Top of the Word

After almost three years of taking triple DMARDs (Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs), I decided to give Remicade a shot this weekend. I was nervously keeping the anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor) drug at bay for long because of the risk of serious side effects (blood-related disorders, infections and even tuberculosis).

 

But I decided to give in after weighing the benefits against the disadvantages as my joints (knees, spine, hip, toes, etc.) were rapidly degenerating. The top rheumatologists I consulted (Dr Leong Keng Hong in Singapore and Dr B Rajasekar in Chennai) were unanimous that I should go the anti-TNF way. Also, I began to feel that even the DMARDs I was taking (Sulphasalazine, Plaquenil and Methotrescate as well as Arcoxia) could be toxic.

 

Sometime last year, too, I tried to get rid of my B27-related arthritis/ankylosing spondylitis by taking Enbrel (one jab) and Humirah (five doses). Both are anti-TNF drugs administered through injections. But, as I felt there was no improvement, I discontinued them. That may have been a mistake. But the biggest mistake I made was stopping all medication for a few months that caused my arthritis to flare up, this time more severe than ever. I resumed the treatment in April this year. Lesson learnt -- don't pretend to be a half-doctor and take decisions on your own!

 

Remicade is different from Enbrel and Humirah in the way it is administered. Remicade is given through an intravenous infusion while the other two are injections. I got myself admitted yesterday at the Mount Alvernia Hospital (I am becoming a big patron of all private hospitals here!!) for the infusion that took a little more than four hours. But that was preceded by some lab tests. I was also given some steroidal and antihistamine infusions to counter any drug allergies. I was discharged this morning. I had to take three vials of Remicade -- this is decided based on the weight of the patient. Each vial costs a little more than S$1,600, plus hospitalisation charges that can be close to S$2000. The cost of one vial was, however, waived. Quite an expensive affair, nonetheless, as this is a line of treatment I may have to continue for the next several months -- initially every two weeks, and then every four.

 

Biologic drugs such as Remicade work by blocking TNF, a protein involved in causing inflammation. I am hoping that I will be able to stop after a few infusions, depending on how I respond to it. Healthwise, this has been a challenging year for me so far, starting with a gallbladder surgery this February. Thankfully, nothing has been serious enough, touchwood, to keep me bedridden, and that is a blessing!

 

I am neither a big optimist nor a soothsayer. Still, in a post here on May 1, I appear to have very wildly predicted that "the swine flu will soon fade away". How wrong I was can be gauged from the staggering statistics on the spread of the H1N1 virus!

 

The U.S. has more than a million people stricken with the virus and the U.K. almost 4,000 -- serious enough to merit attention despite the wide gulf between the two countries. While it orignated in Mexico, it is being rapidly exported to the world by the U.S., the U.K. and other countries in Europe (as well as Australia), no thanks to their laxity in tackling it. More than 75 countries are now affected, with deaths mostly confined to the West. It now even appears that the world will have to live with the swine flu for long, if its rapid spread is any yardstick.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) was thus right in declaring H1N1 a pandemic. The advanced Western world thus became home to the century's first pandemic. Ironically, this came about even as the racist West believed that such a deadly flu can only happen in Asia and poor countries in the rest of the world!

 

The developed world, with all its misplaced focus on individual freedom, does not have the ability or the inclination to handle such emergencies. They are keen on only evolving processes, not implementing them. Importantly, they are not vigilant in keeping affected people quarantined within their countries. This lack of efficiency and a sense of social responsibility are causing pain to the rest of the world. All cases reported in India so far have been from infected people arriving from the U.S. The virus came to Singapore shores through travellers from the U.S., Europe and Australia. And the first thing that these socially irresponsible people generally do is visit pubs and shopping malls, thereby making it difficult for the authorities to keep its spread under check.

 

Singapore is doing all it can to miniimize the impact -- thermal scanners installed at airports automatically detect those with the flu symptoms without putting passengers into any inconvenience, quarantine centres have been opened to isolate the infected and rigid checks are made at hospitals and pubs. I have not heard about such stringent measures being implemented in the U.S., England or Australia. Singaporeans returning from affected countries are advised to stay at home for a week before they venture out, even if they show no flu symptoms.

 

Durring my visit to Chennai last week, all passengers were made to complete a declaration form and subjected to a manual fever check. By installing a thermal scanner, they could have easily overcome this hassle. No such checks were noticed at any of the medical centres I visited there. If the virus starts to spread in such densely populated countries such as India, the consequences can be dreadful.

 

 

 

 

 

Winning hearts is more important than winning matches. No country will like to be saddled with a double whammy -- getting booted out of the World Cup and then drawing flak for exuberant, emotional behaviour by fans booing the rivals. This is what happened to India in the World cricket 20/20 championship now under way in England. It is not the loss to England that has riled me, I find the behaviour of the Indian fans there more irksome.

 

English skipper Collingwood has been quoted as saying that his team was driven by the booing they received on their own soil by the Indian fans.  This is not a happy augury. Winning is secondary to gracious behaviour in a civilised world that should have no room for insularity and jingoism. Let's not confuse this with patriotism.

 

I will also like my favourite team to win, but that does not give me the right to mock at rivals. As the booing occurred in England, it is evident that it was by an educated, well-bred bunch who can be expected to be more civilised and good-natured. This is typical juvenile behaviour. Other than griping about it, there is nothing else we can do!

 

On the defeat itself, the blame has already been put squarely on Dhoni for making inane batting order changes. In a crucial match, it is puerile to take needless risks such as sending Jadeja ahead of in-form Yuvaraj. That poor decision cost India six overs, proving to be too much of a gamble in a 20-over match. An overconfident Dhoni was just hoping for a fluke performance by a junior player, thereby underestimating the bowling strengths of England. Calculated, sensible risks are welcome, but not by undermining the opposition and ignoring the proven abilities of a batsman who could have turned out to be a match-winner. Dhony himself was not able to measure up to the task, with no sixes coming from him when they were what that were needed.

 

And we all thought only young players had the ability to strike sixes! The IPL showed that veteran stars like Gilchrist, Hayden and Symonds were able to do that with finesse. Neither of them was in the Australian squad that had to face an ignominious early exit.

 

In a highly competitive world, losing should not unsettle us. Both the team and its fans should take it in their stride and help salvage some pride for the country with a gentler approach.

 

In its anxiety to project itself as a righteous nation with the moral authority to police the world, the U.S. often fails to realize that it is one of the biggest sponsors of terrorism. The last few days it has been caught in a hopeless dilemma on whether to put North Korea back in its list of terror states following a string of nuclear tests in the communist nation.

 

But who will put the U.S. in such a list? After all, who can deny its partnership with Pakistan is selfishly suspect? How can any nation opposed to terrorism openly hold hands with Pakistan, the world's biggest patron of terror? Pumping billions of dollars into Pakistan even as American giants are slumping into bankruptcy in the hope that the South Asian country spreading terror worldwide will come clean is tantamount to living in a fool's paradise.

 

Earlier this week, a Pakistani court freed  Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed who was linked to the Mumbai explosions. But is the U.S. bothered? Its sole aim is to ensure that terrorism does not enter U.S. shores again. So what if its consorts continue to hound India?

 

To me, the U.S. must find a place in a global list of terror states!

 

One of the things I can hardly resist is shopping. A few years ago, stepping out of an Orchard Road hospital immediately after a minor day surgery, I walked straight into a mall for some random purchases before the painkillers began to lose their efficacy. That is how much of a diehard shopper I am. One of the last cover stories I wrote (for Microsoft Magazine) before I bid adieu to full-time journalism was also on the retail industry -- on how technology was helping redefine the shopping experience.

 

Generally women are the ones getting on the nerves of their husbands with their shopping ways. In my instance, it is the other way round -- my wife hardly enjoys shopping.  I am an aberration! What I buy may not necessarily be what I want or use. I often end up buying things on impulse. This habit gets into overdrive particularly during an irresistible sale. 

 

Well, the annual Great Singapore Sale has just begun and the pages and pages of advertisements in newspapers are the ones that draw my first attention. The way Singaporeans are reacting to the sale may make one wonder if the country is indeed in recession. The sale started only on Friday and I have not ventured out yet, deterred by an arthritic foot that has made me walk with a limp. But the hospital I visit for my treatment is amid plush malls, so the urge is bound to get the better of me sooner or later. Great merchandise and genuine offers can be a combination that is hard to resist.

 

For more on the Great Singapore Sale, check out http://www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg/2009/eng-tourist/home.html

 

LTTE chief Prabhakaran is dead and the Tigers have been subdued. While terrorism of any form cannot be condoned, governments letting loose a reign of terror have no place in a civilized world. Sri Lankan president Rajapakse proved he was more than equal to the LTTE by killing and maiming innocent Tamil civilians under the guise of ending terror. By blocking access for even the U.N. chief and aid agencies to the troubled spots, even after eliminating the LTTE, Sri Lanka is playing it ruthlessly safe and preventing its excesses from bursting into the open.

 

Britain, the U.S. and the rest of the Western world were appalled at the savage treatment of the civilian population by the Sri Lankan forces. But they could hardly do anything more -- other than condemning the action and calling for a war crimes probe that was only scoffed at by Sri Lanka. There was no talk of sanctions against Sri Lanka and of isolating it, possibly because they may not have wanted to exacerbate the situation for the Tamils there.

 

Only India could have made a difference but it did not have the spine to act tough. The only argument Indians liked to dangle against any intervention was that the LTTE killed Rajiv Gandhi and they deserved to be wiped out. But the issue is the plight of innocent Tamils, not that of the LTTE.

 

What could have deterred India is the bitter lesson learnt from its IPKF misadventure.  Going in to promote peace, the Indian soldiers ended up fighting the Tamils with the Sri Lankan army. Now that the Sri Lankan army has won the battle against the LTTE they have achieved what they could not do with Indian support. They can now claim their military might is superior to that of India.

 

The LTTE has finally acknowledged the death of their leader. But what baffles me is why he did not kill himself before the Army shot him dead. It is possible that Sri Lanka is spreading lies to take full credit for the military victory.

 

One monster -- Prabhakaran -- has been eliminated and another -- Rajapakse -- has emerged.

 

Hyderabad, a Worthy Winner in Low-Scoring but Tough Final

I am going to allow myself the luxury of dishing out some IPL-related trivia.

Hyderabad and Bangalore are two of my favourite cities in India. I lived in Hyderabad for four years, so it holds a special allure for me. I like Bangalore for more than its lovely weather -- I have some good friends there. It was thus a final which would have made me happy irrespective of which way it swung.

But there is no question that Hyderabad (the Deccan Chargers) were worthy winners against Bangalore (the Royal Challengers) in a low scoring, but tough, final that was over just moments ago.

Hyderabad was not among my favourite four IPL teams as I appeared to have ignored the might of Adam Gilchrist. All the other three semi-finalists were among the quartet I plumped for.

Interestingly, three of the four teams that qualified for the knockout phase were those that carried the names of southern India cities – Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. Delhi was the exception, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals. It does not matter they were helped by foreign and North Indian players, it just shows their sponsors/owners played their cards right to reap commercial success.

Veteran players were the real heroes of this edition of the IPL with Mathew Hayden and Gilchrist emerging as the top two scorers though they both failed with the bat in their last innings of the tournament. Sachin Tendulkar, too, was among the high-scoring batsmen though Mumbai had a forgettable outing.

Anil Kumble reserved his best for the final and nearly won it for Bangalore by taking four wickets, including that of the tournament’s danger-men – Gilchrist (who was clean bowled for a duck) and Symonds. Team-mates Rahul Dravid and R Uthappa had the opportunity to take the team through but they failed to rise to the occasion.

Well done, Hyderabad!

-- G Joslin Vethakumar 

 

Journalists are a funny breed. They hardly have a mind of their own, thriving mostly on what other people tell them. Without the "he said" dope they get high on, they would be without a job as well. And they think they are a part of the intelligentsia!!

 

The Straits Times began this week with a report on Monday telling investors that the stock markets would face roadblocks aplenty. Of course they relied on the opinions of simpletons going by the name of market analysts to dish out the commentary.  The markets have just closed in Singapore, racing to a seven-month high with solid gains for the third day in succession. I am not complaining, though, as I used my hunch and my own research to dabble in some reliable plays for some modest profits.

 

Journalists and analysts are birds of the same feather. They both assume that bad news is good news. So they keep harping on the theme of a slumping economy, predicting dire days ahead even amid all the signs of recovery we see. Let's not forget that stock markets recover long before the economy mends.

 

The simple fact is that markets are on fire because of the heavy liquidity they see. Institutional investors are pumping money by truckloads into the markets so as not to be left out of the broadbased rally.

 

This morning, while watchiing CNBC, an analyst focused on China, raised an interesting analogy of water being pumped into a lake. "There is a limit to the amount of water it can take. Beyond that, we will end in disastrous floods." So, he said he would stay away from the Chinese markets. Another market watcher at the same session jumped in to say "why would we want to get into a speeding train. Let us wait for it to slow down and then board it."

 

They had been saying this for the last three months -- a period when markets worldwide had a roaring run surging by more than 50%. So, those who listened to them missed out on the glorious opportunity to make big bucks.

 

Analogies are good to listen to and may make a good impact on the audience. But when you think deep, you will realize that they can be fallacious and do not apply to all scenarios. What is good for the lake and the train is just good for that, nothing beyond! The journalist talking to these two "learned" men with a hidden agenda (to drive the markets down to time their entry, even if this sounds too simplistic or wild) was so bowled over by the analogies that she added her bit to the gloom by saying "let's not end up in tears." Most journalists do not have the depth of knowledge to go beyond the script.

 

As prudent investors, we all realize that markets are not a bottomless pit and that funds know when to stop to stem any breach. They keep taking profits periodically and shuffling their funds and portfolios depending on how oversold or overbought a counter is.

 

The joke is that the two analysts felt a big correction was likely in the next quarter or two. I couldn't help laughing out loud (or LOL in chat-speak!). A three-to-six month horizon for correction? And you want investors to keep their pockets tight until then? That was the craziest piece of junk I have heard from any analyst of late. People will have made millions by then. A pity I do not remember their names -- one of them is an American based in Singapore who loves China. I will update this post when I remember their names.

 

While I have a high risk appetite, these days I try to err on the side of caution. My strategy for the next two days is to stay on the sidelines and trim the positions I have so as to be ready for another push next week. I am convinced that what we are seeing is much more than a bear market rally -- a rally that is sustainable but with some bumps along the way.

  

 

 

The Indian electorate has put paid to the prime ministerial ambitions ofJayalalitha and Mayawati -- at least for now. The collective wisdom of our people has saved us the embarrassment of having one of them grab the same seat occupied by Dr Manmohan Singh, easily one of the world's most qualified heads of government.

 

But then when Pratibha Patil could see herself firmly cushioned in the comfort of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan as a poor successor to Dr Abdul Kalam, why cannot these two women with criminal inclinations nurture such aspirations! We are a democracy, after all!

 

If Jayalalitha's party and the coalition had delivered a winning performance, she would have had no qualms staking her claim to the prime ministership.

 

Anyway, the people have voted against her, so let me keep such conjectures aside.

 

The results have generally been to my liking, but some undesirable elements have made it to Parliament -- Karunanidhi's son Alagiri and Varun Gandhi despite his open vitriol against minorities. What is particularly disconcerting is the margin by which he won the election -- by 2.81 lakhs. But then Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi won by even more staggering margins and BJP sympathisers may find this unwelcome.

 

That said, the list of criminals in not just politics, but also in Parliament, keeps growing. And this is not a happy augury for the country in the long run.

 

 

Wake-up Call for Singapore Church Over AWARE Saga

Now that the dust has settled over the AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) saga, there are some lessons to be learnt, particularly for the Anglican church in Singapore.

Lesson No.1 (for the church): Do not use the pulpit for propaganda. In this instance. Pastor Derek Hong of the Church of Our Saviour, exhorted the women in his congregation to back the then new AWARE chief, Josie Lau, against the old guard that appeared to be defending homosexuality.

Until I started seeing Josie Lau's name in the press I only thought I had a female-sounding first name (Joslin). Now I realize women carry even the shorter version of my name -- Josy (which is how all my close friends and relatives call me). As with Jocelyn, the difference is only in spelling: Josy – Josie, with the pronunciation being the same). Before I digress and ramble any further, let me move on to ---

---Lesson No. 2 (for the old guard of AWARE): While the old guard may have rallied their supporters to stage a comeback, they must realize it is not a victory for the philosophies they espouse. They are back because the public found the intrusion of the church into the secular group offensive and revolted against it. Soon after the new executive committee was dethroned, the government suspended AWARE’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme in schools. It was a programme through which the old guard of AWARE appeared to encourage homosexuality.

That was the programme that prompted Pastor Derek to make the pulpit call to rally behind the new AWARE leadership and bring about change. Six women from his church congregation had earlier been elected to the AWARE executive committee. The old guard, inter alia, found nothing wrong with homosexuality while the new custodians of AWARE wanted the gay agenda stamped out. Now that the Government itself has scrapped the AWARE programme in schools, it is a slap on the face of the old guard.

On principle, the church may stand vindicated. But using the pulpit to give a religious colour to a secular entity meant to serve the cause of women across the board is not acceptable. The Bishop himself came out openly to say that religion and the church should stay out of the issue. Unfortunately, supporters of the old guard played up the religion card, using the saga to slam Christianity with the active backing of The Straits Times which ad nauseum devoted pages and pages of coverage to the silly issue. Newspapers are a part of the intelligentsia and are not expected to sacrifice objectivity and overreact to situations.

That said, while the old guard may be back in the saddle they need to realize that their return is not an endorsement of their schemes which to some like me are deviant. Neither the church nor AWARE nor any entity should do anything that may harm the secular or moral fabric of the country. Let's lead life the normal way -- giving individuals the freedom of choice but not going out of our way to encourage aberrations.

-- G Joslin Vethakumar 

Accuses Coach of Olympic medal-winning TT Team of Lack of Integrity and Character

Why is the Government Mollycoddling Her? But the Singapore Press has no Spine to Write about it

Singapore MP Lee Bee Wah seems to be revelling in periodically taking a cerebral holiday. Importantly, she must be enjoying enormous clout with the Singapore Government as she was brought in as president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association just two months before the Beijing Olympics.

With the table tennis team already expected to win independent Singapore’s first Olympic medal, she was given the opportunity to take credit for it and hog all the glory that eventually came with it.

She did that by depriving the real heroes of that historic win of a share in the pie by unceremoniously showing the manager and the coach of the team the exit even before the victorious contingent returned to Singapore from Beijing.

Singaporeans reacted with horror and she then tried to make amends for her haughty, inane stand by putting forth a simple “sorry”. The coach had to go anyway.

Now, the nation’s sports awards have been announced and the Singapore table-tennis team won the “Team of the Year” award. No one was named for the “Coach of the Year” award though Liu Guodong should have been a worthy winner.

Liu was brought in from China to coach and help the team win a Olympic medal and to dump him after the mission was accomplished showed how ungrateful Singapore was.

Even more galling is Lee Wee Bah's hint that Liu was not considered for the award because he lacked integrity, but she did not substantiate the charge. Liu was understandably aghast and angrily, rightly so, asked her to explain the accusation.

Singapore’s past and current prime ministers have the habit of suing people who make allegations against them without proof. If Lee Bee Wah has the evidence, why are they not asking her to set the record straight? Was the decision to overlook Liu for the award purely based on personal acrimony? If not, the government and Lee Bee Wah have a moral obligation to come clean.

-- G Joslin Vethakumar 

A Roaring Day at the Markets Proves How They are Prone to Misguiding Investors

One of the best lessons I have learnt from my experience trading in stocks is to never listen to analysts. This morning most news channels in Asia, including Channel News Asia and CNBC, quoted some of them as saying that investors can brace themselves for weak stock markets as they pause for some breather after a frenetic run.

I did not need any clairvoyance to think that their prophecies will be treated with contempt by the markets. Less than an hour after their grim projections, the markets in Asia opened to a roaring start, picking up momentum along the way to finish the day at highs that will have had them squirming in their seats.

By the time investors ended up laughing all the way to the bank (unless you were among those motley fools still paying heed to the analysts' opinions, standing by the sidelines and missing the fun), all regional markets had recorded a seven-month high, as you will see in the report here -- http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090504/tbs-business-us-markets-global-7318940.html .

While they show no remorse for their unfailing notoriety in giving misleading guidance, they are a shameless bunch and get lyrical after the markets make them a laughing stock. In fact, even when they goof it up they think they were right and only the markets were wrong. :-)

Even last Thursday they had dire predictions and the markets proved them wrong with a strong showing.

If you are a sensible investor who does not throw caution to the winds, you will be better off ignoring the analysts to avoid getting distracted.

n  G Joslin Vethakumar

 

Often it is the U.S. advising its people against travelling to trouble-prone countries. Now it may be the turn of the rest of the world to impose such an embargo on the U.S. Perhaps caution is the word, not embargo. Singapore has already advised its nationals against travelling to the U.S., with a firm "no-no" to Mexico.  Only 9/11 possibly elicited such caution in recent memory.

 

Until about a year ago, I was visiting the U.S. almost once every three or four months. Thanks to the economic slowdown, that has long ground to a halt. And I lived in Mexico (Monterrey) for more than six months in 1999, working on a project for Axtel with Hewlett-Packard. I made some great friends there (Mexico) and was waiting for an opportunity to take my family there on a holiday. Now that will have to wait given the ban on any travel to Mexico. We wouldn't want to risk being quarantined! In any case, I did not have any near-term plans for that.

 

Even Europe (where racist rascals such as Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary exist even now -- see my blog entry posted yesterday) faces such a threat, with more swine flu cases being reported across the continent.

 

But these are transient phases as soon the swine flu will fade out -- just as SARS did in 2003. While China and Hong Kong were floundering with it, Singapore dealt with it very sternly and efficiently to prevent it from assuming dangerous, epidemic/pandemic proportions. SARS was a tragedy beyond words -- those hospitalised (including doctors and nurses) died a lonely death as no visitors were allowed to meet them to prevent the spread of SARS. The other measures included strictly monitoring those affected and their families through cameras installed in each of their homes.

 

I have serious doubts about the abilities of the Western governments to deal with the current crisis with such an iron hand -- given that they very loosely talk about human rights even in the face of rising crime rates. I hope better sense will prevail over madness!

 

The pigs could not keep the bulls at bay as stock markets had a rollicking run today even as the World Health Organisation and countries around the globe, including Singapore, raised the swine flu pandemic alert and began stepping up infection-control measures -- http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/426089/1/.html .

 

The swine tragedy is clearly threatening to assume dangerous proportions, but one European joker tried to regale the world with an insane racist remark. Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair boss, said the airline industry (in the West) need not sweat as the swine flu only affected those in slums in Asia and Mexico -- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6186585.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093.

 

The remark came about even as California reported one death, with the number of swine flu cases mounting across Europe, including in England. Racist rascals exist even among the educated! Let's cast aside such vermin living in the ivory tower of the days of yore and focus on keeping the swine flu outside our environs.

 

The markets shrugged off the threat today, giving investors good yields, with an economy on the mend outweighing the risks surrounding the swine flu.

 

 

 

 

And I am not Talking about Equity Analysts!

There was a time when, as a retail investor, I was trading in stocks worth more than a million dollars a month and almost always ending up with contra losses. Not that it was fun to lose money you did not have, but those were times when I had viewed equity analysts as swines the world can be without.

Now, however, the world has become wiser so much so that often when they call for a “sell” on a stock investors push it up. Even when the markets pay heed to them, investors have learnt to profit from the volatility and their wrong guidance.

Well, the swines are now back to haunt the world. They are of a different breed, though – the real swines making people run for their lives! I am talking about the swine flu that is threatening to be worse than the Sars outbreak in North and South-East Asia a few years ago.

Markets generally tend to overreact to news irrespective of whether it is positive or negative. But this time, while they have taken a hit the falls have not been steep. They are obviously too tired of the downward spiral that we were getting used to until the recent spike in stock prices.

The reality is that they lend an unpredictable touch to the scenario, and this is precisely where the risk-reward equation assumes greater significance.

Afterthought: The plural form of “swine” can be either “swine” or “swines”. I chose the latter as it sounds right. English is not a logical language, so there is no harm in letting our discretion drive usage though it does not mean we can defy the rules.  

n  G Joslin Vethakumar

 

Politically and environmentally, Chennai may be a wretched place to live in, no thanks to the gimmicky, corrupt leaders and the filth and squalor you see everywhere. But, in terms of security (and, of course, gastronomically), Chennai is one of the best cities in India.

 

Still, I applaud the decision of Australia to stay away from their scheduled Davis Cup tie in Chennai (May 8-10) despite the strictures this may entail. When the Indian authorities themselves short-sightedly chose to move the IPL to South Africa, thereby sending a fatal message to the world, it will be silly to expect other countries to have more faith in the country. Australia ends up as losers as they will forfeit the tie and face a ban as well from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). But, as they rightly point out, some things are more important than sport.

 

Australia had strong reasons to request the ITF to move the tie out of India -- election results are not going to be out before May 8 and the world has been fed with reports of poll-related violence in many pockets. The ITF did err in sticking to its guns.

 

We will have to wait and see how many countries boycott the 2012 Olympics as London is infested with supporters of terrorism of various hues.

 

But Forsaking Cyanide, Two Rebel Leaders Surrender

Human Rights Violations Move the World but India is Playing Nero with Little Time to Look Beyond Elections

Movement for Tamil Eelam Set to End the Way the Fight for Khalistan Did

Sometimes, when a problem drags on for too long, we lose sight of the issue at stake. This applies to the crisis dogging the Tamils of Sri Lanka for over 25 years. What started off as a legitimate fight against blatant discrimination soon deteriorated into one of terrorism, no thanks to an unyielding government.

Now that the LTTE is on the verge of decimation, the question I have is whether its leader, V Prabhakaran, will just swallow a cyanide pill and save himself the ignominy of being captured by the Sri Lankan forces? Cyanide will possibly be the last nail on the coffin of the LTTE, the group that popularised the deadly pill globally.

Moving Scenes: But even as the LTTE leadership was asserting they would never surrender, two key Tigers are believed to have given themselves up, as per a BBC report here -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8012016.stm  

Tragic scenes of wounded and maimed civilians are captured in a moving video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8009670.stm in what is brilliant coverage on the rapidly developing crisis in the island.

The world is moved, but not India which is too preoccupied with its elections.

The Eelam movement that the LTTE represented can be equated with the fight for Khalistan in India that late prime minister Indira Gandhi tried to quell by letting the armed forces storm the Golden Temple.

It resulted in the death of its leader Bhindranwale, but the issue continued to simmer, with Indira Gandhi paying with her life for that misadventure. There was more bloodshed – more than 3000 lives lost in the aftermath of the assassination in Delhi – before the issue died down. The one reason I can think of is the realization among the community that they were (and are, as the Prime Minister himself is a Sikh) treated fairly in the country.

Second-class citizens: This is not the case in Sri Lanka where post-Independence, the Tamils there were treated as second-class citizens, with weightage given to the Sinhalese in all spheres of life – from education to employment. Human rights violations by the government were also common – it continues to this day as is evident in the massacre of civilians by the army in the push to corner the Tamil Tigers. That is the tragedy in Sri Lanka – catastrophic loss of civilian lives – as the curtains are about to fall on the LTTE.

The Red Cross, the U.S., several Western governments and human rights groups have been periodically raising concerns about the catastrophic developments in Sri Lanka and plight of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire between the Army and the cornered Tigers. But they are handicapped – they can hardly do more. You can slam the LTTE for using civilians as shields, but governments are not expected to behave recklessly and kill innocent people by the thousands

Only India could have made a difference. But, India tried its best to make the plight of the Tamils there worse by joining hands with the Sri Lankan forces in the late 80s in an effort to cripple the LTTE ironically in the name of peace-keeping.

Like Mother, Like Son: This misadventure this time It led to the assassination of Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE in 1991. Hundreds of Indian soldiers were killed in what came to be known as India’s Vietnam.

India cannot emerge as a superpower if it is not going to look beyond India. It does not have to be a big brother to its neighbours, but it has to intervene where it warrants to enforce peace even if it meant deviating from its policy of non-alignment.

We did give shelter to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, which ensured there was no thaw in our relationship with China. As the world’s largest democracy, we could have done more in Myanmar where opposition leader Suu Kyi was prevented by the military junta from assuming power after winning the elections in 1990 and where she is still under detention.

But then India has been having its own troubles in the form of Islamic terrorism and rampant poverty amid plenty. Without setting its own house in order, the world is not going to listen to India!

n  G Joslin Vethakumar

If the first three matches at this year's IPL are any indication, veteran stars who are often derided and dismissed as oldies may put to shade the likes of Dhoni and Gambhir.. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble stole the show by helping their teams (Mumbai and Bangalore) subdue Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals, last year's runners-up and winners respectively.

 

But then anything can happen in 20/20 and it can be puerile to rush to conclusions based on just one match. It is nonetheless a dream start for the trio. They have nothing to lose, and this confidence should help them stack up well.

 

  

This should have appeared on April 8, when my dad turned 80. I could neither make it to Chennai to celebrate the occasion with him nor come up with this post the same day. Blame it on pressures at work!

 

I tried to cheat the system by exploring ways to change the date within the MSN Spaces portal. But users have no such flexibility!

 

The numbers (8 and 80) are special particularly for the Chinese for whom "8" represents prosperity. Add "80" to it, then the picture gets extra special. If it was "88" it will have become unbeatable. The hype aside, I cannot escape this moment of truth -- I am approaching 50 and I wonder if I will be able to assert that I will age with grace, going by my dad's example. But then he is from a generation when surfing simply meant a day at the beach, not time spent idly in front of the computer.

 

Entertainment to him during his growing-up years was playing his favourite games (volleyball, for instance), not staying glued to the television, which had not entered the Indian home then. He has been through the quiet joys of the past (clean air, pure food, family bond -- though he was the only child to his parents -- and so forth) and is now witness to the technological advances redefining the way we live, work, learn and play (to steal Cisco's vision :-)). But that does not mean leaving all the good things behind -- being good-natured, kind-hearted and honourable.

 

That said, daddy, here's wishing you many, many more years of joy and great health.  Though with a quiet demanour, he has had varied interests -- from sport to art. He had the ability to deftly sketch people with just a few quick strokes and in seconds. Reproduced below are a few of his sketches as well as some photographs from the past (he is in all of the snaps, wearing a tie in a couple of them). You can see me as well as a kid with my dad and grandparents in the top-right picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is pushing ahead with its iN2015 vision

But its NGNBN Contract Award May Raise Eyebrows

Singapore is a country that apes and is aped. I am not saying this in any pejorative sense as I see nothing wrong in playing copycat even if this is construed as an attempt to cover my base :-). But it is not fully smitten by the copycat syndrome. In other words, it does not do that blindly but with its own brand – something that Microsoft does through what it calls an “embrace and extend” strategy.

In aping, Singapore has leveraged the successful business model of the West while at the same time making sure progress is not impaired by uncontrolled freedom of expression, communalism and crime.

It is another matter that the U.S. and the developed West now have to grapple with their own success stories that have turned sour, with their “if you cannot make it, fake it” approach having ended up crippling the global economy.

Singapore’s Huge Successes: On the positive side, tiny Singapore has scored big on multiple fronts – government-led investments that have armed it with huge cash reserves, focus on innovation and manufacturing, top-notch education that matches the best in the world and a visionary push on areas of the future such as biotechnology/biomedicine as is evident in the setting up of Biopolis as early as in 2001.

All of Singapore’s neighbours have been busy replicating the country’s business and governance models. Even mighty China treats Singapore with respect, while embracing the investment strategies that the lion city was so successful with.

Maths and IT: Singapore has consistently been viewed as the world’s best in mathematics (combining visual thinking and mental strategies to solve problems) and the country’s curriculum has won praise from U.S. educationists. What is more, many States in the U.S., including California, have begun using Singapore maths books in their schools.

And how can one forget, Singapore’s trailblazing forays into the world of information technology – from its successful plan to transform Singapore into an Intelligent Island by 2000 to its current vision of iN2015 – a global, connected city powered by infocomm aimed at changing the way people live, work, learn and play through ultra-high-speed broadband connectivity. This is an aping of the vision of Cisco Systems itself.

Next-Generation Network for High-Speed Broadband: A final step in this iN2015 mission was completed on Friday (April 2) when the award for running the OpCo (Operating Company) for Singapore’s Next-Generational National Broadband Network was announced. The winner – StarHub the country’s number-two telco.

The evaluation process was spread over three years, attracting the world’s top telcos, including British Telecom, NTT, Deutsche Telecom and Hong Kong Broadband. But all of them dropped out midway, suspecting that Singapore may end up favouring a local player. This is exactly what happened, with Canada’s Axia Netmedia having been the only foreign player in the fray. It does appear that those who gave up ended up being wise!

--G Joslin Vethakumar

 

 

India may be the world's largest democracy but elections in the country mean little to the people.  The illiterate electorate may be excited about it, ignoring the trillions that are burnt in the exercise. The ones who stand to gain are the prospective victors who will use the next five years to rip the impoverished country further apart and fill their own coffers with unaccounted cash that will make Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the Sultan of Brunei look poor.

 

We did not even have to wait until the elections were over for the blood-suckers to start causing damage to the country. They kicked it off by moving the Indian Premier League to South Africa on the pretext the country would not be able to guarantee security for the players in view of the elections. Now the All-Indian Tennis Association is miffed that Australia has requested moving their Davis Cup tie out of Chennai.

 

This is funny logic -- India will move the IPL out to suit its convenience but it will take issue with others who are nervous about coming to the country. It is of India's own making. It does take a great deal of shamelessness to say that it lacks the resources to ensure the safety of the IPL teams.

 

 

 

But, does India care? All our politicians are interested in is on how best to swindle the country. If voters decide to bring one of its two women prime ministerial aspirants, Mayawati and Jayalalitha, to power, then they will have lost more than just the IPL.

 

Just recently an MLA belonging to Mayawati's party was arrested on a charge of murdering an engineer who did not contribute money for celebrating the U.P. chief minister's (Mayawait) birthday  -- http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mla-held-for-murder-up-govt-defends-maya/81290-3.html.  

 

We all know how Jayalalitha set about bankrupting Tamil Nadu amassing wealth and even dabbling in a vulgar display of her fortunes through the wedding of her foster son that international magazines called the world's most expensive celebration. Now she is seeking a larger playing field -- India. Unfortunately, her arch-rival Karunanidhi is no lesser devil.

 

That is a pity -- all I can say is "God save India." 

 

The world needs an alternative to the U.S. Dollar

It cannot continue to be the world’s reserve currency and give the U.S. an Unfair Advantage

The future belongs to Asia, as Singapore tops even Innovation Ranking, pushing U.S. to the Sixth Place

Paradoxes abound even in a slumping economy. We do not have to look beyond the U.S. for one. It is a nation that has always been living beyond its means, weathering trade and fiscal deficits year after year. Now, even as its economy is teetering on the brink of disaster with a point of no return, the silver lining is the strengthening greenback.

It does defy logic as it raises the question of how the U.S. currency can keep soaring when the country itself is going downhill economically, notwithstanding the nice four-day bounce that the U.S. stock markets experienced last week.

The reality is that the U.S. dollar is the world’s preferred reserve currency that is used for global trade. Central banks the world over hold it in reserve as it is generally viewed as the most stable of all currencies.

It is this dollar strength that has been saving the U.S. from economic doom ever since it emerged as a global superpower. But for how long can it be a saviour for the U.S. and give the country an unfair advantage? Oil producing and exporting countries (OPEC) and their petrodollars may be the biggest culprits as they receive all of their revenues in U.S. dollars. Other countries such as India and Singapore do not lag far behind as they too have their reserves in U.S. dollars.

When an alternative to its currency emerges the U.S. will be dead for ever.

Whimsical Situation: It is not as if the world has not noticed this whimsical situation of a surging dollar amid a grave scenario. Every financial crisis in the past has inevitably prompted countries from particularly the emerging markets to raise the issue of having an alternative to the U.S. dollar for trade.

Malaysia has in the past advocated the gold dinar (a monetary unit based on the price of the yellow metal) as a viable option for global trade. Gold and the Euro had also been touted as possible alternatives by such countries as Iran (OPEC’s second largest producer), Iraq, Libya, Russia, China and Syria.

Murmurs about U.S. Grouse Against Iraq: In fact, there have been murmurs in some quarters that the U.S. nurtured a grouse against Iraq since Saddam Hussein switched some of its billions to Euros from U.S. dollars in 2000 (or a year later). In fact, it turned out to be a wise move as the subsequent Euro recovery meant Iraq made a sizeable profit from the switch.

It is in the interest of the rest of the world for the stranglehold of the U.S. dollar to end. That is the logical way to go if there is merit in the belief that the future lies beyond American shores.

Gold, Not an Option: But what are the choices we have to make this happen? Gold is an unlikely option despite the current rally in its price and the reasonable stability it enjoys. There is simply not enough gold for sustaining the global economy as you will see in a report at http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/27/4020858.htm . According to the report, “there are roughly 142,000 known tons of gold held throughout the world. Given current values, this equates to roughly $4.2 trillion, which is about the same amount of money circulating in America today.”

It does not help that the Euro is also hitting the pits, no thanks to the interest rate cuts triggered by the collapsing economy.

No Need for a Single Alternative: But it beats me as to why there should be a single alternative to the dollar? It may have made sense in the past when the U.S. was the sole superpower. Not any longer! So, why cannot bilateral trade between countries be denominated in any currency of their choice? There has to be room for other currencies to show strength that is consistent with the growth potential inherent in the economies of the respective countries.

Otherwise, the Chinese government will not allow its yuan to appreciate in line with market trends to protect domestic interests and the Indian rupee will continue with its downward spiral even as the two countries have no qualms boasting a GDP growth of around 8%.

Singapore’s government investment arm, GIC, also advocated holding the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan and the Canadian dollar that appeared to be safer havens amid the turmoil in the stock markets.

Innovation Ranking: These are just alternatives as the fall in U.S. fortunes goes beyond economics. Even in the innovation stakes, Singapore has come out tops in not one but two separate global rankings carried out by independent U.S. research groups and released recently. In the first study (carried out by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), the U.S. came in at number 6 and the U.K. number 8. India occupied the 40^th position and China the 33^rd.

This is an indication that the U.S., having long lost its manufacturing edge, has begun to see R&D activities also move outside of its terrain. For more information on the innovation rankings, you may check out http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_343134.html and http://mmadan.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/singapore-tops-innovation-based-competitiveness-list/

The second innovation ranking study put Singapore at number one and the U.S. at number eight. It was conducted by the Washington-based National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Boston Consulting Group. Details on this ranking can be checked out at www.nam.org/innovationreport

Next, with the waves that Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) began to make, the U.S. lost further charm on the support and services front as well.

But, perhaps the last nail on the coffin was the failure of its financial institutions in their totality, making the rout complete for the U.S.

It is time for the greenback to give up its hegemony!

--G Joslin Vethakumar

Seven-year-old recovering from “Medical Miracle” in the U.S.

Doctors Save Boy Speared by Rod in India

Two brave kids under eight moved me to tears over the last few days. The first is of a seven-year-old American girl who is “walking and talking like any other normal child” after a 23-hour surgery that saw doctors remove six of her organs in an effort to remove a turmour of the size of a tennis ball tangled among them (organs).

Here is a video that shows the cute little girl sweetly thanking her doctors and the hospital and exhorting others, with a captivating smile, not to ever give up hope -- http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-ligirl0311,0,257405.story .

The other is of a six-year-old boy who is recovering after doctors at a hospital in India removed a two-metre road that had speared him in a fall from his home terrace. Read about it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7941440.stm

These medical successes reinforce my firm belief that there can be no profession greater than medicine.

--G Joslin Vethakumar

Surprise Reception on Return to Work from Medical Leave

A pleasant surprise -- – a cash reward under the Cisco Achievement Program (CAP) -- awaited me as I returned to work yesterday after a three-week medical break. My first reaction was a chuckle as the timing made me wonder if it was a CAP award or a sympathy reward.

It is not out of place to nurture apprehensions of ominous portents, particularly in times like these, if a company gets used to an employee’s absence. So this rewarding experience was heartening.

Whether or not this calls for any chest-thumping, the last two quarters prior to my hospitalisation in mid-February were hectic with activities centred on several major must-win opportunities in the region.

CAP awards are given to individuals for “outstanding achievement and contributions”, as defined by the company under its compensation guidelines.  I have won several CAP awards since I joined Cisco in August 2005. But this one is special as it comes even as the world goes through its worst recession ever.

This reminds me of the 15% pay increase I received at Lucent Technologies in 2002 when the company was facing severe business challenges, retrenching staff quarter after quarter while talking to potential suitors.

With all this trumpeting, you will now know how humble I am! J

--G Joslin Vethakumar