The truth about Temasek, CPF and Lee Hsein Loong

[winnipegjets]

I say, excellent article...this andy is certainly no fool like roy.....i dont think anyone can sue him for these scathing ovservations.

Why cant you morons frame your arguments like him? His points are very clear, free of emotion and very persuasive.

PAP IB BG Goh Meng Seng will be displeased with you for this post. You are here to parrot the PAP's position, not to praise its critics.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

PAP IB BG Goh Meng Seng will be displeased with you for this post. You are here to parrot the PAP's position, not to praise its critics.

The PAP IB does praise PAP critics as a means to lure you to pay attention. Sometimes the praise is directed at a trivial part of the article in order to distract your focus. At other times it is simply meant to fool you because within the praise is a sneaky backhanded jibe at other opposition voices. JHolmesJr's post which you replied to falls into the latter.

 

[frenchbriefs]

The PAP IB does praise PAP critics as a means to lure you to pay attention. Sometimes the praise is directed at a trivial part of the article in order to distract your focus. At other times it is simply meant to fool you because within the praise is a sneaky backhanded jibe at other opposition voices. JHolmesJr's post which you replied to falls into the latter.

as a opposition ib we strive to be as non self delusional as possible and fair to criticism,we try to acknowledge that we are susceptible to moronic moments as well,to err is to be human.we are humans not elites.hence no backhanded jibe is detected.

 

[tanwahtiu]

This Andy guy is gen Y or X fighting for his own and baby boomers CPF money to be release at CPF@55.

In today era of internet even if LKY is still a PM he will not stand the wrath of netizens fcuking him everyday on the net.

How many can he sue? 1? 2, 10?

Shameless baby boomers did not stand up for themselves when their CPF was going to be locked up by PAP started in 1992 period.

Nevertheless, the heat is on to get back your CPF, deal with Temasick, GIC and their GLCs, one by one.

Keep old fart alive to testify in court. Remove LHL from Parliament VTO2016 and the fight is on.

Remember this important thing: Singaporeans males are NSF trained and in event of a military coup it is unlike the situation in Thailand today.

These active NSF boys today are the grandchildren of baby boomers, and children of gen X and Y. Who will they listen to? Of course grandfather and father tell them not to go army today they have to listen to the grandparents and parents, fcuk the PAP army. These ex-army boy come from all vocation and know how SAF operates and do the paper generals dare to fight more experienced ex soldiers? Better think twice, ex-soldiers can recall and group/ regroup anytime and plan military strategies to handle and counter fight SAF anytime.

Cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. migrate and fcuk off is you are cowards .....

患乱出英雄 and this Andy is the 英雄好汉. He falls another will pick up and carry on the fight.

Jesus was the 3rd messianic revolution leader in his time when the Romans invaded, colonized, looted and murdered his Judea tribe people. If Jesus, the 患乱出英雄 ,can do it so can anyone. More heroes fall and rise after Jesus, and in AD 66, one messianic revolution leader, Simon DeCobar, managed to get rid of Romans and held Judea for 3 years and this ws known as the Jewish Revolution. From there onwards, more heroes fall and rise until the Romans collapsed under Domitian,

Source: andyxianwong blog

MAY 24, 2014 · 2:30 AM
The truth about Temasek, CPF and Lee Hsein Loong

Temasek doesn’t really make 16%
Your CPF money isn’t really safe.
And Lee Hsien Loong is a coward.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day arguments that crop up on Facebook, social media, and even in real life, that we lose track of the big picture. Despite the very obvious question marks surrounding the way CPF funds are managed, though the government, through Temasek, through GIC and ultimately by the Lee family, I realise that I’ve written almost nothing on the topic. Given Lee Hsien Loong’s sustained and ethically dubious attack on fellow blogger Roy Ngerng, now seems like a good time to visit these topics.

Temasek

It is completely inconceivable that Temasek has achieved the returns it claims through ordinary open market investment performance. Any attempt to attribute these returns to particularly excellent investment decisions by the Prime Minister’s wife is beyond ludicrous. Professor Balding has written on a few occasions about how out of kilter the numbers claimed by Temasek look when compared to pretty much every other index, benchmark or verifiable institutional investor (of which there are plenty). Are we supposed to believe not only that Ho Ching is the greatest investment manager of recent years, but also that all of her predecessors at Temasek were also the greatest investment managers in the world during their times as well? This is an incredible claim and the onus is on Temasek to prove it. Temasek has the numbers. If Temasek wants to claim extreme out performance of every benchmark over many years, let them go ahead.

Of course, Temasek will not come out and prove anything, because they cannot. Any careful attempt to verify the numbers will just throw up awkward questions. How much of Temasek’s returns are attributed to being sold government assets at offensively cheap prices? How much of Temasek’s returns are subsidised by government policy? Since the PM and the CEO of Temasek are literally in bed together, the scope for conflicts of interest is obviously massive. Can Temasek and the government prove that no errors have been made? Can they prove that no transactions were mispriced due to information leaks or conflicts of interest? Can Temasek and the government prove that suitable “Chinese walls” exist to prevent such issues arising? Do such “Chinese walls” extend to the bedroom of the Prime Minister and his wife?

Let’s just talk briefly about one deal between Temasek and the government. The sale of Changi Airport in 2009 for a reported S$3.3 billion. Temasek (under Ho Ching) paid this price with a cash injection from the government (under PM Lee). Yet Changi Airport was reported as having total assets of S$7.2 billion. Not to mention the fact that it sits on 1,300 hectares of valuable land. It’s interesting to look at how much that land itself might have been worth. Also in 2009, a 1.4 hectare land parcel at Jurong West was sold for S$38.5 million, that is about $2.75 million per hectare, which pro-rated for the size of Changi Airport puts the land value alone at more than ten times what Temasek paid for the land plus airport. Or to put it another way, you could demolish Changi Airport and bulldoze the runways, and just the land itself would still be worth more than Temasek paid for the worlds greatest airport. This is the sort of sweetheart deal that allows Temasek to claim unrealistic and inflated returns.

CPF

You may be wondering, if Temasek’s investments don’t make such great returns, where do the funds come from to pay back the money borrowed from our CPF accounts? The answer, obviously, is that it doesn’t come from anywhere. Obviously, as we are reminded every year, the CPF money is not getting paid back. Borrowers don’t just default on their borrowings, and unilaterally restructure their debts for no reason. Yet this is what happens every year when the minimum sum is increased, and when the retirement age is increased. A couple more tricks exist that governments can use to make inconvenient debts go away. The first is to “inflate it away”. This happens when the interest rate on the debt is below inflation, and in real terms the notional size of the debt will diminish. Again, this is exactly what we see when a large chunk of CPF savings is yielding 2.5%. Of course the last trick is to run a ponzi scheme, where new CPF members funds are used to cover the losses of those who need to make withdrawals, and we see an element of this again in the government’s never-ending immigration policies. To many people, Singapore is pretty full, and the case for increasing immigration and PR numbers to 2030 and beyond is not at all obvious. But all those new CPF members contributions would be convenient for the government in the case of CPF insolvency.

So, we have restructuring of the CPF debt, we have delayed repayment of the CPF debt, we have government policy that inflates the CPF debt away and we have government policy that guarantees an endless but hardly justified supply of new contributors to the CPF scheme. It looks bad.

Maybe now is a good time to remember that the largest increase in the minimum sum in recent years was 10.4% in 2009, coming hot on the heels of GIC and Temasek losing over $50 billion dollars in the global financial crisis. Coincidence? Or further evidence that a need to cover loses is driving the government’s policy to restrict withdrawals?

A few other thoughts on the CPF money. Is it safe? Really safe? Suppose that it is. The government has an investment model and system that guarantees the 2.5% on your ordinary account and also guarantees the 4% on the other accounts. Why doesn’t the government stop doing whatever it is doing that only guarantees 2.5% on the ordinary account, and just do whatever it is doing that gives 4% on the other accounts? Remember, money doesn’t just grow on trees, certainly not at Temasek. They must be doing something to make that 4% if it is really guaranteed, so what is it, and why don’t they do more of it? Why can they not guarantee 4% on the ordinary account as well?

Final point on CPF. The current outstanding debt is $249 billion, and the interest rate is presumably some mixture of 2.5% and 4%. Let’s be generous and assume 3%, that puts just the interest payments at an eye-popping $7.5 billion each year. So even if no one retired, and even if no one withdraws any of their CPF funds, the government has to find $7.5 billion, each and every year, just to pay the interest due on the various accounts. Just to give some context, $7.5 billion is a huge figure, more than the government’s entire annual spending on any one of many essential ministries including health ($7.1B), transport ($6.1B), trade and industry ($2.6B), national development ($2.0B) or in fact many others. Where is this money coming from every year, especially in 2009 when they lost over $50 billion?

Lee Hsien Loong

How many people really believe that Lee Hsien Loong became Prime Minister on merit and not because of his father? And how many also believe that he became Chairman of GIC (again taking over from his father), purely on merit? It is fair to say that the Brigadier General who apparently cannot shoot straight has done very well for himself. And with his wife at Temasek, and a brother bouncing around some of Singapore’s largest companies and statutory boards, not to mention the whole Hotel Properties “thing“, that “whiff of nepotism” has unfortunately never been far from Singapore’s most powerful family.

But while Lee senior has on occasions been willing to stand up and defend his reputation in court, the eldest son has preferred to hide behind his lawyers, and hide behind the legal system his father built. And since going to court to defend your reputation, and going to court and then refusing to answer any questions about your behaviour are two very different things, it is hard to know how much of a reputation LHL even thinks he himself has to protect.

Remember that the New York Bar Association once described how the Singapore government has “been willing to decimate the rule of law for the benefit of political interests”. This is the legal system that the Lees built, and it is the den into which one must step when challenged by the Lees to “prove” any suggestion of their wrong doing. The last (perhaps only) person to succeed was JBJ, and they did no less than re-write the constitution to prevent a repeat. Bear this in mind when Lee Hsien Loong threatens to sue Roy, or when the AGC threatens to sue Alex Au for that matter.

You see, Lee Hsien Loong’s political career is fundamentally built on a lie – that he has the merit to be in all the positions of power that he enjoys. And only by refusing to answer any questions, hiding behind his lawyers, hiding behind judges, hiding behind a legal system decimated by his father for political ends, can he maintain the charade. This is why any defamation case brought against Roy Ngerng is likely to be nothing more than a sham, and why Roy has nothing to gain and everything to lose if the matter goes to trail.

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

That Singaporeans are having to work and even encouraged to work into their 60s is even more reason that they should have their CPFs returned when they reach 55. HDB prices should also be reduced drastically to allow Singaporeans to save into their CPF instead of the HDB. The PAPzis have cornered themselves idelibly with their greed. Pinky Loong has scored an incredible own goal by going after Roy. His numerous incomes, his wife role at Temasek and his statement to reward his supporters have come to a crossroad.

 

[Faidenk]

Err... how do I up this Andy person? How do I up him with every last one of my points?


Eloquently written, even to slow one like me. Enlightening indeed.

 

[xingguy]

as a opposition ib we strive to be as non self delusional as possible and fair to criticism,we try to acknowledge that we are susceptible to moronic moments as well,to err is to be human.we are humans not elites.hence no backhanded jibe is detected.

So far as I know, there is no such thing as an opposition ib but only opposition supporters.

They are tons of articles written on PAP IB. Here are just some of it:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080813.../Digital/News/Story/A1Story20070523-8360.html

http://www.topix.com/forum/world/singapore/TTB7U2C6TNQ90S2R4

http://www.thestar.com.my/story.asp...nsightdownsouth/12360876&sec=insightdownsouth

https://www.reach.gov.sg/Default.as...ion_types=og.recommends#.U0c5JdyCjzE.facebook

 

[Hans168]

where shall we start? micropolis? :o:o:o

Dat was $500,000,000 down the drain in super quick time....... how about Chartered semicon.???

 

[bakkuttay]

everything bluddy jinx involved, turned to SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
farking stinko bitch........

.

 

[zhihau]

Think of the mass puking if opened to public view...occupied of course......yak!!!!

oh my goodness!!! how could you!?!?!?

 

[laksaboy]

everything bluddy jinx involved, turned to SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
farking stinko bitch.........

If you could have an unlimited supply of free gambling chips at a casino, wouldn't you also keep on punting and making risky bets?

 

[zhihau]

Chartered semicon.???

maybe those years she 冲太岁？

 

[zhihau]

everything bluddy jinx involved, turned to SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
farking stinko bitch...

not many can earn the esteemed title of the "sadim touch" ok? dunch pray pray...

 

[Papsmearer]

This Andy guy is gen Y or X fighting for his own and baby boomers CPF money to be release at CPF@55.

In today era of internet even if LKY is still a PM he will not stand the wrath of netizens fcuking him everyday on the net.

How many can he sue? 1? 2, 10?

Shameless baby boomers did not stand up for themselves when their CPF was going to be locked up by PAP started in 1992 period.

Nevertheless, the heat is on to get back your CPF, deal with Temasick, GIC and their GLCs, one by one.

Keep old fart alive to testify in court. Remove LHL from Parliament VTO2016 and the fight is on.

Remember this important thing: Singaporeans males are NSF trained and in event of a military coup it is unlike the situation in Thailand today.

These active NSF boys today are the grandchildren of baby boomers, and children of gen X and Y. Who will they listen to? Of course grandfather and father tell them not to go army today they have to listen to the grandparents and parents, fcuk the PAP army. These ex-army boy come from all vocation and know how SAF operates and do the paper generals dare to fight more experienced ex soldiers? Better think twice, ex-soldiers can recall and group/ regroup anytime and plan military strategies to handle and counter fight SAF anytime.

Cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. migrate and fcuk off is you are cowards .....

患乱出英雄 and this Andy is the 英雄好汉. He falls another will pick up and carry on the fight.

Jesus was the 3rd messianic revolution leader in his time when the Romans invaded, colonized, looted and murdered his Judea tribe people. If Jesus, the 患乱出英雄 ,can do it so can anyone. More heroes fall and rise after Jesus, and in AD 66, one messianic revolution leader, Simon DeCobar, managed to get rid of Romans and held Judea for 3 years and this ws known as the Jewish Revolution. From there onwards, more heroes fall and rise until the Romans collapsed under Domitian,

I am waiting for gay loong to sue Andy now. Andy called him a coward. same as Roy calling him a thief. When is the lawsuit coming? everyone should start a blog and call Gay loong all sorts of names, see how many people he can sue. 1000?

 

[bullfrog]

Dont think Loong can sue somebody calling him a coward. Thats fair comment.

I am waiting for gay loong to sue Andy now. Andy called him a coward. same as Roy calling him a thief. When is the lawsuit coming? everyone should start a blog and call Gay loong all sorts of names, see how many people he can sue. 1000?

 

[bullfrog]

wait till you see the whips, leather, and padded cuffs and shackles...

By now it surely must be most famous bedroom in this country.

 

[Papsmearer]

Dat was $500,000,000 down the drain in super quick time....... how about Chartered semicon.???

Temasek Portfolio Lost $39.91 Billion

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. lost 58 billion Singapore dollars (US$39.91 billion) from the end of March 2008 to November 2008, or a little over than half of its portfolio-value gains from the previous five years, the city-state's finance minister said.


Tharman Shanmugaratnam, speaking in parliament, said Temasek's investment portfolio grew by S$114 billion during the market cycle from 2003 to 2007.

Temasek's portfolio-value fall from March to November 2008 was in large part due to the decline in value of investments in Singapore amid a sharp downturn in global equity markets, he said. He didn't disclose the fund's losses from the recent sale of its holdings in Bank of America Corp. bac +0.07%

"Of the S$58 billion decline, S$32 billion was attributable to the drop in market value of just the 10 largest publicly listed Temasek-linked companies in Singapore," Mr. Tharman said.

He said share prices of these companies fell by about 41% on average from end-March to November.

Temasek-controlled companies in Singapore include Keppel Corp. bn4.sg +0.37% , the world's largest rig-builder; Singapore Airlines Ltd. ; property developer CapitaLand Ltd. c31.sg +0.94% ; and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. z74.sg -0.78% , Southeast Asia's biggest telecommunications operator by revenue.

Mr. Tharman said the S$58 billion fall also includes "all unrealized losses" including mark-to-market losses from Temasek's investment in Merrill Lynch.

He said the full-year accounts to end-March 2009 shouldn't be fundamentally different from the losses disclosed given the lack of major changes in global equity markets from the end of November to March of this year.

Temasek bought 14% in Merrill beginning in December 2007. Its stake was converted into shares of Bank of America following Merrill's acquisition by the U.S. bank in September.

Temasek said this month that it divested its entire stake in Bank of America during the first quarter of the year. Two people familiar with the matter said at the time that Temasek lost about US$4.6 billion from its original investment in Merrill.

"The sale of its [Bank of America] stake does not signify a shift in Temasek's investment orientation, from long term to short term," Mr. Tharman said. "Temasek may divest an investment, even at a loss, to get a better mix of risks for its overall portfolio or to position itself to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere."

He reiterated Temasek's earlier comments about the divestment, noting that the acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America meant a "different investment proposition" given the latter firm's "linkage to the broader U.S. economy" and that the risk-return environment had changed substantially.

"Temasek learned of the Bank of America-Merrill merger after all was said and done despite being one of Merrill's biggest investors with a 14% stake," one person familiar with the situation said. "They put money in an investment bank [Merrill] and suddenly found themselves owning part of a commercial bank [Bank of America]. They never wanted to be part of Bank of America."

Mr. Tharman said Temasek makes riskier investments compared with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which invests Singapore's foreign-exchange reserves, and in turn is expected to generate higher returns.

"While Temasek has performed better than many other large investors over this six-year market cycle, it is not realistic to expect it to outperform in every cycle," he said. "It is also not realistic to expect it to avoid losses on every individual investment, or losses on its overall portfolio when the markets go through sharp corrections."

 

[JHolmesJr]

PAP IB BG Goh Meng Seng will be displeased with you for this post. You are here to parrot the PAP's position, not to praise its critics.

Youre a fuckwit.

I admire a well structured argument that achieves its goal without attracting litigation.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Dat was $500,000,000 down the drain in super quick time....... how about Chartered semicon.???

Not super quick time la....
US$1 million per day for a year.
Since then she has gone on to many more mega losses that make this deal look like peanuts.

 

[zeddy]

The only way is to vote the PAP scums out and let the new Govt do a thorough check on our reserves..