did my second surrender of another insurance policy last week. This time round the net worth was another measly S$6,000 or so. The loss in premiums paid up was probably about S$4,000 plus. I will probably keep this amount close at hand in cold hard cash.
A friend who knew about my dilemma had commented that I did not have much to show after investing in my insurance for a good nine years. This is undeniable. It is a settled fact that I had lost money on the deal.
Written by Ng E-Jay
27 November 2008
By now, most readers would be aware of the recent debate in the Straits Times forum page over whether Singapore is better off with a one-party or multi-party political system, ending with Mr Li Hong Yi writing that no one had made a convincing case why a multi-party system would be better for Singapore.
The standards arguments for and against multi-party democracy have been repeated many times by many people ranging from your average joe to senior politicians. At times like these when we seem to be going round in circles, it is good to take one step back and distill the essence of what both sides are trying to convey.
Written by Ng E-Jay
25 November 2008
This is my response to the TOC article entitled “SDP: Misunderstood, misguided or misaligned?” written by Mr Kelvin Lim and published on TOC’s website on 25 Nov.
Mr Lim begins his article by describing SDP as a party which is “arguably Singapore’s most controversial political party, boasting a colourful history involving ideological clashes with the government, inter and intra-party disunity and facing an inundating surge of legal lawsuits and charges.”
I have no qualms with SDP being described as colourful or controversial, since throughout history many initiators of great social and political change have invariably been described thus by their fellow men, but I take issue with Mr Lim’s inclusion of the phrase “inter and intra-party disunity”.
Written by Ng E-Jay
24 November 2008
On 23 Nov, the Sunday Times published an article written by Nur Dianah Suhaimi entitled “Tan Kin Lian eyes elected presidency“. The subtitle was “Ex-NTUC Income’s chief will run if he has 100,000 people willing to support him“. (Link)
The Sunday Times article said that he is considering standing as Singapore’s next elected president or contesting in the next general election as an independent candidate, and that “he made no bones about his political ambitions in an interview with the paper”.
IT TOOK grassroots leader Goh Peng Hong four visits over a two-month period before he finally made face-to-face contact with an Indian expatriate couple who moved into his Woodlands Drive neighbourhood.
As an Integration and Naturalisation Champion (INC) – grassroots leaders who help new immigrants integrate with the community – he wanted to meet the couple and offer them help if needed.
Singapore’s small size made it necessary to deal firmly with attacks on courts’ integrity
By Zakir Hussain
IN DECIDING whether contempt of court has been committed, many common law jurisdictions like England and Australia prefer to adopt the test of whether there has been a ‘real risk’ of undermining public confidence in the justice system.
Justice Tay Yong Kwang, however, rejected this approach for Singapore in his ruling that found the publisher of the Wall Street Journal Asia guilty of contempt of court.
WHEN investors lose money after buying ill-fated investment products, they often contemplate taking the bank or perhaps a financial adviser to court.
They want redress; they want justice; most of all, they want their money back.
Pay rose for top earners in all but one profession in benchmark, but civil service wage won’t rise
By Sue-Ann Chia
LAST year was boom time for bankers, when the bull market brought fat pay hikes and bonuses galore.
The top eight bankers had a median income of $5.92 million, the highest among six selected professions used to benchmark ministerial pay.
THERE seems to be no end in sight to the fiasco surrounding structured investment products.
In fact, signs are pointing to a prolonged resolution process that might involve more products hitting the skids, and even more investors staring at losses.
The wolves are out, baying for blood over the latest revelation that eight of the 14 town councils run by the People’s Action Party have invested $16 million of their sinking funds in troubled financial products.
The online forums are brimming with calls for heads to roll and questions on why stricter guidelines could not have been imposed on the town councils.
Town councils must be accountable to their residents for what they do with the money they collect from them, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
But the Government should not meddle with how these funds are managed, just as it does not interfere with the town councils’ other operations.
LIMA, PERU: Leaders from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies have pledged not to raise new barriers to trade and investment and refrain from imposing new export restrictions over the next 12 months.
APEC leaders also supported the broad policy response that recently came out from the Group of 20 Summit in Washington.
SINGAPORE: Low-income families who place their children in childcare will be getting more subsidies from next year and the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare will be extended beyond the fourth child.
From January 1, needy families will get between S$200 and S$340 per month, depending on a family’s monthly income, on top of the universal childcare subsidy that working mothers get.
SINGAPORE: Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council said while it is looking at safer options for investing, it will also take into account what residents prefer.
The town council had invested S$4 million in financial products linked to the now bankrupt US investment bank, Lehman Brothers. It said around half of the amount has not been written off.