The Transportation Paradox and its Puppet Masters

There have been numerous quality articles written about the current situation of SMRT in recent weeks. Some was insightful, some was spiteful, some simply reiterated the facts and situation of the current climate. It ultimately begs 2 possibilities, why did we let Singapore come to this stage and what is our way forward. While the former could easily be explained and accepted that it was the government, its policies and its electorate that allow the fall into the never ending rabbit hole, the latter part of the question is one that haunts the average Singaporean. Perhaps it is beyond the little man or woman on the street and best left to politicians or should we as an inclusive society wannabe express our views and opinions and hopefully things will turn out just fine.

Firstly allow me to share my view on the problems currently in Singapore. SMRT was just unlucky to be the first on the cross hair. I am sure no matter how much a simpleton we are, we can safely say our suspicion that our infrastructure is failing to support our current population and our aspirations is an undeniable statement. we do not have enough hospitals, enough roads, enough transportation capacity, enough schools, enough jobs and so on.

The ministers who allow such policies to create this bottleneck have since move on and many ministers who took over them simply work their best to ensure the bottleneck don't explode during their term. To put it in a simple analogy, consider the case of a CEO with a 2 year performance appraisal. if he does well and meet the goals within the 2 years, he will received recognition, bonuses and move on to another career in good stead. The motivation therefore for such an CEO is to create short term action plans that will see his goals being met in 2 years irregardless if such actions might create a fundamental or insurmountable problems in the future. Eventually one of the future CEOs will run out of ideas and he will have to be the one to take the blame.

This my friend is the Singapore you are living in. We can form expert groups, committee and do all the necessary to seemingly improve our process, our policies and situation but the cold hard truth is we are unable to solve our fundamental problem. Infinite aspirations Vs Finite resources. We must come to realisation that in order to continue our prosperity, we need a radical approach where no Singaporeans politician would dare suggest except the founding man himself. Let me be the one who you will accused of being unrealistic, absurd and unpatriotic to suggest.

My solution is simple, INTEGRATION.  If we were to continue to pursue aspirations with finite resources, we are will be moving towards a brick wall with increasing speed. The state of Johor is our future. Imagine a special economic zone on certain parts of Johor that would integrate the movement of goods, people, capital and resources. Under a joint jurisdiction independent of each country laws but sovereign in its own right. A close example would be HK and shenzhen. Such an integration will be a win win situation for both countries. Solution will be immediate for all the bottleneck we are facing. The integration of Europe took a mere decade to conceptualise and implement with the common currency being the last step forward. A test pilot project can easily begin within 2 years of planning and full scale integration should be reasonable within a decade. This is nothing new if i may say, our government did consider such options but political will and agenda was the stumbling block. With the Malaysian government moving towards a maturity in democracy evident from it recent elections result, its electorate will be able to put pressure on its government if such a project are truly beneficial. The question is on our side, our government still runs our country very much in a one party manner even though they only garner 60% of the votes. Will they be willing to let a joint effort take up much of the credit of success, will they be willing to give up control, give up the unfair advantages its GLC enjoy currently? I guess we all know the answer.

Let me emphasis that the suggested integration is a quick fix. If we want to take the hard path to reclaim our quality of life, we would probably need to experience a bottom before we make the step forward. It would write off decades of achievement and any new future will be built on the bones of those that was let down.

L134- Leopard Frog Pleco

A new addition to my Pleco collections. this one cost a reasonable $45. Over the last year i accquired the following Plecos, all still happily living and growing.

Also some updates on the lazy white lobster

1. L190- Royal
2. L177- Yellow Seam
3. L128- Blue Phantom
4. L95-Orange Cheek
5. L75- Para
6. L129- Colombian Zebra
7. L134- Leopard Frog

Nimbochromis livingstonii (Kalingo)

Thanks to a forum member from Aro, i now know the name of this cute bugger. A native of Lake Malawi. Mine is a male and five inches wide. Maximum reported length in the wild is 10inch. it is currently in a 900L tank

My Mandarin Fish and Turtle weed

Hi Guys, i just got back from an 8 day shanghai business trip and thus the absence from my blog-sphere. Like millions of fellow citizen i too had to do some stuff to get paid unlike our generous MPs who are worth their weight in gold and thus are seriously underpaid. "Wink"

Six months ago i was talking to my friend about my mandarin fish and he went on and on about how i was cruel and the fish was bound to die because of its peculiar feeding habit and how Wikipedia rate the fish as difficult to keep in captivity. so i told him he would buy me coffee if i can keep it at healthy at minimal fuss. 6 months on,  my mandarin is healthy and was bigger in size when i initially had it. So this post is for you my dear friend and thanks for the nice coffee and cakes even though you forgotten all about it when i mention. hehe

Never be intimidated by advice even though it is given in good intention. i often get advice from people about how to run my life and the irony is that the people giving it are really not in great shape themselves. you know like when you go around temping during your uni days for $8/hr and you have some 40+yrs old supervisor who makes less than 4k/mth stuck on the same job for 20 yrs giving you advice on your characters, lifechoice and so on. Looking back if i had taken all those advice, i would probably end up like the rest of them. The truth is we live in a ever competitive environment where the human mind is being stretch to do more with the help of it's environment. 50 yrs ago, a senior manager only have a phone on his desk, today senior manager are connected 24 hrs via his electronic devices and made to deliver tough KPIs to keep his job.

The continued population growth and the relentless improvement in individual efficiency only means that only those that adapt will survive, advice given by expired citizenry only serve to delay your metamorphosis to a stronger individual. A few decades ago, bank will probably find it immoral to sell Lehman mini bonds because the value system of society was different. In today terms, if one was to stick to an outdated value system, it will only guarantee his filtering out from the system. i am convinced  our generation is currently in the accelerated phase of a population time bomb. If government around the world stick to a "refugee" immigration policy first enacted in the 70s and tweaked along the way, they will face the consequence of social disorder due to the competition for every individual basic needs. food, shelter and employment. India, China, Philippine and middle east as an early example are countries and region that at its current pace of development, population growth, quantity of resources can never sustain their population in an orderly manner. These excess people that are looking to re locate in developed countries only serve to accelerate our own problems.

Enough rantings on a problem that is beyond thy humble self,  here are pictures for my turtle weed and mandarin fish, all courtesy of the ocean reef and its middlemen who plunders it to feed the vanity of cash rich hobbyists. Thank You!

Tunze Nano wavemaker and Tunze Skimmer

Been a while since i bought new equipment for my hobby. Recently i met up with an experienced hobbyist and he gave me some pointers on equipment upgrade for my JBJ 28G marine tank. it is always great to meet hobbyist who are generous with their knowledge. And boy was i surprised it didnt cost me an arm and leg for the equipment he suggested. i am always under the impression a skimmer is gonna set me back 2k or more but the challenge was to find a proper skimmer that could fit the JBJ nano.

Tunze 9002 apparently can but you still need some DIY work on sawing off the magnet. surprise surprise, it only cost a reasonable $194 from aquamarin in paya lebar, my first visit there and it was a nice place to shop, air conditioned and all marine related stuff. i even managed to find a replacement for my long lost yellow headed goby.

The second equipment i bought was the Tunze 6025 wave maker, my SICCE wave maker is losing steam and i guess an upgrade would be proper. You cant go too wrong with made in Germany products, afterall Eheim did gave me a lot of confidence in German made aquaria stuff. At 2800L/hr, it is slightly overpowered for my Nano but some adjustment to deflect the extra power off the glass did the trick. Again i was expecting $200-300 for the stuff but it cost only $83 so not much of a risk and i decided to buy it anyway, my first choice was actually the Hydor power adjustable wavemaker but it was out of stock.

definitely going back to Aqua Marin again if i pass by paya lebar next time.

My new L190- Royal from Venezeula

After an uneventful presidential election which we saw the strategy of the PAP took full effect. The eventual winner was well predicted by hordes of people with a decent brain before the election even took place. PAP backup plan worked but i guess the only surprise to me was how unpopular was Tan Kin Lian, i expect him to take at least 10% and up of the votes easy. People who really believed we have a contest in TCB and TT are probably lacking in vitamin B1, B2, B12- the building blocks fo brain vitamins. grab the nearest pack of nuts and re-fuel. Both of these candidates form the plan with TCB as the back up.

Okay life is back to normal, you got to live with the PAP for a few years more and listen to the bullshit, PMET unemployment continue, inflation continue, u are still a sardine when u get into the MRT and yes i received yet another ransom letter from the govt. My road tax and insurance are up for renewal and it will set me back $5k. Malaysians driving the same car as me and getting the same insurance coverage pays a measly $1.2k. i guess the difference i am paying is for the services for a world class government. to avoid island fever, i will however be taking a break in Bali soon enough with my missus and back to HK after.

On another note, hey hey hey!i bought yet another pleco. this time it is my 2nd Royal. i have an adult L190-Royal Pleco currently but i couldnt resist this juvenile with its nicely orange eyes and clear body markings. At $65 it is quite a steal.,consider i got my adult royal at $280 and it is only barley 4 inch longer. The royal pleco as i know it, eat and digest wood. quite a feat eh! i also added some cheap and fancy looking fish, here are the pictures, enjoy!

Non Aquarium- My take on the elected presidency

There has been so much hoo ha on the EP issue recently. it is obvious, the Internet community had perceived the EP as a PAP vs the rest campaign. Well, the previous president SR Nathan did not exactly ask too much questions on ultra sensitive issue unlike the late Mr Ong. Of course i am not saying Nathan did not discharge his duties to the best of his ability, let the public be the judge of that. In a turbulent time for the PAP, the failings of their policy are rearing its ugly head. Like a mythical Hydra, they have come to a stage where any new policies to fixed the old problems simply create new problems for them. Just like when you chop off one of the Hydra head, 2 more grows back.

so what have the PAP failed over the years. Its is simple, to the layman, they failed to maintain a reasonable quality of life and expectations of the ordinary citizen. in a detailed explanation. they failed in the method to grow the GDP. rather than value add the goods and service we produce, we simply offer marginal value as per our competitor and to compensate that, we open the flood gates to foreigner to boost demand of essential goods and services. they failed in infrastructure planning as well. to make analogy, if one were to increase the horsepower and torque of a vehicle drastically, you will need to improve your brakes, your suspension, your chassis and tyres. simply having a horsepower boost and not upgrading the rest will definitely guarantee an accident.

despite being a one party government with full powers to dictate policies, coordination was non existent. infrastructure such as transports, health care, public housing and education failed miserably. any promise of a quick fix and catchy political slogans such as "Singaporeans first" are nothing more than an illusion. like an oasis in a desert, those desperate enough to believe it are usually the one to die first. it took twenty years of bad policies to cause the mess, it will definitely take more than an election to fix it.  why should we put our trust in the people who cause the mess in the first place?Inflation while not the sole fault of our monetary policy are a catalyst to the problems that lousy policies create.

PAP understand without the backing of a hinterland, the best bet is to ensure continuity through a Sovereign wealth fund that would buy or control companies that would be strategic to growth and survival. An example would be to buy resource companies and effectively able to divert resource sales to Singapore in times of need. SWF concept incepted in the 70s was a vision but that too had failed miserably. GIC is at best a material shareholders in most of the companies it buys. SWF had failed spectacularly if we were to evaluate them on their political goals. Our SWF are nothing more than a overestimated private equity holding on to assets valued in depreciating currencies. When has an industry in Singapore ever benefited from a SWF maneuvers? eg. buying a tech company and sharing the patents with local sme to improve their competitiveness in world markets?

So now that we have a brief nature of the state of the country is in, lets look at the candidates and the underlying strategy the PAP had adopted to Cruise through this presidential election. It is obvious to anybody with half a brain why we have 4 candidates. it is to dilute the votes of the non pap supporters. Tan Cheng Bock(TCB) is a red herring to the voters. he is being positioned as a candidate not sanctioned by the PAP while Tony Tan is the official PAP candidate. don't be fooled my voters, TCB is here to gather the neutral vote. he is the perfect candidate, never a cabinet minister, low profile, never gather any wrath on bad PAP policies. remember the man is close to the PAP leadership having been a member of the elite central committee of PAP.

Next on, Tan Kin Lian (TKL). this guy i believe is not a puppet of the PAP having been forced out of his cushy job as NTUC income CEO and not followed on with a political office offering. However, having this guy as a president will simply make this proverb holds true " meet the new boss, same as the old boss". With a ultra neutral position on everything, he is someone that will not rock the boat. His most daring act involves speaking on the Lehman issue and offering to write some letters to MAS. that's about it. extremely calculative of his strategy, he choose not to stand for election in the last GE and had refrained from openly supporting any opposition political party. if the idea of an elected president is to provide checks and balance for the government and our reserves, how can we entrust it onto a man with no conviction and passion except for his own interest. he simply reminds me of those office politics expert that will maneuver any situation to ensure their continued prosperity and survival in a company. sounds very familiar right, sounds like your colleagues and bosses eh. if TKL can make president so can those people.

Tan Jee Say. the man i will be voting for. Not because i truly believes he is a righteous man. There is a saying "no good men will be politicians" He is the best hope of a true checks and balance in the govt. A washout of the PAP system, he has a bone to pick with the people who had flushed him out. His affiliation with the SDP hints of a more pro-active way of getting to the govt. of all the opposition, the SDP stands out in terms of its actions towards an authoritarian govt. the rest are campaigning on stable ground , afraid to cross the line. SDP never backs down, its culture and leadership attract like minded individuals. TJS is expected to get the hardcore anti PAP votes which is likely to be 20% or more but because TKL will get the neutral side, it is unlikely TJS will win or come close.

Tony Tan, the man need no introduction, one of the round table of guys who own Singapore whether you like it or not. This is the guy to gather the pro PAP votes, which i believe in the current climate should still form the marginal majority of votes that will be cast. Many people who are surviving fine will prefer not to rock the boat. the biggest reason, PROPERTY PRICES. while i am skilled in the art of yields and macroeconomics, your man on the street are not. they blindly believe that our PAP government is the all powerful force that can ensure the stability and steady rise of property prices.  this propaganda on capitalising on the fear of property price decline is an ultra successful campaign that the PAP had orchestrated. i will explain in another post why local property prices will crash eventually and the signs that are bringing us there.back to the topic, while PAP believe their votes will form the majority, they are not confident like they are when Ong Teng Cheong was running. Hence comes TCB as a safety net. In a worst case scenario based on the data they collected on the recent election, suppose Tony Tan under a standard deviation of 0.2, could gather only 40 % of the votes, TCB could easily get 20% or more of the neutral vote and both PAP old dogs will have 60%. No matter what sort of allocation TKL and TSJ get will be irrelevant. Voters behaviour will not change overnight, almost all GRC and SMC gather 56-60% of votes in the last GE so it is likely the votes for the EP will be close to what the GE results are.

So what are the strategy to overcome this. it is simple. TKL should withdraw to give TJS a fighting chance. TKL withdrawal will shift 20% of the vote to TJS and that should give him over 40% of the votes with the remaining 10+% as wildcard. Any screw up from Tony tan and he is indeed screwing up slightly with his evasive answering,  support of the ISA and his sons NS stint, TJS will have a real chance of getting those wildcard votes and start the road of ruin for the PAP..

My Anemone Nano tank

Been adding some anemones to the boring FOWLR tank. lots of work still need to be done. but here are some pictures that are taken by my friend who takes professional photos. the ones with the clown fish are taken by me though.

My Gregory Slim Mission (Ballistic Nylon and Japanese Edition)

If you are Japanese, there is no way you would not have heard of Gregory bags. These US made bags is all the rage in Japan. As usual Singapore consumer is many steps behind but to cut it short, i was recently introduced to this fantastic shop which sell all sorts of fancy limited edition bags. Nothing like those stuff you see in sports connection or fancy travelers store. think cult fanbase and you get the idea what sort of stuff he carries.

Fall Factor is the shop name and he is located in the HDB shops opposite queensway shopping centre. Not too difficult to find but if you want something to separate you from the rest of the donkeys who buys bags that are an eyesore from commercial sweatshops, you have to visit this shop.

After much deliberation, i decided to go for something classic but pays attention to the details. A simple business or laptop bag that i can carry on in business class. This sure give my usual Samsonite and the snooty LV and Mont Blanc a run for its money.  So here are the pictures for this Japanese Edition, Ballistic Nylon "Slim Mission" bag. SGD 2XX.00