Bullshit Hits The Fan

Speaking to reporters on his way back from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Father Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew told the press: “I do not believe the Chinese economy is immune to a US slowdown, nor is the Indian economy.” As for effect on Singapore’s economy, he said, “Our total trade is 300 per cent of our GDP (gross domestic product). So when the external trade goes down, you tell me how we buffer ourselves.”

Meanwhile at a breakfast meeting with 40 businessmen from the French Business Confederation as he wrapped up his 3-day official visit to Paris, Son Prime Minister Lee Hisen Loong is singing a different tune, claiming Singapore and Asia can weather the storm, should the US go into a recession. PM Lee also said the economies of China and India will continue to grow despite what happens in the US, adding: “…in Asia, I think we are stronger and better prepared and we will weather it.”

For the significant portion of the world’s economic movers, shakers and interpreters gathered in the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum just as markets from Mumbai to Madrid were freaking out, the writing is already on the wall:
“The debate is not whether we’re going to have a soft landing or a hard landing in the U.S. but how hard the landing is going to be,” says Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University. He sees a sharp, possibly year-long U.S. recession and a global slowdown. Despite Asia’s torrid growth, consumers in China and India accounted for only $1.6 trillion of the world’s spending last year, a tiny fraction of the $9.5 trillion spent by Americans, according to Stephen Roach, head of Morgan Stanley’s business in Asia. It’s impossible to pull U.S. spending back without sending ripples through the rest of the world.

What has become evident is that globalization can’t insulate us from recessions. Or justify 21% increases for multi-million dollar “top talents.”

A History Of Bullying

When Parliament sits on Monday, Dr Lily Neo is not going to be content with the fast food pace at which the Speaker moves proceedings to make sure only 90 minutes are available for the 80+ Members of Parliament to deliberate on issues that affect the daily lives of ordinary citizens.
The MP for Jalan Besar GRC has filed a motion of adjournment so she has at least 20 minutes to go in depth into the bullying issue. Apparently one child had been kicked in the stomach while another was kicked in the chest and ribs, but the school principal had put it down to “thoughtless pranks.”
Then there was this principal who broke the hearts and spirit of students from one Secondary 5 class by telling them to GET OUT and apply for places in the ITE as they were unlikely to do well at the O levels, since she wants only 100% passes in her school. Instead of the rebuke expected by infuriated parents, Minister of State for Education Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew claimed the “Principal’s ITE advice ‘had to be delivered.’”
MP Wee Siew Kim said just as much, “people cannot take the brutal truth,” in support of her daughter Wee Shu Min’s vitriolic attack on one innocent Derek Wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) for taking pity on the lot of a cab driver, and telling him to “GET OUT of my elite uncaring face”. Hence Dr Neo says she is also concerned about cyber bullying, which takes place through the internet.
Actually the history goes back further when Teh Cheang Wan was Minister of National Development and threatened to withdraw HDB Emergency Lift Services from blocks which voted for the Opposition. Goh Chok Tong upped the ante by threatening to turn into slums those precincts who cast the wrong votes.
As for personal experience on the receiving end, Dr Neo sighed: “If I asked a question, I can only ask two or three sentences, and sometimes a topic deserves more.”