Prerequisite for the right to vote

Nearly all countries require their residents to have a driving license before they are allowed to drive cars on the road. They do not allow any person to drive without a license.

They have the individual right to drive a car, but they must prove that they will drive the car responsibly by getting a license.

This practice is well accepted. Nobody argues against this loss of freedom to drive a car without a license.

This concept also applies to voting for the leaders of a country. In order to vote, the resident must be eligible. In most countries, the right is based on being a citizen and above a certain age.

I prefer that an additional requirement should be imposed. The eligible person should also pass a test on knowledge of the country's constitution.

If a person does not know the constitution, he or she should not be allowed to vote.

In the communist party system in China, the right to vote is given to members of the communist party. The membership represents 9% of all adult citizens. There are 90 million members in the party.

A member of the party is required to study and understand the constitution of China. The constitution enshrines a socialist system under the leadership of the communist party.

If any Chinese citizen does not like the constitution, he or she is free to migrate to another country which is willing to accept them. China does not stop people from leaving the country. They did stop them in the past, but this has changed.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese nationals travel each year out of China. They return to the country willingly.

In theory, every person who wishes to join the communist party as a member is allowed to do so. In practice, the party does have some additional restrictions on who they accept as their members. Perhaps they have a quota on the number of members in each locality.

I would prefer a system where everybody who wishes to join the party should be allowed to do so. But I am not aware if there are strong reasons to have the quota.

Even if there is a quota on the members of the party, I would not argue against that practice in principle. I consider 9% to be quite a high proportion of the population.

The members of the party vote for their leaders at the local level, maybe the village that they live in. The village leaders vote for their leaders at the county level. The county leaders vote for the provincial leaders. The provincial leaders vote for the national leaders.

I prefer this system of election. The party members can be expected to know the candidates in the village well and can make the choice. They are likely to elect the most capable people who are less corrupt and cares about the village.

The election at the higher levels are likely to produce similar outcomes.

There is no guarantee that this system will prevent the people in power from being corrupt. But if they are corrupt, the voting system can act as a check and the leaders can be removed from power.

There is also the discipline within the party to deal with corruption and abuse of power.

Within the party, we can expect leaders to form groups, or cliques. This is part of the natural outcome of social groups. However, this group is not formalized into a party with separate ideologies. All party members have to follow the national ideology as enshrined in the constitution.

I do not hold the view that the communist party system is perfect. I am sure that many people can point out its flaws and abuses.

However, I wish to argue that there are merits to this system. It is quite democratic, at least within the party, and is able to produce capable and honest (hopefully) leaders to lead the country.

If we compare the quality of the leaders produced by different countries, I would say that China comes out at or near the top. There are merits to the communist party system.

I am not saying that the communist party system is the best among all the political systems. I only say that it is a good system. I also like some other systems, such as the direct democracy adopted in Switzerland and the proportional representation system adopted in Germany.

I wish to summarize with the following main points:

a) We need a good system to produce the right leaders for a country

b) We should restrict the right to vote to people who are qualified to exercise the right.

c) The system of voting at various levels is probably better than voting directly for the top leaders.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3064

Have an open mind about non PAP politicians

Several people have told me that they like to see a change of government, but they are not able to support the non PAP parties and their candidates.

They consider that the non PAP parties are not able to offer any constructive alternative.

I asked them if they have read the policy papers put out by these parties, such as the Workers Party, Singapore Democratic Party, the Singapore First Party or the Reform Party.

These papers are well thought out and are often better than the PAP policy papers.

They admitted that they have not.

I asked them - how can you expect to have a credible opposition if you have a negative opinion of the alternative parties and are not even willing to keep an open mind to understand what they stand for.

I also see another negative trait. Many people are more inclined to see the negative aspects of the non PAP candidates. I suggest that they should look at the positive aspects, rather than the negative aspects.

They should remember that the PAP candidates also have their positive and negative aspects.

How can they expect to see a change in the direction of the country when they are not willing to support an alternative.

Do they expect a miracle? Even if the messiah appears, will they be able to support him? They are likely to reject him.

Many people also fear that the future of Singapore will be uncertain if the non PAP forms the government.

This is not likely to happen. At the very best, the non PAP parties can only hope to capture one third of Parliament.

We do not need to see the PAP being toppled down. If we can vote non PAP to hold one third of the seats in Parliament, we can see a change in policy of the PAP. If they continue to hold more than two thirds, they will not change.

If the majority of the voters in Singapore have a closed mind and expect a miracle, Singapore will remain under the dominance of the PAP. The future for the young people will be bleak.

The problem is not the non PAP parties or their candidates. The problem is the closed mindset of the majority of the people in Singapore.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3063

Why I prefer the communist party system of China

Most people criticized the system in China where the Communist Party is entrenched in the country's constitution. They prefer the multi party systems practiced in democratic countries. I prefer the system in China. It prefer a one party system. Under this system, the competition is within the party. The leadership of the party has to be elected among its members.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3062

China has transformed its economy very well

In 1989 or thereabouts, I visited China as a member of a minister's delegation. We were received by the vice premier.

At that time, China was very poor and backward. Singapore was advanced.

The vice premier spoke in Mandarin. He said that the biggest challenge in China was to find jobs for the millions of workers in the state enterprises. These enterprises were inefficient and overstaffed. They are developing the service sector to allow the excess workers to be absorbed into the economy.

I was struck with the clarity of their goal.

Well, as things turned out, they succeeded very well in their transformation.

Singapore now face the same challenge - the transform the economy to face the future. Can we do it?

Attacking people based on wrong assumptions

I want to share this story to show how evil some people can be. They do not check the facts. They make wrong assumptions and attack other people based on these assumptions.

Recently, I advertised for a software developer for a salary of $1,800 to $3,600. I offered the position to citizens, permanent residents and dependent pass holders.

The dependent pass holders are spouse of employment pass holders and are now living in Singapore. 

Although the job holder has to develop software based on the Microsoft .NET platform, I am prepared to take a person who does not have the working experience and provide training. 

Actually, the main duty is to provide support for the software platforms that have been developed. As this is not a full time job, I wanted the person to develop software as well.

I advertised on Facebook and on Career Future (which is operated by the Ministry of Manpower).

I did not get any single application from locals. No locals wrote to ask for more details of the job. 

I shared my experience on Facebook.

Several people criticized me for offering an inadequate salary. I cannot understand why they should take that view without knowing the facts. 

I received a few applications from foreigners who are now working in Singapore, including a dependent pass holder.

I interviewed the dependent pass holder. She is suitable for the job, although she does not have the required experience on the development platform. She has knowledge of the platform but not the actual working experience. She can be trained. She has excellent work attitude and is willing to learn. 

I offered her a hourly rate which she considered to be adequate. It worked out to a full time monthly salary in the range that I had indicated.

I would love to pay a higher salary, but I have to keep my expenses low to be within the revenue of my company.

I shared my experience on the difficulty of applying for a "letter of consent" in the MOM website. This is the same website that is used to apply for an employment pass, which commands a minimum salary of $3,600.

A few people assumed that I was employing a foreigner on an employment pass for a salary of $3,600 per month and attacked me for not offering the job to a local. They did not check the facts and are ready to attack somebody on their false assumptions.

I was actually employing a dependent pass holding at a much lower salary.

I would have preferred to give the same job to a local, if they take the trouble to find out what is required, and have a good work attitude.

I hope that the unemployed locals who found it difficult to get a job offer can learn from this episode. They need to have a positive work attitude and be willing to learn. They also need to understand that the employer can only pay them as well as the business can afford. They have to be an asset to the company.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3058

Maintaining my weight at 72 kg

During the two months of the circuit breaker, I managed to keep my weight at 72 kg.

On some days, it increased to 73 kg or 74 kg, but I exercised more to bring the weight back to 72 kg.

I frequently go on 90 min walk in the hot sun and wear a mask (as mandated by the insane ministers). Insane or not?

Shhhh. Don't tell them. When nobody is around, I take off the mask.

The insane ministers want me to get obese and to die from heart attack. Liddat? Why are they so bad?

Changing to a new computer

My friend approached me on a problem. His computer died. He wants to find someone to help him to buy a new computer and to transfer his files into the new computer.

I told him that I have changed my computer (home, office, laptop) several times during the past years. Each time, I changed to a new computer, I never bother to transfer my files.

Why? I stored my important files in the Cloud. I use Google Drive.

My friend has a Singnet account for his email. I will also advise him how he can access that account from GMail.

I will also give him some tips on how to use Facebook, as he is afraid to use it. He found it too complicated.

I will create a video to cover my tips on "How to upgrade your Online Skills".

Good or not?

Retrieving a letter of consent after approval

I got the approval for the Letter of Consent. I still have to go through a complicated process to get the letter of approval. Insane or not? APPLICATION OUTCOME NOTIFICATION Name of Employing Company : TAN KIN LIAN & ASSOCIATES PTE. LTD. Your EP Online application for xxxxxxxxxx on 29/05/2020 is approved. 1. Select "Apply > Check Status - Application Outcome" or "Renew > Check Status - Renewal Outcome" on the left menu bar. 2. Enter a Search Criteria (e.g. FIN or Application No) and click "Retrieve". 3. From the Search Results, either select the radio button or click on the Status hyperlink. 4. Print the Outcome letter - LOC Issuance Letter.

Why can't they just send the approval letter to me? I now have to look for my mobile phone to sign in to the website.

see

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3057

Buying a Dell All-in-One Computer

My 10 year old computer in my home died. I think the display board failed, but it could be replaced. As it was quite old, I decided that it was time to buy a new computer.

In this post, I share a secret on how you can get the same computer at a lower price and save $400. https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3051

An alternative response to the covid-19 pandemic

Someone asked me how I would have responded differently to the covid-19 pandemic, in the context of what has happened in Singapore.

My views have been stated in several dozen posts in the website called #HearMeOut.

I will summarize the key points here. You can check the earlier posts to verify the accuracy of this summary.

At the initial stage, PM Lee said that the virus will kill 0.2% of the infected people. He was looking at the global statistics available at that time. I agreed with that view. I was not concerned about the virus.

I agreed with the government's view that it was not necessary to wear a mask. I also agreed with the view that the limited stock of masks should be reserved for the health workers who were highly exposed to the risk of infection. The risk to the general public was negligible.

I changed my view about wearing of masks after a few weeks. I decided, out of common sense, that the mask can be washed and re-used and that the limited protection offered by the mask is better than no protection at all.

I would not consider it necessary to impose a rule to make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors. The public should be advised to wear a mask when they are in crowded places. I would leave it to their common sense.

The government was alarmed when they found the large number of infected cases in the foreign worker dormitories. They were worried that the virus would spread in the general community.

They were also worried that the increase in cases would "overwhelm the healthcare system".

I think there were also worried that it would upset their contact tracing strategy.

They decided to call the circuit breaker and closed down workplaces and business outlets.

I publicly expressed in strong terms that it was a bad judgment on the part of the ministers. The cost to the government in relief measures and to the livelihood of several hundred of thousand families was horrendous. It was not necessary at that time.

Most people agreed with the view of the government, but I did not. I did not get much support for my alternative view.

Here is my perspective:

a) I never agreed with the strenuous efforts made in collecting contact tracing details. I felt that it was a waste of time that could have been better spent on other useful activities. I do not mind contact tracing by asking the infected people who they had met within the past two weeks. It is not comprehensive, but it is adequate.

b) I preferred that hand sanitizers be provided at all public places - and be clearly visible to everybody. Instead, they were made available in only a few places and most were hidden away.

c) I also preferred that the temperature scanning should be carried out by a central agency, using proper equipment and trained personnel, rather than be left to the workplaces (which were unreliable and waste a lot of manpower).

After the first four weeks of the circuit breaker, the ministers decided to extend it by another four weeks. I declared them to be insane.

Here are my reasons:

a) Although a large number of new cases were detected each day, it was the result of large scale testing in the dormitories.

b) Most of these cases were mild. Most of the infected people did not need hospital treatment. They could be quarantined in the isolation facilities. They were not dropping like flies.

c) The hospital system was not overwhelmed, even after the infected cases went past 20,000 and later 30,000. The number of severe ill patients under intensive care remained below 30. It has since dropped below 10.

d) The death rate in Singapore was extremely low. It was only 2 per million of population (it has since increased to 4). It was nowhere alarming, compared to over 400 per million in some countries.

e) The ministers lost their perspective. They were so worried about 30 deaths from covid-19. They forget that 20,000 people die every year in Singapore from all causes.

f) It was quite clear by that time that the virus was mild in Singapore, probably due to our warm climate. It was nowhere as lethal as the virus in cold countries.

The ministers, with the support of the public agencies and the military, were efficient in to set up 20,000 beds in the isolation centers within a few weeks. I said that it was commendable but not exemplary. Many other countries were able to carry out similar undertakings with similar success.

I consider the ministers to be insane in extending the circuit breaker. They confirmed their insanity by relaxing the circuit breaker in three phases, which, in effect, is prolonging the circuit breaker.

Some people supported the extension of the circuit breaker by stating that the number of deaths would have increased, if it was not done.

We do not know if this will become so serious. We do not know how many lives would have been saved.

We should not overlook the lives that were lost due to the circuit breaker, from people who delayed their treatment for other serious illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease, and from people who suffered depression and other mental health issues.

One thing is clear. The circuit breaker cost $100 billion in taxpayer's money to provide relief to the affected businesses and households. This is only partial relief. It does not compensate them adequately for the full extent of their losses.

Many small businesses will not survive. Many families will have their finances completely ravaged.

The $100 billion could have been put to better use to waive GST totally for 8 years or to provide $800 a month to every person above age 70 for 25 years.

In the light of the uncertainty, what would I have done?

I would wait before calling the circuit breaker. I would see how bad the situation would develop, before taking extreme measures that are costly in economic terms and potentially more damaging in health and lives.

I would not act in haste or in panic. I would carry out my risk evaluation in a calm manner.

In the light of uncertainty, I would monitor and adjust our strategy in the light of new evidence. I would not take the extreme measures which may turn out to be the worst option.

I declare the ministers to be insane and that the government had wasted the $100 billion and cost a lot of damage to businesses and households.

Tan Kin Lian

Poor design of websites of government agencies

The websites of most government agencies are poorly designed. They are complicated, confusing and often have bugs. They cause the general public to waste a lot of time in submitting transactions with these agencies.  Some people commented that the poor design is due to outsourcing of the development work to certain countries.  I disagree.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3048

WISDOM OF THE CROWD - NEW ISSUES

1. What will happen in Hong Kong with the new national security law?

VOTE IN HTTPS://TKLCLOUD.COM/CROWD2/VOTE.ASPX

WOTC - Reduce reliance on foreign workers

Wisdom of the Crowd: 73% of the respondents said that we should improve the wages and working conditions to attract locals to do the jobs now done by foreign workers, and also use tools to improve productivity. The other 27% said that we will still have to rely on foreign workers to do many of the jobs shunned by locals. 

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1983

Insane ministers

I made the following post - The ministers made a bad judgement when they start the circuit breaker. They are insane for extending it.

Why do I say this?

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3037

WOTC - International travel after the pandemic

Wisdom of the Crowd: 81% of the respondents expect international travel to resume after the pandemic is over, but will be below the level before the pandemic. 5% expect it to reach the level before the pandemic. 14% think that it will be seriously damaged permanently.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1981

WOTC - Impact of corna virus in the future

Wisdom of the Crowd: 18% of the respondents expect the corona virus to be a serious problems in the years ahead. 82% expect the virus to be eradicated or be mild.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1982

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. There is a high level of trust in the govt in Singapore
2. The ministerial task force has done well in dealing with the corona virus.

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

Monitor work at home.

Some offices have several CCTVs to monitor different parts of the workplace. They record movements in the office. The owner can set the CCTV to send an alert when there is movement after office hours. 

The cost of the CCTV, including a SD card, is $60. This is a useful device to install in the workplace at home for the supervisor to monitor the workers. It creates a self discipline for the worker to work during the designated hours. 

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3034

Hardship faced by small business

This is an example of the hardship faced by small businesses during the Circuit Breaker lockdown. http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3033

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Where did the covid-19 virus originate?

2. Do you like working from home after the circuit breaker is lifted?
3. Are people productive when they work from home?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - International travel and tourism

Wisdom of the Crowd: 81% of the respondents expect international travel and tourism to recover, but will remain below the level before the pandemic. 14% are pessimistic and said that it has been damaged permanently.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1981

WOTC - the Singapore economy

Wisdom of the Crowd: 98% of the respondents are pessimistic about the prospects for the Singapore economy, even after the pandemic. It is worrisome.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1980

The impact of the pandemic on political systems

The covid-19 pandemic will cause a major change in the political systems in many countries.  To address the economic disruption, many countries have to implement fiscal stimulus plan that cause a large increase in debt. It required the government to play a large role in the economy. The neo-liberal system that has been in favor for the past three decades, and which advocated a smaller role for the government, failed to produce a suitable response. The government had to step in.

http://www.tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3029

Is Zoom secure

I used Zoom for online talks. Someone asked me - is Zoom secure? I like to give my views. We need to identify what is the risk of using Zoom. http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3024

WOTC - Extension of circuit breaker

Wisdom of the Crowd: 66% disagree with the extension of the circuit breaker and prefer other ways to stop the spread of the corona virus. 34% agree with the extension.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1979

WOTC - Infected foreign workers

Wisdom of the Crowd: 51% of the respondents think that the infected foreign workers will not pose a danger to the general community. 49% think that it would.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=1978

Reduce reliance on foreign workers

The covid-19 crisis has shown the flaws in Singapore's reliance on foreign workers. 

Due to the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions in the foreign worker dormitories, the covid virus has inflected most, if not all, the foreign workers. 

 It has caused the government to implement a circuit breaker (it is actually a lockdown) for two months. The cost to the economy is a horrendous $60 billion (my estimate), which could have been used to suspend GST totally for six years. 

 Looking ahead, what can Singapore do to reduce the reliance on foreign workers?

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3017

Foreign workers in community facilities

There are videos showing the foreign workers in the community facilities who are not observing social distancing. They congregate and socialize.

Some people commented that they are having a good time - no need to work, get three meals a day and get paid in full.

But other people said that they depend more on overtime pay, so the confinement is hard on their finances. 

It becomes a lose-lose situation.

I hope that this is a good lesson for the country, and for the government. The reliance on foreign workers is bad, and has hit us badly.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3016

Quora: If Trump were to cancel debt to China, would other countries think twice about buying US bonds in the future?

Buddha Buck, studied at University at Buffalo answered

Let’s rephrase that: If Trump were to default on 4% of the US debt, would every investor in the world think twice about buying US bonds in the future?

Yes, yes they would. And for good reason. It would mean that the trustworthiness of the US government to pay back the debt — like it has been doing continuously since 1789 — is gone. The US would be a dead-beat nation, unable to raise money via debt it needs to finance its operations.

The US economy would collapse. Of the $22T GDP, a good $5T of that comes directly from government spending. Except the government can’t spend anything because they don’t have the money.

Taxes would go up sharply, and government spending would fall. Neither of which is particularly good for the economy.

Investors would flee US Bonds, driving the price of those bonds down and the yields up, reflecting the suddenly increased risk of owning the bonds. Prices of other bonds and of stocks, etc, would go up as literally tens of trillions of dollars flood the market from former US Bond-holders who now want something else, anything else, than US Bonds.

The main “country” that owns US bonds is the US. Not the US Government (although it owns quite a lot of US bonds), but the US public. Retirement funds, banks, wealthy individuals, companies, hedge funds, etc. The same is true for other “countries” that own US bonds — it isn’t just the governments, it’s other institutions as well. The reason it gets lumped all together is that the US Treasury reports only on the aggregate nationality of the bondholders. When you hear $1.268T of the US debt in February was owned by Japan, compared to $1.092T owned by China, that means that $1.268T of US debt was owned by entities based in Japan, not the Japanese government or the Japanese central bank.

It would also likely lead to Trump’s impeachment and removal from office. There is a very strong argument to be made that defaulting on the debt is unconstitutional. Certainly the completely foreseeable outcome of the debt is bad enough that even the Senate Republicans can’t cover for it.

Platform to process the contact tracing records

The govt require workplaces and business outlets to implement contract tracing. This must involve tens of million dollars. Most of the cost is incurred by businesses and are passed to their customers through higher prices.

How well is the contact tracing records being used? How often have the govt identified people who have been in contact with the infected people from their database?

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3011

Expansion of isolation facilities

There is a positive aspect in the actions taken by the ministerial task force during the covid-19 crisis.

They were able to expand the isolation facilities quickly when the need arose.

http://www.tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3010

Discharge of patients staying in isolated facilities

1,164 patients were discharged from hospital and isolation facilities on 14 May 2020. This was described as a "high".

This is how I see the significance of this figure. http://www.tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=3009

Quora: Why is the White House in “complete chaos” over the coronavirus?

Colin Riegels, admitted as a lawyer in five countries replied

A lot of this has been building for some time. Two of the more unusual features of the Trump administration were:

1. usually when a new administration comes in there is a ‘handover period’ when the new team bed in with the old team to get briefed on the role and get a handle on the big issues. The Trump administration didn’t do this - they just fired everyone from Obama’s staff and then tried to work it out as best they could.
2. A huge number of Federal posts still remain unfilled even after firing all the previous Obama staffers. This includes, amongst other things, the Federal task force (set up by the much hated Obama ) for dealing with infectious disease pandemics.

Trump’s staffing struggle: After 3 years, unfilled jobs across the administration

Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?

For bonus points: the US used to embed a member of staff permanently with China’s CDDC (equivalent of the US CDC) so that the US could be updated on any relevant developments in China. The Trump administration cancelled that post in 2017.

So, at the time when it really, really needs expertise and experience around it, the Trump White House finds itself very much alone. That has had fairly predictable consequences at the worst possible time.

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Who should Joe Biden select as his vice president candidate?

2. How do you see the low spread of infection in the community?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx