Do you expect Desmond Kuek to resign from SMRT by end March?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you expect Desmond Kuek to resign from SMRT by end March?

52% of the people who voted said that the government will find another agency for him to head. 14% expect him to remain in SMRT.The remaining 34% expect him to resign from SMRT in 2018.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=476

What is the primary cause of flooding in recent years in Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the primary cause of flooding in recent years in Singapore?

45% of those who voted said that it is due to lack of expertise on drainage in the relevant agency. 36% said that it is due to the infrastructure work. 17% said that it is due to the Marina Barrage.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=475

Do you expect a global trade war in the near future?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you expect a global trade war in the near future?

45% of those who voted said that the trade war will escalate and the tariff will be extended to other products. 14% said that the global economy will suffer a large impact. The negative gotes accounted for 59%.

The remaining 41% said that the current tariffs are insignificant and will be withdrawn in the near future.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=473

Do you expect MAS managing director, Ravi Menon, to enter politics soon?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you expect MAS managing director, Ravi Menon, to enter politics soon?

41% of those who voted said that it is still too early to say, as his speeches are mainly related to finance and the economy. 49% said that it is quite likely. 10% said that he is not interested in politics.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=474

Increase allowance for full time NS men

In my presentation on 10 Feb about Budget 2018, I will talk about National Service.

I like to see the NS men allowance for full time service to be raised to $1,500 per month, i.e. closer to the market rate for a full time worker.

If the SAF has to pay a higher rate, they will look seriously into reducing the time that is needed to train the soldiers. In Switzerland, the compulsory conscription is for 8 months only. They are able to train the soldier effectively within this period. Singapore should follow this example.


It will take a longer time to train an officer. I prefer that all officers should be full time career soldiers as it is very expensive to train an officer. An officer needs to be a full time soldier to be able to do the work effectively.

We should think of the future for your young men. Some of them are our own children. Others are the children of other Singapore citizens. We should not put them at a disadvantage by holding them back for two years, and handicapping them in the competition for jobs against foreigners.

If the duration of full time National Service is reduced, they can enter the workforce or continue their tertiary education earlier.

Where to find the money for the higher allowance for full time NS men? How about cutting down on wasteful expenses, such as bin centers and new signal systems for MRT? How about adjusting the salaries of ministers and politicians? How about shortening the conscription period?

I am sure that the finance minister can figure out. That is his job for which he is very highly paid, right?

I hope that this suggestion gets your support. Your views?

Selective prosecution looks bad for Singapore

I met someone at the SDP Kook out party.

TKL - What is your name?
Him - I am Jonathan.
TKL - Your occupation?
Him - Social worker
TKL - You look familiar. Are you the guy who is being charged for organising a silent protest up a MRT train?
Him - Yes, that's me.
TKL - I remembered you had a strange name - like Jolovan Wham?
Him - Yes, that's me.
TKL - You said Jonathan?
Him - My father wanted to call me Jonathan. But he could not speak English well. So, the registration staff wrote Jolovan.

Okay, he is a report about Jolovan Wham. It is ridiculous that a silent protest is also against the law. Right?

For the vandalism charge? He put up two notices about the silent protest and removed it. And he is still being charged.

How many people put up notices at bus stops on their tuition service or renting a room. Should they also be charged for vandalism? The selective prosecution looks bad for justice in Singapore.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/civil-activist-jolovan-wham-charged-in-court

Should the service number be displayed inside the bus?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Display the service number inside the bus

I have been taking the bus daily for the past two years. I also take the bus to visit my doctor and to visit some other places.

I am careful to look at the number of the bus to make sure that I board the correct bus.

Does this mean that I am careful all the time - and cannot make a mistake?

No. On one or two occasions, I got up the wrong bus. It is possible to make a mistake. That is how accidents happen, right?

After boarding the bus, I found that it was making a wrong turn. I checked with the driver and found that I was on the wrong bus.
The bus number was not displayed inside the bus.

I am sure that some passengers make this mistake from time to time. They do not make this mistake every day. But it happens on some rare occasions.

Why can't the people in charge make sure that the bus contains the bus number on the inside? It is an essential piece of information.

Maybe they want to change the bus to another service, when needed. In that case, they can have a moveable display.

Can someone who is living in another city help me to check if the bus number is displayed inside the bus? Thank you.

Welcome to Singapore. It is run by idiots from the PM down.

What is your experience with dual currency deposit?What is your experience with dual currency deposit?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Budget 2018 - Increase allowance for full time NS men to $1,500 per month

In my presentation on 10 Feb about Budget 2018, I will talk about National Service.

I like to see the NS men allowance for full time service to be raised to $1,500 per month, i.e. closer to the market rate for a full time worker.

If the SAF has to pay a higher rate, they will look seriously into reducing the time that is needed to train the soldiers. In Switzerland, the compulsory conscription is for 8 months only. They are able to train the soldier effectively within this period. Singapore should follow this example.

It will take a longer time to train an officer. I prefer that all officers should be full time career soldiers as it is very expensive to train an officer. An officer needs to be a full time soldier to be able to do the work effectively.

We should think of the future for your young men. Some of them are our own children. Others are the children of other Singapore citizens. We should not put them at a disadvantage by holding them back for two years, and handicapping them in the competition for jobs against foreigners.

If the duration of full time National Service is reduced, they can enter the workforce or continue their tertiary education earlier.

Where to find the money for the higher allowance for full time NS men? How about cutting down on wasteful expenses, such as bin centers and new signal systems for MRT? How about adjusting the salaries of ministers and politicians? How about shortening the conscription period?

I am sure that the finance minister can figure out. That is his job for which he is very highly paid, right?

I hope that this suggestion gets your support. Your views?

Avoid dual currency investment

When I visited a bank to place a fixed deposit, the relationship manager tried to sell a dual currency investment to me. I declined. I know that this is a very bad product. I know of some people who lost hundred of thousand dollars in this investment. I wonder why it is still being sold.

What is wrong with this product?

Learn about why it is a bad product from the losses suffered by some people. They never knew what hit them, until it is too late.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=558

How do you find the call centers run by large organizations in Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - How do you find the call centers run by large organizations in Singapore?

95% of those who voted have strong views against the current arrangement. Only 5% are positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=470

Are you optimistic about more trade with Sri Lanka?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Are you optimistic about more trade with Sri Lanka?

72% of the people who voted have negative views about it for two reasons. The remaining 28% are slightly or strongly positive about this development.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=468

Should we have younger leaders to head the 4G leadership in Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should we have younger leaders to head the 4G leadership in Singapore?

67% of the people who voted have negative reaction to this matter for two reasons. The remaining 33% are positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=469

How do you find the websites of government agencies?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - How do you find the websites of government agencies?

69% of those who voted dislike the current organization of the websites. 31% are positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=471

How will you react when Chan Chun Sing takes over as prime minister.

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - How will you react when Chan Chun Sing takes over as prime minister.

46% said that he will keep the same policies as his predecessor. 43% said that he will be worse. The remaining 11% are positive about this change.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=472

The first step - aim for a coalition government.

I hear this comment often - I don't like the PAP but I cannot vote for the other parties because they are fragmented and cannot form the government. Why don't the other parties get together on a combined platform?

It would be nice if there non-PAP parties could get together. But it has been difficult, very difficult.

It does not matter that they contest as separate parties. It does not matter that they cannot form an alternative government.


If no single party forms the majority, it will be necessary for some of the parties to get together to form a coalition government. The coalition will have to agree on the policies that they wish to pursue in the new government. They have to give and take.

If the PAP remains the largest party in the coalition, they will still have a large say in the policies. But it will not be a total say. They have to make concessions to get the coalition parties to agree to support them.

This would be a first step towards a change of policies. It would be good for our future. We need the government to change its policies. A coalition government is a feasible way to achieve this.

Nursing homes in Johor

n 2009, health minister Khaw Boon Wan suggested that parents can be sent to nursing homes in Johor as they are more affordable.

He was severely attacked in social media for this suggestion. The issues raised were:

a) Why can't the government make nursing homes more affordable in Singapore.

b) Are the standards of nursing homes in Johor acceptable?

c) Does the minister expect the children to visit their parents in Johor regularly? Will the parents be forgotten?

I find the strong criticism to be unjustified. Here are my reasons.

a) The cost in Johor will be less than half of Singapore. The wages and rentals will be less costly. There is little that the government can do to reduce the cost of nursing homes in Singapore, apart from providing some subsidy.

b) It is for the customers to choose nursing homes of acceptable standards. There are good and bad nursing homes in Johor. The same applies to nursing homes in Singapore as well.

c) With mobile phones, it is easy to keep in touch with parents in Johor. It is also easy to make a visit during the off-peak hours.

The quality of life in Johor is quite good. Many Singaporeans have opted to live in Johor to enjoy the wide space and the low cost of living.

Poor Khaw BW. He has been unfairly attacked for bringing up a sensible suggestion.

Why did Singapore lose out to Shenzhen to host the World Tennis championship?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Why did Singapore lose out to Shenzhen to host the World Tennis championship?

61% of the people who voted view this event in a negative light. The other 39% was more positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=465

Will the zero value for HDB flat after 99 years impact the voting in the next general election?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Will the zero value for HDB flat after 99 years impact the voting in the next general election?

Only 37% said that it will have a large impact. The remaining 63% said that it will have a moderate, small or no impact.

See the breakdown of the votes in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Will Oon Jin Teik do well as the new Sports Hub CEO?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Will Oon Jin Teik do well as the new Sports Hub CEO?

69% said that he will find the job challenging for two reasons. The remaining 31% are more positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Should hawker centers impose a deposit to encourage customers to return their trays?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

We need a simple and cost effective health care system

I wish to raise this third issue in the Budget 2018 forum being organized by Maruah.

It concerns taking care of the rising cost of health care and the aging population.

My main focus is the rising cost of health care. It hits the elderly harder, as they need more health care than younger people.

Some of the elderly cannot cope with the rising cost of living, apart from health care. This can be addressed by providing suitable jobs for them at a decent wage. I have addressed them separately.

On health care, there is already a system of subsidy in our polyclinics and private GP clinics. This helps to reduce the cost of health care to the elderly.

It can be expensive if they need hospital care. It is covered by Medishield, except for the deductible. I suggest that the deductible should be removed.

There is no need to have a deductible to discourage people from being treated in hospital. Most people go to hospital out of necessity and not of choice.

There is a perception that there a long waiting time for subsidised care in hospital. This perception result in many patients opting for private care leading to high medical charges. In many cases, there is no need to incur this higher expenses. But the patients are badly advised.

This game of pushing patients to private care also occurs in public hospitals. There is a conflict of interest within the government between taking care of the needs of the people and reducing the subsidy.

This conflict of interest should be removed.

On a broader issue, we need to find a better system than our current 3M system - medisave, medishield and medifund. It is confusing and inefficient to administer. It does not address the rising cost of health care.

We can look towards other countries for a more effective system. I suggest that we study the system in Japan.

They have an integrated single payer system. Each year, the government negotiates with all the medical providers for the fees to be charged for every medical procedure. The patient pays 30% of the cost. The remaining 70% is paid by the government or through insurance.

It is simple and cost effective. It avoids the expensive cost that patients in Singapore have to pay for private care.

We have a broken 3M system. We need to review it and find a more effective system. The system in Japan is a good model.

What are your views?

Better to use one's competitive advantage

Comfort Taxis has to respond to the threat posed by Grab. They decided to have a tie up with Uber. I think that this is a strategic mistake.

Let me share my past experience. When I was appointed to head NTUC Income in 1977, I was quite inexperienced in running a big company.

But I adopted a "common sense" approach. I looked at the insurance products that were selling well by the other insurance companies, i.e. the competitors. I look at my strategic advantage - my low cost ofoperations.

I was able to "copy" the popular and successful products and offer them at a lower price. The customers were familiar with these products but they like the lower price. Many chose NTUC Income.

I did not win all the business. Some customers still like the big international insurance companies. But I managed to win enough customers for NTUC income to grow rapidly.

If I were to adopt this strategic for Comfort Taxis, I would copy what is successful with Grab. I would be able to offer lower fares - but they should be funded by the taxi company and not the taxi drivers. I would be able to win a large market share. Grab will not last long in the war of attrition.

It is important to compete based on one's competitive advantage. It is advisable to avoid introducing too many new and uncontrollable variables. It is importan to adopt the strategy of "copying" what has proved to be successful.

It is time for Comfort Taxis to reflect on this strategic approach.

Do not buy insurance based on "trust"

Someone said that he had bad experience with a past insurance claim. He has decided not to "trust" insurance.

It is better to understand insurance rather than to "trust" insurance.

Thirty years ago, insurance companies offered good life insurance products that gave insurance protection and a good return on the premiums.

The policyholders could not get a good return from other types of investments, except to invest in shares. But it was difficult and costly to invest in shares directly. The insurance company invested their savings in shares and bonds on their behalf.

Since 2000, the situation changed considerably. Insurance companies have to invest a large part of their funds in low yielding bonds. Their expenses increased sharply and take away a large part of their investment earnings. The return becomes quite bad.

It is now easier for the public to invest directly in shares or in an indexed fund. They offer superior returns compared to life insurance policies.

The public who understands this new situation avoid investing in life insurance policies. Those who continued to "trust" insurance out of ignorance have much to regret at some time in the future.

The public continued to "trust" that insurance will pay their medical claims, without understanding that the claims could be rejected due to non-disclosure or exclusions, and that the insurance companies might act unfairly in rejecting some of these claims. This blind trust, which comes out of ignorance, can come back to hit them with a big shock.

Should the public buy insurance? Yes, but it should be bought not based on "blind trust". They should know what are good insurance products to buy and what should be avoided. They must spend the time to learn about it. If they don't spend the time, it is best that they avoid insurance altogether.

Blind trust can be quite costly and financially damaging.

What is the best way to choose our next prime minister?

I give five options. Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Is there a better way to pick the next prime minister?

Singapore faces a dilemma. Who should be the next prime minister? How should this person be selected?

It seemed that the "informal" selection committee should be the 16 younger ministers belonging to the 4th generation. These 16 younger leaders should decide and pick from among themselves the leader who will lead them, and lead the country.

Surely these younger ministers face a conflict of interest? Some of them have their personal ambition and want the position for themselves.

Is there a better way to select a leader to lead the country?

How about opening it to all the members of Parliament of the PAP? How about allow the PAP cadres to make this choice? How about allowing the people of the country to make this choice?

It must be a bad system that the choice is to be left to a small group of people with a conflict of interest?

If the choice is made by a broader group of people, we are likely to get a better decision based on the "wisdom of the crowd" or, may a say, based on "common sense".

If the selected leader has a mandate from the people at large, he is likely to have the moral authority to lead the country and the other ministers have to take his leadership. This will avoid infighting and corrupt deal making, right?

Which political party do you like to form the government at the next general election?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

DBS Bank has improved its call center processes

I remembered an incident about 10 years ago. I called the call center of DBS Bank. Their process was terrible. I had to go through many layers of screening. Even their verification was quite tiresome.

I called DBS Bank this morning to report that I did not received a replacement credit card. I was pleasantly surprised. They have simplified their filtering and verification processes. The transaction went through without much hassle.

It took DBS Bank 10 years to simplify their processes. It is all right. After all, they are in Singapore and it does take time, maybe 10 years, to change the SOPs imposed by their managers who are trained under the Singapore system.

At least DBS Bank recognized the inefficiency of the old processes and took steps to change them. They deserve my compliment.

Never mind that it took them 10 years. Many other organizations in Singapore are still keeping their inefficient and tiresome processes.

I asked the call center staff for her name. She had a Filipino accent. She told me that she is Eloise and is based in Singapore (not in the Philippines). I wonder if it is true? Probably is.

Trust in the government

Our PM front runner talk about trust in leadership at the Davos World Economic Forum. But does he realize that his own government is quite low in trust by the people?

It is so low that they have to have mainpulation, such as GRC, reserved presidential election, restrictions on free expression and assembly, to maintain their tight control over the people and their hold on power?

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/delivering-results-key-to-fostering-trust-chan-chun-sing

Okay, he talked about results. What results did his government produce?

a) High cost of living
b) High stress level
c) Lowest birth rate in the world
d) High fear of the future

What is the key reason for Singapore to have the lowest birth rate in the world?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Who do you expect to be the next prime minister?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Singapore has the lowest fertility rate in the world

Singapore has the lowest fertility rate among all countries in the world.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268083/countries-with-the-lowest-fertility-rates/

This is contributed by several factors, which are the direct result of PAP economic and social policies over the past decades. I consider this "performance" to be the most damning indictement of the failure of the PAP policies.

The contributing factors are:

a) High cost of living
b) Insecurity of jobs.
c) Inadequate wages
d) National service - which delays marriage by at least 2 years
e) Reservist duty which makes employers prefer foreigners.

Here is the explanation of the fertility rate:

Fertility rate
The fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman of child-bearing age in a country. Usually, a woman aged between 15 and 45 is considered to be in her child-bearing years. The fertility rate of a country provides an insight into its economic state, as well as the level of health and education of its population.

Reserve certain jobs for locals

In my presentation on budget 2017, I will talk about "creating jobs for Singaporeans".

I will suggest that certain domestic jobs should be reserved only for locals - teachers, nurses, bus and train drivers, cleaners, security guards.

Some people are against this suggestion because they say that locals do not want these jobs which pay lowly.

If we do not allow foreigners to take these jobs, the pay for these jobs will have to increase to a level that will attract locals. In Australia, these jobs pay better than office jobs because a higher pay is needed to attract locals for these jobs.

The pay of bus drivers is quite attractive, but most locals do not want to commit to the strict schedule expected of a bus driver. With modern technology, it is possible to allow some flexibility to the schedules.

The same observation can be made for nurses.

There is a concern that the high cost of workers in these jobs will increase the cost of living. The long term impact should be not serious. As workers get high wages, it is likely that rents will take a lower share of the cost of the final product. The higher wages will be mitigated by relatively lower rents.

I will also ask that the the public sector should set an example to recruit their workers directly, rather than go through contractors. For the private sector, the practice of outsourcing should also be controlled and restricted.


Currently, outsourcing is a way to exploit workers by forcing them to accept low levels of pay. If a benchmark wage is applied to each job, the exploitation of workers will be reduced.


Do you agree?