KOH'S SPACE: January 2012

Saturday 28 January 2012

Ministers' Pay Debate - Discerning The Forest From The Trees.

If you have missed last week's 3 days of Parliamentary Debate on the Ministers' Pay, you have missed witnessing an important juncture of our Parliamentary democracy. The debate was engaging and robust from Members of Parliament from both the Ruling Party and the Workers' Party. I saw the beginning and evolving momentum of a 2-Party system in the Parliament - an anathema to some of the "Old Guards" in the Ruling Party. In fact some members of the Ruling Party tried to hammer out a bi-partisan consensus on the motion which to the credit of the Workers' Party refused to come on board. I see the fundamental and logical arguments of the Workers' Party based on the following sequence of the 3 principles:

1) Political Office is a calling, a privilege - who better to represent this calling than Mr Chen Show Mao himself who gave up a lucrative legal job to become an MP. An MP is elected by the people first before he can become a Minister. And the Minister is not selected from the private sector by the Prime Minister.

2) Competitive Salary - As the Minister has first to be an MP, logically his pay should be bench-marked against an MP's allowance which the WP calculated to be $11,000 pm (the norm in the senior level civil service pay) From here the WP extrapolated the entry-level Minister's pay to be 5 times($55,000 pm) and the PM's 9 times ($99,000 pm)

3) Clean Wage - The WP stipulated that the bonus payments for Ministers should not be more than 5 months (the Review Committee recommended 13.5 months) as an average worker gets about 3 to 4 months bonus in a very good year.

The WP stated that the Cabinet is a Constitutional extension of the Parliament and thereby under the Legislative control of the Parliament.

Well, this will not be the last time we hear of Ministers' pay. But at least I get educated on the matter - who say competitive ideas/viewpoints have no merit?

Monday 16 January 2012

Wishing You A Blessed & Prosperous Chinese New Year Of The Dragon.

MY FAMILY AND I WISH EVERYONE A BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE DRAGON! EVERY DAY GIVEN TO YOU IS A MIRACLE. CHERISH AND APPRECIATE YOUR BLESSINGS!

GONG XI GONG XI WAN SHI RU YI!

Saturday 7 January 2012

Wisdom of Solon

It has been said that lower-class people talk about people; the middle class, things; and the upper class, ideas. I think wisdom is for all classes. Solon was a stateman, lawmaker and poet of Athens (638BC - 559BC) He was invited by King Croesus of Sardis who was then considered one of the richest person in the world to witness the monstrous wealth and the riches of his kingdom. Croesus was so proud that he asked Solon who could match his opulence. Solon replied that he knew of a citizen in Athens by the name of Tellus who was honest, ordinary man, good father, grandfather to his sons' children and died in glory fighting for his country. He added his countrymen believed in simple things, vision and might not be of importance and significance to the King. He elaborated that man's life is subject to chance and vicissitudes of life - disaster can befall anyone anytime by surprise so no one can consider one successful until one has died well and his fortune still intact in the end. Fearing that he might have angered the King, his friend Aesop (famous for the Aesop's fables) who was also there advised him thus "Either we must come to mighty men at all or we must try to please them" Solon replied "Either we must come to mighty men, or we must tell them the truth" Subsequently, King Croesus was defeated by King Cyrus of Persia and was taken prisoner. Before he was to be burned at the stakes, he cried out the name of Solon 3 times. King Cyrus asked him who was this man Solon. Croesus told him of this wise man of Greece who taught him of his foolish prosperity, foresaw his present misery and advised him to consider that no man is happy until he died well. The happy ending was Croesus was honoured as one of the Counselors in King Cyrus's Court. In the last financial crisis which has yet to take its full course many high-flying Hedge Fund managers and bankers were made to eat humble pies. As they said "it ain't over till it's over"

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For Reflection:

1) Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. .....Socrates.

2) The more the State 'plans', the more difficult planning becomes for the individual. .....Friedrich von Hayak.

3) Workers spend what they get, capitalists get what they spend......Michael Kalecki.

4)) We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize......Thich Nhat Hanh.

5) Figures don't lie, but liars figure......Mark Twain.

6) God's face is in every face, a God who comes to us disguised as life. .......Daniel O'Leary.

7) Demograhics are the future that has already been written. .....Phillip Longman

8) No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading or surrender yourself to self chosen ignorance. .....Confucius.

9) Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. .....Leo Tolstoy.

10) Count your many blessings - birthday by birthday! ..... Our Daily Bread.

11) Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking. .....Marcus Aurelius.

12) Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless......Isaiah 10:1-2.

13) Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes......Prov. 26: 4-5.

14) Men go to see mountains and valleys, but pass themselves by. .......St Augustine.

15) Man is worthy of praise and blame solely in respect of such actions as it is within his power to do or abstain from. .....Leonardo Da Vinci.

16) Prediction is very difficult especially if it is about the future. .....Nils Bohr.

17) The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinion. .....Leonardo Da Vinci.

18) Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ...... Benjamin Franklin.

19) No man is free who is not a master of himself.....Epictetus.

20) I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. ......Mark Twain.

21) When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing. ..... Proverbs 11:7.

22) Governments need enemies to frighten their people with, frightened people being more easy to lead. .....Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.

23) Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is friend of a man who gives gifts. .....Prov. 19:6.

24) Don't be afraid to grow old; God goes with you! ....Our Daily Bread.

25) The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old. .....Prov. 20:29.

26) The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn to avoid being deceived by economists. ......Joan Robinson (an economist).

27) The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. ....Prov.14:20.

28) People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. .....George Orwell.

29) The real conspiracy in the financial sector is the sound of silence. ......Philip Augar.

You Are Welcome!

In this age and time, the sharing of views and comments contributes to humanity's knowledge and understanding. As they say, minds sharpen minds!!

Food For Thought:

1) To stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment .....Henry David Thoreau.

2) Two greatest tragedies in life - not getting what we want, and getting it. Both yield exactly the same result - Dissatisfaction ......Oscar Wilde.

3) It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth .....Charles Caleb Colton.

4) Continuous effort, not strength or Intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential .....Winston Churchill.

5) To live simply so others may simply live .....Gandhi.

6) The purpose of sharing God's truth is to profit others, not to prosper ourselves .....Our Daily Bread.

7) How lucky it is for rulers that men cannot think .....Hitler.

8) Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians .....Charles de Gaulle.

9) It is essential for a prince to be on friendly footing with his people, since, otherwise he will have no resources in adversity.....Machiavelli.

10)When a hundred intelligent heads are united in a group, the result usually is one big fathead ....Carl Jung.

11) A society that does not value its older people denies its roots and endangers its future .....Nelson Mandella.

12) You couldn't be in politics if you didn't have a thick skin. There are people who say things .... Michelle Obama.

13) If the past is over, and the future has not yet come, all that exists is now: how long does now last .....St. Augustine.

14) A person who is obsessed with personal gains and losses can never have an open heart, or a calm, unperturbed mind, nor can they have true courage ....."Confucius From The Heart" - Prof. Yu Dan.

15) To be simple is the best thing in the world; to be modest is the next best thing. I am not sure about being quiet .....G K Chesterton.

16) But what is philosophy? Does it not mean making preparations to meet the things that come upon us .....Discourses.

17) Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value .....Albert Einstein.

18) Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not ....Ralph W Emerson.

19) The most valuable Christmas decoration is a Christ-like life ....The Upper Room.

20) It's frightening to think that you might not know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by people who have faith that they know exactly what's going on ......Amos Tversky.

21) The home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God......Revelation 21:3.

22) The God who has sustained you through 2011 will walk with you through 2012 .....The Upper Room.

23) It's not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid .....Charlie Munger.

24) There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible and wrong - H. L. Mencken.

25) Fish see the bait, but not the hook, men see the profit, but not the peril ..... Chinese Proverb.

26) We are always getting ready to live, but never living ..... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

27) Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside ..... Albert Schweitzer.

28) The best university that can be recommended to a man of ideas is the gauntlet of the mobs ..... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

30) I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it ......Voltaire.

31) It's impossible to wring our hands when they are folded before God in prayer ..... Our Daily Bread.

32) Stop worrying - no one gets out of this world alive! ...... Clive James.

33) Life is predicament which precedes death ..... Henry James.

34) Conversion takes only a moment - transformation takes a lifetime ..... Our Daily Bread.

35) In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People Like Government ..... Thomas Caryle.

36) The line between good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts ..... Aleksander Solzhenitsyr.

37) Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities ..... Voltaire.

38) Confidence in God's presence is our comfort .....Our Daily Bread.

39) The fact that people will be full of greed, fear or folly is predictable. The sequence is not predictable ..... Warren Buffett.

40) The definition of hope is something you believe when it is hard ...... Barack Obama.

41) The idea of meritocracy may have many virtues but clarity is not one of them ..... Amartya Sen.

42) Revenge imprisons us; forgiveness sets us free. .......Our Daily Bread.

43) He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise. .......Lao-Tzu.

44) Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential. .....Ayn Rand.

45) Virtuous government is not just maintenance of order but more importantly, the establishment of conditions of human dignity; if a State fails in the latter cause, it will arouse all kinds of resistance, and opposition from people's conscience will be in the lead among them......Thomas Aquinas.

46) The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well......Hippocrates.

47) We are spiritual beings with human experiences. There are spiritual solutions to all problems if we remain connected to God. ......Dr Wayne Dwyer.

48) Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. .....Edward Abbey.

49) Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. ......Aldous Huxley.

50) The gift of God's presence through you is your gift to the world. ......Our Daily Bread.

51) Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. ..... Corrie ten Boom.

52) It takes the storm to prove the real shelter. ..... Our Daily Bread.

53) Let China sleep, for when she awakes, she will shake the world. .....Napoleon Bonaparte.

54) Everything must be learned, from talking to dying. .....Gustave Flaubert.

55) What I believe about God is the most important thing about me. .....A.W. Tozer.

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