Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Great Singapore sale comes early
First, it was GIC that spent billions of dollars buying into UBS. Then, Temasek spent billions of dollars buying into Merrill Lynch. Now, GIC has just spent a few more billions on Citigroup. It seems to me that the Great Singapore Sale has started extra early.
I am not sure if the Citigroup deal would be the last one on the shopping list of GIC and Temasek. With so many major financial institutions hungry for cash as a result of the subprime crisis, it’s bargain hunting time for cash-rich institutions/individuals.
Of course, the problem with GIC and Temasek spending billions is that they are sovereign wealth funds. Spending such huge sums of money without parliamentary accountability is clearly disturbing to some people. I do feel some discomfort at how so much money is spent in a matter of weeks but at the same time, it’s not a wise idea to leave too much spare cash lying around because of opportunity cost.
There are bound to be Singaporeans claiming that the monies held by GIC and Temasek are “their” monies and therefore, how can such huge sums be spent in an “any-o-how” fashion. Well, if we want high levels of public scrutiny, it will take months, if not years before such investments can be approved and by then, the opportunity would be gone. It’s a tough choice.
I can only hope that these investments are wise investments but it’ll take quite a while before the results are known. In anycase, even if these investments fail, the losses are probably “peanuts”. According to Wikipedia, GIC alone apparently has $330 billion dollars and we are worth $100,000 each! Hmm… I don’t even have $10,000 in my bank account.
I’m now waiting for the Straits Times to print letters from individuals hailing the wisdom of our great leaders.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Aaron Ng on 16/01/2008 at 2:12 pm, and is filed under Perspective. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 4 years ago
great singapore sale?
more like great singapore binge!
and as for parliamentary debate on GIC’s investments?
u r so naive.
the MPs and the rest of the singapore population are too stupid to understand the *superior* intellect of the executives running GIC and the intricacies of investing that only the great minds of Tony Tan and his henchmen comprehend.
about 4 years ago
I am not sure having parliamentary debates on these investments is a good idea since the government has always stressed that GIC and Temasek are run entirely as commercial entities. We don’t want to convey a different perception lest investment opportunities go abegging, n’est ce pas? The speed with which these investments were made caught many by surprise but it’s a nice surprise for Singaporeans. It’s amazing how much financial muscles we have for a little red dot!
about 4 years ago
inspir3d,
LOL. Where have you been man? I finally see your comments in cyberspace.
about 4 years ago
Tristan,
That’s a good point I didn’t think about. But, technically, the monies of GIC and Temasek are public funds, so some accountability is needed somewhere. For me, I don’t require parliamentary debate but I would like a full disclosure of their accounts, audited by a reputable accounting firm using GAAP standards. Of course, this wish is a fantasy, at least for now.
about 4 years ago
Hi Aaron,
GIC’s investments are a concerned. Perhaps some insight can be gained from Ho Khai Leong’s book.
I think the govt is still doing its X’mas shopping, instead of the GSS.
about 4 years ago
hi, I think with the deals done in such short time, IGC or temasek wouldn’t have time for due diligence, let alone passing this through parliamentary debate. I think in these type of deals, timing is of essence. execute first, analyse later. if the return does not work out per plan, they can always say we are a long-time investor, short term fluctutations (read: losses) doesn’t bother us.
about 4 years ago
Such cynicism is rather surprising. But i must say its not misplaced given the rather ridiculous letters that tend to appear in ST.
about 4 years ago
Clarench says
” I think in these type of deals, timing is of essence. execute first, analyse later. if the return does not work out per plan, they can always say we are a long-time investor, short term fluctutations (read: losses) doesn’t bother us.”
this is the reasons why the citizen will suffer subsequently.
First, when the billions of fund are injected to save these coffers’ companies (I said their companies because whose know what stake they really hold given that they are so eager to save their ‘son’ ? Every mortal will know that it is stupid to enter the crisis game early. Clearly, there must be some very unnaturally close relationship between the government and these bank. It looks like the financial crisis will expose these government’s relationship had the government not intervened).
Telling us that it is a long term investment ? What a bull ! Remember the GST that they so nobly proclaimed to help the poor ? It ends up the poor is the ministers and for companies’ tax rebate. It looks like some hidden agenda and relationship going on between government and the foreign companies.
I still remember reading Bart’s blog talking about how increasing GST is good and that he seems to figure out the ingenious thought of government. But when the government reveals their true intention of GST, it only mock and betray those who put forth the elite’s astute positive opinions and judgement. A solution in search of a problem.
But who are paying for those billions of fund that are lost but must be recovered to get Singapore going ? The answer is another hefty price increment, ridiculous ERP gantries, and other means of recovering loss as much as possible, and then quoting those are for our own good again with some crazy statistic.
But then when the economic recover, the price can never lower down, only going up, as shown in history of Singapore. But when it’s payback time from investment companies, and bingo, these coffers will get billions of return for themselves, and another big applause of salary, perk, and bonus increment (This time, they likely to just keep mum). As for the rest of pleasant, they will again lecture by sensile old man for crude mentality and complacency, no wellfare.
Come on, we seen this from time to time. These scenarios are nothing new.
about 4 years ago
Clarench says
” I think in these type of deals, timing is of essence. execute first, analyse later. if the return does not work out per plan, they can always say we are a long-time investor, short term fluctutations (read: losses) doesn’t bother us.”
this is the reasons why the citizen will suffer subsequently.
First, when the billions of fund are injected to save these coffers’ companies (I said their companies because whose know what stake they really hold given that they are so eager to save their ‘son’ ? Every mortal will know that it is stupid to enter the crisis game early. Clearly, there must be some very unnaturally close relationship between the government and these bank. It looks like the financial crisis will expose these government’s relationship had the government not intervened).
Telling us that it is a long term investment ? What a bull ! Remember the GST that they so nobly proclaimed to help the poor ? It ends up the poor is the ministers and for companies’ tax rebate. It looks like some hidden agenda and relationship going on between government and the foreign companies.
I still remember reading Bart’s blog talking about how increasing GST is good and that he seems to figure out the ingenious thought of government. But when the government reveals their true intention of GST, it only mock and betray those who put forth the elite’s astute positive opinions and judgement. A solution in search of a problem.
But who are paying for those billions of fund that are lost but must be recovered to get Singapore going ? The answer is another hefty price increment, ridiculous ERP gantries, and other means of recovering loss as much as possible, and then quoting those are for our own good again with some crazy statistic.
But then when the economic recover, the price can never lower down, only going up, as shown in history of Singapore. But when it’s payback time from investment companies, and bingo, these coffers will get billions of return for themselves, and another big applause of salary, perk, and bonus increment (This time, they likely to just keep mum). As for the rest of pleasant, they will again lecture by sensile old man for crude mentality and complacency, no wellfare.
I read somewhere that says
“Blunders are for the pleasant to bear, profits are for the coffers to enjoy”
Come on, we seen this from time to time. These scenarios are nothing new.
about 3 years ago
In fact, if you see my blog… in singapore, nowsaday all are financial field job
engineering and others pay suck
all switch to finance.