Abusing trust

“Most women teaches their female friends to always be on guard throughout their nuptial ties so that they do become a victim of betrayal, if it ever does happen.
To me, that only means that you probably don’t know what love is about or ever truly loved your partner, with all the mistrust that is happening.
Now why do I say so?
Because love is after all blind!
And if you’re not one who is blinded, probably there’s never so much as a thing called “love” to begin with!
Be proud that you are blinded, because love is when two souls are bonded in holy matrimony and became one. And thus, you are required to perform your vows as a single entity by sharing and giving to one another. That is also the moment of truth when you realise that you are one person who is capable of giving fully your heart to love. That you trust the other person completely. That’s what love is about. And that’s what God wants, nevermind what others say.
And if you do not know how to love another fully and give your complete trust to your partner, but follow your friends advice and remain cautious, then, I’m sorry but you are better off single. So is your friend. Than to cheat your partner for a lifetime with that barricade of mistrust forever looming in the shadow of your union.
Yes, unfortunate things do happen in relationships if you do not follow your friends advice. But whatever it is, just regard it as your partner’s loss for abusing your trust and failing to see through your well-meaninged intentions and generosity by giving fully your love towards the relationship.”

All About Provenance

“Provenance establishes the history of ownership. Not authenticity. But a good provenance certainly supports authentication, removes all doubt towards the legitimacy of ownership, whilst eliminating disputes and claim towards the work once sold.

On the contrary, if an artwork is authentic, nothing can take away the genuineness even when no documents ever existed. Not even provenance. Genuine works of this nature just happens to hover on a different plane because of unexpected turn of events or otherwise beit relocation, war, death, spring cleaning, debt settlement, divorce, gifts, donations, even hunger, as they fall into the hands of cafe owners, descendants, friends, undeserving people, neighbours, strangers, cleaners, movers, antique shops, flea market, pawn shops or the worse case scenario, refuse bins! With no receipts, papers, or even a signature intact, should authentic works of this nature be appraised at a lower price?

Provenance is a Western invention. It is the trailing bloodline of every personal property since the day the object leaves the hand of its creator beit the artist, craftsmen or artisan till the present owner. With more claims of stolen items being sold at auctions at frivolous prices, provenance became a necessity deterrent from costly lawsuits, and a convenient tool to reject dubious consignments. Nowadays, it behaves as a stop valve to deter ‘blockage’. A term appraisers use when too many items of similar nature flock the market causing the value of a personal property once thought rare, but now ubiquitous, to fall. In instances like this, should provenance be abused to control the flow thus preventing blockage from happening?

But if provenance is vital, how could one Chinese ceramic found in a shoebox, and another, which was used as a door stopper, escape this stringent necessity? By pure reasoning, it is certainly doubtful that accidental possessions and unexpected finds like these do have papers to back them up. This includes the controversial possession of two zodiac animal busts that once grace the walls of the Forbidden City in China. Why, one wonders, that the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 does not apply to consignments such as these, when war spoils should be repatriated accordingly?

Many reasons could be factored in but one seemingly good reason why reputed auction houses are prepared to take chances by breaking conventions is the quality exuded by an irresistible find. Hence, it goes without saying that no matter what, provenance no matter how muzzy it is, cannot take away the authenticity or genuineness of a property, more so when no report of theft was ever recorded, which begs the question: “How should one keeps track of cultural relics and papers and address the grey areas of provenance, when for example the Cultural Revolution of China 1966 displaces everything? Even real estate title deeds. Wouldn’t this imply that all Chinese relics are in-consignable? And if that being the case, wouldn’t the Western collector indirectly has more to benefit in the auction circuit than their Eastern counterparts?

Since early 2000 as auction records would have shown, the demand for Chinese cultural relics soared a million times over. The downside being so did their bad debts reach an unprecedented scale. The reason is because some Chinese sellers view provenance as double standard Western capitalism designed to subdue Chinese consignors. Hence their retaliation by not paying. This triggers a series of revamps implemented for would-be bidders never seen in auction rules before to curb the frequent fraudulent bid calls. But not long after, the Chinese Central Committee decided to set up their own auction houses, after some unsuccessful attempts to buyout some reputed auction platforms. Not one but a few.

Besides these concerns, there are scenarios of consignors owning the right papers, but sold duplicated artworks to unsuspecting buyers sometimes with the original papers, at times without~ the original work of which they still keep. There too are cases of genuine artworks without the necessary papers being mistakenly rejected as dubious. Incidents like this happens frequently at auction houses, especially those which lacks expertise. At the other end of the spectrum are consignors with underworld links whose lawless reputation exceeds the genuineness of their provenance. And there are also the uninformed collectors who seem to invest more in dubious artworks, that when their collection is assessed as a whole, cautious auction houses will shun away as quickly. Last but not least are cases where dubious artworks by famous artists and forgeries appears in open auctions, as favours to appease their high-powered buyers. Cases like this are not one-of-a-kind but ubiquitous. What is more beguiling is can dubious artworks possesses genuine provenance then escape close scrutiny? Think about it.

In most cases, properties that fetches record prices has an important personality or impeccable history of ownership attached to it. These personalities simply overshadow the long trail of provenance required. So much so that it has become the norm for auction houses of repute to turn away those which do not have. But does that mean that collections coming from important personalities or collectors are always genuine? The answer is a resounding no. Because every collector, no matter how experienced they are, is vulnerable to deception. More so when they lack knowledge in their field of interest, more frequently occurring in the early stages of collecting.

Many a time, good properties has been rejected by reputed auction houses because provenance could not be established. This is indeed sad for genuine collectors who turns their hobby into a lucrative investment that each time they spotted a valuable piece going for a song at the flea market, they need to request for formal papers. Wouldn’t that raise eyebrows when sometimes, the asking price is merely USD10? Moreover, what kind of provenance and lineage does one expect from a country which has only gained independence for slightly more than a decade? Or another that survives a Holocaust or a cultural revolution? A string of DNA’s or atoms to backtrace your fossil collection?

Imagine a genuine Picasso or a Pollock not previously known which has no provenance. Will the auction house reject it and regard it as fraud just because no evidence of its existence was ever recorded in the catalogue raisonnè nor the stolen objects databases? Or will they report it so that the possessor is arrested? Or would they set forth an ingenious marketing strategy to have it sold because of the high estimate it could fetch? It is well known that the latter does happen to some blue collar consignors who uses their lifetime savings to build their collection. That will again depends if their engagement is convincing enough that these auction houses would stick out their neck to help them.

The story about provenance is long and wide. With many twists and turns. To those who aren’t aware, perhaps this is the time to pay heed to the propensity of tracking down provenance. If possible, to backtrack it till it hits the date of origin of produce or manufacture. If they want to have it consigned in the future that is. But in their own way, auction houses protect their own integrity by screening and investigating each and every property they intend to accept. Because they understand that costly mistakes can seriously damage their reputation. Especially the provenance tied to these properties. Good auction houses also constantly refine their method and mode of working to ensure staff integrity to ward off malicious deals schemed by greedy collectors wanting to dispose off their doubtful loots.

Recently there were two cases of properties fetching ludicrously high prices, many times higher than the low estimate being sold online. One is of a Chinese Republican type vase of very poor condition, the other, a Song dynasty censer of doubtful attribution. How does this happen one wonders? Although money laundering seems to be the obvious reason, scammers of today are now getting more creative than ever before, scouting for loopholes in the terms and conditions of selling platforms to thrive, and if all auction houses carries with them disclaimers, then, so much the better for scammers to roll out vague deals, then disappear by the click of a button. Because of voluminous listings, most auction platforms have no control over fraudulent claims, auction estimates, and provenance especially – the hammer price of which still relies very much on the bidders discretion and direct engagement with the seller at the other end. Provenance? They disappeared into the backseat. Online auction platforms in general are commission agents. Not authenticators doing you a service. They provide you with an avenue to dispose your possessions. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Now the final question. Are there categories of properties that doesn’t require provenance? Yes there are. Maybe if one is tired of trailing provenance, they should perhaps collect something else that doesn’t require them. Think about it.

– Kris Lee 2014/2021.
Appraiser/Auctioneer/Collector of art, antiques and collectibles with more than 3 decades of

Cricket In Heaven

Two 90 year old men, Mike and Joe, have been friends all of their lives.

When it’s clear that Joe is dying, Mike visits him every day.

One day Mike says, “Joe, we both loved cricket all our lives, and we played cricket on Saturdays together for so many years. Please do me one favour, when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if there’s bat and ball there and the game is played there!”

Joe looks up at Mike from his death bed,
“Mike, you’ve been my best friend for many years. If it’s at all possible, I’ll do this favour for you.”

Shortly after that, Joe passes on.

At midnight, a couple of nights later, Mike is awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to him, “Mike–Mike!”

“Who is it?”
asks Mike sitting up suddenly. “Who is it?”

“Mike–it’s me, Joe!”

“You’re not Joe…. Joe just died!”

“I’m telling you, it’s me, Joe,” insists the voice.

“Joe! Where are you now?”

“In heaven”, replies Joe. “I have some really good news and a little bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first,” says Mike.

“The good news,” Joe says,” is that there’s bat and ball in heaven and they do play cricket! Better yet, all of our old friends who died before us are here, too. Better than that, we’re all young again. Better still, it’s always spring time and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play cricket all we want, and we never get tired.”

“That’s fantastic,” says Mike. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams! So what’s the bad news?”

“You’re in the team for this Saturday’s match !!!”

Failed Mathematics

“They cheered for the fishermen, yet none of these victory march protesters has ever stepped foot near that village and beach before, nor when the discussion was going on before the decision was made. Public engagement was open, but they prefer to wallow in their own forum and follow their leaders, gerakan stalwarts formed under the guise of ngos who thought they could cripple dap in the name of conservation, by stirring a non-issue when in reality, the family of these fishermen no longer finds a promising future basking under that windy tide.

As a Malay centered township, it would be shallow thinking to even suggest that these inhabitants weren’t engaged to help improve their living conditions, nor were they denied provisions to learn and earn et al. And it is indeed a tragedy that ngos would use their plight to justify their need to preserve that catchment. Besides, the current government did not deny them their right of earning, even when judging according to today’s standard, their occupation is no longer sustainable. But if they have decided to stay put in that catchment, but deny the progress that would benefit their village in the long term such as connectivity to the city, and added value to their property, that has far reaching consequences and an oversight.

It is sad but true, but many of their younger generations prefer to be grab drivers instead. And no wedding planners has ever considered that part of the island to be an ideal shooting location. The access since sixty years ago was long and winding no thanks to the bn government who did nothing to improve their livelihood except blurting our empty promises. Thus their current state of affairs. And btw, do any of these protesters at the last count knew exactly how many of these fishermen are still making a living combing the sea? 200? No. It’s hardly 10 percent. Their catch hardly feeds the inhabitants of their own village. One can trust their so-called ngos to keep the statistics tucked under their arms. And then blame their dwindling catch to the circumstances plaguing the sea, when the truth is, none of them wanted to be a fishermen anymore than you do. On a lighter note, why be a fishermen when all the politicians drives a Vellfires?

The ngos may cry victory of sweetness, then beat their behind and leave that place under the care of father sun, whilst these fishermen’s scorch their skins and suffer, so they could all have their little cheap thrills once in awhile penetrating the area with camera crews in the name of conservation.

And the biggest loser? The villagers not forgetting the people of Penang. Because if their standard of living did not change years down the road whilst yours is way ahead in terms of invincibility, remember this day which says so much of your careless character and selfish motives. Besides, there is not enough heightened activity and inhabitants to justify the need to build the costly link. In all goodness, the current government is trying to help them unlock the full potential of their village besides uplifting their standard of living. And if anyone would suggest that this is a political ploy, think about the humongous budget that one needs to raise when really, they could unlock it elsewhere with lesser budget.

And so what we have here are political parties cloaking as ngos and Malay supremacists back saddling the ngos questioning the sincerity of a dap led government. That’s what it is. Using marine life and it’s survival as excuse. So much for Merdeka and what it means.”

Government Tango

“I would love that we could all tango from stages 1 to 2 or stages 2 to 4 but not during a time when the statistics deteriorate so badly 20 months into lockdown. And children’s are now rushed to school by October just because their first 100 days grand plan say so. Whatever that can be done then to prioritise children so that they do not need to waste two years of the lives idling has fallen onto deaf ears because our ministers thought their lives are far more important than these vulnerable children’s. Therefore they were all and I mean in totality, 70 ministers who received their two jabs first even before the frontliners does but claims to put our interests above theirs. And so is the idea of a strict lockdowns for 2 months being overruled by economic concerns of their cronies. And with the delta variant now running haywire in the streets, suddenly they decided to allow cinemas and hotels to operate. Fine. I have no problem with that for a long as the patrons and operators have all completed their jabs, but so must all the other types of business be allowed to operate and patronise only by those who have completed their jabs! The situation we have right now is that businesses in enclosed areas are allowed to open but banks still restrict users and gyms are not allowed. How different are they? And those foreign workers whom have not completed their vaccinations are roaming everywhere preparing and delivering food.

And why the restrictions on interstate travelling when you are so prepared to reinfect people from the same state by opening up touristy businesses? You mean your daily statistics as reported doesn’t add up our country as a whole, and that state borders are still manned by personnel’s to check on permits for parents visiting families or children that they are all required to reinfect themselves standing in line at police stations to seek permits?

To cut it short, our ministers all seem to suffer from post mental siege not helped by the lurking virus they thought it fine to legalise corruption side by side by pardoning corrupters and blaming individuals on the streets who committed suicide on drug taking. What? I am sorry but why don’t they ask themselves where these poor people find spare cash to purchase drugs when they don’t even have enough to buy food therefore they decided to dive down buildings while many others raised white flags that you clearly bar, and why is the drug problem persistently menacing after 6 decades of nation building? No will to correct the system?

Money and the thought of getting rich is the root of all evil and the mother of how corruption came about made worse by a government who succumbed. They seem to think it ok to drive into the minds of our children to follow in their footsteps while ironically making compulsory religious and moral studies in schools. And for as long as they are not the ones who eat sour bread or instant noodles, they are fine.

Well, the whole country is not fine when the biggest crooks in the history of mankind has direct access to the prime ministers office and government investiture ceremonies insisting they be made national economic recovery advisers. And it is certain not fine when the government changes and ran independently, indignant to the wishes of the rakyat. And it is not fine to admit defeat to a virus we could jolly well contain right from the beginning if not for the power tussle and billions spent to achieve herd immunity. These defeatist attitudes are certainly not welcoming nor are they putting our country at the forefront of disease control. What sort of messages are they prepared to send 100 days later? That corruption is also fine and it is here to stay?

Go F off!”