Britain ready for war over Falkland Islands

Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday Britain was prepared to fight militarily to keep the Falkland Islands if necessary, in the face of renewed Argentinian rhetoric over their future.

Cameron said Britain had "strong defences" in place on the islands and fast jets and troops were stationed there -- comments Buenos Aires rejected as "militaristic threats."

President Cristina Kirchner said this week that Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Falklands by Britain in "a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism" and demanded they be handed over to Argentina.

Cameron insisted he was "absolutely clear" that Britain would defend the islands with military force.

In an interview on BBC TV, he said: "I get regular reports on this entire issue because I want to know that our defences are strong, our resolve is extremely strong."

Asked whether Britain would fight to keep the islands, he replied: "Of course we would, and we have strong defences in place on the Falkland Islands, that is absolutely key, that we have fast jets stationed there, we have troops stationed on the Falklands."

In Argentina, the foreign ministry issued a strong rebuttal following Cameron's comments.

It hit out at what it called "the aggressiveness of the British prime minister's words" and reiterated its demand that London honour a UN General Assembly resolution that invites the two sides to hold talks on the dispute.

Cameron said this week that the 3,000 residents of the Falklands had a strong desire to remain British and would have a chance to express their views in a referendum on their political status to be held in March.

The islanders are expected to vote strongly in favour of continued union with Britain.

Census data released in September showed that 95 percent of residents considered themselves to be either Falkland islanders, British, or from Saint Helena, another British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.

Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982, prompting Britain's then prime minister Margaret Thatcher to send a naval taskforce to successfully reclaim the islands in a war that claimed the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentinian soldiers. - AFP

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MERITOCRACY is about more than just academic grades

MERITOCRACY in Singapore is about more than just academic grades, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he stressed that everyone here has a shot at success.

“When we say ‘merit’, we are not just talking about grades or scores, but also character, leadership and a broad range of talents,” said Lee said in a speech to more than 1,500 students and their parents at a bursary and Edusave award ceremony in his Teck Ghee ward.

He said: “We make sure that whatever your family background, whatever your circumstances, you may be poor, you may be from a single-parent family, you may be having some learning disabilities, but if you work hard, you can succeed.

“It does not matter what your background is. We make sure we identify you, we give you the opportunities and also the resources and the support so that if you succeed, you can do well for Singapore.”

Yesterday was the second time in just over a month that PM Lee stressed that meritocracy cannot be narrowly defined as being just about grades. He also spoke on the topic at a PAP conference on Dec 2 last year.

In that speech, the Prime Minister said he was worried when Singaporeans reject meritocracy and asked what could replace merit as the basis for decisions on jobs or school places.

The principle has come under considerable scrutiny in recent months, especially in the field of education.

While the Prime Minister repeated the same call on broadening the definition of meritocracy, yesterday he focused on what roles parents and students can play in it.

He urged parents to set an example: “Guide your children, set good examples and instil good moral values in them.”

Turning to students, Lee urged them not to neglect their studies even though there would be more focus on character, leadership and service.

“Results and grades are not the only measure of success or the only things that matter in life,” Lee said, adding: “It is important that you learn and study to give you a good foundation for what you can do in life.”

He pledged that the Governm­ent will continue to help all students achieve their potential. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Market closes mixed, lower liners likely to hog the limelight

Regional bourses remained on a mixed trend with Japan's Nikkei 225 surging 292.93 points to 10,688.11 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 67.51 points to 23,331.09. Singapore's Straits Times eased one point to 3,223.80.

On the local front, the Industrial Index rose 19.44 points to 2,814.34, the Plantation Index improved 23.44 points to 8,255.19 and the Finance Index edged up 5.56 points to 15,341.36.

The FBM Emas Index increased 5.78 points to 11,485.90, the FBMT100 rose 2.71 points to 11,340.65, the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 17.33 points to 12,439.6 and the FBM Ace Index advanced 33.06 points to 4,259.77.

Total volume increased to 1.256 billion units valued at RM1.688bil compared with Thursday's close of 1.128 billion shares worth RM1.825bil. - Bernama

Lower liners likely to hog the limelight

REVIEW: Bursa Malaysia kicked off the last day of 2012 on the negative side, with the FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) shedding 2.93 points to 1,678.40, as profit-taking activity set in following a series of uptrend.

The overall market sentiment was pretty cautious, depressed by an extended fall in Wall Street overnight, as the White House and US lawmakers closed in on the “fiscal cliff” deadline with no deal in sight.

A pullback in most major Asian markets on profit-taking activity during the holiday season lull added to the downbeat note.

Given the dearth of fresh market-stimulating leads on the horizon, the local bourse succumbed to light liquidation to flirt in the red zones, but within a narrow range.

And that was the trend from the opening bell until the last minute, where buying in select heavyweights emerged suddenly to help the market reversed early weaknesses to end 2012 at a new record of 1,688.95, up 7.62 points on Monday.

World markets including Bursa Malaysia were shut on Tuesday for the New Year. While all of us were enjoying the holiday, optimism about the immediate direction of risky assets grew stronger, because a settlement in the “fiscal cliff” crisis in the US fuelled bullish sentiment across markets.

As expected, stocks in the region resumed business on solid grounds, with major Hang Seng Index leading the way, up nearly 3%.

Usually, the local bourse would mirror the offshore pattern, but in an unprecedented move, blue-chip counters reversed trend, as local institutional players opted to book profit from recent spikes.

Unlike the quality issues, non index-linked companies were mostly steady on greater retail participation and the two-tier market was clearly shown on the score card.

In spite of the FBM KLCI dropping 14.23 points to 1,673.72, winners beat decliners by 373 to 335 in mid-week.

Come Thursday, global equities sustained the upward thrust and the bulls on the domestic front took the opportunity to strike back.

Blue chips topped the gainers list while second and lower liners dominated the active page.

On the back of the better sentiment, the key index hit a new all-time high of 1,692.25, up 17.93 points that day.

It scaled another new peak of 1,699.68 in early session yesterday before retreating to close down 0.07 point to 1,692.58 owing to an apparent profit-taking activity.

Statistics: Week-on-week, the key index rose 11.25 points, or 0.7% to 1,692.58 yesterday, against 1,681.33 on Dec 28.

Total turnover for week ballooned to 4.093 billion units valued at RM6.020bil, compared with 2.920 billion shares worth RM3.941bil done previously.

Technical indicators: After triggering a sell at the overbought area in mid-week, the oscillator per cent K and the oscillator per cent D of the daily slow-stochastic momentum index weakened further to finish at the 66% and 73% respectively.

Likewise, the 14-day relative strength index retraced slightly from the top to end at the 69 points level.

In stark contrast, the daily moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) histogram continued to surge steadily, in tandem with the daily trigger line to keep the bullish signal.

Weekly indicators remained positive, with the weekly MACD and the weekly slow-stochastic momentum index keeping the buy call.

Outlook: Bursa Malaysia extended the upward momentum for the fifth consecutive week, largely due to “window-dressing” activity and funds taking fresh positions, as well as re-balancing their portfolios, with gains in the quality issues propelling the FBM KLCI higher to set a new record almost on a daily basis. The “fiscal cliff” resolution in the United States also aided local sentiment to some extent.

Based on the daily chart, the local bourse is bullish and it will remain so, as long as the key index continues to flirt inside the newly-established upward channel and supported by the rising 14-day and 21-day simple moving averages.

However, investors should take note that the local market has chalked up a total of 109.01 points, or 6.9% over the past five weeks and the bulls are starting to look tired. The next logical move would be to pause for air before resuming their rally later.

While we expect blue chips to correct in the short-term to avoid overheating, second and lower liners, a favourite for retail investors, are showing signs that they are ripe for a rally.

Technically, the daily and weekly MACDs are promising, but given the overbought condition, the local market is likely to consolidate, probably within a tight range this week.

Resistance is expected at every 20- or 30-point intervals above the 1,700-point psychological barrier.

Important support is pegged at the 1,680 points, followed by the 1,670 points and the next, at the 1,660-point mark.

MARKET TREND By K.M. LEE

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