Fat fees for speaking engagements

A reader pointed out that the leaders of the advanced democracies earn modest salary when they were in public service, but received fat fees for public speaking after their retirement from politics. There is an article in the Straits Times about the speaking fees received by a former politician.

These fees were paid by the commercial conference organizers, who were able to get the participants to pay the fees to make it viable.

They also get big corporate sponsorships It is likely that the big corporations, which made huge profits from the free market policies, now expect to assistance of the retired politicians in their lobbying. This is unsatisfactory, but is quite unfortunate.

We need a world, and leaders, that are more honorable. They should take care of the ordinary people, rather than for personal enrichment.

Honesty and rationalisation

We think of honesty in terms of financial dealings. We also need to think of honesty in terms of speaking the truth.

If we make a mistake, we should admit it. We should not try to find some angle to explain it away. We should not "rationalise" our action, which is what smart but dishonest people are quite used to do.

If we do not know the answer, we can state the fact. We can seek advice. Or just give it a try.

In an artilce in the Straits Times today stating that Franklin Roosevelt was not sure about how to bring America out of the depression in the early 1930s. He took some bold steps, but admitted that he did not know if it would work. Barrack Obama is now taking the same approach to overcome the global financial crisis 80 years later. 

There are some people who have never made a mistake in their lives, because they are able to rationalise it, and explain it away.  

Tan Kin Lian

Wealth managers

Do they do a good job? Read this article.

Health care reform in the USA

Will insurers once again scupple the health-care reform? Article in Economist. 

SCMP: Details urged on Minibond saga

Lawmakers are still seeking Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong's disclosure of its full report on the Lehman Brothers minibonds saga, after he cited reasons of public interest in not revealing it. Raymond Ho Chung-tai, chairman of the Legislative Council subcommittee investigating the matter, said if Mr Yam insisted on his position at an April 14 hearing, he and deputy chairman Philip Wong Yu-hong would arrange a closed-door meeting to ask for an explanation.

MY COMMENT

It seems that the authority can hide the truth, by citing public interest. This seems to be the practice in Singapore as well. I hope that we can have a more honest, open society, with greater transparency.

Survey: MAS guide on treating customers fairly

MAS has issued a new guide to banks on treating customers fairly. The yardsticks are:

1. Customers have confidence that they deal with financial institutions where fair dealing is central to the corporate culture

2. Financial institutions offer products and services suitable for their target customer segments.

3. Financial institutions have competent representatives providing customers with quality advice and appropriate recommendation.

4. Customers receive clear, relevant and timely information to make informed decisions.

5. Financial institutions handle customer complaints in an independent, effective and prompt manner.

What are your views on the existing situation and the new MAS guide? Survey.

Public Service

I respect the political leaders in the democratic countries, especially those of Europe and North America. 

They entered politics as a public service. They desire to make life better for the people. They have strong  values and beliefs (whether leaning to the left, right or center) and wish to influence the future of their nation. 

They are happy to receive a remuneration of 3 to 10 times of the average wage of their ordinary people. They do not expect a remuneration that is 100 times or more (i.e. the salary paid in the private center for top exectives). 

By accepting the modest remuneration of the public service, they are able to exercise some moral control over the excessive and unjustified salaries paid in the private center.

Tan Kin Lian