Strange bedfellows

The proposal for SGX to takeover ASX has brought out howls of protests, perhaps unsurprisingly. It was strange though that Bob Brown and Bob Katter found themselves singing the same tune when they would normally preach from different ends of the political spectrum.

Singapore has been loudly derided, accused of various crimes of human rights abuse and dictatorial policies. The danger of this form of political purity is that it leaves no room for any deviation from the ideal state to cope with economic or social imperfections. The population may indeed come to the conclusion, should they feel the pure democracy had failed them, that the only alternative was a dictatorial ruler.

The Germans came to that conclusion in 1933.

Not good enough for Macquarie

It was unfortunate that Macquarie University recently approached us for donation. Their misfortune, that is, for it gave me an opportunity to give them a piece of my mind.

Late last year Yvonne applied for a postgraduate course in Applied Finance. She innocently said, during an entrance interview, that she wanted to be able to manage Finance, hers and ours for a start. The interviewer told her that the University was more interested in training people who manage "billions for companies like BHP". She was told she was not good enough.

Yvonne went on to attend the course another university, a more modest one, but she was good enough to score High Distinctions and Distinctions.

I explained to the caller in no uncertain terms how unhappy we are with Macquarie University. We were certainly not contributing. They should approach their good pals, like BHP, for funds and not ordinary folks like us. Hope she will pass that on.