Saturday, August 01, 2020

Quora: Is Trump willing to destroy the US military and federal agencies?

Alamak. This is serious. Better tell Donald J Trump.
Quora: In their quest to harm China, is Trump now willing to destroy the US military and Federal agencies effectiveness and cause long term paralysis with Sec 889, Sec B of the National Defence Authorization Act?
Masao Miwa replied.
How ironic, Huawei/ZTE have the most patents for 5G so China could deny use of its patents by US companies to develop 5G. As US companies desperately try to stay the ordered ban, their future could be substantially dimmed or ended by denying them access to the China market and use of Chinese patents.
China dusts the U.S., Finland, and South Korea with 34% of key 5G patents
Trump and his sidekick Navarro are on a suicide mission to kill off Huawei at the expense of US companies. The linked article indicates US tech companies are doing their best to fend off the action that could seriously impact their future growth.
“Section 889, part B, of the National Defence Authorisation Act, the law would require companies to certify that their entire global supply chain – not just the part of the business that sells to the US government – is devoid of gear from telecommunications equipment vendors Huawei and ZTE Corp, surveillance systems provider Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and other Chinese surveillance companies.”
Dread over impending anti-Huawei law grows at US companies
One of the key elements to 5G is the use of Gallium Nitride semiconductors, For RF and power applications, GaN is the substrate of choice and Huawei has 2000 patents in this area also. Huawei patents focus on power and RF GaN applications. Not only could Huawei deny patents in this area to US companies, but China produces 95% of GaN wafers for use in circuitry requiring high power and high frequency applications. GaN semiconductors are seeing a rise in applications in phased array radars, missile radars, and space ELINT, key sectors that could suffer similar to threats of rare earth elements. The US military wants the US to have its own rare earth processing facilities in the US and it could, but it will take 3 years and require changes to existing environmental laws to do so if China denies US rare earths from China. The civilian sector for rare earths like electric cars, cannot afford a military price to further erode its competitive stance against the Chinese in the consumer sector. GaN comes mostly from the production of Aluminum, the US may have to support Canada’s aluminum industry to process GaN from its production if denied Chinese sources. Again, it would take investment and effort to do so.
China produces 95% of world's gallium, used in 5G base station chipsets
Huawei leads Asian domination of U.N. patent applications in 2018
Huawei Has 56,492 Patents and It's Not Afraid to Use Them

Rapid Transit System between SG and JB will be ready by 2026

Many people are cheering that the RTS is going ahead and will be ready by 2026.

They should not be cheering. They should be cursing.

Why?

It will take any five years, maybe longer, before the travel time can be reduced.

But the insane ministers on both sides of the causeway has the means to reduce the travel time, significantly, now, in 2020. Actually, they could have reduced it several years ago. 

How?

They could have introduced combined clearance at one end, rather than both ends. A visitor needs to be checked at the point of departure. 

They can be checked with a shared computer system that links to both immigration authorities. Or, the two authorities can place their checkpoints in the same building at the point of departure. 

There is no need to have two separate queues. There is no need to disemark and embark on the bus two times for each journey. 

They can increase the frequency of the KTM train service. If they get an efficiency expert, they will find that the frequency and capacity can be increased by five times. This is my estimate. 

They can set a reasonable fare for the journey. RM 5 is okay. SGD 5 is too much.

We need sane ministers on both sides of the causeway. I think the insanity is higher on the SG side. I don't know why. I suspect that the level of insanity increases with the pay.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3332

 


 

Friday, July 31, 2020

Singapore to be cheque free by 2025


Someone brought this news article to my attention. It said that Singapore plan to be cheque-free by 2025.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/singapore-aiming-to-become-a-cheque-free-country-by-2025-ong-ye-kung?

That is encouraging.

I observe that this article was 2 years old. It was made by the minister, as a board director of MAS, when PayNow was launched.

What has been the progress? How many cheques are used in Singapore in 2018 and what has been the progress in reducing the number of cheques? I did not see any update.

This is how I see the events.
http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3329

Why I support XJP and the CCP of China

Asia Nikkei Review said:

Xi's Gorbachev obsession put China on a Soviet path
"Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate?" China's then-new leader Xi Jinping asked his fellow Communist Party members in December 2012. "Their ideals and convictions wavered," he said, vowing never to let the same fate befall China.
Since then, he has been on a mission to strengthen the Chinese Communist Party's control over the country. The CCP leads everything, it was announced at the last party National Congress in 2017. "East, west, south, north, and center."
But Xi's obsession with avoiding the Soviet path and establishing absolute party rule looks to be the precise reason why the Trump administration and the international community are increasingly skeptical about China. Read here.

TKL said.
Hello, Nikkei. I know that you are pro-America and anti-China. I have read your views for the past months.

Tell you what - I agree with Xi Jinping. I believe that it is important for The CCP to lead China. A country needs a clear direction and strong leadership.

Look at the mess that is happening in America and the UK. This is what you get with a democratic system that is not working.

I am not sure about Japan. But I think Japan democracy is working well. So, it is okay for your country.

What about Singapore. Sad to say, we are not performing well.

I know Singapore has a dominant party in charge, like in China. But it has one big flaw. The PAP largely follows the American capitalist model of running the country.

It may not be exactly similar to America, but it is similar to a large extent.

China's model is socialist. The leaders are sincere in working in the best interest of the people. It has obtained the trust of the people, largely.

Sure, there are some dissidents in China. Their stories are covered prominently in the western media. But they are largely exaggerated.

If the leaders in the CCP are corrupt, their people will know. They are not stupid.

So, to comrade XJP. Well done. TKL gives you his respect and support.






Most small businesses still use manual cheques


I sent an invoice to a client. The manager handed me a cheque. It was signed by two signatories.

I had to visit the bank to deposit the cheque.

Can you imagine the work that had to be spent by all the parties to make this payment?

Subscription for New York Times


A year ago, I subscribed to the New York Times. It offered an attractive promotion for 1 year. I pay a modest sum a week (say $1 a week) during the promotion.
The normal subscription fee (after the promotion) was rather high. It was not worthwhile for me.
I wanted to be sure that it was easy for me to unsubscribe from the New York times at the end of the promotion.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

WOTC - Which non PAP party will win most seats

Wisdom of the Crowd: 81% of the respondents expect the Worker Party to win the most seats, other than the PAP. 16% expect the Progress Singapore Party.

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues


1. Will Dr. Mahathir's new party be successful?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - Opinion of PAP candidates

Wisdom of the Crowd: 84% of the respondents have a negative opinion of the PAP candidates - untrustworthy or inexperienced. 16% have a positive opinion.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Should I continue this life insurance policy?

Miss X bought this policy 9 years ago. She asked me if she should continue or give up the policy.
Here is my analysis of the policy.
You can view other analysis of life insurance policies and investments in this webpage.

Focus on opportunity rather than problem

I share this story about how a local manager lost his job to a "foreign talent" and why he found it difficult to get a new job.

It has lessons for our local managers.

WOTC - Should the circuit breaker be continued in July

Wisdom of the Crowd: 42% of the respondents said that the circuit breaker should be continued in July. 58% disagreed.
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2032

WOTC - Most convincing message in GE2020

Wisdom of the Crowd: 54% of the respondents said the Workers Party gave a convincing message during GE2020.

What about the other parties?
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2033

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues



1. Should the PAP office bearers donate half of their salary to charity?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

Quora: How will the U.S. ordering China to close their Houston consulate affect trade between the two nations?

Paul Mitchell replied

The bigger picture is that the USA is trying its hardest to create an enemy out of China to ‘prevent its rise’ because ‘it does not have freedom and democracy’ or ‘violates human rights’.

Most of this is racist nonsense propagated by intellectually stunted religious extremists in the USA.

The USA has a dreadful human rights record over my life time, bombing and killing wherever it wants. It’s form of democracy pays lip service to democratic principles.

The current US regime wants to prevent China being rich and make its people impoverished because it is petulant and jealous, and successful China makes them examine what is wrong in their own country.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Should wearing a mask be made compulsory?


There are two ways to manage a population.

One way is to pass laws and impose penalties for non-compliance. The other way is to provide advise and let the people use their common sense.

Which method should be used?

WOTC - Loss of seats by PAP

Wisdom of the Crowd: 57% of respondents preferred PAP to lose more than 21 seats. 30% preferred PAP to lose 11 to 20 seats. these 89% are disappointed by the actual result, where PAP lost only 10 seats.

Monday, July 27, 2020

WOTC - Retirement of Goh CT

Wisdom of the Crowd: 91% of the respondents expressed a negative reaction over the past track record of Goh CT.

WOTC - Retirement of Khaw BW

Wisdom of the Crowd: 54% of the respondents said that Khaw BW expects to get a cushy job in a government linked company after he retires as a minister from the government. The other 46% gave other reasons for his retirement.

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues


1. Should wearing of mask outdoors be compulsory?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

A million people can think better


The insane ministers first say - no need to wear mask. Later, they say - must wear mask.

Why they pretend to be so smart? If they don't know, they should say so.

Is there a different approach?

There is.

How to cope with a reduced demand in the economy

I asked a question - how can the economy in Singapore deal with the drop in demand and keep the people employed.

Here is my proposed solution.

The government should pass a law to reduce the working hours by 30%. This will avoid a 30% fall in employment.

The business will get a subsidy from the government to cover 30% of the payroll.

This is similar to the Job Support Scheme, but it is applied to all businesses and extended for a longer period.

The 30% wage subsidy will apply to local workers only. This will encourage the businesses to give preference to local workers in any retrenchment exercise.

How does the government get the money to pay this wage subsidy?

It will eat into the reserves.

When the economy recovers, the wage subsidy can be reduced (and the working hours increased) until it gets back to normal.

The future "normal" may be a working week that is less than 40 hours (5 days X 8 hours). It could be 35 hours or 30 hours.

I have released the secret. Some spies will be passing it to the ministers who will take credit for this suggestion. And they will still earn their million dollar salaries.

Life is unfair. Singapore is like that.


Blog Archive