What do you think?

I accidentally got linked to this site, read the article, and meanwhile saw this:

看安华事件

最近几天大马政治又起了风暴。虽然我们不是身在大马，可是每天晚上新闻还是可以在头条看到这些消息。

霎时，我觉得再度失望和气愤。

为什么说再度失望？是因为以前已经失望过N次。10年前，或者10年来，或者说，一直以来，长久以来，从来，都是如此。对于马来西亚的政治‘领导人’的智慧觉得极度失望。

第二气愤。虽然我是一个没有履行过公民义务的选民，但我也很失望。我想，如果我真的是有回过家乡特别去投票过的话，我会更加气愤。气愤这些所谓的‘政治家’把我们选民当作白痴。我们都是3岁的孩子吗？我们都那么好欺骗吗？一而再再而三地搬演小孩也不会相信的戏剧上台，这样的事情很好玩吗？这样的行为跟侮辱我们的智慧有何分别？

10年前我还是一个中学生，为安华突然被拉下马的事件感到很震惊，还记得当年看到那天早上的报纸时我很惊讶，啊？突然之间副首相被革职？！然后就看到一幕幕让人痛心疾首又怡笑大方的事情陆续上演---警察首长竟然殴打副首相，然后多少多少次法庭上把一张据说是物证的床褥搬来搬去。。。即便那时我只是一个10多岁的中学生，但也会分辨是非，也已经觉得失望+好笑。

现在呢，10年后了，如果他们又要搞政治阴谋，为什么他们不会想一个更好的理由？有谁会相信一个充满政治野心的政治家，会在这最具有政治筹码的时刻去做这样的事情来毁坏自己的政治生涯？更夸张的是，这位60岁的政治家因为坐牢伤过背脊，还要出国去动手术的，他是如何去鸡奸一个23岁的年轻人？

午餐时我不小心在malaysiakini看到一篇文章，真觉得写到我心坎里去了。当普通的大马人民在为了逐渐水深火热的生活焦头烂额的同时，我们的‘领袖’们却为了私利在搞政治阴谋。

油价的高涨、物价的连锁飞涨、政治局势摇摆不定。。。我们真的deserve这样的对待吗？我们只是想要一个治安安定、政治稳定、经济繁荣的国泰民安之景。

他们大选的时候都说自己是什么啦？？？他们都说自己叫什么了？？？叫‘人民代议士’吗？叫‘选民的声音’吗？可笑~

下面paste这篇让我感同身受的文章。



Venus


Anwar episode reveals BN's disdain of us
Liz Chong Jul 1, 08 4:35pm

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Anwar files libel suit against aide.

Is it any wonder that Malaysians were politically apathetic for so long? If you ever had any hope and dreams for our nation, they are at best battered in the storms that have buffeted us constantly in recent decades.

A Malaysian who cares for their home is one who knows heartbreak and disappointment as good friends.

Fifty-one years after independence, the integrity of the election system remains compromised. The independence of the judiciary, let alone the media, is questionable.

Legislation once introduced to combat communists at the height of the Cold War is instead used as a means to silence proud citizens who dare express their opinions.

Even more shamefully, the terms of the political debate have been lowered yet again to the gutter - for Anwar is accused yet again of supposedly sodomising an aide.

This is the best means the leadership can cook up in their attempts to undermine an opposition leader. It only underlines the poverty of their intellects that they sink so low to revive the most inane and grossly homophobic of allegations.

Needless to say, this episode reveals their disdain for the intellect of their electorate. Ordinary Malaysians are struggling to make ends meet amid surging prices. The ringgit is weakening and inflation is already expected to hit a nine-year high this month.

This economic turmoil is no priority for the government, as we see them instead focusing their energy and time on attacking the opposition. At best, this indicates that they do understand just how quickly their grip on power is weakening.

But it also demonstrates that they care nothing for the rakyat - prizing above all, their desire for power. All they have shown us with this episode is that they are completely out of touch in these troubled times.

Unwittingly, they have only shortened their political life span.

It is only fitting here to quote British Parliamentarian Leo Amery's damning speech to the House of Commons as he urged Neville Chamberlain's resignation after the German invasion of Norway - the very words that Oliver Cromwell spoke to the Long Parliament.

Is the parallel not clear? Our nation is at a turning point and we are desperately in need of strong responsible leadership.

And so, as Amery spoke: ‘You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go’.

看美国总统初选有感

追看了美国民主党初选几个月，终于分出了胜负。女人当不成总统，多少觉得有点可惜。

不管怎样，还是从这些新闻之中领略到很多东西。

昨晚我睡得早，因为逛了一天街好累。Mars则看电视到很晚，然后‘不小心’看到了直播的hillary exit speech。酝酿了几天，她终于站在所有人的面前，发表了败阵的言论。早上Mars跟我沾沾自喜地说他看了直播的演讲后，我马上去网上找来听。

下面看看这个政治家如何在结束了那么长时间的竞争后发表了自己的演说。



有几句我听了觉得很好:

To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it.

Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be.

另外，前几天在google news看到Obama的一段新闻里有他的一段话，我也觉得很有意思：

I have learned that I have what I believe is the right temperament for the presidency, which is I don't get too high when I'm high, and I don't get too low when I'm low.

且不论这些政治家的言论到底有多真心实意，我只是喜欢从这些人的言论中看到他们inspire人的影响力，从这些人的言论中反思着我自己的生活观，虽然，他们不论谁当选，似乎看起来跟我们这种千里之外的草民没有什么关系。

我一直觉得，‘似乎看起来’跟我们没有关系，其实，还是有关系的。

如果我的道行还不至于高到能直接明确地看出来到底有什么关系也好，至少，我能从看他们的演说和对话中得到一些什么，一些我觉得很有意思的什么。



Venus

Political Tsunami

“政治海啸”，这是昨晚我们追看Channel News Asia 直击报导马来西亚第12届大选时，听到一个NUS学者形容这次大选的成绩。

对啊，终于！终于看到改变了！这是我长那么大以来，看到最惊爆的一次大选成绩！马来西亚人终于醒来了！

Kelantan, Penang, Kedah，Perak, Selangor 都落入了反对党的手上。看到这些州一个个公布败选，真是一个比一个惊爆，谁会料到整个北马竟然有如此强劲的反风？可见，人民终于还是受不了了！

Samy Velu败阵，Anwar长女初次参选就打败女部长，许子根败阵，以及好多马华重量级人物都纷纷败选。。。这样的选举结果，你有什么想法？

我跟我们同年龄阶层的华人peers一样，为反对党联盟的空前大胜感到开心。马来西亚应该要步入朝野实力平衡，两大联盟互相制衡，以致减少贪污，减少黑暗金钱政治，减少种族政治，增进国家发展步伐的政治局势啊！




Venus

公道自在人心

今天早上来公司一开电脑，看到google news，一般来说我很少留意去看的，但今天有一个标题吸引到我的注意力，我按捺不住就click了进去。

British Teacher Found Guilty in Sudan
New York Times - 3 hours agoBy JEFFREY GETTLEMAN NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 29 - The British teacher in Sudan who let her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty on Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation.

一个在苏丹教书的英国女老师，因为在课堂上让同学把一只teddy bear命名为Muhammad而被判刑。这样的标题能吸引到你吗？按上面的文章看看仔细内容，就知道我为何要在这里特地讲。

当然这跟前阵子很大件事的沙地阿拉伯19岁被轮奸女孩的新闻很有关系，这也是为什么今天早上看到这样的标题时我会按进去。

关于19岁沙地阿拉伯女孩被轮奸的事情，我大略概括一下：

1) 1年半之前，一个19岁女孩，在一个所谓的unrelated man的车子里(其实她是在他车子里拿照片，照理应该算是她的朋友)，被7个男人抓了起来，轮奸了14次。她的那个男性朋友也在同时被那些坏人抓了的。

2) 事情爆发后，7个男人被判1年到5年监禁。而guess what，那个19岁的女孩，被判打90鞭！90鞭噢，噢，看清楚，是90鞭！原因是，她违反了沙地阿拉伯政府订的所谓Aggregation Law，就是男人和女人之间不能随便associate在一起，用中文来说，这大概就是“男女授受不亲”的法律。因为事发当时她是在一个unrelated man的车子里被虏的，所以她有罪。

3) 然后她上诉啦。上诉的结果是，7个男人的判刑被doubled，但是不是死刑噢，也不是终生监禁噢，轮奸人家14次，就只是坐几年的牢。

4) 然后19岁女生，她的判刑也被加重了，不是只有轮奸犯而已噢！她被判鞭刑200下(200下噢！)，坐牢6个月。原因：trying to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media. 也就是说，因为她的上诉，这个case得到媒体大事的报道，严重影响他们国家的司法制度，所以她要被判刑。

5) 她的辩护律师，被法庭剥夺执照，不让他再为那个女孩辩护。

欲看详细新闻，请去：

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7098480.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/17/saudi.rape.victim/index.html

各位朋友们，你们觉得如何？有什么感想？




Venus

It's up to him now: Ben Bernanke

今天早上一进入google news
就看到一篇关于昨晚（也就是美国的昨天早上）
美国政府跟联邦储备局的一个闭门会议

上个星期五的discount rate cut的effect
持续survive the third day
但是华尔街还是很不稳定
每个人都还在等Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke
看他什么时候会再次行动

我看到一篇很有意思的文章
里面说了一些Ben Bernanke的处事方法

Ben Bernanke
他到底是什么人？
他跟Alan Greenspan到底怎么不同？
大家怎么看他？
要知道更多，可以去http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bernanke

下面我转载那篇CNNMoney的文章：

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-19050848.htm
Amateur Hour At The Fed
August 21, 2007: 08:05 PM EST

Monetary Policy: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says he has "great confidence" in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his handling of the credit panic. Wish we could say the same.

The former Ivy League professor can be expected to make some rookie mistakes after stepping into longtime chief Alan Greenspan's shoes. But has he learned from them?

Rewind to March. In testimony before Congress, Bernanke insisted the damage to the markets and economy was "contained" within the subprime mortgage sector. "At this juncture," he intoned, "the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained."

In fact, it had spread like wildfire. By August, investors had learned that Alt-A mortgage lenders, investment banks and even foreign mutual funds had been exposed to the subprime rot.

On Aug. 7, with Wall Street in turmoil, the Bernanke Fed met and acknowledged the crisis. "Nevertheless," it said in a statement, "the economy seems likely to continue to expand at a moderate pace."

So it stubbornly kept interest rates tight, against the better advice of many (including this paper).

Two days later, a reporter asked President Bush about the market meltdown. "I am told there is enough liquidity in the system to enable markets to correct," he said.

He was told wrong. Stocks tanked the very next day, forcing Bernanke to pump some $40 billion into the very system he apparently had assured Bush had plenty of liquidity. He since has injected $60billion more in liquidity.

But the bad news just kept coming. So last week, Bernanke took the rare action of lowering interest rates between meetings. It appeared he finally had seen the error of his ways. After months of assurances that the subprime rot was contained and underestimating the liquidity needs of investors, he finally abandoned his academic models and faced up to the reality on the street.

"Financial market conditions have deteriorated, and tighter credit conditions and increased uncertainty have the potential to restrain economic growth going forward," the Fed said Aug. 17 in a statement. "The downside risks to growth have increased appreciably."

Only, the about-face didn't come with a cut in the federal funds rate -- the Fed's benchmark rate. Bernanke instead cut the discount rate, a largely symbolic move.

Banks only go to the discount window in emergencies -- when they can't get overnight loans from other banks charging the fed funds rate. Very few dollars are lent through the discount window.

It's almost as if Bernanke doesn't want to admit he was wrong not to lower the fed funds rate on Aug. 7, when he had a chance.

Whatever his reasons, the coy discount-rate move didn't calm market fears. It may no be enough to avert a recession.

There are signs the mortgage meltdown is bleeding into the economy. Payroll job growth is slowing. This week, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) announced it would slash 2,000 jobs.

Bernanke is paid to read the tea leaves. Can he not see that the subprime debacle is only the tip of the iceberg?

Trillions of dollars worth of adjustable-rate mortgages will reset in the next few years (see chart). Falling home prices across the country will make it harder for borrowers to refinance. Foreclosures surged 93% in June from a year earlier, hitting a record high.

The wave of resets could kill consumer spending -- and economic growth -- if the Fed doesn't pre-empt the looming disaster with a 50-basis-point cut in the fed funds rate.

It should act now and not wait until next month's meeting.




Venus

美国联邦储备局cuts discount rate

昨晚很刺激
9点多进了yahoo finance
看到头条新闻竟然是
Fed cuts discount rate!
新鲜热辣辣的新闻呢！
DJIA和Nasdaq都马上升

过了不久，就看到Fox business
有评述这项消息
大家好像都在很忙碌当中
而yahoo finance那个live stock price
不停在更新
而且都是青色数字！

9点半我们扭开电视机
看我们所欣赏的董素华姐姐的“财经追击”节目
哇，这一期好update哦
竟然就是在讲次优房贷风波的事件
当然，她的节目是预先录好的
就没有说到当下在美国刚宣布的新消息了

华姐姐说
3个星期来海峡指数为了这次事件掉了13多个%
本来努力往上攀的指数，攀了几个月突然间
在几个星期时间内节节败退

截止昨天（星期五）收市为止
亚洲股市都是一跌再跌
星期五可以说是海峡指数这个礼拜以来的最低点
由于没有人知道美国会在何时采取行动
所以市场一直波动得很厉害
说是volatility will continue for a couple of weeks, or even months...

由于美国昨天开市时亚洲都已经收市了
所以还没看到这项消息会给亚洲股市带来怎样的影响
可是美国昨天早上公布的消息
还赶得及在欧洲市场下午收市前
让欧洲各大指数纷纷回弹

昨晚我们睡觉前各自打赌
看今天早上起床
美国星期五收市时到底是会起还是会跌
今天早上一扭开电视
呼，还真的close high呢

可是cut discount rate这样的举动
是不是真的能扭转乾坤
还言之过早
毕竟，这只是一天的走势而已
后续怎么发展还要看下个礼拜的情形
这次的行动会不会像上次infuse money into banking system那样
治标不治本？
Fed是不是要出到cut fed funds rate的策略？
还有待观察

至于新加坡，下个星期一早上开市
会起还是会跌呢？
我个人认为（只是单纯的个人认为）
星期一应该会回弹
可是回弹可以不可以持续
就要继续看NYSE的脸色了
我还是觉得市场仍然非常volatile
投资者还有点irrational
看昨晚美国Countrywide的股票还竟然会起就知道

在这样volatile的market中
一定要步步为营啊！




Venus

最近热什么？

最近几天都没有来update我们的blog
好像有点反常吧？呵呵
因为最近忙着看市场
是目前我们最热切讨论中的课题

原本以为是公牛在努力向上冲的
突然之间因为美国的一个不是一朝一夕的事情
弄得全球股市都猛打喷嚏

我们也加紧要多看一些关于这个
subprime mortgage的后续发展

有些人说熊市来了
有些人说这只是一个比较大型的调整
孰对孰错
唯有等市场来告诉我们

我只知道
今天STI和KLCI都跌破了200-day EMA
呼~




Venus

无题

这里我link一篇2006年11月刊登在一个澳洲网页的文章。

this way

Recent US Housing Loan issue cause the market crash.

Listen to it few times u'll feel the "fear" ... ... is that really so serious ?!

Mars

希望韩国人质安好！

昨天，又一名被taliban绑架的韩国人质被杀死
这是继5天前第一名人质被杀后
由于taliban的要求仍没被满足
而被牺牲的第二位无辜的韩国人

唉。。。

昨天听到电台说
taliban已经将最后期限再拖延
到今天下午的3点半
期限一到如果还没谈判成功
那就。。。

总共有23名无辜的韩国男女呢！
而现在只剩下21名

我不知道阿富汗政府啦
韩国政府啦
美国政府啦
他们在考虑什么政治因素
我知道这些都是很复杂的事情
taliban要求阿富汗释放被囚禁的同党
我又不知道这些被囚禁的人是不是都是大坏蛋份子
为什么阿富汗政府迟迟不要答应
我知道是有原因的吧
知道是很复杂的

可是。。。
可是，20多个人的性命也！
而且都是无辜的人啊！

为什么恐怖份子要这样做呢？！
为什么要常常到处绑架人质？

这样的行为实在是人神共愤！





Venus

经济大好

今天早上上班途中
听到收音机说
新加坡第二季度的失业率下滑到6年来的最低水平！
第二季度的就业机会增加25%，有将近6万多个新的工作机会。

哇。。。！

然后最近新加坡房地产价格又上飙
区域和全球股市大牛
很多电视节目都有讨论这些东西

昨晚Mars才跟我说
嗯，有点担心是不是过热了？

相信很多经济学家都在观察吧
一个值得思考的问题。。。




Venus