TR EMERITUS

Excerpts from Malaysiakini A day after proclaiming that 'Singh is King', DAP veteran Karpal Singh finds himself mobbed by a group of angry Umno Youth members at the Parliament lobby. This followed Karpal's accusation yesterday that the 'celaka' (damn) Umno Youth was responsible for the death threat and live bullets he had received via mail last week. Karpal had also warned Umno Youth not to play games with him and likened himself to the recent Bollywood blockbuster 'Singh is King'. At about 2.30pm, the wheelchair-bound politician was surrounded by about 30 Umno Youth members who prevented him from entering the Dewan Rakyat. Karpal then telephoned fellow DAP MP Fong Po Kuan, who arrived with a rescue team comprising DAP MPs to save their chairperson. During the ensuing drama, which saw a little shoving and pushing, DAP MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng claimed that he was assaulted. According to Lim, he was hit a number of times on the face and his body. The opposition parliamentarians also complained that security personnel did not intervene until they made noise. In an immediate reaction, Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia expressed regret over the incident, which he said was a first in Parliament. The Speaker added that he would ask the Home Ministry to investigate the matter and vowed that such incidents would not recur. Meanwhile, a defiant Karpal later declared: "I might be disabled but I will not take any intimidation from any quarters." EDITORS' NOTE: Can't imagine such a fiasco happening in Singapore. We must give the government some credit for their astute management of race relations.  Read More →

By Eugene Yeo In spite of the disastrous mistake made by Temasek and GIC in its risky forays into the finance sector which caused us to lose billions of dollars, the PAP spin doctors and apologists continue to insist that they have not "done so badly" compared to other SWFs like Kuwait and Abu Dhabi and that it is "inevitable" that the funds are performing badly in the face of the global economic crisis. Even our highly paid Prime Minister appeared to be taken in by the spins of his own propaganda mouthpiece. Speaking at the Singapore Tripartism Forum last Sunday, he said: "Some years it will go down, some years it will go up more. But on average it's not bad. And we have to take a long-term view because this is not money for now, this is money for many years ahead. If you look at a long-term basis, on the overall on the way the government has managed the money, we haven't done badly". Only fools will be taken in by such outrageous hogwash ! The unsavory truth is - Temasek and GIC's performance is nothing short of catastrophe ! The extent of our losses beg the question whether the government had  exercised due caution and diligence in the management of the funds. It is a myth that it is unavoidable that our SWFs have lost monies. In fact, there are other SWFs which are making money in such troubled times ! Since the regime has always been quick to curry favors with China, why did they hide the performance of China's SWF from Singaporeans ?? There were no reports on the performance of China's SWF in both the English and Chinese dailies.  Shouldn't we deserve to know how Temasek and GIC perform in comparison to the SWFs of other Asia countries ? "China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, made a profit of about $10 billion last year as it benefited from staying largely in cash and avoiding new investments in Western banks, a source close to the fund told Reuters on Tuesday. “Combining all the investments together, CIC is still enjoying a positive profit of slightly less than 5 percent, which is better than many other foreign wealth funds,” said the source, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media. CIC’s profitability stands in sharp contrast to the recent results of some other sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). The assets of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] shrank 31 percent to S$127 billion ($84 billion) in the eight months to November, due in part to poorly timed investments in Barclays and Merrill Lynch." (Read full article here) As the China example has shown us, it is possible to make considerable profits by simply "doing nothing" with the cash instead of throwing them at risky investments. Furthermore, it is not true that "nobody could have foreseen the financial crisis." Renowned investors George Soros, Warren Buffett and Jim Rogers had warned about the impending collapse of the United States banking sector way before the crisis stuck. As early as March 2008,  investment guru Jim Rogers had expressed his belief that US bank stocks could fall further and predicts that Singapore's state investors will lose money on their multi-billion dollar investments in Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. 'I'm shorting investment banks on Wall Street,' the long-time commodities bull told reporters in a media interview. 'It grieves me to see what Singapore is doing. They are going to lose money,' he added, referring to investments by Government of Singapore Investment Corp and Temasek in Citigroup, Switzerland's UBS and Merrill Lynch. Why didn't Temasek and GIC take note of this warning then and still go ahead and plough in more money into Citigroup and Merrill Lynch subsequently ? How much money have we been paying for the "top talents" at Temasek and GIC to manage our funds during the "good" years ? Besides the ministerial pay he is getting, how much salary is MM Lee drawing annually as GIC Chairman ? Are these salaries justified ? Since our leaders have always pride themselves as banking executives in Wall Streets who deserve to be paid at market rates, shouldn't they follow the practice in the private sector too and resign to take responsibility for the mistakes ? When they demand us to pay them out of the world salaries, shouldn't we expect them to deliver "out of the world" performance even in an economic downturn like China's Sovereign Wealth Fund ? There is absolutely no excuse for their dismal performance. Temasek and GIC are expected to generate returns even during troubling times instead of losing a bulk of our reserves ! Singapore have imported so many China nationals to our shores over the years - Chinese students, workers, prostitutes and Peidu mamas. Maybe we should bring the CIC fund managers which probably cost less than our "first world talents" over to teach our SWFs how to grow their funds for the "long term".  Read More →

By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief Results of polls in five diverse seats would be a barometer of voter sentiment nationwide KUALA LUMPUR: Five by-elections in one year is startling enough but to have three of them squashed into one month is pretty extraordinary. Two by-elections have been held since the March 2008 general election (GE), which saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition take a severe beating, turning Malaysia's political landscape topsy-turvy. Three more by-elections will be held by April. And a further two could be in the pipeline, making it seven in all. And that is just for one year. It is no surprise that many Malaysians are calling it 'a year of by-elections'. By comparison, in the last parliamentary term (2004 to 2008), there were just six by-elections, or an average of 1.5 a year. But what is particularly interesting about the five by-elections this year is the diverse range of seats. Each is in a different state (Penang, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak and Sarawak) with a different racial mix. Short of another general election, these by-elections will collectively offer a pretty accurate view of voter sentiment. Almost like a mini general election. 'It's as close as you can get,' said political analyst Ong Kian Ming who researches electoral trends. Considering that such polls arise only by chance - through a death or resignation - the coincidence could not be more stark. The death of a Sarawak assemblyman on Tuesday triggered the latest by-election. There is no date yet for the Batang Ai poll, but it is likely to be close to the April 7 by-elections in Perak and Kedah. Perak's Bukit Gantang called the poll after its MP died, while the by-election in Kedah's Bukit Selambau comes after its assemblyman quit abruptly. Earlier, there were the Kuala Terengganu and Permatang Pauh (Penang) by-elections, both won by the opposition. 'We won with a larger majority and in Malay-majority seats, against the odds. The BN poured in great resources...It is very telling,' said opposition Democratic Action Party MP Liew Chin Tong. Both seats, in semi-urban areas, offered a gauge of the Malay vote - Kuala Terengganu's voter population was almost 90 per cent Malay, and Permatang Pauh's was 70 per cent. It was a sweet victory for the opposition, which had an uphill task convincing Malay voters that their interests were not being sidelined in favour of the non-Malays. The next two by-elections - in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau - are also in semi-urban seats, but with a different racial mix. In both seats, the Malay voters comprise 50 to 60 per cent of the total. In Bukit Gantang, the Chinese make up almost 30 per cent, while in Bukit Selambau, the Indians make up about 30 per cent. In constituencies where the Malays are not dominant, it is believed that BN has traditionally been the Malays' choice. So, the results for these two seats would shed important light on whether the level of Malay support in these type of constituencies has changed. 'They are important yardsticks,' said Mr Liew. The Batang Ai seat in Sarawak is a totally different game. Its voter base is 95 per cent Iban, with the Malay-Melanau part at under 2 per cent. It will be a key test of the East Malaysian sentiment. Sabah and Sarawak support is crucial to the BN but the non-Muslim East Malaysians have become increasingly unhappy over issues like the loss of their customary land. 'If the Pakatan Rakyat can win there, it will be a real coup,' said Mr Liew. The five by-election results will give a fairly good sense of the sentiment on the ground. The only type of seat that is not in the mix is a BN stronghold. 'None of the five seats is a slam-dunk win for the BN,' said Mr Ong. 'If we win all five, especially Batang Ai in Sarawak, it means that the BN really has to change or they are looking at possible defeat in the next general election,' said Mr Liew. Source: Straits Times  Read More →