The sky has finally fallen...

[taneepak]

Welcome America to the club of truly developed and civilized countries of universal health care.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[nokh88]

That is one very rich church...amen.

Why? Thinking of becoming a pastor after retirement?

[extremenanopowe]

He is a lucky guy. Singapore jail is definitely better than other jail. After repent, business as usual. Maybe making more money with new books on 'I repented'.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...210648/1/.html

[ctjcad]

Welcome America to the club of truly developed and civilized countries of universal health care.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch.

it will not even solve the issue of health care cost...if anything, more govt. bureaucracy or if not the insurance companies are gonna get "richer" if people decide to sign up for insurance coverage rather than pay taxes..

[taneepak]

it will not even solve the issue of health care cost...if anything, more govt. bureaucracy or if not the insurance companies are gonna get "richer" if people decide to sign up for insurance coverage rather than pay taxes..

Let us see how it works out and report back after a few years. There is also such a thing as welcoming real competition, even if they are from foreign countries that many in the us tend look at with disgust-"out-sourcing". There is nothing inherently bad in outsourcing as long as the bottom line is a plus for the country. Now, why can't Rommey and Obama do this simple calculation that every secondary student in East Asia can figure out?

[ctjcad]

Let us see how it works out and report back after a few years....

will have to wait until after this yr's election, a lot of people esp. business owners are still unsure, a lot of it has to do with who's in control of Congress & WH...If the GOP finally controls all, expect quite a bit of tweaking of the bill; if not, more debates...the judge, Roberts, did what seemed to be a clever thing : throw it back to the public/people of the U.S. for them to decide what they want to have as health care (more govt. or more private control/status quo)..

[taneepak]

All law makers in the US are extremely good in rhetoric "hot air", not unlike a Circus, and most unproductive. You need a revolution to destroy this "gang of 2 parties", reduce them to ashes, and then up come a another system.
It is as good a time now to change before it is too late, when it can no longer take out its overused money-printing machine. Related to this, do you know that the US's gold reserves at Fort Knox has not been audited since 1974? Perhaps all the gold has gone and the rest of the world got conned into buying US currency every time there is instability in other parts of the world? It is quite obvious global instability is good for the US, but is it good for the other party or the rest of the world.

[King's]

All law makers in the US are extremely good in rhetoric "hot air", not unlike a Circus, and most unproductive. You need a revolution to destroy this "gang of 2 parties", reduce them to ashes, and then up come a another system.
It is as good a time now to change before it is too late, when it can no longer take out its overused money-printing machine. Related to this, do you know that the US's gold reserves at Fort Knox has not been audited since 1974? Perhaps all the gold has gone and the rest of the world got conned into buying US currency every time there is instability in other parts of the world? It is quite obvious global instability is good for the US, but is it good for the other party or the rest of the world.

...so, why (HK$) it is still linked from the peg? There must be sound reasoning behind it? RMB still needs HK$'s convertibility? With HK$'s massive wall of cash reserves (just like city-state Singapore), why is the aversion from floating it? Fear from speculative attacks? Singapore's defense mechanism is quite solid through the years, can't it work just the same?

[taneepak]

...so, why (HK$) it is still linked from the peg? There must be sound reasoning behind it? RMB still needs HK$'s convertibility? With HK$'s massive wall of cash reserves (just like city-state Singapore), why is the aversion from floating it? Fear from speculative attacks? Singapore's defense mechanism is quite solid through the years, can't it work just the same?

It may look the same but HK's debt is not as solidly safe as Singapore's debt (mainly comprising the CPF). The former has no government-managed CPF, the latter is perhaps the safest banker in the world with its ability to collect money every month and the power to decide how and when to repay back. If I am not mistaken, people who have already emigrated to other countries still cannot get their CPF money back.

[Loh]

It may look the same but HK's debt is not as solidly safe as Singapore's debt (mainly comprising the CPF). The former has no government-managed CPF, the latter is perhaps the safest banker in the world with its ability to collect money every month and the power to decide how and when to repay back. If I am not mistaken, people who have already emigrated to other countries still cannot get their CPF money back.

My understanding is that those who have emigrated and will not return to Singapore to work will be able to collect back their CPF. The law is to prevent workers who got their CPF money and then try to return to work. This will ensure that the law is fair to everybody.

Singaporeans are also governed by the law on CPF.

[taneepak]

My understanding is that those who have emigrated and will not return to Singapore to work will be able to collect back their CPF. The law is to prevent workers who got their CPF money and then try to return to work. This will ensure that the law is fair to everybody.

Singaporeans are also governed by the law on CPF.

There are two issues here. First, the government makes its own laws and rules and is also the sole "Banker" in CPF instead of merely legislating the laws and rules but leaving to the private sector like banks and insurance companies to administer CPF funds. It is thus a monopolistic "money collector" bound on by its own rules and laws it can set, change and interpret as it sees fit.
Second, if a contributor leaves the country for good he is morally entitled to get his "money" back. Should he come back later for another job with or with another employer it is a different contract with all the required immigration laws that have to be complied with. This is more of a human and moral entitlement.

It my surprise you that Hong Kong has recently been voted the best city in the world to live in, ahead of Amsterdam, Osaka, Sydney, and Toronto, using an award winning voting system that looks more at "spatial characteristics". Incidentally, here the government legislates laws on CPF but it plays no role in collecting any CPF contributions.

[Loh]

There are two issues here. First, the government makes its own laws and rules and is also the sole "Banker" in CPF instead of merely legislating the laws and rules but leaving to the private sector like banks and insurance companies to administer CPF funds. It is thus a monopolistic "money collector" bound on by its own rules and laws it can set, change and interpret as it sees fit.
Second, if a contributor leaves the country for good he is morally entitled to get his "money" back. Should he come back later for another job with or with another employer it is a different contract with all the required immigration laws that have to be complied with. This is more of a human and moral entitlement.

It my surprise you that Hong Kong has recently been voted the best city in the world to live in, ahead of Amsterdam, Osaka, Sydney, and Toronto, using an award winning voting system that looks more at "spatial characteristics". Incidentally, here the government legislates laws on CPF but it plays no role in collecting any CPF contributions.

That is only your 'moral' opinion, but each country has its own laws to cater to the various needs of its people. And the law applies to everyone without discrimination.

We have to accept the fact that no two countries are alike.

If the law needs to be changed, then it is up to the people, the government and the legislature to do so. As far as Singapore is concerned, there is no urgency from the people to overhaul the CPF laws and practices. The CPF has served its purposes reasonably well thus far and from time to time, minor changes have been made to cater to certain personal needs. But the changes apply to all CPF holders.

It doesn't surprise me at all that every country, including SAR Hong Kong, is trying to be the best it can be and be recognised by the world and it is a good thing for it pushes the bar higher and higher. But not all countries or cities have the resources, talent or political will-power to do so. And herein lies the disparity among nations.

[taneepak]

The escalating Libor scandal shows how corrupt and sick the western banking system and their regulators are. This is an extremely serious scandal and reveals how so called western economies and banking systems cheat all the time, with the collaboration from their so called impeccable regulators.
Now that the scandal has revealed more dirty secrets, the US government is preparing to file criminal charges against all these big western banks and slap them with US$22 billion fines or more. This has triggered other countries to do the same and could wipe off all the western banks in one mighty swoop.
But, just like the Libor scandal and the Quantity Easing tool kit the US uses to fool the world, all these western banks will survive despite such scandals because without them the west's economy will crash in one foul stroke.
Now imagine if the developing countries were the originators of the "Libor" fiasco, it will be "Kaput" for them and the West will ensure it will be "Kaput" and nothing else. You see the double standard?
A recent classic example of this unfair state of affairs is the Korea case during the 1990s crash and today's Greece. The Libor case is even more serious as it strikes at the credibility of the western economic mode, which is built on castles of sand.

[Loh]

I watched a TV interview by CNA with the famous Steve Forbes recently and he appaently said that the democractic system is the best and it is the government's interference with the system that has caused so much instability in the financial and economic sectors.

I wonder how far this is true with recent adverse events taking place in Europe and now the UK on LIBOR rate fixing. These are so-called democratic systems in the main.

[taneepak]

Of course Steve Forbes will always show his true color. Why wouldn't he? After all, the US had the highest inequality between the top 1% of the population to the remaining 99% before the financial crisis among the industrialized countries in the world. Post crisis, it has gotten even worse. Now the top 1% owns more than the remaining 99% of all financial assets, an all time high, triggering the "Ocuppy Wall St" movement.
This is what Forbes wants as he has gotten richer after the crisis. Whenever any thing bad happens it is always the blame game, like government interference.

Viewed from a future perspective, do you all realize that both the US and Europe are scared like hell of China?

They are not bothered about a rising India, Brazil, Russia, etc because both US and Europe know they will never be good enough to rise to the challenge.
The Chinese were both economic and technology leaders for more centuries than the west, until the last 200 years. Now their progress is staggering with its speed and benefits.
The Chinese have now a new business model uniquely Chinese that is taught in business schools that will be the drivers of future global economies. Coupled this with their fast adaptation of current western business models, this is a serious threat to the "1% owning more financial assets than the remaining 99%" business model of the US.
It is what the Chinese called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" with Japanese model of wealth distribution, a powerful business sector to be given full authority and responsibility to produce wealth, and a strong central government.

The west's fear is this new Chinese model that will eventually replace the western model. There is nothing the west can do about it. The smart thing is to adapt and be part of the change.
Already China is like opium to the west. They need China for any meaningful growth in their economy. Now it isl like when China coughs the west gets a chill. See no further than Australia. It is now 100% on Chinese "opium" with only one sector (mining) prospering, powering an Australian woman to become the world's riches woman, but other sectors are going bankrupt.

The US has in its doorsteps evidence of Chinese prowess. Look no further than the Ivy League colleges and the patents filed in the last 3 years. Do you see a Chinese invasion?

[taneepak]

US lawmakers are up in arms about the US Olympic Committee's decision to award Ralph Lauren to design and source supplies of the US Olympic Team's uniform, after finding out the uniforms had a 'made -in-china' label. They want the uniforms to be made in the US instead of outsourcing them.
Now, let us see what happens if the lawmakers have their way.
They will probably have to pay penalties, award the contract to a US manufacturer, and will definitely end up like the fiasco of the UK private security company in the UK to provide security for the coming London Olympics. I will bet with anyone that no new uniforms will be made in the US and the US athletes will end up either with nothing to wear or with the same 'made-in-china' uniforms but with a fake 'made-in-us' label'. This way both sides can claim victory!

[Loh]

I'm not as sure as you are that China is succeeding in replacing Western business models and inventions. She adopted western capitalism to spearhead it's drive to prosperity. While she has succeeded in some some ways largely because of low cost, often cited as unfair competition by the West, including her undervalued currency, China is now experiencing unequal growth between it's prosperous coastal regions and the more suburban central and western regions.