GINI out of the Lamp or Control-Equitable Pay for Singapore Politicians

GINI is not a mis-spelling but a play of the words Genie and GINI. GINI coefficient is strangely used more widely by economists although it originated from an Italian sociologist Corrado Gini in his 1912 paper "Variability and Mutability". In essence, it postulated the dispersion of wealth within a socio-economic grouping. A value of 0 for total equal distpersion; everyone one in that socio-economic group gets the same measurable unit of value or money. 1 on the other hand represents maximal dispersion or spread. I have used the word dispersion in place of equality commonly used with GINI on purpose as dispersion measures the distribution strictly in a statistical sense whereas equality and inequality have a more complex bouquet of connotations of a moral, economic, and societal dimensions.

Lets deal first with GINI strictly based on dispersion. The dispersion of wealth in any socio-economic group is a multi-factorial matters some of which has its roots in the law of the land, migration/emigration, demography, governmental socio-economic policies, transfer payments, social safety nets which are likely to me more controllable over the horizon than factors like societal stratification,religion and commonly accepted moral mores. This list is not exhaustive lest my more scholarly colleagues strike me with their pen before I can begin. Let's first agree that a GINI coefficient of 0 is not tenable in any society including communal and communistic regimes nor is 1 acceptable as it is likely to result in anarchy mostly sooner than later. The answer is nether the mid-point 0.5 as each socio-economic grouping have different ideas on what it acceptable starting from 0 and also different threshold towards 1 before anarchy happens.

Secondly, lets attempt to thread the minefield of the more complex issue of equality and inequality. Dispersion measures the distribution of the fruits of labour without consideration of variability of efforts by individual in producing the fruits. These variability can be a result of more controllable elements like personal effort, education, foresight, equal opportunities etc. Thereafter the more tricky less controllable elements like demography, race, religion, migration/immigration, inheritance, intellect and congenital disabilities. I do not want to pretend to have an iota of how to define equality, what equalizers we can put in place and how far do we want to equalize the opportunities but not the outcome as each of us have to be responsible for our outcome to some extent. This affects people at both ends of the wealth spectrum  and the sandwich class more to a greater extend

I sincerely hope that the committee looking into this would attempt to consider these factors. Their task is not an easy one as it is not a formulae to be dealt with but a multitude of complex issues. At first, I had a sense of shame as a Singaporean when it was announced that Gerard Ee was appointed by the PM to tackle this issue as at the back of my mind, no or not many countries have seen a need to do so. Politicians are supposedly in it wholly if not partly out of altruistic reasons but I am mindful that monetary dimension of the reward have to be enough for them to lead an acceptable level of living and not be aptly tempted to corruption. However, I also subscribe that if politicians have a tendency towards corruption, no amount of monetary reward is enough for this group. When Paul Getty one of the richest man of his era was interviewed at his death bed on what is enough, his answer was just a little bit more. However, great politicians like Ghandi was never motivated by the rewards but on the converse, it was the hardship that motivated him to do greater things.

Peter Lye aka lkypeter

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Political Theme Song for Singapore Election Results-Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E Major WAB 107

The recent election results in Singapore have been termed water-shed for the ruling party People Action Party (PAP), opposition parties especially Workers Party (WP) and all voters. The outcome can mean many things to many some of which includes:

• time and tide might NOT heal everything and over time, people might NOT forget. Politics is no longer a once in 5 year event during election campaigning,

• whether there is a need to revamp the voting system especially the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system towards a system that moves us towards a more direct form of democracy,

• what messages are the voters telling both PAP and the opposition parties on the brand of democracy they want to see in Singapore not only in the future but also in the near future within reasonable bounds,

• last but not least, voters were politically emphatic about the voting scene due to the lack of choice in credible alternatives opposition parties in the past but is begining to realize that every vote counts and it starts with their own vote now that we have more credible, brave and altruistic opposition parties.

My position is not a binary one that runs along party lines of PAP or the opposition but how we as citizens of Singapore can participate more actively in the political process rather than treat it as a once in 5 year event. The fault for current state of democracy lies both with PAP as well as our political empathy in the past 30 years or so creating a vacuum of political power dominated by PAP. Perhaps the one party rule in the last 30 years by PAP has been an accidental fortune in that sense. A focused non-partisan rule could have been one of the major ingredients for our phenomenal economic and social growth achieved mainly by well tried and tested economic development model based mainly on foreign investment, regional service centers and export led of certain industrial clusters likes petrochemical, electronics, disk drive, wafer-fab, pharmaceutical and bio-technology. Leveraging our labour cost advantage, investor friendly policies and good industrial infrastructure, the unemployment problem was plugged by PM Lee Kuan Yew and his team. The foresight and gumption of the second generation leaders lead by PM Goh Chok Tong with the advantage of Lee and his team supporting Goh. The single party enabled Goh to execute a unilateral risky but calculated strategic move away from labour intensive to skill intensive by raising wages, skills and infrastructure in one bold orchestrated move and it worked again.

PM Lee Hsien Loong son of Lee Kuan Yew took over the reign from Goh. Lee jr started his reign with an unfair disadvantage having to defend nepotism right from the start. His father's generation was equated to building the hardware. Goh's dispensation built the software. Now that we have a complete solution in computer speak, Lee jr now is now charged with building the heart-ware to bring it from 3^rd world to 1^st world. Besides nepotism, Lee jr did not have a good economic and political developmental template to depend on unlike his dad and Goh. His team actually did not have the full mandate with his dad and Goh still looking over his shoulders closely most probably until recent past with his dad and Goh stepping down by exiting the cabinet formally.

Lee jr filled his team with capable technocrats that mostly graduated in the top tier of ivy leagues and I believe that most were well meaning in wanting to bring Singapore to 1^st world. Besides the unchartered water that Lee jr and his team were maneuvering into, they also had to face an aging and dwindling population as the total fertility rate headed south to reach 1.2. The technocratic team went into short term mode to cure it in a measurable manner that they knew best and with dated advice from his dad and Goh. Tax incentives and more child friendly policies were put in place to very little effect and the team sent in the crash cart and tried to revive the dying patient by immigration on a massive scale. Being a relatively young emigrant country, it was in the process of building a common identity. The mass immigration created a whole host of issues like depressing the wages of the lower strata of society and lead to a growing GINI index that accompanied good news rise in GDP. All was not exactly rosy on the domestic front for example health care cost faced by the population escalated because of a combination of aging population and public healthcare policies like mean testing. The escalating price of private housing spilled into public housing. Transport system was also facing congestion on public roads as the Electronic Road Pricing and Certificate of Entitlement meant to curtail usage and ownership respectively were not only unable to curb the congestion but lead to an increase in transportation cost overall. Public transportation was faced with sardine packed mass transit railway during peak hours mirroring the situation in Japan.

Many initiatives were put in place in the arena of heart-ware like giving the arts and cultural scene a lift and liberalizing censorship laws. These initiatives not only take relatively more time than hardware and software to show results but is also less measurable.

My reasons for choosing Bruckner as the theme song or symphony for this occasion are due to the following historical insights on this piece:

• this symphony was the piece that launched the composer Anton Bruckner career into stardom. I sincerely hope that this particular water-shed election results will lead to a right angle turn for our country as a whole,
• the second movement Adagio was used to announce 2 historically significant turning points like when Admiral Karl Dönitz announced Adolf Hitler death on 1^st May 1945 and also just before announcing his defeat in Stalingrad on 31^st January 1943. On this note, I do hope that the election results as a clarion call for danger ahead if we maintain status quo and dismiss the election results as noisy crying babies that can be easily pacified and forgotten.

It cannot be business as usual for PAP, opposition parties and the voters all alike and may we have a right angle turn like what Bruckner had with this symphony.

For those that like to have a deeper understanding of Anton Bruckner and Politics, there is a book "Bruckner's Symphonies-Analysis, Reception and Cultural Politics" by Prof. Julian Horton. Cambridge University Press (2004) ISBN-13 978-0-521-82354-8. I have not read the book personally but a cursory browse says it can be quite academic.

Cheers,,,,, Peter Lye


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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Singapore Election Outcome-Direct or Representative Democracy?

It is evident that democracy has become more eugenic amongst Singaporean for the rulers or rulers wannabe and the citizens of Singapore. Our elder statesman Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has made no bones that we need democracy in Singapore but not as what the West understand democracy to be. Now that that the election results are out, I shall factually attempt to look at the outcome using the dimensional framework of Direct Democracy and Representative Democracy. Direct democracy is loosely one in which the citizens participate more directly in the decision and law making process as opposed to representative democracy where citizens vote periodically for representative(s) to be their proxy for decision and law making. The two is not mutually exclusive but represents a continuum and where each state places itself along the this continuum and the mix of tools like elections, referendum employed in decision making.

The Facts
The election results although a landmark point in time event but what affects the results have to do with relevant happenings in the recent past and people's expectation of the future outcome based on their vote.

1. Creation of the Group Representative Constituencies (GRCs) in 1988 on the basis of ensuring that minority racial communities will be represented in parliament. To ensure this, at least 25% of total number of Members of Parliament ( MPs ) must be from GRCs and each GRC must have at least 1 MP from the minority race. As of now, out of the total 87 electoral districts, 15 are GRCs with 75 MPs another 12 independent electoral districts with the normal single MP or what is called Single Member Constituencies (SMCs).

• The minority race factor especially for Malays is a sensitive topic as Singapore is a small country with a Chinese majority and sizable Malay minority geographically enveloped by two large Malay/Muslim countries i.e. Malaysia and Indonesia. I have used Malay and Muslim interchangeably as there is almost a direct equation of the Malay and Muslim especially in Malaysia although one recognizes that the former is a race and the latter is a religion. On this basis, I do stand behind the basis on which the GRCs changes were made as an antidote against possible cracks along racial or religious lines and also why a referendum on this issue is not possible because the referendum is likely to run along racial or religious lines rather than a more altruistic note. Just like the various equal opportunity initiatives in USA championed by the Union in the north against the confederates in the south. However, you will notice that there is a lack of a clarion call by the minority within Singapore as well as neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia in and around 1988. It hardly won us any significant brownie points with Malaysia or Indonesia. Is minority representation a reason or an excuse?
• The creation of GRC could actually have the un-intended effect of making it more difficult for opposition to field candidates for elections as can be seen during the initial days that the un-contested electoral districts tend to come from GRCs rather than SMCs. In 1988 general elections, 3 of the 5 un-contested electoral districts were GRCs and we can say that this is marginal but if we compare the number of MPs it would be 9 out of a total of 11 MPs that belongs to uncontested GRCs. (Source: Singapore Election 1988 parliamentary results). The figures are more telling in the next election of 1991 for which 10 out of a total 11 uncontested electoral districts were GRCs representing a total of 40 of out a total of 41 un-contested MPs were from un-contested GRCs. (Source: Singapore Election 1991 parliamentary results). 
• One of the basis tenets of democracy embodies choosing a government from the people, by the people and for the people made famous by President John F Kennedy. The opposition parties have raised this point and the incumbent government has challenged them on the basis that it was not the fault of Peoples Action Party (PAP) but that of the opposition not being able to find and field candidates to avoid this problem of un-contested entry into parliament through tail coating on more influential candidates within the GRCs. We cannot deny the fact that the incumbent PAP government have two third majority in parliament to enable the party to change even the constitution of Singapore. We cannot totally exclude that the GRC system might have a more insidious intent of ensuring PAP's share of political power. Political science is rife with such examples of the danger of the incumbent misuse of their power and authority for their own end rather than representing the voice of the people. One good example is the fielding of Ms Tin Pei Ling in the GRC ward of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. Even before nomination day, the social media has enough noise that it is not probable for PAP not to have heard the voice of the people against fielding a relatively in-experienced person and there were public outcry that if Ms Tin Pei Ling were to stand, it is only fair that she be fielded in a SMC rather than tail-coating under Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's Marine Parade GRC ward. Even Goh Chok Tong was very candid to have remarked before nomination day that Ms Tin Pei Ling was not really his choice but that of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The reason for fielding a young candidate of 27 years old was for her to connect the PAP to the younger voters. PAP has clearly ignored the voice of the ground by fielding Ms Tin Pei Ling under Marine Parade GRC rather for her to earn her own stripes by standing alone in a SMC. I doubt we can believe when PAP leaders say that they hear the people but perhaps that is where it stops; hearing but not doing enough. Political science is actually clear that political party is one of the necessary evils of a democratic system and this is clearly a case in point where the political party and the people's interest can run counter to each other and yet triumph over it.

2. Contest between local and national interest. Like most Singaporean, I personally feel very sorry for Mr. George Yeo. If the system were to allow the people to choose between Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr. George Yeo, the choice would be very obvious for the latter. The implementation of democracy is far from perfect and this is one of the more "unjust' outcome of the system.

The positioning of candidates by the party on nomination day can be more important than the outcome on election day itself. One of the key differential in this election was the appearance of a number key influential opposition candidates with stellar background to match or even exceed those of PAP candidates. My admiration goes to these people for choosing to take the more unconventional choice of riding on a lesser opposition vessel instead of the almost guaranteed easier route to power, wealth and glory via the PAP vessel. In the past, the main opposition characters that PAP had to watch carefully were Chiam See Tong, the late JB Jeyaratnam, Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim. This time round, we see more of such new blood like Chen Shao Mao, Kenneth Jeyaratnam,  Vincent Wiseneraya,  Ang Yong Guan etc. With such a backdrop, the stronger opposition parties has decided on a 'show hand' in polker game speak strategy by putting their best candidates into GRC instead of SMC. WP, SPP and SDP had almost all their chips in Aljunied, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs respectively.

PAP was not without choice in my view. They could firstly avoid a clash of the titans by placing all their current and potential cabinet MPs out of these GRCs to ensure minimal disruption to the cabinet lineup post election. This would also mean a very good chance of losing one or a few GRCs making it a history in Singapore as no opposition party has managed to win a GRC until the 2011 general elections. However, this route seems unlikely for the all mighty PAP as my guess is that they want total control of government by occupying all seats in parliament. This can be seen from the post election reaction in 1984 when PAP lost two seats in Tanjong Pagar and Potong Pasir to Jeyaratnam and Chiam See Tong respectively. In other countries, the ruling party would have popped champagne and call it a landslide win but it was a sombre occasion for PAP on why has the people in these two electorates given the man-date to the opposition. If the PAP had taken this route, it would have made it an easier choice for the voters in these 3 GRCs by voting purely on the merits of the candidates and their position on local issues.

As expected, PAP responded to the opposition 'show hand' by doing the same by fielding part of their cabinet in these GRCs. This put a heavier burden on the voters as theirs is no longer based on the merit of the candidates and local issues alone. Their vote could result in a few cabinet ministers losing not only their MP seats but also their cabinet position as Singapore law makes it mandatory for cabinet positions to be MPs. Now that the election results are out, we know that in the case of Aljunied GRC, PAP lost the battle. To me, this election is water shed for a few reasons. Firstly, opposition party winning a GRC and secondly, cabinet ministers like George Yeo losing both their MP and cabinet position. I can only make a guess on what went on cerebrally for the voters in Aljunied GRC. My guess is that majority of these votes for the opposition was a vote for a more democratic future of Singapore against the shorter term set back of losing a few good man like George Yeo. What was telling was also the drop in the percentage of popular votes from 66.1% in 2006 to 60.1% this time round. I would like to refute the reasons that PAP is facing a younger generation of voters this time round as one only need to look at the population pyramid going more inverted now than previously.

What if PAP has chosen the second option of preserving their cabinet members by not fielding them in these 3 GRCs? My guess is there is a greater likelihood of PAP losing possibly up to 3 GRCs but all would be well within the cabinet lineup. Even with this worse case scenario, PAP would still have two third majority in parliament with mandate to change anything and almost everything including the constitution of Singapore. Sometimes, it might be better to lose a few battles and win the war but my guess is this is not likely to be within the vocabulary of PAP.

Finally, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' in animal farm speak but 'democracy without proper law can lead to anarchy' in paraphrase by the Grecian wise sage of old Plato in 'The Republic'. No explanation but fodder for you to consider seriously when casting your vote in the next election.

Please do circulate to as many friends as possible and can visit my blogfor other writings.

Cheers,,,,, Peter Lye


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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Singapore Election Theme

With so much written on our coming general election in Singapore, I would like to take a slightly different view for voters to ponder. I take this as an open letter to all Singaporeans as it is in my blog.

1. Are we really too small to afford a more balanced parliament with sufficient check and balance ? How about some of the smaller European countries with about similar population that have done so. In Animal Farm speak "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" and it must be done constitutionally both in the letter and spirit with another quote from Plato's Republic in paraphrase "democracy without law leads to anarchy'.


2. Minimal government can sometimes be prosperous like Hong Kong pre-1997. Bad government can lead to chaos and under-development I do not dispute. However, does well paid government leads to superior performance for the country if we were to take a co-relative longitudinal study of a few countries for comparison? I am not too sure it can lead to better government in my humble opinion. I would challenge that a study be done to proof the case and not get emotional on this and let the facts speaks for itself. Whilst paying so called market rate for government talent might reduce corruption but it might not as well as Mr. Paul Getty, one of the richest American billionaire when asked by a journalist at his death bed what is enough, his answer was just a little bit more. In addition, those who want to be in government must have a certain degree of altruism and not purely on economic grounds alone.


Please do circulate to as many friends as possible and can visit my blog for other writings.


Cheers,,,,, Peter Lye


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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

German/British Parentage

An award show host who was of German/British parentage remarked that his German part would like to take over the world but his British part is too polite to say so.....(source not traceable but have a good laugh. The original joke I lifted from a show did not have the German and British as it was a BBC program. In this way we do not have to think too hard to have a laugh.

Cheers,,,,,, Pete

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’  by Edmund Burke on Adolph Hitler

Cost of Government-FaceBook Post Chen Show Mao

Peter Lye 

Suggest you take up the issue of ministerial pay when the time is ripe. Their premise of low paying government tend to lead to bad governance I do not dispute but if we were to make a correlation between premium pay for government leads to better government has little or no political science backing. Perhaps someone myself should do a longitudinal study correlating GDP and it's growth, gini index, cost of governance taking into account glcs. Worth a thot. We ought to challenge on the premise of facts and not god has spoken. I have a personal blog on politics economics and classical music on lkypeter.blogspot.com. Cheers. Pete


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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Tchaikovsky-Andante Cantabile Op. 11-Where is the forest?

Whenever I am recommended famous standalone movement, I would diplomatically suggest that perhaps there is more hidden gems to be uncovered in listening to the complete piece instead. I was baffled when one of my friends told he how moving the piece of music Andante Cantabile by Tchaikovsky was and I suddenly held my breath and agreed wholeheartedly  for the moment. I could not remember or figure out where this piece was taken from. Upon searching for an answer, I found to my astonishment that I have with me about 10 standalone movements of this piece but not a single complete version. To add injury,  for once I did not know the origin of this piece but later found out that it was actually the second movement of Tchaikovsky's string quartet no. 1 in D minor Opus 11. As a consolation, I found out that even great artists like Maisky, Perlman and of course the more commercialized Yo-Yo Ma did not bother to record the entire 4 movements at all. My hunt for my Red October ( you should see this show about USA/Russian submarine warfare ) began and I finally managed to nail down two complete recordings by Emerson Quartet and Borodin Quartet.

The quartet was written by Tchaikovsky early in his musical career in 1871 and even the composer himself paid special attention to the second movement Andante Cantabile in B flat by writing an arrangement for solo cello and orchestra in 1888. There was much consolation to my intellect that my missing this might not have been such a big intellectual suicide after all. If you have not heard the entire 4 movements of string quartet no. 1 opus 11 where Andante Cantabile was taken from, I do urge you to do so as the other 3 movements sort of provide a larger canvas on which the melancholic Andante Cantabile was drawn on. Rest assured that most of you are likely to enjoy listening to the entire piece thereafter. This is why I added "Where is the forest?" to the title assuming Andante Cantabile to be one of the trees in the forest.

There is another interesting twist to Andante Cantabile itself that links Tchaikovsky to the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Edward Garden wrote in his work on Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy that while Tchaikovsky himself was a great musician, he was not well endowed literary; the libretto of his only opera Queen of Spades was written by his brother Modest Tchaikovsky. Tolstoy himself has on the same account distanced himself from much of anything musical that is beyond his comprehension although he did play the piano when he was young.

The two great Russians met in Moscow in 1876/7 resulting in Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile being added as part of the programme for the special evening of music in honor of Tolstoy. Although Tolstoy has limited appreciation of music, he has a great love for folk music and was moved to tears by the Andante Cantabile during that concert. Andante Cantabile has part of its origin in a Russian or Ukrainian folk song.

Tchaikovsky has fashioned a folk song of humble origin to be part of a great Romantic era music in Andante Cantabile or shall I say String Quartet No. 1.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Bach Well-Tempered Clavier BVW840/BWV870-Out of this World Chicken Soup for the Soul

What links Johann Sebastian Bach; the father of classical baroque music, Glenn Gould; a controversial Canadian pianist/interpreter ie player of Bach music, and USA NASA Voyager space mission to warrant this article? Perhaps I have gone bonkers but please hear me out before you put the verdict on me or this article. Unlike my favorite film producer Roman Polanski that like to put his audience in suspense until the end of the show or even leave many poignant questions unanswered, I shall kill your curiosity first.

NASA launched two one way ticket unmanned spacecraft in 1977 to explore the outer reaches of the universe as well as to tell any possible intelligible live form out there that there are humans on planet Earth. One of the means is via the Golden Record on board Voyager 1 and 2. This record contains many multi-media that best describes what we are like. One section contains 27 pieces of music selected across different, geography, culture and historical time lines. 3 of these pieces were composition by Bach out pacing other famous composers like Beethoven with 2 and Mozart with 1. Well-Tempered Clavier BVW870 played by Glenn Gould was one of them. Hope that satisfies your curiosity but continue to read on.

I was very moved when a old friend of mine whom I first met about 10 years ago invited me over to his place for dinner during the recent Chinese Lunar New Year holidays as it was supposed to be their close knit family affair and I was the only non-family. We had a hearty meal over lively conversations which included dry humor by the host that one of couple he knows has started to make love daily recently. Actually, he was referring to the long running Taiwanese serial called "Love" that the couple has become addicted to and will not miss the daily broadcast for the world. The laughter was not spontaneous as with most dry humor and I shall say that those who laugh first most probably are more witty or has simply heard the joke before.

After dinner, some of us proceeded to the music room which has an impressive collection of mainly classical music on both CDs as well as old world vinyl records that most probably numbers in the thousand. This is why I call it chicken soup for the soul as good music and company is equivalent to what food is to our stomach. He also has an equally good sound system that uses old world vacuum tubes instead of modern day integrated circuits and transistors. For my audiophiles audience, I shall not debate on which is better as this is not the purpose of this article. BTW, the entire sound system was vacuum tube based. To spare us the agony of choosing music from his vast selection, he has put aside about 10-20 vinyl records for us to sample and one of the record is Glenn Gould 1975 recording of Bach Well-Tempered Clavier. As the entire composition has some 48 pieces of preludes and fugues that will take hours to go through, we only managed to sample the first 2 which is BVW840. I am familiar with this composition and own two versions of it by Vladimir Ashkensay and Angela Hewitt (2008 version as she made a second recording of the same composition in 2009 as well). I have heard a few of Glenn Gould other recordings but not this composition and was half surprised by his interpretation of it. Since the host has chosen, I chose to be politically correct as I am known to be otherwise more so because of my altruistic and passionate pre-disposition. Being politically correct does not necessities me to not express my opinion and I told the host boldly that this is one interesting interpretation of the composition and told him of the other versions that I have heard. My second nature got the better of me and I continued to mention why it was 'interesting' like the unusually stronger accent on the first note of the right hand motif as well as a more pronounced and less legato treatment of the right hand motif. To save myself, I added that it is not easy to achieve this with a highly sustained and legato left hand motif as it requires the player to divorce his left/right hand as well as very good control over the pedals on the piano. Time passes quickly in good company and music and it was time to take leave as it was getting late.

On my journey home, Glenn Gould's piece kept on making repeated loops in my mind and once I hit home, it was time to re-visit the same composition by Ashkenazy and Hewitt and it confirms the differential that I have heard. Tempo wise, Hewitt's version was well ahead of the pack like catching the 'A' train and it was a little too fast for my liking. Somehow, most recent recordings tend to be faster and Hewitt's version is also the latest of the three. It seems that some musicologist are of the opinion after more evidence has surfaced pointing to a preference for a faster pace by the composer. This itself is a very grey area as the metronome was not invented till much later and the tempo were expressed in language rather than beats per minute which is not scientific. Phrasing wise, Glenn Gould's version does stick out like a sore thumb but not necessarily in a bad way on further listening as it breaks the monotony of the motif and gave a certain life like interpretation to the composition. With the Glenn Gould recording, if you listen carefully, you can hear him humming to himself also.

I hope I have linked the 3 pieces of the puzzle together well enough and last but not least, here are the pictorial representation of 3 albums on CBS Sony, Decca and Hyperion for those who would like to venture further.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Egyptian Humor amidst Turmoil

Following quoted from Tuesday 7th February 2011 edition of TODAY on page 17.

"We don't want Suleiman, he is a symbol of Mubarak. If he becomes President, we will stage another revolt. We have been living for 30 years under humiliation and injustice," said Mr Omar Gamal, a 22-year-old teacher.

Have a good laugh. If you do not find it funny, the problem most probably rests with you and not me. Ha ha ha.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Polarization in Asia Pacific-Possible Rocky Roads Ahead

So much negative newsprint has been devoted to the situation in North America and Europe that perhaps Asia Pacific has been over-rated as the region that has done relatively well. As I seat back and ponder on the various hot spots in Asia Pacific, I grew more concerned as I live in Singapore which is part of Asia Pacific. Whether we should trea these situations as hair line cracks or a slow but sure polarization with dire consequences for the world.

Pakistan

Starting with the western end, Pakistan should worry us not so much with the assassination of of Punjab Governor Salman Taser. His death could represent a step backward for those championing secular democracy as opposed to a muslim democracy. Pakistan seems to be one of the few countries with a sizable muslim population that seems to be US friendly. This assassination would be more than an embarrassment for the Obama administration. Pakistan has been a key ally of the US in helping to maintain peace in the region as well as a purveyor of US oil interest into the neighboring oil rich Middle East.

What made this a bigger blow was how did his bodyguard that killed him pass the same screening process that Pakistan has so convinced the world that people manning their nuclear arsenal are screened to exclude muslim fundamentalist. The assassin proudly admitted to his act and was thrown roses on his way to court as if hailing him as a hero. This might signal a certain level of worrying possibility on the level muslim fundamentalism has infiltrated the populace in general.

My next question is on the nuclear arsenal in Pakistan. Is it in safe enough hands and whether the government has enough control over it to prevent muslim fundamentalists from using it to hold the world at ransom or worse spark off a nuclear conflict with India or against countries deemed as having a anit-muslim agenda directly or indirectly.

The hero like treatment of his assassin could also signal rising support for muslim democracy as opposed to secular democracy that Salman Taser has championed all his life. This could worsen the long standing conflict between Pakistan and India as the main raison d'etre for the conflict is religiously motivated more than anything else.

Korean Peninsula

North and South Korea who are technically still at war is definitely very tensse. South Korea has for the longest time a US ally and North Korea is both reclusive and hermit like towards the rest of the world perhaps with the exception of China.. It has been speculated that North Korea might have nuclear warfare capabilities and is definitely in the midst of power transition from Kim Jong-Il to his youngest son Kim Jong Un as the elder Kim as there has been rumors about the state of his health.

An unstable North Korea not only spells trouble for South Korea alone but for the Asia Pacific region as well as the world at large. South Korea is now a major economy in Asia Pacific and can send shock waves to an already unstable world economy. In addition, a conflict could politically draw the supporters of North and South Korea ie China and US to sucked into this conflict indirectly and raising the stakes of a wider conflict between China and US.

Russia and Japan

Russian and Japanese relations has been put to the test over the disputed Kuril Islands. This contest is not likely to be based economic or military motive but most probably due to the political bargaining chip for greater things or to feed the ego of the politicians.

China

In warfare strategy, there is no need to be on parity on all fronts with your opponents. The ability to threaten the capabilities of your opponents can be as effective. China's air-craft carrier killer missile is a case in point as the various US carrier group that has been freely roaming the international waters of water of their allies in the region without much threat and a show of force would be more restrictive especially nearer to Taiwan where China has claimed to be one of its provinces. China's readiness on the carrier killer missile would change the naval balance of power in the Asia Pacific and could also means the US carrier groups sphere of operation or influence. In addition, China has of late been taking a harder stand on international matter and does not yield easily to US or international pressure. This is evident in the its posture of their permanent seat on UN security council as well as the dialogue between the two presidents when the Chinese president visited the white house.

On the economic front, China is now the largest holder of US treasure bonds over-taking Japan recently and this will give China the capabilities to rock the US economy if she wants to or to use it as a bargaining chip. While the Chinese currency RMB is not ready to takeover US$ as a major medium of international trade as well as an international reserve currency, China is slowly but surely loosening its grip on the RMB to allow it to be used for bilateral trade with China as well as relaxing currency control measures.

Although we can hail democracy as the leading means of governance with the fall of the Berlin wall as well as Russia losing control over eastern europe, China could very well proof to the world that communism might be a viable form of governance. This would become more distinct if the capitalistic regime of US and Europe undergoes further crisis.

Thailand

Thailand's King has been the stabilizing force whenever the kingdom is in a power struggle and yet be able to let the democratically elected prime minister and his cabinet to rule freely during peace time. However, in the past 2 years, the unification strength of the King might have dwindled somewhat or the King has chosen not to interfere more actively as before. In addition, he is getting on in years and it seems that his heir apparent might not wield the same level of influence as the current king; at least not initially. This can be worrying as it can bring political and economic turbulence to a kingdom that is much in need of a stable platform to grow the economy and reduce poverty in the more remote parts of the kingdom. This is critical as some of the remote parts of the kingdom have muslim instead of buddhist majority and that can be an ingredient for separatists elements to fix a brew.

While we pay heed to the more substantial problems in US and Europe, we must also keep a watching brief over Asia Pacific also.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

192K 24 Bits Linnrecords Mozart Symphony

I have always loved recordings from LinnRecords for their consistent recording and have been buying their SACDs both via internet as well as from retailers. Last night I bought their 192K Studio Master of the above by the late Sir Charles Mackerras conducting the Scottish National Chamber Orchestra and was blown away by it as I seems to be able to turn up the volume and not have the jarring violin and brass. It blew me away....

I compared with the sister recording by the same conductor, orchestra but playing Mozart Symphonies 38, 39, 40, 41 on SACD and certainly there is a difference in the sound.

I am going for 192K to the extend that my finance allows it as it is not cheap as the 192K is USD 27 per CD which is dearer than SACDs.

The equipment I am using for the 192K playback are as follows:

1 .Buffalo NAS Linkstation Quad
2. Gigabit Ethernet
3 .MacMini Core2Duo 2.4 GHz 4GB OSX 10.6.6 iTunes 10.1.1 (AIFF files in 192K 24 Bits)
4. USB Cable-Stock from DAC Box
5. Wyred4Sound DAC2
6. Acrolink 6N-A2200II Interconnect
7. ModWright SWL 9.0 SE Tube Pre-Amp
8. Nanotech Golden Strada #201DCS Interconnect
9. Wyred4Sound Multi-Channel 4 Channel PowerAmp-BiAmp
10. Nanotech Golden Strada #79 Speaker Cables
11. Vandersteen 2ce Mark II speakers

The equipment I am using for the SACD playback are as follows:

1. Marantz SA11S2 SACD Player

2. IXOS Interconnect

3. ModWright SWL 9.0 SE Tube Pre-Amp

4. Nanotech Golden Strada #201DCS Interconnect

5. Wyred4Sound Multi-Channel 4 Channel PowerAmp-BiAmp

6. Nanotech Golden Strada #79 Speaker Cables

7. Vandersteen 2ce Mark II speakers

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

Safe Harbor
Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major Op 19-The Half Price Concerto

Having wrote two commentaries on Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 opus 15 and No. 5 opus 73; his first and last for this genre,  sometime back, I am into his piano concerto again. I shall be chronological at least in terms of the date of publicity based on opus number and write about his second concerto opus 19. The reason why opus number is not a good chronological gauge as it is common for composers to publish their work about a year or so later to ensure that they are the only performer and provide little basis for comparative critique especially when the piano is Beethoven's instrument of choice. In fact Beethoven himself said that musical policy demands that one should keep the best concertos to oneself for a time. Actually after more recent discovery of Beethoven's undoubted first piano concerto that pre-dates opus 15 named Piano Concerto in E flat major WoO 4 as no opus number was assigned as it was not published during his lifetime. Perhaps he considered this work too amateurish or juvenile to be associated with it like the phrase "I would not be caught wearing that dress".

Why half price? In selling this concerto to Hoffmeister, Beethoven only asked for 10 ducats instead of the usual 20 ducats as he remarked that he believe that this is not among his best. From this remark, scholars have argued both ways why it is his first attempt in composing the piano concerto genre. Those arguing why it is the first reasoned that it is likely his first attempt as it is less matured in many ways when compared to his piano concerto No. 1 opus 15. Those on the other side reasoned that after having published his piano concerto No. 1 opus 15, this remark is a comparative statement that it is not as good as the previous opus 15.

The concerto opens with a lively orchestra tutti that some remarked that the beginning is fashioned after  Mozart flamboyant style while others opined that it is much more reflective of Haydn's gallantry especially the ending of the first movement and the most of the third movement. My favorite portion of this movement is the zesty orchestra tutti that launches this concerto as well as the ending where the soloist displays his ability to divorce his left hand from his right hand to execute the rhythmically polarized portions. On this note, I think that Martha Argerich interpretation of this solo part is my favorite as it sounded so effortless like a walk in the park.

Beethoven's imprint and style is so obvious in this lyrical second movement and to me, it could be connected to his sixth symphony. This is the movement to sit back and soaked up the gentile Adagio like a walk in the beautiful black forest of Germany during spring time.

The finale is the movement that Beethoven has done most modifications from differential in the various manuscripts that survived to the extend that one of them believed to be the original finale has actually been named as a standalone Rondo without opus number Wo4 in B flat major due to the large differential with later manuscripts. Barry Cooper of University of Manchester puts technical brilliance as what sets this movement apart from the rest of the concerto. The resolution at the end of this movement actually sums up not only this movement also the entire concerto nicely.

I have listened to 7 versions of this concerto in writing this concerto and tempo wise, it seems a reversal in trend. The later recordings like the version by Pierre-Laurent Aimard with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting being the slowest and earlier recordings the version by Alfred Brendel with Heinz Walburg conducting seems a tad hurried. Harnoncourt was a percussionist before taking up conducting and these are the artists that put the most emphasis on the tempo.Here are the versions pictorarily.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

The Betrothal-Wieniawski Légende Op 17 in G minor

Henryk Wieniaswki composed this piece out of desperation as Henryk was facing objection from Isabelle Hampton's parents for them to be engaged.  It was not recorded what was the nature of their objection was clear but after hearing Légende composed by Wieniawski, her parents changed their mind and allowed the two lovers to be engaged and later marry and have children.

With such a romantic backdrop to this piece, I decided to listen more in depth into this piece and before long, I was humming it. This piece and composer was never on my radar screen of classical music but all that changed after this piece.

I am not going to mention how many versions I have as it would be embarrassing to have and not play and appreciate it. Suffice to all, it does not exceeds using all the limbs of a human being as counters.

This short piece of slightly over 7 minutes can be divided into 3 sections. Quite a rarity for such short pieces in my opinion. The orchestra or piano introduces the pieces for a few short bars before the solo violinist joins in. Perhaps the Henryk wanted to show his sadness in not being able to engage Isabelle. Before you know it, the piece launches itself from G minor to G major  whilst maintaining the motif intact. With the transition from minor to major key, the moods brightens so does the tempo. This is perhaps to convey the sweetness of his love for his daughter. The second section ends with a dramatic descending chromatic scale and bring the piece back to the original G minor key. The descend perhaps as a parallel to her parents objection and how this decision could result in a sadness for both Henryk and their daughter Isabelle conveyed in the 3 section in G minor.

I have taken a lot of liberty in interpreting this piece and if you do not agree, I can fully understand. This piece so moved me and I was trying to search for its interpretation but found very scarce information and decided to write one myself.

Some of my recommended recordings IMHO are:
1. Anne-Sophie Mutter/James Levine/Weiner Philharmoniker-Carmen Fantasy-Track 2-DG

2. Itzhak Perlman/Lawrence Foster/The Abbey Road Ensemble-A la Carte-Track 8-EMI

3.Gil Shaham/Lasrence Foster/London Symphony Orchestra-Wieniawski Violin Concerto 1 & 3,
Sarasate, Zigeunrwisen-Track 7-DG

Guys, perhaps this could add to our bag of tricks to get the girl of our dreams or to dream on.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

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Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Economist-Wisdom of Recognizing Limitations

In medical-pharmacology, new drugs are put through a series of test both within the laboratories as well as in the field to ensure their safety and efficacy are known before they are released for general use. Even with such rigors, it is by no means a 100% guarantee. We continue to have issues surfacing way after their their release for general use. Some of these were a result of  ethically questionable treatment of information during trials to conceal information like in the case of Vioxx but many are due to our honest lack of knowledge as the human body is a very complex and we are no where near a complete understanding of although we have made great strides in recent past.

I used to discuss with my mentor Uncle John that recognizing how little we do not know about the unknown is one of the mark of maturity. Being a very curious and inquisitive teenager, I was hungry to understand all I could like reading the encyclopedia and dictionary from cover to cover. It dawned upon me one day how little I knew and it was a very humbling sensation.

Although mankind has made great stride in discovering the unknown especially in recent past, I doubt any worthy scholar would dare say that he has full understanding of everything in his field of speciality. In fact, it is sometimes such people that raise red flag to beware of the unknown.

Against the backdrop of the recent global economic meltdown, governments and central banks reacted differently and even for those that reacted similarly, the outcome varies. Unlike medical-pharmacology
discipline, economics is a relatively younger science or perhaps art where laboratory for controlled experiments for testing hypothesis is badly lacking due to the subject/object that simply cannot be contained in a laboratory for controlled studies. Most studies are a result of what I call a rear view mirror historical analysis and synthesis. Even with such studies, the limitations are vast due to its subjective nature.

Given such challenging vagaries that economists are subjected to, should they just throw caution to the wind and toss a dice instead. I think not. Rather I would venture to postulate that we need people with certain psyche where the unknown/blind corners are their best partners in crime and yet be able to apply what they deemed as appropriate in a very moderate manner.

I believe that economics has been plagued by extremism, dogmas and larger than life characters in addition to fashion and fades. It is so severe that economists are proud to trumpet their "religion" without any need for apologies. Milton Friedman, a proponent of free market and minimal government. Lord John Maynard Keynes on the other hand championed the limitations of free market and the need to for fiscal intervention. Leading the monetarist camp, we have Anna Schwartz where supply and demand of money becomes the central theme. Inflation buster like Alan Greenspan with a strong faith in the free market in pricing risks and the firm belief that central banks should titrate interest rate to control inflation. The list goes on ad infinitum.

Under such a situation, perhaps we should champion situational economics for those who that are prepared to park their egos at home, recognize that what they know constitute most probably the tip of the ice berg. Like all good sailors navigating through ice berg infested water, it is the unseen and unknown that will most probably decide their fate.

Parting thought from Ronald Rumsfleld about the middle east war "[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know.We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know."

Cheers,,,, Pete aka http://lkypeter.blogspot.com

Safe Harbor
Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.