It's happened again. Another rogue trader in Singapore – this time with Mitsui Oil Asia. The company is still investigating, and the staff member at the centre of the latest scandal hasn’t been named, but early indications are he made wrong bets in the Naphtha market, causing losses of US$81 mln. Apparently he hasn’t been seen at work since.

Clearly, no one wants to lose money. Clearly, it's not in Singapore's interest to see its reputation as a financial centre damaged. But if there is a silver lining to this saga – and Nick Leeson's Bearings Bank breaking escapades in the 1990s, and the US$550 mln loss China Aviation Oil made in trading derivatives – it's the fact that they are happening here in Singapore. Not in Kuala Lumpur, not in Bangkok, not in Jakarta, not in Sydney (Sydney's National Australia Bank scandal a few years ago was just as ugly, but seemingly a more isolated incident).

The fact is that Singapore – the tiny 639 square kilometre red dot on the map – is making big waves. Sometimes not the sort of waves we'd like. But we're on the map, and we regularly get listed alongside other financial centres, such as Tokyo, New York, London and Sydney. We're in the thick of the action. And when bad things happen they are dealt with accordingly.

We cannot run away from the fact that rogue traders come with the territory of a financial centre. We can pass laws and enforce them to keep it to a minimum. But we shouldn't kid ourselves into believing that we can be the "Switzerland of Asia" and not have these problems. As I said, no one wants to lose money, no one wants Singapore's reputation to be damaged. But consider the alternatives.

We could not be a financial centre.

We could be a meaningless green dot on the map.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Well, to continue the analogy: I'd rather be at the stove, sweating and getting splashed with oil from time to time than to be out of harms way as a dish washer.



Mark Laudi & Desiree Pakiam