editorial

EDITOR:
Andrew Tan
DESIGNERS:
Fabian Kong
Karthik Balasubramaniam
SUB-EDITORS:
Chow Wen Xin
Leong Si Ya Lara
La Cam Anh, Emily
Maurice Quek Zhong Liang
 Editor’s Note
It seems that times are always bad. There was the 1997 Asian
Economic crisis, then the dot-com bubble bursting in 2000, the
September 11 attack on the USA, and now the US mortgage loans-
precipitated crisis. The years in between are merely “recovery
phases” , and just when one thinks that the recovery is almost
complete, yet another crisis comes along.

Some people question the importance of reading the news,

reasoning that it is not tested in examinations or that it doesn’t
affect them. Well, in this interconnected world, where a slowdown
in one country affects other countries halfway around the globe, it
is impossible to stay unaffected. Even if you can’t really prevent a
crisis by knowing about it, you can surely prepare for it. Scientia est
potentia - Knowledge is Power.

With this issue of Le Message, we hope to bring the knowledge to

you.

Andrew Tan
Publications Director
34th Management Committee
The Credit Crunch and
the Asian Entrepreneur
By Karthik Balasubramaniam
Putting reasons aside, the credit crunch has
led inexorably to a startup smash. Startups
in the US are affected sorely, visibly by the
financial meltdown, though it seems like
Europe, though dented, has less affected
areas to show. Let’s see how startups and
venture capital firms are reacting.
On Oct 8th, 2008, the angel investor Ron
Conway advised his companies on their
retreat strategies during the credit crunch.
Not that he is losing confidence; having
promised to keep investing, he is just
describing how to prepare storm provisions.
On the same day Sequoia Capital sent
an erudite 56 slide presentation to its
portfolio company’s CEO’s, mentioning the
huge US foreign debt, the US consumer
having barely enough to spend (they call
it a low disposable personal income) and
corporate earnings in Silicon Valley down
by 18 percent. No one seems to have
much money, and that makes venture
capital firms like Sequoia Capital worry a
lot: their presentation ends: Get Real, Go
Home. Benchmark Capital put up its own
storm warning signs a day later, telling it’s
companies to get ‘tight control of their
finances’, which, seems like jargon for keep
the cash under the floorboards. So much
for the top.
TechCrunch, the newsblog tracking the
fortunes of tech ventures and startups,
has a particularly depressing online
survey/counter tracking the number of
layoffs post-meltdown. Go here if you are
interested: http://www.techcrunch.com/
layoffs/. The survey operates by tipoffs
from workers, and October seems to be the
month when the credit crunch finally made
tech companies hurt where it matters most:
the work force. Interestingly enough, even
Ron Conway’s letter (also available here
in Tech Crunch.) says, in several words, if
you can’t raise money, cut costs, ‘lower
burn rates’ that is, fire a few. Benchmark’s
long advisory letter zeroes in on the same
‘dispensable’ commodity, labour. It makes
sense in a way, though. How else would
you cut costs? Save electricity by switching
off workstations? Walk to office? Use less
of the internet? The rich get poorer, the
poor get broke.
Layoffs, low investor confidence,
downturns in public markets, etc are the
new buzz words, and they all speak the
same language of penury to tech start
ups, which depend more than anything on
investors and money in the kitty early on.
Fledgling startups are likely to be affected:
they will cease to exist, go into suspended
animation at best.
Can we probably decide that this is much
like the 1999 dotcom crash, and that the
web, and Cyber, Inc. will be back, upgraded,
updated and never better?
In this regard, Benchmark Capital’s letter
to its portfolio companies is highly
illuminating. Observing that the 1999
crash was worse in that it was caused by
tech speculators themselves, hence kicking
the spiral further inward on the tech field,
it also understands that the recent crunch
will be felt for much longer, affecting as it
does public markets the world over. What
is more important, when money is lost
from all sides, it is hard to put it in what is
at present only a small, stumbling startup.
And money, as is apparent from the credit
crunch, is being lost from all sides, from all
pockets.
The letter in fact, even points to an upside
though. Money might be getting lost, but
still, we can depend on angel investors, and
the deep core of venture capital firms like
Benchmark, whose investors are generally
private, conservative and extremely long-
range in their thinking. These are unlikely
to cut off funds from the very tech start
ups that might play a pivotal role in the
reversal of the recession later on.
Which brings us to Europe and its ostensible
reaction to the credit crunch. Europe is
playing its cards with a very wooden poker
face indeed. Everyone has a bad hand, and
the Old World doesn’t see the need to
scream and agonize along with the others.
They are, instead, going for the jugular
quickly and cleanly, with Fleck selling out,
and other companies quietly shutting
down and reapplying to companies.
More importantly, though, the European
milieu has thrown up the usual ‘why
didn’t you say so earlier’ reaction, with
a prominent young investor accusing
Sequoia of not warning his company soon
enough. However, Allen and Co, another
VC firm, did cry wolf early enough, and
Fon, his company, was able to make the
adjustment soon enough.
Hence, we have two major centers of
technological entrepreneurship rocking
under the credit crunch and taking all the
measures required to stay low and survive.
How does this affect Singapore?
Asia has not been affected much by
the credit crunch, least of all Singapore,
what with Singaporean investment funds
Temasek and GIC buying up huge shares
of Merill Lynch and UBS. Sitting on huge
paper losses they might be, but let the
market turn around, and Asian money
will have bailed Western banks. But most
Asian products are bought by the US
customer, whose pockets are empty right
now, perhaps ultimately affecting even the
tech venture balance in Asia’s favour, what
with money and opportunity now at Asia’s
leash. They may not be able to buy our
ideas or services, but then again, they can’t
buy anything. Perhaps we could start the
investing, and the buying, and eventually
present to a recovered world a lot of Asian
tech companies, a lot of western banks
owned mostly by Asians. Buy Asian, be
Asian.
To conclude, we here have a nice
opportunity to put our stereotypical
caution and perseverance to great effect.
A well known complaint of most Asians I
know is that ‘we are behind, by too many
years’. The edifices and institutions built in
those years of advantage are now empty,
for us to move into if we want, and we are
moving in to stay. Where else can we get
our minds into?
Policy Studies:
Not for the Faint-Hearted
By Genim Tan

Policy Studies is an inaugural debate series targeted at undergraduates

across Singapore. It provides an avenue for youths to analyse local
government policies and engage in meaningful crossre. More specically,
the theme for 2009 - “Moral and Ethical Dilemmas in Policymaking”
brings into the spotlight the elusive dimension of morality in the domain
of public policy. Steeped in controversy, this competition is not for the
faint-hearted.

Policy Debates will commence in the subsequent week. The top two teams
that emerge from the Preliminary Rounds and Semi-Finals will proceed
to vie for the Championship trophy. The Grand Finals will certainly be a
battle of brains and a war of words, keeping our audience at the edge of
their seats.

Policy Studies will take place in March 2009. It is open to all

undergraduates in local universities (NUS, NTU, SMU and SIM), including
foreign students on exchange programmes. Keen to join but have zero
experience in debate? Fret not! The competition format is catered to
absolute beginners - anyone with a passion for public policy is welcome
to participate. Furthermore, the motions will be released ahead of the
actual debates to allow teams to construct their cases. Visit www.nuspa.
org to find out more!
 Chancellor’s Challenge Shield
By Ho Kee Meng

Hong Kah GRC, graced the event as the

Guest of Honour. A highly engaging final
round saw Anglo-Chinese Junior College
ultimately emerging as the winner of the
competition, beating their competitors
from Raffles Institution and Jurong Junior
College.

The next CCS, which would be held in

February 2009, promises to be just as
exciting. Students would be tested on their
knowledge of current affairs, including
The Chancellor’s Challenge Shield (CCS) areas such as politics, economics and
is an annual Current Affairs and General even arts and entertainment. Do look out
Knowledge competition inaugurated in for publicity posters regarding CCS 2009
1992 by the late Dr Wee Kim Wee, former to be sent to schools by January. In the
President of the Republic of Singapore and meantime, enquiries can be directed to
then Chancellor of National University of ccs@nuspa.org. We look forward to seeing
Singapore (NUS). This event aims to raise you at the Challenge!
the awareness of current affairs amongst
youths today while providing a platform
for interactions amongst educational
institutions. Besides raising awareness
about current affairs amongst youths, the
CCS is an opportunity to provide a chance
for intertactions amongst educational
institutions.

Past editions of CCS have been well-

received by participants and have been
graced by notable TV personalities
including Channel News Asia news anchor
Suzanne Jung, NMP Eunice Olsen and
parliamentarians such as Ms Penny Low.

The latest edition of the CCS was held on the

23rd February 2008 at NUS. The competition
attracted a total of 186 participants from
19 schools, ranging from the Universities,
Junior Colleges, Polytechnics and schools
involved in the Integrated Programme. Mr
Zaqy Mohamad, Member of Parliament for
Heritage Conservation
In Singapore
By Lara Leong
Landscape is a lens to study society. It
embodies the shifting social, economic
and political values and ideologies.
The Istana, for example, used to house
descendents of the Sultan, but since
having been gazetted as a national
monument, former tenants were
chased out. And it has since become a
museum and restaurant. It is sad that
this is happening because what is left
of our heritage is merely the shell. And
the commercialization of our heritage
is harsh, reflecting the fact that
Singapore’s economy takes precedence
above all. The Istana is probably still
well-conserved, unlike Wayang Kulit,
because of its commercial value on
top of its heritage value. This makes
us think that the state might be ‘too-
practical’, in the sense that whatever
that has no economic value will not be
retained.
What is intriguing is the strain borne
by the place from their multiple
identities. Arab Street, for example,
has to be an historical landscape,
but also a tourist attraction and this
strain stems, precisely, from this
contradiction where on the one hand,
traditional flavor is evaporating --
former shops are no longer there.
Bustling crowds ceased to exist, and
yet it is still propagated as a tradition
to tourists. And on the other hand,
commercialization draws more tourists
than locals to this place. An epitome
would be the ‘Hippo Bus’ (a tour
coach) weaving around the perimeters
of this place, dropping tourists off. The
original flavor as the-place-to-go-for-
textiles contests commercialism. Such
multiple identities contradict the flavor
and intention of this place.
Through this, it can be seen that
historiography can be manipulated
through landscapes. By gazetting
and honoring certain places, fencing
them up, it brings focus to part of our
heritage. And whatever that is beyond
the fence, is typically neglected or
forgotten. This underlines the intention
of the government to play up certain
aspect of culture that is coherent with
national aim, and downplaying other
aspects that are not in-line with the
state’s aims. Such manipulation of
landscape emphasizes its power. It
can even alter the impression and
knowledge amongst the indigenous
locals, which explains why we had
superficial understanding of Kampong
Glam in the first place.

Upon reflection, it might not be the

case that culture is evaporating into
thin air, but rather, they are evolving
into some new set of hybrids,
building on and modifying from the
older traditions, to suit the tempo of
contemporary life. Since we do not
know what to look out for, it is harder
to see the forthcoming gains and
easier to notice the current cultural
loses. Selective attrition thus favors
the cultures best suited to preserving
the cultural creations of the past.
PAYC ‘08 “No Reservations”
By Kenneth Leo

The annual Political Association Youth Camp was one of the major
projects undertaken by NUSPA. It is one of the many camps held in NUS
to welcome the freshmen and to provide a platform for them to socialize
and forge friendships that will see them through their university life. The
camp also serves to introduce the freshmen to NUSPA and give them a
glimpse of what to expect should they opt to become one of us. I am
pleased to say that we were able to reach out to 40 over campers this
year.

This year, the camp was named “No Reservations” in the hope of bringing
out a different side of the politically savvy freshmen, whom some may
consider to be ‘not so cool’. Well, to all those who see us in such a light,
happy faces and the silly acts caught on camera are testaments that
politically aware students are also capable of having a good time.

Unlike the previous years, this year the camp was shifted from the
usual Sentosa back to our campus. This was done in view of getting the
freshmen to sooner adapt themselves to life on campus. However, the
change in location was compensated by the better quality activities and
meals provided, which was made possible due to the funds freed from a
chalet stay in Sentosa.

Some of the camp’s key highlights included an entire day’s cycling at

East Coast Park, an evening of board-gaming at Mind Cafe, and a day
of sun and fun at the Siloso Beach. The camp ended on a high with a
finale dinner at Vivocity’s Marche where each camper ate all he or she
could with the allocated budget of thirty dollars per person. Feedbacks
from the campers have reflected that the quality of food and activities
provided in the duration of their stay was value for the camp fees paid.

Kenneth Leo
Youth Camp Director
33rd Management Committee
 Luxuriate
By Low Tian Leng
According to the Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary, “luxuriate” is the action of
growing profusely, developing extensively
and/or indulging oneself and deriving
great enjoyment from the luxury and
comfort that ‘it’ offers. The recent financial
storm that started from the breakdown of
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and erupted
in the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers
goes to show the sphere of influence of
globalization and the inevitability that a
change in American’s well-being is able to
upset the rest of the world.
“A financial crisis unmatched since
the Great Depression” , Larry Elliott,
economics edit for The Guardian. For a
non-economics academic and student
to understand the entire process of the
Credit Derivative system that resulted in
the mess we are in today is not an easy
feat. On March 17, 2008 Alan Greenspan
wrote an article for the Financial Times’
Economists’ Forum entitled “We will never
have a perfect model of risk” in which he
argued: “We will never be able to anticipate
all discontinuities in financial markets”. He
concluded: “It is important, indeed crucial,
that any reforms in, and adjustments to,
the structure of markets and regulation
not inhibits our most reliable and
effective safeguards against cumulative
economic failure: market flexibility and
open competition”. The pervasiveness of
globalization is apparent; the immense
instability in the United States has
perturbed many countries in the World,
such as Iceland, United Kingdom, Sweden,
and Ireland. Even in Asia, China, Japan,
Taiwan and South Korea are also severely
impacted; governments were obliged to
bail-out or to pledge the national reserves
as a guarantee for the Banks.
It is important to seek out the root cause
of the problem, such that we can install
and establish systems that the liberal
banking systems cannot self-correct.
How many years of Wall Street glamour
fostered the luxuriating lifestyle and
culture in developed countries? Did the
invisible hands by Adam Smith fail? Or
did Karl Marx’s Capital pre-empt the
failure of Capitalism came true? In the
midst of the United States Presidential
Elections, we are hearing speculations of
Barack Obama being a socialist in times of
economic and financial turmoil. There are
many questions that we can contemplate.
Although we must not presume this
mayhem in the markets to be part-and-
parcel of civilizations, it is human nature to
forgive and forget. What we must not do
is to forgive and forget the mistakes that
we should be constantly reminded of.
 Essay Writing
Compet:tion 2009
THEME: Negotiating Self-Identity
Essay Writing Competition is open to all tertiary students. Dateline for
submission of articles for Essay Writing Competition is 28th Feb 2009 at
5 pm . Articles can be submitted online to publications@nuspa.org.
Enquiries can be emailed to the above-mentioned address.
Word limit: 800 words
Judging Criteria:
Usage of the theme (50%)
Language and Grammar (30%)
Creativity (20%)
Prizes:
$150 for 1st prize
$100 for 2nd prize
$50 for 3rd prize
Selected entries will be
featured in the NUS Students'
Political Association (NUSPA)
Newsletter, Le Message.

Organised by: