WOTC - Rivalry between America and China

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 85% of the respondents said that Singapore should not take any side on the rivalry between America and China. 15% said that Singapore should side China. None said that Singapore should side America.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2813

WOTC - Report on the rivalry between America and China

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 82 % of respondents said that the state media should report the rivalry between America and China truthfully and without bias and let the public decide for themselves. 18% said that the media should report the event in a manner that protects the image of Singapore.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2812

Review of ICBC bank (1398.HK)

 This is my review of ICBC bank (1398.HK)

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1299

Do we need a state funded media?

 1. Should the government spend $72 million a year to fund two medias, i.e. Channel News Asia and SPH? Do we need two medias?

2. Some people say that the state can save this money, as these medias are not doing useful work and the people can search for news on their own through the internet.

3. I hold the view that this money should be spent, and that it is useful to have two separate medias to cover two separate perspectives. However, they should avoid covering the same subjects, e.g. CNA should cover external issues and SPH should cover domestic issues.

4. The perspectives presented by the media should be factual and objective and promote the interest of Singapore. (This is different from promoting the interest of the ruling party).

5. There are many events happening around the world that have an impact on Singapore. The state funded media should cover the event so that the people in Singapore are aware about these events.

6. The government should also use the state funded media to explain to the people in Singapore on policies that they have taken that will affect their daily lives. The state media should also be used as a channel to provide feedback to the government.

7. There will be occasions that some events that happened in Singapore cause people in other countries to be upset. The foreign affairs ministry should, through the state funded media, provide an answer to the affected people in the foreign countries. The aim is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation.

8. In carrying out its role, the state funded media should adopt the following approach:

a) By factual and objective

b) Be positive and constructive

c) Be honest

9. The journalists have to rely on external sources, such as international news agencies. They should pay special attention to discern the objective facts from the subjective opinions (which may be smears and slanders). They should get the facts from several sources to give a more objective view.

10. Some people hold a negative view that the state funded media cannot be trusted as it is funded by the government in power, and that they will promote the interest of the ruling party. The state funded media should be aware of this mistrust and act constructively and honestly to regain the trust of these people.

11. For the majority of the people that trust the government, the state funded media provide a useful source of what is factual and reliable. This will guide them from being misled by unreliable sources of information.

Tan Kin Lian

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5625

WOTC - Inquiry into SMT subscription statistics

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 93 % of respondents said that the President should call for a Commission of Inquiry into the SMT subscription statistics as the taxpayers are paying a lot of money to support Singapore Media Trust

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2811

Insufficient data

 I heard this joke spoken at an international insurance conference 40 years ago.

China had just opened up. A train was travelling in Inner Mongolia.

Three foreigners, who were visiting in China for the first time, looked out of the window and saw a lone sheep, black in color, in the distance.

A foreigner, who is a journalist, said "All sheep in Mongolia are black".

The second foreigner, who is an engineer, said "Sorry. There is one sheep in Mongolia that is black".

The third foreigner, who is an actuary, said, "To be exact, there is at least one sheep in Mongolia that is black, at least on one side".

I share this story to advise people not to make conclusions based on insufficient data.

Harmful effect of vaccine

1. Several people in chat groups shared reports and videos of young people who died suddenly a short time after they have been vaccinated. They used the event to imply that they vaccine is harmful to young people.

2. I have seen several dozens of these reports. I am sure that there are many more of these cases that I have not seen. Perhaps, the number of these cases amount to a few thousands.

3. Let us assume that there are 10,000 such cases. If 1 billion young people have been vaccinated, this represents 0.001 % of the cases. It is 1000th of 1%. It is small enough to be insignificant.

4. Even if there are no vaccination, perhaps a similar number would have died from "natural causes". They were not reported previously, because there was no major event that can be used to blame these unexpected deaths.

5. I do not rule out the small possibility that the vaccination could be the cause. But the incidence is too low for me to accept that it is the likely cause.

6. I do not trust our health authority totally, as they may be biased in favor of the vaccine. However, I trust them more than the "experts" who present an alternative theory against the vaccine.

Tan Kin Lian

 
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5624

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Do we need a state funded media?
2. Which system of democracy do you prefer?

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

WOTC - Settlement of insurance claims

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 89% of respondents said that customers are not satisfied with the settlement of insurance claims due to disputes over coverage, exclusions and other clauses in small print.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2809

WOTC - Visitors fromChina

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 55% of respondents said that it is not necessary to screen visitors from China because the covid virus is mild.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2810

Quality of customer service depends on the process

1. I experienced many instances of poor customer service from Singapore companies.

2. Quite often, the poor service is caused by their bad process. They follow SOP (standard operating procedures) that are more focused on complying with process rather than on improving outcome for customers.

3. I have just experienced an excellent customer service from Plus500 (online trading platform).

4. I wanted to ask a question. In their app, they have a menu called Help. They provide an option to use WhatsApp.

5. I sent my question at night. I received a reply immediately. As the issue was quite complicated, I asked a few follow-up questions. I received prompt, clear and complete replies to each question.

6. A complicated matter was resolved to my satisfaction within half an hour. This is the time that I took trying to reach a Singapore company on a customer issue and had to give up after failing to talk to a person.

7. Plus500 has an office in Singapore. However, they do not follow the standard Singapore SOP. They followed a process that is customer friendly. I understand that this company started in Israel but has now gone international.

8. I like the following features of their customer service:

a) They make it easy for me to send a feedback.

b) They use WhatsApp, which is probably the most convenient form of communication.

c) I can send my query immediately and directly. I do not have to answer 5 to 10 pieces of data to start an inquiry.

d) They have a person to attend to my inquiry immediately.

9. I sent a detailed feedback to the staff. She replied immediately that she would forward it to the attention of the management team. I expect that they would act on my feedback.

10. I believe that the quality of service depends on how the process is handled. If Singapore companies can adopt a good process, like what Plus500 did, the quality of service would improve tremendously.

Tan Kin Lian

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5623

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. How often do you floss your teeth
2. Is Singapore making good progress over the past decade?
3. Do you like the CDC vouchers?

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

WOTC - Insurance products

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 85% of the respondents said that MAS should not allow insurers to offer their products freely as it would create confusion for the public and lead to disputes over coverage and claims.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2808

Bad customer service from Starhub

 1. My internet connection failed due to the storm.

2. I called Starhub hotline. It was a nightmare for me. I spent 9 mins on the first call, and it was cut off. I called again and there was no answer for 15 mins. I cut off the call.

3. It took me over 3 mins to clear through the nonsensical questions that do not apply to me before reaching the technical desk. After that, the call was not answered due to "large volume of calls".

4. Along the way, I was asked to state if I use a Linksys router. I checked the devices and found that I had a D-Link device and a Nucleus Connect device. I do not know if any of them are provided by Linksys.

5. I find it terrible that Starhub should ask this kind of question. I subscribe to the service of Starhub and it should not concern me about who they use to provide the router.

6. Starhub operates many business, such as mobile phone, internet, Netflix, Samsung phone, etc. They could have given a separate number for each business. Instead, they put all the business calls under one number and force the customer to waste over 3 minutes to clear through the screening.

7. Starhub customer service has been terrible for over a decade.

8. On many occasions, I wanted to move away from Starhub, but I was tied to a 2 year contract.

9. My experience with the customer service provided by many large businesses in Singapore has been poor. I find that bad customer service is probably a part of "Singapore culture".

Tan Kin Lian
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5619

WOTC - State funded media

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 81% of the respondents said that the state funded media should report independently, honestly and fairly (and not reflect Singapore's interest in the reporting).

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2807

A new approach for SPH Media Trust

1. The government is setting aside $180 million a year over 5 years to fund SPH Media Trust. The aim is to provide Singaporeans with news from our perspective.

2. It is important that the perspective should be based on the interest of Singapore. It should not be slanted to promote the interest of the ruling party.

3. Our local news media rely on news feed from international agencies, such as Reuters, Associated Press, etc. We should not over-rely on the news feed from the western nations. We also take news feed from other Asian sources, such as Global News, CGTN, SCMP, Nikkei, Jakarta Post, New Straits Times. The aim is to have a balance of our news sources.

4. In reproducing the news feed, the journalist and editor of SPH should carry out this important task:

a) Remove bias or distortion from the original news feed

b) Add perspective from an alternative source to give it a balance.

c) Ensure that the final article, as rewritten, carries a perspective that supports Singapore's interest.

5. With the use of the internet, it is quite easy to access news from many sources, and to present them in a balanced way to reflect a constructive and positive perspective.

6. SPH should also make use of ex journalists from Singapore. They worked in our Singapore media in the past and have accumulated considerable experience in writing and critical analysis. They form a useful resource.

7. SPH should also make it easy for readers to give their opinion. These views can be edited for accuracy, clarity and usefulness. This can be easily managed on the online platform.

8.The above suggestion also apply to another state funded media, namely Channel NewsAsia.

Tan Kin Lian

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5617

Discrepancy in circulation figures of SPH

 1. There was a lot of discussion in social media over the inflation of circulation figures by SPH. Many people clamored for transparency. They accused SPH of dishonesty in inflating the figures and were indignant that this episode would damage the reputation and integrity of Singapore.

2. I did not join in the accusation. I usually do not give a negative opinion when the facts are not clear. I am also not enthusiastic about defending Singapore's reputation and integrity, as I have some doubts over this matter.

3. A recent news report provided the following information.

- There was an overstatement of 49,000 average daily copies of news titles that was recorded as circulation numbers but not distributed. Most were digital copies. It amounts to 5 per cent of total daily circulation.

- There was an inflation of 5,000 average daily copies recorded after contracts had lapsed

- There was a difference of 17,000 between the reported circulation and the actual usage recorded by SPH Media's system

- There is a possible discrepancy of 19,000, which included a barter arrangement with another publisher

4. This is my perspective of the above figures.

a) 49,000 (mostly digital copies) were not distributed. Is there a need to "distribute" a digital copy? Could the subscriber access it by login to the website?

b) 5,000 copies were counted after the contracts have lapsed. Maybe they were kept alive for a few days or weeks in case the subscriber acts to renew and pay for it?

c) It is not clear whether the discrepancy of 17,000 is included in the 19,000.

5. If I were to include all the above figures, the total discrepancy amounts to slightly less than 10 percent of the reported circulation (which I estimate to be 1 million). It appears to me that the figures are not grossly inflated.

6. Let me explain what I understand about "circulation" in this environment.

a) The circulation includes print and digital copies over several newspaper titles

b) The circulation may includes paid subscriptions and free subscriptions.

c) The circulation includes copies sent to new agents who sell them at the news stands. Some may be subject to returns.

d) The subscriptions may be activated and payment has not been received, or may have lapsed and are kept for some time pending action to renew them.

The counting of the "circulation" is a matter to be decided by management policy, following industry practice.

7. There was a suggestion that the advertisers might have been misled to pay a higher advertising fee based on the inflated circulation. I do not think that this is a concern as the discrepancy is less than 10% and would probably be accepted as "industry practice".

8. It is generally unwise for a new management to challenge the decisions taken by a previous management over matters that rely on management judgment.

Tan Kin Lian
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5616

Losses suffered by Hyflux

 Some people said that Hyflux collapsed due to bad decisions taken by its management from the following:

a) Losses on overseas projects
b) Tendering a low price for the supply of water under the Tuaspring plant.

From my research, these above factors contributed to only a smaller portion of the loss by Hyflux. The main loss was due to their generation of electricity when the electricity price collapsed due to oversupply.

https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=5615

WOTC - Self driving platforms

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 41% of the respondents voted for Apollo (by Baidu) to be the self driving platform that will be the champion. 33% voted for FSD (by Tesla) and 18% for Waymo (by Google).

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2805

Review of Baidu (9988.HK)

 I made a review of Baidu (9988.HK).

https://fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1298