Student to teacher ratio

This report stated that there are 455,000 students enrolled in schools and 33,000 teachers are employed. The ratio of students to teachers is 13.8.

However, I get anecdotal report that the class size is close to 40.

There is some inconsistency in the figures.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/…/education-statistics-…/esd-2016.pdf

WOTC - Bike sharing regulation

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What change of regulation is needed to make bike sharing viable?

Here are the responses:

58% - Make the rider, not the operator, responsible for parking in unauthorised places.
31% - We do not need bike sharing operation.
8% - The current regulation is tough but is necessary.
2% - Reduce the penalty for parking in unathorised places

See the pie chart in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=738

WOTC - Perspective of the public

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - How can the public sector be more mindful of the perspective of the public?

Here are the responses:

49% - The public sector should respond promptly to feedback.
35% - The minister should set an example.
14% - Government policies should be implemented on a trial basis and changed according to experience
2% - Let us continue the current approach which prevents corruption.

See the pie chart in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=739

Retrieve abandoned bikes

Shared bike operators faced the problem of retrieving bikes that are left in unauthorized places by customers.

I suggest the following approach to solve this problem:

a) Required the customer to pay a penalty of $10 for leaving a bike outside of the authorised zone (abandoned bike).

b) Provide an alert in the app to warn the customer about the penalty.

c) Give the $10 to another customer who retrieve the abandoned bike. Credit this amount to the finder's account.

d) Provide an alert to the customer of the abandoned bikes so that they can pick it up to earn the $10.

Maybe this will help the operator to recover these abandoned bikes without having to employ their own manpower.

Tan Kin Lian

Copying text from PDF

I received a PDF invoice for renovation work. I decided to pay by banking transfer to the contractor.

I had to copy the bank account number, invoice number and amount to the online form.

The invoice was protected, so I could not copy and paste the relevant details. I had to memorise the long string of numbers and enter them manually. What is the purpose of preventing the text from being copied? I guess the software developer does not exercise common sense.

The DBS input form does not allow special characters to be entered as part of the invoice number. But the invoice number contained slashes. Why did they apply this restriction? Maybe the software developer does not realize what is happening in the real world?

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=225

Make Exit sign visible

When I alighted from the MRT train at Raffles Place MRT station, I could not see any Exit sign. There were two escalators. I walked to the first elevator and found that it does not take me to the Exit. I walked to the second elevator and found that it took me to the Exit. I do not know why the planner do not make the Exit sign visible to passengers who have alighted from the train.

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=220

Sign for entrance at MRT station

I suggest that a sign be put up at the entrance to a MRT station to identify the Entrance/Exit, e.g. A, B, C, D, etc.

In Seoul and Hong Kong there is a sign to indicate the entrance . This sign is used as a meeting point. for example - Meet me at Entrance H of Raffles Place MRT.

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=221

Community hall at second level

A grassroots leader told me that the void decks of new HDB flats have too many pillars and cannot be used for community functions. The HDB build a community hall on the second floor for funerals and other functions. This is not practical as the coffin has to be carried to the second level car park and the funeral procession cannot be properly organized.

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=222

Have an open mind

Some people have a narrow mind and a narrow vision.

If they hear that the people in another country approach an issue differently from Singapore, they will conclude that this person is putting Singapore in a bad light and will take on the duty to defend the approach in Singapore.

There is no need to adopt this approach. It is better to have an open mind and see if the approach taken by other countries is better. This is how change can occur and progress can be made.

WOTC - Property market in 2023

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What will happen to the property market in 2023?

Here are the responses:

47% - It will fall sharply due to the over supply and high vacancy rate.
31% - It will continue to appreciate in value.
14% - It will stay at the current level.
8% - It will correct somewhat.

Go down - 55%. Stay at current level or appreciate - 45%

See the pie chart in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=736

WOTC - Trade war between America and China

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Who will win the trade war between China and America?

Here are the responses:

45% - They will resolve the conflict and avoid a trade war.
28% - China will win. They can export to other countries.
23% - America will soften the sanctions.
4% - America will win.

See the pie chart in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=737

WOTC - Outsourcing in public sector

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Should the public sector outsource some of the work to private contractors?

Here are the responses:

44% - The public sector should pay adequate salaries to attract locals to do the jobs.

27% - All full time jobs in the public sector should be carried out by direct employees.

17% - The outsourcing should be limited to not more than 10%

13%. Yes. it will reduce the cost of providing these services

Yes - 13%. No - 87%

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=733

Slow clearance at checkpoint

A few people believed that the slow clearance at the Singapore side of the checkpoint is done on purpose - to discourage Singaporeans from visiting Johore.

I do not think so.

I believe that it is caused by the incompetence of the people on the Singapore side. In the past, we were considered to be more efficient.

Our standard had dropped considerably during the past two decades. We are now inefficient and slow.

This inefficiency is causing hardship to over 100,000 workers and students who stay in Johore and travel to work or study in Singapore. Nobody seems to care, from the Singapore side.

I find this "don't care" attitude to be appalling and disgraceful.

Tan Kin Lian

Longer time to clear the Singapore side

I visited Johore Bahru by car at 9 am on a Wednesday. It took 27 mins to clear the Singapore side and 2 mins to clear the Johore side.

On return at 5 pm, it took 23 mins to clear the Johore side and 54 mins to clear the Singapore side.

On both occasions, the delay was entirely at the immigration checkpoint and not the customs check. I suspect that they are caused by the slow computer system, as all the counters are manned.

It is disgraceful to have this situation continued for years, and the minister in charge does not seem aware of the problem or is not able to fix it.

Do not blame the heavy traffic, as the same number is experienced at the Johore side, and they seem able to cope more quickly.

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=214​​​​​​​

WOTC - Control health care cost

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way to control health care cost?

Here are the responses:

75% - The government should set reasonable charges at public hospitals.
18% - The government should set guidelines
4% - Let the insurance company deal with the claims
4% - The consumer should shop around for the best price and quality of care.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=734

WOTC - Shared bike operation

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - How can shared bike operations be made financially viable?

Here are the responses:

33% - The shared bike should be operated by an operator appointed by the Land Transport Authority
25% - Leave it to the free market
22% - The government should provide some subsidy as part of an integrated public transport system.
20% - We should ban shared bikes

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=735

WOTC - Best economic strategy

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Which is the best economic strategy

Here are the responses.

73% - Lower the cost of living.
10% - Control cost of property
8% - Increase wages
8% - Leave to the market.

92% prefer the government to take active steps; 8% prefer to leave matters to the market.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=731

WOTC - Child care

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Which is the best economic strategy

Here are the responses.

73% - Lower the cost of living.
10% - Control cost of property
8% - Increase wages
8% - Leave to the market.

92% prefer the government to take active steps; 8% prefer to leave matters to the market.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=731

Consolidate ePayment platforms

We have too many e-payment platforms in Singapore. They can be identified under three main technologies:

Wallet - DBS, Grab
Bank related - Credit card, ATM, NETS
NFC - Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay
​​​​​​​EZ Link

We need to strengthen these platforms as follows:

a) Set caps on the charges
b) Have a clearing house to facilitate transfers on the same platform

If the charges for EZ Link can be set at 5 cents per transaction, it will be well accepted by merchants and customers.

For wallet and QR code payments, we need to set up a clearing house for transfers from one wallet operator and another.

I hope that the government steps in to provide the leadership to consolidate and strengthen these platforms.

http://tklcloud.com/Conv/feedback2.aspx?id=135

Performance of agencies and ministers

The performance trend for our agencies and ministers have been improving in recent weeks.

You can watch the trends here.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/ChartJS.aspx?Section=Minister

Do you agree?

You can give your vote here.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/login2.aspx?ReturnURL=mperf

You will get a prize immediately on submitting your vote.

WOTC - Parking charges for MPs

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - How much should a MP pay a year for parking in Parliament House and HDB estates?

Here are the responses:

83% - At actual charges
9% - Free
4% - $365
4% - $1,000

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=729

WOTC - Relations between Singapore and Malaysia

I asked his question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Who is responsible for the deteriorating relations between Singapore and Malaysia

Here are the responses:
38% - Lee Hsien Loong
32% - Dr. Mahathir
19% - Both leaders are behaving like small kids
11% - The relations will improve.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=730

WOTC - CPFMinimum sum

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Why does the government want citizens to keep a minimum sum for CPF Life?

Here are the responses:

41% - They want to make profit on the CPF savings for a longer time.
39% - They don't have the money to pay back the CPF savings to the citizens.
12% - They want to take care of the living needs of the citizens during retirement.
8% - They want to prevent the citizens from squandering away their CPF savings.

80% expressed distrust of the government. Only 20% trusted their intention.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=726

WOTC - Strong demand for private property

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Why is there a strong demand for private property now?

Here are the responses:

34% - There are many foreign buyers.
34% - The buyers want to make a profit on the rising property market.
30% - The buyers are mainly owners who have to replace their property sold on enbloc sales.
2% - The economy is doing well.

You can view the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=727