foreigners criticising our country

• Berries tan

  14 Oct 09, 16:21

  foreigners criticising our country

  yo,take a look here of criticism by foreigners
  
  Lumbered with the boss's wifeEric Ellis
  July 30, 2009
  SINGAPOREANS aren’t usually given to open criticism of the Lee family that has ruled them for half a century. Rightly or wrongly, some presume that in their tightly controlled island state, walls have ears, and one never knows who is listening.
  
  But this time it’s different. Singaporeans are deeply displeased with their Prime Minister’s wife, Ho Ching. She has run Temasek Holdings, the state-owned fund, since 2002, and has presided over a spectacular series of misjudgments that have lost Singaporeans billions.
  
  There was the murky $3 billion deal she made in Bangkok in 2006, to buy then Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra out of his telco. Ho’s massive plunges into European and American banks ended in tears last year when Temasek lost a third of its $100 billion portfolio. In Australia, Ho lost Temasek’s entire $400 million stake she’d plunged into Eddie Groves’ ABC Learning Centres, among other missteps.
  
  So much for her much-lauded ‘‘Superwoman’’ smarts and vision when the state appointed her, even though her pre-Temasek record at Temasek-owned arms supplier Singapore Technologies was hardly Sorosesque. Today, Singaporeans are sick of Ho and have been for some time. They want her out of Temasek, lest she create any more financial havoc for them.
  
  Except she’s not going. In a February ‘‘transition’’ — not a sacking, as Temasek spun furiously — Ho was supposed to hand over Temasek to Chip Goodyear, the 51-year-old American (and North Melbourne supporter) who pointed BHP-Billiton at China for four years and made billions.
  
  The big idea was that Goodyear would fix the mess Ho made in banking and tilt Singapore into the booming China and India growth stories, which meant placing Temasek at the middle of big regional resources plays. But that, too, has ended in tears, when Temasek last week cited ‘‘strategic differences,’’ announcing it was "mutually agreed" Goodyear would not become CEO.
  
  It seems clear that after five months hanging around the Temasek office, Goodyear has been paid millions for his life-long silence.
  
  But only a few days earlier, Goodyear was doing the rounds of Temasek satellites mapping out his vision. One CEO I spoke to expressed shock, saying he had been on the ‘‘same page’’ as Goodyear and was looking forward to working with him. The implication was clear: Goodyear was a genuine businessperson whereas Ho was not.
  
  That was mid-July. A week later, Chip was chopped. Temasek’s board met the weekend before last, then announced Goodyear was gone. So what happened?
  
  The Government-controlled Straits Times said Goodyear’s proposals to shake up Temasek were viewed as "too risky" by the board. Too risky? Ho’s bad bets in banks lost Temasek around $30 billion. What could be riskier than that?
  
  More likely is the take doing the rounds of Singapore’s banking and business communities. Local insiders, under few illusions that little happens at Temasek without Government say-so, say the Government has been spooked by the arrest in China of Rio-Tinto executive Stern Hu.
  
  Temasek hired Goodyear because they wanted him to do for it what he had done at BHP, expertly play China, which is far more politically important for an Asian nation such as tiny Chinese-dominated Singapore than it is for a global mining giant. But after the Chinese Government arrested Hu and sent a message it was taking back control of its resources management, it wouldn’t do now, they say, for a foreigner who knows so much about Chinese resources to front mostly Singapore Inc’s ambitions in China.
  
  The handling of Goodyear has deeply embarrassed Singapore and seems to give lie to the fiction that Temasek operates transparently and separately from Government policy. And knowing how deep runs the anger among its readers that Ho has squandered a big chunk of their nest egg, even the normally lap-dog Straits Times was moved to ask how ‘‘private sector’’ can Temasek really be, commenting: ‘‘Like it or not, Temasek cannot get away from the fact that it is inextricably linked to the Singapore Government’’.
  
  It’s shaken up the arcane world of sovereign wealth funds too, where Temasek liked to portray itself as the model for emerging wealthy states. Delegations from around the world made pilgrimages to Singapore to see how it was done, how their state’s strategic jewels can be packaged and managed into an investment vehicle that maintained the illusion it was somehow separated from the Government. Journalists describing Temasek as "Government-controlled" invited a welter of complaints to their editors from Temasek’s spinners who demanded it be benignly referenced as an "Asian investment company" with no references to the Government whatsoever, and certainly not to describe the family connections of Ho’s. Failure to comply would mean an outlet would be blackballed by Temasek, which in Singapore ultimately suggests a libel suit no media company has ever won there.
  
  East Timor decided the Temasek model wasn’t for them, and chose a Norwegian-inspired transparent route for its now $6 billion petroleum royalties pile. In many respects, it’s actually a model for Temasek. Certainly, the East Timorese fund made more money than Temasek has recently — it invested in boring US treasury bonds while Ho was plunging billions into Merrill Lynch.
  
  Unsurprisingly, Temasek’s model appeals more to the more authoritarian and less democratic of states, such as Kazakhstan which, like Singapore, is run along family lines.
  
  Now Singapore Inc is in a pickle. It said it wants to internationalise Temasek, and appointing the much-respected Goodyear was a huge – and widely welcomed – statement. Now it’s stuck with the bumbling Ho, for at least another year, which simply deepens the market’s conviction that dealing with Temasek is akin to de facto dealing with the Government.
  
  Temasek says it is continuing its international search for a new boss. But after Goodyear’s bad year at Temasek, why would anyone want to go there?
  
  Eric Ellis is a business writer based in Singapore
  
  Source: The Age
• the Bear

  14 Oct 09, 16:29

  do NOT confuse the criticism of fuckheads like the PM's husband, the MIW, the gabrament with criticism of the country..

• BadzMaro

  14 Oct 09, 16:31

  lol!

• HITMAN11111111111

  14 Oct 09, 16:36

  why dun spore go mine for  coal,oil and gold on the moon?

• fireng

  14 Oct 09, 17:43

  Vote for opposition party and let the PAP lose and it will be the end of the fuck head ho ching too

• Berries tan

  14 Oct 09, 18:17

  PAP lays red carpet for Australian opposition MP, but treat Singapore’s opposition like dirt

  ---

  http://wayangparty.com/?p=7364
  
  By Eugene Yeo
  
  What’s wrong with this CNA headline - “Australian MP Gregory Hunt to visit Singapore on high-level exchange” ? (read article here)
  
  At first glance, readers may get the impression that Gregory Hunt is some big shot in the Australian government who is on a “high level” diplomatic mission to Singapore. That’s why we are laying the red carpet to welcome him:
  
  According to a statement from the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mr Hunt will call on Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor during his stay.
  
  Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu will also host him to an official meal.
  
  Mr Hunt will participate in a roundtable discussion at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is also scheduled to attend a People’s Action Party (PAP) meet-the-people session.
  
  With no offence to Mr Hunt, he actually belongs to the same “species” of people whom our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had expressed his desire to “fix” if more of them were to get elected into Parliament.
  
  And this is the type of people described by MM Lee Kuan Yew as person non grata in Singapore.
  
  Mr Hunt is not a cabinet minister. He is not even a MP of the ruling Labor Party. In short, he is an opposition MP. His official title is Australia’s Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water.
  
  I certainly hope that MFA did not mistaken a “shadow” minister as the real minister. Australia has a shadow cabinet comprising of opposition MPs who form an alternative cabinet to the government’s and whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government.
  
  Why is the Singapore government treating an opposition MP from Australia like some esteemed guest while it treats local opposition politicians like dirt and as some would say - “SH*T”.
  
  Opposition MPs are hounded by PAP MPs like a pack of wolves the moment they open their mouths as Low Thia Kiang found out in a recent Parliamentary sitting when he voiced out his doubts about the Job Credit Scheme.
  
  Opposition politicians are treated like pariahs and criminals, their actions and words closely monitored and followed by the security apparatus.
  
  Of course it is basic courtesy for our nation to extend a welcome to our foreign guest, but I still feel it is most hypocritical for the PAP to boast about its hospitality in the media when it has been dishing out the most unkind, inhumane and cruel treatment to our opposition.
  
  The opposition play a crucial role in checking on the government to ensure it is held accountable to the people. As the Australian example has shown, it is important to have a shadow minister to scrutinize the work of their counterparts in the cabinet.
  
  As Singapore do not have such a system, the ministers are allowed to screw up big time with impunity without ever having to pay a political price for their mistakes which brings to mind Wong Kan Seng, Khaw Boon Wan and Raymond Lim.
  
  A shadow cabinet will also guarantee the availability of a ready alternative to replace the ruling party should it lose a future election thereby facilitating political succession and handover of power.
  
  Currently, the opposition has too few MPs in Parliament to form a shadow cabinet but that does not prevent them from not doing so in their own personal capacities.
  
  I would suggest the opposition set their petty differences aside to band together and form a bigger coalition like the Pakatan Rakyat in Malaysia which is composed of three political parties with different ideologies.
  
  Besides the three opposition MPs in Parliament, well respected and regarded politicians from the coalition can be appointed to shadow every ministries to hold their respective ministers accountable.
  
  It will bode well for the future of Singapore to have a ready alternative which can take over the reins of the government with ease.
• ulquiorra87

  14 Oct 09, 19:43

  In my humble opinion Goodyear and his expertise in commodities would have been invaluable especially at this time when they are on the rise.. A pity he didn't take over leadership.. He could have like turned the tide or something

• Franceso Totti

  14 Oct 09, 19:49

  those at Temasek working for the CEO dunno what they are doing. even buffet said he wont be investing in companies such as banks, although he did invested in goldman sachs for 5 billion. Temasek invested not in one, but 3 investment companies, citigroup, merrill lynch and UBS. thats crazy.

   

  you need an experienced old timer helming at Temasek, someone who is an old hand working in wall street in decades. even the so called advisors advising the CEO, has no clue of what they are doing.

• Franceso Totti

  14 Oct 09, 19:51

  Originally posted by ulquiorra87:

  In my humble opinion Goodyear and his expertise in commodities would have been invaluable especially at this time when they are on the rise.. A pity he didn't take over leadership.. He could have like turned the tide or something

  cos the goons at Temasek board have no interest or expertise in commodities. they people are beaureacts who have no idea what they are doing.

• Franceso Totti

  14 Oct 09, 19:57

  Leong Ching should have stayed in engineering, where she worked for most of her career. CEO of Temasek is out of her depth really. look at her track record in finance or investment, practically none.

   

  instead she is relying on the advise of the goons at Temasek, but they too are no guru and she is paying the mistakes of bad advise. I hope she does the right thing by stepping down and fire all these advisors for bad advise. after all, they have to be responsible for their advise. she has already paid the price as she is waiting for the next CEO to come in as a matter of time. the advisers also should go.

• Sherry.william85

  14 Oct 09, 20:06

  this is a nice topic to discuss. We should try to play our role for the prosparity of our country.

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• Rooney9

  14 Oct 09, 21:19

  Originally posted by fireng:

  Vote for opposition party and let the PAP lose and it will be the end of the fuck head ho ching too

  that wont happen anytime soon. cos the opposition parties lack candidates to even challenge the incumbent. during election date, the government are returned to power almost instantaneously. unless the opposition can form a bloc together and field candidates for every district, then yes. even so, u have to have the PAP to screw up so badly that people are fedup and vote for the opposition, just like the Japanese fed up of 50 years of rule by the LDP. I am not even sure if I can live to see the opposition ever forming the government.

   

  for a start, the opposition can form a coalition instead of disparate 2 or 3 parties.

• Revisethegame

  15 Oct 09, 11:34

  N10-003