During a business conference at Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, a Hong Kong delegate asked me if there were any political upheavals in Singapore following the massive losses incurred by our sovereign wealth funds Temasek and GIC.
He stared at me in bewilderment when I told him nonchalantly as a matter of fact that mundane life still goes on for most Singaporeans as if nothing had happened.
He replied wryly that if Donald Tsang (Hong Kong’s Chief Executive) were to lose even HK$1 million dollars of taxpayers’ monies overseas, a million people will take to the streets the very next day demanding for his resignation.
Since the disastrous performance of our SWFs was revealed, there had been much finger-pointing from all quarters. Our leaders laid the blame squarely on the unexpected financial turmoil which took the world by storm. Some Singaporeans wondered if the fund managers were culpable for giving the wrong advice to enter the market at the wrong time. Most surprisingly, the opposition which should at the forefront of demanding answers from the government is largely quiet save for Dr Chee Soon Juan who made the call on SDP’s website to hold MM Lee accountable for the losses.
Who should be blamed for this fiasco?
The sad truth is: we Singaporeans must ultimately bear the blame for allowing our SWFs to invest our monies with impunity without ever being held accountable for their decisions.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/?p=6073
He stared at me in bewilderment when I told him nonchalantly as a matter of fact that mundane life still goes on for most Singaporeans as if nothing had happened.
He replied wryly that if Donald Tsang (Hong Kong’s Chief Executive) were to lose even HK$1 million dollars of taxpayers’ monies overseas, a million people will take to the streets the very next day demanding for his resignation.
Since the disastrous performance of our SWFs was revealed, there had been much finger-pointing from all quarters. Our leaders laid the blame squarely on the unexpected financial turmoil which took the world by storm. Some Singaporeans wondered if the fund managers were culpable for giving the wrong advice to enter the market at the wrong time. Most surprisingly, the opposition which should at the forefront of demanding answers from the government is largely quiet save for Dr Chee Soon Juan who made the call on SDP’s website to hold MM Lee accountable for the losses.
Who should be blamed for this fiasco?
The sad truth is: we Singaporeans must ultimately bear the blame for allowing our SWFs to invest our monies with impunity without ever being held accountable for their decisions.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/?p=6073
