If You Stall . . . Others Roar

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If You Stall . . . Others Roar

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In a motor race, speed must be maintained to avoid a stall and loss of power & control. If you stall, others will roar. Catching up will be a task unless you’re an exceptional driver & your engine is beyond compare. You will most certainly have to take a back seat & say farewell to the race.

By the same analogy, in this economic competitive world, the truth is slowly but surely becoming progressively obvious. It stands to reason that others will not stand by & wait for you to recover. The race often goes to the swiftest. While US is bogged down sorting out its home affairs & busy playing “Big Brother” in its democratic imperialistic outreach from Middle East to the Far East, other emerging economies are engaged in productivity that count.

Out of this grave economic crisis, US initiated & originated, a clear global change is emerging. Economic doom & gloom out West is giving way to the East in bloom! We see a rise of new power & other emerging economies by the hour.

It’s not that emerging economies are trusting US less, but that they are trusting China more! After all, China is:

  • leading from the front & setting the example

  • giving out loans on better terms than IMF

  • aids for development & infrastructures

  • free from dependence on US Dollar exchange

For the above reasons, the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India & China) are now knitting convenient economic terms of arrangement for mutual benefits.

From a global standpoint, China is now leading in stimulating its economy & relegating the US to the back or passenger seat. Green shoots are sprouting & growing evidently. Its 2-year stimulus package of four trillion Yuan is positively directed to productive economic activities & infrastructures. US is steadily being eclipsed as the global economic driver by China & the other emerging economies.

With much of Europe following in the tail of US stalling in their economies & problems galore in their consumer & banking or financial sectors, the BRIC economies & markets are getting on with their global trade & other business activities. This is marking clearly a meaningful & historical transition of the shift in power hegemony. The motion is set & there’s no turning back to restart an old engine that’s no longer dependable or reliable.

Not being overly optimistic, China is indeed singing, while US & Europe are sinking. South America & Africa with their rich resources are cutting deals with China on terms mutually agreeable. China has been sending out its ministers, jet-setting the world on shopping spree, sourcing the world for products & markets . . . making investments to perpetuate its power house.

This is definitively a grand reversal of fortunes – an emergence of a different order that found the US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on his recent ‘selling’ mission to China. It’s hard times that call for hard sell!

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Related Article:

*Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

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Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

President Hu Jintao

While other world leaders are staying home plagued with solving their economic crisis, the Chinese leaders Hu Jintao (President), Xi Jinping (Vice President and Wen Jiabao (Premier) were jet setting the world on buying spree. What does this mean? Like top sales corporate executives sourcing out world products & markets, they are doing the same.

Chinese Premier Wen jiabaoPresident Hu Jintao

Though China’s stimulus package is worth a whopping four trillion Yuan over two years, it has abundant cash reserves after years of double digit economic boom. To say the least, China is in a better shape by far than any other economies & facing no worse than a slowing down in its

economy. Time is opportune for China to

be buying resources at present low prices, renewing & establishing new contacts . . . making investments that will ensure further impetus to the Chinese power house.

(Premier Wen Jiabao >)



China Vice President Xi Jinping Vice-President Xi Jinping

Their recent buying spree includes . . .

  • A $19.5 billion investment in resource conglomerate Rio Tinto by Aluminum Corp of China, financed by the China Development Bank.

  • China Petrochemical’s $1.5 billion purchase of Canada’s Tanganyika Oil operating in Syria.

  • A $25 billion loan to the Russian government in exchange for 290,000 barrels of oil per day for the next 25 years and a pipeline to China to carry the oil.

  • A $10 billion loan to Brazil securing up to 160,000 barrels of crude a day.

  • A deal with Venezuela for up to 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2015 in return for another $4 billion to top off an existing development fund.

  • A $1.7 billion bid by China Minmetals for OZ Minerals, an Australian zinc producer on the verge of bankruptcy.

All these, while assuring its supply chain, will contribute positively to further the growth of the Chinese economy. Logic will tell you that you can’t keep on spending money which you don’t have & get deeper into debts. But if you have $2 trillion cash reserves, then it’s a wise move indeed.

Now you can see why China is booming while others are groaning & going under in this economic trough. The tens of thousands of factories closing in China & the millions of Chinese out of work bear little numerical consequences in a country as huge as China. Its economic gear is in place, bank lending is soaring, up an amazing 101% to the tune of $237 billion, with 35% of all lending in January going towards infrastructure projects including power grid, railways & nuclear plants.

Other economic scenario is also encouraging: retail sales continue to explode higher, up a whopping 24.5%, from clothing sales to electronics & luxury items. For January, Mercedes Benz saw sales of its S-Class models jump an impressive 26% in China.

China is led by a good team of leaders. They are making sure their power house engine is matching up with the superb performance of the classed Mercedes engine & Rolls Royce.

Metaphorically speaking, the sun rises in the East & sets in the West. It looks like China, despite all the doom & gloom, is climbing up in the right direction.

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Friday, 27 February 2009

The Longest Escalator System in the World

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THE LONGEST ESCALATOR SYSTEM IN THE WORLD

As a question of national pride and prestige, nations have all strived to build the tallest structures. Typically, the World Trade Centre in New York City, has been challenged by the Petronas Twin Towers of Malaysia & the 101 Taipei Tower. With the demise of the former brought about by the unforgettable event of September 11, 2001 what other man-made structures will inspire others to rise tall from the ground? In the oil-rich Arab world, Dubai is the place mad & crazy with the most unimaginable & superb structures in the world.

450px-HK_Mid-Level_Escalators.jpg The Elgin Street Entrance – Central-Mid-Levels Escalator

There will always be something for the nations in the world to boast about. Smaller nations like to show the world that they are coming of age and are equally able to produce this and that. It’s not necessary to boast only of structures that are out of this world, for there are feats of accomplishment very down to earth. In the bustling streets of Hong Kong Island, there is this humble and perhaps little known structure – the longest escalator in the world!

200px-Central-Mid-levels_escalator_.jpgInside The Escalator – Right Downward Walk Descent

Twisting up through Hong Kong’s narrow streets is the world’s longest escalator system, spanning over 800m. This is the Central-Mid-levels escalators (traditional Chinese: 中環至半山自動扶梯) – yes indeed the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The escalators, moving walkways and pedestrian bridges connect the downtown financial district to the mid-levels, a upscale neighborhood of condominium towers where many executives live.

494376004_27321b2302_o.jpgConnecting Pedestrian Bridgertw_2004.1149530220.p1010259.jpgShops, Restaurants Galore With Easy Access

While skyscrapers demand and necessitate the use of lifts, the hilly topography of the streets in the Central District of Hong Kong requires the ease and convenience of vertical ascent through the use of a series of travelators and escalators. Starting from Queen’s Road Central/Queen Victoria Street Junction, it ends up at Conduit Road. For a greater part of the stretch, the escalators made their way up along Shelley Street. Imagine if you have to climb by the traditional step way! It’s truly amazing, providing an interesting feature of sight-seeing quite unlike any other. Be prepared to use the steps on the way down.

Along the way it cuts through such major roads as Hollywood Road, the area known for its antique, Bridges Street, Cains Road and Robinson Road. The end of each stretch offers something of interest to the tourists. If you are on the hunt for antiques of ceramic wares, hungry for a taste of delicious noodles, or just to photograph the quaint shops, every junction provides you the thrill of the day. As you ascend, you begin to wonder how the early settlers built upon such a hilly environment with such scanty flat land. No wonder Hong Kong expanded vertically before its horizontal expansion.

The escalator system was conceived to alleviate car traffic by helping commuters travel efficiently to work while providing protection from rain. The escalators, since its completion in 1994, have proven to be very popular, carrying over 45,000 people a day. It’s functionally aesthetic creating a unique cross sectional city view. With the connection to a series of shopping malls, ferry terminal & new office buildings, the convenience of daily commuting to work, shop, restaurants & play has been the greatest benefits to the folks living in the area. It has transformed the neighbourhoods it connects.

During my first visit to Hong Kong back in 1972, I stayed at Hilton Hotel. Now the Hotel is no longer there, and in its place a taller structure (Cheong Kong Centre, reputedly owned by Li Kah Shing and given the desired address as No. 1 Queen’s Road) presents the rapid progress of Hong Kong. When a five-star hotel could economically give way to progress, what more can we say of lesser structures. In a land-hunger Hong Kong the question of permanency is unheard of – I guess sentiment must make way for progress. This sentiment was popularised by Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore at the time of its rebuilding and along its road of progress.

Despite the economic downturn, Hong Kong’s skyline always present a vibrant air with bamboo scaffolding, towering derricks and cranks, highways, freeways, tunnels, bridges and the ever land reclamation projects. Will anything ever slows down Hong Kong? Perhaps not! It is truly a City that never sleeps. Life just goes on and on.

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

(25 November 2001)

The ‘Binlan’ Girls of Taiwan

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The ‘Binlan’ Girls of Taiwan

(Betel Nut Beauties)

382771568_c1773f65da_o.jpg_2Scantily-clad Sexy Girls in Glass Cubicle

Like a page taken from the Red Light Districts of Hamburg, Amsterdam or Rotterdam, a recent cultural phenomenon is making its presence felt along the streets of Taiwan. From the neon-lit cubicles scantily-clad beauties solicit their trade. You would immediately be mistaken they are prostitutes or sex workers plying sex. Surprisingly, they are only selling betel nuts.

It’s often said that it’s not it’s not what you sell that counts but how you sell. The whole crux of the matter lies in the strategy of marketing. Basically, everyone of us is a salesperson, whether it’s an idea or a thing, an emotion such as love or an appeal. Everything is translated in your ability to putting it across effectively to be accepted by the public at large.

In Taiwan, betel nut also known as areca nut, is the second largest agricultural product, consumed as in most Asian countries as a stimulant. When laced with lime and chewed with betel leaf it is a popular drug stimulant. Long distance truck drivers, looking for a quick pick-me-up and other motorists were the target market and selling booths conveniently lined all feeder roads leading to major highways.

That scenario has given way to a glamorous strategy of marketing. Now selling booths or cubicles (once only served by old women) are manned by young pretty and sexy “Binlan” girls clad scantily only in bikinis, even in the cold winter environment. Old women who used to ply the trade are no longer on the scene. “Binlan” is a Mandarin word for betel. Glass booths make their presence everywhere, recognizable at night by strips of green florescence light. Evidently, sex sells. Motorists are attracted to buy not only betel nuts, but also cigarettes and soft drinks as plied by such “Binlan” girls in provocative outfits.

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Their popularity has given rise to much controversy and public outcry has from time to time forced upon political pressure over its control and management. It’s believed that many a “Binlang” girl is a runaway kid of poverty or sex-abused background or may even be drug addicted and the operation controlled by Chinese mafia. There are an estimated 60,000 kiosks employing thousands of girls who are reputed to earn more than $1,000 per month.

Whatever the position, as in sex prostitution, for which Taiwan is nonetheless as well-known as Thailand, “Binlan” girls will continue to play their serving role. To them this is just a normal job & in no way feel themselves to be exploited.

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In retrospect, on my first visit to Taipei in 1972, I was awed by the visual publicity of large signboards displaying VD Clinics or Hospitals. The signboards may visibly have disappeared, but the urban seedy side of life is as vibrant as ever.

Now how about this, figurines of “Binlan” girls as replacements to do the trade? Unbelievable that man has all the ingenuity to come out with such a contraption! But will customers be satisfied? Nothing like the real thing?

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Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consenty

Thursday, December 8, 2005 @ 4.35 am

Filipino Maids in Hong Kong

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Statue Square, Central, Hong Kong. Statue Squa...
Image via Wikipedia

Stature Square in Central is an ideal rendezvous for Filipino maids on Sundays when they have their day off.

HSBC_with_maids.jpg

Filipino Maids at HSBC

On any typical Sunday in Hong Kong, don’t expect to get a seat at the popular McDonald’s in Pacific Place. The whole place is swarmed with Filipino maids, just like they congregate in Central, also at the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai area and most of the popular public places. Whenever you go to Hong Kong, try to visit Statue Square . . . it also serves as a place where hundreds of Filipino maids flock there to meet, to chat or to sing. They are everywhere. Never has such gathering been more evident elsewhere in Malaysia, Singapore or Taiwan – that’s because in Hong Kong, the maids work busily through the week and Sunday is their day of rest. On such a day, they go to church, socialize with their friends, lunch and dine out, do their personal shopping and attending to personal affairs, and then gathering together in groups chatting, singing or simply lazing around. Some of the large churches are largely frequented by them.

In Hong Kong, more than any other cities in Asia, this social phenomenon is to be seen to believe. These Filipino maids are a great export from developing Philippines. Their monetary remittances are much needed at home where unemployment or poverty necessitates the separation or sacrifice of the maids from their loved ones. In Hong Kong, they earn a good salary which contributes towards a better life at home. Most Filipino maids flock to Hong Kong because of the comparatively high pay and working condition.

Be not surprised that many a Filipino maid is college or university educated. Elsie (not real name) for instance is a qualified nurse with four college years of training and has been away from her family for 6 years now. Even as a nurse she won’t earn as much in the Philippines as working as a domestic help in Hong Kong. It pays for her to be away from her house husband and three children. She speaks and writes good English. In Hong Kong where Cantonese is the dominant dialect, she gets sparsely by with few essential words when doing her day’s shopping. With the family she works for, her English is an asset.

She would be the first to rouse preparing breakfast, getting ready the kid(s) for kindergarten or school to be followed by her daily routine of general housekeeping, shopping for the day’s meals and preparing them. A typical family she works for would be a young couple, both professionals, whose day begins at about 7.30 am and ends at about 8.00 pm or even  later by the time they get home. She is virtually in charge of the household in the absence of her employers with multiple duties and responsibilities – a cook, babysitter, and general household chores.

Her life is not entirely just that. Every now and again, particularly whenever her employers are off work or on holidays, she gets to be part of the family’s activities. She does benefit from the family’s outings to restaurants for “dim sum” or lunch/dinner and even on trips to Macau and other places of interest. For instance, Elsie is looking forth to going into China again with the family during the coming Christmas break. The pay is good and the variety of activities do compensate for her absence away from home. It was her birthday a few days before Christmas. Dinner with the family was followed by the cake at home with photo shots and video clips which she could forward and maintain contact with her own family.

With the growing affluence of the Asian families and where the extended family assistance is no longer available, such domestic service would be irreplaceable. Through a recruiting agency Elsie like other Filipino maids found her employers. Each contract is for a two-year basis. The initial first contact she would benefit for a two-year work permit and subsequently, she would need to leave Hong Kong after one year to get re-entry immigration extension of the other year.

In Hong Kong where space is a luxury and certainly pricy, she is fortunate, as some do, to have privacy in a room of her own with adequate storage facility and a small attached toilet. In some families, two maids are employed instead of one, each with specific duties. There’s a couple I know with three maids, but they have five children and are both business professionals. They have one maid just to drive the kids to school and back. One to cook and the third for general cleaning all three floors of their condominium apartment – combined, designed and refurbished into one luxurious apartment. They have even an additional driver specially for the gynaecologist husband. Once a year the maids’ highlight is getting the privilege to accompany the family on their overseas holidays and cruises. The affluence of the Hongkees does stretch on a great economic scale of needs. One would be a largely absentee employer because of her constant travel or another would be a single mother.

From time to time, we do hear of horror stories reported in the media relating to these maids of fighting, stabbing their employers and even murder. One particular horror story that I know was of a young and pretty maid infecting two equally young masters of the house with HIV through illicit sex. These stories however are far and few in between their tremendously needed household performance. Oftentimes, I notice there’s a clear good relationship between the maids and their employers .Extension of contract is often the norm with the same employer.

At the end of the day, all that is said and done, we each find the niche in the society we live in according to our skills and standings. If you like crowd and the hustle and bustle of life, Hong Kong has plenty of. On ordinary days, the shopping streets like Nathan Road or Mongkok area see crowd of people edging their way around. On Sundays Filipino maids have their preferred locations of congregation. If you’re getting home late by buses or MTR, be prepared to be hemmed in with them. Tagalog sounds pretty musical and clear above the drowning Cantonese dialect for once. Their day’s R & R being over, the crowd gradually all disperse like homing pigeons only to rise again happily for that busy day & week ahead.

©   Paul Chong

Saturday, 24 December 2005 @ 3.45 am

Hong Kong

Note: The Australian Government might well consider this worthwhile service and import such help in the Aussie households.

Kirkby – Down Memory Lane

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Kirkby – Down Memory Lane

(Kirkby, Liverpool, United Kingdom)

Kirkby Badge_2

Way back in 1958 when I was teaching temporary at the Government English School in Bagan Serai, the name “Kirkby” evoked a magical sense of emotion, excitement and adventure. We had two Kirkby trained teachers in our midst then, Pany and Sidek, who used to awe us with their wonderful experiences. Never in my widest dream did I really plan to be some 8,000 miles away from Malaysia. But once I was selected I just couldn’t resist the temptation of seeing UK and Europe.

Together with the scholarship was R$600 for our preparation, essentially for buying winter clothing. We were departing by the former BOAC in their Folker twin-propeller plane with stops in Calcutta, Beirut and Rome before our final destination in London.

It was winter when we landed, freezingly cold and howling winds; certainly a vast contrast from our perpetually hot and humid climate. People walked so fast with such great strides as though running. We soon learnt to do likewise lest we froze by the winter winds.

Unfamiliar with the environment, we were drilled and ragged by our seniors who took pleasure to orientate us; to “kowtow” in acknowledging them as “ Yes Honourable Sir.” No question asked. Every bit of fagging to be executed like in “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” – the tradition of young public schools.

We were young and fresh, only approaching the second decade of life. The whole world was ahead of us, but timid and virtually very inexperienced as compared to these seniors who were a year ahead of us in College. Need I say, we were easy meat.

However, once we settled in, having learnt the lessons of knowing “how to bomb Tokyo” (toilet training), the task of bed-making, the etiquette of dinning, queuing for buses and all things unfamiliar, college life soon unfolded its pleasurable aspects.

College social life included many varied activities – weekend informal dancing to popular tunes from record player, occasional former dinner & dance, folk dancing, cultural concerts and festival celebrations. Some found pleasure making out at Kirkby Woods, canal walk, or a drink or two at the local pub. The Liverpoolians have a strange pronunciation of words and strong accent, with frequent utterances like “loaf” (meaning love).

Most interestingly were the educational tours as organized by the College or British Council. They took the form of short coach trips to nearby places of interests: Stratford-On-Avon for Shakespeare’s plays, and Drury Lane Theatre in London for the stage play of “My Fair Lady”. The plays in London often last for years and years with no end in sight. Other places of interest would include visits to nearby castles, quaint old towns or villages and zoos. One such visit was Chester across the Mersey Tunnel.

Central EuropeTour Party 1960 Central Europe Tour Party Summer of 1960

The greatest thrill & excitement were all the great adventures we had hitch hiking to the Lakes District, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and of course various parts of UK, from John O’Groats in the UK northernmost tip right down to Lands’ End at the southernmost point. Even greater by comparison were all the beautiful countries toured in Europe. Two Summers and two Easters saw us covering the length and breadth of Europe.

“One Day When We Were Young”, a favourite tune of mine in those days, will always be dear to anyone’s heart. Life was free and easy. Academically, we didn’t have to work very hard. Many would agree with me that we had two wonderful good years of joy and fellowship. If only we could turn back the clock, have the whole life journey replayed. With the cumulative years behind us fast superseding the years ahead of us, we must look forth to the future, trusting that it would be as good, if not better than the years gone by.

Paul Chong ©

(Batch of 1959/60)


General Motors Today . . . America Tomorrow?

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General Motors Today . . . America Tomorrow?

GM is not one of those fly-by-night corporations. It has always been an accepted slogan & mantra “As General Motors goes, so goes America.” May the words not ring completely true.

But yes, GM has fallen & filing for bankruptcy.

GM Headquarters in DetroitGM Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, USA

The inconceivable has happened. Over the satellite news by Bloomberg & Aljazeera yesterday, I sat refusing to believe that General Motors was filing for bankruptcy (Chapter 11) to emerge later as a leaner & more competitive automaker, an assurance given by Obama just four hours after the announcement.

This is the great American icon of innovation & success for nearly a century. The mighty corporation that survived two World Wars, The Great Depression, the Korean & Vietnam Wars, and every economic crisis & shock . . . has finally reeled under its insurmountable mountain of debts of some $173 billion. It had received $20 billion from US government & was expecting $30 billion more.

180px-GM_headquarters_in_Detroit.JPG Another View of GM HQ

US Bankruptcy Laws are rather complex, but suffice to say that under Chapter 11, GM has provisions for reorganisation & rehabilitation. There will be closure of unprofitable lines of manufacturing, downsizing, laying off of workers . . . generating a consequential chain of reactions. The implosion of GM will be felt throughout the land.

It is much more than just the failure of GM, one of the most powerful engines of economic growth this century for the investors & every American family. For the dealers & suppliers the dream of a life-long guarantee of livelihood just unbelievably vanished. Hundreds of thousands of workers will be affected. It’s official that unemployment has reached 9.4%, but the worst layoffs are yet to be. This figure is grossly understated when you take into consideration of the millions who suddenly have to switch from full-time to part-time or part-part-time jobs, or worst still having to resign completely looking for work.

Debts killed GM, but will debts also kill the United States of America?

We have seen America has failed to rescue GM, AIG, Fannie and Freddie, the entire banking industry and many other companies. In the process, the US government has created & is creating its own mountain of debts at an enormous rate of $3.8 billion per day. GM’s sorrow pale in significance when compared to the grief of Washington.

With its staggering record spending, Washington is also failing to control the surge in interest rates. While continuing feverishly printing its “fiat” money to buy more than $700 billion in bonds so far this year, no thought is focused on creating jobs & economic productive activities. As more & more money, created out of nothing, sink beneath its economic sink hole, rising interest rates will only prove to be its kiss of death.

Just when GM’s longtime rival Chrysler was preparing to move out of bankruptcy having taken time off to reorganize itself under legal protection, GM’s bankruptcy will be the largest industrial bankruptcy in US history & overall the fourth-largest.

Right now, its two main financial saviours, China & Japan, are rethinking their own risks in furthering their purchase of US Treasuries. Japan is also in very poor shape to be of much help. China is already taking steps in the right economic direction. Ultimately, US will have to bear its own burden or like the Titanic sinking into the deep blue ocean. Already the government has committed billions in bailing out the banking & insurance sectors.

We as lay persons will stand by & watch the catastrophe unfold. Medically, every disease must run its course. There are no quick & easy fixes. Does America possess the strength & tenacity to come out of this mess? I pointed out the “domino effect” in my earlier article “US Extreme Game of Economic Dominoes”. GM has the domino potential & dragging America along.

How long can America go on spending like crazy & borrowing like mad? Or keep on feverishly printing their paper money? Only time will tell.


Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

Word Count: 569

US “Toilet” Paper Money!

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US “Toilet” Paper Money!

US-Dollar-Bills

In my search for truth probing through the devious & deceptive financial maze of the United States of America, utter shocks were uncovered & revealed. This article is intended for the average person in Main Street, who are now bearing the brunt of the financial crisis, still hopelessly & foolishly not knowing that they have been deceived & manipulated largely by the greed & irresponsibility of the big guys in Wall Street.

For ninety-five years now, not only those in Main Street, but globally too we’ve been led to believe in the wealth & strength of the United States of America. The US government was ably & irresponsibly issuing “fiat” money – “government issued coupons with expiration dates printed in invisible ink” (Darryl Schoon). If product has a “use-by” date or an expiry date, you would know what to do with it.

US Toilet Paper MoneyEnvironmental experts recently called toilet paper

“one of the greatest excesses of our age.”

In the process, the country has been transformed from one of productivity to that of indebtedness. “While productivity is doing more with less, fiat money allows governments to do more with nothing. Fiat currencies are a way for governments to spend what they don’t have; and while counterfeiting by individuals is a crime, passing government coupons off as money is legal because governments make the laws.” (Darryl Schoon). In truth, the issuance of fiat money by governments is a white collar crime & yet illegally made legal. Isn’t it kind of double standard?

From the Financial Sense University, we learn that “Fiat money is oxymoron” in which “faith unfaithfully kept it falsely true”. In simplistic sense, fiat money is useless, likened to the toilet paper we daily use. It is only as good & valuable as the extent with which the issuing body make it legal, & the faith placed upon it from within & without.

In economics, traditional money is a means of exchange. It’s redeemable in gold or silver or any set commodity. Thus the amount of money in circulation is backed by tangible assets. Not so in the case of fiat money. The only thing that gives the money value is its relative scarcity and the faith placed in it by the people that use it.

The present day classic example is drawn from Zimbabwe, where the government is broke – hyper-inflation exists & where unlimited printing of money is the order of the day & is in surplus circulation with denominations running into the millions or more.

If history is anything to go by, fiat money, to put it kindly, has been one of failure. Every fiat currency since the Roman times had ended in devaluation & eventual collapse – for the currency as well as the economy of the country. During the Song Dynasty, the Chinese experimented with paper money which however was redeemable. It took several hundred years but finally abandoned due to unacceptable levels of inflation as money printing exceeded production.

The fundamental flaw in a fiat monetary system lies with the human nature where greed sets in & there is no moral restraint on the amount of money that can be printed, allowing unlimited credit creation. If on an individual basis, you go on a credit spending spree, thereby creating an unlimited amount of credit, you’ll end up with unserviceable debt & consequently default. Sadly, both American individuals & the US nation are accustomed to credit & addicted to it.

When the going gets rough, the rough start printing. Governments cannot be trusted not to print too much money when it is not linked to a scarce commodity such as gold or silver. This is a case of being over-extended without any means of servicing as on the individual or national basis & it can only spell disaster.

For thousands of years gold & silver have demonstrated their utility. Unfortunately, governments historically have either debased & diluted the amount of gold & silver in their coins or “attempted to circumvent gold & silver entirely by mandating the use of paper money, sic fiat.” US unilaterally broke off its tie to gold standard during the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1971.

The imminent danger is implosion, contrary to explosion, as in a Blackhole in outer space. It’s most difficult to say exactly when this system will implode; but implode it most certainly will. The question is just how far can you push or stretch such a system without finally collapsing in defaults, deflation & depression. This will be followed by an accelerating distribution of wealth culminating in social unrest.

What’s most amazing & little known fact is that the Federal Reserve is not part of the US Government. It is in fact owned by a collection of the world’s biggest banks & the biggest family names like Rothschild & Rockefeller in Britain & America. Alan Greenspan (now since February 2006, Ben Bernanke), was but a pawn of the banks & the politicians – pulling out all the stops to maintain the illusions of fiat money credibility. While the system is doomed, there is still time for individuals to act quickly & save themselves. The politicians & bankers, however, may stop at nothing to keep the charade going on longer.

In retrospect, America has cheated death with its currency many a time in the historical past by alternating its monetary system between gold & silver with paper money. Whenever commodities run scarce, resources low & spending forever mounting, fiat currencies are a way for governments to spend what they don’t have. Credit-based or fiat money issued by central banks turns into debt with accruing compounding interest to be paid by the productive members of society, thereby draining & depleting its productivity.

The irony of it all is while the productive members of the society (that is, workers, businessmen, farmers, savers & taxpayers) are made to pay for the mounting compounding interest, the non-productive members of society such as bankers & politicians are joyously milking it. In a fiat money society, savers are unfortunately penalised while speculators are rewarded. The nation must wake up from its seemingly peaceful slumber lest it becomes its permanent slumber.

US has largely turned itself into a “self-service” nation which is uniquely destructive & subtle deadly in nature. It has bred a “speculative economy” through the establishment & growth of “financial services” giants such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, BoA, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia etc. When these finally collapsed, their CEOs & CFOs were enjoying their “self-service” benefits by way of bonuses without the least of compassion for the economy.

Suffice to mention here in brief that US has roughed its financial way through its historical past – the American Civil War, the two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, now with Iraq & Afghanistan chocking at its throat. Needless to say, in all of these, there have been insurmountable financial strain, economic waste, draining & depleting of the nation’s productivity & resources. The US is a bankrupt nation today, a shadow of its former greatness & power. Wealth is power in a stored stage. It can exacerbate suffering more than it can alleviate it.

This is turbulent changing time that we’re living in. The power in the world’s financial hegemony is shifting with the rise of one nation & the decline of another. Changes are inevitable as surely with the sun rise & the setting of the sun. Coincidentally, the rising is in the East with the setting in the West.

The Chinese have a saying about an “old tiger”. Its roar is still there, fierce & ferocious, but it is weak, no longer fast & quick in capturing its animal prey. That’s when an old tiger becomes most dangerous to mankind as it turns to be a “man-eating tiger”.

Prominent Austrian Economist Ludwig von Mises from the Austrian School of Economics has long held that no sound economy can long endure under fiat money, arguing in his book “Human Action” that, “What is needed for a sound expansion of production is additional capital goods, not money or fiduciary media. The credit boom is built on the sands of banknotes and deposits. It must collapse.”

Will America survive? Will it go on feverishly printing its “fiat” money? How can the world keep on having faith in its currency?

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Sunday, 3 May 2009

7.05 am

Related Articles: (By Same Author)

China & Japan – Financial Saviours of US

Chinese Leaders Jet-setting The World On A Buying Spree

US Extreme Game of Economic Dominoes

Western Democratic Imperialism

Word Count: 1401

Dentists Galore . . . Services Deplore

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Army Dental Surgery. Display at Army Medical S...
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Dentists Galore . . . Services Deplore (By Paul Chong)

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Kalamunda is a delightful place up in Perth Hills reflecting its glorious days when it used to be a weekend retreat for folks down in the City. Needless to say, you’ll find a greater number of retirees living up here with every conceivable human conveniences. There are banks, shops, shopping centres, post office, restaurants, bar lounges, lawyers, doctors & of course dentists – all in close proximity & within walking distances.

Dentists are found in every nook & corner whether it’s in Kalamunda, Lesmurdie or Gooseberry Hills. Like the medical doctors, they’re expected to perform a worthwhile dental service in true professionalism. With their numerical spread, one would expect the convenience & choice of excellent dental service.

To begin with, we as patients are much to be blamed when it comes to dental care. Though an essential part of health, we invariably neglect this area of care, especially when it means visiting a dentist. The very thought of the dentist’s drill sends chill down my spine. For that alone, we tend to postpone our dental appointment and seldom maintain our regular visits (at least speaking for myself).

As though it’s not painful enough, more pain is being extracted out of our pockets & wallets. This is because dental service is unregulated and charges & costs can hit the roof without any control. Unlike consulting your personal physician, you can be sure you’ll never be ripped off. But with the dentist, it’s said they make more money than the medical doctors!

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The shocking thing is that in Kalamunda Shire where I have chosen to live for the last twenty odd years, dentists galore . . . but service deplore! Our Government has a scheme in place called EPC (Enhanced Patient Care) for diabetic patients, where dental charges are reimbursed by Medicare. The nursing sister at Stirk Medical Group told me that she wrote to all the dentists seeking their services under the scheme without getting as much as an acknowledgment. But why would they want to come under the scheme with restrictive charges? I have personally sought out some of them myself but to no avail with the exception of one pretty dentist, whose gentle hands & soothing voice release your tightening grip on the dentist’s chair.

Are dentists trained just to make money? With due respect & without prejudice, lots of the dentists are brilliant & bright, but I guess their lights shine along more on the financial path than on the path of care & service to the community at large. Diabetic patients requiring dental care are ever increasing but will be facing increasing deplorable dental service. Really a pathetic state of affair.

There is however one dental practice in Kalamunda, Jan Yeo Dental Surgery, that deserves every praise for the services rendered. Staffed by two very proficient dentists I(both ladies), it’s also staffed by a well qualified dental therapist (complete with a Bachelor of Oral Health), whose gentlest of hands render you a scaling & cleaning service virtually free from pain or uneasiness.

Dental care begins with oral health and here you have it at no. 1 Kalamunda Road, Kalamunda.

Paul Chong

Monday 23 September 2008

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Quotable Quotes On The Wall

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Quotable Quotes On The Wall

(The Thoughts of Paul Chong)

The right choice of words can engage the brain in gear

To bring to fruition the concept or the idea.

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In the days of old without the luxury of modern day multi-media communication, all notices & information were plastered on the wall for public reading – particularly in ancient China. Information is a vital link between the state & the people and no less between individuals.

Chinese artists & calligraphers would also engage the medium of poetic sayings to display in their works. This sort of cultural display was and is rampant even today in the homes, schools, museums & just about anywhere. It is like decorating their walls with great ideas. Imagine a country with millions pursuing the same ideal.

Consciously or unconsciously, when I was running a delicatessen business in Kalamunda, Perth, Western Australia from 1984 to 1990, I plastered a lot of my poems & writings on my shop window. Apart from attracting many readers, they also caught the attention of the local press & I was dubbed the “Confucius of Kalamunda”.

The late Bob Duffield, journalist, author & lecturer, who penned a foreword to my little publication “How To Have Motivation Unlimited” was particularly impressed with my writings. Even more so, he was full of admiration on my principle for not selling cigarettes in my deli.

He wrote: “One day in October 1987. Paul’s medical student son, David, came home & said: ‘Dad, I know you don’t smoke, but you are catering for this health-destroying habit by selling tobacco to others. Doesn’t this put you in the position of a drug pedlar who, while not a user himself, makes an income out of selling the stuff?’”

“Paul processed that through Ethical Motivation” he continued, “and promptly decided: ‘We will not sell smoke any more.” This was the poignant small-wall poster, among others, displayed in the shop window. Duffield ended his foreword with these words: “You can succeed without greed & win without sin.”

Those days I was using my old faithful ‘Olivetti Lettera 32’ typewriter from my University days. It’s a far cry from today’s modern technology and no comparison to my new 24” desktop Mac OS X which I received as a birthday gift from my three children. Yes, my greatest wish is to share my thoughts for posterity, hoping they would make a difference in the world we live in – “to succeed without greed and win without sin” in my new blog at:

http://p21chong.wordprtess.com

Therein I have posted quite a few topics, and will from time to time post new ones. The main entries are:

  • Prosperity, Posterity & Proprietary

  • Inspiration Vs Perspiration

  • Tiananmen Square: Protestors’ Debacle

  • The 4 Alphabets of Economic recovery

  • The Japanese Dilemma

  • Aspire to Inspire . . . Before You Expire

  • Remembering Life’s Lessons

  • Women – Men’s Equal?

  • Order Prevails Or Chaos Assails

  • Western Democratic Imperialism

Added to the above topics: Quotable Quotes On The Wall

(From the Writings of Paul Chong:

His Profound Simple Truths, Thoughts and Philosophy)

• I am a Chinese by Descent, an Australian by Consent.

• Hard work will not a person kill, but sheer idleness will.

• In the past loyal employees are appreciated but with changing times flexible workers are more treasured.

• To grow to progress is to change, and it should not be hindered by inhibitions.

• To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

• From the womb to the tomb there’s but one room. It’s either heaven or hell where for all eternity you “yell”.

• Inward grace outward grace. Inward disgrace outward ugly face.

• Attitude is your fortitude for it’s attitude more than aptitude that scales the altitude.

• Do something expect nothing. Rewards are there when you least care.

• The minefields are ever present in self-pride, gross individualism and self-centeredness.

• Today’s value system is greatly distorted and truths are often twisted.

• Be courageous – live on your feet rather living on your knees.

• The fairways are wide and the hole is big. Yet the dimpled ball has its way of making its own sway.

• Christians should not hold grievance nor should they entertain preferences. Not just between their fellow believers, but more as an example to non believers.

• Set right your vertical relationship with God before establishing any human horizontal kind.

• It’s love at first sight, and more love to sustain all fight.

They are intended for your reading pleasure. Feel free to make your comments. Have your say . . . and let them stay. If they are any good to you, do share them. Forward and circulate them among your loved ones, friends & all your email contacts.

Thank You!

Paul Chong

Tuesday, 2 July 2009