The Financial Tsunami ( FT ) - The Way Forward ( 9 ) - Caps off to the Captain

The hero of last month's lucky escape for everyone on board US Airways Flight 1549 that forced landed in the Hudson River of NYC, Captain Chesley Sullenberger is exemplary among his peers. It was his professionalism and nerve of steel that were the main factors behind that miraculous escape for everyone. Of course, luck is always a dominant player as usual. I raise my hat to this real American hero who had made a critical difference at the hour of near disaster. Had every high ranking Wall Street executive possessed his qualities we would not be in our present predicament.

I haven't got the slightest doubt that all Wall Street gurus are tip top professionals but where had their professional skills been applied to ? The most important thing that would make the difference between a hero and a villain is not simply skill but a sense of duty and his sense of dedication to his fellow citizens. If one is to choose between skill and honour the latter has to be the better bet especially with regard to key financial institutions where integrity and a high moral standard are the only safeguard for public interest. No written law can effectively prevent the CEO of a giant corporation from benefiting from insider dealing based on sensitive information privy to the top management. Therefore, a basic change in the value system in a capitalistic society is badly needed.

Instead of measuring people's success solely in terms of dollars and cents thus creating a lob-sided sense of value we should look to other qualitative factors such as how the environment is protected by a particular measure or how large is the proportion of the population that has been benefited by that measure. More attention must be paid to our younger generation in fostering their healthy sense of value. For example, the reward for getting good grades at school need not be monetary or materialistic in nature. The promise of a family trip or other more cultural rewards such as attending concert together could in the long run change the value of the younger generation. Down under where yours truly have my adopted home. The financially disadvantaged kids here need not fear that they will be totally ignored by other attractive young teenagers. If they surf well or have a good sense of humour there are endless opportunities to find a partner for life. Of course, the American way may find them not ambitious enough or they may even be considered as losers. But who could have imagined before 2008 that those who have failed the world most badly would be the ambitious and high flying Wall Street achievers. Everything has its time and place. Some issues take time to resolve or evolve to full maturity. The " instant noodle " culture or instant result ( at the expense of fairness or morality ) attitude can never stand the test of time. Chasing economic efficiency at the expense of moral efficacy has proven to be costly for the whole global village. We must think twice about keeping to the outdated " sky is the limit " view for remunerating or motivating people in the enlightened form of capitalism that would be a fundamental solution to prevent any more future FT. A balanced value system is the best safeguard against such disasters with a healthy financial regulatory system acting as a second line of defense.

So, let us hope and pray that all future key custodians of key financial institutions on Wall Street are like the real American hero, Captain Sullenberger who is a person of high professionalism with a nerve of steel in time of crisis because he puts honour before everything else including his own life and limb not to say the pathetic vice of greed. If the black sheep of Wall street were honourable they would have surrendered all their loots to their government to be used as part of the FT rescue package. Isn't it the honourable and right thing to do to make up for your mistakes by doing reparation ?

JKHC.