Australia is definitely is in technical recession

Name:         CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:      Australia is definitely is in technical recession!

Visit Time:  4/06/2009 10:42 PM

Remark:

Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull, the interviewers and interviewees did not pick up that Australia is really in technical recession, according to the ABS latest release of March quarter Australian National Accounts. The GDP increase of 0.4% in March quarter is a seasonally adjusted change, against the real trend change of -0.1%. ABS explains in the explanatory notes that “... trend estimates ... are more suitable than either the seasonally adjusted or original data for most business decisions and policy advice”.

Oil - The Slippery Problem

Name:         CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:      Oil - The Slippery Problem

Visit Time:  20/06/2008 1:52 AM

Remark
It is beyond comprehension that someone wakes up one morning and decides that the oil is running out, and tells the world that the oil price has to go up. With so many experts and gurus in the US, they don’t seem to have any idea about the oil stockpile in their country. It is just ridiculous that after a few days of good run, they can come out with assessment like the demand of oil will be great due to forthcoming cold winter.

The Y2K bug scared the hell out of everyone (not me, though) the world might come to an end, aeroplanes would fall from the sky, the hospital equipment would cease to function, and all the mumbo jumbo. Al Gore travelled round the world warning the world about global warming and won a Nobel Prize for it. The world starts to press the panic button, worrying that once the polar ice were to melt, the land mass will be submerged like Atlantis – the lost continent. Did anyone ask Al Gore whether the world would still survive without the ice in the Polar Regions? Could the rising sea level be beneficial to replenish many drying and dried lakes/rivers, or turn the increasing areas of deserts into oases?

Kevin Rudd, on 16/6/2008, said that “right now we had the greatest global oil shock in 30 years. We know for a fact that prices are up 400 per cent since the Iraq war, 100 per cent in the last 12 months alone.” Does this imply that the oil consumption has increased fourfold since the Iraq War, or was it that the Iraq War, which started for some God only knows reason, created such a big shortage of oil supply? Has the world progressed twice as fast since last year?

If world leaders don’t have the guts to stop this spiralling increase of oil prizes, but to wait for the supply and demand theory come to realisation, the world will grind to a halt and cause irreparable and irreversible damage. The cruel and opportunistic oil suppliers and the middlemen who make megabucks out the misery of mankind are the greatest global terrorists creating untold hardship, starvation, social unrest to millions, if not billions, of people worldwide.

There is a simple solution to this complex problem – workers of these suppliers and companies unite and strike, bringing these heartless people onto their knees and beg for mercy!

An unhealthy income statement

Name:        CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:     An Unhealthy Income Statement

Visit Time: 13/12/2007 2:48 AM

Remark:

Kevin Rudd is definitely a no-nonsense Prime Minister who keeps to his promises in rectifying the Kyoto Protocol, setting in motion to provide every Year 9 to Year 12 student a laptop computer, and expending $600 million to improve the hospital waiting list.

If he continues on at this pace, he will probably spend $2 billion to roll back the WorkChoices, if that was the amount claimed by Labor what Howard’s government had spent. He will also spend $42 billion for schools funding guarantee, $4 billion on high speed broadband network, $2 billion on health and hospitals reform, $1 billion to secure nation’s water supplies and desalination projects, $100 million for innovative manufacturing, and so on.

He will not forget to handout cheap travel for older Australians and provide a new 50% Education Tax Refund to help families of school-age children meet the costs of education. This Santa Clause will also help aspiring first home buyers save a larger deposit by establishing a new, low tax, First Home Saver Account.

If Australia is a listed public company with the Stock Exchange, I shall not be investing in it. Not a single pledge by Kevin Rudd involves in creating wealth for Australia. A healthy Income Statement (also known as Profit and Loss Statement or Statement of Financial Performance) requires more than just generous expenditure, but most importantly, income generation.

I sincerely hope that the income will be derived from company taxes in a rising economy rather than increased GST or income tax rates, which will badly affect the working families.

Rudd's Education Revolution

Name:        CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:     Rudd's Education Revolution

Visit Time: 5/12/2007 2:44 AM

Remark:

The views and concerns expressed by many interviewees about this education revolution are appropriate and true.

Even without a laptop computer or abacus, Kevin Rudd and his team should be able to work out how much the so-call education revolution will cost the taxpayers. For example, a laptop computer plus basic software worth $1,500 for 100,000 students from year 9 to year 12 in a year will cost a grand total one hundred and fifty million dollars ($150,000,000). Need I go further?

Is there any restriction on how many laptop computers can a student claim throughout year 9 to year 12? If there is none, the students will be able sell the computers and pocket a very healthy profit each year, since the computers do not cost any money to the students.

Computers are just tools, and will not make the students smart. I have been working in the computer field for over thirty-five years, and I don’t think I am super smart. As a teacher in many disciplines, I can conclude that the computers make it easier for students to plagiarise, and make them bad spellers because they rely completely on the spell checker.

Once the students have laptop computers, they will be able to access school Intranet or Internet web sites related to their study. Will they not use them to chat with their friends or strangers, visit what’s hot and pop web sites, play games and download songs and movies? They could be spending their time in doing something more productive instead.

There are a lot of other related unwilling expenses. The schools need to upgrade the computer network systems, the parents will have to pay for more expensive Internet plan, last but not least, the Rudd’s government will have spend more to introduce higher speed broadband than what originally intended.

When teachers put their blood, sweat and tears course / lecture notes on the Intranet, they are digging their own graves! Many students without the presence of teachers, including off-campus or online study students can use the material. This is one of the reasons how education institutions can replace their full-time staff by sessional teachers. TEACHERS BEWARE!

Kevin Rudd did not submit this education revolution promise to be costed by the Treasury before the election, and many voters thought this would not matter!

If we extend Kevin Rudd’s ideal further, students studying science subjects such as chemistry and physics may get a rebate for setting up laboratories at home in the future. Sweet dreams!

Rudd's selection

Name:        CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:     Rudd's Selection

Visit Time: 30/11/2007 12:10 AM

Remark:

Julia Gillard has been handed a new super-ministry combining education with industrial relations. She may be a first-class in her past performance, but she is no Wonder Women or Superwomen.

If the Media Statement - 18th November 2007 posted in the Official Website of the Australian Labor Party is fair dinkum, I can’t see how Julia Gillard could fulfil everything promised by the Federal Labor as commitment to lift school standards, from primary to university, and to establish a National Curriculum from prep/kindergarten to Year 12. The IR portfolio involves abolishing the Liberal’s AWA/WorkChoices and keeping the unions happy, is already a job and a half.

What kind of AWA did poor Julia Gillard sign with Kevin Rudd? She will have to work 24/7, probably she will not have time for her Christmas and New Year holidays.

However, help could be on the way! Maxine McKew, a miracle candidate that removed the previous PM from his seat, is too new to the political game. If given a front bench position, it will not please many, and thus, she is temporarily assigned as the Parliamentary Secretary to Kevin Rudd. My crystal ball tells me that there will be a mid-term reshuffle and Maxim McKew will be elevated to take over the education portfolio from Julia Gillard.

The reshuffle may see Peter Garrett demoted from the front bench and Penny Wong will take over the combined role of Environment, Climate Change and Water. Penny Wong’s appointment just fits in well with Kevin Rudd’s Chinese diplomacy policy. While Kevin Rudd is just a Chinese speaking Australian, Penny Wong is a Chinese speaking Chinese (Malaysian) who came to Australia at the age of eight. In the eyes of the Asians, and Chinese, Labor is not a “racist” political party/government, which Liberal fails to accomplish.

To appoint Martin Ferguson to be in charge of Resources (does it include human/union resources?) and Energy seems OK, but handling Tourism is not a “Bloody Hell” good idea!

Over simplified funding promises

Name:        CHAN, Sin Fong

Subject:     Over simplified funding promises

Visit Time: 28/11/2007 12:11 AM

Remark:

Computer technology advances very fast – computer hardware and software upgrades occur far too often. Giving rebates to students on purchase of computers, and providing computers to schools will be more than one-off event within 3 years – a term in government.

Many wards in hospitals are closed because of nurse shortage. With more funding just for the nurses, the hospital system is going to experience a much bigger “headache”. More patients require more doctors, specialists, anaesthetists, etc. Are these medical professionals funded? Even with money where can the hospitals find additional suitably qualified doctors, who are already in short supply worldwide?

More patients also mean provision of more non-clinical services – cleaning, laundry, foodservice, utility, etc. These services lead to more staff, and additional on-cost. Were these costed?

I am very concerned about cost blow-outs, by the Rudd’s government, the schools and the hospitals.