Fumbling over the search and rescue of MH 370

Raymond Fong asked.
Is the Malaysian Government fumbling up on the search-and-rescue mission for MH370 or are they hiding something from the public or other countries?

REPLY
The Malaysian authorities have been severely criticized over their handling of the search and rescue operation. 

They were accused of both opposite situations, i.e. releasing wrong information, which had to be retracted, and suspected of hiding information. In reality, they have been quite open in dealing with the scanty, and contradictory information, to the extent of "fumbling".

I don't think they are hiding information. They have to verify the accuracy before they release it.

Could Singapore have done better, when we are faced with a similar crisis? If you recall the Little India riots, our police had to spend some time just to have internal consultation on whether and how to respond, when the rioting was already escalating. Our approach can also be criticized.

GST is bad for Singapore

There is still a large group of people who thinks that the Goods & Services Tax (GST) is good for Singapore, as it allows income tax to be reduced to attract businesses to set up in Singapore and create jobs for Singaporeans.

Most of these people are misled by the false propaganda that is fed to them over the years by the Government and the proponents of GST.

If they understand what is really happening, they will realized that they have been conned and misled by the false arguments that were fed to them.

http://c-onyx.com/page/1790

Uncertainty about amount of loan to purchase a property

The new HDB rule proposed by Khaw Boon Wan is likely to cause the market to be more unstable.
http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/03/15/alternative-news-in-1-day-79-hdb-no-more-valuation/

It is better for HDB and the bank to tell in advance, what is the amount of loan that they are prepared to provide for a property, so that the buyer can sign the sales agreement without this uncertainty.

I can understand the difficulty for HDB to commit for a valuation price, when the property market is uncertain. But it is precisely the job of the government to give certainty and help to stabilize the market, rather than take the easy way out by avoiding responsibility.

HDB could say that they are prepared to grant a loan of $X for a specific property, without saying that this is the "valuation price". This can be set at a lower level, to discourage overspending.

Time and time again, I see the failure of the government to do its job, to give certainty and manage the situation. By abrogating its duty, it is causing chaos for the ordinary people.

Keep Rental Rates Affordable

It was reported that the Government will make data on rental rates available for small and medium-sized businesses, so they can make informed decisions on the renewal of their leases (“Rental data to be more transparent”; March 7).

This will not solve the problem of crippling rental cost in a tight market, but could make the situation worse.

Businesses need stable rental rates to stay viable over a long period. They should not be subject to uncertainty over a key component of their cost of operations because of short-term volatility in the speculative investment market.

I have two suggestions to deal with this problem.

First, we should revert to an earlier system in which the Government, through statutory boards – such as JTC Corp and the Housing Board – makes commercial and industrial properties available at affordable rates. The rent can be adjusted to take into account inflation and construction cost, but should be shielded from the speculative investment market.

Making a large supply available at moderated prices could set a benchmark for rental rates of private properties.

Second, the Government should encourage landlords and tenants of private properties to enter into long-term leases by offering property tax concessions for such leases.

The property tax rates could be fixed at a prevailing level for the duration of the lease.

Tan Kin Lian

* Article first appeared in ST Forum (14 Mar)

Improving financial literacy

Ang Yee Gary asked:
How do we raise the financial literacy of singaporeans? Should it be the job of govt or private sector?

REPLY
The Government had been adopting the wrong strategy to raise financial literacy of the citizens. This is why so little is achieved after putting in so much effort.

The starting point should be to make sure that fair and trusted financial products are available to consumers. The financial literacy program can then educate consumers about these products.

This requires the government to come forward and tell the public which are the fair and trustworthy products. If they are not willing to take this action, who does the public believe? They can be easily conned by crooks, who make false promises.

In most countries, the regulatory agencies will take action against bad products and bring the wrong doers to court. But, the authorities in Singapore prefer to avoid this responsibility.

There are very few financial products being sold in Singapore that can be considered to be fair and trustworthy. Most of the financial institutions compete to bring out products that are confusing to consumers and have hidden charges to boost their profits.

Hidden charges by UOB credit card

Raymond Fong said,
Dear Mr Tan,
I am frustrated that UOB Cards is imposing hidden charges in the following manner. The amount in Singapore dollars displayed by the merchant that I see on my computer screen is the amount I am willing to pay. How can such the following practice by UOB be allowed?

Customers of UOB Cards should not use their UOB credit card when purchasing products online from merchant that are based overseas when they post their products in Singapore dollars. UOB will charge them with a hidden charge of 0.8%. This will not be reflected in their credit card bill as a separate charge, but as a total charge. For example, I just recently made a purchase of a product listed as SGD487.18 by the online merchant based overseas. I used my UOB credit card to pay, and my credit card bill was listed as SGD491.08. Please go check your UOB bills properly from now onwards. I have called UOB but the customer service officer said that it's cross border charge and it cannot be waived.

This is not true because Citibank Singapore does not impose such a hidden charge. I have been using Citibank credit card for years to do such purchases but Citibank has never ever pull this stunt on me before.

This is the first time after so many years that I switched back to using UOB credit card. I think I will stop using it further since I have no confidence when UOB will have other hidden charges again.

REPLY
Most businesses in Singapore do not understand what is ethical and what is not. They are so greedy to make profit, that they will carry out unethical activities.
Blame it on the government for failing to set a good example, and for failing to take action against bad practices. They prefer to do nothing.

New talks under FISCA

A new series of talks to be conducted by Mr. Tan Kin Lian under FISCA is being planned. 
Details of these talks can be found here:
http://c-onyx.com/page/1782

Mystery surrounding MH 370

The disappearance of MH 370 is baffling. 

1) There are two evidences that it crashed in the South China Sea, between Malsysia and Vietnam. There was the sighting by the oil rig worker and the debris captured by the China satellite. 

2) There was the radar reading by the Malaysia Air Force that it was diverted to the West and data readings that the plane flew for a few hours after being out of contact. 

In your view, which is more likely to have happened?

Government should bear the increase in health care cost

It is unwise for the Government to try and shift the burden of health care cost to the citizens. Already, the citizens are paying a lot of direct and indirect taxes and are not able to meet the cost of living.

A wise leader will use some of the budget surplus, which is estimated to be more than $30 billion a year based on IMF conventions, to meet the increase in cost, rather than expecting the citizens to chip in and shoulder the cost, as suggested by PM Lee.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/pm-lee-says-medishield-life-depends-everyone-chipping-share-burden-201

Is he out of touch with what is happening on the ground?

How to encourage commuters to take the bus

Most people like to take the train in Singapore because the routes and the stations of the lines are clearly marked. They know the "map" by heart or can look it up easily.

What about the bus services? There are more than 200 bus services and 2,000 bus stops. How can anyone remember this system?

Even if they know what bus to take, they will not know which stop to alight. The stops are not numbered (unlike the train). They have to look for landmark (such as block 234 of ABC road). Who would know how to identify this stop, unless it belongs to his or her neighborhood.

Hence, most people avoid taking the bus, except for the service that they are familiar and they take it regularly.

There is a simple way for the Land Transport Authority to encourage more people to take the bus. And this is necessary to take some of the passengers from the overcrowded trains. If more people take the bus, the trains will not be over-crowded.

There are many apps that allow people to know which bus to take from A to B. Sometimes, they have to change the bus an an intermediate place to reach the destination. For example, take the bus from A to B and change to another bus to go to C.

The problem is, how does the passenger identify the stop to alight at B and the destination at C?

I have a simple solution, and it is explained in this article.
http://c-onyx.com/page/1772

I have given this solution to the head of bus services in the Land Transport Authority one year ago. No action was taken. I have written to the CEO of the LTA recently. I have not received any acknowledgement yet.

Easy way to mark test paper

This website allows a teacher to mark test papers from students using plain paper OMR. It can help the teacher to reduce the marking load, especially for regular tests.
http://c-omr.com/

Here are some tips on how to write good multiple choice questions:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/writing-good-multiple-choice-test-questions/

Multiple choice test questions, also known as items, can be an effective and efficient way to assess learning outcomes. Multiple choice test items have several potential advantages:

Versatility: Multiple choice test items can be written to assess various levels of learning outcomes, from basic recall to application, analysis, and evaluation.  Because students are choosing from a set of potential answers, however, there are obvious limits on what can be tested with multiple choice items. For example, they are not an effective way to test students’ ability to organize thoughts or articulate explanations or creative ideas.

Reliability: Reliability is defined as the degree to which a test consistently measures a learning outcome. Multiple choice test items are less susceptible to guessing than true/false questions, making them a more reliable means of assessment. The reliability is enhanced when the number of MC items focused on a single learning objective is increased.  In addition, the objective scoring associated with multiple choice test items frees them from problems with scorer inconsistency that can plague scoring of essay questions.

Validity: Validity is the degree to which a test measures the learning outcomes it purports to measure. Because students can typically answer a multiple choice item much more quickly than an essay question, tests based on multiple choice items can typically focus on a relatively broad representation of course material, thus increasing the validity of the assessment.

The key to taking advantage of these strengths, however, is construction of good multiple choice items.

Learn how to learn for life

A German lady who has lived in Singapore for more than 30 years, once told me about her education in Germany. 
She attended a gymnasium, which is for the academically inclined. Most of the graduates go to university and proceed to academia. She did not pursue that route.
When she graduated from the gymnasium, the principal told her - the gymnasium teaches her the skill of learning on her own after graduation. The education is not about learning and remembering content.
How true. She came to Asia and was able to adapt to the new environment. She learned the language and culture of Asia, married a Singaporean and adapted a new way of life.
It will be nice for our education system to give this type of thinking and learning skill to our students, and not to be remembering content.

Prepare for a coalition government

Eric Ng 
Hi Mr. Tan,
What will happen if the G lost the GE and were voted out. The biggest opposition party win the GE in a watershed election, and did not win the parliamentary seats by over 50%, will the G and the winning opposition party form a coalition government or will the G become the opposition and the winning opposition party form a coalition government with a third party.

REPLY
It will be a good outcome for Singapore if the PAP win less than 50% of the seats in the next general election.
The most likely outcome is they will continue to govern through a coalition government. This will lead to changes in some of the bad policies that have been pursued by PAP for the past three decades.
Singapore will see change, and a better future.
Some of the current ministers, who do not like the current PAP policies, are likely to change their focus and make better use of our reserves to improve lives for the people.

Tip for a new graduate

Alex Long asked:
Mr. Tan, my son completing his U soon and has been offered a job. What advice u have for him in term of insurance coverage and others etc.,? Thanks you.

REPLY
Buy a 25 year term insurance policy, or the SAF policy, and invest the savings in the STI ETF. 
Give him this book, www.c-opal.com/pdfbook/33.
Ask him to join FISCA (www.fisca.sg) and attend the financial planning talks, targeted at consumers. 
Avoid buying any life insurance policy (other than a 25 year term insurance policy) and give away 40% of the accumulated value to the insurance company. (Only idiots will fall for the trap).

Malaysian Airlines crash - MH370

Someone asked for my views about the MH370 crash, whether it was due to competition from budget airlines that lead to lowering of security standards. 

REPLY
The airlines and airport authorities are so busy on useless security checks that they overlook a simple thing as someone travelling on a fake passport or on a passport that was reported to be lost. It is time for them to focus on the real risks, rather than following stupid SOP blindly.
Rather than asking for tighter airport security, they should review their current SOP and focus more on the real risks. They should be more alert, and adopt practical steps.
The risk of airline crash is less than 1 in 3 million flights, MH370 included. See the statistics here:
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm

Cost of educating a student

The government spent $11.6 billion on education in 2013 for about 500,000 students. The cost per student is $23,000. This is a large sum of money. 
My friend told me that the fee charged by the Indian International School is $1,000 a month. It seemed that we are spending more per student than the international school, which is operating on a private, commercial basis.

Securing a lease in a soft market

The tenant in my town house told me two months ago that he had to terminate the lease early as he was being relocated. I had to find a new tenant in a difficult market. Many apartments are now vacant. 

Fortunately, I had a good real estate agent. He advertised the vacancy actively and managed to secure a tenant against strong competition from other agents marketing similar vacant units in the same estate. He had to spend several hours to convince the new tenant

The new tenant will take the lease immediately on expiry. However, I had to accept a reduced rental due to the soft market. But the rental is in line with a recently transacted lease.

If you need a good real estate agent, send email to kinlian@gmail.com.

We should spend our education budget more prudently

Singapore is spending $11 billion a year on education. It is the second highest item, after defense spending of $12 billion. 

While education is important, it does not mean that we should over-spend on this item. We should ask if the money spent is producing the right type of people who are needed for the economy.

A significant portion of the budget is wasted on producing the wrong type of people. For example, we train engineering graduates who went into the finance industry. We should be more prudent and careful in our spending. 

There are other areas of need in our society, such as jobs, health care, security. 

We need a more balanced approach. I find our finance minister to be not managing the budget well.

Manual workers should be better paid

The garbage truck passed my house. It was manned by foreign workers.

I wonder - if the wages for garbage collectors is $2,000 a month plus CPF, there could be some Singaporeans who are willing to take up this job.

And it does not mean that the consumers have to pay more for garbage collection. Already, consumers are paying a lot to the town council and to the government. The higher wages could mean that the surplus of the town council and the government is slightly reduced, and it does not mean higher cost for consumers.

If locals are willing to take up this types of manual work for higher wages, there will be more employment opportunities, especially for those who are not well educated. We need some of these types of people in our society. Many of our forefathers who came from China or India had to do manual work.

If our manual workers are well paid, they will be able to raise a family and be able to consume, leading to a more robust domestic economy.

We need to change our prejudice against certain kinds of jobs, and have a more balanced economy.

Tan Kin Lian

Different school environment

A Singapore citizen was able to send his children to an international school, after getting permission from the ministry.

He visited his children in the school and found the children very lively, playing like children during recess time. It was like the environment when he was in school 40 years ago.

His children grew up to be confident and able to communicate well. The school did not have too much materials to study. The teachers were able to really spend time to teach the children. His children did not need private tuition.

He noticed that his children develop better in the international school, compared to the the local schools, where they went to earlier.

He said that the school environment make a lot of difference in the development of the children. The Singapore system of education produced people who are very good at following instructions but do not have the confidence to think and act on their own.

Be adaptable and able to deal with uncertainty

A Singaporean manager, who has worked in a multinational environment for more than ten years, and have met expatriate managers from many countries, told me that the many of the expatriates hold this impression of Singaporean managers:

- work hard and can work very well, if given clear instructions
- not able to deal with uncertainty
- not able to adapt to the environment in other countries
- not articulate

There are exceptions, but this seemed to be the general impression of most Singaporean managers.

He observed that this is due to the education system in Singapore. He sent his children to an international school in Singapore, after getting permission from the Minister for Education, and was able to see the difference in the teaching methods of the international and the local schools.

Most expensive city in the world

Singapore is now rated to be the most expensive city in the world to live in.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821

This reflects on the poor performance of the finance minister and the prime minister.They have done a bad job in managing the economy.

Productivity remain low

Han Fook Kwong, ST editor,k did not share the optimism of the finance minister in fixing the challenges of the economy. Productivity continue to decline as more money is being spent on trying to improve productivity. 

I have been critical of the waste and the lost opportunity. There are many things that can be fixed at low cost, but they are unattended. The money spent on the Wage Credit Scheme and the Productivity and Innovation Credit is largely wasted. 

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/03/02/budget-2014-st-editor-doesnt-share-tharmans-optimism/

Business simulation game

You can develop the skill of running a business by playing this Business Simulation Game. 
Several games are available each day, for you to practice at 2 pm, 3 pm, 8 pm and 9 pm. You can read the User Guide shown in the home page to play the game or login as a Guest and see the game being played.

You are required to decide on the premium rate to charge for four insurance products and the commission rate to pay for the business. If you wish to increase your business, you should lower the premium or increase the commission, but you also have to make sure that the premium is sufficient to cover the claims, expenses and commission and leave you a profit margin.

Practice often, and develop the skill of pricing and marketing. 
http://tklcloud.com/bestb/

Learn to deal with uncertainty

Singaporeans like to have clear instructions, so they can follow them to the letter. 
This type of thinking is not suitable for positions of leadership and innovation. These positions require people who are able to deal with uncertainty and incomplete information, and to use their initiative to find the solution.
Singaporeans also need to be comfortable about solving a problem in stages. Do what they know first, even if it is incomplete. The rest can come later. 
We need to change our education system so that our young are comfortable about the new approach dealing with uncertainty and incomplete solutions.

Manual jobs are also useful

I went to a petrol station to pump petrol into my car. There were a few attendants, mostly elderly, who helped motorist in this task.

There was a time in the past, when the government encouraged self service. This was a bad idea.

Most motorists are not familiar with operating the controls in the pumps. The attendants are there every day, and know what to do. It makes life better for the motorists.

It also creates useful jobs for our elderly, and keeps them fit and healthy.

We should get away from the mindset of eliminating all jobs. We need to create useful jobs for the people. It can be manual work and they have to be treated with respect, and paid decent wages.

We should reduce the people involved in unproductive work, and put them to useful work in serving people, and making life better for others.

Bad design for Wage Credit Scheme

Last year's budget has a Wage Credit Scheme where the G subsidizes 40% of the wage increase for workers. Many small enterprises cannot qualify for this subsidy, as they do not fit the criteria set in the budget. 

This year, the G is continuing this scheme. I suspect that it is the larger companies that are benefiting from the scheme, and not the small companies. 

I find it so wasteful to spend so much tax payer's money to benefit the wrong type of businesses.

It would have been better if the G had subsidized all of the employer's CPF contribution up to a certain limit per company. This is simpler, and the money is going to the right places.

I find our finance minster to be ineffective, and he is wasting so much tax payer's money without achieving the goal of improving productivity and making small business sustainable.

Take a look at the number of small companies reporting losses in each year .... 100,000 of them. This is a bad situation for Singapore.

http://c-onyx.com/pdf/1744

Why do Singaporeans park the car in reverse?

My Swedish friend visited Singapore and I took him out for lunch. He observed that most people in Singapore parked their cars by reversing into the parking lot. In Sweden, nearly all drivers park by driving forward. He wondered why.
I asked if the parking space is bigger in Sweden, which make it easy for forward parking. He said that they are about the same. 
I said that it by parking backwards, it is easier to drive out, but he was not convinced. 
I also observed from the movies that American drivers also park their cars by driving forward.
What is the reason for our practice in Singapore?

Productivity remains at low level

Han Fook Kwong, ST editor,k did not share the optimism of the finance minister in fixing the challenges of the economy. Productivity continue to decline as more money is being spent on trying to improve productivity. 

I have been critical of the waste and the lost opportunity. There are many things that can be fixed at low cost, but they are unattended. The money spent on the Wage Credit Scheme and the Productivity and Innovation Credit is largely wasted. 

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/03/02/budget-2014-st-editor-doesnt-share-tharmans-optimism/

Need to make it easy to make payments

Each month, I have to make a few payments using electronic banking by DBS Bank and their platform for business banking is terrible. It is extremely complicated to use and the website keeps giving all kinds of unexpected trouble. 

Often, I wanted to give up and pay by cheque, but it is equally painful. 

This difficulty of making payments must be felt by most companies. They now have to resort to visiting customers to collect cheques or using courier to deliver cheques. It is adding to the cost of doing business.

Although the finance minister said that it is important to improve productivity, his ministry is not addressing the root of the problem. They are in their ivory tower, and do not understand the practical issues.

I read what the UK is trying to do, and even the statement by their chancellor, "The Government to improve banking service for consumers and businesses". I find this statement to be most meaningful, after suffering the painful way of doing business in Singapore.

I have written to the newspapers, to the finance minister himself for two years, and nothing is happening. So much inefficiency and wastefulness in Singapore.

http://c-onyx.com/pdf/698

Challenges facing Singapore

Dear Mr. Tan Kin Lian
Our MEWR Minister was quoted recently as saying even though there is a drought in spore we do not need to worry about water shortage. He then went on to say it was the farsightedness of spore govt investing in Newater and desalination that we do not have to worry about water shortage.

We all know droughts lead to water shortage. But many of us also should know that droughts may also lead to bush fire and other hazards. Punggol and Jurong east already got hit by bush fires now. Look around spore and you will find grass turning brown and leaves on trees turning yellow. Bush fires are a real and present danger.

Last year when PSI hit record high in spore it was due to fire in Indonesia. What is the danger of wide spread bush fires hitting spore if the current drought is prolonged? We may be prepared for the haze but are we prepared for bush fires?

When spore is flooded or water ponded, it was due to heavy rain. When bush fire strikes it is due to prolonged drought. All acts of god. But Machiavalli already told us long ago that when act of god strikes there was nothing much man could do. However there was nothing to stop man from taking preventive steps before these acts of god strike so as to mitigate the damages and destruction when they happen e.g. widen canals, clear choked drains. . . etc before the heavy rain falls to mitigate the ill effects of heavy flooding.

The COI on the little India riot showed us clearly our govt is no longer as good as they used to be. And what is most dangerous is not so much their weakness now which can be improved but a lack of awareness of their inadequacy which if ignored further, more once in 50 years incidents are going to hit spore. We have so far seen flooding, strike by bus drivers, riot.

Rest assured more once in 50 years incidents will take place unless there is a genuine effort to acknowledge there is a problem. It will not be a question of ifs but what and when. Honestly without the humidity to acknowledge a problem, there can be no real solution. Home Affairs Minister quoted to be disappointed. Saying some lapses by his ministry unacceptable. Transport Minister quoted to be concerned over SMRT's regular breakdown. If Ministers are concerned and disappointed,  what about citizens? Should we not be even more disappointed and concerned?

What are you views Mr Tan? Are you disappointed and concerned as well?

REPLY
Singapore has many serious problems accumulated over the years. The ministers are trying their best to cope, but their non-transparent approaches  do not produce good results. We need a more open society and broad-based approach, which is the approach adopted by most other countries.  

Faults appearing in our society

By now, many people would have form the conclusion that the Police was incompetent in handling the Little India riots. But, this is a reflection of the situation in many parts of the public and private sector in Singapore.
The inability of SMRT to fix the train faults is another clear example of that failure.
Our leaders are too busy making money, playing golf and networking with elites. They are neglecting the fundamentals of what makes the economy and society works.

Government policies that lead to high cost of living

Someone said:

Mr Tan, every country also got inflation. For a small country like ours with no natural resources where everything we need is imported, how do you expect the Govt to stop inflation? ..... 

REPLY

The government policies that led to high rates of inflation and high cost of living in Singapore are:

1. High property prices

2. High COE

3. GST

4. Lack of control over health care cost, over charging

This is made worse by:

1. Stagnating wages due to outsourcing and inflow of cheap foreign workers

2. Low interest rate on savings

3. No minimum wage.

4. Reservist and remedial training for NS men

A good government, a good finance minister, will address these issues. IB trolls will defend the ineffective government by saying "inflation is beyond anybody's control".

Trickle down economics and Singapore

Is trickle down economics working for Singapore? Someone sent this article to me. 

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/trickle-down-economics-working-spore

MY REPLY
it is not working for Singapore, and not working in America either. It is a bad system, that leads to a widening income gap. It is based on false assumptions and convoluted logic.

Cost of health care in Malaysia and Singapore

I am not surprised that Malaysia ranked quite well in an international ranking about affordable health care.
Many Indonesians go to treatment in Malaysia, and bypass Singapore, which is too expensive. Malaysia offers quite good medical care at less than half the cost of Singapore.
We have allowed our cost in Singapore to increase too much, due to inefficiency and waste. We are a wasteful and high cost country. We need drastic action to be taken to bring our cost down to competitive levels.
I fault the Finance Minister for his failure to recognize the challenges facing the economy of Singapore. We cannot continue to rely on a property and car bubble to achieve economic growth. It is like stealing the future of our children.

Pioneer Generation should include the people called up for NS in the early years

Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said that he is glad that the pioneer generation now includes the people born in 1949 that was called up for NS. The number is just a few hundred.
What about those born in 1950, 1951 and later years? This is where the large numbers are, and they are left out of the generous benefits provided to the pioneer generation. Surely, these people should also be considered as pioneer generation, as they were the people that built up a strong defense capability for Singapore?
As defense minister and a cabinet minister, does Dr. Ng see beyond one year?

Cutoff date for Pioneer Generation extended by one year

When the pioneer generation package was first leaked to the press, it was reserved only for those who were 65 years and older at the time of the budget. This would apply to people born in 1948 and earlier, and exclude those born in 1949. 

I wrote in Facebook that the first batch of NS men called up for full time military service was those born in 1949. They would be excluded under the original scheme.

I know of this fact, because I was born in 1948 and missed this "privilege". I wrote that it was an irony that the cutoff date would exclude the people the people who had to serve full time NS.

Someone probably read my comment and perhaps pass the message to the Cabinet. They probably decided to extend the package by one more year, to include the first batch of NS men.

What about the second and subsequent batches? This is the flaw of giving benefits based on a cutoff date. Some people get a lot of benefit, others get $0. This is a divisive policy.

It is better to give the benefit to everyone who has reached 65 years of age, now and in the future.

Sending an invoice to a school

Last year, I sold shape quiz and tangram books to a school. They asked me to sent an e-invoice. I had a lot of trouble to register for an vendor ID at the government website. I also recorded the details of the website address, user ID and password.

I received a repeat order this year. I went to the government website to create the e-invoice. The website said that my vendor ID is rejected.

I had no idea why it should be rejected. I send an online form.

I don't understand why the government makes it so difficult to me to do business with a school. It is unfair, wasteful and unproductive. By saving a few minutes of time, they created a lot of work for the vendor.

I had sent this issue to the Ministry of Finance last year. Looks like, I have to bring it up again.

Settlement options under a life insurance policy

Can an insurance company withdraw its settlement options that it guaranteed to the policyholder? The wording said that the election of the option is subject to "acceptance by the Company" but this condition is unreasonable. Here are my reasons. 
http://c-onyx.com/page/1747

Are we having problems in relations with Indonesia and China?

Dear Mr. Tan,
Here are two recent events that get me worried about our future. The two countries that are very important to Singapore are Indonesia and China.
For Indonesia, there was the recent issue of the naming of their warship as Harun Usman. There was also a ban on export of granite to Singapore.
For China, their President XJP, decided by bypass Singapore on his recent tour of South East Asia.
Are these two countries, that are important to Singapore, unhappy with us? What did we do wrong?

REPLY
I don't know. Perhaps we appear to be too arrogant for a small country?

A new approach towards national defense for Singapore

Singapore now has 70,000 active military personnel, comprising 30,000 regulars and 40,000 conscripts serving national service for two years and 13 years of active reservists duty. The reservists are expected to be operationally ready and are called up once a year to spend two weeks in training. They are also required to pass the physical proficiency test, failing which, they have to attend remedial training. This requirement can be taxing for most reservists who have to do a full time job and to look after a family.

I wish to propose a new approach - that will reduce the demand on the conscripts and reservists. The conscripts will be required to serve full time for 12 months only. This is sufficient for the military training for non-officers. The conscripts can be discharged after 12 months and be placed on  active reservist duty for 5 years and passive reservist duty for 8 years. 

To maintain our active personnel at 70,000, we need to recruit another 20,000 regulars, to make a total of 50,000. It is better to rely on a larger professional army than on conscripts.

I estimate that the additional cost of replacing 20,000 full time conscripts with professional soldiers to be $600 million, taking into account the difference in salary between professionals and conscripts. 

The reservists are expected to be fit and operationally ready for 5 years. After 5 years, they are placed on passive duty and will not be called up for reservists training or to pass the physical test. By that time, they are likely to settle down to start a family. If they are relieved of active reservist duty, they can carry on their work and family life without being interrupted by call ups.

This will provide a pool of 100,000 active reservists that are operationally ready at all times. This number, together with 70,000 active personnel, should be sufficient for our defense capability. During times of war or hostility, the other reservists can be called up and put under refresher courses and remedial training. As they have gone through military training. 

If the reservists are placed on another 8 years of passive reservist duty, it will provide another 160,000 personnel that can be called up for refresher and remedial training. 

By releasing 160,000 personnel from active reservist training, the savings in the defense budget is estimated to be $500 million, assuming that it cost $3,000 to train a reservist for two weeks in a year. This will nearly offset the $600 million required to replace 20,000 conscripts (during their second year) by professional soldiers.  The total defense budget works out to be almost the same.

Here is the score card.

Current system - 30,000 professionals, 40,000 conscripts, 260,000 operationally ready reserves

New system - 50,000 professionals, 20,000 conscripts, 100,000 operationally ready reserves, 160,000 passive reserves.

Defense budget - about the same for both systems. The new system is likely to produce a more effective defense force, and to require less sacrifice from male citizens - as they serve 12 months of full time military service and have to be operationally ready for 5 years (instead of 13 years). 

Tan Kin Lian 

High medical bills for terminal illness

David Soh said.
A close friend of mine recently passed away, Lung Cancer - was almost cured but after going to another x private hospital which gave conflicting views and treatment', the bill cost @ $120,000 over a month. Another case, the daughter was treated in a private hospital cost almost $1m and subsequently passed away. 
Actually what we need is competent good doctors in our Government Hospital, which to date I have seen only 1 out of 10 doctors which has patient's care and concern rather than treating them as production plan, due to the long queue. Most of them have gone private. It is the result of this that forced patients to seek private hospitals which I have came across cases where the doctor will ask if you are covered by insurance your bill is higher than cash.
It is no point having a good Medical Insurance eg Medishield Life when the profession lacks professionalism which causes patients bills to escalate which will cause insurance premiums to increase.
We are govern by too many SOP etc, like my friend case I wanted the Medical Council to use her case as CASE STUDY to see where go wrong to use as a teaching case study, their reply need the family to file a COMPLAINT and they will investigate as they are govern by the ACT.
This explains why a lot of cases not reported as the demise families normally will not persue the matter. What we need besides better Medical Insurance Plans like Medishield Life, is competent medical services

Medishield Life - risk of escalating cost

Many people are worried that Medishield Life will be very expensive. Their concerns are valid.

Let me use this example to demonstrate how bad things can become. An Englishman, who had lived in Singapore for more than ten years, recently went back to the UK to visit his uncle, who was terminally ill with cancer. The uncle was in the late 50s.

The doctors of the National Health Service of the UK had concluded that the cancer had reached a stage beyond cure and this was accepted by the patient and the family. They had trust that the NHS would have done whatever could be done.

Imagine a similar case in Singapore, and the patient was insured under Medishield Life and it was outsourced to a private, for-profit insurer.

If the insurer had concluded that the patient was beyond cure, the patient and the family might not accept this conclusion, and might suspect that the insurer was trying to cap their liability. The patient might have gone for expensive and futile treatment. The cost would be borne by the insurance scheme, and everybody would have to pay higher premium.

I am worried that the Medishield Life would not have the management structure and the co-operation of the patient in controlling the cost of treatment, and the cost would escalate rapidly. This was the experience in America. Our model appears to be following the American model.

I hope that the Review Committee is aware of this risk and will be able to find a solution to deal with it.

Tan Kin Lian

Should National Service be shortened?

Over 95% of Singaporeans wish to reduce National Service by half, compared to those who prefer to keep the status quo. What are your views? Make your voice heard by signing one of the petitions here. Act now. It is for the future of your children and grand children.
https://www.facebook.com/reduceNS/photos/a.1454660811419874.1073741828.1450910421794913/1463681497184472/?type=1&stream_ref=10

Go beyond Pioneer Generation

The Government should not restrict financial assistance to the "pioneer generation" only. 

This burden of paying for higher health care cost will be faced by every elderly person, regardless of whether they belong to the pioneer or non-pioneer generation. 

It is better to give the financial assistance to everyone above age 65, including those reaching this age in all future years as well.

Budget surplus for Singapore - the IMP figure

In the budget statement last year, the government reported the budget surplus for 2012 at $3.9 billion. According to IMF standards, this is grossly under-reported. The actual budget surplus is $36 billion. If this is the case, there is no need for the government to increase taxes to fund social benefits. They can even remove GST, which adds to the high cost of living .

http://leongszehian.com/?p=3821

How to stop increases in medical cost

he Prime Minister has announced that Medishield will be extended to cover health care for a lifetime, will cover pre-existing conditions and cover people who were excluded previously.

The public is worried that the premium for the new scheme, called Medishield Life, will increase significantly. There are discussions on who should bear the higher cost, and if pre-funding can be a way to make the scheme more affordable to older people (by getting them to pay more when they are young).

I have submitted my views on the key elements that have to be dealt with. There is a need for Medishield Life management to negotiate the fees for medical treatment, and to have advice on what are appropriate treatment to be given to patients. If there is no control over these matters, consumers will have to pay higher premiums as medical costs can escalate.

The outsourcing of Medishield to private insurers does not help to improve the situation. It leads to higher cost, due to marketing and private sector profits.

Read the PDF for more details.
http://c-onyx.com/page/1745

Petition to reduce National Service

For the sake of our future generation, we must have a united voice in asking the Government to reduce full time and reservist National Service, so that our male citizens have a chance to compete fairly for a good job and lead a decent life. 

I urge all parents and all Singaporeans to support this petition, and to spread the message to their relatives, friends and colleagues to support the Petition. 

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition-to-reduce-national-service
Tan Kin Lian

Pre Budget 2014 - TKL views

Here is my presentation at the Pre Budget Forumhttps://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/1443dc4cf6e6fe32?projector=1

Here are the charts presented at the forum
http://c-onyx.com/pdf/1744

National Service and Reservist Training

Read the views of our NS men and reservists in this Facebook Page and understand how it affects them badly.
https://www.facebook.com/reduceNS

Are our Police competent?

I had high regard for Police but that regard has diminished in recent years. 

I helped several people to lodge two complaints to the Commercial Affairs Division on cheating cases, which had been going on for more than ten years. I had observed how the CAD carried out its investigation on both occasions, and my description is "irresponsible, incompetent and shameful". Even complaints to the Minister and the Prime Minister did not not make any difference.

We have now seen the response of the Police in the Little India riots on Dec 8.

My regard for several government agencies had also diminised considerably. I strongly dislike the attitude of passing the buck from one agency to another. We all know about the case of different types of birds being handled by different agencies - pushing the public from one agency to another or the question of which agency should deal with racing of cars on our roads in the early morning.

We also know about the rampant inflation of motor repairs which has been going on for more than two decades. No government agency wants to deal with this issue.

As a Singaporean, I am ashamed to make this statement, but it does not help if we turn a blind eye and pretend that this state of affairs is satisfactory.

Rate of traffic accident in Singapore

There are 6,500 road accidents each year involving fatalities and injuries. This is a rate of 1.2 per 1,000 people in a year. About 5% of these cases are fatal (i.e death) while the 95% involve major and minor injuries.

Incidence of breast cancer among women

Women are worried about breast cancer. These statistics may be helpful to put the risk into perspective. They can set aside some money to buy insurance against cancer (or other critical illness) but they should not spend too much money. 
http://c-onyx.com/page/1673