Vote and win!

Click in this link and vote "for" or "against" on the six issues presented to you one by one.
It should take you less than 10 minutes.
And you will win the e-book "Financial Planning for Young People".
www.wisdomofthecrowd.com/vote.aspx

Coverage for young drivers

If you have a son or daughter below 30 years who has just obtained a licence, check that your motor insurance policy cover them as a named driver.

Some insurance company excludes coverage for young driver below 30 years or with less than 2 years of driving experience, unless they are named in the policy as a named driver.

If they are not covered and an accident occurs, it can be very expensive for you. The young driver might get into trouble for driving with coverage.

Watch the video on motor insurance in tankinlian.com/learn

Premium for Medishield Life

You should compare the premium for your integrated plan with the premium under Medishield Life. Look at the premium not only for the current year, but for the rest of your life. Consider if you can afford to pay the higher premium for the integrated plan.

If not, it is wise to move back to Medishield Life. Here is the premium for Medishield Life.

https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/medishield-life/premiums---subsidies/how-to-receive-premium-subsidies/subsidy---premium-tables.html

Easier to submit your vote

I have created a new user interface which makes it easy for you to vote on these issues:

Are the proposed changes to the Elected President targeted at Dr. Tan Cheng Bock. Do you agree with the changes to ensure that each minority group can take turns to be the elected President?

Who will make a better President for USA - Clinton or Trump?

Is China bullying Singapore over the South China Sea issue?

Should the Bukit Panjang LRT system be taken down? Or will it be too wasteful?

Give your vote to this issue and win the popular e-book on Financial Planning.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/vote.aspx

Have a balanced financial health

I have created a 25 min video "Have a balanced financial health". It explains how you can prepare for retirement by investing your savings wisely and avoid losing them through scams or bad investments. You can watch the video here:
http://tankinlian.com/learn

Rider to cover Deductible and Co-insurance

I advise consumers to avoid buying the rider to cover the Deductible and Co-insurance under an integrated shield plan. Here is my reason.

The average amount that you have to co-pay is $3,000. Let us assume that the chance of getting hospitalised for your age is 1 in 10 years. If you buy the rider, you probably have to pay $450 a year.

Over 10 years, you would have paid $4,500. You may have no claim during this period, so all the premium that you have paid goes to pay somebody's else claim.

You may have one claim during this period, which is most likely. You are still out of pocket by $1,500 having paid $4,500 to get back a compensation of $3,000.

You may have two claims during this period. So you claim back $6,000 and paid $4,500. You make a gain of $1,500. But the chance of this occurrence is 1 in 10.

You have a 90% chance of losing and a 10% chance of winning when you buy the rider.

If the cost of the rider is less than $450, it means that you are at a younger age and the chance of being hospitalised is even lower.

Insurance works best when you have to cover big odds, such as the chance of dying in an accident in a year. This chance is 3 in 10,000. So you pay $45 to insure for $100,000. That makes sense.

Buying insurance to cover the Deductible and Co-insurance will make you lose and give a good profit for the insurance company.

The insurance agent encourages you to buy the rider because they can earn a commission of 10% or 15% on the premium that you have to pay each year.

Low payout under Medishield Life

Andrew Loh paid $3,239 for a quadrupled heart bypass operation. Here is a breakdown of the charges.

Total bill: $10,727
Government subsidy - 6,767
Net 3,959
Medishield Life - 720
Paid by Cash/Medisave 3,239

http://theindependent.sg/medishield-life-paid-just-covered…/

He was surprised that Medishield Life paid so little. In fact, the bulk of the subsidy came from the government, as he stayed in a subsidised ward.

If Andrew had taken an integrated plan, he would have paid a higher premium and would still have to pay a similar sum out of pocket. The integrated plan would require him to pay a deductible of $1,500 and a co-payment of 15%, so that would still come to about $3,000 or more.

I will be creating a video to explain Medishield Life. Meanwhile, you can watch my other videos on financial planning and insurance inwww.tankinlian.com/learn.

Young drivers should check their insurance coverage

Susan drove her father in law's car. The car was badly hit by a van that did not stop. It happened fast. She was not able to get the plate number.

She sent the car to the workshop and was shocked to learn that the policy did not cover her, as she was under 30 years old. The father in law did not buy the cover that include family members below 30 years old.

The repair cost more than $15,000. She was not covered. She could have committed an offence of driving a car without the erquired insurance.

Be careful. If you are under 30 or have less than 2 years of driving experience, check that you are covered when you drive a car belonging to a family member.

Learn about motor insurance in www.tankinlian.com/learn

Learn the secret that a few tens of millions are now enjoying

There are tens of millions people in America who are getting a good return on their investment and have been making the right investment for a few decades. Their return has been more than 6% per annum.

But there are many more people in America who are making  poor investments and are losing money by investing in bad products. Remember the subprime loans and the structured products derived from it?

Most investors in Singapore are also losing a lot of their savings in bad financial products. And many are getting a losing return of 3% or less by locking up their savings for many years. If they give up, they will suffer a big penalty.

I like to share the secret that is already known by the the tens of millions of wise investors in America. They invest in the index fund created by Jack Bogle and sold by Vanguard Group.

You can learn the secret of investing in the index fund. Watch my short video that can be viewed here
www.tankinlian.com/learn.

You can learn about it by attending this talk on 15 October. Do not miss it. I have no plans to hold another talk.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=10

Insurers make a big profit on Eldershield

If you want to know how much profits are being made by the insurance companies on Eldershield (technically described as individual disability insurance), you can view the results here.
http://tklcloud.com/MAS/publicview.aspx?class=20

The insurance companies are making a profit margin of 30% after providing for reserves for future claims. Yes, they are making a lot of profits, maybe $100 million a year! It is huge.

So, consumers are getting a poor payout for their premiums paid into Eldershield.

Low payout under Eldershield

Dear Mr Tan,
Based on CPF annual report.
Last year premium for Eldershield is 364 million dollars.
Total premium since 2002 is more than 3 billion dollars.
Only 7,300 people claim and total claim is only 90 million dollars.
Total investment return from the reserve is more than 150 million dollars.
The claim per year is 10 million dollars, less than 7% of yearly return.
There are 120 million policy holders. The pay out is too low.

REPLY FROM TKL
Eldershield provides life time cover.
The premium that is paid now will result in claims in 30 years time.
So, the immediate payout ratio is not indicative of the final payout.

However, it is true that Elderhshield gives a poor payout for the public, even after allowing for reserves for future claims.

If you want to know how much profits are being made by the insurance companies on Eldershield (technically described as individual disability insurance), you can view the results here.
http://tklcloud.com/MAS/publicview.aspx?class=20

The insurance companies are making a profit margin of 30% after providing for reserves for future claims. Yes, they are making a lot of profits, maybe $100 million a year! It is huge.

250 people have registered to view these videos

I have produced videos on the following topics:

Introduction
Financial Planning
Financial Products sold by banks
Invest in an index fund
Buying Life Insurance
Critical Illness Policy
Motor insurance

Each video runs for 5 to 10 minutes. They are targeted at ordinary people in Singapore. They answer the questions that are often asked by them.

Over 250 people have viewed them during the past three weeks.

You can view these videos at
www.tankinlian.com/learn

Be careful about your savings and your health

If you have a few thousand dollars in savings, you stand the risk of losing a large part of it in a bad investment. The bad investment could be sold to you by a marketing staff in your bank. Just imagine.When you thought that your bank is a safe place, it is not the case.

You also need to take care of your health, especially when you are older and have children.

Why not achieve two goals in a 3 hour talk? And it is free! You can also join the networking during the tea session.

Register now for next Saturday 15 October.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=10

Be careful when walking on slippery ground

Six months ago, I slipped while walking in a light drizzle in Rancamaya, which is a hill resort outside of Jakarta. I fractured three ribs. It took a few weeks to heal. I had to take pain killer to ease the pain during this period.

I am now careful when I walk. I hold to the railings when I use the stairs. If the floor is wet, I will walk with slightly bent legs, so that the center of gravity is lower and the step is firmer.

There was a light drizzle last week when I walked to Thomson Plaza from my office for lunch. I walked carefully to avoid slipping. I explained my walking style to my lunch partner. She had also slipped and fractured her ribs a few years ago. She understood the trauma.

She said, "Mr, Tan. I just saw a younger person slipped and fell. She was in a hurry. She was cursing her bad luck. We are older and need to be careful when we walk".

I agree with her.

Learn a useful skill

I spoke to a staff at a restaurant. She was at the counter preparing the waffle.

TKL: How do you make the waffle?
Staff: I get the prepared waffle mix, add butter and egg, put the material into this waffle pan and heat it for 5 minutes. Then it will be ready.
TKL: Are you working here full time?
Staff: I am a part time staff. I study Hospitality course in Nanyang Poly and work here during the weekends.

This is a useful and practical skill. Maybe, she can manage a restaurant one day. Or start a bakery business.

Too many Chinese running Singapore?

Someone sent this email:

With the expected changes to the Elected Presidency soon, we may have a situation where these critical areas of governance are headed by a Minority concurrently:

1. President: Mr Tarmugi?
2. Prime Minister: Tharman? (Executive branch)
3. Leader of Parliament (Speaker): Halimah Yacob (Legislature branch)
4. Central Bank (MAS) - Ravi Menon (Minister responsible: DPM Tharman?)
5. Chief Justice: Sundaresh Menon (Judiciary branch)

Wouldn't it be interesting when all the above hold office concurrently in the not-too-distant future?

Grab Taxi operates in 6 cities

Here is a good writeup about the operations of Grab Taxi
https://www.techinasia.com/grabtaxi-eat-comforts-lunch

Learn how to manage your personal finances

I have produced videos on the following topics:
Introduction

Financial Planning
Financial Products sold by banks
Invest in an index fund
Buying Life Insurance
Critical Illness Policy
Motor insurance

Each video runs for 5 to 10 minutes. They are targeted at young people in Singapore. They answer the questions that are often asked by young people.

Over 200 people have viewed them during the past two weeks. Many of them watched several videos.

You can view these videos at
www.tankinlian.com/learn

I will be addining more videos on Medishield, property investment and other topics that are frequently asked by ordinary people.

Heath and financial talk on 15 October

People from 40 to 60 face two risks - health and financial risks. These two talks are aimed at addressing these risks. Free admission. Tea is provided for networking after the talks. Do not miss it.
We will be asking the attendees to make a voluntary donation of $10 to meet the expenses of the venue and the tea refreshments.
Do be generous.
http://fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=10

Invest in a solar panel

My friend invested $32,000 to install the solar panel on the roof of his house.
It produced 5510 kwH in 112 days from 15 June to 4 Oct.
He used 58% of the production (save 0.16 p kwH) and exported 42% (earn 0.14 p kwH) to the grid.
The weighted average is 0.158 p kwH.
His solar panel will produce 5510*365/112 = 18,000 kwH in a year and earn $2,855 a year.
The return on his investment is $2855/32000 = 8.9% per year.
However, the efficiency of the solar panel will deteriorate by 10% a year.
What is his real return if the cost of energy remain the same? If it increase by 3% a year?

Videos on financial planning and insurance

I have produced videos on the following topics:

Introduction
Financial Planning
Financial Products sold by banks
Invest in an index fund
Buying Life Insurance
Critical Illness Policy
Motor insurance

Each video runs for 5 to 10 minutes. They are targeted at young people in Singapore. They answer the questions that are often asked by young people.

Over 160 people have viewed them during the past two weeks.

You can view these videos at
www.tankinlian.com/learn

Insurance coverage for Grab Car

Grab Car has provided the following information to me.

Besides the commercial motor insurance, Grab also purchased Group Personal Accident Insurance to cover all GrabCar's passengers and drivers from Accidental Death/Total Permanent Disability (up to USD$20,000) as well as Medical Expenses (up to USD$1,000).

This insurance is paid by Grab and provides additional comfort to our passengers while taking our GrabCar rides. Uber does not have such additional insurance coverage.

The commercial motor insurance coverage is:

Passengers are considered Third Party in Singapore so they are covered under bodily injury (unlimited) and property damage (up to S$500,000).

Passengers will be compensated if drivers choose to activate his commercial motor insurance and they will be covered under TPL.

For TP claims, mainly cover medical expenses given supporting documents such as medical report, invoice from hospital and even following up hospital expenses.

Pain and suffering will be hard to prove and unless it is supported by psychiatrist report etc.

Passengers can activate the Grab's group personal accident insurance to cover for accident death, permanent disabiilty and medical expenses.

Treatment at Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC)

I went to Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC) for a lasik treatment to remove the cells that were deposited on my left lens and blocking my vision.  The lens was inserted after a catarract operation a year ago.

Time spent:
Eye test - 5 min
Consultation with doctor - 10 mins
Lasik operation - 10 mins
Signing forms - 15 mins
Payment - 5 mins
Book appointment - 5 mins
Waiting time - 2 hours (yes, now I know why they call me a "patient")
Total time - 3 hours

Total bill: $1,000.
Government subsidy: $0
Medishield Life: $0
Medisave: $0 (I prefer not to touch it).
Paid by credit card: $1,000

Actual treatment time: 20 mins (for which I paid $1,000).

There was probably a hundred patients in the lasik center, most of whom are subsidized patients - who pay half of what I pay as a private patient, I was placed in the same queue as the subsidised patients. If SNEC is charging double for a private patient, they should at least put them in the priority queue, so that the waiting time is shorter.

Best investment for a long term investor

An index fund is the best investment for a long term investor. It reduce risk through diversification and long term averaging. It has low fees, allowing the investor to keep most of the gains from blue chip shares. It also provides flexibility as it allows small withdrawals without any penalty.

Find out more about the index fund from this short video.

www.tankinlian.com/learn

Passenger liability on Uber and Grab Car

Dear Mr Tan,
I come across a recent news report of a teenager who was killed in a car accident while riding in a Uber hired private car. From the news report published by The Straits Times dated Sept 27, 2016, it appears to me that Uber car passengers are at risk of no insurance coverage for a third party fatality.

Below are comments as reported on the same article:
"Derek Teo, chief executive of the General Insurance Association of Singapore, said that unless the vehicle owner had purchased cover to include the use of the vehicle for "hire and reward" - to ferry passengers in return for a fare - the insurer is not liable for injury to passengers. 

But Mr K. Anparason, partner at Withers Khattar Wong, said there is also a Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks and Compensation) Act which affords protection to injured victims in such scenarios".

The subject should be of great importance to public interest since it involves several parties as privately hired Uber cars are getting popular. Surprisingly, the government or authorities are extremely quiet on this issue! I do hope that the appropriate authorities can explain and advice clearly to the public.

Are you able to share your thoughts on this important subject on your blog?

REPLY

Uber and Grabcar requires the drivers using their platform to have insurance that covers commercial use. This is more expensive than insurance that covers personal and social use.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/our-drivers-are-covered/2194362.html

The policy covers liability to third parties and includes passengers in the car. The passenger or his estate have to sue the driver and prove that he was negligent.

The policy may also cover the passenger for personal accident (regardless of liability). The amount of benefit depends on the policy. I have seen a policy from a major insurer that pays up to $25,000 as personal accident benefit to the passenger.

Decades of mistake with Medishield

Medishield was launched in 1990 to complement Medisave in taking care of the larger hospital bills. The planners in the government made a few strategic mistakes in the design of this scheme.

PRE EXISTING ILLNESSES
It was compulsory for all CPF members to be be insued under the scheme, unless they chose to opt out of the scheme.

They were paramoid about the risk of pre-existing illnesses. They were worried that some people would opt out of the scheme and would come back to join the scheme when they fall sick.

They put into place strict conditions to stop people from joining Medishield after the initial launch period. This has led to many people who were excluded from the scheme because they had opted out, or were self employed when the scheme was launched.

The problem of a large number of uninsured members became more serious over the years, as more people needed hospital care when they grow older and the bills keep escalating.

MEDISHIELD LIFE
The government finally decided to address this issue of uninsured members in 2013. A committee was formed to study this subject. After two years, it recommended a new scheme called Medishield Life to replace the earlier scheme.

The key features of this scheme was the inclusion of pre-existing conditions and that it would be compulsory for all Singaporeans to join the scheme.

The compulsory nature created another problems. There were many people holding Singapore passports who have left Singapore to live and work in other countries for many years. They were required to contribute to Medishield Life even though they had were insured in their country of residents and do not need to claim on the Singapore scheme.

Once again, the planners were paranoid about these people returning to Singapore in the future to join the Medishield Life scheme and be covered for pre-existing illnesses. They felt (wrongly) that these people did not contribute to Medishield Life when they were young and would be benefiting from the subsidised premiums for older people.

To close this "loophole", the planners will be introducing some complicated rules to deal with it.

FLAWS
The flaws in the original Medishield scheme and the revised Medishield Life scheme can be seen in the unintended consequences, in the large numbers of people who were not allowed to join Medishield and the people who were forced to pay to Medishield Life when they are not getting the cover.

PROPOSAL
I like to propose the following solution to deal with the issues affecting Medishield Life
a) All people living in Singapore should be required to join Medishield Life.
b) Citizens working abroad are not required to contribute to Medishield Life, unless they opt to be insured.
c) If they do not have money to pay the premium (because they are unemployed) or are living overseas, they will not be covered under Medishield Life.
d) To encourage people to join the scheme earlier, the annual limit for claims under Medishield Life be capped at a lower amount during the first three years of membership.

This proposal will not address all the issues involved in a compulsory insurance scheme, but it should operate better than the current approach.

Use a TV as a monitor

My 15 year old monitor died. I went to Fairprice in AMK Hub. The staff recommended a Philips 24" Philips 4200 series HDTV. It was on offer for $199.

I am quite happy with this TV. It can work as a monitor and as a TV. The screen looks quite satisfactory and was much better than the old monitor.

Fortunately my old PC has a HDMI output. I used it to connect to the TV and get image and audio.

This is the first time that I use a TV as a monitor. The experience has been satisfactory.

Investing in a second property

A 50 year old person who has a fully paid up 5 room HDB flats wants to invest in a small condo. She intends to rent out the condo or the 5 room flat. She needs the rental income to help pay the mortgage on the condo. In the worse case, she will sell off the HDB flat and live in the condo. She asked for my views.

My reply:My general advice to consumers is:
a) Never invest with borrowed money, except for a property that you live in.
b) Be free of debt when you are 60 years old.
c) Do not invest in property when the price is high.

If you are prepared for the worse case scenario, then you should be meeting my guidelines. However, if you wish to look for a good investment, you should consider the index fund. Watch my videos here: http://www.tankinlian.com/learn.aspx

Grab Taxi rewards its loyal customers

I used Grab Taxi app to book a taxi to a hotel in Orchard Road. On arrival, the meter showed $24.10. I gave $25 to the taxi driver. He said that Grab Taxi is giving a discount of $4. So, he took only $20.

I was not aware about the discount. I did receive an email from Grab Taxi previously about some promotion but I did not pay attention to it.

I booked Grab Taxi for my return trip to my home. This time the discount was $5. So I paid $5 less than the metered fare.

It looks like Grab Taxi is now fighting hard to keep its market share. I have been using Grab Taxi regularly. They know it. They have a good CRM system.

Well done, Grab Taxi. You do recognize your good customers and reward them well. You can be sure that Grab Taxi will be my first choice.

Trump rally in Florida

Trump won the online polls on the first debate between him and Clinton. Some people clained that the online polls were rigged. I don't think so. It is difficult to rig 500,000 votes.

He held a rally in Florida on the day after the debate. 27,000 people turned up. It is amazing. You can't rig this kind of turnout.

Trump is getting the support of the ordinary people. The corporate media wants to present a different picture about him. But the ordinary people think otherwise.

First presidential debate - Clinton vs Trump

The Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton are in big trouble.

POST DEBATE POLLING RESULTS

Fortune Magazine Hillary 49%
Trump 51%
Sample (453,268 votes)
http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/...

CNBC
Hillary 39%
Trump 61%
Sample (453,268 votes)
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26...

The Washington Times
Hillary 23%
Trump 71%
http://www.washingtontimes.com...

Time Magazine 
Hillary 41%
Trump 59%
Sample (899,785 votes)
http://time.com/4506217/presid...

CBS New York
Hillary 41%
Trump 59%
Sample (70,221 votes)
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/20...

ABC 
Hillary 10%
Trump 55%
Sample (51,818 votes)
http://abcnewsgo.co/2016/09/ab...

Jill Stein of the Green Party

Watch Jill Stein of the Green Party answered the biased news anchors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqQBXR2GH0E

Her campaign messages:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHeWK8bF9ao

Encourge people to acquire the skills for real jobs

The headlines in the Straits Times read "Job woes part of transition to quality growth: Lim Swee Say".

Is it?

I saw another article reporting that graduates from private schools found it difficult to get jobs.

When will our ministers realize the folly of the government policies practiced over the past few decades? It has resulted in a high influx of foreigners to do the real work in Singapore while our citizens pursue paper degrees that are not suited to the needs of the economy.

Some of these jobs are in the public sector, such as:

a) Police and immigration officers
b) Nurses

The bad policies of the government include:

a) Stopping the career path of non-graduates. This has recently been reversed for the Police service.
b) Paying low salaries for non-graduates jobs. This has led to outsourcing of immigration and security jobs to foreigners.

The public sector must set an example to pay adequate salaries and give career growth to people with experience, even if they are non graduates. Many of the real jobs in the economy need people with real skills that come through experience, and not from paper qualifications.

The public sector should reserves its policies of discriminating against non-graduats. It should set the examples and provide benchmarks for salaries and career growth to people who are willing to do the real work and to acquire the experience to do them well.

Unable to find a suitable job

I met an old friend. He has been unemployed for nearly ten years after his previous company closed down. He applied for many marketing jobs but did not get any response.

I asked him to register in c-jobportal.com. If any employer advertised a job that he is interested in, he will receive an email alert. He can apply for the job with just one click.

c-jobportal.com

Wish him good luck.

Invest in an index fund

I have uploaded a video on investing in an index fund. This is a "must learn" for young people. If you invest your savings correctly, you can get 50% more than the poor investments that most naive people make.

To learn about the index fund, you can watch the video in this website.
http://www.tankinlian.com/learn.aspx

Troublesome to sign in to DBS website

The DBS Ideal 3 system is quite troublesome. I have to enter my company code, personal code, PIN, token password, function 1 and the token OTP.

That is not enough for DBS.

The first time that I enter, the webpage said "You have made a mistake".  So I have to enter all the numbers one more time. It accepts my entry on the second attempt.

This has been occurring over the past few months. Each time, it only accept my entries on the second attempt. I suspect that there is something wrong with the DBS webpage.

It is not enough for DBS to design a complicated sign-in system. They insist on making the customer go through it twice.

Indonesian tax amnesty

My Indonesian friend told me. The Indonesian authority wanted to reach out to the Chinese community to tell them about the tax amnesty. They went to give a talk in the churches.

Normally, the attendance at the church is about half full. When the congregation heard about the talk on tax amnesty, the church overflowed. Many of the attendees had to listen to the talk from outside the main hall.

The tax amnesty plan was successful. Many people are taking advantage of the amnesty to declare their past earnings and be forgiven. They only have to pay a tax of 2%.

I read a report in Jakarta post that the take-up was initially low, but i the participation had increased tremendously in recent weeks.

President Jokowi had implemented this plan successfully.

Transport concession for Workfare recipients

I saw this fare table at the bus stop. It has the adult fare, senior citizen fare and student fare. But what is WTCS fare?

The legend says that it is the Workfare Travel Concession Scheme.

Why do we need this special fare structure? It is wasteful to create many schemes. There is the cost of implementing the change in fare structure into a few thousand buses and train stations and issuing the WTCS cards.

A better approach is to give a higher benefit to the Workfare recipients and make them pay the ordinary adult fare.

We are penny wise and pound foolish. We spend large sums of money that are unnecessary and could be avoided.

It is important to understand the question

I is important to understand the question before arriving at the answer.  For example - someoe may ask me - "Is X a good investment"?

Before I arrive at the answer, I need to study X. I study the document for X and look for the key facts. I evaluate the facts and then come to my conclusion.

In giving my reply, I present the key facts and my conclusion.

It is important for the readers to go through my process of arriving at my conclusion. They have to check the facts and the reasoning. They can then form their own conclusion, which may or may not be the same as my conclusion.

By going through this process, they will learn how to approach a similar question in the future.

NTUC Income Asian Bond Fund

I've been approached by a friend to invest in the NTUC Income Asian Bond Fund.
Being not a savvy investor even after reading its fine prints I'm still uncertain
whether this is a good product to take up. Would you be kind enough to advise
if this bond fund is profitable & safe for a low-risk appetite investor?

My answer is given here:

http://fisca.sg/Info/385

Swiber bonds

How to avoid being caught in Swiber bonds and similar investments.
http://fisca.sg/Info/384/Swiber-Bonds

Videos on financial planning and insurance

I have created four videos on financial planning and insurance. They are targeted at young people. I want to help them to make the right decisions for their future.

You can sign in with your Facebook or Google account and view these videos.

http://www.tankinlian.com/learn.aspx

Whistle blowing

The best weapon in the fight against terrorism and commercial fraud is whistle blowing. The authorities can make the best use of information from ordinary people who encounter the terrorists and fraudsters in the daily life and work.

We need an effective system for the information to be recorded, screened, evaluated and acted.

We also have to overcome two difficulties:

a) The reluctance of the whistle blower to come forward - as they stand the risk of reprisals.
b) An effective way to process the large volume of data and information that is generated, so that the authorities are not overwhelmed.

The current approach taken by the authorities do not address the root problems. As a result, whistle blowing has not been effective. We need a new approach.

If the people in charge are keen to explore a new approach, they can contact me.

How to get the insurance company to review a rejected claim

The policyholder claim for cancer was rejected on the grounds that the cancer did not meet the condition for coverage. I helped the policyholder on how to get the insurance company to review the rejection.

http://fisca.sg/Info/382

Long delay in developing a new project

This new development, called the Flora, has been under construction for four years. It used to be the Seletar Gardens. There were a few coffee shops and eating houses which were well patronized.

When the project went for a collective sale a few years ago, the nearby residents lost the coffee shops and eating houses. The long delay makes the loss of the facilities more keenly felt by the residents.

Why should a new development take so long to be ready? The delay must also add to the cost of the development and the selling prices that have to be paid by the new owners. Surely, we can be more efficient in getting the new development ready within a short time?

My grand daugher, Nadya, was three years old when the old place was demolished. She is now seven years. I asked her if she remembered the coffee shop that she used to visit. She could. What happened to it? She said - there is a new construction.

I hope that the new development will be up soon. But it will probably take another two years.

Help to prevent suicide

I saw this poster at a bus stop. It is a wrist band with a message to help people who are suicide prone to seek help. There must be a high suicide rate that prompts this kind of action.

We need to address the root of the problem, rather than to treat the symptoms. I suspect that the high pressure to get good grades， lack of job opportunities and inadequate finances for the elderly must be the top causes.

Pregnant women are discriminated at workplace

Quote:

Being pregnant should be the happiest time in a woman’s life. Unfortunately, many have to choose between family and career, because having a bun in the oven could get you passed over for a promotion, sidelined or even fired. While mothers and wives continue to help out with the family finances and fulfil their household duties, most are still getting the short end of the stick, writes Audrey Vijaindren

FINDING their positions redundant, being denied promotions, being placed on prolonged probation, demotion and even getting sacked — these are among the unenviable positions many Malaysian women have found themselves in, especially when they are with child.

Shocking as it may seem in this day and age, a recent Workplace Discrimination Survey by the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) revealed that more than 40 per cent of women polled have experienced job discrimination due to their pregnancy.
Unquote:

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pregnant-jobless-040343043.html

My view:
The government must understand the root cause of this problem. Many employers do not like to pay full salary to mothers for a few months. They react through these discriminatory measures.

There is a solution. The government should pay the maternity benefit and recover it through a payroll tax.

Yip Pin Xiu and Paralympics

I congratulate Yip Pin Xiu for winning the second gold medal at the Paralympics Games. You have made Singapore proud!

I also congratulate her parents for their tremendous sacrifice in supporting their daughter to achieve these medals.

A rigged election in the USA

Many people in USA felt that their political system is rigged. Here is another event to support their view.

Quote

Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein have failed to qualify for the first presidential debate, and their running mates will not be in the vice presidential debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday.

The decision means Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will be the only two candidates on the stage, and Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, their running mates, will be the only participants on October 4.

Johnson has publicly said that being excluded from the debates would doom his campaign.The commission said it will review the criteria for the second and third debates in the future.

Unquote
A fairer alternative solution is quite simple. Allow the top four candidates to participate in the debate, regardless of their share of votes.

In the Republican primary process, the debate was held with 17 candidates.

It is quite practical for the general election to have four candidates. Currently, the debate organiser set the bar at 15% of votes from the polls for a candidate to be eligible. Clearly, it is an attempt to restrict the process to two political parties.

Pay $2,500 a month for a rubbish collector

From a friend.
I wish to share a story (from a Media Corp program which I saw) of a 50-60 year old Malay man who had 10 kids and made only $ 1000 a month as a rubbish truck collector.

When I was an apprentice in Sydney 40+ years ago, the rubbish collectors were paid well and lived in detached houses. Not only that, they have pride in their vocation.

Lets look at the scene in Singapore over the past 40 years. The rubbish collectors get paid a personal survival only salary. And I am sure they do not have the self esteem that I see in the same class of workers in Australia 40 years ago.

I then ask a big WHY and ask what can we do to help? I ask why we cannot pay all those who have to cling onto the back end of the rubbish truck and smell the unbearable odour a salary of $2500 for their horrible nature of work.

If we do this, there will be people lining around the block to get into these jobs. We will have rubbish collectors who have high self esteem and who will provide better for their family. We will have helped uplift their impoverished children. Would not this be a right idea? A noble idea?

We will have workers who do not need as much help from the government as they do today on their low income. How many collectors do we need, 1000 to 2000 ?

If we amortise the increased cost on everyone, it would cost us 1 -2 dollars more each per month. In public or private tenders, we ask the suppliers to pay their workers such salaries and establish a level starting point for all. We do not have to bring in the foreign workers.

Together we citizens can share the burden to help our fellow citizens and their children, our future citizens.

Rising unemployment, difficult to get jobs

The employment situation for locals is bad and will become worse in the near future.

http://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/mom-statements/2016/0915-statement-on-labour-market-developments

More people are being retrenched. It will be a big hassle to find jobs.

I hope that this job portal can help to make it easier for job seekers to find the few available jobs, and will encourage employers to post their jobs to find suitable job seekers easily.

www.tklcloud.com/jobs

This job portal is now in testing mode. It will be launched live on 1 October 2016.

Encourage locals to be drivers

My friend made the following observations.

a) It cost more than $4,000 for a person to get a driving licence, including the tuition fees.
b) Many young people who come from low income families cannot afford this expense to get a driving license.
c) We now have to depend on employing foreign drivers
d) The foreign drivers are not familiar with Singapore roads.
e) Some of them could pose a security risk.

He made this suggestion:
a) Get bus companies to provide apprenticeship to drivers.
b) The employers pay for the cost of training the drivers to get a licence
c) The drivers are bonded to work with the employer for a certain period.\
d) They can be paid well, so that driving becomes a respected job.
e) At a later date, the drivers can upgrade their skills to drive heavy or specialised vehicles
f) This will create many well paying opportunities for locals.
g)  The drivers will improve their skills with many years of experience.

He said - we need a national policy to keep driving jobs for locals. 

Training of bus drivers

If you stand in a crowded bus, it is very uncomfortable because the bus is jerky.

I wonder if this is unavoidable, or if the driver could have been more careful in applying the brakes. As they are seated, they may not realize the problem that a jerky bus gives to the standing passengers.

A good way to train the bus driver is to make them stand as a passenger on a crowded bus during peak hours. Maybe, they should take at least four full journeys. If they realize the impact on the passengers, perhaps they will be more careful.

Elected President in Singapore

Here is the government's White Paper on the Elected Presidency. As expected, the next election will be reserved for a Malay candidate. 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/elected-pres…/3126520.html…

Singapore - a smart city?

This is very nice piece of public relations (which makes our government leaders very proud), but it is far from reality.
http://readwrite.com/2016/09/12/pragmatism-keeps-singapore-global-smart-city-leader-cl4

We are inefficient. It is difficult to interact with the government agencies. We have to spend a lot of time to make online transactions. Many companies write cheques because online payments are badly designed. We don't even display the name or sequence number of the bus stops or make any voice announcements. Commuters have to figure out for themselves.

Business Simulation Game

You will now receive a Certificate of Participation when you complete a business simulation game.

The Certificate looks like this.
http://tklcloud.com/BSG/page/6

Rejected critical illness claim

I give this advice to the claimant on how to respond to a rejected critical illness claim.

Style of governance

For discussion:What is the difference between a government that is run by military leaders, and one that is run by civilian leaders?

Singapore can be considered as a government run by military leaders. PM Lee has a background from the SAF. His approach is largely based on his experience from SAF.

He has appointed many ministers with military background. He also appoints these people to be in charge of key government agencies.

My perspective:A leader with a military background operates in a command and control mode. He lays down detailed instructions in standard operating procedures (SOP) and expects the subordinates to follow these SOP without question and without exercise of common sense.

This has been our mode of operation in Singapore for the past three decades. Most people now operate blindly and automatically based on SOP. Even if the SOP are producing wrong results, they continue to follow them blindly.

Do you agree?

Dread disease claim - rejected as not satisfying the claim criteria

A policyholder asked for my help over a dread disease claim that was rejected. He was diagnosed for cancer but acted on the advice of the doctor to remove the cancer using surgery. The claim was rejected as not satisfying the criteria for a claim.

CPF Investment Scheme

It takes the government a long time to realize what has already been obvious to many people. If they have been more willing to hear the message from the ordinary people and the independent experts, they would have acted much earlier.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/government-t…/3123854.html…

Dual currency investment is risky

It is highly risky to invest in dual currency investment. Many investors are not aware of this risk. Mr. Tan explains why it is risky.

http://fisca.sg/Info/379

Planning a vacation in Spain

I am planning a vacation in Spain. This will be my first visit to the country.

I booked my air ticket to London online. From London, I book a Ryanair ticket to Madrid. I also booked a 4 day tour of Madrid, Cordova, Seville and Granada and return to Madrid.

I booked my hotel online for my stay in Madrid and after the tour. I also checked on the airport transfer and found the fare for a taxi.

I watched Youtube for videos to Madrid and the other cities. This gives me an impression of what to expect.

One visitor said that a few words of Spanish would be helpful for visitors. I went to the Duolingo app to brush up on my Spanish. I would also be listening to my favorite Spanish songs which also teaches me a few words of Spanish.

The world has changed a lot with the internet. It is for us to make the best use of it.

Bus Rapid Transit in Guangzhou

Our Land Transport Authority should visit Guangzhou, China and learn about how they introduced the BRT - Bus Rapid Transit system. It is popular and highly successful.

And they do not need million dollar salaries for their leaders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Z4xnSNAHs

Amazing Grace - Cherokee Prayer

Hold on to what is good
Even if it's a handful of earth

Hold on to what you believe
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself

Hold on to what you must do
Even if it's a long way from here

Hold on to your life
Even if it's eaeier to let go

Hold on to my hand
Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.




Oh, Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds
And whose breadth give live to all the world, hear me
I am small and weak
I need your strength and wisdom
Let me walk in beauty
And make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset

Make my hands respect the things you have made
And my ears sharp to hear your voice
Make me wise so that I may understand
The things you have taught my people
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
In every leaf and rock

I seek strength
Not to be greater than my brother
But to fight my greatest enemy
Myself.

Make me always ready to come to you
With clean hands and straight eyes
So when life fades, as the fading sunset
My Spirit may come to you without shame

Delay in receiving payments can kill a small business

Someone told me.

Quote:
I run a business selling specialised equipment to government agencies. I have to submit a competitive tender to win the award. The equipment can cost a few hundred thousand dollars. The government agencies can take a few months to pay me.

I have to chase them. Their excuse is that a payment above $50,000 requires the signature of the director. The director is now overseas.

As my cash flow is tight and I am paying high finance charges, the delay can kill my business. I face this problem with large companies, but government agencies are the worst. I also have to waste my time chasing for payment.

Many other small businesses supplying products and services to government agencies face the same problem. They have to pay their supplier, pay GST and pay their employees upfront and wait a few months to get payment from the buyers"
Unquote

I agree with him. It is a bad practice for the large companies and government agencies to take advantage of small business in this way.

Insurance company obtained patient's records without consent

The policyholder submitted a claim. She was shocked to learn that the insurance company asked for her past medical history from medical providers without getting her consent.

Rejection of claim under the "care and custody" provision

A consumer sought my help on a travel insurance claim.

She bought a travel insurance policy to cover the period that she was overseas. She rented an apartment. She was shocked to find that the apartment was burgled and the wallet, which was kept in the bag, had been thrown on the floor, with the money taken away.

She made a policy report and filed an insurance claim. She was shocked to receive a rejection of the claim as the money was not in her "care and custody". The travel insurance policy cover theft of money that was in her care and custody.

The claim officer interpreted this provision to require that the wallet kept in the bag was not in her "care and custody". I wonder if the officer expect the policyholder to keep the wallet with her even whe she was sleeping?

My interpretation is that the travel insurance policy should cover money belonging to the insured and also money from someone else that is given to the insured for "care and custody". It will not cover money belonging to other people that were not given to the insured for "care and custody".

I am surprised that the claims officer of the insurance company could have interpretation the "care and custody" provision in the manner to reject the claim.

Interview with The New Paper on Elected President

http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/tan-kin-lian-why-i-wont-stand-president-again

Train to be an actuary

I develop this website to help students train to be an actuary.

This link shows how to upload data on motor insurance claims and to run the procedure to compute the rating factors for the various rating codes.

It displays the rating factors and the pricing for motor insurance based on these factors. This is shown in the quote.

http://tklcloud.com/Actuary/page/10

If any student needs help on understanding this topic, send an email to kinlian@gmail.com.

Oppo R9

I received the Oppo R9 mobile phone today. I bought it as it allowed me to install 2 SIM cards (for my Singapore and Indonesian cards).

It was quite easy to install the SIM cards and to set up the phone to use. The features were well designed. I did not have any trouble in getting use to this new phone.

My earlier phones were Samsung and HTC. I had a lot of trouble with these phones. The Oppo was easy. Maybe, I have become more experienced with using mobile phones. Maybe their user interface is better.

My report on Oppo - Excellent!

Tips to get a job in a weak market

My friend told me.

Friend - My daughter graduated from Nanyang Technological University. She took 6 months to find a job. In past years, graduates with her degree got a job before graduating. The employment prospects this year seem to be quite bleak. However, I don't know if she was being choosy".

I did not ask me for more details about the type of degree and the job that she was looking for.

My advice to graduates -

a) Get a job that is available, even though it is below your expected level and salary or the job may be not what you like.

b) If you enter at a lower level, and you perform well, you are likely to be promoted when the opportunity comes. Your employer is likely to give the job to a person that they know, rather than someone from outside.

c) If you don't get the promotion, you are getting working experience that will give you a better chance to get another job with another employer. They look for people with working experience in the same line.

d) If you do not like the job, you may have the chance to change the way that work is done. It is called improvement. I call it "initiative".

Tale of two bus drivers

After the networking session, I walked to the bus stop in Cecil Street at 9.30 pm. Bus 131 went passed me. I ran towards the bus stop. On arriving, the bus left. Maybe the driver did not see me. Maybe he could not wait another five seconds. Further down the road, the bus stopped at the traffic light for a minute or two. I walked passed it.

I went to take the MRT at Raffles Place. On arriving at Yio Chu Kang station, I had to transfer to bus 70. The bus was at the bus stop about the leave. I ran towards the bus. The driver waited the 5 seconds for me. I thanked him.

My Actuarial Journey - Tan Kin Lian

My name is Tan Kin Lian. In 1966, I left school at the age of 18 to work as a clerk in a life insurance company. I enrolled as a student in the Institute of Actuaries and studied to pass the actuarial subjects one a time. This was done while doing a full time job in several companies over a period of ten years. I qualified as a Fellow of the Institute in 1975.

I took the actuarial profession because I liked mathematics, logic and problem solving. I was fascinated with statistics and how statistical data can be analyzed and studied to tell us about what is happening in the real world. I also enjoyed the subject of probability. It helped me to understand the chance of certain events happening. This was useful in gambling and in taking risks.

In the old days, we did the statistical calculation using printed tables of the values of the functions. We did not have Excel. When I started work, we use mechanical calculators. The first electronic calculator, which was developed by a Japanese company, cost one year of my salary!

I learned about the importance of getting data, analyzing data, understanding the results and applying them in the real world. That skill comes from the actuarial training.

To be a good actuary, you must love data and how they can be used to make important decisions in everyday life. These are decisions at the personal level, corporate level and at government level.

Just imagine how much better the country can be for the people, if the government makes the right decisions on managing the economic and social activities in the country. They can make the right decisions that work for the majority of the people, if they know how the decisions will impact the different groups of people.

Apart from being a trained actuary, I was skilled in information technology and computer systems. At the corporate level, a good computer system helps the corporate to operate more efficiently, at lower cost and provide better service to its customers.

The data from the business can be analyzed to make decisions to improve the marketing, operations, product development and management of the business.

I encourage actuaries to have an interest in this area.

Many actuaries are familiar with the use of Excel. This is an important skill. But it has its limitations when it comes to handling large volumes of data. I overcome it by learning to use SQL database and to structure and analyze the data.

For example, I can analyze a few million transactions in a database of motor insurance policies and claims to know the average claim rate by type, age and use of vehicle and by gender, age, occupation and experience of the driver. This can be used for pricing the motor insurance policy correctly to achieve profits in a competitive market.

I am able to analyze the data further to know if the workshop is overcharging on any of the repairs and is aggravating the damages to inflate the cost. This is not easy. You need analytical and problem solving skill. You also need to understand the nature of the motor insurance business.

As the insurance company has to handle a few hundred repairs every day, it is important that the computer system is able to highlight the repairs that need to be investigated further. Some insurance companies pay attention to the large repairs, but the overcharging applies to the medium size repairs as well.

Now I wish to come to my key point.

The skill of an actuary is to identify a problem, to understand it and to find practical solutions to handle the problem effectively.

You may not deal with the practical issues when you study the actuarial subject. But when you work in an insurance company, you will soon realize that the pricing, marketing and claim management are vital to the success of the company.

Are you able to find the solutions to help the top management to run the business? Remember, you will want to be the top management one day!

If you wish to interact more with me, send an email to kinlian@gmail.com

Constitutional commission recommend a return to the appointed President

The Constitutional Commission has recommended, as an option, a return to the appointed President to carry out ceremonial function. The custoial function is to be handled by a body of experts that acts as a second chamber in our governance.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/constitution…/3105238.html…

This is an excellent recommendation. I agree with it.

I disagree with the argument put forward by PM Lee against this recommendation. I hope that he will change his mind.

We have already wasted too much resources and energy in trying to develop the "elected president" system. It was a badly conceived idea in the first place. We should recognize that it will never work and go back to the previous system, with the modification suggested by the commission.

Well done to the Constitutional Commission!

First level screening of job applicants

The Job Portal created by TKL Associates differentiates itself from other portals by doing first level screening.

Each job seeker indicates the type of job (e.g. Software Developer) and the expected salary (e.g. 2500). The seeker receives an email for each job posting that matches the criteria.

The seeker clicks a link in the email to see the key details of the job, i,e, name of company, introduction to company, workplace, job title, job description, compensation, required qualification, etc.

This is what the information looks like:
http://tklcloud.com/job/show_job.aspx?id1=1350&id2=5146797

The employer can view the applicants as follows:
http://tklcloud.com/job/view_reply.aspx?id=1153015

If the employer finds any candidate to the suitable, the employer clicks on the candidate and ask to shortlist the candidate. An email is sent to notify teh candidate.

The employer can follow up by email or telephone with the shortlisted candidates. This is handled outside of the portal.

Compared to the process in the other job portals in the market, this "first level screening" allows the job seeker and the employer to contact each other quickly. It will give a better user experience to both parties.

Difficult to use SIA miles for upgrade

I wanted to book an economy ticket to London and use my miles to upgrade to business class.

I had to buy an Economy Flexi ticket for $2,200 to be eligible for the upgrade. The upgrade was confusing. It depended on availability which differs from flight to flight. In some flights, the upgrade was for premium economy and not business class. The points required for the upgrade was also confusing.

To avoid the hassle, I bought a special ticket for $1,200 (return) and forgot about the upgrade. I will use the points for other flights.

I learned, after a confusing experience, that the best way to use my 60,000 miles is to convert it to use it to reduce the price of my ticket. The conversion rate is roughly $600 for 60,000 miles.

Inconsiderate call center

I called the Starhub call center. It asked me to press many buttons and gave me announcements of promotions that do not interest me. It also gave me a message that I have heard more than 1,000 times, about the call being monitored for training purpose.

How inconsiderate of the call center. Don't they have any consideration for their long suffering customers? I was then asked to enter my mobile phone number. I did.

A voice answered. May I have your NRIC number?
TKL - I just pressed my mobile number. Surely, you can retrieve my record from it?
Voice - sorry, I don't have access to that number.
TKL - Why did your system asked me to key in that number?
Voice - Sorry.
TKL - Please pass my feedback to your management. Do be considerate to your customers. Do not make them waste so much time and do a lot of irrelevant steps.
Voice - OK.

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.