It is possible for a low income earner to buy a HDB flat

Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Minister for Manpower, Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in Parliament that a person with a monthly income of $1,000 can afford to buy a HDB flat. Many people found this statement to be unbelievable. Two ministers and one Member of Parliament came forward in his defense and explained why it was possible. Their explanations were still not accepted by most people, who gave their views in the Internet.

I agree with the calculation put forward by Minister for National Development, Khaw Boon Wan. A two room HDB flat cost $100,000. After deducting a HDB grant of $60,000, eligible to certain people under certain conditions, the net cost is $40,000. The monthly repayment over a 30 year loan period, at an interest rate of 2% per annum, is $150. This can be covered by the CPF contribution. There should be no dispute over this figure. Even if the interest rate were to increase to 4% at a later date, the monthly payment would still be less than $200.

The argument by the critics focus on another point - how is the family going to survive on $800 a month. This is a separate matter. It shows the importance of raising the earnings of those at the lower income brackets. There is strong argument for a minimum wage to be implemented in Singapore, to follow the example of most other developed countries.

I guess that a minimum wage in Singapore should be around $1,400 a month. Together with CPF contribution, the cost to the employer should be $1,600 a month.

The Government does face a dilemma about implementing a minimum wage. Already, Singaporeans are more costly than foreign workers. Any increase in the cost of employing Singaporeans through a minimum wage must make them even less competitive. And it will increase the burden on small companies that are not able to cope with meeting the high cost of doing business in Singapore.

In the past, the Government tried to address this issue by giving a workfare income supplement to low income workers. Like many convoluted (i.e. extremely complex and difficult to understand) schemes introduced in Singapore, it did not seem to give much help to the people in need, apart from creating a lot of wasteful administrative work.

There are ways of addressing the challenges, but the Government must be prepared to consider other options, rather than stick to the old approach. In the past, it was difficult to find a solution as there were separate ministers in charge of manpower and finance. We now have the unprecedented situation of one minister being in charge of both portfolios, in addition to being the Deputy Prime Minister!. He now have the power to find a more holistic solution - but does he have the time?

If he does not have the time,  he can appoint some people to find the solution. It would be better to get people from outside the old circle that came out with the old approach. Instead, we need fresh ideas. 

Service standards in Singapore

Read this article about the service standard in Singapore and the observation that past campaigns did not seem to work.
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=13974

I agree with the observation of the writer. The poor quality of our service standard is the outcome of our environment in Singapore, i.e. dependence on foreign workers, too much time spent on unnecessary work and lack of respect for the customers. Sad to say, it is also a reflection of the attitude of our government leaders.

Key economic policies

This is an excellent article that explained why some of the key economic policies of the PAP Government are not producing the right outcomes for the people
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=14163

COS 2012 Debates

I have been puzzled by this acronym COS for a few days. I do not know what COS means. I search for an explanation and found that it was being used by the Worker's Party. Nobody else use this acronym. Does anyone know what it means and why it is being coined?

Address the skill imbalance

The writer has raised a point which I agree. Our education system is not giving the right skills that are needed in the global economy.
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120303-0000029/Skills-imbalance-due-to-education-system

Rising business cost

The Members of Parliament and the Government is concerned about rising business costs. http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120303-0000046/Rising-business-costs--MPs-ask-if-Govt-can-do-more

But they are still blind to the causes of the high cost which can be attributed to:

• Unnecessary and time wasting regulations
• Inefficient payment system
• GST administration, adding cost and creating offsets
• Poor leadership in addressing the issues, i.e. avoiding responsibility
• Rising rentals - due to privatisation of industrial and commercial cost
• Higher cost of living, which results in the need to increase wages

The situation has grown progressively worse over the past decade. No one wants to look into the real causes of the situation. Things will continue to get worse, unless the real causes are tacked. I have mentioned many of these causes in my blog.

Hold an early by-election in Hougang

I am not convinced by the arguments put forward by Mr. Hri Kumar, Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency regarding the calling of a by-election for Hougang ("We should let PM do his job, Today 29 February).

It is the constitutional right for all citizens to be represented in Parliament by a person who is duly elected by them. The people of Hougang constituency has lost their representative due to an unfortunate event, which is not of their making or choice. They should not be deprived of their right to be represented.

The constitution does give the Prime Minister the duty to call for an election. It seemed to be a simple matter for him to carry out this duty. The arguments put forward by the honorable Member of Parliament about the "heat and debate" that may occur during the Hougang by-election is not compelling. Most elections do generate some heat and excitement for the people and that is the value of a democracy.

Some people have argued in an earlier occasion that the Prime Minister should not be distracted from attending to urgent national issues. I wish to suggest that the Prime Minister leave the arrangements for the by-election to the civil servants in the Elections Department. He can also leave the contest for this hot seat 

to the political leaders in his party.

Tan Kin Lian 

Reduce operating cost for small business

In his Budget for 2012, the Minister for Finance has recognized the need to help small companies offset  their operating cost. He is offering a cash grant of $5,000, which is helpful in the short term.

Over the longer term, it is important to bring down the cost of doing business, to help our companies, big and small, to remain competitive.

There are a number of inefficiencies that need to be addressed urgently:

• Heavy compliance cost of GST, especially to small businesses
• Online processes of government agencies, which saves a few minutes for the agemcy but adds hours to the time taken by the public
• Inadequacy in the payment infrastructure, which result in most businesses still using checks to make payments
• Heavy reliance of communicate by physical mail instead of electronic mail

We have to move more quickly to update our laws and practices to facilitate the use of electronic payment and communication, e.g. recognize electronic ways to replace signatures and make payments. The government agencies should take the lead in making these changes - as they would provide legitimacy to address the uncertainties of change.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore should be complimented for taking the lead to implement GIRO payments some 25 years ago. It is time for them to make another breakthrough in making pervasive use of  electronic payments.

Make it easy for customers to use internet banking

I hope that our banks make it easier for their customers

to make payments using internet banking.

DBS Bank requires me, as a customer, to register a payee and to 

authenticate the payee with my mobile phone. This is on

top of logging in to the account with my login name, PIN and

the token (2FA authentication).

As I have reached the limit of the number of my registered payees

I have to find one payee to delete, so that the new payee can be

added. 

When creating the payee, I must make sure that I have entered the 

bank account correctly, as the system does not show me the name 

of the payee. After going through so much hassle, it is easy to make 

a mistake at this juncture.

Previously, I have asked DBS Bank to provide an option for the customer 

to make small payments, say less than $500, without the need to go 

through the complicated process of registering, authenticating and 

deleting a payee. The customer will probably choose this option for a 

once-off payment. 

It would also be useful for the name of the payee to be displayed (after 

the bank account has been entered). This is more important than the

requirement to create a payee record.

DBS Bank was not able to accede to my request. I suspect that the 

current practice must be mandated by the regulator, i.e. Monetary Authority of Singapore. I hope that the regulator can give their comment on this issue.

Tan Kin Lian

A sensible approach towards teacher misconduct

Recently, there were a few news reports about misconduct by

teachers. Some people asked if this could be prevented by 

careful selection of teachers. 

We should not expect ready made solutions to 

all of our problems. Those who have been involved in selecting people

for jobs will know the limitations of any selection process.

The Minister for Education Heng Swee Kiat has promised to deal 

with complaints seriously and to investigate every case of alleged
misconduct.

I wish to point out some potential risks of this approach:

a) Some teachers could be the target of unjustified allegations, 

especially if they are made anonymously. 

b) There are situations where the parent or student may wish 

to remain anonymous to the target of the complaint

c)  A person may be sincere in a behavior which another

party may consider to be offensive.

In the old days, a person in higher authority, for example a 

principal, may be willing to make the judgment and handle

the complaint in a sensible manner. In many cases, an advisory or

warning may be appropriate for first time infringements. 

I am not sure if most people in authority are willing or competent

to take this responsibility today.

An investigation, especially if made known to the public, should only be 

reserved for repeated or more serious cases. 

We must be aware of a tendency for the public to judge a person 

as being guilty just because a complaint had been lodged or an 

investigation conducted.. 

I hope that, in our drive for perfection, we should not forget

the common sense approach towards solving our 

daily problems.

Vitamin Account - poor expected yield

This analysis is done by a qualified actuary - a person who is strong in financial analysis. He calculated the expected return on the Vitamin Account who is sold by a local bank to its customers. The conclusion is that the expected yield is poor.

See www.fisca.sg

Twinkle - what if the situation is reversed?

$1.1 billion transport subsidy

There is considerable debate in Parliament on this issue:
http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/03/attack-dog-mode.html

Dogs and humans - a matter of logic and reason

A scholar from China, Sun Xu, posted a remark "there are more dogs than humans in Singapore". Many Singaporeans were outraged and condemned him vociferously and relentlessly in the social media. The anger was amplified by the fact that he is studying in Singapore on funding provided by the Government, and is seen to be quite ungrateful. There were calls for the scholarship to be rescinded.

Sun Xu regretted his careless statement and made an apology in a microblog. He also sought the assistance of the Chinese embassy to be given a chance to "repay the kindness"  that he has received from Singapore. I hope that the condemnation and the call for vengeance should now subside and that this matter can be laid to rest.

Let us look at this statement from the perspective of logic and reason. When Sun Xu said that there are "more dogs", he must be imputing that many Singaporeans behave like dogs, He did not say that "all" Singaporeans  behave in that way but he did imply that "most" Singaporeans fit into that mold. In that respect, many people (including me) would disagree with him. But, we would probably agree that "some" Singaporeans do behave badly.

In the heat of anger, we forgot to ask him to explain his remark. What exactly is the negative behavior that he was alluding to?

I have a dog, a Schnauzer, called Twinkle. She must have felt very offended to be associated with bad behavior, especially of the kind that is practiced by humans rather than her kind. She wanted me to point out that her kind also has positive traits, such as loyalty and friendliness, as described by the phrase " a dog is a man's best friend"

There is, frankly, one part of her trait that can be attributed to some (perhaps many) Singaporeans. She wants to appear brave but deep inside, she is not that brave. When a stranger comes to the house, she would bark most loudly and relentlessly, but would keep a distance from the stranger. If challenged, she would probably run into hiding. I do not blame her, for she is really small compared to the stranger.

Let us take a lesson from this saga. While many of us disagree with the statement made by Sun Xu, he has already apologized. We should display a more tolerant and forgiving attitude.

We should also avoid "jumping to conclusion" and, in a similar situation in the future, ask "can you explain your statement? " That would be the trait of a reasonable person - a positive trait that Singaporeans should cultivate.

Tan Kin Lian

Measures to cope with cost of living

Here are the views of a nominated MP.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000162/NMP-calls-for-regulatory-steps-to-rein-in-inflation

A future with electric vehicles

I hope that this future comes soon.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000167/A-future-with-more-electric-vehicles?

Performance bonus breeds the culture of avoiding responsibility

The culture of avoid responsibility and minding turf has grown to be very bad in Singapore. Political leaders and civil servants spend a significant part of their energy in explaining why they should not be addressing a particular problem, i.e. that another agency should be responsible to deal with the problem.

Often, the problem was not attended to, as there are many issues that "fall between the cracks". The situation is so bad that a Member from the ruling party, Ms. Indranee Rajah, had to raise this issue in Parliament. See this report: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120301-0000073/More-coordination-among-govt-agencies,-please

If the honourable Member of Parliament had to face this difficulty, one can imagine how much worse the situation would be for the ordinary people in Singapore!

What cause this culture? I can hazard a guess - it is the performance measurement and bonus system of the
Government. It may seem to be a good idea to reward good performers - Government ministers and top civil servants - with a big bonus. But it does have its unintended consequences, such as encouraging the culture of avoiding responsibility.

If any agency takes the challenge of dealing with the problem, they would have to employ more people and incur higher expenses - and this would probably result in a lower performance rating (as the additional work is not likely to be recognized and accounted for). So, to improve the performance rating, it would be better to avoid taking the responsibility!

I have always considered that honourable people, especially top leaders, should do their best out of a sense of duty and not for a bigger bonus. This is why I have been against the payment of high bonus for performance - at the top levels!

This is just a personal point of view, and is probably one sided. I know that there is a good side to pay more bonus to encourage good performance. But, on balance, I think that this has probably produced a negative outcome.

Bank report huge profit

Whenever a bank reports a huge profit, I wonder where the profit comes from.

Is it due to the huge interest rate spread, i.e. the difference between the high interest rate charged to borrowers and the meagre interest rate paid to depositors? Should the government have created a better investing environment so that the consumers get a decent interest rate on their savings?

How much of the profit come from the sale of financial products, including the high risk currency-linked, credit-linked and equity-linked products that have devastated the savings of the unwary investors?

Singapore has been an excellent place for the local and international banks to make huge profits. Does this suggest that the consumers in Singapore are contributing to these huge profits?

http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC120301-0000081/Singapore-helps-StanChart-hit-record-profit

Affordable medical care

Read Lucky Tan's article
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/02/affordable-medical-care-in-singapore.html

Create your own business simulation game (BEST)

BEST now allows you to create your own game at any time. It will automatically start in 5 minutes. Other people can join the game, or you can play the game against the other players who operate on artificial intelligence. This feature allows you to practice at your own time and develop the skill of business strategy.
www.easyapps.sg/besta. Try it and all the best.

Election in Myanmar

To many Singaporeans, the forthcoming election in Myanmar may seem remote and unconnected to this small island. But, according to Alex Au, it may have important ramifications. http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/lee-hsien-loong-should-apologise-to-aung-san-suu-kyi/

Uncollected charges of restructured hospitals

The Minister for Health, Gan Kim Yong, gave a detailed reply to a question in Parliament about the unpaid bills in restructured hospitals. http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120229-0000054/Hospitals-left-with-S$110m-in-unpaid-bills  The average amount of bill written off each year is $30 million.

Reading this report, the following questions popped up in my mind:

a) What is the total revenue of the restructured hospitals, and what percentage is reflected by the written off amount?
b) Is this written off percentage at an acceptable level, compared to commercial benchmarks?
c) Why is the Minister answering this type of question in Parliament, when the commercial operations of the restructured hospitals are supposed to be outside of the responsibility of his Ministry?

I have been quite confused about the state of affairs in Singapore.

Means testing for health care

Many people get the wrong impression that the higher income earners are not allowed to use the facilities of the subsidized B2 and C wards in hospitals. This is not correct. They can use the subsidized wards but enjoy a lower level of subsidy. Go to www.fisca.sg.

Hold an early by-election in Hougang

I urge the Government to arrange a by-election in Hougang as

early as possible.

It is not the fault of the voters of Hougang that they have now

lost their elected Member of Parliament. It is also their 

constitutional right to be represented by an elected political

leader in Parliament.

One possible reason given to justify a delay in holding a

by-election is that the Prime Minister has pressing 

national issues to attend to.

I suggest that he should leave the arrangements of the

election to his civil servants, who should be quite capable of

attending to this matter and who are probably not as hard

pressed as the Prime Minster.

An early by-election would demonstrate to the world

that the rights of the citizens are respected.

Teacher misconduct

Recently, there were a few news reports about misconduct by

teachers. Some people asked if this could be prevented by 

careful selection of teachers. 

We should not expect ready made solutions to 

all of our problems. Those who have been involved in selecting people

for jobs will know the limitations of any selection process.

The Minister for Education Heng Swee Kiat has promised to deal 

with complaints seriously and to investigate every case of alleged
misconduct.

I wish to point out some potential risks of this approach:

a) Some teachers could be the target of unjustified allegations, 

especially if they are made anonymously. 

b) There are situations where the parent or student may wish 

to remain anonymous to the target of the complaint

c)  A person may be sincere in a behavior which another

party may consider to be offensive.

In the old days, a person in higher authority, for example a 

principal, may be willing to make the judgment and handle

the complaint in a sensible manner. In many cases, an advisory or

warning may be appropriate for first time infringements. 

I am not sure if most people in authority are willing or competent

to take this responsibility today.

An investigation, especially if made known to the public, should only be 

reserved for repeated or more serious cases. 

We must be aware of a tendency for the public to judge a person 

as being guilty just because a complaint had been lodged or an 

investigation conducted.. 

I hope that, in our drive for perfection, we should not forget

the common sense approach towards solving our 

daily problems.

Fiber optic network in Singapore

Read this report about the challenges faced by Open Net and the dispute with IDA on the delay and poor performance on the installation of the new fibre optic network in Singapore
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120228-0000062/OpenNet-in-a-tangle-over-NGNBN-roll-out

Here are the key points on this matter:

a) The fibre optic network is a large investment of $850 million.
b) It is likely to become another "white elephant", i.e. a lot of money spent and poorly used.
c) OpenNet faced difficulties with the Internet Service Providers and owners of commercial buildings

Part of the blame must go to the poor handling of customer service by OpenNet. I have experienced this matter personally and can attest to the inefficiency of their process. I have given by suggestions on how they can make improvements, but it fell on deaf ears (like so many similar situations in Singapore).

This tussle is another reflection of the state of affairs in Singapore - too much fighting over turf and self interest, instead of the public interest. I hope that the Government leaders realize about the root cause of the many problems faced in Singapore and are willing to reach out to the wider group of Singaporeans (outside of the people in charge now) who are able to help find the solution. They are many knowledgeable people who are concerned about the future of Singapore and giving their views on the Internet.

A loyalty program based on mobile phones

A team of young people wants to start a loyalty program based on mobile phones. This loyalty program allows a customer to look for business outlets which offer loyalty points on purchases. The customer can search for the outlets that are nearby, that offer the best points and that are the most popular. There is no need to carry physical card (as this function is taken over by the mobile phone) or to join many separate loyalty programs.

They like to get your feedback, Please take part in this survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6CF8QFR

Taxi booking (TABS) - potential in Canada

I showed the taxi booking system (TABS) to a Canadian (of Indian origin) who visited me. He is involved in marketing innovative solutions. He liked the TABS system as it can change the way that people book for a taxi. The taxi driver does not need to look for passengers on the road, as they can locate a nearby passenger easily through TABS and reduce petrol consumption and accidents.

He is able to see the benefits of TABS (which agrees with my points) by thinking out of the box, and looking for benefits, rather than problems.

He has an uncle who is involved in a taxi cooperative with 400 taxi drivers in a town near Toronto. He is convinced that his uncle will be interested to introduce TABS as it gives their members an advantage in a competitive taxi market.

He was quite surprised that the authority in Singapore is not pushing to implement a similar system in Singapore - as there are obvious benefits of this system, from the perspective of the environment and road safety.

  

Job hopping

I met an Indonesian woman who had migrated to Australia for more than 10 years. She enjoyed the quality of life in Australia. She works the required number of hours and goes back home to spend time with the family. If she works extra hours, she is allowed to take the same number of hours off later in the month, under a flexible work scheme. The turnover rate is quite low, as most people enjoyed the work environment and the quality of life.

She had worked in Singapore for several years previously and found that the job hopping rate was unacceptably high. It was quite common for people to move from one job to another, mainly to earn a higher pay. Her view about the high job hopping in Singapore agrees with what I have also observed. 

Business simulation game (BEST) has started

A few players have joined the 4 BEST that run each night from 8 pm to 11 pm. The players compete in the insurance, hotel and airline industries.

Here is one way to learn the game. Register, log in, and play the game. When you first start, you do not need to input the figures, if you are not sure of the game, and can allow the artificial intelligence in the game to make the decisions for you. You can study the outline of the AI intelligence. After a few virtual years, you will get the feel of the game and feel confident to make the decisions.

The game can be played each night at www.easyapps.sg/besta

Powerpoint Project - urgently required for March 2012

I need a person to create Powerpoint slides for a major project. This person has to work for the whole month of March 2012. The candidate should be experienced in using Powerpoint, including animation and audio. If you are available and interested, and have the required skills, please send an e-mail to kinlian@gmail.com.

$1.1 billion subsidy for bus operators

Alex Au has written an interesting article about the funding of 550 buses to be given to the two bus operators. I share his concerns, i.e. why should the tax payers be funding the profit-making enterprises? Perhaps they should be nationalized. See http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/pap-government-in-messy-affair-with-new-sweetheart/

Simplify online banking

I wish to urge our banks to simplify their processes to encourage more people to use
electronic payment and more efficient ways of communicating their requests to the banks.

As a business customer of DBS Bank, I am required to login to my account with the following entries:

An organisation ID
A staff ID
A staff PIN or password
An internet banking token with 8 digits

The organisation ID and staff ID are provided by DBS Bank and are not easy to remember. I have to write them down on a paper. This is risky but I have no choice. Instead of enhancing security, this complexity is creating more risk.

I am also required to sign and post many types of requests to the bank. Surely, if I am able to make transfers of large sums of money after logging in my bank account, it should also be possible to use the login to authenticate my request, without the need for a manual signature?

My friend told me that he has never signed any request to his bank in England for two decades. He only need to enter his PIN number.

I suspect that some of the existing practices are mandated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. So, I also urge the MAS to take the lead to simplify and improve the process.

Tan Kin Lian

Investment plan with high termination charges

Read the exchange in this blog:
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/archive/index.php/t-9683.html

Business Simulation Game (BEST)

I invite you to try the business simulation game at this website
www.easyapps.sg/besta

Four games will be running each night (Singapore time) for the 
insurance, hotel and airline industry. You can try to learn the
strategy on pricing and marketing to get profitable results
in a competitive market.

There is a video on the home page that shows how you can play
this business game.

If you have played the game before, you will find that the
game has been modified to show a different set of products
and markets.

You have to register an account with your email address and 
password to participate in the business games. Do play the
game a few times to get the feel of the game and the strategy.

TABS is disruptive technology

An IT expert describes TABS (taxi automated booking service) as a "disruptive technology". This is a technology that changes a process completely.

Why? A normal taxi booking service is a "push system". The customer request is sent to the nearest taxi - while they are still moving along the road - and the first driver that respond gets the booking. When the customer arrives at the pick-up point, there is the risk that the customer is not around, i.e. "no show".

TABS uses a "pull system". The taxi driver uses TABS to "find customer" after dropping off the previous customer and before driving off. The driver sees the location of the 5 nearest customer, including the booking fee (or tip) that they are willing to pay on top of the taxi fare. If there is a customer close by that pays an acceptable fee, the taxi driver can call the customer by mobile phone to confirm the booking. This reduces the risk of "no show".

TABS will help to reduce consumption of petrol, road congestion and road accident - as the taxi driver does not need to look for a passenger on the road.

Currently, TABS has a weakness - the customer does not know when the taxi driver will accept the call. This is being addressed. The next version of TABS will allow the customer to know how many taxis are nearby. Right now, the customer can cancel the booking, if no taxi driver responds within a waiting time.

We will be monitoring the situation and will make adjustment for TABS to work well for both customers and taxi drivers. TABS is free for customer - not counting the tip that they pay to the taxi driver. The taxi driver does not have to pay during the next 3 to 6 months, when this system is being developed, At a later date, the taxi driver has to pay a monthly fee. Those who join later will have to pay a registration fee as well.

TABS card for commuters: http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=627
Terms of service: http://www.tabs.sg/ToS.aspx

Book a taxi with TABS - for customers

Foreigners represent Singapore in international convention

It is quite sad that Singapore males have to do National Service and foreigners are given scholarship, jobs and the chance to represent Singapore - and they have an advantage over Singaporeans because they do not have to serve National Service. http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/02/24/members-of-nus-delegation-were-not-singaporeans/

An opaque budget

Kenneth Jeyaretnam of The Reform Party wrote this article about the lack of transparency in our opaque budget. http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/02/24/the-reform-partys-view-on-budget-2012-part-one/

I believe that the details of the budget are likely to be available in the documents presented to Parliament - so it is possible that KJ might have missed them. However, I do not know myself if this is the case, and will welcome views from other people who can do the checking for me.

Threat of defamation lawsuits

http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/02/threats-of-defamation-lawsuits-not-way.html

http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/02/quieter-one.html

Hear Mr. Brown
http://hw.libsyn.com/p/6/7/5/6751196a4e1f9cad/tmbs-240212-sendletterlaw.mp3?sid=1d183b165b44870fa690205f989d55a8&l_sid=21263&l_eid=&l_mid=2920537&expiration=1330082211&hwt=5360084a589f739187c5782208c0c24b

TABS can change the way that taxis are booked

I carried out research of taxi booking over the past two years and obtained these findings:

a) About 25% of commuters book a taxi (and pay a fee of $2.50 or $3.50); the other 75% stop a taxi on the road (because they do not want to pay a booking fee).
b) About 80% (my estimate) of the taxi booking goes to Comfort and Citycab taxis and 20% goes to the other taxi companies.
c) A Comfort taxi drivers gets 5 to 10 requests a day. Many of them complained about "no show" when they pick up a booking.
d) The taxi drivers of the smaller taxi companies hardly get any booking each day.

I have launched TABS (taxi automated booking system) and hope to achieve the following:

a) Get more passengers (i.e. the 75% that wait for a taxi on the road) to book a taxi with the $1 booking fee
b) Get taxi driver (other than Comfort) to use the system and get the calls that they miss out.
c) Reduce the "no show" rate, as the taxi driver can call the customer before going to the pick-up point.

TABS can change the way that taxis are used by commuters and taxi drivers. I hope that, one day, most taxi drivers will pick up passengers using TABS or other taxi booking service, and taxi drivers do not have to ply the road to look for customers.

Inefficient and wasteful processes

I have made a statement that the Government collects a lot of taxes and spend some of the money wastefully. I want to quote a few examples:

1. Posh office buildings and furniture
2. Management consultants and computer systems
3. Online processes that save time for civil servants but adds many times of the burden on the public
4. Creates a lot of work to give payback to the citizens as refund for the high tax collected, e.g. GST offsets, progress package, economic growth package and the like

The amounts spent on some of these items are staggering - tens of million of dollars on items that could be avoided.

It would be much better for the government to collect less tax (e.g, abandon GST), reduce the price of land for public housing and simplify their compliance requirements. This will reduce the cost of living, cost of doing business, and make a large impact on improving the lives of the people.

I want to recognize the good aspects of the government - i.e. managing an economy that provides jobs for the people. So, I am not want to appear to be giving a negative judgement on the government.  I only want to point out some areas of wastefulness and inefficiency that should be recognized and dealt with.

Tan Kin Lian

Taxi Fares is the cruz of the matter

This letter was sent to the Straits Times on 3 February 2012 but was not accepted for publication.

The Minister for Transport announced in Parliament that the Government will regulate the standard of service for taxi drivers but will not regulate the fares. I recall reading an editorial in the StraitsTimes which politely state that regulation of fares is "the crux of the matter".

I understand the reluctance of the Minister to regulate the fares as his Government has, for the past  many years, been promoting the advantages of deregulation of taxi fares to allow greater flexibility in the supply of taxis.  


I wish to suggest an approach that can solve the two conflicting goals:

• The Government should regulate the fares for a basic taxi service that picks up passengers on the road or at taxi stands
• Taxi companies can operate special services for customers that book a taxi at their call centre; they can set their own fares

This approach will allow the taxi companies to participate in the basic taxi service without  incurring the high cost of setting up and managing a taxi booking operation. It will be easier for  new taxi companies or even taxi cooperatives to be set up to run the taxi service - hence  achieving the goal of greater flexibility in the supply of taxis. The taxi cooperative may be able to serve the needs of the taxi drivers better.

Commuters will also benefit as the fares for the basic taxi service can be used as a benchmark to decide on the taxi company to choose for call a taxi. Tourists will not be baffled by the myriad of taxi fares and surcharges.

Tan Kin Lian

Simplify Online Processes

This letter was sent to the Straits Times on 1 February but was not accepted for publication.

SIMPLIFY ONLINE PROCESS

Many government agencies have implemented online process for the public and business entities to submit their requests  and compliance returns to the agency.

These online processes can impose a heavy time burden on the public, for the following reasons:

1. The websites of the agencies are complicated. It can take a long time for the  public to be familiar with the webpages, links and options. Reading the FAQs  can also be a headache, due to the complicated processes. 

2. Some online forms require a specific type of browser to be used. If another browser is used, the results can be unpredictable.

3. Some processes require many steps and ask for information that are not available at the point of data entry. It is easy to miss a step and have the  process aborted.

4. If there is a weak internet connection or the server is busy, the online  process can be suspended. 

5. The public usually needs to call the helpline for clarification and wait a long time for the call to be answered. 

It is ironic that the online processes, which are supposed to improve national productivity, produce the unintended consequence of increasing business cost. By saving of a few minutes of data entry time of its own staff, the government  agency requires the administrative staff of the business entity to spend much more time to make an online submission.

I have personally experienced the online process of various government agencies,  and can attest to the hours that have to be spent by me and my staff to submit a  simple request or return. 

I suggest that our government agency allow the public to submit their requests and compliance returns by faxing the completed manual forms to the agency. It will actually save time for the agency to get its staff to do the data entry, rather than spend the time to guide the public to do the  same work. It can save hours of the time of the public.

Tan Kin Lian
Director
Tan Kin Lian & Associates Pte Ltd

FISCA website - useful articles for consumers

The FISCA website contains several useful articles for consumers. It is update daily. Go to www.fisca.sg 

TABS report for 23 Feb 2012

1982 customers and 121 taxi drivers have registered into TABS (taxi automated booking service).
To book taxi, use the browser of your mobile phone and go to www.tabs.sg/mobile.
For taxi driver, download a app from Apple App Store - look for TABS.


I saw a customer submit a test request with the name "A Tester: please ignore it". This is a good way of testing the system and allows the taxi driver to ignore the message. 

Hacking and invasion of privacy

The wife of the former British Prime Minister has sued a newspaper for hacking into her telephone. I suppose that this is an invasion of privacy. In a similar suit, the newspaper had agreed to pay damages to another plaintiff. Details can be read here: http://www.todayonline.com/World/Worldinbrief/EDC120224-0000027/Cherie-Blair-sues-News-of-the-World-publisher-as-an-alleged-victim-of-phone-hacking

I wish to extend this case to a familiar situation in the Internet world. If a person uses the ID and password to "hack" into the account of another user, this act of hacking is similar and may be subject to the same consequences. Many people may not realize that invasion of privacy can be a serious matter.

I wish to highlight this case. I hope that our lawmakers and law enforcers will also help to promote a better understanding of the legal position.

Register identity before posting comments

TR Emeritus (or Temasek Review) is well known for hosting anonymous comments that are strongly anti-government. Recently, the editor received letters from lawyers acting for PM Lee Hsien Loong and chairman of Fraser & Neave Lee Hsien Yong concerning alleged defamatory remarks posted in their website.

The editor apologized and agreed to delete these comments from the website. But, it was a tiresome task as there were many comments posted, including new comments that were posted after the legal letters were received. The editor believed that the new posting were done mischievously to get the website into trouble.

There was a suggestion that the website may have to get commentators to register their identity before they are allowed to post comments.

http://tremeritus.com/2012/02/23/45635/

The days of unrestrained and anonymous comments in websites and blogs may soon be over. If TR Emeritus gives in and adopts this registration process, other websites are likely to follow their approach.

Reduction in maturity payout

A consumer bought a 21 year child education policy. On maturity of the policy, the payout was 26% short of the initial projection. The consumer asked my view, if this was reasonable. He was aware that the projected maturity proceeds was not guaranteed.

In my view, the reduction of 26% was too much, considering the circumstances over the past 21 years. The projected yield on the take-up of the policy was 5% and the final yield was 2.6%. 

He told me that he a similar experience with another policy for his elder son, taken with another insurance company. The company agreed to give him a higher payment following his complaint.

I am quite disturbed by the following practices:
a) a big reduction in the maturity payout
b) to adjust the payout after a complaint

I hope that the regulator is looking into this practice, and make sure that consumers are treated fairly. If they are going to cut the payout by a large amount, the insurance company should not be allowed to pay high salaries, commissions and expenses.

An economic slowdown?

I met a property agent who markets the commercial space in Midview City. He told me that the property market has slowed down somewhat.

When I drove to office and returned home yesterday, I saw that the road was rather empty, which was unusual. I asked my colleague if there was some special reason, e.g. a festival, but he could not think of any. He did agree that the road was not crowded.

I went for a haircut today, and the barber's shop was empty. The barber told me that it was after the lunar new year. Strange, I though that the new year was more than a month ago.

I read that Singapore Airlines is reducing its cargo capacity by 20% due to lack of demand.

All these are signs of a possible slowing down of the economy. Any observations to share? 

Exchange of views in this blog

In this blog. I wish to share my views on a variety of issues that are of interest to my readers, such as financial planning, investment and social issues.

I welcome readers to my blog to share their views, even if these views are different from my views. In doing so, there is no need for them to challenge my view, criticise my views or pass judgement on my views or character.

If they wish to ask me to explain my views, it is only polite that they give their actual names. If possible, they should also give some background to explain their reason. I do not like to "speak" to an anonymous person.

There are some people who dislike my views so strongly that they feel that it is justifiable to insult and attack me personally and they do so while remaining anonymous. I consider their behaviour to be despicable. There is a simple solution for people who dislike my views - they do not need to visit my blog.

I welcome the positive exchange of views from most readers of my blog and ask these people to bear with me as I deal with the harassment from some other people.

Consumption tax

GST (or VAT value added tax) is one type of consumption tax. The other type of consumption tax is sales tax. I do not like both types of taxes. I prefer to have income tax, even a flat rate tax, instead of consumption tax. Between GST and sales tax, I prefer a sales tax as it can be applied more selectively, e.g. sale of luxury goods. GST is the worst among all the options. That is why I write against GST. Read this article for my views: http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=626

IRAS replies to my suggestion on GST

Here is the reply from IRAS to my suggestion on GST
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120223-0000069/GST-mechanism-can-work-for-small-firms

I have posted this comment in the TodayOnline website:

I thank Claire Chua for giving me a reply, although I am somewhat disappointed with the reply. I suggest that Claire Chua gets her colleague, who is the GST expert, to contact me by email (kinlian@gmail.com) and engage in a discussion with me. A discussion has to be two way.
In her reply, Claire Chua has missed these three important points:
1. If the Finance Minister is giving $5,000 to help small companies, why not give the small advantage suggested by me, as the cost to the government  is small and the impact to the small business  is large.
2. Businesses have to keep a separate record of the GST inputs and outputs and have to show the amount separately in the tax invoices. The administrative cost is quite significant. I know, as I am involved in the work.
3. A small company supplying goods and services to a GST registered company has to reduce the price to remain competitive, and they have already incurred the GST on their inputs, which they cannot claim back. This is a serious disadvantage that compel small companies to register for GST, when they do not have to, and to incur the cost of compliance. Even IRAS finds it a nuisance to handle these small companies - based on the "body language" shown in their processes.  [Tan Kin Lian]

I found her e-mail address from the Singapore Government Directory and sent this message to her:

I invite you to ask your colleague (GST expert) to call me at 66599611 or reply to me by email to have a discussion on this matter. Do not just give a reply without understanding the issue that has been brought up.