No way, Jose... er, Josie

The response from DBS in relation to Josie Lau's appointment as AWARE President is laughable.
Quote:
“Banks worldwide are facing very challenging times and her role as VP in the credit card space today is even more challenging, given the environment we are in,” the spokesperson said.

How ironic and absurd. If I remember correctly, one of the core values in large MNC is to do volunteerism work, isn't it? I guess it isn't so for DBS since there aren't gonna be any monetary gains.

I felt it was eerily high-handed and arrogant like the PAP. Pray tell me, do you pay her after-hours 24 x 7? What has her role in AWARE got to do with her VP appointment in DBS? Are there conflict of interests between the goals of AWARE with that of DBS for you to make such a statement? My finite mind thinks not.

Let me ask you a truthful question:
Can you be certain none of your senior management has ever held a post as an Executive Committee member in golf resorts or town clubs before? I think you'd better do your checks before you response to my question.

Anway who are you to tell what I can or cannot do in my free time as long there is non-conflict of interest and it does not degrade my performance at work? You don't jolly pay me for after-hours outside the office and it is not as if Josie gave a credit card fraud teaching session to your competitors.

For that matter, I know of a Victorian senior policeman who is casually employed by universities to give talks on youth and crimes. And yes he is paid hourly. I am proud of him because he went beyond his call of duty to teach and enhance public awareness in youth crimes since he has the knowledge.

In Australia, organisations allow and encourage employees to be part of the volunteerism work. Hey, the staff are even honoured for their effort especially during the Victorian Bushfire Black Saturday!

I wish you could praised her. Praise her for her dedication and for her leadership qualities which the members saw to lead them. In addition AWARE is a non-profit organisation to help women, and doesn't even come close to the functions of golf resorts or town clubs.

Our Minister Mentor says it best about knowledge sharing. To quote:
"Singapore will assess a country’s ability to absorb the transfer of ideas and knowledge before deciding whether to collaborate with the country on joint projects."

Oh wait, being an AWARE President doesn't benefit the bank. Hey, you don't even get paid. You should have assessed if AWARE is able to absort your transfer of ideas and knowledge before you decided to collaborate with them.

Heh, no wonder Josie, you got the shaft. I guess you are only allowed to hold appointments where there are significant financial gains, connections or networking.

You can forget about being a president. That goes for us, lesser mortals.

There are Leaders, and there are Leeders

Told missus that the Top 10 Best Paid Politicians should be filled with all Singaporean ministers. I wonder if their salaries include other director fees they had received. They beat even the second-placed Donald Tsang hands down without a blink of an eye! (Read the rest in The Australian)

Anyway, I had a good laugh when there was a proposal to up the pay of Australian MPs. Result? There was a furore and backlash by the public to even dare mention it during this period.

In addition I was following the G20 summit in London. The Australian showed all the other countries' figures. There were Korea, France, Japan, Canada, Germany, even Luxemburg! But no Singapore. Checked the actual countries - no Luxemberg. Luxemburg was categorised with Singapore and Switzerland on the tax havens list. Read here.

Then I realised Singapore was not invited because she was not in the Top 20 largest economies of the world! But her leader sure is paid the highest. Mind-boggling, isn't it? Sheesh we must really be so unique.

Indeed there are Leaders, and there are Leeders.

1. Lee Hsien Loong - Singapore
   Salary in dollars - $2.47 million
   Salary in local currency - S$3.76 million
   
2. Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen - Hong Kong
   Salary in dollars - $516,000
   Salary in local currency - HK$4 million
   
3. Barack Obama - United States
   Salary in dollars - $400,000
   
4. Brian Cowen - Ireland
   Salary in dollars - $341,000
   Salary in local currency - €257,000
   
5. Nicolas Sarkozy - France
   Salary in dollars - $318,000
   Salary in local currency - €240,000
   
6. Angela Merkel - Germany
   Salary in dollars - $303,000
   Salary in local currency - €228,000
   
7. Gordon Brown - UK
   Salary in dollars - $279,000
   Salary in local currency - £194,250
   
8. Stephen Harper - Canada
   Salary in dollars - $246,000
   Salary in local currency - C$311,000
   
9. Taro Aso - Japan
   Salary in dollars - $243,000
   Salary in local currency - Y24 million
   
10. Kevin Rudd - Australia
    Salary in dollars - $229,000
    Salary in local currency - A$330,000