COS 2012 Debates

I have been puzzled by this acronym COS for a few days. I do not know what COS means. I search for an explanation and found that it was being used by the Worker's Party. Nobody else use this acronym. Does anyone know what it means and why it is being coined?

Address the skill imbalance

The writer has raised a point which I agree. Our education system is not giving the right skills that are needed in the global economy.
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120303-0000029/Skills-imbalance-due-to-education-system

Rising business cost

The Members of Parliament and the Government is concerned about rising business costs. http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120303-0000046/Rising-business-costs--MPs-ask-if-Govt-can-do-more

But they are still blind to the causes of the high cost which can be attributed to:

• Unnecessary and time wasting regulations
• Inefficient payment system
• GST administration, adding cost and creating offsets
• Poor leadership in addressing the issues, i.e. avoiding responsibility
• Rising rentals - due to privatisation of industrial and commercial cost
• Higher cost of living, which results in the need to increase wages

The situation has grown progressively worse over the past decade. No one wants to look into the real causes of the situation. Things will continue to get worse, unless the real causes are tacked. I have mentioned many of these causes in my blog.

Hold an early by-election in Hougang

I am not convinced by the arguments put forward by Mr. Hri Kumar, Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency regarding the calling of a by-election for Hougang ("We should let PM do his job, Today 29 February).

It is the constitutional right for all citizens to be represented in Parliament by a person who is duly elected by them. The people of Hougang constituency has lost their representative due to an unfortunate event, which is not of their making or choice. They should not be deprived of their right to be represented.

The constitution does give the Prime Minister the duty to call for an election. It seemed to be a simple matter for him to carry out this duty. The arguments put forward by the honorable Member of Parliament about the "heat and debate" that may occur during the Hougang by-election is not compelling. Most elections do generate some heat and excitement for the people and that is the value of a democracy.

Some people have argued in an earlier occasion that the Prime Minister should not be distracted from attending to urgent national issues. I wish to suggest that the Prime Minister leave the arrangements for the by-election to the civil servants in the Elections Department. He can also leave the contest for this hot seat 

to the political leaders in his party.

Tan Kin Lian 

Reduce operating cost for small business

In his Budget for 2012, the Minister for Finance has recognized the need to help small companies offset  their operating cost. He is offering a cash grant of $5,000, which is helpful in the short term.

Over the longer term, it is important to bring down the cost of doing business, to help our companies, big and small, to remain competitive.

There are a number of inefficiencies that need to be addressed urgently:

• Heavy compliance cost of GST, especially to small businesses
• Online processes of government agencies, which saves a few minutes for the agemcy but adds hours to the time taken by the public
• Inadequacy in the payment infrastructure, which result in most businesses still using checks to make payments
• Heavy reliance of communicate by physical mail instead of electronic mail

We have to move more quickly to update our laws and practices to facilitate the use of electronic payment and communication, e.g. recognize electronic ways to replace signatures and make payments. The government agencies should take the lead in making these changes - as they would provide legitimacy to address the uncertainties of change.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore should be complimented for taking the lead to implement GIRO payments some 25 years ago. It is time for them to make another breakthrough in making pervasive use of  electronic payments.

Make it easy for customers to use internet banking

I hope that our banks make it easier for their customers

to make payments using internet banking.

DBS Bank requires me, as a customer, to register a payee and to 

authenticate the payee with my mobile phone. This is on

top of logging in to the account with my login name, PIN and

the token (2FA authentication).

As I have reached the limit of the number of my registered payees

I have to find one payee to delete, so that the new payee can be

added. 

When creating the payee, I must make sure that I have entered the 

bank account correctly, as the system does not show me the name 

of the payee. After going through so much hassle, it is easy to make 

a mistake at this juncture.

Previously, I have asked DBS Bank to provide an option for the customer 

to make small payments, say less than $500, without the need to go 

through the complicated process of registering, authenticating and 

deleting a payee. The customer will probably choose this option for a 

once-off payment. 

It would also be useful for the name of the payee to be displayed (after 

the bank account has been entered). This is more important than the

requirement to create a payee record.

DBS Bank was not able to accede to my request. I suspect that the 

current practice must be mandated by the regulator, i.e. Monetary Authority of Singapore. I hope that the regulator can give their comment on this issue.

Tan Kin Lian

A sensible approach towards teacher misconduct

Recently, there were a few news reports about misconduct by

teachers. Some people asked if this could be prevented by 

careful selection of teachers. 

We should not expect ready made solutions to 

all of our problems. Those who have been involved in selecting people

for jobs will know the limitations of any selection process.

The Minister for Education Heng Swee Kiat has promised to deal 

with complaints seriously and to investigate every case of alleged
misconduct.

I wish to point out some potential risks of this approach:

a) Some teachers could be the target of unjustified allegations, 

especially if they are made anonymously. 

b) There are situations where the parent or student may wish 

to remain anonymous to the target of the complaint

c)  A person may be sincere in a behavior which another

party may consider to be offensive.

In the old days, a person in higher authority, for example a 

principal, may be willing to make the judgment and handle

the complaint in a sensible manner. In many cases, an advisory or

warning may be appropriate for first time infringements. 

I am not sure if most people in authority are willing or competent

to take this responsibility today.

An investigation, especially if made known to the public, should only be 

reserved for repeated or more serious cases. 

We must be aware of a tendency for the public to judge a person 

as being guilty just because a complaint had been lodged or an 

investigation conducted.. 

I hope that, in our drive for perfection, we should not forget

the common sense approach towards solving our 

daily problems.

Vitamin Account - poor expected yield

This analysis is done by a qualified actuary - a person who is strong in financial analysis. He calculated the expected return on the Vitamin Account who is sold by a local bank to its customers. The conclusion is that the expected yield is poor.

See www.fisca.sg

Twinkle - what if the situation is reversed?

$1.1 billion transport subsidy

There is considerable debate in Parliament on this issue:
http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/03/attack-dog-mode.html

Dogs and humans - a matter of logic and reason

A scholar from China, Sun Xu, posted a remark "there are more dogs than humans in Singapore". Many Singaporeans were outraged and condemned him vociferously and relentlessly in the social media. The anger was amplified by the fact that he is studying in Singapore on funding provided by the Government, and is seen to be quite ungrateful. There were calls for the scholarship to be rescinded.

Sun Xu regretted his careless statement and made an apology in a microblog. He also sought the assistance of the Chinese embassy to be given a chance to "repay the kindness"  that he has received from Singapore. I hope that the condemnation and the call for vengeance should now subside and that this matter can be laid to rest.

Let us look at this statement from the perspective of logic and reason. When Sun Xu said that there are "more dogs", he must be imputing that many Singaporeans behave like dogs, He did not say that "all" Singaporeans  behave in that way but he did imply that "most" Singaporeans fit into that mold. In that respect, many people (including me) would disagree with him. But, we would probably agree that "some" Singaporeans do behave badly.

In the heat of anger, we forgot to ask him to explain his remark. What exactly is the negative behavior that he was alluding to?

I have a dog, a Schnauzer, called Twinkle. She must have felt very offended to be associated with bad behavior, especially of the kind that is practiced by humans rather than her kind. She wanted me to point out that her kind also has positive traits, such as loyalty and friendliness, as described by the phrase " a dog is a man's best friend"

There is, frankly, one part of her trait that can be attributed to some (perhaps many) Singaporeans. She wants to appear brave but deep inside, she is not that brave. When a stranger comes to the house, she would bark most loudly and relentlessly, but would keep a distance from the stranger. If challenged, she would probably run into hiding. I do not blame her, for she is really small compared to the stranger.

Let us take a lesson from this saga. While many of us disagree with the statement made by Sun Xu, he has already apologized. We should display a more tolerant and forgiving attitude.

We should also avoid "jumping to conclusion" and, in a similar situation in the future, ask "can you explain your statement? " That would be the trait of a reasonable person - a positive trait that Singaporeans should cultivate.

Tan Kin Lian

Measures to cope with cost of living

Here are the views of a nominated MP.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000162/NMP-calls-for-regulatory-steps-to-rein-in-inflation

A future with electric vehicles

I hope that this future comes soon.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000167/A-future-with-more-electric-vehicles?

Performance bonus breeds the culture of avoiding responsibility

The culture of avoid responsibility and minding turf has grown to be very bad in Singapore. Political leaders and civil servants spend a significant part of their energy in explaining why they should not be addressing a particular problem, i.e. that another agency should be responsible to deal with the problem.

Often, the problem was not attended to, as there are many issues that "fall between the cracks". The situation is so bad that a Member from the ruling party, Ms. Indranee Rajah, had to raise this issue in Parliament. See this report: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000073/More-coordination-among-govt-agencies,-please

If the honourable Member of Parliament had to face this difficulty, one can imagine how much worse the situation would be for the ordinary people in Singapore!

What cause this culture? I can hazard a guess - it is the performance measurement and bonus system of the
Government. It may seem to be a good idea to reward good performers - Government ministers and top civil servants - with a big bonus. But it does have its unintended consequences, such as encouraging the culture of avoiding responsibility.

If any agency takes the challenge of dealing with the problem, they would have to employ more people and incur higher expenses - and this would probably result in a lower performance rating (as the additional work is not likely to be recognized and accounted for). So, to improve the performance rating, it would be better to avoid taking the responsibility!

I have always considered that honourable people, especially top leaders, should do their best out of a sense of duty and not for a bigger bonus. This is why I have been against the payment of high bonus for performance - at the top levels!

This is just a personal point of view, and is probably one sided. I know that there is a good side to pay more bonus to encourage good performance. But, on balance, I think that this has probably produced a negative outcome.

Bank report huge profit

Whenever a bank reports a huge profit, I wonder where the profit comes from.

Is it due to the huge interest rate spread, i.e. the difference between the high interest rate charged to borrowers and the meagre interest rate paid to depositors? Should the government have created a better investing environment so that the consumers get a decent interest rate on their savings?

How much of the profit come from the sale of financial products, including the high risk currency-linked, credit-linked and equity-linked products that have devastated the savings of the unwary investors?

Singapore has been an excellent place for the local and international banks to make huge profits. Does this suggest that the consumers in Singapore are contributing to these huge profits?

http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC120301-0000081/Singapore-helps-StanChart-hit-record-profit

Affordable medical care

Read Lucky Tan's article
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/02/affordable-medical-care-in-singapore.html

Create your own business simulation game (BEST)

BEST now allows you to create your own game at any time. It will automatically start in 5 minutes. Other people can join the game, or you can play the game against the other players who operate on artificial intelligence. This feature allows you to practice at your own time and develop the skill of business strategy.
www.easyapps.sg/besta. Try it and all the best.

Election in Myanmar

To many Singaporeans, the forthcoming election in Myanmar may seem remote and unconnected to this small island. But, according to Alex Au, it may have important ramifications. http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/lee-hsien-loong-should-apologise-to-aung-san-suu-kyi/

Uncollected charges of restructured hospitals

The Minister for Health, Gan Kim Yong, gave a detailed reply to a question in Parliament about the unpaid bills in restructured hospitals. http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120229-0000054/Hospitals-left-with-S$110m-in-unpaid-bills  The average amount of bill written off each year is $30 million.

Reading this report, the following questions popped up in my mind:

a) What is the total revenue of the restructured hospitals, and what percentage is reflected by the written off amount?
b) Is this written off percentage at an acceptable level, compared to commercial benchmarks?
c) Why is the Minister answering this type of question in Parliament, when the commercial operations of the restructured hospitals are supposed to be outside of the responsibility of his Ministry?

I have been quite confused about the state of affairs in Singapore.

Means testing for health care

Many people get the wrong impression that the higher income earners are not allowed to use the facilities of the subsidized B2 and C wards in hospitals. This is not correct. They can use the subsidized wards but enjoy a lower level of subsidy. Go to www.fisca.sg.

Hold an early by-election in Hougang

I urge the Government to arrange a by-election in Hougang as

early as possible.

It is not the fault of the voters of Hougang that they have now

lost their elected Member of Parliament. It is also their 

constitutional right to be represented by an elected political

leader in Parliament.

One possible reason given to justify a delay in holding a

by-election is that the Prime Minister has pressing 

national issues to attend to.

I suggest that he should leave the arrangements of the

election to his civil servants, who should be quite capable of

attending to this matter and who are probably not as hard

pressed as the Prime Minster.

An early by-election would demonstrate to the world

that the rights of the citizens are respected.

Teacher misconduct

Recently, there were a few news reports about misconduct by

teachers. Some people asked if this could be prevented by 

careful selection of teachers. 

We should not expect ready made solutions to 

all of our problems. Those who have been involved in selecting people

for jobs will know the limitations of any selection process.

The Minister for Education Heng Swee Kiat has promised to deal 

with complaints seriously and to investigate every case of alleged
misconduct.

I wish to point out some potential risks of this approach:

a) Some teachers could be the target of unjustified allegations, 

especially if they are made anonymously. 

b) There are situations where the parent or student may wish 

to remain anonymous to the target of the complaint

c)  A person may be sincere in a behavior which another

party may consider to be offensive.

In the old days, a person in higher authority, for example a 

principal, may be willing to make the judgment and handle

the complaint in a sensible manner. In many cases, an advisory or

warning may be appropriate for first time infringements. 

I am not sure if most people in authority are willing or competent

to take this responsibility today.

An investigation, especially if made known to the public, should only be 

reserved for repeated or more serious cases. 

We must be aware of a tendency for the public to judge a person 

as being guilty just because a complaint had been lodged or an 

investigation conducted.. 

I hope that, in our drive for perfection, we should not forget

the common sense approach towards solving our 

daily problems.

Fiber optic network in Singapore

Read this report about the challenges faced by Open Net and the dispute with IDA on the delay and poor performance on the installation of the new fibre optic network in Singapore
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120228-0000062/OpenNet-in-a-tangle-over-NGNBN-roll-out

Here are the key points on this matter:

a) The fibre optic network is a large investment of $850 million.
b) It is likely to become another "white elephant", i.e. a lot of money spent and poorly used.
c) OpenNet faced difficulties with the Internet Service Providers and owners of commercial buildings

Part of the blame must go to the poor handling of customer service by OpenNet. I have experienced this matter personally and can attest to the inefficiency of their process. I have given by suggestions on how they can make improvements, but it fell on deaf ears (like so many similar situations in Singapore).

This tussle is another reflection of the state of affairs in Singapore - too much fighting over turf and self interest, instead of the public interest. I hope that the Government leaders realize about the root cause of the many problems faced in Singapore and are willing to reach out to the wider group of Singaporeans (outside of the people in charge now) who are able to help find the solution. They are many knowledgeable people who are concerned about the future of Singapore and giving their views on the Internet.

A loyalty program based on mobile phones

A team of young people wants to start a loyalty program based on mobile phones. This loyalty program allows a customer to look for business outlets which offer loyalty points on purchases. The customer can search for the outlets that are nearby, that offer the best points and that are the most popular. There is no need to carry physical card (as this function is taken over by the mobile phone) or to join many separate loyalty programs.

They like to get your feedback, Please take part in this survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6CF8QFR

Taxi booking (TABS) - potential in Canada

I showed the taxi booking system (TABS) to a Canadian (of Indian origin) who visited me. He is involved in marketing innovative solutions. He liked the TABS system as it can change the way that people book for a taxi. The taxi driver does not need to look for passengers on the road, as they can locate a nearby passenger easily through TABS and reduce petrol consumption and accidents.

He is able to see the benefits of TABS (which agrees with my points) by thinking out of the box, and looking for benefits, rather than problems.

He has an uncle who is involved in a taxi cooperative with 400 taxi drivers in a town near Toronto. He is convinced that his uncle will be interested to introduce TABS as it gives their members an advantage in a competitive taxi market.

He was quite surprised that the authority in Singapore is not pushing to implement a similar system in Singapore - as there are obvious benefits of this system, from the perspective of the environment and road safety.

  

Job hopping

I met an Indonesian woman who had migrated to Australia for more than 10 years. She enjoyed the quality of life in Australia. She works the required number of hours and goes back home to spend time with the family. If she works extra hours, she is allowed to take the same number of hours off later in the month, under a flexible work scheme. The turnover rate is quite low, as most people enjoyed the work environment and the quality of life.

She had worked in Singapore for several years previously and found that the job hopping rate was unacceptably high. It was quite common for people to move from one job to another, mainly to earn a higher pay. Her view about the high job hopping in Singapore agrees with what I have also observed. 

Business simulation game (BEST) has started

A few players have joined the 4 BEST that run each night from 8 pm to 11 pm. The players compete in the insurance, hotel and airline industries.

Here is one way to learn the game. Register, log in, and play the game. When you first start, you do not need to input the figures, if you are not sure of the game, and can allow the artificial intelligence in the game to make the decisions for you. You can study the outline of the AI intelligence. After a few virtual years, you will get the feel of the game and feel confident to make the decisions.

The game can be played each night at www.easyapps.sg/besta

Powerpoint Project - urgently required for March 2012

I need a person to create Powerpoint slides for a major project. This person has to work for the whole month of March 2012. The candidate should be experienced in using Powerpoint, including animation and audio. If you are available and interested, and have the required skills, please send an e-mail to kinlian@gmail.com.