TR EMERITUS

I've decided. 1. I can't not go vote cos my name will be removed from the register of electors for both the next PE and the next GE. So, obviously I want to vote in the next GE. WP Sengkang GRC needs my vote. 2. I won't spoil my vote because it would do nothing. 3. I won't vote for Ng Kok Song because I don't think he is serious. He is just there because, he said, "Tharman wants it". How could anyone vote for someone like this? 4. I won't vote for Tharman because he is PAP. Full stop. And if I need another reason, it is this: he declined being PM but now wants to be president. I don't understand the logic. 5. So I am left with one choice. So yes, I'll vote for Tan Kin Lian. At least he is serious and is confident he will win. None of the bs about "Oh I am here to contest because someone else wants a contest", or "I am here to contest and I am my own man although I just spent 20 years as a PAP minister." Ya, I'm voting for Tan Kin Lian. What choice do I have? Voting another PAP minister to be president? Goodness, no! 83 of them in Parliament not enough?   Andrew Loh   * Andrew Loh is one of the founder of The Online Citizen.        Read More →

Hot money moves around the globe to park itself in countries that can generate even more returns for its owners. Another reason for its mobility is to search for tax havens, away from the hands of government. But for the 10 recently arrested in Singapore, the money is not just hot, its illegal too. All of them were originally from Fujian in eastern China. They come here on a golden passport for a specific mission: to conceal or camouflage illegal gains from authorities. And the best way to do this is to go on a shopping spree. This is the biggest anti-money laundering dragnet in our little red dot. It is said that close to $1 billion in asset were seized, which included 105 properties worth $831 million. Like drug mule entering a country, they first need a bank or two to deposit their millions. You can say that those institutions where they park their money are their financial piggy banks, because you can’t contain millions in a few suitcases, or strap it around your waist without arousing suspicion. So, digital transfer from bank to bank is the way they go under the radar. It reports that “Citibank Singapore and CIMB are among banks hit by the billion-dollar money laundering case.” The MAS, who manages huge funds transfers estimated at around $5.4 trillion, are investigating the case to assess whether banks here have fallen short in their due diligence measures. After the money from criminal activities are safely deposited, the next urgent thing to do is to wash them. Like taking out your dirty clothes to the laundry, the ten suspects did what most of us could only dream of. They buy assets that would either store or grow in value. It’s all about leaving a long trail of legitimate investments so that the questionable source of the millions are concealed or blurred. These money can even be used to buy authorities or gatekeepers out, rewarding those who are willing to turn away, or close one eye. The money mules lived it up with no-hold-barred lifestyles. They bought GCBs, bungalows, condominiums, exclusive club memberships, sports cars, Bentleys and Rolls-Royce, luxury bags and watches, and even some toy collection called Bearbrick that can be auctioned off for $400k to $1 million. They also hold frequent home and yacht parties and splurge on expensive food and wine. One neighbour observed: “There was this one particular group that was very loud (at Sentosa Golf Club), and everyone knows about the group because they liked to show off.” Lesson? Just one. Ownership. You sometimes ask yourself, “Who owns the millions?” If they are money mules, who are the ranchers? Mafia? Crime syndicates? Politicians? Businessmen? Religious leaders? That is the underbelly of the world, which I believe is beyond the reach of the hand of the law. For where the light don’t shine, you have the shadow. And the further away you are from the light, the darker your appetites for strange bedfellows (illegal alliances). We shouldn’t be too naive to believe that the rule of law makes the law the only rule. In certain shadowland, where only the rich and powerful operate, I believe the law is merely one of the rules. It is but a means to a ruler’s end. It is reported that “China lost US$3.75 trillion (S$5.09 trillion) in illicit fund flows between 2000 and 2011 based on declared receipts and actual fund flows for trade, with the number believed to be higher now.” (US think tank, Global Financial Integrity). This anti-laundering bust may just be the tip of the $5 trillion iceberg. What lies beneath, or how deep this goes, is anyone’s guess. Hot money is desperate enough to look for good returns. And I don’t need to tell you how much more desperate hot and illegal money is eagerly searching for a good purifying shower. And money mules are like executive trustees, smartly keeping the millions safe for those who had secured them via activities involving drugs, prostitution, trafficking and bribery, just to name a few. Alas, we will never know the extent of the estate that the sun doesn’t shine. But I believe it runs parallel with the activities that are kept under the glare of the sun. It thus wouldn’t surprise me should men and women of projected integrity operate and traverse between the two realms, with cleansing ease. As Plato puts it many centuries ago, “We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” Maybe for those operating in both realms, the light and shadows, they are just simply above the light.   Michael Han * The author is a Director at Hoh Law Corporation and blogs on Facebook.      Read More →

Mr Tan Kin Lian's Life Story is an inspiration for Singaporeans of his era as well as ours. He was one of the Top students of his cohort in Raffles Institution but he had to quit school due to the poverty his family was facing. But he didn't give up Hope on Life. Even though he couldn't go through the "Normal Education" process of going to Pre U and University, he didn't give up "upgrading" his knowledge. He worked hard and continued his part time study on Actuarial Mathematics as private student. After years of hard work and achieving his certificate in Actuarial Mathematics, he became the CEO of NTUC Income. Although he has great achievements in his career which brought him substantial wealth, but he never forgets his humble beginnings. After retirement, he continues to live a humble life just like anyone else in Singapore even though he could be regarded as a "Self-Made Elite". His life resemblances the type of "Meritocracy" we used to have in Singapore. If you are bright and hardworking, you can definitely work your way up the social ladder. A True People's President who has been through the hardship of Life with great empathy for the vulnerable.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →