Consultation with Dr. Tommy Wong

Dr. Tommy Wong offers consultations on personal growth and happiness, based on the concepts in his book, "Wisdom on how to live life".

If you are highly stressed with life and need some guidance on how to deal with your problems, have a chat with Dr. Wong.

Turkey PM tells Arabs: Israel has isolated itself (AP)

CAIRO ? Turkey's prime minister told Arab foreign ministers Tuesday that Israel has isolated itself and must "pay the price" after refusing to apologize for its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year, as he launched a high-profile visit that underscored his nation's rising standing in the Arab world.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was given a warm reception on his three-day visit to Egypt, meeting with its new military chief and prime minister. During a 30-minute speech at the Arab League, he was interrupted several times by foreign ministers' clapping and applause.

Erdogan has dramatically stepped up Turkey's influence in the Middle East as the region is swept by revolts and uprisings. At the same time, many Arabs have cheered his increasingly confrontational stance against Israel.

"The Palestine issue continues to be the bleeding wound of the region," Erdogan said at a news conference with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf in Cairo.

Arab League foreign ministers restated their support for the Palestinian drive to seek U.N. statehood recognition.

In a statement Tuesday, the 22-member body condemned "unilateral Israeli measures aimed at changing the reality of the occupied Palestinian territories," referring to settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel is opposed to the U.N. push and the United States said it will veto it in the U.N. Security Council.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is still considering whether to request state membership at the Security Council, or instead seek a vote of recognition at the U.N. General Assembly, where it is likely to pass as a largely symbolic measure.The Palestinians currently have observer status at the U.N.

Voicing his support for the recognition of Palestine, the Turkish prime minister said "this is not an option but a necessity."

Angered by Israel's refusal to apologize over the deaths on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza last year, Turkey suspended military ties with Israel, expelled top Israeli diplomats and vowed to send the Turkish navy to escort Gaza-bound aid ships in the future.

Israel "must pay the price for the crimes it committed," Erdogan said in his speech to the Arab foreign ministers.

"It (Israel) acts irresponsibility and without hesitation in smashing the human dignity and international law by carrying assaults on international convoys which carry nothing but food and toys for children," Erdogan said.

Such assaults, "threaten the Israeli nation," he said. "The Israeli people became a besieged nation."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor refused to comment on Erdogan's address. Israel has defended its raid on the flotilla, saying its troops were attacked by passengers as they boarded and were defending themselves. Last week, Israel expressed regret for the loss of lives aboard the flotilla and said it was time for the two countries to restore their former close ties.

A U.N. report into the raid, released earlier this month, said Israel's naval blockade was legitimate but accused Israel of using "excessive and unreasonable" force in the raid.

Erdogan will also visit Tunisia and Libya, two other countries where popular uprisings have ousted autocratic leaders. He had hoped to be able to cross into Gaza from Egypt, but government officials said Sunday his scheduled would be limited to these three countries.

____

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110913/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_arabs_turkey

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Loss of $100,000 within a few days

Two years ago, a retired couple approached me for help. They trusted  $200,000 from a retirement gratuity to a relationship manager of a local bank. The RM told the couple that the bank would lend them $800,000 and the total of $1 million would be invested in certain currencies to earn a higher rate of return, compared to the interest payable on fixed deposits.

The RM invested the money in A$ which fell by 10% within a few days during the global financial crisis. As the total investment was $1 million (including the $800,000 lent by the bank), the investor suffered a loss of $100,000 within a few days. As they were not able to top up the loss, the bank closed their position and they realized a loss of $100,000.

They could not lodge a complaint with the bank as they had signed documents that absolved the bank from responsibility for the investment loss. Their mistake was to trust the RM who was not really experienced in managing this type of investment. The RM had to meet certain sales targets to sell the investment products. It was also a mistake to invest with borrowed money (i.e the $800,000).

There is also another bad aspect of this type of investment. If the A$ had gained 10%, the investor would NOT have earned $100,000. At most, the investor would have earned a slightly higher interest rate, due to the unfair nature of these "dual currency investments". If there is a gain, a major portion would be pocketed by the bank that issued the financial product - which may not be the same bank that sold the product. If there is a loss, the investor takes the full loss.

Tan Kin Lian

Risky investment products

This letter talks about the risky investment products that are being sold in the market. It is important for consumers to be savvy to avoid these products. Attend the talks conducted by FISCA to understand what are the products that you should avoid.

30% of Singaporeans are cynics

Hi Mr Tan,
This is a valuable article.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/30-per-cent-of-singaporeans-are-%E2%80%98cynics%E2%80%99--study.html

As it stated "....Since the study did not find any significant relation between a cynic and demographic factors such as race, education and income, it means that cynics here cut across the entire cross-section of society...."  It will likely be another "put on hold" scenario.  Hard to expect changes from such report/research.....!

Eugene


MY VIEW
Singaporeans have learned, through the years, that their main source of information through the mainstream media, is not honest and not reliable, and have learned to be cynical. To correct this situation, we have to embrace honesty and fairness in presenting the facts, and not slant them to serve certain political aims.

Private bankers

Private bankers manage the wealth of people with more than US$1 million in assets and earn a fee for their services. The increase in the number of high net worth people means more business for private bankers. However, the supply of private bankers outstrip the demand, leading to high cost and thin margins for the banks. Some banks have started to trim down their numbers of private bankers.

A more important factor is the inability of the private bankers to create wealth, especially in an environment of global recession and falling asset prices. In good times, it is easy to create wealth during a bubble, but it is not real wealth. In bad times, the fictional wealth have to be paid back.

These high income jobs of private bankers have a bigger harm. They make the real jobs, e.g. teachers, nurses, policemen, factory workers - look unattractive. There are insufficient number of people willing to work in these essential services.

The challenges facing the world today - falling birth rate, high unemployment - can be traced to the growth of the financial services sector that takes away too much profit from the real economy. To solve these challenges, we have to start with finding the appropriate measures to control the excesses of this sector.

Mondial Travel Insurance

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