View feedback by organization

Which agency, ministry or organization received the past feedback during the past 30 days?

These are the badly run organizations. It includes the Prime Minister's Office.

You can see the ranking here. Click on the organization to see the actual feedback.
http://tklcloud.com/Feedback/summ.aspx

Use data to better manage the bus services

I have posted several posts about the erratic schedule of the buses, e.g. bunching of buses.

In some cases, they are caused by traffic conditions. But in other cases, they are caused by human behavior.

For example, some drivers do not observe punctuality. They start late and bunch with the following bus.

Technology allows the management to know the underlying cause.

The movement of the buses are captured at the time of leaving the terminal and all along the journey. It is possible to write a script to identify the buses that are "not conforming". The supervisor can explain what happened.

If the supervisor has to explain, you can be sure that they will pay attention to prevent the erratic scheduling due to "driver behavior".

But if the management does not bother, the supervisors and the drivers will not bother.

There is another fault. I have observed that some of the buses do not appear on the "arriving bus" app. I suspect that the tracking device on the bus is not working.

This non-working device must have been happening for several years. I suspect that nobody looks into the data to see the buses with failed tracking devices.

It is rather sad that the technology allows these kinds of problems to be identified and for the supervisor to take remedial action.

But if nobody bothers, then nothing is done.

I have written to the Land Transport Authority and the Ministry of Transport on a few past occasions to tell them about the value of analyzing the data and use the results for better management.

Often, I do not get any acknowledgement. Sometimes, they acknowledge, promise to do something, and nothing gets done.

The indifferent attitude is now quite common in Singapore. Our high standard of the past has now disappeared.

Tan Kin Lian

Update the law on jay walking

I asked the question about the pedestrian crossing. The road is clear. How to cross the road?

About 50% said - press the button and wait for the green man. Why? We have to follow the law of jay waking, right?

The other 50% said - cross the road. I belong to the "risk taker".

I consider the law of jay walking to be a "stupid law". The law is stupid but it also assumes that there are many stupid people who will follow the law blindly.

The law should be changed. There is no point keeping a law that is ridiculous and force many people to disobey it.

Like to hear from you

Like to hear from you

Thank your for being a regular visitor to my websites.

TKL Youtube videos

I like to introduce you to my channel to view the videos containing my views on several social and business issues.
TKL Youtube Channel

#HearMeOut

I have now combined two platforms into one. You can now read the feedback on government policies and the service quality of organizations in this platform. You can also vote on the feedback to indicate if you agree or disagree with it. You can also submit your own feedback.
Read the feedback in #HearMeOut

Tan Kin Lian Books

I am offering a collection of 8 books, written by me, at a discount of 65% from the usual price. Click here to order them for only $25. Enjoy free delivery
Order the books

Videos on Financial Planning

These short videos teach young people the basics of financial planning, investment and life insurance. It is a must watch for young people. Parents should encourage their teenage children to view them.
Financial Planning videos

Performance of ministers
You can view the performance of agencies and ministers based on the votes submitted by the public. You can also submit your votes and win a prize immediately - Financial Planning for Retirement. It takes only 5 minutes
Click here.

Just a simple reminder.

Vote on issues in the Wisdom of the Crowd
Like my Facebook Page

Tan Kin Lian

Irony of CHAS

A doctor told me. The govt set up CHAS (community health assist scheme) to relieve the long queues in the polyclinics, which provide subsidized health care.

CHAS is available only to the low income groups. It is not available to citizens who are well off.

However, some of the "well off" retirees prefer to go to polyclinics to enjoy the subsidies. The charges at private clinics can be quite high.

Here is the irony.

The lower income people go to private clinics. After the CHAS subsidy, they pay a net amount that is comparable to the polyclinic charges. The "well off" retirees continue to visit the polyclinics.

That is the irony. Private care for lower income people, and public care for well off people.

Welcome to Singapore.

It is important to follow through effectively

PM Lee makes grandiose statements. But his follow through is terrible.

Look at the project for cashless payments and social enterprise hawker centers. They are just two examples out of many.

To succeed, he needs to address the root of the problem. He should listen to views of other people, including those with different views from his.

I wish him better success the next time.

https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/spore-must-ensure-no-one-is-left-behind-as-country-progresses-pm

A new way to operate the social enterprise hawker centers

The social enterprise hawker center model seems to be a mess.

Is there a better way?

The govt agency, i.e. National Environment Agency, should decide on the rent to charge for each stall and the people who are qualified to be allocated the stall. They can also determine the prices allowed to be charged.

Is this difficult? No, it is not. Why do I say so?

If the agency carries out a survey, they will know what are the typical stall rentals in the food courts and hawker centers and the prices that are charged for various food items. This information is readily available.

If the agency is not familiar with this process, they can engage an independent survey firm to carry out the exercise.

After the information is collected, they can determine the stall rentals and the prices for the food items, by providing a suitable discount. They can invite the stall holders to apply.

If the economics does not work right, the stall holders will not apply. Even if the stall holders apply and are allocated, they will give up if the business is not viable. These indicators will allow the agency to change the rental and the prices.

The stall rentals and food prices can be adjusted every two years. This adjustment reflect the market for the "affordable" hawker centers.

An advantage of this system is that the adjusted rentals and prices reflect the market in general, and is not specific to a particular stall.

For example, some stalls may be successful and do a lot of business. A private enterprise owner may increase the stall rental to a high level, knowing that the stall holder has no choice. The owner wants to maximize the rental.

The govt agency should not operate like a private owner. The rental should reflect the general market and is not specific to certain stalls.

The consideration is fairness, and not maximization of profit.

What about the daily operation, including paying the bills for the management and cleaning?

The agency can ask for the operators to tender for the management of these services. They can do their calculation of the cost of employing the cleaners, the number required, etc. This is included in the tender price, together with their profit margin.

The social enterprise model can work, but the framework has to make sense for all the parties. The operator should not be given the freedom to maximize the profits and to pass the profits to related parties through outsourcing of the work.

We need a better approach.

Tan Kin Lian

Industrial robots

Surprise!

In spite of its large supply of human resource, China installed the largest number of industrial robots, followed by Japan, South Korea and the United States.

How can the United States compete globally without investing in robotics to reduce their high labor costs?

https://multimedia.scmp.com/…/china-2025-roboti…/index.html…

WOTC - Pension at 75

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

Should the govt provide a pension to elderly people?

Here are the responses: (71 Votes)

59 % - Everyone should get a modest pension from 75 years.
31 % - It should be modest and given only to poor people above 75 years.
10 % - They should rely on their CPF and personal savings.
0 % - It will encourage the elderly to be lazy

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=946

WOTC - Support charity

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

Should Singaporeans contribute to charity?

Here are the responses: (68 Votes)

32 % - We should support charity within our means.
31 % - I do not trust charity organizations as they are several fake ones going around
26 % - The govt should support charity more actively.
10 % - We do not have any money left, after meeting the high cost of living.

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=945

Chasing after KPI for bigger bonus

Rachel Ash said.

Mr Tan
Our policy makers are habitually on the move to chase after new KPIs to ensure a plentiful of bonuses. Despite the fact that existing issues in this country has yet to be resolved such as once in 50 years flooding; over 90% are satisfied with our train services and according to our authorities - "our train services has improved despite the increased in number of breakdowns"; our dependency on our neighbor for fresh water but what do we do with our homegrown Hyflux; etc.

I discovered that they are very good at choosing ambiguous words for their purpose and then their selective meaning of the word which allows them to "lie but NOT lie".

To provide proof:

1. Our authorities created a new problem for the community with PMD which led to accidents and deaths; and have yet to solve the issue of the "last mile" in any meaningful way. Not forgetting failed OFO and etc bikes. Then they are going to trial run air-taxi in the not distant future. Will this solve the transport issues of the masses or provide the "rich" another convenience means not to be "mixed" with the masses.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/.../air-taxi-trials-to...

2. Our authorities claimed, they are trying to narrow the rich and poor gap in Singapore and blasted the Oxfam report. Any reason why estate duty was abolished just before the demise of our former PM?

3. Our authorities claimed, HDB 99 years was good so that they can be re-cycled BUT according to some who had researched all past requisition of HDB properties instead of turning them to newer HDB flats but were instead sold to private developers.

4. Our authorities claimed, to finding ways to increase jobs for the natives BUT has CEPA with India did anything for the general masses or for the big businesses?

5. Our authorities claimed, we need GST and increase GST to help the poor? Yes, very truth because the "rich" in Singapore are considered poor when compared to the developed countries rich.

6. Our authorities claimed, ........

Isn't it time for authorities to start admitting that there were flawed policies in the past and they should be working with every Singaporeans to build our Nation as one united people so as to achieve happiness and prosperity for our people.

Improve the library facilities

Dear sir,

Singapore government was great. In the early days, they sees a library as an essential facilities. They allocate land to build library. Today we sees such libraries at places like Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.

The library of today is getting smaller. Perhaps times has changed. I however thought that Library could still play an important role. For example, Libraries could in-cooperate a innovation centre where the public could pay an amount to join as members to use some facilities. Such as computer render farms, 3d printers, soldier machine, electrical components etc. it could also setup a metal, wood and plastic workshop. Where a technical instructor could be employed to supervise the usage of machinery and equipment. Members could also do talks and share ideas.

at the same time, more seats could be made available to the public with free drinking water and vending machine. By bringing the people back to the integrated library. I believe we could kick start the innovation progress. I have seen people attending wood working, ceramic course at industrial park. I would believe that with proper insulation, these facilities could be brought into the neighbourhood library.

unfortunately, SLA has not provide land for libraries, most libraries rented expensive spaces in mall. People has to study in restaurant. I am not a financial expert, I do not calculate the cost. Perhaps this is a bad idea and not economical sensible.

Fong

Insufficient officers at checkpoint

On returning to Singapore through the 2nd link at 4 pm (before the rush hour) last Friday, I was delayed by 45 minutes at Tuas checkpoint. The clearing time at the JB end was 5 mins.

I found the reason to be lack of manpower. Two out of six counters on my section were closed. If these two counters were manned, the clearing time would have been much faster.

I think that is shortage of manpower. It is probably due to the freeze on manpower in the public sector.

If the ministry wish to recruit more officers, surely it will be taken up? There are many people who can't find jobs and have to be Grab drivers. Some of them would gladly be a immigration officer.

How stupid can the govt be? By stinging on the employment, it caused many people to waste nearly one hour of their time. During the peak period, it could be two or three hours.

We should recruit more people in the public sector to meet with the demand and larger population. The freeze on head count is very bad.

Tan Kin Lian

America is not a good example of a democracy

Many people think that America is a good example of a democratic country.

I used to think so myself.

However, since the last presidential election, I changed my mind.

I watched the speeches by Senator Bernie Sanders, who contested the Democratic primary election.

He explained that America government is controlled by the billionaires. They used their money to "buy elections".

How is this done?

In America, the election results are influenced to a large extent by advertising on television and the media. This cost a lot of money.

The candidates from both parties need the financial support of the big donors, who are usually the billionaires, to finance their campaign. The winners are usually the candidates with the most financial resources.

In return for the financial support, the elected politicians to return the favor. The pass laws that are favorable to the businesses, and bad for working people The give tax breaks to the super rich.

The ordinary people get disillusioned with the political process and reacted by refusing to vote. This worked well for the super rich.

Over the past three decades, the gap between the super rich, the top 0.1% and the ordinary people became wider and wider.

America has very high inequality, probably among the worse in the world, at least among the developed countries. This is hardly democratic.

A lot of ordinary people do not earn enough to meet the cost of living. Their society becomes quite fractious.

The people in power than pass laws and regulations to make it difficult for ordinary people to vote. This can hardly be called "democratic".

To be frank, Singapore is not a good example of democracy either. We have out own set of problems, such as GRCs. We also have high inequality.

In some respects, we are still better off than America, but in other respects, we are worse off. For example, we fared badly on the "freedom of the press".

But the media in America is not a shining example either. It is also "bought" by the super rich. They play a part in promoting the agenda of their owners, who are the super rich.

Maybe it is better to have the system like in China. Forget about flawed democracy. Forget about corrupt democracy.

Maybe not China.

The best example of a working democracy is Switzerland. They have quarterly referendums where they ask the people to vote on government policies.

Tan Kin Lian

Is the Changi Jewel target at passengers or the general public?

Will the Jewel in Changi be targeted at passengers or for the general public.

There is a logistic issue to be addressed.

If it is targeted at passengers, then the potential customers are the transit passengers and the inbound and outbound passengers. In that case, the general public will not be able to visit the Jewel.

It could be a disaster. Many transit passengers do not have much time to visit the Jewel. The outbound passengers are allowed to check-in only two hours before the flight. They will not have much time to shop or to visit the Jewel.

The inbound passengers are likely to be in a hurry to return home or to go to the hotel. They may not be keen to spend time at the Jewel.

If the Jewel is targeted at the general public, it will be placed outside of the immigration checkpoint. This means that the transit passengers have to go through immigration clearance to visit the Jewel and then re-enter through immigration again. Maybe the second process can be streamlined, so that it is not tedious.

For the Jewel to be successful, it has to be targeted at the general public. Incoming passengers can pass through the immigration clearance and visit the Jewel before proceeding home or to the hotel. Outgoing passengers can go to the airport early, spend time at the Jewel and then proceed to the check-in counter.

Which way will it be? Make your guess.

Is there a freeze in the headcount in the public sector?

I suspect that there is a policy to freeze the headcount for most agencies and ministries in the public sector.

This has resulted in outsourcing of work to private contractors.

I believe that this policy (if there is such a policy) is short sighted.

Here are my reasons:

a) The headcount in the public sector should increase with the population. If the population increased by 50%, we will generally need 50% more workers in the public sector. They have to serve the public.

b) The outsourcing of work generally leads to lower quality of service. We have seen it in many parts of the public sector. Some of the recent major problems, such as train breakdown and flooding, could be attributed to the deterioration of standard due to outsourcing.

c) As a major employer, the public sector could play an important role in setting the right level of wages and working conditions for the private sector to follow. If the public sector outsource the work, the workers will be employed by the contractors at depressed wages. We have seen it happen.

I wish to see the public sector change its policy and play an active role in creating well paying jobs for the people.

I am not suggesting that the public sector be overstaffed. But it needs to be adequately staffed. It should not be understaffed. The work should not be outsourced.

There is a challenge in managing the workers in the public sector. This can be handled by competent supervisors and managers, who knows the job. We have to retain these managers and leaders who have worked in the ministry or agencies for many years.

The practice of "helicoptering" scholars with no working experience into these organizations should be stopped, or at least minimized.

Tan Kin Lian

WOTC - Education policy

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

Which education policy do you prefer?

Here are the responses: (60 Votes)

58 % - Develop character and literacy.
30 % - Develop the other interests besides academic study.
8 % - Keep our current system with high standard 
3 % - Reduce the stress and competition, and moderate the standard.

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=944

WOTC - Is HDB flat a good investment?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

Is a HDB flat a good investment?

Here are the responses: (62 Votes)

66 % - It is advanced payment of rental and is not an investment.
13 % - It is good only for those who buy with a govt grant.
13 % - It is good only for the first 30 years.
8 % - After 40 years, it is difficult to sell the HDB flat.

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=943

WOTC - Use of town council software

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

Is it correct to disallow Aljunied from using the town council software?

Here are the responses: (72 Votes)

76 % - Aljunied residents contributed to the software and were cheated when it was taken away.
17 % - Aljunied has to spend money to develop an alternative software, which is wasteful.
7 % - This should be decided by the owner of the town council software.
0 % - Each town council should develop its own software to meet its special needs.

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=942

WOTC - Dispute over Oxfam report

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd:

What are your views about the dispute over the Oxfam report?

Here are the responses: (68 Votes)

82 % - I agree with the findings of the Oxfam report that there is high inequality in Singapore.
13 % - I find the outcomes to be quite bad for the ordinary people.
4 % - The Oxfam report is unfair to Singapore.
0 % - I agree with the ministers' views that the actual outcomes are favorable in Singapore.

See the pie chart at: 
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=941