A ransom price on top of market rentals

Some people argue that it is best to leave matters to the free market. This is the PAP approach that has been prevailing for the past 30 years, ever since LHL was active in the Government.
While the free market has its merits, it also has it serious flaws. It does not recognize the rights of the tenant. On renewal, the landlord can impose a ransom on the renewal terms. The tenant had already invested in the renovation of the shop or stall and had spent time to build a business. The tenant had to pay a price that is higher than the true market.
Sometimes, another tenant may offer a higher rental rate, with the purpose of "killing off a competitor".
This situation leads to rental being higher than the true market, and over time, leads to escalation. When a tenant moves to a new location, there is additional cost in rebuilding the business. This is what I called "wastefulness".
Wastefulness has been a part of the Singapore system for several decades. It has lead to high cost of doing business and high cost of living. We are now no longer competitive globally.
We are misled by the statistics of multinational companies setting up operation in Singapore. In many cases, there are given tax incentive, land at special rates and government grants. These are not publicized. They show good figures, but hide the fact that our costs have gone out of hand.
If we do not recognize the real problems in Singapore, and continue to delude ourselves, things will continue to get worse.

Will we face the same problems as the Obamacare Exchange?

The insurance exchange that was launched on 1 October under the Affordable Care Act in America encountered technical problems and was not able to cope with the heavy traffic of 8 million visitors. The cost of the system ballooned three times from $100 to $300 million in US dollars.

While the problem seemed to be quite irrelevant to us, we should not be complacent. We will be introducing two similar initiatives in Singapore over the next 12 months.

We will have to register large number of applicants under the proposed Medishield Life scheme and also provide a website for employers to post their job vacancies before they are allowed to apply for a work pass for foreigners.

These registrations are likely to face issues similar to those that bogged down the insurance exchange in America. 

We also have to be careful about adopting the same approach, i.e. relying on vendors and consultants who face a conflict of interest and are likely to recommend costly solutions that have a tendency to overrun in budget.

Let us be aware now of the issues and not repeat the problems that are now experienced in America. 

Delay in implementing national IT projects

here were much publicity a few years ago about the OneInbox project and the National Authentication Framework.

OneInbox was intended to allow the public to receive their mails from all government agencies at a common inbox, instead of logging in to separate websites to retrieve the replies from these agencies.

The National Authentication Framework was intended to allow each person to hold a single token which can be used as an additional verification of the person for  financial and other sensitive transaction.

I am quite tired of logging in to the websites of separate government agencies to retrieve my mails and being asked to change my passwords frequently and to create strong passwords which differ from one website to another.

I also do not like the bulky security tokens that are being issued separately by different banks and securities firms.

Pay a fee to the financial adviser

The information given in the EIP website are FREE for members of the website. 
If you still need advice on any of the product or alternative products, contact a financial adviser and pay a modest consulting fee. It is worth spending this money. The adviser can guide you on what is a better choice and can save you tens of thousand dollars. Pay them a fee, as they have to make a living. Otherwise, they will spend their time to sell you products that can earn them a few thousand dollars, at your expense. Do you want that to happen?

www.c-onyx.com/eip

Naming of roads

In the old days, we have a simpler way to name our roads, e.g. in Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh. The major roads are called Avenue or Lorong and the smaller roads are called Street. They are numbered.

Later, for Sengkang and Punggol, somebody decided to give different names to the roads. This naming structure is confusing to people who visit the estate from outside. I suspect that the residents will also find it confusing.

To make matters worse, the roads are described as avenue, road, street, lane, way without regard to size. Usually, one expects the roads to be name according to size - starting from avenue, road, street, lane.

For example, Sin Ming Lane is of the same size as Sin Ming Avenue. This is only possible using Singapore logic!

I don't know why some smart fellow was allowed to change the naming structure to be so confusing, and why they were allowed to do so.

My grand children love the Magic Box

Whenever my grand daughters visit me, the first thing they ask is to look into the Magic Box. It will stay in their childhood memory. What is the Magic Box? Every parent or grandparent should have one. http://c-onyx.com/page/26

Meet the People session

Desumondo Deseumondeu asked:
Mr Tan,
Some thing happen to me quite recently and i just wanted to share my views.

I approached 3 different PAP MPs during their Meet The People sessions on different days regarding the same matter and asked exactly the same question.
However NONE of them actually got back to me with an answer, and worse yet send me a letter which is not the answer but a totally different opinion which does not in anyway relate to the question i asked them !!

When the govt are not able to help us citizens, what other channels are we able to turn to for assistance and squeeze an answer out of them ??

REPLY
The MPs are also in a jam. They receive all kinds of people and problems in their Meet the People session. There is also difficulty in communicating with some residents - due to language or lack of education. (I am not referring to you).

It is quite easy for them to get mixed up, or to get confused over the issue.

If you have a problem, it will be helpful if you can write it down clearly (or get some help to write it down). It will be easier for your MP to understand the issue and to help find an answer (if at all possible).

Be fair to the MPs. Do not approach three of them over the same issue.

Frankly, I think the "Meet the People" session is out-of-date, but the PAP dare not abandon it.

A more open and transparent approach

Dear Mr. Tan,
You said that our government leaders are arrogant and don't want to listen to the views of concerned citizens. I find your views to make a lot of sense, but they seem to be ignoring them. So, I agree that they are not only arrogant but out of touch with what is happening on the ground. 

I believe that it is not difficult to be a leader. There are many wise people around, and if the leader is willing to listen to them, they should be able to come out with better policies.

My point is, if there is a change of government in 2016, Singaporeans do not need to be worried. If another party comes into power, and the leaders know that they are not the elites, they will be able to listen to more wise people and get better policies. Singapore will be governed better.

Do you agree?

REPLY
Generally, I agree that the government can come out with better policies if they are more willing to listen to people who have wider and more diverse experience and knowledge.

But, we still need leaders to make the final judgment - and that is not easy. If the leaders are incapable, they may make a bad judgment (even after getting the inputs of the advisers). And different advisers may have different opinion.

But, I must say that the current system - where decisions are made from the ivory tower, is probably among the worst. There is now suspicion that these decisions are made to benefit certain quarters, which makes things more difficult.

It is better to have a more open and transparent way to make important policy decisions affecting the people at large. .

My attitude towards government policies

Someone observed that I don't like the policies of the Government. It is true that I don't like many of the social and economic polices, especially those that lead to high income gap, high cost of housing, high cost of living, wastefulness and unfairness. 

But, I know that the Government leaders are doing their best to solve these issues. I do not like their approach, which is not addressing the roots of the problems, but it is a matter of opinion. They think that their policies are right, and they are ultimately responsible for the outcome.

By adopting their aloof approach, they are cutting themselves from alternative views of concerned citizens - many of whom have practical experiences. I hope that they will be truly willing to listen to alternative approaches, rather than continue their "arrogant" attitude.

Unfair treatment of Singaporeans

Mr. Tan,
I was at a gala dinner last night where the guest of honor was a minister. At my table were a few foreigners. One of them, who has lived a few years in Singapore said, "Singapore is a wonderful place. Most of the locals don't understand why." He said it in a mocking way. What does he mean?

REPLY
I suspect that he must be very rich and probably make most of his income overseas. When he live in Singapore, he does not have to pay any tax on his overseas income. They also save on the big income tax that they have to pay in their home country. That is why Singapore is a wonderful place for people like him.

The locals earn their salaries in Singapore and have to pay tax and the high cost of living. The males even have to serve National Service and reservist training at regular intervals.

It is quite unfair for the Singapore government to give so favorable living conditions to rich foreigners and do not require them to pay any tax on their income.

It is quite bad for him to mock the locals who are already suffering under an unfair system .This will lead to unrest one day.

How to eradicate poverty in Singapore

Singapore is an affluent country. Based on GDP per capita, she is one of the richest countries in the world.

Hence logically, one would expect all her citizens to live comfortably, well above the poverty line (wherever that might be since it has never been officially defined). Yet ironically, there is a small group of Singaporeans who are living in “poverty”. With the country’s vast wealth, both in terms of revenue and savings, it should not be a financial issue to bring this group out of poverty. Further, the government has implemented the “minimum sum” and “CPF Life” schemes which are designed to ensure her citizens would have sufficient savings to spend on necessities during retirement. So it is not as though the government is not aware of the amount required for sustainable living at the minimum level for life. So, if it is not a financial problem to bring people out of poverty, then what could be the problem?

Ideology. In Singapore, welfarism is seen as a “dirty” word. Instead of encouraging the rich to help the poor, she encourages everyone to make their own living. This ideology is fine when everyone is able and there are sufficient jobs. But when some are less able and the job market is challenging, it can lead to a state of “us and them” and "everyone for himself (or herself)". With such an ideology, Singapore indeed has one of largest income gap in the world. In the present economic structure, the rich also tend to get richer while the poor get poorer. So, is there an ideology that is more friendly to the poor so that they can live a dignified life?
We are all one.  The power of this ideology leads us to feel for others - "we are not separate" and “your pain is my pain”.  To implement this ideology in the practical world, we may have an inverse relationship between the salary of senior political and administrative leaders and the number of people living in poverty. With such an arrangement, it is then to the interest of the leaders to ensure that poverty is erased. Yes, with the “right”  ideology and practical approach, poverty can literally disappear from the islands of Singapore overnight!

Dr. Tommy Wong
Author of book series "Wisdom on How to Live Life"

The book series can be ordered here.

Negative impact of National Service on our male citizens

For 25 years, I have held the view that National Service has a heavy burden on the future of your young men. More people are now sharing the same view. Read this article and the comments:
http://therealsingapore.com/content/gilbert-goh-why-locals-girls-do-not-want-our-singaporean-men

Excessive concern about privacy and security

Our banks and security firms adopts a ridiculous approach towards internet security. I suspect that the measures are directed by MAS.

I applied to receive e-statements of contract notes. They are sent to me with password protection. I do not know the password that were used. I could not open the statements for many months.

This morning, I went to SGX website, login to my CDP account, and searched all over the place to set my own password. I could not find it.

Maybe, the passwords are set by my securities firm. Anyway, it is confusing and troublesome. I never asked for this security. I do not consider it as important anyway.

The statements are received by e-mail, which require me to access with a password anyway.

I also have trouble with the quarterly change of passwords that is mandated in my login trading account, and the funny combinations of password.

I hope that MAS will stop directing the banks and security firms to implement impractical security arrangements. If they have to, they should adopt sensible (and not ridiculous) arrangements.

Evaluation of Insurance Products

I have created this website to evaluate the life insurance products that are marketed in Singapore. 
I will be putting up the benefit illustration for these products and give my evaluation of the product.
They will be rated as "Recommended", "Neutral" or "Avoid".

I will be building up the products over the next few weeks. 

If you have a specific product, you can search for it under the "Latest" tag (which also serves as a Search tag).
If you wish to find a better way to invest your savings, you can contact one of the financial advisers listed in the website. Be ready to pay a modest consulting fee, so that they can make a living by advising you on the most suitable products.

The website is called "Evaluation of Insurance Products" and can be accessed at http://c-onyx.com/eip

Wasteful practice in renewal tenancy of stalls in food court

Six months ago, the operator of the food court in Midview City told me that he is not continuing the lease, as the rental is going up by a large percentage. A few of the stalls could not survive and had moved out.
I just learned that the successful stalls are also moving out this week. They were uncertain about the terms of the renewal of their stalls and had signed up at other places to continue their business.

The management office had decided to operate the food court directly (most probably because they could not get another operator) and had offered to renew the tenancy for the existing stalls at the last minute (but they had already signed up elsewhere).

It is very wasteful for the existing stalls (which were doing well here) to move out and set up business elsewhere, and for the management office to look for new stalls to come in.
This is a consequence of the practice that is quite common in Singapore, where there is uncertainty of tenure and the prospect that rentals will continue to be pushed up, beyond an affordable limit. And in the process, there is so much wastage.

Singapore has many wasteful practices!

Reduce the competition in schools

Hong Kong implemented reforms to its education system 10 years ago - less examinations, wider choice of subjects, more creativity. The competition and stress levels remained high.

The reason? They still focus on grades to win entry to university places that cater for 18% of each cohort.  Parents continue to give private tuition to their children to score marks in the new examination format.

I have pointed out consistently in the past - if you do not address the root of the problem, you will continue to suffer the same problems.

If you continue to pay graduates much higher than non-graduates, you will encourage students and parents to compete for the rewards.

My solution is to reduce the salary gap between graduates and on-graduates. We have to pay adequate wages to manual and service workers, so that it is worth and dignified for people to work in these occupations.

This requires a minimum wage for each occupation. It can be market based, but should be adequate for the worker to raise a family.

The current system exploits workers who are weak or not well educated. If we remove the exploitation, the market can work better. If the wages are adequate for manual and service jobs, there is no need to rely on foreign workers. Locals will be happy to take up these jobs.

We have created a problem for ourselves by refusing to recognize the realities, and by relying on market forces (which could be exploitation).

Study trip to review the European model of conscription

Joseph Kheng-Liang Tan asked:
Do you think the trip to study European conscription models is just a 'wayang' or will they actually adopt some best practices?

REPLY
I was not aware previously about this trip to study the European conscription model.

It is certainly an encouraging development. It means that the Government has finalized recognized the need to review our approach towards compulsory National Service. They also probably recognized the serious damage that NS has caused to the country - which is a topic that I had raised for the past 25 years.

The compulsory NS had placed our males at a serious disadvantage and delay their entry into the workforce for 3 years. It delayed their marriage and is a major cause of the big drop in our birth rate (apart from other factors, like the modern city lifestyle).

In recent years, the problem has been magnified by the entry of foreigners into the workforce, competing with our locals.

I expect, after the trip, that the Government will recognize the need to reduce the NS burden on our males. But, knowing the Government, they will probably implement the change over 3 to 5 years, instead of immediate implementation, and they will find some "less than honest" way of presenting the message.

If they present the message in an honest way and admit their past mistakes, it would be to their big credit, and they can start to rebuild the trust of the people.

Let us wish for the best.

Internal control on purchases

THIS LETTER IS NOT PUBLISHED BY THE STRAITS TIMES

Editor
Forum Page

Straits Times

I was surprised to read that a senior government official had been charged for submitting false claims for purchase of gifts to be given to foreign dignitaries over several years. 

I do not wish to comment on this specific case, as it is being handled in the court. However, I like to ask about the internal control system that is used in government agencies.

The basic principle of internal control is that each transaction should involve at least two people, to act as a check against abuse. The purchase has to be initiated by one staff and approved by the supervisor. It is possible for these two people to collude, but the risk is minimized.

I have dealt with government agencies over the years, and they are very meticulous about following SOP, even to the extent of giving some hassle to suppliers.

It is therefore very surprising that a basic principle of internal control is being overlooked to such an extent. I look forward to a reply from the Auditor General's Office.

Do we have adequate resources for investigative work?

THIS LETTER IS NOT PUBLISHED BY STRAITS TIMES

12 October 2013

Editor
Forum Page

Straits Times

I wish to thank Superintendent Ho Yenn Dar of the Singapore Police Force for giving me a reply and assurance that the Police will commence investigation when there is evidence that a criminal offence has been committed.

I like to ask if the Police has sufficient investigators to handle the alleged criminal cases that were lodged and if these investigators had the skill, experience and inclination to carry out investigative work?

In November 2011, I was involved in filing a complaint with another person on an alleged cheating case involving a company that provided forex training courses at a high fee. The complaint was accompanied by several hundred pages of documents of alleged deception of the trainees over a period of several years. 

After a delay of a few months, the investigator replied that they did not find any evidence ofcheating.to merit investigation. During this period, both of the complainants were not invited to meet the investigator to clarify the evidence that were presented. We had contacted the investigator a few times, and were told that the requested meeting was not required.

I am now helping a group of complainants on another case. The complainants alleged that they had been cheated in an investment scam and had filed a complaint with the Commercial Affairs Department. The filed complaints from ten people contained several instances of alleged cheating as described in section 415 of the Penal Code of Singapore.

I have asked the investigator to interview the complainants and also offered my assistance in reviewing the evidence, as I am familiar with this matter. I await to see the action that will be taken by the investigator and look forward to a more positive and inclusive outcome to this complaint.

Unsatisfactory compensation from Sing Tel

THIS LETTER IS NOT PUBLISHED BY THE STRAITS TIMES

15 October 2013

Editor, Forum Page

Straits Times

I find the compensation offered by Sing Tel to its customers affected by the disruption of service caused by the fire at its Bukit Panjang exchange facility to be deplorable.

At the minimum, the affected customers should be given a proportionate refund of the fee for the period that the service has been disrupted or for the contract period to be extended by the same period.

It could be argued that the compensation should be augmented, as the disruption to business or the daily living routine should also be considered. 

It is likely that many customers will not be adequately compensated by the increase in surfing speed or more local calls which they may not need. 

The regulatory authority is supposed to regulate the service providers to make sure that they meet the service standards. I ask the authority to step in and ensure that the customers are compensate adequately and fairly.