Saturday, September 14, 2019

WOTC - Refusal by TOC to take down article

Wisdom of the Crowd: 89% of the participants said agreed with the stance of The Online Citizen in refusing to take down the article from their website.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1558

WOTC - Legal suit by PM Lee against TOC

Wisdom of the Crowd: 98% of the participants took a negative view about the legal suit taken by PM Lee against the Online Citizen. Only 2% supported the action.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1557

Friday, September 13, 2019

Letter to The Independent Singapore

The Independent Singapore

I wish to draw your attention to several factual errors and misinformation contained in your article in this webpage.

http://theindependent.sg/tan-kin-lian-creates-poll-to-mimi…/

In the article, you said:

Quote
According to Tan’s online voting system, there is a register of voters and each person is allowed to vote only once. The voter has to register with a password.

“The voter also has to submit his vote on several ballots (or issues). They include the election at the national and local levels and referendums. Different voters live in different parts of the country (identified as zones) and their ballots differ from one zone to another”.

The results of the poll show the PAP only winning 104 votes out of 619 votes, and not even winning any votes at all in some constituencies.
Unquote

This is factually wrong. The register of voters and its use at the national and local elections has nothing to do with the results that are reflected in your article. They are used to demonstrate the voting system that is the main focus of my website.

I will now deal with the results showing the percentage of people who voted for the PAP in this poll. The participants came from a pool of about 8,000 people who have visited my website in the past. I sent them a request to participate in the poll.

At the time of writing your article, the total participants were 619 votes, of which 104 were in favor of the PAP. The number has since increased.

I am aware, as are many of my readers, that the participants are not a representative sample. It is likely that a higher percentage of non PAP supporters participated in the poll, compared to the national average.

In interpreting the results to the readers of my Facebook page, I make the effort to point out the potential bias. The only useful interpretation of the results is the relative percentage by group representative constituencies (GRCs). The GRCs with a significant lower percent compared to the overall average of 16.8% could reflect that the PAP is weaker in these constituencies.

Even so, this may not be reliable, in view of the small number of participants in the GRCs and the likelihood of false votings, i.e. the participant do not provide the honest and truthful answer.

I did not make any attempt to use the results for the single member constituencies (SMCs) as the number of participants is small. It is not appropriate for you to mention these results, giving the impression that they were part of the findings of the poll.

By writing the article with the factual errors and misinformation, you have done me a disservice and blemished my reputation. The harm is magnified when the factual errors and misinformation in your article are used and shared by other people with their own wrongful interpretations.

I request your website to remedy this harm as follows:

a) remove the article
b) publish my letter
c) issue an appropriate apology.

I also request your journalist, in the future, to check the facts with me, before taking any content from my website or facebook page. Surely, this is a courteous and the correct way to write about somebody's views and actions?

Tan Kin Lian

Referendum for independence of Hong Kong

I suggest that China should hold a referendum for the people of Hong Kong - do you want to be independent of China?

There are two possible outcomes:

a) The majority vote for independence.
b) The majority vote to remain part of China.

Read more about my suggestion here:
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1925

Wisdom of the Crowd:

1. Will the Lee siblings testify at the defamation suit taken be PM Lee?
2, Should PMDs be banned from pavements?

https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/login2.aspx

WOTC - Move to entrance of the bus

Wisdom of the Crowd: 67% of the participants said that I moved to the entrance of the bus two stops before my destination because the bus was crowded. (That is the correct reason). 26% said that I wanted to walk two stops.

See the other choices in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1556

WOTC - Preferred 4G leader

Wisdom of the Crowd: 52% of the participants preferred Heng SK as the 4G leader. 39% preferred Ong YK and 9% preferred Chan CS. Nobody voted for K Shanmugam.

Only 23 people participated, which is about half of the normal participation. The other half probably preferred none of the listed persons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1555

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Disadvantage of blockchain technology

The proponents of blockchain are excited about its application. It remove the need for a trusted third party and allows all the participants to monitor the transactions and be assured that they are reliable.

This platform uses the concept of duplicating the database in many servers (called nodes) and comparing the results. If any of the database is hacked, the other database will be able to overrule that database using a voting and consensus system.

I find this method to be inefficient and costly. I also have my doubts about the need to ensure integrity of the database in this convoluted method.

I am not enthusiastic about the use of blockchain and the independence from a trusted third party.
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1920

My views about bitcoin and cyptocurrencies


I wish to share my views about bitcoin and cyptocurrencies.

When I learned that bitcoin was built on the blockchain platform, I spent some time to learn about blockchain. I formed the opinion that it is an inefficient platform. I shall talk about it in a separate post.
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1916

WOTC: Suitability of Heng SK as prime minister

Wisdom of the Crowd: 98% of the respondents in this survey had a negative opinion about the suitability of Heng SK as prime minister. 2% has a positive opinion.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1554

WOTC: Worst leader for Singapore

Wisdom of the Crowd: 83% of the participants in this survey considered that Lee HL has been the worst leader for Singapore.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1553

Quora: Did Trump outsmart China by unexpectedly doubling down on tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the USA? Are we seeing the beginning of the end of China’s economic and geopolitical rise?

Ridzwan Abdul Rahman, Self employed (2000-present) answered.

Think about it: many of the products that are being tariffed are products from US manufacturers in China. And the US manufacturers are manufacturing in China because China provides them with the best place for them to manufacture their products.

Companies are interested in profits, so China must be the place to manufacture and give them the most profits. Meaning good, high quality products at a good price.

The US manufacturers will remain in China until the tariffs make China no longer the place that will give them the most profits. When that happens, they will move production for the US market to another place but the costs there will be higher than in China without the latest tariffs.

In other words, the US manufacturers will lose some profit when they move out of China as a result of additional tariffs. They will only move out production for the US market, while production for the rest of the world will remain in China because it is cheaper to manufacture in China, without tariffs.

Will China lose when the US companies move out? Yes. Only a little, because the bulk of the manufacturing will remain in China. It will not kill them.

Meanwhile, the US manufacturers will have to pay tariffs and pass the extra cost to the US consumers. Or, if they move production to another country, the consumers will have to pay a higher cost for the products because of the higher production cost. So,either way, US consumers will lose too.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Make it easy to use vPost

I visited vPost a few times in the past, but I never get to use it. I found it rather difficult to understand this service.

I tried again today and wish to share this feedback.
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1915

High quality of products from China

I am impressed with the high quality of many products from China and the low cost.

I bought many of these products from online website. I found the quality and reliability to be quite good, and the price to be rather low.

Some people said that the China products sell cheaply because of low quality. This is not the case, from my experience.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1912

Quora: What do you think will be the final outcome of Trump's economic trade war with China?

Marian Hubbard Answered Aug 25

I think the final outcome, which may be awhile in coming, will be a trade agreement that will benefit everyone.

I think that the U.S. will agree to back down on requiring the Chinese to make the new trade practices into law — which of course they wouldn’t follow anyway, so it’s meaningless.

That ought to be enough to allow the Chinese to sign the agreement without losing face, and I predict they will.

Maintain a high frequency for off peak train service

62% of the participants in a survey wanted the Land Transport Authority to maintain a high level of frequency for train service during the off-peak during hours.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1910

WOTC - Leaders of Singapore

Wisdom of the Crowd; 85% of the participants chose Lee KY as the best leader for Singapore. The other 15% chose in descending order - British colonial masters, Goh CT and Lee HL.

What a disappointing result for LHL.
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1552

WOTC - Frequency of train service

Wisdom of the Crowd: 62% of the participants said that we should maintain a high level of frequency of train service during the off-peak hours. The other 38% said that the frequency can be reduced.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1551

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Remove the root causes of the dysfunctional system

Singapore has a dysfunctional system of government. The govt wants to achieve the goals that are good for the people, but someone their strategies do not work. They cannot work because some of the key aspects of our approach work against each other.

What are they?
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1906

Wisdom of the Crowd:


New issues:

1. Will US and China end their trade war before end of 2019?
2. What is likely to happen with the protest in Hong Kong?
3. Should America take the side of the protesters in Hong Kong?

Give your vote in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/vote.aspx

WOTC - Lee HL's 15 years as prime minister

Wisdom of the Crowd: 98% of the participants held a negative view of Lee HL's 15 years as prime minister. Only 2% had a positive view.
See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1550

WOTC - Who should run public utilities?

Wisdom of the Crowd: 88% of the participants said that public utilities should be runned by state owned enterprises for 3 reasons. The remaining 12% preferred that they be runned by private enterprises.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1549

Monday, September 09, 2019

Remove obstacles to better customer service

Customer service in Singapore is terrible. It takes 4 days to get a reply from a customer service inquiry. Sometimes, there is no reply at all.

This is not caused by insufficient customer service officers, or a high volume of work. It is caused by a bad SOP (standard operating procedure) that can be rectified immediately.

What is this issue?
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=1902

WOTC - Salaries of ministers

Wisdom of the Crowd: 8% of the participants in this survey said that the salary of ministers should be benchmarked against the top corporate executives. The other 92% prefer other ways of determining the salary.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1548

WOTC - Opinion of the PAP

Wisdom of the Crowd: 94% of the participants in this survey have a negative view of the Peoples' Action Party. 6% have a positive view.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1547

Wisdom of the Crowd

1. The future is bleak for young people in Singapore
2. Will angry voters changed their mind and vote PAP at the ballot box?
3. Are the elderly finding it difficult to cope with the high cost of living?

Give your vote in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/vote.aspx

Sunday, September 08, 2019

WOTC - Closing of large retail outlets

Wisdom of the Crowd: 73% said that large retail outlets had to close down because the rentals are too high. The other 27% identified other reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1546

WOTC - Selecting scholarship winners

Wisdom of the Crowd: 88% of the participants said that the system for awarding scholarship is stacked in favor of the rich and powerful and that children of prominent people have a better chance of being selected. 12% said that select is based on merit and the panel is impartial.

See the breakdown of the votes in
https://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=1545

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