Increase of more than 50% in cost over 4 years

The following medical procedures increased by more than 50% over the past four years for subsidized patients.

Breast lump removal
Lung cancer with comlications
Stroke - no complication

Is there justification for the increase? Did the cost increase by so much? Or, was it due to higher demand, which prompted the public hospitals to increase their fees?

Should public hospitals operate on a model to maximize profits, according to what the market can bear, or to recover their cost of operations with a reasonable margin?

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1304&Name=Increase-in-medical-charges---2013-to-2017&Type=H

Universal life policy

If you a large sum of saving in a bank, your private banker may recommend this policy for your investment. You can read more about it here.

The Crowd expects the value of HDB flats to fall

What will happen to the value of the HDB flat in the future? The minister has said that the value will be $0 at the end of the 99 year lease.

60% of the Crowd expect the value to fall in the near future. The majority of this gloomy lot expects the price to fall sharply.

More interesting topics voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd

I have selected the interesting topics that are voted on The Wisdom of the Crowd.

You can view the results for these topics easily in this link.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/selected_issue.aspx

Another complaint concerning the Friend Provident Global Advance plan

Here is another case where the policyholder bought the Friend Provident Global Advance plan from an independent financial adviser and was very angry that the adviser did not recommend a product that is good for the customer.

In this case, the Effect of Deduction is more than 40% of the accumulated premium. This is extremely high.

I suggested to the policyholder to sue the financial adviser for breach of compliance under section 7.2 and 7.3 of the Financial Adviser's Act.

I am also healing to round up several people who want to join and take collective action.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=449&Name=Friend-Provident-Global-Advance---case-2&View=A

Remove the wasteful activities in the hospital, please.

I went for the colonoscopy procedure today. There are a few good points and a few bad points. The cost was only $500, instead of $1,000 given during the financial counseling. The financial counseling is a wasteful operation and should be removed.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

More interesting issues voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Here are the more interesting topics that have been voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd. You can view the results in this link

http://wisdomofthecrowd.sg/Selected_issue.aspx

My view about the reserved Presential election

Gil Bert Thank you Mr. Tan for sharing your views as a veteran in political arena.

Regardless of the count of open election for presidency, i never read or heard your stand in a reserved election for minority race representation for president in a predominantly chinese electorate of singapore. Where do you stand Mr. Tan?

REPLY
The reserved election is a very bad idea, either in 2017 (extremely bad) or in 2023 (also bad).

I already gave a detailed writeup of my view in The Comedy of the Elected President.
http://www.tankinlian.com/Login2.aspx...

Act 6 of the Comedy said:

There is the likelihood that the next Elected President will be returned unopposed through another walkover. It is also possible that this Elected President, who was supposed to be appointed from a reserved ethnic group, may not be truly representative of that ethnic group. There are many mixed marriages in our multi racial society.

Act 6 of the comedy will be an Elected President who qualified through a reserved election turning out to be not purely from that reserved ethnic group.

Is Comfort offering a "flat fare" or a "fixed fare"?

Comfort Taxis said that they would offer "flat fare" from next Monday.

My understanding of "flat fare" is a fare that does not vary according to distance. This is not the case.

Their "flat fare" means that it would include the variable charges, but the fare will still vary according to distance.

Surely, a better description is "fixed fare" rather than "flat fare"?

Even the Straits Times describe the new fare as a flat fare. Does this reflect a low standard of English? Or maybe, I am wrong?

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/comfortdelgro-taxis-to-offer-flat-fares-from-next-monday

What will happen to the value of HDB flats after Lawrence Wong's announcement?

National development minister Lawrence Wong said that the value of HDB flats will become $0 at the end of the 99 year lease. What will happen to the value of HDB flats after this announcement?

Will the flats continue to maintain or increase its value due to the shortage of land and the demand for housing in Singapore? Will the price drop sharply now that the buyers realize that is is a depreciating asst?

The results of the votes in the Wisdom of The Crowd website is now available for your viewing.
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

Average increase in medical charges

The average annual increase in medical charges over the past four years is 8.6%. This is high, but not as high as I had thought earlier.

You can view the results here:
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Is the minister for health neglecting his job?

This is not fake news. This is an opinion.

I get the impression that the cost of medical treatment has increased sharply during the past four years. The cost of a colonoscopy for subsidized patients was $250 in 2013. At my last visit to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, I was told that it would cost me nearly $1,000.

I checked the Ministry of Health website. It said that the average cost of this procedure at KTP Hospital based on last 12 months was $650. Did it increased so much during the past year? I will know in two days time, what my actual cost is.

I went for a laser surgery in the Singapore National Eye Center yesterday. The 6 minute procedure cost me $1,080.

I am quite dissatisfied with the Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong. Is he paying attention to this matter?

You can read my postings in
www.tankinlian.com

I have asked someone to carry out a research on the increase in cost for other medical treatment over the past 4 years.

In my book - Medical Care for the Elderly, I captured the average cost of the common treatments in 2013. I will see if the cost has increased sharply during this period.

You can get a copy of this book FREE here, after submitting a certain number of votes:
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/115

Gan Kim Yong took over as minister for health in 2011. Has been neglected his work and allowed the charges to go up so much under his watch?

This is not fake news. It is an opinion. My facts may or may not be correct, but it is an honest opinion.

Bookmark my websites

Here are the pages that you should bookmark and visit daily to read my views and activities:

Facebook
www.facebook.com/kinlian

Blog

www.tankinlian.blogspot.com

TKL website
www.tankinlian.com

FISCA
www.fisca.sg

Wisdom of the Crowd
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Do not rely on Facebook feeds - as they do not pass everything to all my friends. A daily visit through these bookmarks are better.

Fake news, opinion and mistake

The government is carrying out a review on how to handle fake news.

Do they know the difference between a fake news and an opinion? Or a fake news and a mistake?

When the mainstream media publish news that give a favorable slant to the government, isn't it a form of fake news also?

What are your views?

Has the financial adviser complied with this law?

Clause 7.2 of the Financial Advisers Act (which is a law) requires the financial adviser to "take into account alternative investment options" when recommending an insurance policy to a client.

Most of the investment linked policies recommended and sold by financial advisers (including insurance agents who are covered under the same law) have an Effect of Deduction of 30% or more of the accumulated premium. An alternative investment option, such as the STI Exchange Traded Fund, which carry similar risks to the ILP, have charges that amount to less than 10% of the accumulated premium.

Has the financial adviser met with the requirement to 'take into account alternative investment option" that has similar risks and a much lower charge? Has the financial adviser met the requirement of 7.3 to explain to the consumer the basis of his recommendation?

This is a danger facing many financial advisers. If a customer were to sue them under the act, they stand the risk of having to compensate the customer for the loss and even to lose their licence for failing to comply with the Act.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=445&Name=Financial-Advisers-could-get-into-serious-trouble&Type=H

Protect turf

This article shows what is so bad about the Singapore system - the wastefulness, the inefficiency and the disregard for the citizens. Will LHL's ministers wake up and take charge? Will they just allow their government agencies to continue to protect their turf?

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1302&Name=Discontinuation-of-OneInbox&View=A

Large increase in medical cost in Singapore

Here is my finding about the large increase in price of colonoscopy in Singapore in the past four years. Does this increase apply to other medical procedures?

It is quite worrying. Is the minister for health, Gan Kim Yong, paying attention to this matter?

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1301&Name=Cost-of-colonoscopy-in-Singapore&View=A

Learn problem solving with the Intelligence Quiz

Vera, 10 years old, enjoys the Intelligence Quiz. She is addicted to it. She enjoys solving the puzzles. It develops her skill and confidence in problem solving. This skill is important for your child.

I conduct a tutorial on how to solve the puzzles. You can attend the talk to learn the skill and teach your children. You can also bring your child (10 years or older) along.

Give them the chance to learn an important skill and to enjoy it. Like Vera did.
http://tklcloud.com/Event/Video.aspx?EID=43

Develop the problem solving skills

One important skill needed in the future is the ability to solve problems and to have the confidence in solving problems.

This will overcome one common weakness - depending on other people to take the lead. Due to lack of confidence, most people would rather "just follow orders". But they cannot make progress if they act in this manner.

The ability to solve problems and to have the confidence of dealing with problems can be learned. You only need to learn how to approach the problem and what to look out for. And this skill and confidence can be learned through simple practice.

I speak from personal experience. Although I do not have the high qualification that other people have through their studies, I have the problem solving skill. More important, I have the confidence in approaching these problems.

I teach the skill in two tutorials (1 hour each) on Saturday. This is targeted at adults (so they can teach their children). Or they can bring their children along (10 years or older). Do not miss this opportunity.

www.tklcloud.com/event/whats_on.aspx

This insurance agent served the customer well

While waiting for my laser surgery, I heard a woman speaking to a client on her mobile phone.

She was obviously an insurance agent and was advising the client about a medical insurance claim for her mother. The mother was a foreigner and the claim could not be submitted through e-filing. She told the client that the mother could submit the claim manually and offered to help her with the submission.

After her conversation, I spoke to her.

TKL - I congratulate you. You are serving your client well. Which insurance company are you working for?
Agent - Great Eastern Life
TKL - How long have you been with them?
Agent - 7 years.
TKL - I commend you again for you excellent service and wish you success.

She smiled. I must have made her very happy.

Friends Provident Global Wealth Advance saving plan

A policyholder send this Benefit Illustration to me. She was very angry that the independent financial adviser did not explain to her the charges under this plan.

She approached a private banker who explained to her why the plan was bad and the charges where high. He also explained the hidden risks under the plan, e.g. the insurance company could amend the charges at their will.

I studied the benefit illustration and found that, contrary to what the private banker had said, the plan was rather fair. I took the average of the projected benefit for 4% and 8% (i.e. 6%) and found the yield based on the surrender value at the end of 10 years to be 4.2%. The Effect of Deduction was an average of 14.2% of the accumulated premiums, based on the two projections.

Read more at
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=447&Name=Friends-Provident-global-Wealth-Advance-saving-plan&View=A

Compare First website

The Compare First website was an initiative from MAS. It helps consumers to compare the life insurance policies offered in the market.

I have created a 10 minute video to show how you can use this website. It can be viewed here.

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

My views and observations about Singapore

I hope you like my views and observations of Singapore published in this website:
http://www.tankinlian.com/Home.aspx

FISCA Website is updated regularly

I will be updating a few articles on insurance and financial matters in the FISCA website every week. They are available for the public for 14 days. After that, they can only be read by members of FISCA.

FISCA members can also read the past articles which are arranged by categories, such as Insurance, Investment, Learning, Product Analysis, etc. I hope that you will join as a member to get access to these useful articles - especially the product analysis.

www.fisca.sg

Why I dislike our health minister

Here is my experience in the Singapore National Eye Center. I don't like their practice. I also don't like the health minister Mr. Gan Kim Yong.

I hope that the minister becomes aware that the charges are excessive and the service is unsatisfactory.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Terrible experience with Ministry of Manpower

Here is my experienec with the EP Online system of the Ministry of Manpower. I describe my experience as "terrible". I don't know why our government agencies continue to waste so much time of the public. Their officers seem to think that the public has a lot of time to study how to comply with their complicated processes.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

52 man years to prepare a list of physical assets

President Ong Teng Cheong had some disagreement with the government when he asked to see a list of physical assets. The Finance Minister replied that it would take 52 man years to prepare that list. Here is a full statement from the Finance Minister in 1999.

http://www.mof.gov.sg/…/Issues%20raised%20by%20President%20…

People in Singapore spend 12 hours a day on gadgets

A survey showed that people in Singapore spend 12 hours a day on gadget. What is your reaction?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Unattended bag at Hougang MRT station

A man left a bag unattended at the Hougang MRT station. The bag was found and the authority decided to close the station for 20 minutes, in case it was a bomb. Was this action advisable?

You can now vote on the shutdown of the Hougang MRT station due to the unattended bag.
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

How ot use the Compare First website

I have created a video to explain how to use the Compare First website - a MAS initiative. I showed how to compare a Whole Life Policy for $300,000 offered by several insurance companies.

The video is 10 minutes long. It can be accessed from http://www.tankinlian.com/video.aspx

The link for the Compare First website is www.comparefirst.sg

Analysis of popular life insurance policies

This link allows you to view the analysis of the popular life insurance products sold in the market.
Before you buy the product, find out what an independant expert says about the product.
http://www.fisca.sg/Article.aspx?Category=Product%20Analysis

Serious consequences for financial advisers

Many financial advisers are not aware that they will get into serious trouble in the near future.

Many consumers were misled into buying bad financial products. They were not able to take a case against the financial adviser for the bad advise in the past.

They can now take a case based on section 7.2 and 7.3 of the Financial Advisers Act. If a consumer wins the case, and this outcome is quite likely, a few tens of thousand of advisers will be in serious trouble.

http://www.fisca.sg/Login2.aspx…

Do you agree?

New prizes for voting in the Crowd website

I am introducing new prizes for voting at the Wisdom of the Crowd website.

The prizes will now be given on reaching each level, based on the cumulative votes. This will give the challenge to reach the higher level.

The new prizes take effect from votes submitted from now. The current prize (Planning for your retirement) will still be available for another one week.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/115

A new life in America for Amos Yee

80% of the Crowd sends best wishes to Amos Yee for starting his new life in America.

www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Encourage Signaporeans to take risk

How can we encourage Singaporeans to take risk, work as a team and think big?

Here are the results of the voting by the Crowd.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=39

The two most important factors are:

a) Change the top level of government
b) Eduation reform

Right of way

If you find that you have to walk a long way to the bus stop or to the main road, due to lack of convenient short cuts, it is due to poor planning by the government.

Read this article.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1298&Name=Right-of-way&View=A

Income tax return for year of assessment 2017

I just submitted my income tax return. It was supposed to be easy, but I was confused for a while.

They pre-filled my income tax return with figures for last year. I did not know that this was what they had done. I wondered - where did the figures came from? I do not recall submitting the figures before.

Anyway, I entered the actual figures for this year. The rental income on my property had dropped, so the actual figures were smaller than last year.

This year, they explained clearly that I could take 15% of the rental income as expenses, instead of declaring the actual expenses. Last year, they did not tell me about it. So, it was an improvement this year.

I look for the part where I had to declare my wife's income. I could not find it. Perhaps they have discontinued the joint declaration. This was rather bad. There aer many families, like me, where the spouse is not working and does not have any income. They should have allowed the taxpayer to make this declaration. If they have discontinued the practice, they should have mentioned it specifically.

I now have to make a separate declaration for my wife. She said, "I am not working and have no income. Why should I submit an incoem tax return?".

My answer - IRAS said so. The government said so. What can we do?

Financial advisers could get into serious trouble

Many financial advisers could get into very serious trouble if a consumer were to take up a case against them under an existing law, called the Financial Advisers Act. A copy of this Act can be viewed at this link.

You should pay special attention to clause 7.2 to 7.3 as follows:

Reasonable Basis
7.2 A financial adviser should ensure that its recommendations are suitable for the client, taking into account the information it has obtained from the client. It should ensure that its recommendations are based on thorough analysis and take into account alternative investment options.

7.3 A financial adviser should explain to the client the basis for its recommendation and why the investment product it is recommending is suitable for the client.

Read more at
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Ban on laptops in cabins

I saw this news report:

Quote
Terrorists are testing concealed explosives with stolen airport security equipment, intel sources say, raising questions about whether the laptop travel ban is broad enough.

ISIS and other terrorist organizations have developed innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices, according to the FBI. The intelligence led to recent airline restrictions banning many electronics from the cabins of planes flying directly to the United States from airports in eight countries.
Unquote

Question - if this is a risk, surely it applies to laptops that are checked into the plane as well? Surely the risk with checked in luggage is higher?

I do not understand why there is a need to ban laptops being carried into the cabin. Surely there is already stringent checks on these laptops being taken into the cabin?

Minimum wage in Singapore

The Singapore government does not wish to implement a minimum wage. The Philippine government adopt a different approach. They have a minimum wage in their own country and also implement it for Filipinos working abroad. They have implemented it in Singapore in a creative way.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/minimum-pay-…/3642042.html…

A minimum wage has some benefits and some challenges. On the whole, the benefits outweigh the challenges. That is why many countries have a minimum wage. Singapore should also introduce it.

Wisdom of the Crowd

I invite you to vote for the issues in this website: www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg.

You can click on the Facebook or Google logo to login and submit your vote:

When you vote on 5 issues, you will receive a prize - the PDF copy of the book "Planning for your retirement". www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/4.

You can also view the results of the voting on the closed issues at www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx.

Thank you for your participation and support.

How to give a differing view

I adopt the following approach when I see a post on social media by another person:

1. If I disagree with that person's view and it is a personal opinion, I ignore that post. He (or she) is entitled to her view. I would consider it rude to impose my differing view on him.

2. If I disagree with that view strongly, I will state my view and give my reason. However, I would avoid passing any judgment that his view is "wrong" or mock his view.

I would like anyone, coming to my Facebook Page or Blog to observe the same conduct. If they have a different view and wish to state it in my Page or Blog, they have to be polite in doing so. If they act in a rude manner, I delete their comment. For extreme bad behavior, I ban them from visiting my Page again.

I strongly detest a group of people who act in concert to mock other people. When I see this group action, I ban all of them.

Comedy of the Elected President

In their infinite wisdom, the Singapore government has created a wonderful new play, in fact a comedy, which is likely to achieve international stature. It is called the Comedy of the Elected President.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Expansion of Woodlands Checkpoint

Woodlands Checkpoint will be expanded to cope with the increased volume of travellers.

I looked for the budget. It was not stated. I expect that it would cost several hundred million dollars, or even exceed the $1 billion budget.

We have a habit of spending large sums of money. It is in our DNA.

Has someone thought cooperating with Malaysia to have a joint immigration clearance? This will allow the travellers to double in volume with existing facilities.

Maybe we can also learn from the European Union on how to reduce the border checks. Or learn from America where there is no border checks when travelling from one state to another.

https://www.gov.sg/news/content/channel-newsasia-woodlands-checkpoint-extension-to-be-built-at-old-woodlands-town-centre

Who is the first Elected President of Singapore?

Who should be considered as the first Elected President of Singapore - Wee Kim Wee or Ong Teng Cheong. What is the most important reason?
You have five interesting choices to vote for in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Side gate at Midview City

This is a side gate at Midview City. It cuts down the walking distance to the bus stop at Upper Thomson Road by 300 meters for people working in the first block of Midview City. It took 7 years for the MCST management to decide to open this gate.

Midview City is a large industrial estate comprising of 6 mega blocks. They have a fence to enclose the entire area and have two entrances for cars. The people have to walk to these entrances/ exits to leave Midview City.

Why is it necessary to enclose this industrial estate? It is not a military complex. The enclosure forces the workers to walk additional distances every day.

I raised this issue with the MCST manager many years ago. He did not reply to me. Now, after a long time, the side gate is open.

Review of Insurance Law in New Zealand

This article explains how New Zealand carries out its review of the insurance law. Some of the key points that struck me are:

a) The law was last changed six years ago. The stakeholders said that this is a long enough period for the law to be reviewed.

b) The regulator asked stakeholders to identify the issues that needed to be addressed.

c) They are looking at activites that are now working well.

I find their approach to be very good. Singapore can learn from them.

http://www3.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/38705/Type/eDaily/New-Zealand-Regulator-starts-review-of-insurance-law

A strange coincidence

Someone sent me an email yesterday expressing concerns about the marketing of an investment product by a company called 8I holdings. I replied that his statements could be considered defamatory.

Later, I saw a news report that the Police has arrested 81 people for scamming.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/81-arrested-…/3639030.html…

What a coincidence. I thought that the same company was involved.

I went to check the email and found that it referred to a company called "8I holding" withe the letter I and not the number 81.

This is the problem with the letter I. It could be easily mistook for the number 1.

Voting on Life Insurance Companies

Slightly more than 50 votes are received for the life insurance company that you LIKE the most. The results are shown here.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=441&Name=Which-life-insurance-company-do-you-LIKE-the-most&View=A

The voting for the life insurance company that the voters DISLIKE the most are shown here:

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=440&Name=Which-life-insurance-company-do-you-DISLIKE-the-most&Type=H 

Wasteful activities caused by IRAS

I share this example of the unproductive work and hassle that IRAS has given to a taxpayer (and I suspect that this affects many other taxpayers). I also share some suggestions on what IRAS can do to change their process and reduce wasteful activities for the taxpayers and their own staffs.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1295&Name=Difficult-to-submit-an-income-tax-return&Type=H

Low birth rate in Singapore

I listed five factors causing the low birth rate in Singapore. Which factor is most important? Give your vote in www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Poor service from a help desk

Someone sent to me this example of poor service from a Helpdesk.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Difference between a positive and a negative approach

Do you know the difference between a positive and a negative approach? You can choose to be positive and make a positive influence on those around you.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Improve the public service

The majority of the Crowd are sceptical about the ability of the civil service to improve its service to the public. They think that the exhortation from President Tony Tan will not produce any tangible result.

Suggestion to reduce payment by cheques

Without spending tens of million dollars in new infrastructure, Singapore can sharply reduce the use of cheques by adopting a simple apporach. But it requires leadership to be taken by the MAS. This is how it can be done.
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs

Kenneth Jeyaretnam sent this open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs.
https://kenjeyaretnam.com/2017/03/29/an-open-letter-to-the-minister-of-home-affairs/

Firends Provident Global Wealth Advance savings plan

Dear Mr. Tan

I'm a 32 years old expat professional working in Singapore. My husband and I recently had our first son and with that comes a stronger urge of saving.

We have been recommended to invest in a Friends Provident, Global Wealth Advance saving plan. But after 7 months a banker friend did show us what does the % fee really mean, this is when we understood how inconvenient was the policy for us, and how misleading is the way the sell it.

I want to put the case on MAS. The Financial Adviser who sold the policy did not advise us in our best interest because they are way better products for money savings

I need your help to find a group of people who might be similarly misled. I wish to invite them to join forces with us to present a strong case at MAS.

REPLY
If anyone faces the same problem as this writer or bought a similar policy, you can share your experience here or send an email to kinlian@gmail.com.

Businesses should be encouraged to receive payments by bank transfers

The infrastructure is already in place for businesses to receive payments from their customers through bank transfer. This will improve efficiently tremendously.

Here is how it can be done.
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1292&Name=Businesses-can-receive-payments-by-bank-transfer

Cheques are not used in Spain

At an insurance conference in Manila, I met someone who came from Spain and had worked in the Philippines for eight years. He told me that when he was in Spain, he did not use any cheque. All payments are made digitally by transfer from his bank account. Money paid to him are credited directly into his bank account.

He was surprised, when he came to the Philippines, to see so many payments made by cheques. He said that it is so costly and time consuming to be using cheques.

I told him that there is also a high use of cheques in Singapore for payments to and between companies. It is so backward and inefficient.

Are we really a smart city? I wonder why we are spending so many hundreds of millions in technology when the simple actions like payments are still done with manual cheques.

Prices of HDB resale flats

What will happen to the prices of HDB resale flats after the recent announcement by the National Development Minister that the value of these flats will become $0 on expiry of the 99 year lease?

Give your views in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

The results will be announced after 100 votes have been received.

Strange encounters at Newton MRT station

I had two strange encounters when I changed from the Downtown Line to the NS Line at Newton Station. On the first occasion, which probably occurred two months ago, I was charged as a new ride when I tapped into the NS Line within 1 minute.

My friend told me that that was the system and it applied only to Newton station. I was puzzled because Singapore adopted an integrated fare structure and Newton station appeared to be the only exception.

Last week, I took the same journey and found, to my surprise, that I was not charged for both legs. I got "Free Exit" on the first leg and $0 on the second leg. I had to pay $0.54 for the third leg by bus.

Several people have shared that tapping out of one line and into the other line at Newton station is now considered as being the same journey if the delay is less than 15 minutes. This is what it should be, under the integrated fare system.

Perhaps my two strange encounters were caused by the teething problems before they moved to the latest system?

Locking up the locker

The fitness center in the Manila hotel provides lockers which require the user to set a 4 digit code. As I was a first time user, a staff had to explain to me how this system works.

Apart from remembering the 4 digit code that I had used, I had to pay attention to the locker number.

The Grassroots club in Singapore used an old fashion key for each locker. They also had a tag to show the locker number. I find this system to be more practical.

The Manila hotel probably cater to their members who use the locker to keep their exercise wear on a long term basis. The 4 digit code suit them well, as they don't have to carry the extra key.

Here is a test of common sense. Which system should the fitness center provide, since they have to cater to long term members and to once-off hotel guests?

Display the Sequential Stop No in the bus

The image below shows the route for bus 163. Suppose you wish to alight at the stop called "Opp Winsor Park". That stop has a sequential no 37.

If the bus display shows "JCU Spore", you do not know if it has passed your destination or not. However, if it shows Stop 32, you know that you have 5 more stops before your destination.

If you missed your stop and the bus display Stop 40, which is Thomson CC, you know that you have passed 3 stops.

The best display is to show both the Stop No and name, e.g. Stop 40: Thomson CC. Alternatively, we should just show Stop 40 to reduce the cost. It is inexpensive to show a display of the Stop No.

If the commuter wish to alight at the stop "Opp Windsor Park", the commuter will take note that it is Stop No 37. This informatiion can be obtained from the bus stop before boarding the bus, or can be obtained from a route guide displayed in the bus.

Fascninated with Intelligence Quiz

A family of 5 attended my tutorials on the Intelligence Quiz and Problem Solving.

The teenage children were fascinated with the Intelligence Quiz. They became addicted to the quiz.

The next tutorial is on 8 April
www.tklcloud.com/event/whats_on.aspx.

The books can be purchased from:
www.tankinlian.com/cord.aspx

Suggesion to improve the public service

Any large organization needs to use SOP (standard operating procedure). A simple change to the SOP can improve the service to the public and customer significantly, while preserving the integrity of the SOP.
I hope that the public service (i.e. the government agencies) will adopt this simple suggesion.
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Improve the design of websites

Many websites of large organizations and government agencies are poorly designed. The public finds them difficult to use, especially when they have to submit transactions. I have bad experience with these websites over the years.

Here are some of the bad features and suggestions on how the websites can be changed to improve the experience of the public and customers.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Strong opposition to like in water price

Here are the views of the participants who voted in the Wisdom of the Crowd website (56 votes). 87% oppose the hike in water price. 75% oppose it strongly, 12.5% oppose it mildly.

The government sponsored body, REACH, carried out a survey of 1,000 people and said that 43% disagreed with the hike (as opposed to 87% here).

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/…/significant-portion-of-…/

Wisdom of the Crowd website

You can view the results of the voting on several issues at
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

You can vote on the active issues at
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

You can win this prize when you submit 4 votes on the active issues.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/4

My journey in developing this website is explained in ths book (you can download it for FREE).
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/pdf.aspx/7

Should the minimum wage apply to foreign maids?

One question affecting the implementation of a minimum wage in Singapore is - should it apply to foreign maids? Here are the views from the participants in the survey. A large majority said that the minimum wage should not apply to foreign maids as their working conditions are vastly different from other workers.

Slightly more negative votes on Groupon

Three quarters of the respondents have not used Groupon. Of the others, there are slightly more negative than positive comments. Groupon has to try harder to get a better perception.

I have used Groupon myself and am quite satisifed with the deals. 

PDPA - an additional harassment

Quite often, the government starts with good intention to solve a problem.

Somehow, they end up making things worse. It must be their approach - impractical and lack of common sense.

One example is the Privacy and Data Protection Act (or PDPA). The original problem was that telemarketeers were calling the public on their mobile phones and it has become a nuisance.

Instead of dealing with this specific problem, the government implemented the PDPA after a long period of discussion.

Instead of helping people the PDPA turns out to be an additional harassment on our lives.

This article explans the problems that many people face after PDPA. It did not make their life better. It made it worse.

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Not so simple to provide the Estimate of Chargeable Income

IRAS expects the tax payer to be tax experts. They need to attend a training course just to submit a tax return. They say that it takes only 5 minutes to submit an ECI form. It is not so simple!

http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx…

Land Transport Authority should learn from Apple Computers

The Land Transport Authority developed an app called "My Transport". It contained many types of information relating to land transport. In a past year, it received an international award for being the best in its category.

Actually, I find the app to be poorly designed.
Here are my reasons:
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1288&Name=Land-Transport-Authority-should-learn-from-Apple-Computers

Opening a work pass account with MOM

I wish to share a troublesome process in opening an account to apply for a workpass at the Ministry of Manpower. They recently revamped their micro-site, so it was better than before. It must have cost them many tens of million dollars. Still, it was confusing to me. To make matter worse, they still have the process of sending a confirmation PIN by ordinary mail. I consider it unnecesary and prone to problems

http://www.tankinlian.com/Info/1286/Opening-an-account-at-MOM-website

Product analysis - investment and insurance products

The FISCA website has a page showing the insurance and financial products that have been analysed. I give my views on whether they give good value to consumers.

http://www.fisca.sg/Article.aspx?Category=Product%20Analysis

If you have a product that you like me to analyze, you can send the product detail and benefit illustration to kinlian@gmail.com.

I will analyze the product and give you my findings. I will also post the product detail (but remove your identity) in the website.

These articles are available for reading my FISCA members only.

How do the Crowd view the ministers?

The voting on these three interesting issues are now ready for viewing:

a) Which minister do you LIKE best?
b) Which minister do you DISLIKE the most?
c) How do you rate the performance of PM Lee?

www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

All of these issues have more than 100 votes. Many of them came from the Facebook Ad, which reaches out to an audience outside of the regular visitors to this Page. (But I do not know the breakdown between the "regulars" and the "external" sources.

How do you interpret the results?

Private Shield plan - 5 month delay in settling a claim

A consumer asked for my help.

She is covered under a Private Shield Plan. She suffered some pain in the joint. She went to the general practitioner who tried to treat the pain, but the treatment did not work. The doctor referred her to see a specialist.

She went to the specialist and was hospitalized for observation for two days. The specialist carried out several tests to identify the source of the problem. After discharge, the patient paid a bill of almost $8,000.

She submitted her claim to the insurance company for reimbursement of the hospital bill. The claim was not settled for five months

http://www.fisca.sg/…/Private-Shield-Plan---5-month-delay-i…

Countdown timer for green man at pedestrian crossing

Should we have a countdown timer to show when the green man will appear at pedestrian crossings?

The majority of the Crowd says - YES.

You can view the voting on other issues at
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

Should MAS set a limit on payment in coins?

This is what the Crowd thinks about the proposal by MAS to set a limit on payment in coins.

The majority thinks that the problem is small and could be ignored. The next group thinks that the MAS can set a limit of $20 (instead of 10 coins in each denomination) and the payer has the discretion to accept a larger sum.

You can view the results of the voting on other issues atwww.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

Listen to the Wisdom of the Crowd

You can now view the results of several issues that have closed recently:

a) Will a minimum wage increaset the cost of employing foreign maids?
b) Should a countdown timer be installed for the green man at pedestrian crossings?
c) Should MAS pass a regulation to impose a limit on payment in coins?
d) Should the 14 days of sick leave in the employment act be changed?

And other issues
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/result.aspx

A suggestion to improve the public service

President Tony Tan asked the civil service to look for ways to improve the public service, rather than simply follow the existing rules.

I applaud him for this message. The first and most important step to solve a problem is to recognize that we have the problem.

We do have a very serious problem. I described it as a disease. Too many people, not just in the civil service but the business community as well, are just following standard operating procedures (SOP) blindly.

Someone told me that this is the culture drilled in the Singapore Armed Forces. The SOP have to be followed totally, without question. Perhaps this was necessary for military discipline. Any deviation will result in punishment.

Even after leaving military service, the men continued to adopt adopting this practice for years. It has become a habit which will be very difficult to change.

When I was running a large company, I was able to implement the change in mindset quite successfully. In spite of receiving young people drilled in the SOP culture, I was able to get them to change their mindset.

This is what I have done.

a) Every standing instruction (our name for SOP) usually allows the staff to exercise discretion within a specified limit. For example, the staff may waive interest on late payment up to a certain amount. It also has a clause that says, "If this SI results in decisions that are not acceptable to customers, you may refer this matter to your supervisor".

b) The supervisor is empowered to deviate from the SI within a larger band or to refer the matter to the next level.

c) All exercise of discretion will be recorded into an online system. This will be reviewed by the next higher level. If there is no objection within 2 days, the action will be considered as approved. If the discretion is exercised wrongly, the staff will be coached. In practice, there are few instances where the discretion was used wrongly. The impact of the mistake was usually negligible.

The system worked extremely well. It fostered a culture of innovation and the use of common sense. The staffs enjoyed the empowerment given to them.

It also helped to identify the changes that have to be made to the SI to improve the practices.

I hope that the public service will adopt a similar system. Over a year or two, they will see a significant change in the mindset of the civil servants.

Make it possible for people to marry younger

I discussed with an Indonesian couple, who are slightly older than me, about the problems faced by Singapore in raising the birth rate.

Most people are marrying too late. They want to go to university, have to complete National Service (for males) and have to save to buy a HDB flat.

When they get married (and 40% don't get married) they are already passed 30 years. When a woman passes 30 years, they find it more difficult to get a baby. They probably opt for one child, if at all.

If we want to raise the birth rate, we must make it possible for people to marry at a younger age. We have to overcome the financial obstacles.

They agreed with my views. They asked me to write a book to explain my approach.

My book will take 30 years and 1 day to complete. Fortunately, I have already spent 30 years on this issue. So, it will just take 1 day to put my thoughts into the PDF book.

It takes 4 days to make a money transfer electronically

I went to DBS bank branch to transfer $15,000 to a friend in Indonesia.

Staff - Mr. Tan. There is a charge of $20 for telex and another charge of 1/8 % for the handling fee. The total charge is about $40. The agent bank will also impose a charge. Your friend will get less than $15,000.

TKL - That's okay. I understand.

Staff - Mr. Tan. Your friend will get the money in 3 to 4 days' time.

TKL - Why so late? You charge me a telex fee. You also deduct the money from my bank account immediately. Why can't my friend get the money immediately?

Staff - It has to go through the agent bank. This takes time.

TKL - When I send an email (which is free), it has to go through several email servers to reach the other party. It arrives within 1 minute. Why can't the money transfer happen just as quickly? After all, you are getting a total fee of $40 for this transfer?

Staff - Mr. Tan, if you use DBS Remit, the money will arrive immediately.

TKL - But your bank gives a poor exchange rate. You take away almost 2% on the conversion to rupiah. The cost is $300. My friend could get a better exchange rate in Jakarta. The spread is only 0.2%.

Staff - Okay, Mr. Tan. I will feed back your views to my management.

TKL - Thank you for your help.

Monitoring the occupancy of buses

At the bus stop this morning, a woman complained to me.

Woman - I have been waiting for 15 minutes for Bus 163 and it has not arrived. I saw many other passes pass by. Here is Bus 854. This is the fourth bus. Where is 163??

TKL - I am also taking 163. I observed, quite often, that it comes late and is crowded and full. I think the LTA should provide more buses for this service.

I wrote to the Straits Times a month ago and suggested that the LTA should monitor the occupancy of the buses for each service and published the results in a website. This will show the public about the occupancy rate, and help the LTA to identify the services that need more buses and those that can have less buses. Sadly, I do not see the LTA taking up this suggestion.

I had also written to a very senior person in the Ministry of Transport. He had forwarded my suggestion to the LTA. Nobody bothered to contact me about it.

I suspect that the LTA is not monitoring the occupancy for each service. I also suspect that they have some problem in calculating the occupancy rate, as some people use concession cards and do not tap out. If they ask me, I can give them my suggestion on how to deal with this matter. 

Wisdom of the Crowd - results

You can now view the results of the closed issues at the Wisdom of the Crowd website.

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

Wisdom of the Crowd - results on two issues are available

The results for two issues are available for viewing. Each has 100 or more votes.

1) How much should a cleaner earn in gross monthly pay?
2) Should MAS set a limit on payment in coins?

The results are interesting. The proposal made by MAS got the least vote. It shows that they are not in touch with the crowd.
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Why are we still using cheques?

A few people have asked - why are we still using cheques which are so inefficient, costly and troublesome? Why can't we move to digital payment?

I agree with them. The infrastructure in Singapore does not allow this mode of payment to companies. There are a few exceptions, but this statement is true for most companies.

I subscribe to the Cloud service of Starhub. Each month, I received an invoice from them. I asked them to allow me to pay through GIRO, just like the utility bill and even thier consumer bills.

They said that they are not able to accept GIRO payment. It does seem ridiculous as they already have their system to handle consumer bills. Three years have passed.

I did some research around 2010. I found that UK and Australia had reduced their per capital use of cheques by 50% during the previous 10 years. Singapore also adopted the same initiative around the same time. The reduction in cheques was only 20%.

I cannot remember the actual figures, so these numbers are from my memory.

I wrote to the Straits Times about the slow progress in moving away from cheques. They published my letter. Nobody from MAS or the Association of Banks bothered to talk to me.

I also met with a senior manager in MAS to discuss this matter. She said, "Wait. we are rolling out FAST payment".

Sadly, the FAST payment does not address the challenge of getting companies to receive electronic payments. So, we continue to use cheques, in spite of the inefficiency.

As we continue down this road, the cost of doing business continue to be high. Our productivity continues to be very bad. We become more and more uncompetitive.

Some thoughts on a rainy day

It was raining moderately this morning before I set out to office.
I waited for the rain to stop. It continued raining.
I called Uber. Got "surge pricing".
I wanted to try GrabTaxi. Forget it. Most probably, no taxi available on rainy days.
I took our my umbrella and walked to the bus stop.
On the way, this thought crossed my mind:

Thank you, Almighty, for the blessing that you have given to the people. And for providing water, which is essential to life, free of charge.

Please tell the PAP to share the water, that you have given to them free, with the people free. They can follow the example of Hong Kong where each household is provided a certain quantity of water free of charge each month.

They can impose the 30% hike on water that they produce through recycling and desalination. The people will understand this hike.

I keep an open mind on each issue

KKoon Wee
Mr Tan, like it or not, you are widely regarded as a PAP critic. That is the reason I became familiar with your facebook ie. my anti PAP friends referenced you. Now if you actually have warm feelings towards some PAP leaders & policies, you should highlight these more often. We're not getting a balanced view of Mr Tan Kin Lian at the moment. I on the other hand am very anti PAP and proud to proclaim it.

REPLY
Many people in Singapore are short sighted and narrow. They make conclusions based on ignorance. I cannot help it. That is the way that they were educated all their lives.

Based on my interaction with many people, I have a low opinion of their character, which is quite common in Singapore - ignorant, selfish, judgmental.

I cannot join you to proclaim that I am "anti PAP". I keep an open mind and think independently on each issue.

I disagree with many of their practices and say so openly. But I do not adopt any "anti" attitude. I also point out the policies that I agree when the occasion arises.

A cure for the Singapore disease

KKoon Wee said:
The mindset is so set on preventing all errors at all costs! This is even if the error has very minor consequences and only exists as tail risks! This kiasu & kiasi attitude is causing paralysis! In the old days, Dr Goh used to say go ahead and we put out the small fires along the way! If we wait and try and prevent all fires big & small, we'll never get started.

MY COMMENT
An excellent example. In the old days, we had Dr Goh Keng Swee to handle the Singapore disease (kiasu and kiasi). Now we have no one to handle it. The Singapore is quite widespread. It got worse over the years.

Was the 2015 general election rigged?

Mr Tan Kin Lian, there is strong suspicion among voters, especially when they commented on Facebook that the voting result for the last 2015 General Election was rigged, as the Election Department is under our Prime Minister. It should entirely be independent to be non-partisan, in order to be fair to all the different Opposition Parties. What are your views on this matter???

REPLY
I believe that the results were fair. The people did vote 70% for the PAP for various reasons. Many of them like the PAP. They also like the goodies (bribes?) given by the PAP. They also felt grateful for Mr. Lee KY.

Sadly, the strong results will entrench the PAP in their bad practices and methods.

The practices of the PAP and their obsession to remain in power, with unfair methods, has been harmful for Singapore in the past and will continue to be harmful in the future. They build a society of people who lack character. It is sad.

Some people think that I am anti-PAP. They are mistaken. I have nothing against the PAP leaders, many of whom are trying to do their best for the country.

I am strongly against bad practices that are harmful for Singapore. I hope that the leaders in the PAP will change and think in the interest of the country and not their power and privileges.

I agree that the Election Commission should be an independent body and should not be under the Prime Ministers' office. Similarly, the civil service and the People's Assocation should be truly impartial.

Provide an "refer to supervisor" clause in each SOP (standard operating procedure)

Many organizations in Singapore operate on SOP (standard operating procedures). Without SOP, the staff don't know what to do.

The trouble is - after the SOP is written, common sense disappear entirely. Many stupid situations occur when the staffs follow the SOP blindly.

There is a solution. Every SOP should have this statement - if you find any of the SOP to be unfair, unnecessary or wasteful, refer the matter to your supervisor. They have the authority to exercise discretion. They are put into supervisory position for this purpose.

In the old days when we were a British colony, the colonial masters do exercise discretion. This was told to me by my uncles and older folks.

This practice of exercising discretion and judgment disappeared over the years, under the rule of the PAP. I think the SAF probably contributes to the new practice of following SOP blindly.

Do you agree?

A wasteful practice - rejecting a cheque due to a insignificant mistake

My staff made a small mistake when she wrote a cheque of $200 to HDB for rental of their room. She wrote the payee as "The Housing and Develoment Board: with a "p" missing.

Guess what? The HDB staff refuse to accept the cheque. She returned the cheque and asked for another cheque to be issued and sent to them before the deadline for payment. They don't realize how costly it is to prepare a new cheque and hand it over personally.

Do you want to know why Singapore is so costly, so wasteful and so inefficient? It is this kind of unnecessary hassle. What's wrong with accepting a cheque with a small error. The SOP said that the cheque cannot be accepted, if it is not "properly written", right?

Okay, we continue our wasteful practices.

UberPool is an excellent concept

Uber has an interesting concept - called UberPool. When you book UberPool, you get a discount of about 20%. The driver can pick up another passenger along the way. Sometimes, the driver goes out of the way to pick the other passenger, so you may waste a little time (but I guess it will be marginal).

I like this concept because it is an efficient way to use our cars. Why have cars running around with one passenger, when the car can take 2 or more passengers?

Well done to Uber.

Grab also introduce a similar concept called Grabshare.

So far, most passengers are still booking for exclusive use. However, with more education and awareness, more people will opt for UberPool and GrabShare.

I also want to congratulate Uber for the excellent design of their platform. They apply a lot of "common sense" and make their platform extremely easy to use. I find it to be better than GrabTaxi that I used previously.

My prference now goes to Uber. I was told that Uber is owned by Google. No wonder! they really know how to make things easy for the ordinary users.

New poll - Performance of PM Lee

Are you happy with the performance of PM Lee Hsien Loong? Are his policies good for Singapore? Do you agree with the way that he is addressing our challenges?
Click here to give your vote.
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Click here to download a FREE copy of my PDF book - "Wisdom of the Crowd Website".

It explains about how this online platform works.
http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF.aspx?id=44&otp=735206

A new book - Wisdom of the Crowd Website

I have written a PDF book entitled "Wisdom of the Crowd Website". Click here to view and download a FREE copy.
http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF.aspx?id=44&otp=735206

Introduction
About ten years ago, a friend told me about a popular bestselling book titled “Wisdom of the Crowd” by James Suroweicki.

It has many case studies and anecdotes to illustrate its argument in several fields in economics and human behavior.

The first anecdote is about how a crowd at a country fair accurately guessed the weight of an ox. Their individual guesses were not accurate, but when the average of their guesses was calculated, it was quite close to the actual weight of the ox.

This is the outcome of independent decisions made by many persons and is not the same as crowd psychology (where all the members of the crowd adopt the same response).

I have not read the actual book. However, I found this concept to be fascinating.

I have a statistical background and I like to test if “the wisdom of the crowd” can produce better public policies. 

Some countries, such as Switzerland, carry out regular referendums to seek the votes of their citizens on public issues. They must have figured out that the collective wisdom of their citizens is better than the decision of their politicians. It also helped to avoid corrupt decisions made by politicians.

There is a general lack of debate and discussion on public issues in the Parliament or the mainstream media in Singapore for the past five decades.

I decided to develop an online platform to allow the public to vote on economic and social issues in Singapore. I hope that this platform will contribute in a small way to get more people to be interested in these issues.

Mr. Tan Kin Lian
March 2017