Middle class may rebel against populist policies (in Thailand)

Well, making promises during election campaign is easy. Now to look for the money to implement populist promises is a whole different kettle of fish. One of the reasons why there are so few tax payers in Thailand, I suppose is due the cash economy. I am sure there are many more rich people but not paying taxes.

Anyhow, I don't envy the Finance Minister in this case. It is still too early to gauge the Government's performance but one thing for sure, the poor is full of hope. It will be good to help them, though. Good luck!

Until the next time, cheers.

The Nation on 7, September, 2011

Middle class may rebel against populist policies

The small number of people who actually pay taxes in Thailand are being forced to finance potentially disastrous schemes they don't support

It is now almost certain that the Yingluck government will not make balancing the budget one of its policy priorities, largely because the Pheu Thai Party has to fulfil its campaign promises to supporters. But has the government asked the nation's small number of taxpayers whether they want these massive spending schemes?

Over the past few weeks, news debates have focused on the consequences of the government's populist schemes such as the reduction of the Oil Fund levy and the controversial minimum wage hike. Their political supporters, especially those with low-incomes, will certainly welcome these policies because they will suddenly make these people feel that they have more money in their pockets to spend. 

But the consequences for the country will be negative in the long term. After all, these policies will simply add to the government's fiscal burden. Higher public debt could eventually force the government to raise taxes to pay for all these schemes.

It is still not clear exactly how the government will finance these populist schemes. The administration says it will not borrow more money, but it is unlikely to find additional revenue from other sources.

Some of these schemes were drafted hurriedly to persuade people to vote for the Pheu Thai Party. The extensive debate over the pros and cons of these policies shows that the party did not carefully gauge the consequences or even the feasibility of such policy implementation.

The details of these policies are confusing, and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra cannot give clear answers on how they are supposed to be implemented. Pheu Thai for instance promised during the campaign to raise the daily minimum wage nationwide to Bt300. But now the government says the promise actually means something different and it will start only in seven provinces.

The government also pledged to provide a tax deduction for first-time buyers of cars, even though the buyers' target group is those on low incomes who are not subject to paying taxes.

Some taxpayers have been watching the government use their money to finance Pheu Thai Party promises, and they are very sceptical about the government's motives. During several debate forums, people have questioned the necessity and urgency to implement these projects. Their concerns are about whether their money is being well spent or squandered. These views are now being raised far more frequently.

The country's tax revenue is provided by only a small group of people. According to statistics released last year, only 2.3 million people nationwide pay personal income tax to help finance public spending for the country's population of more than 64 million. Some 9 million people file personal income tax returns each year, but the majority are exempt from tax liability as they earn less than Bt20,000 per month.

In the meanwhile, middle-income earners have been squeezed between the rich and poor. Some 60,000 people each year pay taxes in the highest bracket of 37 per cent, which applies for an annual income of more than Bt4 million per year. This group of 60,000 accounts for as much as 50 per cent of total personal income tax collected each year. And a full one-third of income tax collected is paid by just 2,400 people in the country who earn over Bt10 million per year. The richest 20 per cent of the population accounts for 54 per cent of total income, while the poorest 20 per cent accounts for just 4.8 per cent, according to the Finance Ministry.

The Yingluck government's populist policies are unlikely to address this inequality in income figures. But even worse, they could make the gap even wider. 

The minimum wage issue is likely to seriously affect small and medium-sized business operators. Business conglomerates with the right connections are more likely to benefit from these massive projects, while the small benefits from the populist schemes are certainly aimed to attract low-income earners. 

Worse still, some people are becoming addicted to these government handouts. They have lost the will to take responsibility for their own lives and choose to wait for the help of others. The middle class, most of them law-abiding taxpayers, are being put under greater pressure from these unpredictable policies.

While Yingluck acknowledged the external risk when she first assumed the premiership, her government has so far failed to formulate policies to create jobs and sustain growth. The government has only implemented piecemeal populist policies for short-term benefits. 

This small group of taxpayers does not expect a populist windfall to benefit them, but it does expect a decent return for hard work and a productive, fair and conducive environment for their businesses to thrive on. Unfortunately, their voices are being ignored by the government.

Vulgar displays of wealth (so what's new?)

This letter to the newspaper was written by David Brown. This about sums up the current situation in the world (not just in Bangkok). The disparity of wealth is just getting worse. The world is heading for a huge crisis if it does not address this matter properly.

Until the next time, cheers.

The Nation, Thailand, 23 September 2011

Vulgar displays of wealth

The main story is about paying civil servant graduates the princely sum of Bt15,000, and there is ongoing debate about the Pheu Thai Party's election pledge to raise the minimum daily wage to the magnificently generous sum of Bt300 a day.

Then there are the stories about the disastrous flooding in many areas of Thailand, leaving already poor Thais homeless, shelterless and in some cases with nothing left of their life's meagre possessions. All very serious and heart-wrenching stuff.

But wait! There is relief from all this misery. On page 5A we learn from an advertisement for the Central International Watch Fair at Central Chidlom that you can buy a Piaget watch for a mere Bt32 million. 

Or, Mr/Mrs/Ms AverageThai Citizen, if that is a tad beyond your budget, you can settle for a Franck Muller watch for Bt3,672,000, or going even further downmarket, a Maurice Lacroix for a miserly Bt370,700. 

Oh, I almost forgot: Spend a minimum of Bt2 million to Bt3 million and you get a cash coupon of between Bt80,000-Bt130,000. 

Am I the only one who finds this situation somewhat obscene?

David Brown

Rayong

Acid attack on foreigners at train station in Bangkok

There seem to be more and more acid attacks. The problem in Malaysia is also quite bad but so far, it has been restricted to locals. However, this attack in Bangkok (hospital saw it's third case) is the perfect case to scare tourists.

Whether this is done by saboteurs or by a lunatic, it has to stop or people will be scared to venture out. Malaysia also needs to quickly stamp out this crazy stunt.

Until the next time, cheers.

Bangkok Post, Friday, 16 September 2011

Acid attack on foreigners at train station

A foreign woman artist, Elizabeth Briel, reported on Twitter on Friday that she and her husband had acid sprayed at their faces at the Asoke skytrain station last night

Elizabeth Briel (Photo from Twitter)

She said the acid was directed at them from the stairway leading to the station near Robinson shopping mall.

Mrs Briel said her husband's eyes were damaged but would be okay, while she has a burnt scalp.

They were treated at Bumrungrad hospital.

The hospital said this is the third case they have seen lately.

In Mrs Briel's homepage http://elizabethbriel.com/, she sums up the incident saying she and her husband "were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Her letter to Thailand says she will leave Thailand and travel to China soon because of "China's contemporary art and its fringe cultures", not because of last night's incident.

Consumers, make the right call now - against telemarketers

After reading this article, I could not help but to think how we must also take more action in Malaysia to have stricter rules on telemarketers, unsolicited ones of course.

How many of us have had to endure these calls when we are overseas or in the midst of an important meeting? There have also been calls from overseas in English and Chinese on all types of investments!

If we do make rules to make it better for the consumer, again the issue will come to enforcement (the issue for many Malaysian problems) and also to make it expensive for the companies who continue to flout the law. High time, we should get something done correctly and effectively.

Maybe we can't stop the overseas ones but we sure can do something about the local ones. I like the idea that before any telemarketer makes any calls, they must check through this central list for those who do not want to such calls.

Fomca, maybe, you can take the lead?

Until the next time, cheers.

Sunday Star, Sunday September 18, 2011

Consumers, make the right call now

A law to tackle the problem of pesky telemarketers has finally been proposed but there are some wrinkles to iron out.

 

SINGAPORE: It is great news that an overdue law to tackle the problem of pesky telemarketers has finally been proposed for Singapore. But consumers, roll up your sleeves. It’s time to iron out the wrinkles.

The law will let you register your phone number to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls and text messages. Telemarketers check against that list before they make that call or send an SMS. If the calls persist, registered consumers complain. The offending party could be slapped with a fine of up to S$1mil (RM2.5mil).

That sounds a great way to gain back phone privacy. But read the fine print.

First, the proposed law covers telemarketers. But many calls and spam text messages come not from telemarketers making cold calls, but from service providers with “existing business relationships” with consumers.

A friend spent one night at a hotel and was inundated with text messages – touting the chain’s weekend staycation packages – for months after. Another signed up for a package at a spa and has been fending off its representatives’ hard-sell tactics since. Then there are those never-say-die financial planners from your own banks.

Should these companies be allowed to call consumers for telemarketing purposes if they have listed their numbers on the Do-Not-Call registry? It isn’t clear yet. This and other issues will be addressed in public consultations next year.

Clear rules are essential. Otherwise, consumers remain at the mercy of companies that sell you one item, persuade you to fill in a form to get your personal data, and then call you for the next 10 years every time a new product is offered.

Canada’s national Do-Not-Call policy allows companies to make calls to customers on the list for up to 18 months after a sales transaction.

Another issue is overseas telemarketing calls – a pertinent issue as many companies outsource their calls to cheap overseas call centres. However, Mica admits that there would be practical difficulties in enforcing it on companies with no local presence, and that “breaches by such organisations may remain uncorrected”.

This is an issue the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) is inviting views on, in the first consultation exercise for the proposed Bill which ends on Oct 25. Another round of consultations will be held, and then the Bill will be tabled in Parliament next year.

Another issue up for discussion is whether some groups like survey companies – a bugbear for many consumers here – should be exempt from the registry.

Whatever form the final law takes, consumers should not think it will spell the end of their cold call woes. Companies will find a way to get round the rules.

I remember picking up a stream of automated telemarketing calls when I was in university in the United States.

Without fail, the preternaturally chipper voice of a computerised robot would pipe: “Hi, I am Lucy, how are you today?”

In the span of a minute, I am offered a one-for-one deal on paving stones or lawn-mowing services – not quite needed for my cement cubicle of a dorm room.

In theory, I shouldn’t have received those calls: I had put my phone number on the country’s Do-Not-Call registry.

Needless to say, perky Lucy’s number did not show up on caller ID, and she never gave me the name of the company she worked for – making it almost impossible for me to file a complaint.

In Australia, telemarketers posed as representatives of popular companies like Microsoft and Windows and made calls from unknown numbers.

Marketers here may resort to using automated diallers or other ruses to bypass the Do-Not-Call rule.

Such a registry can also open itself up to abuse. In 2009, the Consumers’ Association of Canada was inundated with feedback from people saying that they started getting telemarketer calls only after putting their numbers on the Do-Not- Call registry. It turned out that the list was downloaded by more than 100 companies that used it as a source of names and contact information.

But if implemented well, the new law will at least dampen the zeal of telephone touts in Singapore.

In the US, the Do-Not-Call registry has been branded as “wildly successful” by the local media. Stringently enforced since coming into effect eight years ago, it now has more than 200 million phone numbers on it.

In a prominent case in 2009, the country’s largest telecommunications operator Comcast Corp was fined US$900,000 (RM2.8mil) – US$1 per call – for allowing its telemarketers to call customers on the list.

In Canada, thousands of consumers rushed to sign up the day the list was launched, crashing the registry website. Earlier this year, a survey of 2,035 registered Canadians found that eight in 10 were getting fewer calls.

The proposed law, however, needs to be looked at thoroughly. Similar laws have flopped in countries like India because weak penalties meant it was widely adopted as a cheat sheet for telemarketing companies.

The law, now under review, also did not apply to text messages, and telemarketers simply spammed consumers’ phones with those instead.

Marketers and companies may argue against the Do-Not-Call list on grounds that their costs will rise. But if the law takes a complaint-based approach and does not require the auditing of companies, the additional costs will be kept minimal.

In the US, the telemarketing industry resisted the list, warning of the end of the industry and massive job losses. I have no doubt companies here will also lobby hard to protect their interests.

But for consumers, the benefits are obvious, provided the law has the right provisions.

Mica’s call for feedback is a welcome opportunity for interested parties to offer their views.

So, consumers, speak up now, or risk losing your peace.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok, Down-to-earth tycoon

First hand information on this reclusive billionaire is really hard to come by. Therefore, the information in this article is like a breath of fresh air compared with the many speculative news on this man. Much has also been written about how down to earth is he and also about the many stories of him helping many politicians and connections to the Malaysian politicians and royalties.

Recently a lot of speculative stories have also been making the rounds about his exit from the sugar business in Malaysia and also his global ventures with regards to sugar and  oil palm.

Whatever the news is about, no doubt he is a very screwd business man and he is very successful in the business that he ventures in.

Until the next time, cheers.

Sunday Star, Sunday September 18, 2011

Down-to-earth tycoon

Tan Sri Robert Kuok rarely speaks to the media so when he was interviewed by CCTV recently, it received wide coverage in the local Chinese newspapers.

MALAYSIA'S richest man, Tan Sri Robert Kuok, is often referred to as the “Sugar King” but the man himself says he does not like the title and deems it a “fake fame”.

Kuok, whose empire includes the Shangri-La hotel chain, prefers the title “Hotel King” instead.“I like hotel but the word king' is just a fake one,” the 87-year-old billionaire said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) recently.

Major local Chinese newspapers have carried reports about the interview as the low-profile and media-shy tycoon rarely agrees to being interviewed.

Among the topics he talked about were his foray into the travel industry in China, the venture in the sugar refinery business and his mother.

Kuok said that when he first went into China's travel industry, the tourist facilities there, especially toilets, were poor and the country was unable to attract international tourists.

But “I had a feeling that China would have the most prosperous travel industry as it has historical relics and sites”, said Kuok, who built the first Shangri-La Hotel in Hangzhou in the 1980s.

Today, there are 72 Shangri-La hotels throughout the world, and 34 of these are in China. There are 45 hotels under construction now, and 28 are in China.

Kuok said the hotel, as a service industry, depended on its employees, from the head manager to the menial worker, to serve their customers. Thus, it has been his principle ever since he first became involved in this industry to take care of the employees.

The biggest responsibility of the board of directors is to take care of its employees, he said.

When asked whether he was “unfaithful” because of his diversified investments in various industries including sugar, hotel and the media, Kuok replied that it was not “unfaithful” because all industries were inter-connected.

Recalling the early years, Kuok said his mother, Tang Kak Ji, and his brothers decided to form Kuok Brothers Ltd after his father passed away in 1948.

During one of the board of directors' meetings, Kuok said he suggested that they invest all their money in the sugar refinery business.

Besides rice and wheat, granulated sugar was also very important in the food sector, he reasoned.

“If children threw tantrums at night, the adults just needed to give them some sugar and they would remain quiet,” he said.

Granulated sugar was cheap so it was a business that could earn profits, he added.

“Sugar is unlike petrochemicals where sometimes there is demand and sometimes there isn't. At that time, the information technology era had not started yet. So the simplest and wisest business to get rich in was the sugar refinery business,” he said.

Kuok said building a successful business empire was 90% dependent on hard work. The rest was intellect. On his success in the sugar refinery business, Kuok said he was young then and could speak English.

He said the businessmen he went to meet in London and New York were curious that he, a Chinese, could speak good English.

He said he had to run to five or six offices during the day and had dinner with company officials at night to get to know their views before he reported by telegram back to Singapore. By the time he went to sleep, it was almost 1am.

“I think many people were cleverer than me. However, their night life was more messy. The next day, they would fall asleep at their desks. I did not fall asleep, so my horse ran faster',” he said.

He said those who want to venture into business must have courage otherwise they would remain poor forever.

“Every business has its own risks so if you are afraid, you just leave. It won't be a problem if there is a better opportunity as you can always grab the second one. But if you are not brave enough, you will always be poor,” he said.

Kuok, who has held pole position as Malaysia's richest man since 2006 when Forbes Asia began ranking the 40 richest Malaysians, said he did not like money.

Nevertheless, he hopes his companies would continue to make profits so that all the employees would have bonuses.

This year's bonus for his employees was considered “okay”, he said.

Kuok speaks fluent Mandarin, attributing this to his mother who, he said, always taught them to remember their roots.

He also singled out his mother as the person who had the most influence on him. She always advised him to be humble and to help the poor, and she hoped he would be a businessman with good ethics.

Kuok recalled the day he bought a Mercedes as a surprise birthday gift for his mother who was in her 80s then.

“When my mother saw it, her face changed. She asked me why I had bought a luxury car when I could have just got a Japanese-made car,” he said, adding that he sent the car back at his mother's behest.

Kuok said his mother recognised his talent for business and knew he would be successful one day. But she was worried that he would become an irresponsible businessman and had given him valuable advice, including reminding him not to be greedy.

She would be very happy with his achievement and if she were still alive now, she would remind him to “continue to be humble, continue to help the poor”.

“My love for my mum will be forever,” he said.

Woman 'drank pint of whisky and groped flight steward'

Well, when one has one too many, then things happen and this is a good example. It would not have been a big news if it the parties involved were the other way round i.e. if it were a man groping a stewardess.

Until the next time, cheers.

London Evening Standard, 14 Sep 2011

Woman 'drank pint of whisky and groped flight steward'

A woman downed more than a pint of whisky before groping a Virgin Airways steward and demanding sex, it has been alleged. 

 

Katherine Goldberg, 25, who works in education, was on a flight from South Africa to Heathrow last month when she drunkenly assaulted the crew member by grabbing his crotch, Uxbridge magistrates' court heard.

Goldberg was granted bail after her lawyer applied successfully to adjourn the case. He said: "I wish to raise representations in relation to one of the charges, that matters are dealt with by way of a caution rather than continuing with the court proceedings. 

"It is a serious allegation but there are good reasons why it would be in the public interest for the Crown to deal with her by way of a caution. I have told the court that admissions were made in interview and if matters are not dealt with by way of a caution there will be a plea of guilty at the next occasion."

Goldberg, of Ealing Common, is charged with one count of sexual assault and another of being drunk in an aircraft.