JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S LITTLE BLACK BOOK THAT NAME NAMES

Epstein was a convicted sex offender. He was a suspected paedophile and sex trafficker., a supplier of underaged girls to the rich and powerful. His case is extreme high profile as he was a financier, a man well-connected to people who are well-connected. The source of his wealth remains a mystery.

Some suspect he was in the business of entrapment. Get unsuspecting rich and powerful people in compromised situations so that favours can be extracted in future. Others thought he was a CIA agent, and possibly also acting for foreign spy agencies. CIA once shut down a certain investigation on him. And Epstein had deep connections with Robert Maxwell and many members of his family. RM was suspected to be spying for Israel, and possibly also for UK. He died at sea after falling off his yacht in 1991. Family members suspect he was assassinated by the Mossad.

Jeffrey Epstein was found hanged in his jail cell on 10 Aug 2019. He was in jail pending trial for sex trafficking. Police investigation concluded he had committed suicide. Nobody is buying this official conclusion. How does a man hang himself dangling from a bed post that is shorter than him? And why did the CCTV system decide to fail at that fateful time? In any case, many people had predicted his 'suicide' long before it happened. The man just knew too much.

Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of RM and ex-girlfriend turned right hand man of Epstein, is in prison for her role in grooming young girls and in sex trafficking underaged girls. She has received death threats and pleaded to be transferred to a safer jail. The threats have reduced since she has been moved to a low security prison where life is more tolerable. 

Jean-Luc Brunel was a scout for models in France and suspected of pimping for Epstein. After Epstein's death, he went into hiding. He was arrested for rape and in jail pending trial where he was found dead on 19 Feb 2022. Well what do you expect. He died same way as Epstein -- hang himself.

Epstein is well-connected to the rich and powerful. And very dangerous. One of these man that Epstein had very close contact with is Bill Clinton. Epstein has been added to Clinton's body-count. This is not to say that Clinton is responsible for the death of Epstein, but how many people can say that of all the many friends and associates that they have, more than 100 of them have died by suicide or got killed under mysterious circumstances that remain unsolved? 

Police in Palm Beach, Florida opened investigation in 2005 on Epstein for sexual abuse of young girls. 34 girls were involved, but in the end, in a plea bargain, he got a Non-Prosecutorial Agreement sweetheart deal where the case was watered down to soliciting 2 girls for prostitution and so escaped life imprisonment. He was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 13 months prison. That's what you get with friends in high places.

After the 2008 trial, Epstein's former house manager, Alfredo Rodriguez, tried to sell a little black book containing all the names and contact numbers, together with his notation, promising salivating information that could have been important in the trial. He was arrested and charged for obstruction of justice and went to jail for it. That little black book ended up with the FBI, but someone managed to publish it on the Gawker website, with contact numbers redacted.

The original little black book contains more than a thousand names. It shows the network Epstein was building, covering billionaires, industry tycoons, royalties, aristocratic classes, socialites, celebrities from Hollywood and the music industry, modelling agencies, famous names from the fashion industry, politicians, bankers. Names like Rothschild, Hapsburgs, Kennedys, etc, popped up. Although he has no degrees, he cultivated intellectuals including nobel prize laureates. Politically he leans left and has donated predominately to Democrats. There are more Democrats than Republicans in his little black book.

Stephen Kosslyn, a Harvard psychologist, said of Epstein in 2002 : “He is amazing. Like a honeybee — he talks to all these different people and cross-pollinates."

You can check out the original little black book here.  I list here some of the more familiar names. Do note that not all the names listed here, or in the original black book, are victims or accomplices. Some could jolly well be the regular electrician or plumber. And the list is more than 10 years old. (Perhaps that's why Bill Gates name is not in there)

Althorp, Charles	Brother of Princess Diana
Baldwin, Alec	Celebrity, actor
Bands, Doug (Bill Clinton Office)	White House staffer who became Bill Clinton's bag carrier, body man, fixer, all-purpose gatekeeper. An influence peddler who set up his own favour selling advisory services company. Contact noted as 'Bill Clinton Office' with direct numbers to various staffers (Senator Mike Lee, David Slade, Sara Lalham, Denise Diorio, Joe Cashion, Uma, Mark Galespie, Jim Morrison, Hanna Richert, Clinton's scheduler Lara, Jim Kennedy)
Berggruen, Nicolas	Billionaire investor
Bismarck, Debonnairie von	Countess Debbie von Bismarck
Bismarck, Leopold von	Count Lopo von Bismarck
Bismarck, Vanessa von	Heiress and publishing entrepreneur
Conrad, Black	Publishing mogul.Convicted of SEC violations. The case was questionable. Jailed and after 2 of 3 charges were voided, jail time reduced. Trump gave him a full pardon.
Black, Leon	Private equity tycoon
Blair, Tony	Ex-Prime Minister of UK
Bloomberg, Michael	Billionaire. Former mayor of NYC. Democrat politician
Bonomi, Andrea	Industrialist. Key figure in Panama Papers re tax scam
Branson, Sir Richard	Billionaire businessman
Brunel, Jean-Luc	Fashion model agent. Owned Karim Models. Charged for abusing models and suppling girls for sex and rape. 18 Feb 2022 found hanged in his prison cell. Same fate as Epstein.
Campbell, Naomi	Superstar model
Chadwell, Vikram	Hotelier. Playboy in the 1990s. Bill Clinton attended his wedding.
Cipriani, Guiseppe	Restaurant magnate. Owns Cipriani bars, restaurants chain. His outlets are known as sex maniac Harvey Weinstein's 'hunting grounds'.
Cisneros, Gustavo	Venezuelan billionaire. Practically owns the whole of Venezuela.
Phil, Collns	Celebrity musician
Copperfield, David	Celebrity magician
Cosby, Bill	Celebrity comedian, actor, convicted rapist
d'Arenberg. Prince Pierre	Royalty
de Carvallo-heineken, Charlene	Heiress
de Crussol, Jacques	Aristocracy, Duke of Uzes
Cuomo, Andrew	Ex-governor of NY, Democrat politician
Dahl, Sophie	Former model. Grand-daughter of Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
de Rothschild, Lyn Forrester	from THE Rothschild family
Dershowitz, Alan	Epstein's lawyer, stands accused by 2 Epstein girls of sex with them. Denied ever meeting them.
Duchess of York	Sarah Ferguson, wife of Prince Andrew. Epstein loaned her $18,000 to pay off some debts.
Duke of York	Prince Andrew. Very close pal with Epstein. He has been accused of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre when she was 17. Virginia is one of Ghislaine's girl. The Duke has settled this out of court.
Edelman, Gerald	Nobel Prize winner. Received funding from Epstein
Estrada, Christina	Model. Ex-wife of the late Saudi billionaire Walid Juffali
Ferragamo, Leonardo & Beatrice	Son of Salvatore Ferragamo, high fashion mogul from the House of Ferragamo.
Fekkai, Frédéric	Celebrity hairstylist. Clients include Hillary Clinton
Forbes, Steve	Chairman, Forbes Magazine
Ford, Tom	Celebrity fashion designer
Ford, Katie	Celebrity model agent. Owner of Ford Models
Firyal, Princess	Princess Firyal Irshaid of Jordan. Humanitarian worker.
Furstenburg, Heinreich & Millana	Prince of Furstenberg. German aristocrat from the House of Furstenburg.
Furstenburg, Alex, Alexandra V	Prince Alex Furstenberg from the German aristocratic House of Furstenburg is the son of the fashion icon Diane von Furgstenburg. His wife Alexandra is the daughter of Robert Warren Miller of HK-based duty free shopping billionaire. She is heiress to the DFS brand.
Gell-Mann, Murray	1969 Nobel Prize winner Physicist
Ginsburg, Gary	One time lawyer in Clinton White House. Does a lot of fixer job for Democrats.
Greenberg, Allan 'Ace'	Chairman of Bear Steins. Epstein's patron. Took Epstein into company in 1976. Epstein had no formal training but Greenberg accept those “poor, smart, with a deep desire to be rich.”. At Bear Stein, Epstein excelled at teaching the rich how to pay less taxes.
Gutfreund, John	CEO of Saloman Brothers
Hanson, The Hon Robert	British big time financier
Hapsburg, Marie	Aristocrat from the House of Hapsburg
Hawking, Stephen	Physicist.
Hoffenberg, Steven	Owner of Hoffenberg’s Towers Financial Corporation. Took Epstein in after he left. Bear Steins. Hoffenberg pleaded guilty in 1983 to a ponzi scheme of US$480m (the biggest ponzi scheme before Bernie Maddof). Claimed Epstein played the bigger role in the ponzi scheme.
Hoffman, Dustin	Celebrity Actor
Hurley, Elizabeth	Celebrity actress
Lauren, Hutton	Celebrity model, actress
Jagger, Mick	Celebrity musician from Rolling Stones
Jarecki, Henry	Billionaire
Johnson, Elizabeth	Heiress to Johnson & Johnson empire
Kellen, Sarah	One of Epstein's proccurers. Others identified - Nadia Marcinkova, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, and Ghislaine Maxwell. Only Ghislaine has been charged and jailed.
Kennedy, Ethel	Human rights advocate. Wife of Robert Kennedy
Kennedy, Ted	Senator. Honey-pot victim of Henry Kissinger
Kerry, John Forbes	Democrat politician. Obama's Sec of State, Biden's Climate Czar
Khashoggi, Adnan	Saudi businessman. International arms dealer. Into all sorts of dark deals. Played a big part in the CIA run Iran Contra project. Helped Philippines Ferdinand Marcos ship his stolen gold out of the country. Always have beauties on his beautiful yacht The Navila. (now owned by Trump)
Kissinger, Henry	Master of realpolitik. Served with Epstein in the Council of Foreign Relations, the agency that shapes government policies. Kissinger is known to have honey-trapped JFK and Ted Kennedy.
Koch, David	One half of the Koch brothers, the two most hated capitalists thought to heavily influence Republican policies.
Kosslyn, Stephen	Harvard psychologist. He said of Epstein in 2002 : “He is amazing. Like a honeybee — he talks to all these different people and cross-pollinates."
Love, Courtney	Singer
Maxwell, Ghislaine	Socialite. girlfriend turned procuror for Epstein. Currently in jail. Ex-Daughter of Robert Maxwell (media tycoon, suspected spy for Israel).
Mitchell, George	One time Democrat Senate majority leader. Sent by Bill Clinton to Ireland as special envoy. Played important role for Clinton to help the peace process in Ireland.
Murdock, Rupert	Media mogul. Owns Fox News
Ong BS & Christinna	Ong Beng Seng - Singapore billionaire, hotelier, fashion business, Formula 1 Organiser, real estate.
Ong, Melissa	Daughter of Ong BS.
Pastrana Arango, Andrés	One time President of Columbia
Perelman, Ronald	Chairman of Revlon
Pinker, Steven	Linguist. Said he never liked Epstein. Circumstances put him and Epstein in picture takes and social meets. He said of Epstein : "He likes schmoozing with smart and intellectual people, but he couldn’t really or had very little interest in exploring an issue. He’d wisecrack, change subjects, or get bored after a few seconds. He’s a kibitzer more than a serious intellectual.”
Pritzker, Thomas	Chairman, Hyatt Hotels
Richardson, Bill	One time governor of New Mexico
Reza, Ali	Son of Shah The Shah, the Emperor Pahlavi of Iran
Rivers, Joan	The late actress, comediene. Famously claimed Michelle Obama is a trans. Then died suddenly a couple of days later with no known medical issues.
Rose, Charlie: Television journalist	TV host of The Charlie Rose Show. Lots of communication with Epstein who recommends girls for positions in the show. In 2017, 35 women accused Rose of sexual harassment.
Rutland, Duke & Duchess	British aristocrat. David Manners is the current 11th Duke of Rutland.
Sachs, Jeffrey	Well known Harvard economists. One of the 4 Harvard advisers sent to assist Boris Yeltsin transition Russia out of a socialist economy using the "shock therapy" strategy. The Harvard team was eventually discredited due to conflict of interest.
Saud, Prince Solman	Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman​, better known as MBS.
Schumer, Chuck	Democrat. Currently senate majority leader. Receives donation from Epstein. Epstein donates primarily to Democrats.
Siegal, Peggy	Socialite, publicist of NY. After Epstein was released from prison 2010, she helped him to re-enter the social world of events and connections. She suffered financial losses as she got cancelled for connecting to a paedophile.
Slater, Rodney	Bill Clinton Secretary of Transportation
Soames, Rupert	Rupert Christopher Soames OBE is a British businessman, CEO of the outsourcing company Serco. He is a grandson of Winston Churchill.
Soros, Peter	Nephew of George Soros
Spacey, Kevin	Actor
Stark, Koo	Actress, professional photographer. One time girlfriend of Prince Andrew in the 80s. Starred in a few quite racy movies, but don't call it porn. She won a big libel suit payout from Viacom International for calling her a porn star. Reason I include her in the list is my memory was jolted. I saw her in a movie in London in the 80s. I always recall this absolutely and remarkably beautiful girl, and more so her unique name Koo Stark.
Trump, Donald	Seems they knew each other in younger days. Trump has always said he knew Epstein just like everybody else in Palm Beach. Did Trump visit Epstein's sex island? Trump's name does not appear in the flight log. People close to Trump said it would be out of character for Trump to visit Epstein island. Trump hardly visits anyone. He does not even ever play in somebody else's golf club.
Wexner, Leslie	Billionaire. One of the richest man in US. Wealth is in retailing. Owns Victoria' Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Express, Inc., and Bath & Body Works. Supports establishment Republicans like Bush and Mitt Romney. In 2018 he ditched the Republican Party. He is anti-Trumper?. After Epstein left Bear Steins, Wexner took him on as his Financial advisor. The two got on well, till Epstein's first arrest when Wexner cut ties. Wexner claimed later that Epstein misappropriated a lot of cash from him.

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.

CAN TRUMP BE THE CATALYST FOR A REVIVAL THE US DESPERATELY NEEDS

The Asbury revival:

On 8 Feb 2023 Asbury University, Wiltmore, Kentucky, US, held a scheduled service in their auditorium. According to student president Alison Perfater, a small group of students lingered behind after the service to continue with their prayers.. A young student got up to voluntarily offer his testimony and confession and then the emotion spontaneously took off and spread. They felt an immense sense of peace and joy and the spiritual presence of the divine. Word spread very quickly via social media and fellow students joined in. A tik tok video soon spread the message in the university and then around the world. By 15 Feb the tik tok video had garnered 63 million viewers. Believers kept pouring in and the service continued non-stop 24 hours till 15 Feb. Initially, believers came from within the campus. Then local residents, and soon all over the US and some foreigners, including Singaporeans (as mentioned by Tucker Carlson on Fox News). People came to have the chance to experience the presence of God and they poured in, forming a kilometre long queue. 

It seems this is not the first time there has been a revival at Asbury. It has happened several times over the years. In 1970 they had a revival which spread throughout the US. This recent revival has spread to 20 other campuses.

What exactly is a revival:

It suggests a quality that already exists but waned and has been given a boost or a turbo charge. In the context of a Christian revival, it is of course about the faith.

But an evangelistic campaign, outreach or meeting is not revival. Such a campaign may end successfully with many making decisions for Jesus Christ, but they, the community, the church, are not touched by God.

Manipulative emotionalism is prevalent in certain types of churches, especially in prosperity churches. Weak attendees often take in the con because almost everyone are carrying some kind or other of emotional burdens. Prosperity preachers are masters of psychological manipulation. In a manipulated revival, one can discern the praises and prayers are forced and organised.

In a divine revival, God moves through the community, the district and its churches and people are touched by the Holy Spirit. Supernatural events manifest and there is spontaneous outpouring of spiritual fervour that is contagious. People cries, asks for forgiveness, mercy. Souls are saved. The Spirit sets hearts on fire. Believers understand the Spirit is with them and they breathe in the Love and Praises for the Lord pour forth. 

The fiery revival of New Hebrides:

One of the most powerful revivals occured between 1943 to 1953 in the New Hebrides, a group of islands off the coast of Scotland. More specifically on the Isles of Lewis. The folks who live there are Gaelic speaking and amongst the poorest of the poor. The folks had moved away from God, especially the younger ones. In 1949, the presbytery in the parish of Barvas wrote a proclamation to be read in all the churches. It called the people to consider the "low state of vital religion . . . throughout the land . . . and the present dispensation of Divine displeasure . . . due to growing carelessness toward public worship . . . and the growing influence of the spirit of pleasure which has taken growing hold of the younger generation."  They asked the parishioners to repent and return to God.

Two sisters took it seriously. Peggy Smith, 84 and blind; and her sister, Christine Smith, 82 and almost doubled over with arthritis. They wanted to do something for God. So they gave themselves passionately to prayers and wait upon God in their cottage. One night one of the sisters had a vision. She saw the churches crowded with people and interpreted it as a sign of a coming revival. They summoned the Rev. James MacKay who asked what should they do. The sisters said they should pray twice a week and to wait for God. The sisters will do thus in their cottage, the minister will gather some elders and young deacons and do similarly in a barn on their side of the parish. They prayed and waited for God from 10 pm to early morn. This went one for 3 months and nothing happened. Then at the end of the 3rd month, a manifestation took place and that was the start of the revival.

They sought out mainland priest Duncan Campbell who was persuaded to go to Lewis to help in the increased demand for services. Incredible manifestations occurred but I shall leave the details to a transcript of a taped message by Campbell to students of Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh, Scotland, which you can read here.

I will only narrate this one manifestation, for reasons which you will soon see why. In one of his services, Campbell noticed 17 year old Donald Smith who seemed deeply in the Spirit, tears rolling down his face. Campbell knew the lad was very much with the Spirit so he asked the lad if he would like to say a few words. Donald was saved and baptised just a couple of weeks ago and had been reading up the Bible. The young lad stood up and prayed. He said something he had read that morning :"I seem to be gazing into an open door and see the Lamb in the midst of the throne and the keys of death and hell on his waist." He was of course referring to Revelation 4. Then he looked towards heaven, raised his hands, and said, "God, there is power there. Let it loose!". In that instant, one side of the congregation suddenly put their hands up, heads tilted back, and remained in that position for 2 hours. On the other side, the folks slumped over, crying for mercy. God came upon the congregation and swept across the whole parish that night. Many villagers were saved that night.

Donald Smith went on to play important roles helping out the church during the course of the revival. Donald had a cousin named Mary who had migrated to the US in 1930. In 1946 when Mary had her 4th child, she named him after her cousin in reverence to the good work he did in the revival. The parish sent her a gift dedicated to her baby, a copy of a bible used during the revival.

Donald J Trump: 

That woman was Mary Smith Anne MacLeod and the child is Donald J Trump. Trump's paternal side is from rich German vintner family and his maternal side is poverty-stricken Celtic Scots. Perhaps that is why Trump always has the empathy for the poor. 

Trump grew up in a Presbyterian family. His pastor was the famous Norman Vincent Peale who had a great influence on him. Peale authored many books and he is best known for The Power of Positive Thinking. He popularised the concept of positive thinking and his influence on Trump is obvious. Trump's deal making ethos and winner mentality are Peale hallmarks. 

On the campaign trail, Trump courted the evangelicals. He lifted that New Hebrides Bible at the podiums, and after inauguration, he had that publicity photo shoot with his bible at St John's Church in Washington DC on Jun 1. 

Trump has always professed his belief in God, said God is his boss, and gave glory to Jesus for various accomplishments. As the 45th president, that New Hebrides bible came with him to the White House. Obama before Trump, had chased God out of the White House and government, committed a sacrilegious act of  using the rainbow, symbol for God's faithfulness and mercy, to bask the White House in the 7 colours to celebrate LGBT movement, and brought in the Muslim Brotherhood. Trump brought God right back in and who can forget the beautiful Xmas decoration of the White House put up by Melanie Trump in 2017. Evangelicals were delirious and expectant of a revival in the US. But that was not to be. 

The spiritual warfare in US and the West:

Barrack Obama enshrined divisive identity politics in the US and changed forever the way two-party democracy worked. In the March 2012 hot mic incident, Obama was caught telling Russian President Medvedev that he will have more flexibility to negotiate after his re-election. After he left the White House, Obama once said in jest, or maybe it was a Freudian slip, that he relish the idea of him working behind the scene crafting policies. It does appear Obama never really left the White House and there is an old dementia puppet in the Oval Office. Someone is pulling the strings. Joe Biden has worked on the extreme leftism that Obama initiated and brought havoc and grave danger to the US. The country is now under a cabal of Godless progressive lunatic leftists and globalist elites that have transformed the US from the 'land of the free' to the depths of moral depravity such as what Moses saw how the Israelites had turned away from God when he came down from Mount Sinai. The New Hebrides prior to the revival is nothing compared to the decline of faith in the US of today. 

Many are those who see in the US and much of the Western world today of a conflict beyond human political power warfare, but of a darker struggle of good vs evil in the spiritual dimension. Paedophile behaviour is being normalised, institutions of family and marriage are being destroyed, transhumanism is promoted as the future of mankind, same-sex marriages are celebrated, sex-change and non-binary genders are hailed, educational system is perverted, Love is replaced with racial hatred, good and bad is flipped as soft-on-crime policies prevail, conservative values are shunned as Baphomet, Baal and Satan worship increasingly pushing into mainstream, abortion as a corollary of promiscuous lifestyle must be protected, etc, etc. 

The Ten Commandments are to be replaced by mysterious Georgia Guidestones. These Stonehenge like blocks mysteriously appeared in 1980 in Elbert County, Georgia, US. Its inscriptions were 10 guides for humanity which turned the Ten Commandants of Mosses upside down. Some called it Satanic and thankfully, someone blew it to smithereens last year. You can read the full inscriptions here. 

What used to be a divide of political ideologies of Left vs Right, where folks sit down and negotiate for middle ground in the best interest of the country, they now stare across the table with Hate. And the hate is amplified through synchronised narratives via media, big tech social platforms and social influencers.

"For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring" (Isaiah 44:3). 

God cannot help if the people do not thirst for Divine embrace. When US goes dark, the rest of the western civilisation follows. Short of a spiritual revival, it is difficult to envision the US pulling itself back from its path of immoral depravity towards hell. The nation needs to awaken or all hope is lost. As of now, there is only one God-fearing non-establishment player with the courage, strength and support of more than a hundred million voting Americans to turn the country around. 

The orange mop came bearing the Holy Bible. The St John photo shoot with the New Hebrides Bible in hand was a statement of how important God will play in his administration. Yet many chose to ridicule the trivialities of how he held the bible upside down, questioned how many times he attend Church service, that he cannot quote the Bible. The liberal left prefers a non-Christian Obama who chased God out of public life, and a Ku Klux Klan racist, corrupt Joe Biden with public display of  inappropriate behavior towards kids and women, policies that murdered hundreds of thousands of unborn babies and a tyrannical approach to suppressing the Christian faith. They still prefer the war mongers over the peace makers, don't they.     

Here in Singapore, 15,000km away from the US, we should be concerned with their 2024 election because our destiny is impacted by them. Will Trump 2.0 and his New Hebrides Bible kick off a fiery revival in the US. Be wary of godless progressives in bed with tech billionaires who think they can put some chips into the brain and make gods out of men. I am more comfortable with a God-fearing guy who said:
 

 “I believe God is everywhere and in all of us, and I want every decision I make to reflect well on me when it’s time for me to go to that big boardroom in the sky. When I get permanently fired by the ultimate boss, I want the elevator to heaven to go up, not down”  ... Trump

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.

THE SIN OF FILICIDE BY GENETIC VACCINES

Bet most people aren't acquainted with this word 'filicide'.  It is the despicable act of parents murdering their own children. If you have done some research and come to your own conclusion of the benefits outweighing the risks of vaccines for children, then it's fair enough. It's your choice and you have at least been responsible about it. But for those carelessly anxious, gladly, willingly, nonchalantly, or obediently bring their children for the jabs, you could be filicidal with the decision if fatal adverse events follow, one month, 2 months, several years later.

Incidents of deaths of children and deeply serious adverse events following vaccination have been suppressed. We only get to hear of them from anecdotes via social media. Here's some tragedies I came across fairly recently.  

Jackson Ball aged 7 from North Carolina, US.

His father Billy Ball is a vaxx zealot who wants all parents to get their kids jabbed. He promotes the vax on Twitter.

He had his kids vaxx'd on 20 May 2021 and tweeted "My little ones are excited. They really are. Because it means they can get some candy afterwards." 7 year old Jackson had triple jabs.

On 4 Jan 2023, Jackson suffered a fatal catastrophic brain event. That indicates a sudden ruptured brain aneurysm, post-injection meningitis, or encephalitis. All known adverse events of the mRNA jab.

The father is still pro-vaxx for kids. Dad still has trust in the vaccines.

Anastasia Weaver aged 6, from Ohio, US.

She had a twin sister, Caitlin. Mom is a nurse and had to jab by mandate. She seems pro-vax.

21 Nov 2021 Mom, dad and twins had their first jab. Anna had some problems and was hospitalised and oxygenated. Mom put it off as related to a digestive issue she was having 2 days before the jab.
4 Jan 2022 mom had her 2nd booster, twins had their 2nd jabs.  Mom suffered body aches and headaches as a result, but said “the vaccine is worth it.”
29 Jun 2022 Anna had a seizure. Mom brushed it off, saying all tests “came back normal.”
15 Jul 2022 Anna had constant 'tiny seizures'
17 Sep 2022 entire family had Covid-19. Entirely family became very sick 2 weeks later. Mom had severe cough, could not sleep
29 Dec 2022 Anna hospitalised. No details.
25 Jan 2022 Anna passed away in her sleep. No details.

Mom shuts down her Facebook due to lots of criticisms.

Yasmin Guevara aged 8, from San Martin, Argentina.

Her father Yamil Guevara posted on FB 22 Nov 2022 showing Yasmin on hospital bed. Sounded hopeful. Days passed, her condition worsened and Yamil's FB updates appealed for prayers.

Yamil updated FB on 27 Jan 2023 to announce Yasmin had died 11 Jan 2023. This was the first time he mentioned Yasmin had the jab. Her final days she suffered excruciating pain.

He added " ...this was the first patient of  Argentina alleged mind called vasculliti q doctors did not know how to treat her with this do not vaccinate with no vaccine for the supposed covid xq they killing us all with this now it was my daughter tomorrow it can be your son I want to do a fight x no to the covid vaccine." (copied ad verbertim per FB translation). When he shared a video of vaccine explainer, FB blocked him.

Yasmina's aunt posted on FB  27 Jan that the child died from post-injection vasculitis – inflammation of the blood vessels. It is a very common, and known adverse reaction to the Pfizer mRNA injection. She said "Be careful parents, take care of the little ones, we're being lab rate." Needless to say, FB censored her.

Zach Reilly aged 1 year from East Yorkshire, UK.

Mom's vaccination status is not known. But dad, Owen Reilly, is a British Navy personnel is almost certainly fully vaccinated as it is mandatory.

Mom had severe stomach cramp on 10 Jul 2021 and emergency C-section was performed. Zach was delivered 37 months pre-mature with blue, black and blistered left arm due to several blood clots. An amputation was performed.

His ordeal is not over.   Zack had a stroke in utero that caused brain damage. Doctors don’t know if Zack will ever walk or talk. End of December he had 20 seizures. The diagnosis - he has a rare epilepsy called infantile spasms. It is in Pfixer's Post-Authorization Adverse Effect Event Report of 20 Apr 2021.

The "mRNA spectrum” is a list of disorders unborn babies may be born with when either one or both parents have been vaxxed. Pfizer knows about this all along. 'Conspiracy' doctors have warned about this all along.

This brings into question the dangers for unvaxxed having blood transfusion using vaxxed blood!

This is Pixie Lamadora aged 5 from Cabadbaran City, Philippines.

What happened to her and what's her current status is not very clear. But it is obvious something is very wrong. You can see for yourself and follow her progress at mom Rose Jovelyn Calo-Lamadora's FB page here.

22 Mar 2022 at 2.02am she posted an announcement Pixie had her first jabs together with her 7 year old sister. So they probably had their jabs on Mar 21. Philippines has Pfizer and Sinovac. It is unclear which one she took.

15 hours later, mom posted an update with photo of the little girl who seemed to be under life support system. That's when Rose asked for prayers and the medical expenses she had to bear.

Then followed many updates that showed the nightmare she was in. The child went in and out of ICUs, clinical visits, EEG after EEG. She had seizures, once a very serious one. Her behaviour changed, seems abnormal. She'd seen neuro surgeons, the whole lotsa medical expertise. Rose mentioned many medical conditions she observed. She talked of how the child cannot recognise some relatives. It is absolutely obvious the poor child is having neurological impairment which is, again, an adverse event Pfizer is well aware of.

Filipinos are closely knit folks. It is heartening to hear from Rose of the support she has from her social circle. 

Rose posted : "... ug kblo pa lng q ang mka daut sa imoha ang vaccine, d unta ka nag da dalaon .... hangtud krn wla pa sya kamata jud ... "  Filipino is difficult to translate due to too much short forms they use to text. I think she said had she known the vaxx was bad, she would not have brought the child for the jab. And she cursed at government corruption over the vaxx for kids programme.

😭😭😭😭😭

I could go on. There are lots of anecdotes. It's a painful blog so I do not wish to go too deep into. Those that suffered should speak out to warn others. Those who are oblivious to the risks assumes the sin of filicide by genetic vaccine which deserves the highest condemnation.

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.

THE NINE LIVES OF DBS

India's Adani Group has lost US$100b in value since the adverse report of short seller Hindenburg last month. Temasek has S$147m (1.2% shares) in Adani Port acquired in 2018. The Hindenburg report has little impact on share price of Adani Port. Singaporeans heaved a sigh of relief the Hindenburg report most likely saved the hides of GIC and Temasek as the Adani Group was in early talks in Oct 2022 with the sovereign wealth funds to raise fundings to the tune of US$10b. Our national reserves came within a whisker of being skimmed. That is, we assume Temasek has not gone ahead with the deal in light of the revelations of their internal fraudulent financial dealings.


DBS loans to Adani Group

Now the news is out DBS has a S$1.4b exposure to the Adani Group. DBS CEO Gupta was quoted in ST 13 Feb 2023, the bank has no worries and provisions are not necessary as S$1b was loans to acquire Swiss company Holcim's cement business in India, and S$400m were loans to other Adani Group subsidiary companies. The cement business and the subsidiary companies are doing well.

The S$1b is participation in a syndicated loan for Adani to purchase Holcim's majority stakes in Abuja Cement and ACC. This is secured against a non-disposal undertaking with the shares controlled by security agent Deutsche Bank HK. Abuja and ACC have slipped 10% and 20% respectively from purchase price. India's cement industry remains positive, so DBS has reasons for confidence. There are no details on  S$400m loans to the subsidiaries.

S$1.4b exposure to Adani Group appears massive. It is about 12% of DBS paid up capital of S$11.8b (2021). However, this is still within the MAS limit of 30% cap for lendings to a group. 


Sale of National Iron Steel Ltd

The national steel mill was put up for sale in the market in 2002. DBS held 14.67% which was bidded by a consortium of investors 98 Holdings led by hotelier Ong Beng Seng. His competitor was Singapore tycoon Oei Hong Leong. On 31 Oct 2002. 98 Holdings revised their bid to S$2.00 per share with a "no increase " statement. Under rule 20.2 of the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers this meant the offer was final and could not be revised unless there was a competing bid. 

On 1 Nov 2021 Oei offered to buy from DBS their 14.67% holdings at S$2.03. On 12 Nov DBS CEO Jackson Tai, requested for a meeting with Oei.  They met that day at 4pm at Oei's residence to discuss 'off the record'. There was no discussion of the sale of DBS' shares. Instead Oei was asked if there was a buyer at S$2.03 would he just sell his shares and make a few millions.  

At 4.03pm 13 Nov 2021 NatSteel shares were suspended from trading. The shrewd Oei smelled a fish and at 4.40pm he quickly sent by fax to DBS a revised offer to buy their shares at S$2.05. Indeed, 98 Holdings had increased their bid to S$2.03 that day. There was no response from Jackson and late that night, DBS announced they had sold their shares to Excel (owned by OBS), one of the members of the 98 Holdings consortium.

It did seem DBS had not conducted themselves in their shareholders' best interest. Jackson Tai  never faced any queries from major shareholder Temasek or SES. In fact, Temasek subsidiary Tazwell Pte Ltd which held 7.9% of NatSteel and was part of the consortium, also sold their holdings to OBS.

South China Morning Post report 15 Nov 2021 : "State-linked DBS Group scrambled yesterday to explain why it had spurned a higher offer for its stake in takeover target Natsteel, the latest twist in the drawn-out battle for Singapore's lone steel miller. DBS said late on Wednesday it had accepted an offer of S$2.03 (HK$8.97) a share for its 14.7 per cent stake in Natsteel tendered by 98 Holdings, a bidding consortium headed by hotelier Ong Beng Seng and supported by DBS's parent, Temasek".

SCMP was obviously referring to Oei's offer for S$2.05. Oei had approached Ho Ching for her blessings in case he makes a general offer and she had emphasised that Temasek’s objective was to maximise shareholder value. It is difficult to understand whether SCMP meant Temasek supported OBS bid, or Temasek supported DBS' decision to accept the lower bid. Either way, how does Ho Ching maximise shareholder (Singaporeans) value with DBS accepting a lower bid? 

Someone could write a good Wall Street type novel based on this episode. As Oei pointed out, he felt there was a conspiracy to enable OBS to take over NatSteel. There was even misinformation by SPH which ended with a libel suit by Oei against SHP and reporter Catherine Ong which the tycoon won. I presented just a snapshot of the episode. The full details can be found in a court judgement in another libel case brought by Oei. Details here.

But Oei was right. The well-connected OBS has a knack for buying cheap. In 2015 his wife was able to win the main tenant contract for the Dempsey shopping area even though she wasn't the highest bidder.


Purchase of Dao Heng HK

In 2001 DBS acquired Dao Heng Bank HK, a purchase that had gone down in infamy. The acquisition was made at US$5.4b, a 60% premium over market share price at the time and 4 times its book value. S&P valued a goodwill component of US$2.7b in the purchase price.

One day after the purchase announcement, DBS share price dropped 10% and Dao Heng shares jumped 52%.

DBS had also acquired the smaller Kwong On Bank and Overseas Trust Bank. In 2003 the 3 units were merged to form DBS HK. The objective of DBS foray into Hong Kong was to gain a foothold into the huge Chinese market when it opens up. That didn't happen and the bank stumbled on for the next decade. Then there was the embarrassing incident in 2004 when DBS HK accidentally threw away and destroyed 83 safe deposit boxes of customers during a branch office renovation.

Jackson Tai sold low (NatSteel) and bought high (Dao Heng) for DBS but was able to remain in the driver's seat till 2006. In the year of his departure in 2006, DBS HK wrote off about  HK$5.4b (S$1.1b) of goodwill charge for the Dao Heng acquisition. 

DBS HK then had only a small market share of HK depositors (under 5%). It remains just as small today. With new management, DBS HK has crawled its way back and is now the 7th largest bank in HK by balance sheet size. In 2022 it won the HK best bank of the year award.


The Ulu Pandan Condominium

Read : The era of cheap money but no fixed rate housing loans in Singapore. That era has ended and Singaporeans lost out on an opportunity to lock in on cheap rates.

The Ulu Pandan Condominium was a project of DBS Realty in 1977. DBS was the major lender with a first time ever fixed rate in Singapore for the first 10 years at 9% pa. When interest rates climbed in the 1980s, reaching an all-time high of 12% in 1981, DBS starred at tremendous losses. In stepped MAS and government to sort matters out. Sanctity of contracts went out the window, borrowers signed new mortgages with more expensive variable rates, and DBS survived.


Purchase of POSB

The Post Office Savings Bank was a statutory board until 16 Nov 1998 when the Ministry of Finance sold it to DBS for S$1.6b. Today, there is no such thing as an entity called Post Office Savings Bank. POSB is merely a brand name used by DBS. 

POSB had a different mandate from a commercial bank. It had the lion's share of retail deposits which it served extremely well with a large network of branches and ATMs. This move was certainly never planned by POSB which was at the time in the midst of proposing a new headquarter space. 

DBS labelled the acquisition in line with the government's call for local banks to merge so as to create fewer, but larger and stronger banks that are able to compete on the international stage. Obviously, POSB, and it's customers we the people, had no say. It's crystal clear the government paved the way for DBS to capture the massive depositor funds that helped in their thrust into HK. Overflowing with funds, Jackson Tai had no whims to paying over the roof for Dao Heng.


1MDB

In the 1MND scandal involving ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Najib, US Dept of Justice claimed US$3.5b were misappropriated. The trail of funds flow involved 5 banks in Singapore - DBS, UBS, Standchart, Falcon and BSI. Following regulatory investigation by MAS the general manager of Falcon's Singapore branch was arrested. Falcon was fined S$4.3m and ordered shut down.  BSI was fined S$13.3m and lost their licence to operated in Singapore. DBS , USB and standard were fined S$1m, S$1.3, and S$5.4m respectively. 


Disruption of Bank's digital services

Customers were unable to access online services for 2 days in Nov 2021. Multiple-day digital outage is consider a serious disruption. The penalty for this is an increase in its risk-weighted assets for operational risk. MAS increased this to 1.5 multiplier. This translates to an additional increase in capital of almost S$1b in June 2022. DBS had a similar disruption of digital service in 2010 when MAS had applied a multiplier of 1.2 times to the bank's operational risk weighted assets, which translates to additional regulatory capital of S$230m. 


Takeover of Laskmi Villas Bank

In Nov 2020 the Indian Reserve Bank approved the DBS takeover of Laskmi, the first time a foreign bank is allowed to acquire a local bank. Laskmi bank was running out of cash and headed for liquidation. Essentially it was a DBS rescue. The arrangement was a total write-off of capital (means share holders got nothing) and DBS to pump in fresh capital of S$442m. 

Just before the takeover, RBI had ordered the write-off of Tier 2 bonds. Under Basel III agreement, the central bank can write off such bonds in a liquidation situation. The bond holders has since sued DBS. The bonds aggregated S$4.2b. The investors actually sued RBI as a primary respondent for ordering the write-off of the Tier 2 bonds. DBs is the secondary respondent. DBS does not see this as an issue and has indicated there are no other external risks for which they need to make a provision. 

Laskmi has now merged into DBS India. With this, DBS has expanded its reach to over 563 branches across 19 states. This works out to S$785,000 per branch which seems like a good deal.


On a personal note

Fair is fair. I need to put this personal episode with DBS on record. About 8 years back, I was stationed in Philippines. I had some physical problems with my Visa card which I used to access ATM. I had a hard time going back and forth with their call centre customer service. The problem was I was not physically present in Singapore to complete the card change.  This went on for weeks. Exasperated, I emailed the CEO Mr Gupta directly. Couple of days later their Customer Services Manager (a Filipino) called me and my problem was solved immediately. He arranged for my new card to be couriered over to me in a couple of days, all free-of-charge. Kudos for that.


Addendum :

Lehman Bros Structured Notes

(I left this out. But it's a big item, so I thought it's better I add it in as an addendum)

Lehman Bros had come up with some very complicated investment products in mid 2000s. It's pretty complicated but in simple terms it's like this.  They take some assets and they structured a derivative on these products, Investors buy the derivative which is a structured note. These products are structured in such a way investors receive a regular stream of interest coupon until maturity. It paid considerably higher interest rates than fixed deposit rates and the notes were eagerly taken up by investors. On maturity the notes can be redeemed at the amount as described in the  terms and conditions of the product.

These structured products have multiple risk exposure that retail, or even well-educated investors, do not comprehend. Foremost, they don't even know what are the underlying assets for those Notes. Next Lehman themselves was the swap counterparty, which means if the investment bank falls, they will default on the scheduled interest payments. That would trigger a mandatory liquidation of the underlying assets. Lehman collapsed in 2008 in the midst of the global financial crisis. The underlying assets became valueless. When they unwind the assets, there was nothing left to payoff investors.   

DBS was an active arranger and sold the product to thousands of customers in Singapore and HK in 2008. Long story short, MAS investigation found DBS to mis-sold the complex financial product. DBS SG had to compensate S$80m to customers in Singapore while DBS HK paid up HK$424m to HK residents. DBS, together with other institutions involved, were banned from selling structured products for about 2 years.

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.

THE WHO, WHY AND HOW OF THE NORDSTREAM GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSIONS

Once again the greatest conspiracy theorist in the world, Alex Jones, has been proven right. On 26 Sep 2022 Russian undersea natural gas pipelines Nordstrean I and II were blown up. Two days later, Alex Jones said it was the Americans that did it. All on simple deductive work based on the preponderance of motivation, capability and opportunity. The pipelines bringing gas from Russia to Germany immediately rules out both countries for the lunacy to self-destroy their economies. Of course the US and the European Union tried to pin it on Russia, and many are the suckers who took that in.

According to Alex, Nordstream will enslave EU economically to Russian energy, especially Germany, a scenario the US will never allow. Americans have the naval deep sea capability to plant the bombs. The annual Nato naval exercise BALTOPS 22 in June 2022 placed the US in the vicinity. 

Key US giveaways

Some time Nov 2021, when war drums were beating and Russian troops built up near Ukraine borders, according to investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, Biden authorised Jake Sullivan to put together a plan for Nordstream.

18 Jan 2022 USEC Victoria Nuland at a State Department briefing said :
“I want to be very clear to you today, if Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward." (Watch here).

7 Feb 2022 Biden at a joint news conference with new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz :
"If Russia invades  (Ukraine)... again, then there will be longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it." (Watch here)

30 Sep 2022 (after the explosion) at a Press Conference with Canadian Foreign Minister, whilst denying US involvement in the bombing of Nordstream, Blinken said :
"It’s a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs". (Read here)

The plan and execution

85-year old Seymour Hersh is a celebrated investigative reporter who has won Pulitzer Prize for his famous breaking news works such as the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Watergate and Abu Ghraib war crimes. If you read mainstream media, including Reuters, they all carry articles trying hard to discredit an old celebrated reporter respected and envied by his peers for his contacts and ability to feret out truth.

You can read Hersh's detailed report on how the CIA planned and executed the sabotage of Nordstream pipelines here. 

Very briefly, Jake Sullivan was given the green light to take down Nordstream by all means possible but in a manner that will not point back to the US. All covert operations of the US are undertaken by the Special Operations Command which required Congressional oversight. This job was to be so secretive it had to be undertaken without Congressional approval. CIA and NSA organised the group.

The decision was to make use of a special naval diving team trained out of a special nondescript training school in Panama City. These are navy guys but not under the Special Operations Command allowing the endeavour to bypass Congress. The plan was to plant C-4 explosives to be remotely detonated at a deferred time.

US needed someone to do the ground work of determining the best spot. The perfect partner was Norway. The Norwegians hold strong anti-Russian sentiments, had benefited tremendously from US military tie ups, they have excellent underwater expertise from their vast oilfield works, and most importantly, stopping Nordstream can only have good paybacks for their own gas supply to Europe. Norway is not a member of EU, thus providing a higher confidence level of secrecy to US. The Norwegians identified a spot some miles off the island of Bornholm. At this point the 2 pipelines are just a mile apart, there are no strong undercurrents, and its a shallow spot just 260 feet deep.

Under cover of the annual NATO-US joint naval exercise BALTOPS 22 in June, the US naval team placed the explosives. But they had to wait for a long while before setting the bombs off as the US must not be seen to be in the vicinity. This waiting time imposed a high risk of accidental explosion by some other natural sources of sound waves setting off the detonation device. So a device was specially constructed. The special sonar buoy used to set off the device was airdropped by the Norwegians on 26 September 2022 during a routine flight. Sonar waves from the buoy then triggered the detonating devices that set off the explosions 3 months after the US were ever in the area.

The geopolitics of Nordstream

In the aftermath of WWII, West Germans proposed rapprochement with East Germany as a pathway to a peaceful co-existence. The idea developed into what was called Nordpolitik or Ospolitik, a normalisation of relations with Eastern EU countries and using the cheap gas supply from Russia to rebuild the economies of the countries destroyed by the war. It has taken decades, but  eventually Russian gas flowed in pipelines to EU through Ukraine. Nordstrean1 was commission in 2011. Nordstream2 was nearing completion by 2021 and would have brought tremendous amount of cheap natural gas supply to Europe via Germany.

Since the breakup of the USSR, Ukraine-Russia relationship has been mired in complex and complicated knots, principally relating to the splitting of Soviet military assets, the huge debt for gas supplied by Russia, and the Russian diaspora in Eastern Ukraine. Old pipelines supplying Russian gas to EU run through Ukraine. Nordstream means Russian major gas supply to EU will bypass Ukraine.

For Ukraine, Nordstream means Ukraine loses huge income from transmission fees and more importantly, a large bargaining chip in any security negotiations with Russia and loss of support from EU. 

President Viktor Yanukovych's policies leaned toward Russia, but everything changed in 2014. The complications of dividing the Black Sea feet and naval facilities led to tensions in Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014 after a local Referendum. The Ukrainian Revolution, engineered by Obama admin, and in which ambassador Victoria Nuland played a big role, brought US-sponsored Petro Poroshenko to power in 2014. Who can forget this video clip of  Senators John Mccain and Lindsey Graham prepping Ukraine to go to war against Russia back in 2016.

For Russia, Nordstream2 promises substantial revenue flow to develop the economy in the manner of Putinomic loyalist capitalism.

For Angela Merkel, Nordstream undersea pipeline terminals at Greifswald and piped overland to various EU destinations mean Germany will continue to hold leadership position and considerable sway over EU politics.

For the old establishment US policy makers, Nordstream will mean American leadership role in EU will diminish. With the Russian-Ukraine relationship deteriorating in Obama's second term, the US were concerned dependency on Russian natural gas will see EU countries reluctant to provide support and arms shipment to Ukraine in an eventual conflict.

Difference between Trump and Putin

An isolationist Trump warned EU of the dangers of Nordstream2 and over-reliance on cheap Russian natural gas. He sided with EU states that were worried about the security threat of over-reliance on Russian energy. On a bi-partisan Senate sponsored bill, Trump implemented sanction on the construction of Nordstream2 in 2019. The project came to a halt and Trump offered US gas to support EU needs at a time when US was a net-gas supplier.

Biden wanted a return to Obama policy of engagement in EU. "America is back", remember the battle cry. Wary of loosing Merkel's support, Biden flipped on Trump's Nordstream2 sanction. By mid 2021 Biden lifted the sanctions on Nordstream2 with a proviso with Angela Merkel that a Russian invasion of Ukraine will be met with a return to sanctions. As Russian forces build up and an invasion appeared imminent, an EU dependent on Russian gas will mean no Nato financial or military aid for Ukraine. After Merkel was replaced by Olaf Scholz in Dec 2021, the Americans were not very sure of the new Chancellor's commitment to the Nordstream2 agreement with Merkel.  Biden admin then made fall back plans to destroy the pipelines. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 Feb 2022, the US bombed Nordstream on 26 Sep 2022. Biden's energy policy had killed US gas output from day 1 of his inauguration. He offered EU gas from US national stockpiles.

Conclusion

A sabotage against the economic assets of a country one is not at war with is considered an act of war. Biden's bombing of Nordstream was an act of war. It was also an act of terrorism. It was also an act of environmental sabotage with the release of massive methane gas into the atmosphere. I wonder what is the view of our Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.

ARE SINGAPOREANS WRONG TO COMPLAIN AND CRITICISE GOVERNMENT

In the parliamentary debate on affordability of HDB flats, Leong Mun Wai, a non-constituency MP from opposition party PSP, is taking a lot of flak from PAP IBs. Needless to say, the Critical Spectator rises to the occasion as the pre-eminent PAP apologetic. Although I do not share the views of CS more often than not, I do appreciate he puts forward his reasonings. Fair is fair. But very often, he lapses into histrionics and ad hominems as he showers his disdains on the opposition. This quote illustrates all. That a quote like this has 125 'likes' tells of the echo chamber he champions. But surely CS and his PAP IBs aren't also criticising other NCMPs such as Dr. Kanwaljit Soin, Gerard Ee, Calvin Cheng, Walter Woon and many other distinguished names who have served in the House. Are they considering both Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong to be Brobdingnagian dunes for advancing the institution of nincompoops in the land.

Ideas do not sprout out of nowhere. Einstein or Newton did not go to sleep and in their Brahma Muhurta hour awoke and wrote down E=MC2 or the Laws of Gravity. Ideas build on one another till a bright spark has the eureka moment and eventually comes up with something brilliant.

LMW's proposal can, and should be challenged. It is out of such robust debates that ideas develop. LMW himself did not lay claim to his proposal of deferred payment for land cost, having rightfully credited Dr Tan Meng Wah and Yeoh Lam Keong. I shall have my comments on this debate in a later blog. For now I just want to shine a ray of light on LMW's idea for which none could frame a term of reference for academic discussion. LMW's proposal is for decoupling the cost of land to HDB sales of BTO flats. In marketing, this is called unbundling the sales price.

Here I just wish to dispel the torrent of ad hominem attacks on LMW and opposition in general that I see on the internet. One half of Singaporeans are living in a boiling pot of frustration that views the government as detached and uncaring, and who sees the other half as having blinders on, living in a Potemkin Village. For those who don't understand, Potemkin Village is a bad environment dressed up in an impressive facade for observers.. Those in early years of National Service will well remember how we dreaded the days when a Minister or Brigade Commander will visit the camp. We all had to spruce up the buildings and cut grass with our Swiss army knife. Potemkin Village took its name from a Russian governor who was responsible for a region in Crimea during the days of conflict between Russia and Ottoman Empire. During a visit by Empress Catherine II, Governor Potemkin had a special mobile village constructed. His men would dress up as villagers along a river. When the Queen's entourage set sail, Potemkin and his men would quickly dismantle and reassemble the mobile village at another location. This way, the Queen had a tour of some very fine villages.

The likes of CS and PAP IBs condescend to contrarian PAP views as whinings. They view complainers as products of unschooled unmeritocratic non-achieving underclass, or simply, the opposition. Their side of the aisle sees Singapore as a superbly well-managed country and the PAP has sole monopoly on good ideas.

Are complaints bad? All good corporations have a department to handle customer complaints. When Richard Branson started his Virgin Air, the first thing he attended to when in arrives in the office was to go through the register of complaints. Complaints gave him lots of insights that managers may be inclined to keep out of his view. I suspect Peoples Association grass roots have no complaints register, no leaders will pass any negative issues up the chain to the PAP leadership. Why do I suspect so? It answers to why the party is so out of touch with the public.

As a car owner in the 80s/90s, I like to think I had a pretty good record as far as safe driving was concerned. But I was a sucker for taking high risks with illegal parking, betting against an army of diligent parking inspectors. There was a day when I had parking tickets from all three government agencies -- HDB, URA and Traffic Police. There were occasions when the summons could be challenged. Example twice my car was lifted aside by workmen, once to access a manhole, another time to paint parking lots. I was driving a small 2 seater Honda Civic, no problems to a couple of muscled workmen to lift it up. They did not return my car back properly in the parking, lot for which I was unceremoniously summoned. In those days, there were offices when one can go to appeal. One I remember well was in the old Market Street hawker center. Appellants were many each day. You take a number, sit down and wait for your turn. When called, you go into an office, pour your heart out. Everyone, everything, except yourself, was the cause for your parking indiscretion. At the end of which the officer will take your summon, scribble something, and you get $5, $10 discounts, something like 25-50% discount was common. I soon realised that however one bullshits, it never mattered. The officer will give a small discount. BUT they cannot dismiss a summon outright. The disinterested officers never really listened to your explanations. They knew chances are the appellants were telling tall tales. If your stories are more convincing, you get more discounts.

It dawned on me it was simply a mechanism for drivers to vent their frustrations, walk across to the Cashier and pay the lowered fine. Everybody thought they were the winners, everybody walks away happy. I thought it was a jolly good idea. Complaints must be entertained. It should not be dismissed outright and be left to ferment.

The first generation leaders understood we need an escape hatch for social frustrations. The state must not compress and suppress complaints, however stupid they may be. Even if the state policies are righteous, the people's frustrations must be addressed. Today, high tech has taken over. Appeals are made online. I don't drive now, so I do not know if online appeals are also granting discounts easily nowadays.

It is human nature to complain. Complaining is a coping mechanism for some, mostly to relieve stress. Are Singaporeans any different from others. I do not agree to the distinction of Singaporeans as great complainers. I do however, make distinction of how Singaporeans complain. There are the uncompromising complainers, those who never consider their own short comings, those who can't see the trees for the forest, those who make mountains out of molehills, those who are unforgiving of honest mistakes or failings, those who feel entitlement is their birthright, those who feeds on anger, those who jumps to conclusions on bias cognizance. Then there are those who complains to right a wrong, those who speaks out for others who can't, those who thinks there are better ways of doing things, those with a high civic sense to raise public awareness to a problem, those who feel they have a solution or a suggestion.

I think complaints are healthy human reactions. For the negative complainers, it needs an escape valve for the psychological bottled up pressure. For the positive complainers, they need the respectable handling of acknowledgement of either problems being brought to the fore and willingness to study suggestions volunteered.

Those who say the parliamentary debate was much ado about nothing and LMW was simply a populist politician, interestingly do not see themselves as complainers. LMW was simply doing his job to get groundswell dissatisfaction over rising public complaints of non-affordability of HDB flats addressed in parliament. That the motion was debated in parliament was a good thing. The free-for-all session, knuckles bared, egos knocked, voices passionately raised, are all good when issues and ideas are attacked and defended, information revealed. This is as it should be in a parliamentary debate.

In the handling of complaints and discontent, one classic example is that of Prosify, a software app. One dis-satisfied customer hounded the company for a very long time. The CEO Kyle Racki put an end to it with a final message to the customer that read: "I’d love to say Proposify is a great fit for everyone, but clearly we weren’t able to live up to that here. I’m really sorry about that. You may want to give Quoteroller, Nusii or Bidsketch a try, they might be more useful to you. Best of luck!"

For a vendor to recommend a competitor, that's a class act. I am not suggesting the PAP should tell dis-satisfied Singaporeans to go vote Opposition. Now I have great respect for Lee Kuan Yew, but I was most disappointed for his infamous statement made derisively that his job was not to build the opposition but to destroy them. Of course one can agree as opposing parties, the PAP has to do all they can to be one-up against all other political parties. But as the ruling party, it is incumbent on them to ensure the foundation for the ring in which democracy thrives, and on which political parties do battle, must stand solidly. The PAP, and all their IBs, must understand none of us vote opposition, WE ALL VOTE SOMEONE TO REPRESENT US IN PARLIAMENT.

This platform has withdrawn it's subscriber widget. If you like blogs like this and wish to know whenever there is a new post, click the button to my FB and follow me there. I usually intro my new blogs there. Thanks.