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MAS Managing Director Chia Der Jiun summarised the performance for y/e 31 Mar 2026: Before anyone brings out the champagne one has to understand that MAS is not a for-profit entity and therefore profitability is not a measure of its performance. As a central bank, apart from its regulatory function and leadership role in the development of the financial industry, its core mission is to manage the general price level (inflation) and liquidity in the financial market. The measure of its performance is not determined by its profitability. MAS could have managed inflation well and yet be making losses. Whether MAS has managed its mission well, I leave it to the reader's opinions. I just want to talk about its financials. MAS financial performance is fundamentally dependent on 2 factors: 1. The SGD exchange rate trend 2. Market Externalities - interest rates, equities market The FY2025/2026 financial results illustrate the profound tension between MAS’s domestic policy objectives an...

What does a headline like this do? It makes your mind see 2,596 ship-loads of military hardware -- riffles, bombs, bullets, tanks, suddenly leaving India for Israel after the war broke out. That is a massive arms shipment never seen before in history since Richard Nixon's Operation Nickel Grass in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. One thing I notice on social media is the ummah and Jew haters will seize on a meme like this one and start sharing without bothering whether it is true or false, right or wrong. This is called biased confirmation and that's how truth gets destroyed and falsehoods get amplified. When adults refuse to compute and accept slogans and headlines for truth, and far worse - spread something they know not, I shudder to think what will happen to our kids. I like to use this example on how we need to think logically, use our brain righteously since we have been blessed with a working one.  To lazy and susceptible minds, you "ahem" them the Hormuz Strai...

"Well by quoting something called The Book of Esther which is in the Christian Old Testament, a controversial book for a long time, Martin Luther thought it shouldn't been there but it is there. And it's the story, among other things if a genocide of Persians. Oh yeah, 75,000 Persians." (Tucker Carlson) It seems things have gotten easier to explain for almost everything wrong in this world. It is the Jews, Israel, the Zionists, Mossad. The justification can be traced down to one of two writings - The Book of Esther and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It was only a matter of time that outspoken Israel critic Tucker Carlson aka Tucker Qatarson, will refer to one of these. He didn't disappoint, A short while back, he quoted The Book of Esther. Proof that the Jews are genocidal. The Book of Esther is a story of how Haman, the chief minister in ancient Persia, plotted against Mordecai, a prominent Jew, by tricking the King to annihilate all the Jews living in t...

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is in the theatres. Bring your kids to the movie and you indoctrinate them with a twisted version of what progressive Hollywood wants them to grow up with, not what Homer wrote the epic for. After decades of casting white actor J. Caroll Naish as the star detective in the old TV series "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" with eyes "chinked" by makeup artists, Hollywood now uses black Lupita Nyong'o to portray the white Greek Helen of Troy, known as "The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships". And of course, they must tone down masculinity for the sake of the effeminated western liberal world. They can't have muscular leads to play Achilles -- no Brad Pitt, not Gerard Butler or any of those muscle-bursting actors in "300 Spartans". Why, of course, have transman Elliot Page portray Achilles!!! If you go watch the move, squirm in your seat as 5-foot skinny Page drags the weight of the Grecian a...

"The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation:" Exodus 17:16) Throughout their 5,000 year history, the Jews have faced and survived major adversaries - the Egyptian pharaohs, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Seleucid Greeks, Romans, the Ottomans, and Nazi Germany. These people have been dealt with decisively and are all in the dustbin of history. Exodus 17:16 suggests the conflict with Amalek is a generational curse. Might this still be going on, an enemy that seeks the destruction of the Jews, a mystery that lurks behind the ceaseless conflicts in the Middle East in our own lifetime? The people whom the Bible describes as God's covenant people have been known by different names at different periods of history. They were Hebrews (for Abraham and his descendants), Israelites, or Children of Israel (for descendants of Jacob), House of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), House of Judah (Southern Kingdom), Jews or Yehudi (during Babylonian...

For years, one of the more confident boasts heard in some Muslim circles has gone something like this: "Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It will take over the world."   At first glance, the numbers seem to back up the swagger. The global Muslim population has grown from around 1.6 billion in 2010 to well over 2 billion today. Demographers routinely project that Islam will remain the world's fastest-growing major religion for decades to come. It is enough to make some believers grin, some critics panic, and statisticians reach for a larger spreadsheet. Fig.1 But before anyone starts engraving "Mission Accomplished" on the globe, it is worth taking a closer look. Conversions to Islam is more common than most people think. There are no statistics and we rely on Pew Research surveys which shows the numbers are few in comparison to population numbers. People joining are negated by people leaving and the net impact is negligible eithe...

I have often said many events, whether hosted locally or overseas, present valuable teaching moments. Local thought leaders and domain experts have a responsibility to share their knowledge publicly, sparking meaningful debates that drive collective growth. Ancient Greeks gather in public places called agora for these public debates which helped build and protect their democracy. Ordinary citizens gathered to discuss politics, vote on new laws, and hold their leaders accountable. It was also a place for philosophers to challenge common sense and discover the truth. Unfortunately this is a rarity in Singapore despite the convenience of social media instead of an agora. One of these rare thought leaders is lawyer Michael Han who writes regularly. I enjoy reading his posts even though I disagree often with his views when it comes to politics. The difference between Michael and someone writing like me, is he writes from a position of authority. That behoves upon him mor...