A bold investor

Ms Tan (not her real name) was quite bold. She knew that Genneva Gold operates a questionnaire business model and may fold up. But she was greedy for the 24% return. She thought that she could run with her investment before the company closed down. How much did she invest? (Clue - a lot of money). Did she run away on time?

I will tell you the answer when you attend this talk.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Live launch of Job Portal on 1 October 2016

The Job Portal is working well. I will launch it on 1 October 2016 and accept real applications at that time. I will clear off the simulated data.

www.tklcloud.com/job

Practice to get the right judgment

The Business Simulation Game allows you to practice setting the price, capacity and advertising to get the highest profit.

I had to practice it several times, over several games, to get the right combination. I get the best results through trial and error. This is experience. Nobody can give you the right answer. You have to learn through experience.

Practice now by playing this game
tklcloud.com/bsg

How to identify investment scams

Over the past decades, tens of thousands of people have lost their savings on various kinds of ponzi schemes, starting from Gemini Chit Funds in the early 1970s. This kind of scams have re-surfaced in new forms in later years, such as the high returns paid or promoted on land banks, wines, gold bars, plantations and similar schemes.

Even some life insurance and structured products, sold by regulated financial institutions, have high risks, as the investors often misunderstood the nature of these products and have to suffer large losses in their savings. In many cases, the products are complicated and the person who sold the products did not explain the negative features of these products.

The talk is scheduled for Sat 10 Setpember.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Getting from bad to worse

Earlier this year, I predicted that the government will change the constitution to allow a committee to specify that the candidate for President should come from a certain ethnic group.

I looks like my prediction will materialize. Furthermore, I expect that the ethnic group selected for the next President should be a Malay.

Here is the news of the interview with PM Lee
http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/changes-elected-presidency-needed-race-still-matters-politics-pm-lee?xtor=EREC-16-4[Yah_Newsletter]-20160905-[Changes+to+elected+presidency+needed+as+race+still+matters+in+politics%3A+PM+Lee]

My friend said that this move is designed to prevent Dr. Tan Cheng Bok from contesting in the next presidential election. His conclusion is obvious and is shared by many people.  The PAP consider Dr. Tan to be unacceptable.

I consider this to be a sad state of affairs for Singapore. Dr, Tan had served the country loyally as a PAP MP for more than 20 years. He is now regarded by many people as truly independent of the PAP and can serve the country well as the elected president. Many people consider him to be the best candidate for this office. Why go to so much trouble to prevent him from contesting?

My own preference is to abolish the  elected president and to go back to a ceremonial president. The concept of an elected president with executive powers is badly thought out and is basically unworkable. The problem was highlighted when President Ong Teng Cheong wanted to carry out his duty in a diligent and independent manner.

By making a further change to the constitution, we are creating a more difficult and confusing situation for the future. In short, it does not make sense. 

Learning a useful skill from Youtube

Leyeon was invited to a birthday party to make cartoon characters using balloons.

TKL - Were you good at art in school
Leyeon - Not really
TKL - Where did you learn the skill of making these characters with ballons?
Leyeon - I learn from Youtube
TKL - How long did it take you
Leyeon - One year, while I was in NS. (Looks like he made good use of his idle time in NS!)
TKL - Do you plan to make a living with this skill
Leyeon - I hope so.
TKL - How much do you charge?
Leyeon - $150 per hour.
TKL - How often do you have work?
Leyeon - Mostly on Fri, Sat and Sun. I am mostly free on weekdays.

Leyeon can be contacted at: 91546135

Job Portal - Guide for Job Seeker

This video shows how you can use the Job Portal as a job seeker. Try it. It is now in testing mode. You can create a fictitious entry to test the user experience.

Bad experience with SIA mileage awards

Although I had flown on Singapore Airlines for a few decades, I did not keep track of the mileage points. I found the system to be too complicated. In most years, I allowed to mileage to expire.

Recently, I earned 60,000 mileage points from placing a fixed deposit with a bank. I spent a few hours to learn how to use the points. It was complicated.

I wish to share my experience.

1. I spent a lot of time finding out how many miles are required to buy an "award ticket". I must have clicked on a few dozen links just to get this information.

2. Someone showed me a PDF that contain the required miles to fly from one zone to another and also to carry out an upgrade from one fare to another. It gave the required information but was quite complicated. SIA did not make this available from their website.

3. I logged in to buy the Economy Flexi ticket that allowd me to upgrade to Business Class. SIA offered this ticket only for the outbound sector but did not make it available for the return sector. The have a regulation that the most restrictive condition apply when the itinerary contain different fares. I find this to be very complicated. I spent 1 hour to understand this convoluted arrangement.

Later, I learned that the best way to use my miles was to use it to pay for my ticket. They offer a conversion value of $0.01 for each mile.

I guessed that SIA found the "award tickets" and "upgrade tickets" cause them to lose revenue on some sectors. Instead of being frank about it, they used a convoluted system to deny the benefit to their Krisflyer member. This caused the member to waste a lot of time.

A few weeks ago, I called their hotline to ask the staff to give me the information. The hotline staff did not know. He checked and called me back later, but gave me the wrong information. If the SIA system could confuse their staff, what about their customers?

It is better for SIA to streamline and simplify their system, rather than cause this kind of confustion to their customers and their front line staff. This experience left me the impression that SIA is inefficient and wasteful in supporting bad business practices and processes.

Job Portal - guide for employer

This guide shows how the employer can post a job and get in touch with job seekers immediately.

Change to constitution led to unintended consequences

Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in the general election in Myanmar late last year. She could be be the President as the constitution was specially drafted to stop her from taking this office. Her party had to elect Htin Kyaw to hold this office although the real power lies with "the Lady" as she is commonly called.

A change to the constitution requires a 75% majority. The military leaders hold the 25% votes that can block a change to the constitution.

There was a provision in the constituiton to allow the government to create an agency "to facilitate the efficient governance of the country. A simple majority of Parliament is required to create this agency.

The ruling party passed a law to create the office of the State Counseller. A lot of power was given to this office. This office holds more power than the President. Parliament appointed "the Lady" to be the State Counseller.

Here is the irony. The miliary ruler wanted to stop "the Lady" from being the President of the country. She is now the State Counseller and actually holds more real power than the President.

This is an example of unintended consequences. Dictators in power wanted to make the rules that will perpetuate their power against the will of the people. Usually, their schemes backfired.

Can you think of a similar situation in Singapore? Do we have a change in the constitution that also boomeranged and produced serious unintended consequences?

Helping Singaporeans to find jobs

The government sponsored Jobs Bank is not helping Singaporeans to find jobs. The process of matching applicants with available jobs is not working well. Most job seekers and employers have given up on this portal.

I have developed a new Jobs Portal to overcome this problem. It uses a different approach in matching job seekers with employers. It removes the tedious tasks of reading pages of resumes that do not contain the relevant information.

The new approach is - indicate the type of job that you want to do and your expected salary. You will get an email showing the jobs that matches your criteria. You can view the jobs and indicate if you wish to apply for the job.

The employer can view the applicants and shortlist the job seekers, based on the basic information that is provided. This reduces the work for the HR executives in screening the resumes. An email is sent to the shortlisted employees. The shortlisted employees can send their detailed resume to the employer by email (outside of this portal).

A prototype of this website is now available for job seekers and employers to get the user experience. This website contains simulated data of job seekers and employers (with simulated jobs). This makes the portal look like real. And the job seekers and employers get immediate response?

Watch this video to understand how to use the portal.

Be careful about the English language

PM Najib of Malaysia said:

"I am only a servant of God who has weaknesses too, and plenty of knowledge that I still need to learn," he said. -

Initially, I thought that he said God has some weakness. This is the problem with the English language. One has to be careful.

It is better for him to say,
"I am only a servant of God. I have weaknesses too, and plenty of knowledge that I still need to learn," he said. -

See more at:
http://news.asiaone.com/…/najib-some-situations-are-be…/123…

Energy saving LED lights

A friend gave me some insight into energy saving LED lights. This new technology gave the same brightness as the normal light but uses a fraction of the energy.

The government of the UK and Europe subsidized the replacement of the ordinary lights with the LED lights. In one country, they went to all the eligible households to replace the lights with the new LED lights, at the cost to the state.  In other countries, the cost of the LED lights were made affordable due to heavy subsidy from the government.

In recent years, the cost of LED lights had dropped significantly, due to high demand and economy of scale in production.

I did not recall a similar initiative from the Singapore government. It is time for the Singapore government to encourage households to switch to the LED lights.

How to be really helpful

I read this story in the Readers' Digest magazine 20 years ago.

The husband passed away suddenly. The young widow had a difficult time dealing with the unexpected situation. She had to make arrangements for the funeral and receive many friends offering their condolences. She also had to take care of the young children.

A neighbor, whom she did not know well, came over with a box containing shoe polish and brush. He sat down quietly at the door and spent a few hours polishing all the shoes that were left at the front door. On completing his task, he briefly offered his condolences to the widow and left.

The widow was moved by his thoughtfulness. He knew how he could be really helpful. At the funeral, all the shoes were polished and shined. In the hussle and bussle, who would have thought about looking smart at the funeral?

The neighbor did not ask the widow how he could help. He knew how to be really useful. He did not interrupt the widow who was busy taking care of many other matters.

I often had people interrupting me when I was extremely busy asking for an answer to an unimportant issue. They could have found the answer on their own, by exercise initiative. Instead, they expect answer from me "out of the blue". They did not realize that I had to spend time to understand the issue before giving my answer. And my answer would probably be worse that the answer that they could have got on their own.

We need people to exercise initiative, and not wait for instruction all the time.

Promoted to aristocracy

Joe visited a hunting farm each year. There was a dog called "Salesman". He was very hardworking. When Joe shot a bird, Salesman would search high and low and bring back the fallen bird to Joe.

 One year, Joe visited the farm but Salesman was nowhere to be found. He asked the farm owner what happened to Salesman.

The owner said, "A few months back, one of the hunters decided to call him "Sales Manager". Now the stupid dog refused to search for the birds. All day, he sat on his haunches and bark.

That story reminded me of what happened to our ministers in Singapore. Previously, they were hard working. Then the prime minister decided to call them "natural aristocrats". Since then, they stayed in their ivory tower all day and refused to mix with the "lesser mortals".

Buses with faulty tracking devices

I took a bus and changed to bus 162. The mobile app showed that Bus 162 would arrive in 15 and 30 mins. As there was nobody waiting for this bus at the bus stop, I thought that the earlier bus had just left.

To my surprise, bus 162 arrived within two minutes. This is the "ghost bus" with a faulty tracking device.

It reminded me, again, that the Land Transport Authority did not bother to check that the buses have tracking devices that are in working order.

I have given this feedback countless times, but nobody cares. Even the "super" transport minister does not care. I have lost my respect for him. I will now refer to him as the "substandard" transport minister. We hardly see him or hear from him any more.

Why spend tens of million of dollars on a tracking system which is now not reliable? It just take a little effort and attention to get it in working order.

Be responsive to public feedback

During the past decades, the government reply on letters to the newspapers for feedback from the public. They paid attention to the published letters and follow up with a reply. It reflected a government that is responsible to the feedback from the public and is working hard in the interest of improving lives for the people.

Much has changed in recent years. There is a proliferation of other channels for the public to give their feedback, especially in the social media.

The government agencies now often ignore letters published in the newspapers and the social media. Perhaps, they find it difficult to cope with the rapid growth in the channels for public feedback.

There is an opportunity for the government agencies to use this growth to its advantage. They are able to tap into the feedbacks to identify the problems that need to be corrected, to implement what can be done, and to be recognized and appreciated for responding to the feedback.

Here is how it can be done.
a) Appoint people to monitor the feedback in the social media
b) Give a reply in the social media to ask the person to call a specific person at a specific hotline
c) Take down the details of the feedback
d) Pass the feedback to a senior person who is authorised to act.
e) Give a reply to the person concerned.

This will give the impression of a government that is responsible to public feedback and is working hard to improve the lives of the people.

Air con systems

I installed a split aircon system in an apartment (2 blowers, 1 condenser) for $2,200. The air con price is about $1,600 and the installation is $600.

When I was in Johor, I asked a shop about the price, just for comparison. The shop quoted a similar price for a similar system. They recommended 2 separate systems, each comprising of a blower and condenser for $350 X 2 = $700.

I was surprised that 2 separate condenser cost less than 1 combined condenser. Maybe the price is lower because more units are sold for the single system?

I was not offered this option by the contractor in Singapore. They seemed to jack up the price as much as they could. Is this a bad business practice in Singapore?

Expert on investment scams

Over the past ten years, many people have approached me for help on their investments. They were caught with bad investments. They invested a large sum of money and could not get it back. In many cases, they were investment scams - land banking, gold bars, trees and similar types of investments. In other cases, they were life insurance savings policies sold, or rather mis-sold, by marketing officers located at the banks.

By helping these investors, I get to know about the different types of scams and the situations that cause ordinary people to fall into the trap. There investors were not dumb people. Many of them were cautious and knowledgeable. But they did fall into the trap. It is easy to be deluded by some special circumstances.

In most cases, these investors could not get their money back. I will share the real live stories of these investors (but I cannot disclose their real names). Many of these investors could not get their money back, but you can learn from their experience to avoid falling into a similar trap.

By helping these people, I was able to become an expert on investment scams. I get to know how the investment scams operate, and how investors, including the well educated ones, were caught.

You can register for this talk on 10 September.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Short videos on financial planning and insurance

You can now register with Google or Facebook and watch the short videos on financial planning and insurance, relevant to young people in Singapore.
http://www.tankinlian.com/learn.aspx

Be aware of investment scams

It is easy for an unwary consumer to fall for an investment scam or a mis-sold investment, even from a bank. This can cost the consumer several tens of thousand dollars.

To avoid this risk, you can attend this seminar on 10 September.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Trial of self driving car in Singapore

I am willing to test this self driving car. Are you?

World's first self-driving taxis go on trial in Singapore

The world's first ever self-driving taxis have gone on public trial in Singapore. Starting 25 August, some selected Singapore residents have been invited to use a ride-hailing smartphone app to book a no-cost ride in a self-driving car which will be either a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle, both of which have been specially configured for autonomous driving.

Disappointing experience with Jobs Bank

The Ministry of Manpower set up the Jobs Bank a few years ago to help locals find jobs. Employers are required to post their jobs in the Jobs Bank for locals to apply. If they could not find locals, the employers can submit applications for work passes to engage foreign workers.

Many employers and local workers were disappointed with the Jobs Bank. It is not effective in achieving its goal.

My personal experience has been disappointing. Over the past few years, I have posted several jobs and did not get any suitable candidates. Initially, a few people applied but they were not serious and were not suitable. In recent years, I did not receive any application. Maybe the job seekers were also disappointed that the process is not working well.

Most of my postings were for software developers. Perhaps Singaporeans do not like this type of work. But I have also posted a request for administrative staff. It did not get any response also.

The current work flow is clearly not working. Perhaps, the Ministry of Manpower should re-look at the process and revamp the system.

Good work by the governor of Jakarta

On reaching Jakarta city from the airport, I passed a large river. It was clean.

What a big contrast compared to the situation five years ago. At that time, the river was dirty.

The cleaning of the river occurred when Jokowi was the governor and Ahok was the vice governor.

It is a clear demonstration of the achievement of people who walk the ground.

It reminded me of the work done by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew when he was the prime minister of Singapore. He walked the ground, saw what needed to be done and gave orders for the work to be done.

It is time for the present government of Singapore to follow on the foot steps of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. There are many issues in Singapore that needed their attention.

Price control on seven commodities

The Indonesian government is setting the minimum and maximum prices on seven commodities, namely meat, soybean, rice, sugar, red chili and shallot (onion).

Is it a good idea for the government to set prices to "stabilize the market"?

Price controls is generally good to protect consumers. If the prices are adjusted according to world market prices, this mechanism is good for both traders and consumers. It prevents exploitation of consumers who may not be aware about the fair prices of the products.

If there is a shortage of the commodity, the traders may withdraw the stock from the market waiting for the price to increase. This is a disadvantage of the price control mechanism. The negative impact can be minimized by adjusting the prices quickly according to the market condition.

An alternative approach to price controls is for the government to published the market prices as a benchmark to be used by consumers. The traders are likely to follow the published benchmarks.

Grab Taxi waive booking fee during off peak period

At long last, Grab Taxi is now offering no booking fee during weekdays, off peak period.

Why queue for a taxi when you don't have to? From 29 Aug - 9 Sep 2016, we are waiving booking fees for weekday Standard Taxi rides between 10am - 5pm. Enjoy door-to-door, on-demand taxi rides today at no extra charge with the promo code below:

Promo code: NOBKFEE

Can you trust a bank?

Several people have lost tens of thousand dollars in a place that should be very safe - at the bank. They went into the bank to place a fixed deposit. The relationship manager introduced a financial product that offered a higher interest rate. The customer put in a large amount into a 5 years investment plan. They end up losing all of the invested amount.

Where is the catch?

Attend this talk to find out.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Don't be caught in an investment scam

If you are caught in an investment scam, you can lost a few ten thousand dollars.
You can avoid it.
Register now to attend this talk on 10 September.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Over-supply of new lawyers

We now have another problem - oversupply of lawyers.

I hope that the review panel will look into the root of the problem and come out with an innovative solution. We actually need more lawyers in Singpaore, judging by the long time taken for cases to be resolved.

However, the current practice makes it difficult for the pool of lawyers to be used efficiently.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-panel-to-address-oversupply-of-new-lawyers?&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany

Videos on Financial Planning & Insurance

Mr Tan
I like your video #2 on Financial Planning.
When are you putting up your next video and what is the topic?

REPLY
The next videos will be
#3 - How to invest your savings and earn 5% return
#4 - What are good life insurance policies to buy
#5 - Should I buy a critical illness policy?

They will be put up over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, you can look at the following
#1 - Introductory video
#2 - Financial Planning

tankinlian.com/learn

How to avoid investing in scams

http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=4

Excellent software for CRM and Tracking

I showed this software to a friend and explained how this website can help a venture capital firm to monitor its investments in start ups.

My friend remarked that this software can be customized to keep track of corporate customers for any business. He wants his marketing staff to keep track of their major customers and provide updates of contacts with the customers. He also needs to monitor the quotations, tenders and sales transacted for each customer.  He needs to know that they are keeping in touch with the major customers.

I told him that it is easy to customize the software to meet his needs.

Faulty trackers on buses should be replaced

Last week, I took bus 86 and dropped off at Anderson JC. I checked the LTA App for the arrival time of the next bus 162. It showed 31 mins.

The usual interval for bus 162 is 10 to 15 mins.

I guessed that the next bus has a faulty tracking device and will probably arrive within the next 10 mins before the one that will arrive at 31 mins.

I was right. The next bus arrived within 10 minutes.

I have encountered many instances of "missing buses" which had faulty tracking devices. They do not appear in the LTA app, These "ghost buses" do not exist in the LTA tracking system.

I have encountered them in other bus services, such as 163. I first observed it over a year ago and mentioned it in my blog.

It is a simple matter for LTA or the bus operators to identify the buses with the faulty trackers. They only need to check the database to see which buses appear to be "invisible".

I suspect that there are many buses with faulty trackers and this has not been attended for years. It is time for LTA and the bus operators to "wake up". There is no point to spend millions or tens of million dollars on a tracking system and allow it to show unreliable results.

Gender Pay Gap

Women in America earn 13% less than men. This is the message from Bernie Sander's campaign. He wants to push for equal pay.

I just saw a report that the gender pay gap in the UK is as bad today as it was 20 years ago. Based on the latest survey, women earn 13.9% less than men.

Most researchers attribute this gap to gender discrimination. I disagree.

I attribute the gender pay gap to government policy. In most countries, the government mandated that employers should pay for the cost of maternity leave and, in some cases, health care for the female employees when babies arrive. The cost of the benefits is high for the employer. They adjust for this hidden cost by reducing the wages.

The gender pay gap is caused by market forces. As most employers adjust for the hidden cost, the female employees find have to accept the best offer available to them. Over time, this is reflected in the gender pay gap.

If the government is really serious about pay equality for females, they have to remove the cost of child bearing from the employer. The cost has to be paid by the state and financed through a payroll tax. The employer can provide the benefit and receive reimbursement from the state through an insurance pool.

In my view, this change of policy will help to improve the national birth rate. Many countries are struggling with this challenge.

Website for Venture Capital Firm

A new venture capital firm is interested in a website to help them to monitor the start ups that they are evaluating or have invested in.  I created a prototype website for them to see if it suits their needs. As this is a prototype, they can request for customization.

This prototype is explained in this video guide

Ethical and unethical property agents

I made this posting and received many feedbacks.
https://www.facebook.com/kinlian/posts/1152670071472310

For property agents who made rude remarks, I like you to reflect on the following points:

1. I did not say that selling a property is easy or that a commission of $10,000 is too high.
2. I did not say that the practices are unethical or that all property agents are unethical.

I did say the following:
1. Some property agents oversell a high priced property to a prospective buyer, beyond the financial means of the buyer, using the marketing techniques that I have described here
http://fisca.sg/Info/369
2. They could be over-enthusiastic in working for their sales target and commission goals and may not be aware about the negative impact on the buyers.
3. Buyers should be aware of these marketing techniques and avoid signing on the dottd line due to some perceived discounts or special offers.

Most ethical property agents will probably agree that there are black sheeps that is spoiling their reputation (like in any other trade). Usually, it is the sales driven agents that are offended by the types of observations made by me.

Authorization to obtain medical reports

A patient made a claim under a medical insurance policy for reimbursement of an expensive hospital bill. There was a delay in the approval of the claim.

Later, she was shocked to learn that the insurance company requested for medical reports from the hospitals and clinics visted in the past years. This was done without informing the patient or getting her consent.

She asked me if the insurance company had the authority to request for the medical information.

I replied that claimant had probably gave the authorisation to the the insurance company when she submitted the claim. This authorisation is probably contained in the claim form.

I checked the claim form of NTUC Income and found the authorisation in the last page of a 6 page claim form.

I was surprised to learn that the claim form has become so complicated. It gives a lot of trouble to the policyholder in submitting a claim.

http://www.income.com.sg/content/downloads/claims/life-and-health-insurance/disability-claim-(total-and-permanent-disability-p/submit-a-disability-claim-medical-accident-living.aspx?ext=.pdf

Financial Planning Video #1

Here is the first video of a series of short videos on financial planning. They contained tips for young people.

www.tankinlian.com/learn

Simple suggestions for UPS Courier Service

I have a few simple suggestions for UPS to improve their system:

1) Assign a numeric code for their accounts, e.g. 912345 instead of 91234V (which requires people to pronounce as Victor). The account code should be unique globally. If they have many accounts, they can increase to 7 digits.  If they need to identify the office, it can be done as a suffice, e.g. 912345/SIN for the Singapore office. There is already an internationally recognized system used by airlines for cities.

2) Assign a number ID for each shipment, e.g. 12345678. The ID can be used for collection, shipment, etc. There is no need to give different ID for the different activities. If they need to differentiate between a Collection and a shipment, it can be done by a suffix, e.g. 1234567/C or 1234567/S.

If UPS had designed their system with these suggestions, my user experience would have been easy and they would have got me as a long term customer.

Yes, I know what I am talking about. I do have a lot of experience in the design of database system. You can watch this video about my expertise in this area.

Poor system from UPS courier

An office in Bahrain asked me to sign certain documents and return to them. They arranged with the courier UPS.

I received an email from UPS Bahrain office with instructions to call their Singapore office. Two numbers were given. They also provide a shipping label.

I called the numbers given to arrange for collection. The staff said - sorry, this is the wrong number. I have to call the second number.

(Surely, UPS Bahrain should know which number to call)? 

The staff at the second number asked for all kinds of information. 

UPS: What is the account code of the receiving office?

TKL:  9769 3 V for Victor F for France Y for York, N for Norway 84.

(Why can't they use numbers, without letters?)

UPS: Sorry, the account number should be a 6 digit number.

TKL: The shipping label has a 6 digit number, Receiver 97693 V for Victor. 

(Why can't they use numbers, without letters?)

UPS: Sorry. We cannot locate the record. Can you give the collection number, starting with XX?

TKL: ????. I can't find such a number on your shipping label.

UPS: In that case, I can help you to create the collection record. But you have to provide use with all the required information

(And they asked for much more than really necessary for the collection!)

UPS: Is this the first time that you are using UPS?

TKL: Yes. This is the first time and the last time. 

TKL: The email that I received was from your Bahrain UPS office. Surely, they should know what information is required for the collection?

UPS: Thank you for your feedback. We will pass it to the consumer department.

An IT expert visited my office. He asked how I developed the Business Simulation Game. He knew that the software was difficult to build.

I explained my database technology to him. He was amazed. I showed him this video to explain the technology.

Low claim payout for critical illness covers

Two young entrepreneurs saw me to seek my views about developing a mobile app to educate people on their financial planning and buying of insurance.

They ask if critical illness coverage is important for everyone. I told them to avoid it. The insurance companies are making too much profit from this type of cover.

I showed this website to them. The claim ratio is as low as 20%. If the customer pays $1000 in premium for this cover, the insurance company and the agent makes $800. The customer gets an average of only $200 back in claims.

http://tklcloud.com/MAS/publicview.aspx?class=18

They were shocked at this high profit margin. Why do consumers buy this policy? I said that they are ignorant.

Expensive to send a document to Bahrain

I called Fed Ex to collect a document to send to Bahrain. They quoted a fee of $150. That seemed rather high.

I checked with TNT and got a quote of $110. It seemed rather high also.

I asked the receiving company to arrange to collect the document from my office, as they are paying for the collection charges.

Why is it so expensive to send a document from Singapore to Bahrain? Does this reflect on the high cost of doing business in Singapore?

Citi Link Express

Citi Link Express has an operating office in Toa Payoh. I used them a few times to send urgent documents by courier to overseas destinations.

I called their hotline to make an urgent delivery. Nobody picks up the phone for the past two hours. I called another hotline number provided by them. Nobody picks up the phone.

I wonder if the employees are on strike? Or is the hotline staff sick and no other staff is able to take over? I suspect that they are short of staff and are feeling the crunch of the manpower shortage.

If they do not have staff manning the telephone, they should switch off their automated system, instead of asking customers to wait for someone to answer the call.

This episode cause me to waste an hour of my time trying to get through to them. I will have to look for another courier. This will require some effort to make the arrangement.

This is how unproductive Singapore has become. This cascades. Their poor service affects my productivity.

Remove the hissing from the audio of a PowerPoint

I created a PowerPoint and added an audio narration to the slide show. On playback, there was a noticeable hissing sound.

I search Google to find a solution. Many users encountered the same problem. They offered quite complicated solutions involving third party software. It was too troublesome for me.

Someone suggested to use a good microphone. I re-recorded the narration with a Logitech mic (the best that I got). I passed the completed work to my colleague to convert into a movie and upload to Youtube. It came out perfect. There was no hissing sound.

A week later, I recorded the audio narration to another PowerPoint with the same Logitech mic. The hissing sound was bad. I re-recorded it a few times. It was still bad. On my last attempt, I switched off the air conditioner in my room. There was still a hissing sound, I converted the PowerPoint into a movie file. The movie file has the hissing sound.

I uploaded the movie into Youtube. Surprise! The hissing sound disappeared.

My conclusion - Youtube (owned by Google) had the technology to remove the hissing sound.  I am puzzled that Microsoft did not use that technology to remove the hissing sound in the audio recording of their PowerPoint.

Now I know why Google is worth many times the market value of Microsoft. Clearly Microsoft has not kept in touch with the needs of their customers.

Seminar on Motor Insurance in 4 cities

I have been invited to give this seminar on motor insurance in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and Colombo. It comprises of a talk, Q&A and business simulation Game.

310,000 policies are surrendered each year

The MAS website showed 13,460,000 policies in force at end of 2015. The surrender rate is 2.3%. This means that 310,000 policies are surrendered in a year.

In most of these cases, the policyholder receives a poor surrender value from the insurance company. The surrender value will usually be less than half of the total premiums paid.

Here is some good news. They may be able to get a better surrender value from this "investment company". This is usually higher than the surrender value offered by the insurance company.

Why is this the case? The insurance company is acting like a monopoly - so they offer a low value. The tell the policyholder - take it or leave it.

If the policyholder approaches the investment company, they will usually find a better value.

Here is the link
http://tklcloud.com/tlp/page/1

Joseph Schoolings story by the Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pain-behind-the-glory?xtor=EREC-16-1%5BST_Newsletter_AM%5D-20160821-%5BJoseph+Schooling%3A+Pain+behind+the+glory%5D&xts=538291

Business similation - run a shipping line

Can you run Neptune Orient Lines better than the former CEO who had prior experience in the military? Maybe you could, and if you did, NOL would not be sold away.

If you also have no experience, you can learn the experience from the business simulation game.

Go to www.tklcloud.com/bsg and click on Video Guide. It shows you how to play the game.

You can create a new game and choose the Shipping scenario. It allows you to operate a shipping service in Asia, Europe and America.

You are given the market and economic trends and you have to decide on the pricing, capacity and advertising. Your aim is to achieve the highest profit (or avoid a big loss).

Tip - you are given an important information - whether the margin is high, moderate or low for next round. You have to be agressive in changing your business strategy.

Good luck. Enjoy the game.

www.tklcloud.com/bsg

Traffic restriction in Jakarta

Jakarta has introduced the restriction based on the licence plate number from 1 August 2016. The implementation has been quite smooth. There was no protest.

Vehicles with plate numbers ending with an odd or even number are allowed to use the roads on odd and even days during the peak hours from 6 to 10 am and 4 to 8 pm. There is no restriction during the non-peak hours.

This restriction has led to a boom in car sales. The high income owners bought a second car with a plate that has a different odd/even number than their existing car. This has led to parking problems for the second cars, but it is a different matter.

This restriction is a temporary measure. Jakarta will be introducing electronic road pricing (ERP) similar to Singapore. When ERP is launched, the restriction based on licence plate number will be removed.

Potential partner interested in database technology

I sent this video about my database technology to a potential business partner in Jakarta. He was impressed with this technology. He asked his IT head to study how to collaborate with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJmHanNC_CM&feature=youtu.be

Tax amnesty in Indonesia

The tax amnesty has started in Indonesia.

An Indonesia tax payer is allowed to declare his past undeclared income and pay a tax of 2% if the money is brought back into Indonesia and 4% if it is kept overseas.

For example, a tycoon had earned income of $100 million and did not pay any tax on it in the past years. He can now declare this income and bring it back to Indonesia by paying 2% or $2 million. He will not be prosecuted for failing to declare the income in the past. If he keeps this income overseas, e.g. in Singapore, he pays a tax of 4% or $4 million under the amnesty plan.

The tax increases from 2% for the current quarter to 3% for the next quarter, then 4% for the following quarter and finally 5%. If the income is kept overseas, the tax is doubled. This gives the incentive for the taxpayer to declare the income earlier and enjoy a lower rate of tax under the amnesty plan.

An Indonesian friend told me that it is better to declare the income earlier and pay 4% and keep the money in Singapore. The taxpayer will become free of future prosecution for tax evasion in the future.

The tax amnesty plan is created by President Jokowi to bring additional tax revenue to the Indonesian budget. The tax authorities were not able to catch the tax evaders in the past. This is a way to bring some revenue, although it is only a small portion of the tax that should have been paid. It is a pragmatic approach.

GST Carousel Fraud

Many people dislike GST for being a regressive tax, which imposes a heavy burden on low income people.

I have a separate issue. I found it to be a wasteful taste. It creates too much unnecessary work and waste for businesses. They have to pay the GST on what they buy and then reclaim their GST when they resell the goods.

If a consumption tax has to be imposed, it is better to impose it at the final point of sale, rather than at all the intermediate points. I described GST as a "bits and pieces" tax.

I now find another reason to dislike this wasteful tax. Some people have taken advantage of its weakness to create the carousel fraud. It is described here.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/43-people-under/3054910.html

Some people may be caught. But how many people get away with this kind of fraud or similar evasive activities? We will never know.

It is time to review the GST and find a better way to collect revenue without imposing unnecessary cost to businesses. Already, the cost of doing business is too high in Singapore.

The future for Joseph Schooling

Our Olympic Gold medalist, Joseph Schooling, will be returning to America. He is likely to stay there and make his career as a sports professional.

Many Singaporeans understand and agree with his decision. Joseph and his parents have made tremendous financial and personal sacrifices to bring the coveted Olympic Gold medal to Singapore. The state did almost nothing to support him in this humongous effort. There is no future for sports professionals in Singapore. He has to plan for his future, which must lie in America.

Wait! There is an alternative.

Suppose, Singapore engages him to set up the Schooling School of Swimming (SSS), modelled along the Bolles School in Florida. This is the school that had trained Joseph to win the Olympic Gold. Joseph had trained in that school for several years. He knows the entire training regime inside out. He must have also observed how the training regime impact not only him but the other students in his cohort.

Joseph is most qualified to be the founder and chief trainer of this new school. Singapore can put a few tens of million dollars into this venture. Who can be more qualified that to train our future swimmers than a local and Olympic Gold medalist?

Singapore has a future in swimming. Over the past decades,  we have produced medal winning swimmers in various international events. Swimming is one of the few sports that Singapore can excel in. It is largely an individual sport. It does not require many participants to form a team.

The future swimmers have to be trained from a young age. A young trainer, like Joseph, is more likely to relate to these youngsters than an older guy.

Furthermore, one does not need to be a business or engineering graduate to be an sports professional. Joseph can puruse his degree, but it has to be in the field of sports.

I hope that our minister for sports will consider this suggest and take a bold step to reach out to Joseph Schooling.

Difficult to use Singapore Airline website

I have a lot of problem in using Singapore Airline website.

I wanted to know how many Krisflyer miles are required for a return ticket to London. The website asked me to choose Book or Redeem. So, I indicated Redeem.

I have to enter the Departing City and Destination City and the dates. Some of my entries keep disappearing. I get an error. I have to make my entries all over again. They do not remember my previous entries.

I have to try this a few times to get the entries correct. Then they ask me to sign into my Krisflyer account. I cannot remember my number. Furthermore, my points will only be credited later this month. There will be insufficient points to make any redemption.

I just wanted to know the points required. It is really difficult to use.

Two weeks ago, I called the SIA hotline. The staff checked and came back with the wrong answer. If the SIA staff can be confused, it is certainly more difficult for the customer.

I hope that SIA will consider my feedback and make their website more user friendly.

Insurance policies to be in electronic form in India

India is moving forward by requiring certain types of insurance policies to be in electronic form later this year.

http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/36745/Type/eDaily/India-Most-insurance-policies-to-be-in-electronic-form-wef-1-Oct
They will be way ahead of Singapore.

It is time for our Monetary Authority of Singapore to take the lead and move forward to a more efficient way of handling insurance.

Explaining TPP to LHL

I asked Bernie Sanders to explain to Lee Hsien Loong why the Trans Pacific Partnership is a very bad idea and why LHL should stop advocating the TPP.

Sanders sent this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeVBtWybiyQ

Understand the business cycle

Understanding the business cycle is crucial to the success of any business. Know when there is an increase in demand, when there is increased compeitition from other suppliers and how the market reacts to pricing and marketing. This insight and skill applies to any business, big and small. If you fail to read the cycle correctly, your business can suffer large losses. This is what happened to Neptune Orient Lines.

You can learn how to read and react to business cycle from this business simulation game.
www.tklcloud.com/bsg.

Watch the video guide on how to play the game. It is easy and fun. But you have to practice a few times to get the feel of the game.

Dispute within PM Lee's family

The dispute between PM Lee and his sister is simmering again.
http://statestimesreview.com/…/lee-wei-ling-slam-lee-hsien…/

Problem solving

Develop the skill of problem solving using the shape quiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfYdAPUz_Fo

Technique
Know where to start
Look for the obvious clues
Solve the problem step by step

Scandalizing the judiciary

I consider the concept of "scandalising the judiciary" to be ridiculous in this age of the Internet. I agree with the British High Commission that this concept should be abolished. 
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/comments-by-british-high/3045558.html?cid=FBCNA

Database technology

My expertise is in creating database and in processing the data to get useful results. This video explains my database technology in more detail. I can help corporations to find creative solutions to improve their business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJmHanNC_CM&feature=youtu.be

Quest for Olympic Medals

Singapore embarked on its quests for Olympic medals many years ago. It started a sports excellence program to develop local and foreign sports talents. It imported foreign athletes and gave them citizenship and special training. It must have invested tens or even hundreds of million dollars over the past years in this quest.

This program did produce some results - a Silver medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and 2 Bronze medals in the London 2012 Olympics.

It took a young man with a burning ambition and indomitable determination and the selfless sacrifice, support and love of his parents, to bring the most covered Olympic Gold medal to Singapore. This was achieved outside of the state sponsored program.

Joseph Schooling and his parents, Colin and May, deserve our adulation. We are proud of your achievement and what you have done for Singapore.

Ironically, the state almost obstructed this historic achievement. Joseph was required to spend two years of full time National Service, an obligation that is incumbent on all male citizens. If he had been called up, it would have disrupted his training. Most certainly, he would not have won any medal, let alone the coveted Gold Medal.

Joseph Schooling is invited to attend a Parliamentary sitting in honor of his achievement. It is timely for the government to review its national service policy, in the light of this experience.

Here are my suggestions:

The Schooling family has shown, beyond any doubt, what can be achieved through personal ambition and determination, and the support of the family. The government should encourage this initiative and long term commitment.

It should make it easy for these families to receive deferment of the national service obligations, while the young man pursue a laudable goal. If they achieved the goal, they should be fully exempted from national service. They have already served the nation in a more meaningful way.

Most families would find the financial sacrifice to be unaffordable. The government should find some way to help the family in this quest. It will be a challenge to decide who should or should not be supported. This is not easy but we must try to find a formula.

We can find this formula, but it requires judgment, impartiality and transparency from a selection panel.

The lesson from Neptune Orient Lines

Neptune Orient Lines was an icon of Singapore. It was our national shipping line. It was important to Singapore because maritime trade is an important part of our economy. The port of Singapore is one of the busiest in the world.

It is an extremely sad episode for Singapore when NOL had to be sold to a French shipping group. It had sustained large losses in recent years and the shareholders could not bear the loss or see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The CEO of NOL said that the downturn was sudden and could not be foreseen. Was it really the case?

It might be unforseen for someone who is relatively inexperienced in the shipping line, but is should not come to a surprise to someone who has been in the industry for a few decades and had seen the ups and downs of the business cycle.

Unfortunately, the CEO was previously a military person and did not have any experience in this shipping industry. It is a mistake on the part of the major shareholder, namely Temasek Holdings, to put a relatively inexperienced person to run this large company.

The business cycle will affect all industry, not only the shipping business. It will affect airlines, hotels, tourism, manufacturing, retail, property and just about any industry. That is the nature of the free market and competitive economy.

Apart from gaining experience, insight and the feel with decades of experience, there is another way to understand the nature of the business cycle.

If the CEO of NOL and his top management had practised on this business simulation game, they would have known about the market cycle and how they should adjust their pricing, capacity and marketing expenditures under various market conditions and economic cycles.

www.tklcloud.com/bsg

Watch the Video Guide in the home page. It shows you how to play the simulation game and gain the experience that comes from many years of operating experience. Maybe, you can avoid the fate that brought down NOL.

Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Why is the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) bad for ordinary people?

Bernie Sanders explain why it is bad. He gave four reasons.

They apply not only to America. They apply to other countries as well. They also apply to Singapore.

TPP is good for the multi national companies, the drug companies, the Wall Street banks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeVBtWybiyQ

Avoid Dual Currency Investment - it is a form of financial terrorism

From time to time, some unwary customers invested in a Dual Currency Investment. They did not realize the high risk. They were mis-advised by the bank relationship manager who recommended the DCI to them.

I wrote this article to explain the DCI. I encourage consumers to read it to understand it. After understanding it, most sensible consumers will avoid the DCI like terrorism.

http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF/660

Training of Joseph Schooling

I saw an article stating that Joseph Schooling was trained in USA and his father spent over $1 million (USD) in his training.

The environment in Singapore was not conducive to his training. It must be very costly for his family.

I am glad that this investment is rewarded by the glory of achieving an Olympic Gold and a generous cash prize from the state.

Perhaps our elites in Singapore can reflect on our training system - which seems to be not going well here.

Joseph Schooling and National Service

When Joseph Schooling won the Olympic Gold for Singapore at the age of 21, this question came to my mind - Did he have to serve his full time National Service?

I read that his mother had to ask SAF to allow Joseph to complete his basic training plus three months, so that he can continue to train for this sport.

I do not know if this request was granted. I hoped that it was - and that would demonstrate that the SAF is flexible.

It is a miracle that the first Olympic Gold for Singapore came from a local born citizen, and not a foreign import.

We will never know how many Olympic medals were lost in past years when National Service disrupted their sports training and the young boys did not have parents who fought hard for them to be given "some flexibility".

Congratulations to the Schooling family. Well done. You have made us proud!

Mr. Tan
I want to share with you a bad unethical practice from bank X.

They sold a credit card to me at a mall. I don't really need the card, but the sales person was persistent. I obliged to help the young man.

I used the credit card on a few occasions but forgot to pay the bill. They charged a high interest rate on the card.

For my normal credit card, I have set up GIRO to deduct from my account. For the new card, I overlook it. Why did they not tell me to set up GIRO? I suspect that they want to make me overlook the payment, so they can charge a high interest rate on the card. This is how they make money.

I asked for the GIRO form and submitted it. The form was quite complicated. I was surprised to learn that they only deduct the minimum amount each month and carry forward the balance to charge interest. I have more than sufficient balance in my bank account - so I intended to pay each month's bill in full.

Bank X told me that there was a column in the GIRO form to pay the minimum amount or in full. I did not tick in full, so they assume that I want to pay the minimum amount.

This bank is quite dishonest in its practice. They purposely want to catch their customers unwary and to find ways to charge their exorbitant interest rate for late payments.

Please share this experience with your readers.

REPLY
Thank you. I agree with you that Bank X is greedy to make profit. They do not have any hesitation to "cheat" their customers. I suspect that many banks practice this unethical model.

Investor lost 20% of family wealth on Dual Currency Investment

Hi Mr Tan,

I just want to share with the readers that I have suffered 20% loss of my family's wealth via DCI investment. We just want to make good use of money by earning a conservative interest yield and the banker had effectively helped us made a loss! 

Our original fund is SGD later converted to AUD and then converted to USD. Double whammy with SGD and USD currency sliding down. You will see that the banker will stick to the same pitch. Keep on investing USD. The currency will rise up sooner or later. The banker of mine even dared to say that the USD currency will go up to 1.45. This is a dangerous message. Exactly your advice. 

The banker said we are not losing your base fund. Just keep it as AUD and USD until the currencies rise. This is all bullshit. Now, we are stuck with USD and earning no interest rate. This is a long term investment loss in value and in time. Please don't invest in DCI unless you are economics/market savvy yourself and is able to take risk. 

Whatever on Dual Currency Investment

Financial articles for consumers

Here are some useful everyday financial articles written for consumers in Singapore

http://fisca.sg/Article

Bad service from DBS Bank

I wanted to pay my Standard Chartered credit card bill by GIRO from my DBS account. My relationship manager told me that I have to get a manual from from SC Bank, sign it and send it to SC Bank for processing.

DBS allows my to go online and submit my GIRO request to many organizations. But they don't allow it for payment of credit card to another bank? Why?

This is another example of the wasteful and inefficient practices that is allowed to happen in Singapore.

I wonder if the government or MAS will step in and ask the banks to wake up and help to improve productivity and reduce waste in Singapore.  

How property agents sell very expensive apartments

Here are some ways that property agents sell very expensive apartments.

Case 1

The buyer went to view some unsold units. The property agent said that the price was $2,000 psf. It was way too high, but it was an expensive condo facing the sea. The buyer could not afford it. The agent said, "Let me show you a unit where the developer has not yet raised the price. It was $1,800 psf (still too expensive). The buyer nearly bought it to avoid the price increase. She could not afford it, but this was momentarily forgotten.

Case 2

The  buyer was shown a condo unit in an expensive development in Upper Thomson Road. The price was $1,500 psf. It was about 50% higher than older developments down the road. The agent, who was a friend of the buyer, told the buyer that she had a unit with an excellent view of Pierce Reservoir. The buyer almost bought the unit for its excellent view. She did not realize that almost all high rise blocks have excellent views of reservoirs, forested areas or of the sea. 

Conclusion

The property agents are trained in marketing. They know how to catch the weak points of the buyers. They will bring out an "exclusive offer", when it is not really exclusive. The price may be inflated, but the buyers generally do not know the difference between $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000 ps - so long as it is a "discount".

How Shape Quiz can train your mind in problem solving

This short video explains how the shape quiz can be used to train the mind in problem solving.

I organize a 1 hour tutorial on Saturday in my office for children age 7 to 10 years. I invite the parent to sit in and learn with the child.

This is not a game. It is fun, yes, but it is a subtle way to train the child in the correct approach to solve problems. It also gives them the confidence in dealing with challenges and uncertainty.

This can be practiced. The skill can develop over time.

Here is the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfYdAPUz_Fo

If you like to register your child to attend the 1 hour tutorial (and you can sit in as well), you can register here:
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=5

When I showed this to an elderly person, he liked this concept. He will bring his grandson to attend.

Shape Quiz - training on problem solving

I am giving a tutorial to children (7 to 10 years) about the Shape Quiz. It helps to train them in problem solving - what to look out for, and where to start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFjMHNB7qhg

Civil servant with wrong focus

My staff called the Ministry of Manpower to enquire about S Pass. She passed the call to me.

MOM - You are Mr. Tan. May I have your full name and your NRIC for recording purpose?

TKL - (I gave them the particulars)

MOM - Mr. Tan, you are calling the wrong number. For general enquiry, please call the MOM hotline. This telephone is only for CPF issues and complaints.

TKL ????

If my staff got the wrong number, why does MOM to ask my full name and NRIC "for record purpose"?

This staff is so focused on getting data to complete the KPI, rather than to serve the public.

Start a business to manufacture chocolates

You can try this simulation game. Select a New Game and choose Chocolate.

You are asked to decide on the price to sell your cholcolate (in cartons of 100 bars), how many to produce and how much to spend on advertising.

You will see the results of your decision at the end of each round. You complete with other manufacturers.

Good luck.

http://tklcloud.com/BSG/game_det.aspx

Waste of education budget

I met a foreigner who studied and graduated from a polytechnic. She is required to work 3 years in Singapore to contribute to our economy in return for the cost incurred by the government for her study.

The Ministry of Manpower requires the employer to pay a monthly salary of at least $2,200 and a levy of $400 to a S Pass holder. She was not able to find an employer who was willing to incur this cost.

A monthly cost of $2,600 appears to be too high for a poly graduate who does not have outstanding results. As she could not find a job, she has to return to her country.

Singapore would have wasted the cost of educating her for three years.  Is this how our education budge is being wasted?

Business Simulation Game - Video Guide

I have created a new video guide for the Business Simulation Game. It is a 10 minute video and shows you how you can play the game on the platform. It also gives you some tips on how to set your inputs for each rund of the game.

Enjoy the game.
http://tklcloud.com/BSG/video.aspx?ID=4

How to get a child intersted in a subject

I showed Mr. Kang a technique to learn the shape quiz. Look at the solution and put the pieces to form the shape. Practice many times until the child knows how to do it without any help.

Mr Kang agreed with that approach. He told me this incident. His friend bought her son three assessment books and asked him to work out the problems. The son hated the extra work.

Mr. Kang took over the task of getting the son to be interested. He asked the child to look at the solutions and work back on the problems. By being exposed to different types of problems for the same topic, the child was able to learn through the worked examples. He become more interested in the subject.

Mr. Kang observed that by the child improved his understanding and interest in the subject through the practical examples.

I hope that some parents will try this approach and see if it works.

If you are interested to send your child (7 to 10 years old) to learn how to solve problems using the shape quiz practice, you can register here:
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=5

A skill for a lifetime

Mr Kang visited my office. We had a nice chat about life in Singapore.

I showed him my Shape Quiz and explain how it helps people to think and to solve problems. He liked it. He wanted to enrol for his 10 year old grandson to attend the tutorial.

http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=5

He said, "Many parents send their children for music and art classes and spent a few hundred dollars on these classes. Often, the children did not like these lessons. What you teach with the shape quiz will be a skill that they can use for a lifetime. It opens up their mind and give them confidence in dealing with problems. The $70 is definitely worth spending".

I said that the parents are welcome to attend the tutorial with their children. This will be an added benefit. They get two people learning the skill for the price of one!

A corrupt legislature

When the constituion of the United States of America was first drafted, each state was allowed to elect two senators into the US Congress, which is the highest legislative body that makes laws for the entire country.

This seemed to be a good approach - the people elect their state legislators and these legislators could be counted on to elect two most suitable people to represent their state in the US Congress.

This approach led to a corrupt practices in some states. Some rich people offered bribes, subtly or openly, to the legislators to elect them into Congress  It was easy to bribe a few dozen legislators.

This corrupt practice was quite bad. A change was made to the US Constitution to allow the people to elect their members of Congress directly. This replaces the election through the state legislature.

The experience of America showed the danger of giving too much power to the legislature. They could make bad decisions and pass bad laws. They could be influenced by corrupt practices.

We cannot trust our legislature on making major decisions affecting our long term future. We need some of the major decisions to be passed to the people through a referendum. We need to be more active in deciding on the people to be elected into our Parliament.

Change constitution through a referendum

The people of Thailand voted in a referendum to change the constitution. The process went smoothly. The changes were approved by the people in the referendum.

The constitution of Singapore was changed a few times over the past decades to implement the Group Representative Constituency (GRC) system and the Elected President. On these occasions, the changes were passed by a two third majority in Parliament. They came from the ruling party.

What is the difference between the two processes? One is a referendum of the people and the other is a decision by Parliament.

Are the elected members of Parliament in a better position to decide what is good for the future of the country, rather than the people in general?  Surely, the majority of the people voting in the referendum would be unfamiliar with the issues and would be swayed by inflammatory campaign speeches? Some people had put forward these arguments.

I agree that with the risks of a referendum.

However, the referendum process will allow the two sides of the issues to be fully discussed and debated before the actual referendum. This rigorous process ensures that the unintended consequences are discussed as best as possible, before the final referendum take place.

If Singapore had adopted the referendum approach, the changes to the constitution would probably be rejected, as they were not adequately considered. A Parliament that is controlled by the ruling party does not play an effective check against bad policies.

We should be more active in using the referendum approach to decide on long term changes that affect our country.

Learn problem solving the fun way

This is a small tutorial for 4 children aged 7 to 10 years old. They can learn the skill of problem solving the fun way. This skill may be useful to them in unexpected ways.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=5

Case study in business simulation game #2

This table shows the results for round 10 of the business simulation game.

It shows the input (price, capacity, advertising) submitted by the players. One player is a real person. The others are robots, submitting random inputs (but fairly intelligent figures).

The chart shows the quantity sold (also called demand) by each player and the dollar amounts of sales, cost, expenses and profit for the round. The cumulative profit is also shown. The rank shows the ranking of the players based on cumulative inputs.

This table shows how the demand varies according to the price and advertising. The player with the highest profit for this round is the one who submits the best combination of price, capacity and advertising.

Case study in business simulation game

This table shows the inputs (price, capacity, advertising) for round 1 to round 9 of the business simulation game.

Based on the input, the platform calculates the quantity sold (also called demand), and the dollar amount of sales, cost, expenses and profit and cumulative profit for each round.

This player achieved the top rank in cumulative profit from round 1 to round 9 (except for round 3) by adopting the right strategy.

Practice the business simulation game

Dear Mr Tan,
In your business simulation game, I find that if I increase the price and advertising, I usually get better profit. Is this correct?

REPLY
This is what the results appear to show, but up to a point. Beyond that point, you will get lower profit.
If you play the game a few times, you will get a "feel" for what the turning point is.
this is also what happens in the real business world. You need to get the "feel" based on experience.

You can practice the game at www.tklcloud.com/bsg.
Enjoy.