<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffee Shop Talk - A gaping wide hole! </TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">tansooku <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">5:55 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>10274.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>When the minibond crisis hit the fan, everyone ducked. Or at best, no one stand up except one, or a handful from the most unexpected place, the Hong Lim Speakers Corner. Where were all the people and organisations who are expected to fight or advise the citizens who are in trouble?
And in the ST today, Chua Mui Hoong is asking for the setting up of an industry watchdog. She said this is an opportune time to push for it. You mean we don't have any industry watchdog? Oh, she said we have, but they failed to respond to the crisis appropriately. Or everyone was looking over their shoulder to see if someone was going to give the go ahead. Or they may not want to step on the wrong shoe or get involved into something that would put them in a bad light.
This boils down to the incestuous relationship of corporate and govt in paradise. When govt is in business, not only that the roles of govt and corporations are blurred, you do not know who is what. Even the govt, the regulators, may unknowingly, unintentionally to put it nicely, compromise their tasks to regulate. It all added up to create this mess.
Incestuous relationship is never healthy. And now we have all kinds of cries to question the selling of high risk products to the people. Why in the first place? Are these carefully thought over?
We need watchdogs to look after watchdogs. That is for sure. We cannot have people floating in in their eight horse chariots when there is a crisis and rode away after slapping a few guilty ones.
The watchdogs must really be independent, and not affected by incestuous relationship.
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And in the ST today, Chua Mui Hoong is asking for the setting up of an industry watchdog. She said this is an opportune time to push for it. You mean we don't have any industry watchdog? Oh, she said we have, but they failed to respond to the crisis appropriately. Or everyone was looking over their shoulder to see if someone was going to give the go ahead. Or they may not want to step on the wrong shoe or get involved into something that would put them in a bad light.
This boils down to the incestuous relationship of corporate and govt in paradise. When govt is in business, not only that the roles of govt and corporations are blurred, you do not know who is what. Even the govt, the regulators, may unknowingly, unintentionally to put it nicely, compromise their tasks to regulate. It all added up to create this mess.
Incestuous relationship is never healthy. And now we have all kinds of cries to question the selling of high risk products to the people. Why in the first place? Are these carefully thought over?
We need watchdogs to look after watchdogs. That is for sure. We cannot have people floating in in their eight horse chariots when there is a crisis and rode away after slapping a few guilty ones.
The watchdogs must really be independent, and not affected by incestuous relationship.
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