Predicament of Six Capital clients

Hello Mr Tan

Are you acquainted with this organization called Six Capital. They are presently in a fix and have failed to honor their obligations to the aggrieved clients of their B'Data and Tagg programs.

Not only are they in breach of their end of the agreement but they have yet to put forth any concrete plans to address the repayment issue. In fact they have ceased considering all requests for the hard-earned money of regular folks to be returned , when they are at fault.

Needless to say I am one of the unfortunate victim. The only formal correspondence I managed to obtain is a letter supposedly addressed to all affected clients. In fact I did not even receive this correspondence. Only managed to obtain it from other sources after much painstaking probing and inquires.

Just am interested if you have heard of this firm from possibly others who have fallen victim or other sources.

Below are two links to articles written about their present predicament. They appear to be biased in favor of the view of Patrick Teng (owner of Six Capital) without any due consideration nor mention accorded to the aggrieved parties' side of the story.

https://www.cnbc.com/…/six-capital-responds-to-complaints-o…

http://www.straitstimes.com/…/a-peek-inside-sixcap-a-firm-o…

REPLY
I have not heard about Six Capital. I hope you did not put in too much money because the chance of getting it back is very bad.

Too many people pursue a university degree

I made a statement that we have too many people spending too much time getting a paper degree.

My friend disagreed with me. He said that he qualified as an engineer and the training was important for him. Without the degree, he would not know how to do his work as an engineer.

Many people react like my friend did. They do not listen to my statement. They do not understand my view. They are too quick to express their disagreement.

I said that "too many people" are pursuing a paper degree. We do not need too many engineers. We need people to be skilled at various levels. Some can be engineers. But we also need many people who are good technicians and draftsmen to support the enginers.

I agree that we need engineers with the broad based knowledge that comes with a university degree. But do we need so many enginners?

When my friend qualified as an engineer 40 years ago, he had the support of skilled technicians, skilled artisans and skilled draftsmen. These people were good at their work. He was able to do his work effectively as an engineer and a manager.

We have a different situation today. We have too many people with a paper degree. But we do not have enough people with working experience or technical skills to support them.

When we face problems like the frequent train breakdowns, we do not have people with the experience and technical skills to fix these problems.

The past government policy caused this problem. By giving high salaries to graduates and low salaries to non-graduates, they encouraged too many people to pursue a paper qualification at the expense of working experience and technical skills.

The government has realized the mistake and is trying to correct the situation. But they probably have no clue how to solve this problem. It is a huge challenge. It may take several decades to undo the harm and damage that had already occured.

Tan Kin Lian

SMRT needs a qluality audit plan and rigorous implementation

My friend worked 40 years in Keppel shipyard and has recently retired. I asked him, "Does Keppel have the engineering expertise to help SMRT to fix their problem?"

He replied -

It is not an engineering problem. It is a quality audit issue. I am shocked that they can allow the poor quality control to continue for so long. It is a cultural issue and a management issue.

In the shipyard, we have to build and repair many ships and oil drilling platforms. Each ship or platform contains many systems that have to work together.

We have a detailed quality audit plan. We have to make sure that the quality is maintained on every aspect of the work. We carry out sample audits and if it disclose a serious issue, we take the next step to inspect all the affected parts in detail.

If we do not maintain the quality, how can the ships or platforms take the harsh weather conditions and still work well? If you consider the thousands of ships and platforms that are out there in the ocean, how many of them break down?

They don't break down because we have a quality audit plan and we carry out the audit seriously.

It is likely that the team from Taipei will focus on the quality audit. I am sure that they know what needs to be done.

My comment -

His observation sounds quite credible. SMRT needs to pay attention to their quality audit and have to carry it out professionally and competently.

Our challenge is that the people in SMRT have been allowed to slacken for a long time. Maybe they spent their time playing politics rather than carry out the work that they are expected to do.
I can't blame them. They are learning from the bad example set at the very top of the political leadership.

If the PM and the ministers spend their time making life difficult for the opposition MPs, they are not addressing the real issues that face the people. 

If this is the leadership style, SMRT will probably be the same.

Be prepared for higher premiums under Integrated Plans

People insured under private plans (i.e. Integrated Shield plans) should be prepared for large increase in premium in the coming years.

The increase will be very steep for elderly people, above 60 years.

They will have to pay these large increases in premium, even if they do not make any claim.

Here are two main causes for the expected inceases:

a) Private hospital charges are very expensive. The large claims paid by the insurance companies will have to be borne by all the policyholders through higher premiums.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=531&Name=Be-prepared-for-higher-premiums-under-Integrated-Plans&Type=H

b) Private hospitals are charging high fees even for simple tests and treatments. These fees are paid by the insurance companies under the Integrated Shield plans. They will be reflected in the future premiums.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=537&Name=Overcharging-of-medical-fees&Type=H

Be prepared to see the large increase in premium. If yo cannot afford the high premiums, you can revert to Medishield Life.

By that time, I hope that you still have enough savings in your Medisave account. Do not let it be wiped out through the high premiums that you have paid for the Integrated plans.

Peace of mind can turn to nightmares

Most people have the false impression that they can feel safe with peace of mind. They have already bought the most expensive and comprehensive Integrated Shield plan from a large insurance company.

What can do wrong?

For some of them, their nightmare may come when they have to go for treatment in a private hospital. Yes. they are covered by their Integrated Shield plan, but they are still hurdles to cross.

Read these examples of what these hurdles are. When you have to be hospitalised, pray that you are not caught in these hurdles.

Exclusions
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=538&Name=Hospital-claim-rejected-due-to-exclusion&Type=H

Non Disclosure
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=418&Name=Non-disclosure-of-material-facts&Type=H

I hope that these problems will not hit you. But you can never be sure. Do not just assume that things will be all right. It can go very badly wrong. Your peace of mind can become a nightmare.

Popular videos on financial planning and insurance

This webpage contains many short videos on financial planning and insurance.
Each video runs fro 5 to 10 minutes and explains an important concept.
The wepage and videos are very popular, especially for young people searching for some simple guides on how to handle their savings and investments.
This webpage is available for free access for free access for the time being.
I may restrict it to paid members of FISCA at a later date.

Click here to view the videos now, while it is still available for free acess.
http://www.tankinlian.com/video.aspx.

Some HDB resale flats are sold for over $1 million

According to a news report, some HDB flats have been sold for over $1 million in the resale market.

I pose this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Are you worried about the increase in prices of HDB resale flats?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

How to deal with crowded food courts?

Many food courts are crowded and customers have to find ways to "chope" a table.

I pose this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - How can we deal with crowded food courts?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Better way is for prices of utilities to be regulated

Straits Times Forum Page, 11 Nov 2017

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore recently announced that from the second half of next year, all remaining 1.3 million accounts, mainly households, will be able to enjoy choice and flexibility in their electricity purchases.

They will be allowed to choose their electricity supplier (New online platform to help decide on electricity purchases; Oct 28).

My recent experience made me wonder if the EMA is making the right move.

Two marketeers visited me to get me to sign up with their company for my electricity supply. They offered a discount of 20 per cent on the price charged by Singapore Power.

I agreed, mainly to help the two of them even though I felt that this kind of price cutting, without any improvement in efficiency, is not sustainable in the long run.

The paperwork to make the switch was quite tedious and the two marketeers spent an hour in my office to complete it.

With the switch, I now have to pay two bills every month - one to Singapore Power, for the water; and the other to the power supplier.

The EMA may think that this improves efficiency and reduces cost for businesses and households. It may have the opposite effect of increasing cost, instead.

How so? We would eventually have to bear the cost of the many marketeers, like the two who visited me. We would also have to incur the paperwork and expenses of changing the supplier.

The consumers will have to manage two bills each month, instead of one.

A better way is to regulate the prices of utilities. They can be made market-sensitive, but the profit and expense margins can be regulated.

Alternatively, we can divide Singapore into zones and tender out the operations in each zone to an operator, similar to the bus-contracting model.

Tan Kin Lian

Was the amnesty given by SMRT a good approach?

A few weeks ago, SMRT found that its maintenance staff has been falsifying records to show that they did their maintenance work when it was not done.

SMRT had to do a full audit of all the maintenance work. There was a risk that the bad practice was widespread.

SMRT announced an amnesty for their staff to come forward and confess their lapses, to avoid punishment.

I posed this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Was it a good approach for SMRT to allow its staff to confess any past wrong doings?

38% of the people who voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd said that it is a bad approach as it would encourage people to break rules thinking that they would have a chance to confess.

The remaining 62% were more understanding of this approach for three reasons.

You can view the reasons and the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=354

Should Apple use an online queuing system for the launch of its iPhone X?

When Apple announced the sale of its iPhoneX in Singapore, there was a long queue of several hundred people who waited hours to buy the new phone.

I asked this question - Should Apple arrange an online queuing system for its customers to buy the new iPhone X?

49% of the people who voted said that a physical queue has greater impact.
44% said that an online queuing system is more sensible.

I hope that as time goes by, more organizations will opt for the online queuing system.

You can see the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=353

Large hospital bill rejected due to exclusion

I have often advised elderly people to stay with Medishield Life and avoid upgrading to a private shield plan. Recently, I was approached to assist the family on this case.

Mdm X was an elderly lady. She was not literate in English. She received a letter from an insurance company to upgrade her shield plan to a higher plan covering private hospital.

She was asked to go for a medical examination for the upgrading. She did. The insurance company found some medical problems and offered her an upgraded plan with many exclusions. She was not aware about the significance of the exclusion. She signed her acceptance.

Find out what happed to Mdm X when she went to a private hospital for treatment. The claim was rejected because it came under the exclusion. She did not understand what the exclusion meant.

http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=538

Email to CEO of SP Group

Dear CEO of SP Group

I received this letter from SP Group.
I have no idea what you mean by "application for contestability status".
I did apply for a transfer of my electricity supply from SP Group to Keppel Electric.
Do you have to send such a confusing letter to the consumer?
Can you send out a simpler letter?

I also object to your statement about the AMI meter.
Surely you know from your record if my premises have an AMI meter?
Do you expect the consumer to know your technical gibberish?

Just check if I have an AMI meter and inform me what is the status of my application.

I expect a reply. Thank you.
http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF/1434

A confusing letter from SPGroup

Two marketeers visited my office to inform me that I could switch my power supply from SP group to Keppel Electric. I agreed and completed the tedious paperwork for the transfer.

I have now received a strange letter from SPGroup referring to "Application for Contestability Status".

The letter said, "Electricty used by contestable consumers is measured every half an hour using an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meter, which stores consumption data. The half hourly consumption data stored in the AMI meter is remotely read daily for settlement purpose:

We would like to share that AMI meters will need to be installed first. After which, we will arrange for the testing of remote downloading of the electrictiy consumption data before you can become contestable. No AMI meter installation is required if there is already an existing AMI meter at the premises".

What nonsense!

I have no clue what "contestability" is about.

SPGroup does not know whether an AMI meter is stored in my premises. Surely, they can check and inform me the actual status. Instead, I sent me a confusing letter.

This is the standard of service that comes with LHL's government. It is ridiculous.

You can change your dreams

Young people have their dreams - to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a banker.

Many parents made a big financial sacrifice to help their children to achieve their dreams. Some sold their houses to get the money to send their children overseas to achieve their dreams.

Some children may not fully realize the sacrifice that their parents made for them.

Are the sacrifices really necessary? Can the young people's dreams be modified by reality?

When I was in secondary school, I wanted to be an engineer. The brighter students in my class chose medicine and aimed to be a doctor. I thought differently. I wanted to be an engineer.

My father was unemployed. My mother struggled to run a business to earn some income for the family.

I threw away my dream. I left school after secondary education to work as a clerk in an insurance company. The starting pay was $180 a month. It was a decent pay at that time.

My principal called me to his office. He asked me to stay in school. He said that I could apply for a bursary to meet my school fees.

I told him that the bursary was not enough to support my family financially.

Anyway, it was easy for me to change my dream. Instead of being an engineer, I continued self study to become an actuary. I qualified after ten years. For me, it was better than being an engineer.

Dreams can be changed.

When I told a friend about it, he said that my message should be targeted at parents, rather than their children. I agree with him.

I hope that this message is read by both parents and their children.


Tan Kin Lian

What is the best way to promote cashless payments?

PM Lee has suggested that the country should move to cashless payments, like in China.

What is the best way to achieve this goal?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Promote a common platform to link merchants and consumers

Following the call by PM Lee to promote cashless payments, there is now a strong interest in this goal.

I posed this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Many companies are now launching their cashless payments. Is it a good idea?

65% of the people who voted said that we need a common platform to link merchants and consumers.

Another 15% said that the proliferation of platforms is difficult for merchants and consumers.

This makes a total of 80%.

You can view a breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=352

Costly for Grab and Comfort

This is a serious challenge for Comfort Taxis. They are losing drivers by the thousands. Many taxis are unrented.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/over-1000-comfortdelgro-cabbies-express-interest-grabs-latest-offer

A former Comfort taxi driver told me that he accepted the Grab offer and pays only $25 a day for the rental of a car to be used under the Grab platform. The rental is actually $85 a day but Grab subsidises $60 for a period of six months.

Previously, he had to pay $125 daily rental to Comfort Taxis.

He said that Grab made this offer because they are short of drivers who now have to get a vocational licence from LTA. It takes a few months for a new driver to get the licence. So Grab made an attractive offer to entice Comfort taxi drivers to move to their platform.

It must be very expensive for Grab to subsidise $60 a day for 6 months. The total cost is $10,000 per taxi driver. If 1,000 taxi drivers move over, the cost to Grab would be $10 million. Can they earn it back?

Parliamentary sessions

Should Parliamentary sessions be streamed live?
Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Desmond Kuek

SMRT has faced many problems recently. Should the CEO be held accountable for the failures and lapses?

I have created this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should Desmond Kuek continue as CEO of SMRT?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg