Would Temasek Holdings and GIC do a Warren Buffett?

im disappointed with both parties, ruling n opposition. however, at least the ruling is doing something coming up with plans to try alleviate the situation. the latter critises but has no concrete or feasible constructive counter proposals.

look at the current episodes, sgd100bio jux like that! assuming we have 5 mio citizens, thats 20,000 each. assuming we support the 10,000 lowest income families with sgd1,000 cash a month, its sgd10mio a month, sgd120mio a year. sgd1.2bio can support 10,000 lowest income family with 1,000 a month for 10years! thats giving a lot of ppl some hope and chance to survive n not down the slippery path of negative spiral.

however, other than some petty political sniping, have our opposition mentioned that in parliament? if the opposition is in for the sake of being one, its a bit pointless in my humble opinion.

having said that, the ruling party has to admit its shortcomings and try to finetune some of its "elitist" policies. not every scholar are borne with a trading/investment midas touch and are highly suitable to be one. so do give other capable singaporean non scholars a chance in managing and investing the country's wealth. sometimes its the "non scholars" who happens to be the best business, public, private leaders n entrepreneurs.

Adiemuso, an investment loss of 100bn is not the same thing as spending 100bn on Spore's 5mil citizens. The former can rebound to its former glory or lose even more money in the future; the latter is spent and gone. So discussing the magnitude of investment losses in our reserves as though we are actually "missing" the funds is probably not the most accurate way to look at matters.

For me at least, I am totally distinterested whether anyone in GIC or Temasek apologizes, steps down or "feels bad" for what they did - to the extent that it makes pple feel better that Ho Ching stepped down - great, but who cares? GIC and Temasek aren't accountable to me, the average Sporean voter. However, the Govt is accountable to the voters, and it is them we should hold responsible if we're not happy about how our reserves are being managed - and a potential looming GE may be a good chance to do so. If you keep voting in the same govt everytime however, please dont complain so much. People everywhere always get the government they deserve.

whaha.. funny. I like.

thanks for the article.

Pinabonds,

"the latter is spent and gone"
I do not agree. Human capital is what SG has. If 1,000 a month can keep a family of 4 going, the kids to continue their education, 1,000 is a mere investment for further gains.

We can only vote for whoever is running for office. If you are going to vote against the ruling party based on some "anger" or "unhappiness" per se, i think the outcome is worse. Not being supportive of anyone here, but it is true that gettin a "show me the money" guy doesn't seems to be the best or wisest choice!

A lot of towkays, some of whom multi-millionaires, are "chinese helicopters" (chinese-educated) who were not given employment opportunities by the english-speaking elites in the 70s-80s, so they were forced to become entrepreneurs. it's a blessing in disguise for many of them. the english elites who found jobs are still working for others, and none could own the things they've done or create - no matter how much they contributed, they're just salaried employees, helping the big bosses make money, and if they lose their jobs, they can only jump to another ship owned by someone else, maybe a chinese helicopter.

Adiemuso, I understand you feel strongly about supporting families in need - though I may differ in your view about whether providing money to needy families constitutes human capital investment.

However, arguing that the investment losses could have been better "spent" on needy families is odd - an investment loss is not an expenditure choice. It's like arguing that after buying a house for 1 mil and watching it decline to 800k due to a wider property market slump - you then lament not spending the 200k on something else. The 200k was never yours to spend no?

Your statement that "we can only vote for whoever is running for office" is quite telling by the way. Ever thought that perhaps you could make a difference? It's better to avoid a victim mindset - don't be disappointed with the PAP and the opposition - either vote for them, against them, or stand up and be counted. Complaining changes nothing.

Hi Pinabonds,

you sound like an elitist.

to correct you, "The 200k was never yours to spend no? "

perhaps you do not know about money, there is no such thing as paper loss. 200k has its opportunity cost as well. in this case, you could be better off buying a 800k house, send ur kids to lovely England get an higher education in Economics for 200k. Now thats 200k was always yours to spend.

"victimised mindset" i guess i do not know u well enough, neither do u know me as well to pass such a judgement? but u certainly reeked of sarcasm n elitism. correct me if im wrong.

and by the way, if voting against, voting for or standing up for elections means being counted, im for sure being counted. but please understand that many people think they are counted, but most of the time they are just passing through the motion.

it depends on a person's perception, in other words it is subjective whether my observations are complaints, procrastination or objective critisms.

Poor adiemuso, it really is like talking to a wall. From your last posting, I can only hope for your sake that you don't make a professional living out of either investments or writing in English.

Hahaha, exactly pinabonds

when the 800k house drops to 600k? send another kid to college?