NOT SORROWS!
Like former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, you either love Goerge Soros or you hate him. No in-betweens.
Rogue? Philanthropist?
Mahathir had called him "Rogue" for his money speculation activities which the good doctor blamed as the fundamental cause of the Asian financial crisis. In good measure and humour, George returned the compliment way back in 1997 by addressing Malaysia's head of government "A menace to your own country".
Soros' recent visit gave the impression tat things have patched up between the arch enemies. The doctor's child Marina Mahathir (WElcome to blogsworld) hgave an interesting account of the historic meet, and I recommentd you surf rantingsbymm.blogspot.com for some wisdom from two olde horses' mouths.
I just visited a new-found blogger-friend @jelas.info and he led me to another interesting column by NST (yes, I do read the MSM much condemned by a block of Dr M's fan-bloggers; you want names? But Desi those goblets..., don't be cpeakstate only offereth tehtarik:( which I feel is strong enough to reprise here for theee to ponder, assuming you're not completely resting the grey matter because the Oh Carols are in the aire.
As I was saying, you either love Georgy or hate him with a V.
That depends on what you stand as far as sourcing your riches from
And then doing some charity.
Also like some Malaysian tycoons who think that by playing host to one Georgie, they deserve 15 minutes of fame too.
Desi has fondness playing with Georgie Porgie pudding and pie
Because we both stole kisses off young gals and made them s-mile.
(Lest someone do a Brendan Pereira on me yelling Plagiarism, Desi avows the last paragraph owes its origin to a Nursery Rime which he adapted slightly to put the smiles back of some "self-felf-abused" under-aged girls not from Malacca. Desi swaers he's a li'l knotty by inclination, so God forbid that any Y&A venture into this demonic hideout unchaperonnied.)
Special note o Queeen's English:
When a sentence starts with "Lest" it functions as equivalent of "Should" and NOT "if"; therefore the verb that follows is "do" NOT "does" as is often committed offence unnoticed except by the lights of Desiderata and johnleem!:):)
Now who the hell was IT who says "Self praise is no praise"?
You think only tycoons who spopnsor RM1,000 per plate dinner can enjoy that 15 minutes, isit?
(To be continued.....)
Contd as I had to keep a gentleman's word @11.45AM:
First, reprising from some columnist I respect, and I believe this is the SECOND of his columns I'm using:
First published in The New Straits Times on 20 December 2006.
Many eager to be like George Soros
by Zainul Ariffin
George Soros may not have been solely responsible for the financial crisis in 1997, but he was one of those ruthless traders who gained from weaknesses in the system.
FAMED currency trader, hedge funds founder and now a re-branded human rights and peace activist, George Soros’ visit to Malaysia last week, and his subsequent meeting with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, reminded me of my encounter with him a few years ago.
It was August 1997, the early days of the regional financial crisis, and the attack on the ringgit had just begun. The currency then had lost some five per cent against the US dollar, while the Thai baht and the Philippine peso were effectively devalued. A few months later, the ringgit would take a turn for the worse, leading to capital control within a year.
I was then this newspaper’s foreign correspondent based in New York. A call came from Soros’ aide, who said the financier wanted to give me an interview over the phone. After the initial surprise, I told him "of course, I would talk to Soros" but how was I to know that it would be him at the other end of the line.
Soros then was Malaysia’s public enemy number one, described by Dr Mahathir as a rouge speculator in the league of drug dealers. But he was also, to borrow Tom Wolfe’s description of such Wall Street types in the high-octane world of international finance, the Master of the Universe.
My accidental scoop was the envy of many financial journalists in the city, who would have loved to sit Soros down for an interview. For instance, at a World Bank/International Monetary Fund meet the same year in Washington, he was mobbed by reporters from all over the world asking him what he thought of the pound sterling , the peso, the dollar, the then German mark and French franc, etc. To each, he would answer like a sage, giving bits and pieces of fundamental market and economic theories.
Hungarian-born Soros, who founded many investment vehicles, earned his reputation as a genius and an influential man in the ways of the financial market when he made a killing of US$1 billion on the infamous Black Wednesday in September 1992, by betting against the British pound.
I was sure it was not his knowledge of the currencies that people wanted insight to, but everyone was trying to guess where he would be putting his money next. The mob mentality of the forex market was playing "follow the leader", and Soros was like King Midas — what he touched, turned to gold, or junk, depending on which way he was betting. He was the biggest of them all then, his word was gospel and he could have parted the sea if he had wanted to. That was how influential he was.
Anyway, a couple of hours later, I was at his impressive office at a penthouse overlooking Central Park. I remember it was a hot summer day since I was itching under my suit and tie, and was slightly annoyed that the man appeared in his rolled-up sleeves, minus a tie.
He came in rather peeved, though. Despite his calm composure, he was obviously riled and angry. He had something to get off his chest, which were, one, he had done nothing to undermine the ringgit, and two, where did Dr Mahathir come from to pin the blame on him? All the publicity was not good for his image, his business and his investors, I assumed.
Soros said he was not in the habit of talking about his investment activities but he was making an exception in the wake of Dr Mahathir’s charges, and wanted Malaysians to know his side of the story.
He produced a raft of computer printouts which, he said, were records of his transactions in foreign currencies. He claimed he did only US$10 million in the baht, and nothing on the ringgit or any other currencies in the region.
I politely told him that there was no way I could verify the document, nor was I interested to do so. I was more interested in allegations that he had used his influence in the financial market to punish Asean for ignoring his concerns about admitting Myanmar into the regional grouping. The regional currency troubles began just as Asean was ready to admit Myanmar.
Apart from dabbling in the markets, Soros was also promoting democracy through his Open Society Institute and was not too happy that Asean chose to reward the military junta in Myanmar by admitting it into the grouping.
He, nevertheless, said any attempt to engage the financial market for political purposes would be greatly resented by his shareholders.
There was also a steady stream of complaints about Dr Mahathir, pleas of innocence and indignation that he could be responsible for the misfortunes of millions who suffered as a result of the acts of currency traders. Please bring evidence of his nefarious activities, he said.
In my mind, for a good part of the hour-long interview, I was thinking that the man was obviously very angry. The time he had with me could have netted him a few millions, if he had spent it tracking the markets instead.
Soros wanted a debate with Dr Mahathir, and from what I gathered, they had theirs — indirectly through third parties via the Press. The meeting last week was the first time they had met, I was told.
Thus, Soros finally got a chance to state his innocence before his once-arch-enemy. I am not sure if the former prime minister had absolved him of the blame, since Dr Mahathir said while he accepted Soros’ explanation, the issue of forgiveness did not arise. It was time to move on.
Perhaps, Soros really should not be singled out for what happened to the region in 1997. Perhaps, it was the region’s fault, the go-go 1990s when money was overflowing and unbound optimism made us all ripe for the pickings. Maybe we were all to be blame for being too clouded by ambitions.
But we knew who the enemy was then, and they were the currency speculators. We needed a face for the enemy, and who better than Soros, the man whose exploits in 1992 earned him the dubious moniker as "the man who broke the Bank of England".
He may not have been directly involved, but I have yet to come to the point of absolving him. He was one of those ruthless traders, hiding behind strategies that took advantage of weaknesses in the international financial system, desensitised by blips on computer screens, ultimately creating havoc for untold millions to satisfy the portfolios of their investors.
As a champion of human rights, Soros must know that the actions by the likes of him wreak as much damage as war and natural calamities combined. He may, or may not, have mended his ways, but there are many others eager to be like him.
Money knows no enemies, and is a fair-weather friend, as we have unfortunately found out the hard way. There will be others keen to take advantage of our weaknesses, we just need to be extra careful, that is all.
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DESIDERATA:
I have my own story relating to George S I may share. I will rest here and see if I am inspired. If not, please exercise your PAtience which is Miss Virtuous while Desi continues his R&R as brudder Imran advises. I do listen to my Y&Artsy. Not fartsy though. That I leave to the hallowed halls of RM1,000-a-plate banquet where many a wise word and some tears of joy are shed. I am more at home on the range where ne'er is heard a discouraging word. Frankly I don't even know whether the last 50 words are relevant, but what the hell, Blogging is to ENJOY at one's whims and fancies. I am also not making billions so I can donae like 20million to harity. Hilarity. Oh, Miss Cheerytry.
Postscript @6.25PM:
Iz Zainul is reading tis, please be informed I tried to "Comment" at your Blog twice but failed. Here's the gist of the comment~~
Many eager to be like george soros
"well articulated and sensible arguments.
Neither Goerge Soros nor Dr Mahathir Mohamad have changed in character. Characters don't change from black to white with the passage of Time, only the circumstances have changed. Both are ex-...; but Dr Mahathir worked hard for a living as PM for 22 years, Soros brought untold Soros with his "gambling" activities via forex trading. Both have lots to answer -- the ex-PM to his people, and the money trader to the market. We can do with less of the latter category of Homo sapiens, his latter-day philanthropy not withstanding. Soros is NOT in the league of fellow American Bill Gates who is an international icon to emulate. "
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