TR EMERITUS

THE PROBLEM WITH FORMULAS – WHEN DOES COURAGE END AND STUPIDITY BEGIN I have to admit that one of the main movie characters of my childhood was none other than Rocky Balboa, the boxer played by Sylvester Stallone. Rocky was what you’d call the ultimate loveable underdog, who would somehow, through sheer guts and the ability to endure major beatings, would end up triumphant against a bigger, stronger and meaner opponent. The Rocky movies were what you’d call the living embodiment of every motivational speech – i.e life will beat you up but as long as you get up and continue fighting, you will emerge victorious and successful. It helped that the movie boxer had a few real-life counterparts. There was Mohammad Ali, who became greater than the sport of boxing. Ali’s life story was about struggle and overcoming struggle. He fought against racial prejudice (black kid who grew up in deep South in the 60s), for his convictions (refused to fight in the Vietnam War) and was engaged in some of the most legendary slug fest against heavy hitters like Joe Frazier and George Forman. The fight against the later, was particularly memorable. Forman was younger, fitter and a lot stronger. In the famous “Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali spent the better part of the early rounds having the stuffing knocked out of him, and yet he somehow emerged the victor, knocking out Forman. In my living memory (as in actively boxing whilst I was watching), there was Evander Holyfield, who most people regarded as a “blown-up” cruiserweight that had been plonked into the heavyweight division by clever promotion. Like Ali before him, Holyfield had a “heart” that made him a hero. The “blown-up cruiserweight,” defeated the most fearsome fighter of his generation (Mike Tyson), not once but twice and held his own against the most physically powerful fighters of his generation (Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe). The most famous movie boxer and his real-life contemporaries are the living examples of how the human psyche seems to thrive on stories of struggle. Rocky movies became very watchable because we could identify with the struggles of an ordinary guy facing extraordinary circumstances. Ali became a legend because the guys he fought were as good, if not better and somehow, he had to overcome them. The story of “human struggle,” is something politicians around the world are particularly good at exploiting. It gives them something to “unite” their followers. Politicians in small countries are particularly good reminding the population of how “vulnerable” they are and hence need good leadership (read – voting for the right politician”) to help them overcome their vulnerabilities. The entire Israeli state is the prime example of this. Binyamin Netanyahu built an entire career out of destroying the Oslo Accords, thus ensuring the reality of hatred against the Israeli state in every street of the Arab world. Our local politicians are also very good at exploiting struggle. Singapore likes to compare herself as an “Israel in Southeast Asia” (read – small non-Muslim nation in a neighbourhod of larger hostile Muslim nations). To an extent, this has helped build Singapore into what it is today. Singapore has played a deft game and staying on the right side of world powers. We’ve been open to investment and particularly open to the world’s policemen having a base on our tinny island. Our politicians have often harked back about the “bad” old days. Singapore has struggled against “racist,” “communal” and all sorts of tensions in its past and if you believe our politicians, we’ve overcome them and are as a result a wonderful place to live. Whilst there is some credence to this myth, there is a problem. Myths can become irrelevant and no longer believable. Let’s look at the Rocky series. The story and heroic in Rocky I and Rocky II. Rocky III could have been a good conclusion. Rocky IV was an obvious sop to American nationalism in the Cold War and by the time we reached Rocky Balboa, it was clear that the franchise was desperately clinging onto former glories – the idea of an Old Man trying to relive his youth. The character of Rocky only returned to credibility when the aging Rocky was retired to the role of coach in the Creed series. If the story of an aging boxer was sad in the movies, it was downright heartbreaking in reality. Take Mohammad Ali’s fight against Larry Holmes in 1980. By then, Ali was more than past his prime and it was clear to everyone as the fight wore on. You could see that Larry Holmes didn’t want to hurt the man whom he had once worked for and cried as he was forced to inflict damage on an aging Ali. More recently, there was Evander Holyfield who, at the age of 58, thought he could make a comeback. The former “Real Deal” wasn’t a shadow of his former self and the fight had to be stopped in the first found with Mr. Holyfield failing to land a single punch on this younger and fitter opponent. Boxing is infamous for producing champions who have died poor and in bad health. Champions simply didn’t know when to quit. The few boxers who have retired with their money and brains in tack were those who knew when to walk away. Floyd Mayweather, for example, quit while he was ahead and hasn’t blown his money. The same was true for Lennox Lewis in the heavyweight division. Of the “baby boomer” generation, we had George Forman who reinvented himself as a grill salesman and built a second career and fortune. His contemporary, Larry Holmes also walked away and kept his fortune and brain intact. Herein lies a lesson that politician should take note of. It is good to have “courage” when facing adversity. However, you need to be able to reinvent and become relevant. One of the biggest issues I have with Singapore’s politicians as that they’re too dependent on the struggles on the 1960s. One only has to listen to them talk about the struggle to achieve racial harmony. Yes, there were communal riots and Singapore has seemingly overcome them. There is unfortunately an element of racism that still exist. However, the “racism” issue of today is not a carbon copy of the racism of the 1960s. Yet, the approach appears to be the same. If we apply the 1960s solutions, we start to look like the latter part of the Rocky series. Old men desperately trying to relive past glories and thus inflicting damage to themselves. Our approach needs to be like Rocky in the Creed series. We have to reinvent and become relevant to the problems we face today or else face the risk of brain damage and irrelevance.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →

I’m surprised that TOC and the anti-PAP cybernuts KPKBing on TRE and FB on the PAP govt’s policy on opening up (if it has one which doesn’t seem to be the case) haven’t picked up on the fact that the Pfizer vaccine which most of us have been vaccinated with is rubbish relative to Moderna’s version. America’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing that Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine was 95% effective at preventing hospitalisation, compared with 80% for Pfizer-BioNTech’s and 60% for Johnson & Johnson’s. Economist, FT etc We should have ordered a lot more Moderna. My friend who took Moderna despite having to get vaccinated it at an inconvenient time and place is feeling smug. As she’s in her 50s, she was afraid she might have to settle for Sinovac. OK, OK, it’s more an understandable misstep than a cock-up. But my point is that the usual suspects are quiet on this. Why? Btw, a separate study demonstrated that unvaccinated people were 11 times more likely to die of the disease than those who were fully jabbed. One can only hope that Goh Meng Seng and other anti-vaxxers (Forward this to Goh Meng Seng and other S’poreans who wish us ill) suffer the consequences of trying to kill us with their misinformation. They should remember that Karma is a bitch.     Cynical Investor Cynical Investor blogs at Thoughts of a Cynical Investor .  Read More →

The Late J B Jeyaretnam The Directors are pleased to announce that the J B Jeyaretnam Project Ltd was successfully incorporated with ACRA on 10 September 2021. The directors would particularly like to thank our lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and his colleagues at Eugene Thuraisingam LLP for their diligence, knowledge and guidance which was provided to us pro-bono. In addition we wish to thank In.Corp Global Pte Ltd for their expertise and professionalism. We also thank M Ravi for his early guidance. As was predicted the use of the word “Foundation” was not permissible for incorporation purposes and we were very happy to settle on our other choice, “J B Jeyaretnam *Project*.” Now that our company limited by guarantee is formally registered we are looking forward to the next steps which are obtaining IPC status and starting our charitable projects on the ground. “Thanks to Eugene Thurasingam LLP and In.Corp Global PTE, a potentially complex process was made much smoother. Eugene’s generosity in providing the services pro-bono will directly benefit the people we hope to help most. I’m delighted that my father’s name will now live on in the best possible way to help those marginalized groups in Singapore who were dear to his heart” - K. Jeyaretnam (Director) “ I was elated when I heard our application had been approved. This is a very meaningful moment for me as it means we can proceed ahead with our mission to help and provide a reliable platform to those who wish to extend their help to the needy through us. From now onwards new bright promising hopes will shine on those in need of help because we’ll be there for them.” -  Janice Chin (Director)   J B Jeyaretnam Project Limited. UEN: 202131661W 30 Cecil Street, #21-08 Prudential Tower, Singapore 049712 www.jbjeyaretnam.org [email protected]      Read More →