What is the most important quality of a typical Singaporean?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

What is the biggest weakness of a typical Singaporean?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

A new approach for taxi booking

Comfort has to find a way to keep their taxi drivers from moving to Grab.

One way is to reduce the rental rate, but this will cut into their revenue severely. A better way is to improve their booking system so that their drivers will continue to get a stream of customers.

Most of the customers call their call center but many are now booking through mobile app.

If Comfort can improve its mobile app, the customers may prefer to book through Comfort to get experienced taxi drivers and predictable fares.

Comfort can make it attractive for these customers by removing the booking fee of $3 or reduce it to $1.

Under the current booking system, the booking is send to several nearby taxis. The first taxi to respond get the booking.

This approach is disruptive to the taxi driver. They have to read the message and respond to it quickly, while they are still driving.

A better approach is to allow the taxi driver wait until he has dropped off a passenger and then to use the app to see the nearby customers arranged according to distance to the pickup point, and showing the pick up point, destination, fare. The driver can select their customer. See an example below.

I think that the taxi drivers will like the new approach. Do you agree?

PM Lee fail to carry out his promise to give priority to leadership renewal?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - PM Lee promised to give priority to leadership renewal but he failed to carry out this promise. Agree?

75% of those who voted found fault with PM Lee for three reasons. The remaining 25% were sympathetic.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=493

Should MPs continue to meet the people weekly?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Will the global stock market crashed badly in the coming week?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd a week ago - Will the global stock market crashed badly in the coming week?

52% of those who voted said that it is too early to tell. 23% said that it is a temporary correction and the stockmarket will recover. 16% said the market will be lower but will remain healthy. This made a total of 90%.

Only 10% said that the market will crash badly.

The stock market did not crash. This does prove the wisdom of the crowd.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=491

What do commuters look for when they book a taxi?

What do commuters look for when they book a taxi? Low fare? Safety? Experienced driver?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Who is a better leader for the Workers Party

Who is a better leader for the Workers Party - Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh? Or should Low Thia Khiang continue to lead the party?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Review of insurance coverage

Dear Mr Tan,

Thank you for your videos and thoughts on insurance, investments. They are easy to understand and I have a learnt a lot watching them. I think you are doing the public a great service and I want to thank you.

I am married, in my mid 30s, and do not have any children. I give a monthly allowance to my elderly mother.

Here are the details of my insurance policy ........

I am paying over 10% of my take home salary monthly for insurance

Mr Tan, am I over insured? Do I need whole life plans as well as the early critical illness? Do we need income protection incase we get sick and cannot work? I think I am more concerned about getting sick and needing money more than what we can leave behind.

My reply is given in:
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=565

How can a traditional taxi company respond to the challenge from the new platforms

Comfort Delgro's profit dropped by $53 million, mainly due to the weak taxi business.
http://www.todayonline.com/…/comfortdelgro-posts-115-fall-o…

The faced strong competition from Grab and Uber. This challenge is faced by traditional taxi operators. How can they meet the challenges?

My view - they should adopt a strategy that focus on their strengths, rather than compete with Grab and Uber on their strengths.

Comfort Taxi's strengths are:

a) A large base of taxi drivers.
b) Their taxi drivers are more experienced
c) Commuters are used to metered fares.

Grab / Uber's strengths are:

a) Dynamic pricing
b) Discounts to reduce fares (but this cannot be sustained in the long run).
c) Convenience of booking through the app.

I will write more about how a traditional taxi company can respond to the challenge from the new platforms.

Should the government introduce a tax on online transactions?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Should the government introduce a tax on online transactions?

63% of those who voted said that GST should be scraped and be replaced by higher income tax. 10% said that it is difficult to enforce the tax. This makes a total of 73%.

The remaining 27% said that this tax should be introduced for two reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=488

Should the government pass a law to require e-commerce websites to pay GST on all transactions?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should the government pass a law to require e-commerce websites to pay GST on all transactions?

49% of those who voted said that many online platforms will ignore this tax and continue their business. It would be difficult to enforce it. The remaining 51% support this move for three reasons.

You can view the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=489

When MPs and civil servants get back at each other, who is to blame?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - When MPs and civil servants get back at each other, who is to blame?

38% of the people who voted said that the minister, Teo Chee Hian, is to be blamed. He is in charge and failed to understand and address the problem.

28% said that the MPs are to be blamed as they expect the civil servants to bend the rules. 21% said that the civll servants are to be blamed as they refuse to exercise their initiative. The remaining 14% said that the people are to be blamed as they expect too much from the MPs.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=490

Need to review past practices

Most of our ministers and top civil servants are quite myopic and narrow in their thinking. They follow the practices adopted a few decades ago, and often do not review how these practices should be changed.

One example is the ban on musical instruments on procession for Thaipusam. A second example is the double clearance at the land checkpoints between Singapore and Johor. A third example is the need to register at the security counter before entering an office building.

They should review these practices. What is the purpose? Can the goal be achieved without causing a high cost or a lot of hindrance?

Sure - Thaipusam procession is held in the early morning and is noisy. Some people will complain about the noise. How do we deal with the complain? Surely, the answer is - the noise at any spoit is only for a short while. The processing moves along the road. It happens only once a year. Can we relax the ban?

At the land checkpoint, do we really need double clearance affecting 300,000 travelers every day? Each checkpoint adds another 15 minutes to the people travelling by bus. Can we have a joint checkpoint? Can we have a computer system that allows the traveler to register with the country of exit and to be checked at the country of entry?

We need to find a way to deal with a traveler is not allowed to leave the country of exit? Is this too difficult to handle? How many such cases will happen daily? Surely, we can find a way.

What about the registration at an office building. How many people are affected every day? What purpose does it serve, except to create additional jobs for security guards and waste of time for the visitors?

Surely our ministers and top civil servants should be aware of these matters, provided they come out of their ivory towers.

What about our members of parliament? They are supposed to meet the people regularly. Can they provide feedback on these issues and ask for explanations in Parliament?


Tan Kin Lian

Wish you a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year

I sent this greeting by email to 7,500 people who have visited my website. Several of them have replied back to return the greetings.

Lunar New Year

I wish greetings for a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year to friends who celebrate this auspicious occasion.

Let me also inform you about the activities that may interest you.

FISCA Talk - Protect against Retrenchment
This talk will be held on 14 April. It is important for young people to learn some tips on how to protect themselves against the financial stress of retrenchment and loss of jobs. This is now becoming a real risk that people have to prepare for. Parents should also encourage their children to attend this talk.

http://www.fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=18

Wisdom of the Crowd
This website contains issues for you to submit your vote. New issues will be added every day.

You will win these attractive prizes when you have submitted 10 or more votes.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/115

VIDEOS ON FINANCIAL PLANNING
I create short videos on investment and insurance for consumers. New videos have been added recently. These videos are popular and have attracted nearly 10,000 viewers.

http://www.tankinlian.com/video.aspx

FLYER WEBSITE
If you are running a business, you can distribute your flyer in this website for FREE. This can save you a lot of money in printing and distributing the physical flyers to your targeted customers.

If you wish to rent your house, flat or room, you can also use this website. It is FREE.

http://tklcloud.com/Flyer/view.aspx

You can also pass the message to your friends, so that they can use the free service of this website.

Thank you.

Tan Kin Lian

Can we have a joint clearance at the Singapore/Malaysia checkpoints?

The Straits Times Forum printed this letter a year ago. In that letter, I suggested that the Singapore and Malaysian authorities should introduce joint check at the checkpoint, so that travellers do not need to pass through two checkpoints.

http://www.straitstimes.com/…/letters-in-print/have-joint-i…

The Malaysian authority is now studying a joint checkpoint. But the Singapore side is still hesitant.

http://statestimesreview.com/…/singapore-reject-joint-chec…/

We need our leaders in Singapore to be more open minded and to make decisions with the view to improve the life of the people. It is no fun to spend hours passing through two checkpoints.

Protect against retrenchment

Sat 14 Apr 2018
Time: 2 pm - 5 pm
Venue: Bedok Room, HDB Hub
Fee: $0.00 (Member) $20.00 (Public)

This talk is targeted at young people. I will not be able to protect people from being retrenched, which is likely to occur frequently in the future, but I can protect them against the financial stress.

My approach will work for most people, regardless of their financial background. It can be implemented through simple knowledge of financial planning. It is easy enough for any lay person to understand, and to carry out the financial plan.

Attendees will get a free copy of the book "Financial Planning, A Practical Guide" (usual selling price $12)

Register here:
http://www.fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=18

Will relations between North and South Korea improve in the near future?

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www.wisdomoftehcrowd.sg

Is Malaysia taking the lead to improve business and social links with Singapore?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg