Satellite based ERP system

In 2016, the Land Transport Authority awarded a contract to a consortium to install a new satellite based system to replace the gantry system for ERP (electronic road pricing).

One of the benefits of the new system was the ability to charge the motorist based on the distance traveled.

The project cost was $556 million (SGD) and was expected to be operational by 2020.

Due to the covid pandemic, the project has now been delayed to 2023. Furthermore, the implementation of the distance based system, which was the main justification for this new system, has been delayed and no new deadline has been announced.

Here is a recent update.

https://www.straitstimes.com/.../new-erp-system-to-start...

It appears to me that a lot of money, time and effort are being spent on the new system, without any tangible benefit - at least for the immediate future.

There is a further risk - that the new system will face teething trouble. It relies on location data sent out by the satellites. This new technology has not been tested to handle a volume of over 1 million vehicles. There are many possible points of failure, and unexpected trouble may occur.

On a personal note, I would not have approved this project (if I were in charge).

Anyway, I like to wish LTA all the best in their rollout of the new system. I hope to be proved wrong, and that the new system can be the model for other countries to adopt.

Tan Kin Lian

http://www.tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5556

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. What should be done with a mortgage loan when interest rate rises with the market?

2. Should social media platform exercise moderation of the content?

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

Mobilize domestic savings

 Developing countries have a small middle class and some wealthy people who have savings.

Unfortunately, these savings are channel to the developed countries, and come back to the developing countries in the form of loans in hard currencies at high interest rates.

Developing countries should find a new mechanism to mobilize their domestic savings, instead of relying on international institutions as the middlemen.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5554

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Will the PAP govt be able to moderate the cost of living in Singapore?
2. Should the govt help homeowners who are squeezed by higher mortgage payments?

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

Mortgage on fixed payment

A homeowner takes a mortgage loan to buy a home and repays the mortgage over a fixed period, say 20 years.

The ideal situation is for the bank to offer a fixed rate mortgage, so that the monthly repayment remains the same over the period of repayment.

In many countries, such as Singapore, the bank is not able to offer a fixed rate mortgage because their source of funding is on variable interest rate.

It is the practice for the bank to offer a variable interest mortgage. In some cases, they can fix the rate only for a short initial period, say 3 years.

When the market interest rate rises, such as the case in 2022, they have to adjust the interest rate on their mortgages. With higher interest rates, the monthly repayment increases for the home owner.

Initial Interest Repay Annual Monthly

Loan rate Year repayment repayment

800,000 2% 20 48,925 4,077

800,000 5% 20 64,194 5,350

The above example shows a mortgage loan of $800,000 to be repaid over 20 years. When the loan was taken, the interest rate was 2%. The monthly repayment was $4,077.

When the interest rate increases to 5%, the money repayment increases to $5,350. This is a 31% increase in the monthly payment, compared to $4,077 previously.

Many home owners are not able to afford the higher monthly repayment, due to their tight budget. They are not able to pay the additional $1,273 from their monthly income.

A better arrangement is for the monthly repayment to remain fixed at $4,077 and for the loan to be repaid over a longer period. If the interest rate remains at 5%, the loan can be repaid in 35 years.

It is likely that the interest rate will not remain at a high level for many years. When it reduces in the future, the loan can be fully paid in less than 35 years.

The home is probably on a freehold or a 99 year leasehold. Even if the mortgage is repaid over 35 years, the property still has many years of remaining lease.

This arrangement cannot be offered for properties with a remaining less that is shorter than, say, 50 years. Most properties have a longer remaining lease.

Suggestion

I suggest that the Monetary Authority of Singapore should require banks to offer existing home owners to convert their mortgage to this new arrangement, i.e. that they can fix their monthly repayments at the current level, and repay the loan over a longer period. The repayment period does not need to be fixed, i.e. it will continue until the loan is fully repaid.

Tan Kin Lian

WOTC - Fight inflation

Wisdom of the Crowd: 64% of the respondents said that the best way to fight the rising cost of living is to provide a subsidy for energy and food.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2762

Poor countries can mobilize internal savings

Many developing countries need funds for their economic development. They issue bonds in US dollar in the international markets. When the US dollar rises, as has happened in 2022, the developing countries find it costly to repay the borrowings. Some have defaulted in the process.

Many developing countries have the means to mobilize their internal savings for their economic development, but failed to do so.

What happened?

In any developing country, there is a middle class that have personal savings. They put their savings in local banks at low interest rates. Part of the savings are invested in the international markets.

The wealthy in the poor countries put their savings in international banks and invest in overseas assets.

The money in the international financial markets return to the developing countries as loans that are denominated in a hard currency, mainly US dollar, at high interest rate.

In essence the international financial system uses the savings from developing countries to provide expensive loans in hard currencies.

It is probable that some development funds are taken from the excess savings of the developed countries. However, the domestic savings of the developing countries could be mobilized to reduce the dependence on foreign funds.

How can this be carried out?

1. The developing country can set up a development fund and issue equity and bonds
2. The bonds will carry an interest rate that is higher than the rate offered by the local banks.
3. The equity will earn the return from the productive assets.

If the development fund is managed professionally and ethically, it should attract the local investors, and maybe international investors.

The developing countries are now paying a high price for funds from international institutions. It will be less costly for them to tap their own development fund. They will reduce their borrowing cost by removing the excess profit margin earned by the international institutions.

While this approach may be difficult to implement, it is not impossible. I hope that the some of the developing countries can succeed with this approach.

Tan Kin Lian

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5554

Invest in China stocks

 Here are the reasons why I prefer to invest in China stocks.

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1264

Contrarian approach towards investing

 The recently retired CEO of Temasek Holdings said that the fund adopts a "contrarian" approach towards investing. She made this reference in reply to questions about how TH decided to invest in FTX.

I do not understand what she meant by being "contrarian" in that context. 

I adopt a contrarian approach in my investing strategy. Let me explain how my approach works. 

1. By being contrarian, I do not follow the general trend in the market sometimes.

2. If a stock that I invested in had dropped significantly due to market sentiment, and if the price is now below what I considered to be its underlying value, I keep the stock. I may even buy more shares at the depressed price.

3. I do not consider investing in risky startups and highly valued stocks to be "contrarian". I consider it to be speculative gambling. I do speculate in some of these stocks, but I do not describe it as "contrarian".

I wish to share this example of being "contrarian". 

Prior to 1997, many large blue chip companies have the local and foreign tranches of the stocks. The local tranche could only be held by local residents and institutions. The foreign tranche could be invested freely, and could be bought by foreigners.

The price of the foreign tranche were about 50% higher than the local tranche. Many fund managers, including those managing funds for local institutions, preferred to invest in the foreign tranche, as they appeared to be giving better investment gain.

I was the CEO of a large local insurance cooperative. I set an investment policy to invest sole in the discounted local tranches of the stocks. They get the same dividend as the highly priced foreign tranche.

My decision was contrary to the prevailing thinking of the asset managers at that time. I was being "contrarian".

When the government decided in 1997 to merge the foreign and local tranches into a single tranche, the value of the local tranche stocks went up about 50%. My fund made a large gain of over $300 million. It represented many years of the normal profits of the fund at that time. It was a large gain that put the fund into a strong financial position that lasted for several decades.

This is my "fundamental" approach towards investing.

1. For each stock, I make a best estimate of its earnings per share (EPS).
2. I consider a multiple of 15 times of the EPS to be a fair value, i.e. PER of 15 times.
3. If a stock trades below this benchmark, I consider it to be undervalued. If it trades above the benchmark, it is overvalued.
4. I do not worry if the stocks drop significantly below its fundamental value. I consider that some investors had to sell the stock for their own reason, e.g. liquidity, and that reason does not apply to me. 
5. I hold a contrarian view by refusing to sell stocks that are grossly undervalued, nor to invest in stocks that are grossly overvalued.

Tan Kin Lian

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1263

Return from Temasek Holdings

Temasek holdings was formed in 1974. The portfolio size is now $403 billion.

Its annual report showed a 10 year TSR (total shareholder return) of 7%, 20 year TSR of 8% and a 40 year TSR of 12%. These numbers appear impressive, compared with the inflation rate.

I believe that the TSR are inflated, due to their accounting practice.

I believe (but not verified) that SingTel was transferred to Temasek Holdings at its book value before 1994. It was listed in 1994 at a huge gain. This was probably included in the calculation of the 40 year TSR.

In July 2009, Changi Airport was transferred to TH for $2 billion. I suppose that it was the book value, and that the airport was highly profitable at that time. The real value of the asset should be much higher than the book value.

Some time in the future, Changi Airport will be listed in the stock exchange and the market valuation would probably be much higher than the book value. This gain would probably be counted in the TSR of TH.

It is possible to make special adjustment to remove the Sing Tel gain from at the time of listing from the computation of the TSR. I do not know if this was done.

My comment would also apply to the future listing of Changi Airport.

I do not have access to the actual numbers, so my perception and analysis could be wrong. We have to wait for clarification, if it ever comes.

Tan Kin Lian

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5553

WOTC - Pharmacies

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 42% of the respondents prefer Guardian Pharmacy, followed by Watson (40%) and Unity (19%).

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2761

A possible bad year for Temasek Holdings

Temasek Holdings had written off US $275 million in its investment in FTX.

During the past 15 years, TH had incurred large losses in some of its investments. In 2008, TH wrote off its $400 million investment in ABC Learning Centers in Australia.

There were other bad investments, which raised much concern in the past.

Personally, I was not concerned about these large losses. For a large fund, there will always be some bad investments. They would be covered by the gains on good investments.

The correct approach is to look at the performance of the entire portfolio, and to compare it with the market indices or with the performance of other similar state owned funds.

The latest annual report of TH was for the year ended 31 March 2022. The total portfolio was $403 billion. The 10 year average return was 7%. This would be acceptable.

However, the performance for the current year, which will close on 31 March 2023, and reported a few months after, will probably be very bad.

I read a recent news report from a managing director of TH that the investments in technology, media and telecoms industry had dropped by 50% and the China stocks had dropped by 20%. These two sectors probably account for 40% of the total portfolio.

https://www.ft.com/.../df58785a-2958-42aa-b7f6-1762286b540b

I would estimate that the portfolio values could be written down by 25% in March 2023. The write-down could amount to $100 billion, based on a portfolio of $403 billion. (This is my guess only).

This could bring down the 10 year average return to 4%, which is not so impressive.

Although the loss on FTX looks quite bad, the actual amount may appear to be small, when compared to the possible loss on the entire portfolio.

We have another four months before the close of the financial year. A possible saving grace could come from a recovery of the global stock market. This would reduce the loss for TH.

Tan Kin Lian

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5552

How did Temasek Holdings made its investment in FTX?

 Many people in Singapore were disappointed that Temasek Holdings invested and wrote down US$275 million in its investment in FTX.          

There were surprised and shocked to learn, after the collapse, that FTX was run by a team of young, inexperienced people, and there were no proper governance, accounting and risk management practices in place. 

How did TH carry out its due diligence, and invested a large sum into a a badly run business?

This is my understanding of how the venture capital industry works.

The people in this industry that invest large funds into startup companies, such as FTX, form a closely knit community. They know each other personally through attendance at international conferences, business introductions and joint investments in ventures. 

Often, a leading VC capitalist gets to know a startup entrepreneur and decides to fund the startup business. This VC capitalist introduces the startup to the their close contacts in the industry, and probably describes it as "an opportunity not to be missed". 

The other VC investors line up to get a share of this opportunity. They would probably not carry out their own due diligence, as it would take time, and the opportunity might go to other investors who are willing to decide promptly.

I have spent a few decades of my working career in the insurance industry. This is also how the big insurers spread their risk through reinsurance. They follow the leader and take a share of the big risks, often based on trust that the leader has carried out the proper due diligence.

The problem with this approach is that the leading VC capitalist that brings to "opportunity" to other investors might have a vested interest, e.g. they are paid a finder's fee based on the investments made by new investors.

I do not know for certain if this is the case for FTX, but it might be. The  finder fees can be quite hefty, and the payment would probably be considered legal.

Nevertheless, I consider it to be a bad practice for an institution to make a big investment based on this practice of following the leader blindly. 

Many large hedge and institutional funds are involved in FTX. Temasek Holdings was not the leading investor and not the largest investor. 

I expect that the decision to invest in FTX was not made by the portfolio manager on his own. It probably had to be approved by an investment committee. I would expect that the investment committee would include members of the non-executive board. 

I found that Temasek Holdings have a Senior Divestment and Investment Committee (SDIC) that comprised solely of the full time management. It does not appear to include the non-executive board directors. The annual report did not disclose the names and positions of members of SDIC. 

I think that this is a bad practice that needs to be corrected. Some non-executive members of the board should sit in the SDIC. Their role is to check that the full time managers are doing their work diligently.

My above view is based on my the information that I was able to obtain, and that information may be incomplete or inaccurate. 

The government has announced that they will carry out an investigation into this matter. I will wait to read the findings of this investigation. I hope that it will be released in full and quite promptly. 

Tan Kin Lian

http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5551

WOTC - Vote on world leaders

 Here are the results of the votes on world leaders.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/view_perf.aspx

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Why were there protests against the covid lockdown in China?
2. Will Anwar's government be stable?

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

WOTC - Food court

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 59% of respondents prefer Kopitiam, followed by Food Junction (22%) and Koufu (17%).

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2760

WOTC - Supermarkets in Singapore

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 49% of respondents preferred to shop at Fairprice supermarkets, 40% at Sheng Siong and 12% at Cold Storage.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2759

WOTC - Harmful content on social media

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 60% of the respondents said that harmful contents on social media should not be moderated as it is difficult to make a judge what are harmful and the content should be left to the discretion of the reader.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2758

The dangers of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

 I read a chapter in the book Megatrends by Nouriel Roubini. Here are his key points about cryptocurrency:

1. The rush to DeFi (decentralized finance) is premature and ultimately misguided. The rush to bitcoin, ethereum, dogecoin and thousands of fledging cryptocurrencies since 2010 expose our collective wilting faith in fiat currencies.

2. There are no signs that crypto-assets are performing any useful social or economic functions. They are not generally used for retail or wholesale payments and do not fund consumption or investment.

3. The blockchain alternatives are not able to perform five essential functions of a currency - unit of account, scalable, stable store of value, stable value relative to prices, be a benchmark to compare value of goods and services.

4. Cryptocurrencies are subject to risks that can become systemic. They are widely used for criminal and terrorist activities and to hide income from tax authorities.

5. One study suggests that 80% of ICO (initial coin offerings) were scams in the first place that flouted security laws.

6. There are evidence of widespread market manipulation - pump and dump schemes, illegal wash trading, fake transactions and front running.

7. Unlike regulated banks, the purveyors of cryptocurrencies furnish almost no protection. If private keys are forgottoen, lost, hacked or stolen, crypt wealth can vanish with no way to recover it.

8. Free riding DeFi flouts the supervision and regulation that traditional financial institutions face, such as AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (Know your customer) tracking that impose heavy compliance cost. This is unfair competition. 

9. A regulator said - DeFi is most certain illegal. It flouts securities laws, lacks investor protection, preys on regulatory arbitrage against regulated financial institutions, fails to provide the essential services that financial intermediaries provide. Decentralisation is more a myth than reality.

10. If we want to revamp a centralized financial system with safeguards and supervision, we don't need crypto or blockchain. There are tools that the firms can use to collect and process financial data at blistering speeds without the use of blockchain.

TKL has been skeptical of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies right from the start. But the experts in MAS held a different view and were optimistic about the future of decentralized finance and blockchain technologies.

Several cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges have collapsed due to unsustainable values of the tokens and to fraudulent operations.

The view held by Roubini and TKL have proved to be correct. 

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5550

WOTC - Trust in government

Wisdom of the Crowd: 68% of the respondents said that they do not trust the government to act in the best interest of the people. Instead, they act in the best interest of the wealthy and themselves.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2756

WOTC - Freedom of speech

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 53% of respondents said that it is important to have absolute freedom of speech. 47% said that it can lead to harmful content and should be controlled.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2757

WOTC - University education

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 68% of the respondents said that university education should be subsidized and made affordable for all students.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2755

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Which is a better vaccine against covid?
2. Will the mRNA vaccine have long term harm?

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

WOTC - Book on the economy

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 78% of the respondents prefer my book on economic strategy to be 100 pages or 200 pages. They do not like a longer book.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2753

WOTC - Price of major medical procedures

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 97 % of respondents said that the govt should publish the recommended rates for major medical procedures, based on supply and demand in the market.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2754

WOTC - President Biden talks with world leaders at G20 Summit

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 84% of the respondents said that President Biden held few talks with world leaders at the G20 Summit in Bali.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2752

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. What is the best way to fight the rising cost of living?
2. Will Anwar be able to help the people fight the rising cost of living?

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

Is Tharman Shanmugaratnam too old to take over as prime minister?

Senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is now 65 years old. He is 5 years younger than the current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Is Tharman too old to take over as prime minister?

Apart from age, we have to consider his credentials, experience and capability.

Tharman entered politics in 2001 and over a period of 20 years, he held the office of minister of education, minister of finance, deputy prime minister and now the senior minister.

He had also served with distinction as Singapore’s representative in several international bodies, including the G20 Eminent Persons Group, the International Monetary Fund and in the United Nations. He is well known and respected internationally.

He is not a newbie politician who needs several years to learn the ropes of leading a nation.

What about his age? At 65, is he too old to take over the reins of power?

Heng Swee Keat, who was 4 years younger than Tharman, was earlier selected to take over from Lee Hsien Loong. Heng entered parliament in 2011, 10 years later than Tharman.

If Heng was suitable at 61, would 4 years make a lot of difference in considering age?

Donald Trump became President of the United States at the age of 71 years. Joe Biden took over this office at the age of 78 years. Ronald Regan was 69 years when he became president in 1981. He was considered to be quite old then, but he served two terms and retired at 77 years.

Xi Jinping was elected in 2022 to serve the 3rd term as leader of China at the age of 69 years. He will continue as president of China and may serve another 10 years in this office.

By the standards of the presidents of the two most powerful nations in the world, Tharman can hardly be considered as too old to take over from Lee Hsien Loong.

We should rule out age as being an important factor. If Tharman takes over, he should be able to serve at least 10 years as prime minister of Singapore. He looks healthy enough.

The other reason given by the ruling party, that Singapore is not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister, has already been debunked by several public opinion polls.

The current leader selected by the MPs of the ruling PAP party is Lawrence Wong. At the age of 49 years, he is 16 years younger than Tharman.

While we cannot diminish Lawrence Wong based on his younger age, it is generally accepted that he has less political experience and lower international stature, compared to Tharman. For a small country, the international stature of the leader is important.

Was it a wise decision for the ruling party to bypass Tharman as the next leader, in favour of a younger minister? We will know in a few years time.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5549

Prime Minister for Singapore

 Is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister? The answer is "yes" among the ordinary people, not "no" among the PAP.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5548

Is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?

In 1988, Lee Kuan Yew revealed that minister S Dhanabalan had been a possible candidate to succeed him as prime minister but then concluded that Singaporeans were not ready for an Indian prime minister.

Several people had privately expressed the view that Lee Kuan Yew had in mind a certain person to be a future prime minister. The reason that Singaporeans were not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister did not pass the test of credibility.

I personally was sceptical of the reason. While 75 percent of the residents of Singapore were of Chinese origin, they had lived for several decades under the colonial rule of the British until self-government in 1959.

In April 1955, a non-Chinese lawyer, David Marshall, led the left-wing Labour Front to a narrow victory in Singapore's first Legislative Assembly elections. He formed a minority government and became Chief Minister.

Clearly, the majority race in Singapore had accepted a non-Chinese as the government leader three decades before Lee Kuan Yew expressed that astonishing opinion.

Furthermore, Singaporeans had for several decades been imbued with the concept of meritocracy and to select the best people “regardless of race, language and religion”.

Singaporeans had seen the success of this approach in building a harmonious society that achieved remarkable social and economic progress.

I held an immense respect for Lee Kuan Yew for his foresight and insight on international affairs and for his approach in running the government of Singapore. There were however a few matters that I differed from his views. This was one of them.

Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister on 28 October 1990. He was later succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong (eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew) on 12 August 2004.

The question of the successor for Lee Hsien Loong came up in December 2017. Goh Chok Tong, who held the position of emeritus senior minister after retiring as prime minister, said that it was urgent for the leadership of the ruling party to identify the next prime minister to take over from Lee Hsien Loong before the end of 2018.

Many people among the general public were in favour of senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to take over this position.

An economist by profession, Tharman served in the private and public sectors for several decades, before entering political life in 2001.

He subsequently became the minister of education, minister of finance and deputy prime minister.

He had also served with distinction as Singapore’s representative in several international bodies, including the G20 Eminent Persons Group, the International Monetary Fund and in the United Nations.

The decision to select the next leader for Singapore was not taken by the people at large. It was decided in secret by the elected members of parliament from the ruling People’s Action Party.

In May 2018, the party decided on another Chinese, namely finance minister Heng Swee Keat.

In March 2019, Heng Swee Keat defended the party’s decision to select him, in favour of the more popular non-Chinese candidate, in a university forum. He said that the people would still prefer a Chinese to be the prime minister and made this statement “I can tell you that it is not easy because it triggers all the feelings about race, which are not obvious. But for an election, it becomes an issue.”

A few days after this assertion, 19,900 individuals responded to a viral Facebook poll and 92 percent voted for Tharman Shanmugaratnam to succeed Lee Hsien Loong and become the
next prime minister. This poll did not have any binding power.

A more scientifically based Blackbox survey commissioned by Yahoo Singapore found that 69 per cent of 897 respondents said they would prefer Tharman to become the prime minister.

The choice of the people, if these polls were to be believed, was clearly in favour of a nonChinese to take over as the next prime minister.

This issue of racial pre-requisite for the head of government came up for discussion in 2008, when Barack Obama became the first black person to be elected as President of the United States of America. Prior to his election, the office had always been held by a white person, who formed the majority race in America.

If America could elect a minority as the president, and one who came from a community had served as slaves in America, why can’t Singapore?

I recalled that Lee Hsien Loong gave a weak answer to his question. It was never debated actively anyway.

This question of the racial prerequisite came up again recently, in November 2022, when Rishi Sunak was elected by the ruling Conservative Party to be the prime minister in the United Kingdom. This was the first time that an Asian was elected to the top office in the UK.

The election of the prime minister was decided internally by the ruling party and not the country at large. (Singapore follows this practice).

If a former colonial power, who ran an empire that “the sun never sets” for two centuries, could accept a non-white, and one whose grandparents came from a former colony, to lead the country, why can’t Singapore.

This time, I did not see any active debate, so far.

Let me give an answer to the question – is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?

My answer is – the people have been ready for many decades. But the ruling People’s Action Party is not ready yet.

Tan Kin Lian
Retired chief executive of NTUC Income Coop

WOTC - Unlicensed exchange

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 71 % of the respondents said that the regulator should act against the promoters and marketers for promoting an unlicensed exchange. 29% prefer to focus on educating the public.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2750

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

 

1. Which supermarket do you prefer
2. Which food court do you prefer?
3. Which pharmacy do you prefer

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

Know your customer requirements

 I find it troublesome and useless to spend time on the anti-money laundering requirements of our financial institutions.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5547

Pick the capable leaders to run the country

 China focus on developing the quality of the officials running the country, instead of picking leaders through political elections.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5546

WOTC - War in Ukraine

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 50% of the respondents said that America wants Ukraine to continue the war. The other 50% said that America wants Ukraine to negotiate for peace.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2748

Allow developers and engineers to work from home - Twitter

 I offer a practical solution to Elon Musk to allow their developers and engineers to work from home and still achieve a high level of productivity.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5545

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Should harmful content on social media be moderated?

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

WOTC - Harmful content on social media

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 59 % of respondents said that a panel that is independent of the platform owner and the government should decide on harmful content on social media.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2747

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Do you trust the SG government to act in the best interest of the people?
2. How important is freedom of speech?

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

WOTC - Harmful content on social media

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 60 % of the respondents said that social media platform should not be asked to take down harmful content as it will harm freedom of speech as the relevant authority may be politically inclined.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2746

End of the Ukraine conflict

 I give this suggestion to a possible settlement of the Ukraine conflict.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5544

WOTC - Prime minister of Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 67 % of respondents expect Anwar Ibrahim, PKR, to be the next prime minister of Malaysia.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2744

WOTC - General election in Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 53 % of respondents said that Pakatan Harapan (Anwar Ibrahim) is most likely to win the general election. They have the highest score.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2745

Set a fair wage for each occupation

 The government should set a fair wage based on market data

We cannot rely on the market to fix wages. The market wages depend largely on bargaining power. The worker is at a weaker position relative to the employer and has to accept a wage that is lower than a "fair rate".

To overcome this weakness, the workers have to join a trade union and bargain for better wages and working conditions. In some cases, they have to go on strike. This is a destructive process.

What is a better way?

The government can use the data of the wage levels for different occupations fix the recommendation wage for each occupation and skill level. This is a "fair wage" and takes into account the supply and demand for the occupation. It overcomes the distortion caused by the relative bargaining power.

When I describe this system to a friend, he asked - are you advocating a communist system?

I replied - I am advocating common prosperity.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5543

Voting in a general election

 I suggest a secure and efficient platform to handle voting in a general election.

https://s3.tklcloud.com/T99/221118202556583_Voting%20in%20a%20general%20election.pdf

WOTC - Talk between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 31% of the respondents said that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will have a lengthy talk at the G20 summit in Bali.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2743

Chinese RMB as a reserve currency

 The Chinese RMB will become more accepted as a reserve currency over the next few years.

http://www.tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5541

Marketing of FTX

 Why was an unlicensed platform allowed to market their platform to Singapore residents?

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5540

Regulate licensed payment providers

 MAS said that they ensure that licensed payment platforms comply with anti-money laundering and terrorism financing operations and have risk management practices. However, MAS does not regulate these platforms for "safety and soundness".

I am puzzled by this stand by MAS.

Surely, the key duty of a regulator is to ensure that the platforms are operated safely and soundly?

For example, the platform should not use customers' deposits to pay their operating expenses or to invest the deposits in risky investments?

While the regulator cannot ensure that the investments are totally safe, it should carry out regular audits and inspections to ensure that the platforms comply with their internal standards (which they announce to their customers) and to regulatory controls .

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5539

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Will Donald Trump win the 2024 Presidential Election?
2. Did Joe Biden hold talks with many world leaders?

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

WOTC - Meeting between Biden and Putin

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 79 % of the respondents said that Joe Biden and Valdimir Putin will avoid meeting each other at the G20 summit in Bali.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2742

WOTC - G20 summit

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 57 %of the respondents said that President Putin will attend the G20 Summit and meet other world leaders.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2741

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. What is the key roles of a regulator in a licensed exchange?
2. How can the regulator act against unlicensed exchange?

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

Business prospects for Grab

 The business prospects for Grab is quite discouraging. The financials are worse than Uber.

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1260

My view on Uber

 I share my views on Uber (ride hailing and food delivery).

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1259

WOTC - Debate with Richard Branson

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 40% of the respondents said that Richard Branson does not want to waste his time in debating with minister Shanmugam over the mandatory death penalty. 33% said that he prefers to debate over social media.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2740

My view on Netlink NBN Trust

 My friend asked for my views about this stock. It pays an attractive dividend yield of 5.85%.

I studied the financials of this stock at the Yahoo Finance website.

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1258

WOTC - Mandatory death sentence

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 65 % of respondents said that Singapoer should remove the mandatory sentence for drug trafficking and leave the discretion to the judge.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2739

Advice on a crypto investment

 Six months ago, a friend asked for my advice about a crypto product. He invested in the product and asked for my opinion if it is a good investment. 

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1256

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

 

1. Is America putting pressure on Ukraine to enter peace negotiation with Russia?

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

WOTC - Business mail

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 55 % of respondents prefer to register their mailing address in a platform to receive all business mail sent in PDF to this virtual address. 45% prefer to receive the physical mail sent to their home.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2737

My investment in Country Garden (2007.HK)

 The turnaround in the stock price of Country Garden (2007.HK) turned my loss of $61,705 SGD to a net gain of $43,620 SGD.

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1255

WOTC - US dollar

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 64 % of the respondents said that the US dollar is like a ponzi scheme because it pays a high return by printing more useless money.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2736

The Seven Years of China and the United States

 Thomas Friedman, a famous columnist of the New York Times, wrote an article titled "The Seven Years of China and the United States". It was published in The New York Times and shocked the White House !

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5538

Voting in America

 The democratic process in America is quite backward and shameful.

The voting was closed more than 24 hours ago, and they have still not completed the vote counting in many districts.

With modern technology, it should be possible to count the votes automatically and transmit the results for aggregation within 1 hour of closing of polling station.

Some states refused to upgrade their vote counting process, so that they can continue to "control" the voting results. No wonder Donald Trump complained that there is cheating.

I do not agree with Donald Trump, but I do not agree with the outdated and inefficient process either.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5537

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Should social media platforms be required to take down harmful content?
2. Who should decide on what is harmful content on social media?

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

WOTC - Surge pricing

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 56% of the respondents said that surge pricing for ride hailing is a bad practice, because it encourages the drivers to take advantage of the system to push up the price of rides.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2735

Pay to send out message

 If Twitter charges the sender 0.1 cent for each message sent to their fans, it will be a cheap way for politicians, entertainers and public figures to send their message to their followers. It also ensures that the messages are serious and genuine. https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5533

WOTC - Former president Hu

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 60% of the respondents said that former President Hu was sick and assisted out of the CPC Congress. The other 40% said that President Xi want to show that he was removed from power.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2734

WOTC - Different factions in a leadership

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 64 % of respondents said that it is bad for the leaders in China to come from different factions as it will lead to infighting and politicking, and will be bad for the country.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2733

Call someone by phone

 Be considerate when you call someone by phone.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5535