Honour "dictum meum pactum" (my word is my bond)

24 March 2010

Honour "dictum meum pactum" (my word is my bond)

Place: Washington DC, USA
Date: 22 Mar 2010
Time: nearly midnight (Eastern time)
Please click on the video clip to listen to President Barack Obama's speech shortly after the healthcare bill was passed:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/22/obama-on-health-care-pass_n_507964.html

To me:

This is "Government FOR the people".

This is "Leadership".

This is "Doing the right thing".

Other than national disasters, sudden health issues or personal scandals, which world leader would postpone, and then cancel, a state visit to work the phones up to the nth hour in order to win votes from lawmakers to pass a piece of legislation? Obama did in Mar 2010 and didn't go to Indonesia and Australia for state visits as planned and instead went all out to get the healthcare bill passed. Obama could have done what Clinton did (tried very hard) and Bush did (tried quite hard) for healthcare reform but - when push came to shove - political calculations prevailed for Obama's predecessors.

Whether Obama is right or wrong about healthcare reform for Americans, only Time will tell.

The essential point is this:
Obama's word is his bond.

In Singapore, words said in Parliament don't seem to count. Everybody has conveniently forgotten that the primary benefit of en bloc law was to create "more housing units in prime 999-year leasehold or freehold areas for Singaporeans".

Property is about Location and Timing. Singaporeans who sold en bloc (or were forced to sell en bloc) simply cannot buy back an equivalent unit in the same location upon collecting en bloc sale proceeds.

But who cares, eh?

1 comment:

The Pariah said...: 致謝.; 27 March, 2010

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Singapore Jangle Mail

In the aftermath of the US sub-prime crisis - New vocabulary as per Word Spy:
US Jingle Mail = "The practice of abandoning one's house and mailing the keys back to the creditor because the mortgage is worth more than the house itself."

Hey, in the aftermath of an en bloc sale - we could do a Singapore version!
SIN Jangle Mail = "The practice of mailing one's NON-house keys (eg, keys to built-in wardrobe in en bloc apartment or drawers of discarded desks or misplaced padlocks) to Ministry of Law (Land Policy Div), The Treasury, 100 High Street, #08-02, Singapore 179434 because one is unwilling to sell - whether as (1) Majority Consenter hoodwinked into signing collective sale agreement OR (2) Minority Dissenter forced to sell by collective sale order."

Do attach a paper tag with your bunch of NON-house keys stating:
(a) En bloc block
(b) formerly XYZ Towers
(c) formerly 123 Xxxxx Road
(d) formerly #__-__ (optional lah)
(e) PS: No need to return to sender!

To top it all up ...

19th century -
Historian Lord Aston said:
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Acton

21st century -
Politician New Hampshire Democrat Representative Paul Hodes said:
"AIG now stands for Arrogance, Incompetence and Greed."
Only at AIG? Whaddayou say?

On 19 Mar 2009, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, when asked to talk about the AIG bonuses, President Barack Obama commented: "... And that, I think, speaks to a broader culture that existed on Wall Street, where I think people just had this general attitude of entitlement, where, we must be the best and the brightest, we deserve $10 million or $50 million or $100 million dollar payouts --- But the larger problem is we've got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough, and people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact on everybody. ..."
What can you say to that, eh?

Obamaspeak applied to en bloc sale ...

BEFORE becoming President (18 Dec 2008):
En bloc industry players to read this:
"We must ask, not just is it profitable, but is it right."

UPON becoming President (21 Jan 2009):
Singapore Gahmen to read this:
"We are here as public servants, and public service is a privilege. It's not about advancing yourself or your corporate clients."

AFTER becoming President (22 Mar 2009):
Singapore residents to read this:
"... whilst you can't necessarily bend history to your will, you can do your part to see that, in the words of Dr King, 'it bends towards justice'. So I hope that you will stand up and do what you can to serve your community, shape our history and enrich both your own life and the lives of others across this country."

Nearly one year into his Presidency at the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall at Bradenburg Gate (9 Nov 2009):
Singaporeans to read this:
"Human destiny is what human beings make of it".

Title: This is my country. That was my home (en bloc block)

They get a “windfall”.

And you break “wind” as your home “falls”

under a wrecker’s ball!

… hee, hee, I can be a poet with gall

without a roof to cover my all

if a collective sale calls.

Title: En Bloc Market Ups and Downs

When market is Up, Up and Up

It is their gain but your pain

It is their boon but your bane

It is their boom but your doom

When market is Down, Down and Down

It is their bust but still not your lust

Title: En Bloc Blings and Stings

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

Little wonder that you are

Down and out for the owner

Up and away for dev'loper

EN BLOC BLOCK BLOG - Block collective sales ©

24 March 2010

Honour "dictum meum pactum" (my word is my bond)

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