RM50 Million Donation By Koon

Proposed Rm 50 million donation to Penang State Government for building student hostels

by aaronhee | Sep 26, 2015 | Life, Nation | 0 comments

(posted on koonyewyin.com)

On 15th Sept 2015, I met the Penang State EXCO which has accepted my Rm 50 million donation under the following terms and conditions:

I wish to donate Rm 50 million for building student hostels to help students studying in Penang, especially students from poor families, in their access to tertiary education.

1. All the RM50 million and the subsequent profit from the rental and other income must be used for building hostels and other associated buildings for the use of students studying in Penang. These students can come from Penang and other states in the country or even be foreign students in keeping with Penang’s need to draw on the best talent from a globalized world.
2. All construction contracts exceeding RM10,000 must be open to competitive tenders.
3. A task force will be established to take full charge of the donation programme and the implementation of the hostels. The task force is to be composed of 7 members; 4 members to be nominated by the Penang State Government and including the Chief Minister as Chair, and 3 members to be nominated by myself or by my nominee.
4. I will be appointed as Adviser to the Task Force. The role of Adviser must be spelled out and agreeable to me. This position will be a life long one. Any change to be made to this position has to be sanctioned by me or by the executors of my estate.
5. The State Government will be responsible for the following
6. a) provision of state land for the hostels and associated facilities necessary for sports, parking, etc.
7. b) recruiting and defraying the costs of a team of professional staff to run and manage the hostels on a commercial basis.
8. The rental rate must be competitive and profitable but at the same time must not burden the student residents.
9. Koon Yew Yin and his estate reserve the right to authorize the state government to use a portion of the net income to establish a Koon Yew Yin Charitable Foundation to help poor students through loan scholarships to study in Penang.
10. To honour my donation, I wish to have a tablet prominently displayed in the hostel complex with the following words inscribed

Recipients of Koon Yew Yin scholarships and residents of Koon Yew Yin’s hostels have to promise that when they graduate and are financially solvent, they will help other poor people.

9. The entire complex of student hostels is to be named Koon Yew Yin Residential Complex. Each hostel in the complex is to be named after the fundamental rights of citizens such as Liberty, Justice, Equality, Fraternity, Freedom, Integrity, etc.

The Penang Government has allocated a piece of land with an area of 60,000 sq ft situated directly opposite USM which has a student population of 18,000 students. USM has hostel accommodation for only the 1st year students.

The land is zoned for high rise flats up to 36 storey high.

I have appointed my wife, Dr. Lim Teck Ghee and Architect Lee Thean Hock as my representatives in the management committee.

My architect has just started planning and designing for the project.

This photo was taken immediately after my meeting the Penang EXCO. From the left are Dr. Lim Teck Ghee, my wife, the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and I.

The above photo was taken immediately after my meeting the Penang EXCO. From the left are Dr. Lim Teck Ghee, my wife, the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and I.

Note: All my wealth is from share investment. I have written in my will that all my remaining assets will be donated for charity preferably to help poor students. I have been giving scholarships in the last 8 years and up till now, I have given about 300 scholarships. All my scholar recipients do not need to pay me back the money I spent on them but they have to promise me that when they are financially solvent, they must help other poor students.

I trust some of my scholarship recipients will continue to do charity to help poor and needy students after I die.

I believe some of my followers who have benefitted from my share investment advice, will do charity to help poor people.

We all must bear in mind that we cannot take our money along when we die. After we have given a good education to our children and discharge all our responsibilities, we must do charity to help the poor.

I know it is difficult to give away some of our hard earned money at the beginning. But gradually, we will feel happy in giving away money to help the poor to make them happy. We all must remember that our ultimate aim in life is happiness. When you see poor people happy, you will also feel happy.

I hope this announcement will encourage some readers to do some charity to make people happy. I hope this announcement will encourage some readers to do some charity to make people happy. Even a kind word can make a difference.

Moon My Cakes - The Annual Rant!!!

 Well, every year I brace myself for what will be the new fangled flavours for mooncakes. Ta-dah ... last year takes the cake (pun intended). Its Angry Birds mooncakes!  I think its a brilliant marketing strategy, its taking China/HK by the proverbial storm. Is that raining bird shit ... no, its just kids throwing their Angry Birds mooncakes in the air for effect. Now we even get Nasi Lemak ones.

This is for the benefit of new readers of this blog who have only been visiting for less than a year.

Each passing year, we get further away from tradition. Is this fusion or variety or just plain stupidity. I am talking about mooncakes. The whole thing marks of a scam.

Who doesn't know that the cost of a mooncake is minimal really compared to their exorbitant selling price. Why do you think almost every restaurant sells them? There must be a global collusion to sell these over priced things - its a Chinese mafia I tell you.

At best, the mooncake festival can be an excuse for family togetherness. The actual reasons and history for how the festival started are pretty flimsy. Its more stuffs of legends and fairytales than rooted in reality. But anyways, since the Chinese culture has no solid God/religion, where everything goes (the world is full of deities and buddhas as the saying goes), hearsay and stories evolved into things cultural, which in turn becomes tradition, and finally morphs into a marketing extravaganza.

Since it is stuff of legends and fairytales, its not rooted deeply in anything really, and is open for interpretation. It used to be just lotus paste and black sesame. Throw in the egg yolks if you want. NOW you have: lotus with dried sambal; green tea with pu'er; dragonfruit with blackcurrent; spirulina; the omochis; the ice cream ones; the durian paste; pandan sweet corn; capuccino; yam gingko nut; chocolate strawberry fondue; the various types of skin covers; oreo; chocolate walnut brownie; charcoal powder with wolfberry; Charcoal Infused Mocha Milk Tea; Snow Skin Japanese Potato with Custard; Fragrant Corn with Soft Yolk; Royal Jade Jelly; Nutty Chocolate with Yolk; Snow Skin Raspberry; Bluberry; Snow Skin Silky Vanilla Chestnut; Snow Skin Black Sesame; Green Beans with Cheese; chocolate peanut praline; blueberry blackcurrant cheese; chestnut Japanese jingsa; .... enough already... we are all losing the plot!!! Heck, I can even create an apom balik black sesame eggyolk ikan bilis flat moon cake... its all marketing baby!

Go back to the roots of the tradition. Why do we have Mooncake Festival? Its for family togetherness, its really for the kids ... I remember as kids I loved the festival, the lanterns and candles. I liked that connection, knowing that my dad and grand dad probably played with similar lanterns, similar candles and ate the same kind of mooncakes 50 or 100 years ago. That's the tradition that connects, and the kind you want to pass on to the next generation.


Above: lanterns for sale around Mid-Autumn Festival.


Not that anything about the mooncake thing is true, however, its cultural and it carries values, things we want to pass on - whether the festival is rooted in true events is not material anymore.

Hence, please you bloody marketers, do not cheapen the tradition. We want the connectivity. I will still want to buy the basic lotus paste or black sesame... and also the baked fish-shapes / pig-shaped mooncake biscuits ... because they all remind me of the past which I longed to remember and the people I do not wish to forget.


Of course, variations is a strong strategy to differentiate in a product/event that has "almost zero veracity" in truth or religious text. You don't find the Catholics changing ONE IOTA of the sacrament through the ages. Hence differentiation will continue cause no one cares, everyone is out to stand out and make money or get the latest "bling".

This year let me give you my HAZE Mooncakes, looks like smog, taste like freshly burnt tropical forest with a strong charcoal aftertaste - happy moonlike festival!!!

Regional variations in China

There are many regional variants of the mooncake. Types of traditional mooncakes include:

• Cantonese-style mooncake: Originating from Guangdong province, the Cantonese style mooncake has multiple variations. The ingredients used for the fillings are various: lotus seed paste, melon seed paste, ham, chicken, duck, roast pork, mushrooms, egg yolks, etc. More elaborate versions contain four egg yolks, representing the four phases of the moon. Recent contemporary forms (albeit non-traditional) sold in Hong Kong are even made from chocolate, ice-cream or jelly.

• Suzhou-style mooncake:: This style began more than a thousand years ago, and is known for its layers of flaky dough and generous allotment of sugar and lard. Within this regional type, there are more than a dozen variations. It is also smaller than most other regional varieties. Suzhou-style mooncakes feature both sweet and savoury types, the latter served hot and usually filled with pork mince.

• Beijing-style mooncake: This style has two variations. One is called "di qiang," which was influenced by the Suzhou-style mooncake. It has a light foamy dough as opposed to a flaky one. The other variation is called "fan mao" and has a flaky white dough. The two most popular fillings are the mountain hawthorn and wisteria blossom flavour. The Beijing-style mooncake is often meticulously decorated.

• Chaoshan (Teochew)-style mooncake: This is another flaky crust variety, but is larger in size than the Suzhou variety. It is close in diameter to the Cantonese style, but thinner in thickness. A variety of fillings are used, but the aroma of lard after roasting is emphasised.

• Ningbo-style mooncake: This style is also inspired by the Suzhou-style. It is prevalent in Zhejiang province and has a compact covering. The fillings are either seaweed or ham; it is also known for its spicy and salty flavour.

• Yunnan-style mooncake: Also known as "t'o" to the residents, its distinctive feature is the combination of various flours for the dough and includes rice flour, wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and more. Most of the variations within this style are sweet.

The Future of Cash

I have been teaching monetary economics and money and banking for nearly two decades. Back in 1998 I gave a lecture on the future of cash and the possibility of a cashless society. In 2015, we are closer to having a cashless society than we were back in 1998 thanks to the likes of Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Bitcoin, and ubiquitous credit cards. However, we still use cash and lots of it. Why? Convenience, anonymity, and the grey economy go some way to explaining our demand for cash. The cost to small retailers of going cashless is also playing a role. However, a lack of trust in the security of electronic payments skews the preference of many away from e-money towards cash. In addition, many low-income families do not have access to electronic payments systems because they are unbanked.  

The Bank of England video below gives an excellent overview of the future of cash. Will we be cashless by 2035? I for one doubt it.

Martin Wolf's Verdict on the Fed

Last week the Federal Reserve did not raise it interest rate despite signalling for months beforehand that it would do so (so-called forward guidance). Why did they do so? Why did markets react negatively to the announcement? In the video below, the FT's Martin Wolf tackles these and other questions.

Making Sense Of The Syrian Refugee Crisis

The refugee crisis in Europe basically emanated from the Syrian failed revolution against Assad. Forget about that dispirit, Syria now is torn and kalam-kabut with various parties trying to gain the upper hand.

This cartoon is very FAIR and HONEST in trying to explain the issues surrounding the current crisis. There are a lot of concerns on the issue of Islamisation of European countries, crime, integration issues, etc... Watch this and don't get all riled up over nonsense pervading our multimedia.

Japan Stunned the Springboks ... Deservedly

How big was this result ... let me put in proper perspective ... if it was the football World Cup, is it like Malaysia beating Brazil ... ono because Malaysia cannot even make the World Cup finals proper. 

S


So, this is also NOT like Japan beating Brazil in the World Cup because Japan is a proper force in football and its not that shocking even if Japan beats Brazil. This is like New Zealand beating Germany in the World Cup.... cause South Africa or the Springboks had been multiple champions in their past lives, and NZ like Japan has never ever come close to football glory and rugby glory respectively.

Even that comparison is not sufficient because its harder for underdogs to usurp their higher ranked foes in rugby than say football. In football, you can get a lucky goal, a deflected free kick, a mistake ... and then defend like hell and still beat a higher ranked opponent. In rugby, its muscles and grind and pressure constantly, you get very few freebies, you need muscle and deft passes and great tackling to get yardage. Which is why Japan is over the moon with the victory, they literally played out of their skins, and when the opportunity to tie presented itself a couple of times in the dying minutes, they did not take it but went for victory instead.

Ganbatte!!!

Real Property/Construction Awards We'd Like To See

More than usual, we'd be inundated with pages and pages of self-congratulatory, own-association, "sharing of the pig among members" by property and construction industries. This project good la, that gets gold award, that bronze award ... so many awards that its amazing to find any project without an award.

However, these peripheral, syok-sendiri awards are necessary for the industry ... much like how the Academy Awards started, we are so good, why no one give us awards... never mind, we give ourselves awards hah!

The public is not interested at all because you fellas do not give out the Real Awards ... such as:

BEST PROPERTY PROJECT for maximum percentage gain from official selling price one year after launch date (ta-dah!!!)

BEST PROPERTY PROJECT for the best discount from official selling price plus freebies thrown in

BEST PROPERTY PROJECT with the most innovative financing using the minimum down payment and extended period for further payment till handover

BEST PROPERTY PROJECT that delivers within the stipulated timeframe as advertised

BEST CONSTRUCTION PROJECT with the fewest "touch ups" or "defects-construction issues" after handover

The Railway Mania and Managerial Failure

Could it be that stock-market bubbles occur because managers and CEOs overexpand their businesses simultaneously in a hubristic and possibly irrational fashion? Or could it be that managers and CEOs expand their business simply to maintain incumbent positions? Along with my colleague Gareth Campbell, I have recently published a paper in Business History which addresses these very questions. The paper is entitled Managerial Failure in Mid-Victorian Britain?: Corporate Expansion during a Promotion Boom. An earlier version of the paper is available here and the paper's abstract is as follows:

This article examines the mid-1840s expansion of the British railway network, which was associated with a large deterioration in shareholder value. Using a counterfactual approach and new data on railway competition, we argue that the expansion of the railway companies, and their subsequent decline in financial performance, was not due to managerial failure. Rather, the promotion of new routes by established railways and mergers with other companies was part of a managerial strategy to maintain incumbent positions, and may have been preferable to not expanding whilst their competitors did.

Shiller's CAPE - The Usefulness of Financial History

How should one value a firm or the overall stock market? Below is an interview with Robert Shiller on his cyclically-adjusted price/earnings ratio and its usefulness as a predictor of future market value. Shiller thinks that today's market is overvalued, but is not sure when the market will turn down.

Melt In Your Mouth New York Brisket In KL

I have walked past this little kiosk a number of times but never patronised it till I read the excellent review by Vivian Chong in The Malay Mail a few days back. So I went yesterday and after the first bite into my beef brisket pocket, I kicked myself for not having this earlier.








Its just like the ones I had in New York and there the beef brisket is like a religion. Normally when you have a beef sandwich you are likely to encounter some shards of muscle here and there, a proper slow cooked beef brisket melts in your mouth.

I must say, the seasoning is just right. Not too many condiments. Its a 9/10.

He operates alone, so be prepared to wait.









Brooklyn Deli is at LG-7 (next to Boost Juice), 1 Mont Kiara Mall, 1 Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, KL.  Opens daily: 11.30am-10pm;

For bookings of roast beef, beef brisket or the metre-long sandwich, contact David Hoh at +6012-627 6193 

See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/eat-drink/article/bite-into-brooklyn-style-deli-delights-in-kuala-lumpur#sthash.gWz8lSMs.zl0gjN5O.dpuf

China's Stock Market Woes

Back at the start of June, I predicted that China's stock-market bubble was about to burst - click here. Over the summer, we saw the Chinese government attempt to pump liquidity into the bubble to keep it inflated, but if anything this backfired. So the big question for investors in the rest of the world is whether the turmoil in China's stock market is simply a bubble bursting or a bellwether of future economic difficulties for China? If it is the former, then investors in the West have nothing to fear. However, if it is the latter then the slowing of China will have major repercussions for those who export to China and for those who have benefited from the boom in commodity prices thanks to huge demand from China for raw materials and food. 

As I highlighted in my post back at the start of June, China had all the ingredients for a classic stock-market bubble. However, its economy does have some major flaws which only a major shift in China's political institutions can address. If China cannot fix its political institutions (i.e., introduce some form of democracy), then it may be doomed to be the next country to permanently remain a middle-income economy e.g., Argentina or Greece. In other words, without major reform, China's growth will slow and stay low for a very long time.

Source: Radio Free Asia

Slow Things Down

What is it about us humans that we always see the grass being greener elsewhere .. we always yearn to travel and see the world, catch the sights and sounds ... it usually takes an outsider to appreciate beauty as those inhabitants are usually too jaded to notice whats in their backyard ... watching this magnificent video would make us think Malaysia is sooo gorgeous ... maybe we all should be less jaded and 'slow things down' to smell the bloody roses.

Do Good, Be Good .... Why

Look at the poster ... its what I call CRAP!!!

In Christianity its because God so loved you, and now that you have been saved, you should be like Christ, be good, be nice.

In Buddhism, we are all just passing through, its cycles, we need to improve the present life so that our future life cycles higher in the road to nirvana. Karma is a bitch too, what you put in you plough... maybe not this life but eventually.

My problem with the above two 
postulations is why can't we be good for GOODNESS SAKE!!!??? Why do we need this fucking carrot being dangled in front of us, what are we, PETS!!???

I am not an atheist, and I do believe there is a God and its all very nice the love thing but let's leave it at that. Do not extrapolate that into my character. I am still me. If I do good its because good is really good, it brings out the best in humans. It is the right thing to do, AND YOU DO NOT FUCKING NEED TO HAVE FUCKING SOMETHING IN RETURN - you don't need presents, virgins, good luck, eternal life, good karma ... those are some other shit.

We have a mind, a sense of morality ... you may ask where do these come from ... even if they are God given, just say thank you ... but you do not need to do good because of that. Do good because the other side is evil/grey.



Yes I do feel good when I do good, so is that something for something, who cares... don't do it for presents or promises or to change your luck because those will only reveal how shallow your character is, and in the end your goodness is tainted and watered down. Will you still do good if there were NO CARROTS!!?? If you answer yes, thats the best answer and the only answer you need to hear. Good hearts can't be bought. You can nurture it but don't bribe me.

WE ARE NOT PETS... don't fucking dangle carrots/bones in front of us!!!

Bowie Deserves More Accolades

For somebody who has been more than an iconic rock pop start for over 40 years ... David Bowie sure can be termed as being under-rated. He is multi talented and can play many instruments, a strong confidence in his art indicated by his production and song writing abilities.

Bowie has stayed a few steps ahead of the pack in the early days. His iconic Space Oddity and Life On Mars came at a time when the race to space was paramount in the media. He humanise the aspirations. Not only that, the songs were gems as well.

He was deemed as freakish with his outlandish make up doing Ziggy Stardust in the mid 70s, something which was a precursor for the New Romantics and post-punk revolution a few years down the road.

He kept reinventing himself in the late 70s when he tried to break into the American market. He became a big hit in the US then. The main reason why his fame has not reached higher levels was his leaving the UK for the USA, causing many of his UK fans to be a pissed at him. Somehow he did not manage to win both sides all the same time.

In 1980 he got back into the good books of the British folk by coming out with Ashes to Ashes followed by a quintessential duet with Queen in Under Pressure.

His best move was to monetise his music by getting an upfront payment in 1997. Bowie got $55m in exchange for the current and future revenues of his 25 albums before 1990. The great thing was that Bowie only had to forego 10 years of his royalties to get the $55m. Judging by how the CDs and albums markets had been decimated in the 2000s ... David came out way ahead.

Bowie Bonds are asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of the 25 albums (287 songs) that David Bowie recorded before 1990. Bowie Bonds were pioneered in 1997 by rock and roll investment banker David Pullman.^[1] Issued in 1997, the bonds were bought for US$55 million by the Prudential Insurance Company of America.^[2][3] The bonds paid an interest rate of 7.9% and had an average life of ten years,^[4] a higher rate of return than a 10-year Treasury note (at the time, 6.37%).^[3] Royalties from the 25 albums generated the cash flow that secured the bonds' interest payments.^[5] Prudential also received guarantees from Bowie's label, EMI Records, which had recently signed a $30m deal with Bowie.^[3] By forfeiting ten years worth of royalties, David Bowie was able to receive a payment of US$55 million up front. Bowie used this income to buy songs owned by his former manager.^[4] Bowie's combined catalog of albums covered by this agreement sold more than 1 million copies annually at the time of the agreement.^[3]However, by March 2004, Moody's Investors Service lowered the bonds from an A3 rating (the seventh highest rating) to Baa3, one notch above junk status.^[6][7] The downgrade was prompted by lower-than-expected revenue "due to weakness in sales for recorded music" and that an unnamed company guaranteed the issue.^[8]

His adult contemporary pop rock never gets old. He kept churning hits after hits and no two ever sounded alike.

Here are my picks of his most important songs, and considering the number of hits he had, its tough to narrow them down (Life On Mars, Starman, Heroes, Sorrow, Rebel Rebel, Fame, Golden Years, Boys Keep Swinging, DJ, Under Pressure, Cat People, Let's Dance, Blue Jean, Jump They Say, Never Let Me Down, etc.)

#5 SOUND & VISION - This is probably my favourite Bowie song. Its half instrumental with delicious harmonies and vocals coming in in the second half of the song. The instrumentation again sublime - the over the top drums, simple lead guitar holding the melody again, and the clever use of synthesisers to bring it to the modern age.



#4 CHINA GIRL - Its enigmatic, suggestive and so danceable. Of course you can try to be a New Musical express writer and talk about post colonialism, domination and Westernization of Asian culture, oppression from the West about the song ... or just enjoy.



#3 MODERN LOVE - Its pop, its dance, its rock ... still relevant into the 80s.




#2 ASHES TO ASHES - The song came out in 1980 and heralded another reinvention from glam punk pop rock to adult contemporary dance. Exceptional instrumentations and still modern sounding even today.



#1  SPACE ODDITY - This song came out in 1969 and many did not know what to make of it. Its about an astronaut in space and the thoughts he had. Its about courage and fear and realising the epicentre of life, its vastness and the smallness of man. Bowie was inspired to write the song after watch Kubricks' 2001 A Space Odyssey. Those who are older than 65 would beware that the song came out 9 days before Apollo 11 landed on the moon - what a momentous coincidence. Its melodious and the song has been used in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and most spectacularly in the sic-fi HK movie The Midnight After (brilliant).

Something's Up Down Under

Things are looking very interesting down under ... you won't see these pictures in the mainstream media... I wonder why!!??

These are rally crowds at SDP (Commonwealth) and Workers Party (Simei). Last week's crowds at Hougang was scary as well.

So whats the main grouse of these Singachildren? Yes there are many things good and wonderful in Singapore ... civil service works like a clock, all applications are processed quickly and efficiently, there are almost no banking queues ... most things can be paid online, most people have housing thanks to CPF, the streets are safe and crime rate is very low ...etc...

The one main grouse is that the country do not seem to belong to them anymore. Its all good and such to have all highly qualified ministers, but there is elitism in that. You do whats good for the country as if it were a corporation.

They are correct to want to bring in highly skilled population if Singapore is to continue to move up the value curve, if Singapore wants to continue to be the strongest currency in the world ... but they missed out on the true aspirations of many of the middle and lower middle class population - they do not feel the country belongs to them anymore.

Soon, property prices will continue to head up, causing many of its citizens to take the money and nowhere to go, maybe Johor I guess. The gap between the expats (the haves) and the have nots will widen.

Influx of foreigners (foreign talent) ie crowding out employment opportunities of locals, driving up housing prices, changing the social make-up/culture.

According to the ruling PAP, if they were to continue with the plan to bring in more skilled expats - the population might hit 6.9m by 2030 as shown in the summary of the White paper below - where the citizen will no longer be the majority of the population by 2030... thats why one of the biggest draw is the proposal by one of the opposition party is to slow the intake of skilled workers so as to allow Singaporeans to be the majority of the population of Singapore. Not to sacrifice development but to do it slower and always maintaining the majority to be Singapore born citizens.

There are other things Singaporeans are concerned about:

Most Singaporeans can never take money out from CPF in their lifetime. The minimum age for withdrawal is 65. On top of that you can only take out the balance after keeping a minimum sum of 161k in the normal account (and will increase in line with inflation). Most lower income people will never be able to use this money in their lifetime! That's why so many old uncles and aunties are seen working at McDonald's and food courts across Singapore, the paltry CPF monthly sustenance pay is too paltry to cover expenses in this ultra expensive city.

Ruling party perceived to be out of touch with masses with seemingly elitist retorts which are seen as almost arrogant and condescending. 

Blame king mentality- blaming the government supported casinos which caused a rise in social problems since their introduction.

Some things are more important than economics and growth.

Review of Banking in Crisis

The first academic review of my book Banking in Crisis has been published in the Economic History Review. The review by Mark Billings (University of Exeter) says that my "contextualization of crises provides an excellent concise history of the last two hundred years of banking in Britain". Mark Billings finishes off his review by saying that "not all historians of British banking would agree with all Turner's arguments, but all will surely want to read this stimulating book and recommend it to their students. Regulators and policy makers should also read the book, not least to be shaken from any post-crisis complacency by Turner's gloomy conclusions on the direction of banking regulation".

Good Neighbours

I don't think I need to tell the readers here that we have a massive refugee crisis in Europe and in Asia in particular, but the situation is more dire in Europe. Depending on how rich a country is, it is only fair to contribute where you can. 

UK has done very well, what we call batting well above its average. I also have to single out the rich oil nations such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar ... kudos on the contributions ... BUT all four countries have TAKEN IN ZERO REFUGEE. Is it a country's prerogative not to take in refugees ??? I guess a country has the sovereignty to decide if they want their population to remain homogenous (largely) so as to stave off future social problems, maybe. I will try to not associate the innocent drowned boy in Turkey to this, although I can ...

Take my money but don't force me to take in any refugees. If every single country does that .... we are all so fucked. I think I can put Japan into that category as well.

Let's get one things straight ... no one chooses to be a refugee. They are running from something that is so bad that they would rather risk their lives in jammed up boats or trek hazardous areas to be "free-er". Yes, there are also economic refugees, but there are very very few of them (not like the Southern population migration from China in the early 1900).

The other country that needs to be singled out is China. Ye, it has some economic problems now, but its really nothing compared to the size of the country, the size of its economy, the role it plays in global trade and the surpluses it has accumulated. Certainly you need to play a bigger role in global issues. You have to do your part. 9.7m pounds from China ... god, thats even lesser than Switzerland, Luxembourg or South Korea!!!

WHO GIVES WHAT: CASH SPENT AND PLEDGED COUNTRY BY COUNTRY

COUNTRY	AID SPENDING
US	£2,800,986,584
European Commission	£1,041,852,208
UK	£920,646,623
Kuwait	£764,149,331
Individuals & organisations	£638,993,458
Germany	£633,585,440
Saudi Arabia	£387,077,881
UAE	£359,148,206
Canada	£341,430,640
Japan	£310,032,078
Norway	£171,992,010
Qatar	£157,992,727
Netherlands	£135,988,173
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)	£132,481,587
UN agencies	£130,667,593
Various (details not yet provided)	£125,234,632
Switzerland	£114,747,197
Sweden	£113,030,788
Australia	£98,394,682
Denmark	£94,068,068
France	£70,017,598
Italy	£64,432,296
Finland	£40,287,318
Belgium	£31,791,564
Ireland	£26,782,302
Russian Federation	£23,601,492
Spain	£20,918,214
Bahrain	£16,849,800
Luxembourg	£15,707,696
Oman	£15,180,000
Iraq	£15,157,436
Korea, Republic of	£15,108,390
Allocation of funds from Red Cross / Red Crescent	£12,307,248
China	£9,769,935
Austria	£8,843,065
New Zealand	£7,326,343
Morocco	£5,445,000
Czech Republic	£4,491,722
India	£3,824,381
Brazil	£3,821,400
Poland	£3,773,636
Mexico	£1,980,000
Algeria	£1,320,000
Estonia	£1,168,581
Allocation of unearmarked funds by IGOs	£866,611
Monaco	£758,898
Croatia	£695,665
Brunei Darussalam	£660,000
Mauritania	£660,000
Turkey	£660,000
Hungary	£485,200
Bulgaria	£483,115
Romania	£363,000
Ecuador	£330,000
Indonesia	£330,000
Malaysia	£330,000
Iceland	£267,300
Greece	£260,187
Portugal	£214,014
Colombia	£198,000
Slovenia	£173,584
Liechtenstein	£170,807
Slovakia	£170,426
Lithuania	£161,451
Uruguay	£151,807
Botswana	£132,000
Chile	£132,000
Kazakhstan	£132,000
Latvia	£118,776
Malta	£102,099
South Africa	£61,687
Cyprus	£39,197
Andorra	£33,987
Georgia	£33,000
Mongolia	£6,600
Holy See	£6,518
Montenegro	£3,300
Source:  Financial Tracking Service

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3222250/How-Britain-given-aid-refugees-Germany-Netherlands-France-Italy-Hungary-Austria-Poland-COMBINED.html#ixzz3kpQkTmXH
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