Drop in standards for Singapore Airlines

I spoke to a stewardess who has worked in Singapore Airlines for nearly 40 years and is due for retirement. She flew for many years to wear a purple uniform and was grounded to take up a lounge position during the later years.

Me: Has a quality of service of Singapore Airlines dropped over the years?
She: Definitely.
Me; What is the reason?
She: The younger cabin crew has a short term goal, to fly for a few years, visit places around the world, and then move to another career. They do not see a long term career in the airline.
Me: Is this phenomena affecting all airlines, or does Singapore Airlines fare worse than other airlines?
She: I think it affects Singapore Airlines more.
Me: Has the attitude of the workers changed over the years, compared to the old days?
She: Yes, younger workers are less committed.
Me: Could it be due to the change in the company policy also? In the old days, the company invest in the workers and give them prospect for a long term career. Today, the company is more short term minded. This attitude must affect the workers who also respond in a similar fashion.
She (after reflecting for a while): I think you are right. I did not think about it from this angle before.

Earthquake insurance

The New Zealand Government is reviewing its earthquake insurance scheme. It is using the actual experience of a recent earthquake in Canterbury to identify the actual problems that have been encountered and have identify practical solutions to these problems.  They have also submitted their proposals for views from the insurance industry and the public.

I like this approach. It is so refreshing and is quite different from the way that decisions are taken in Singapore. While we also seek public consultation in Singapore, I get the sense that we are not identify the actual problems. Often we are dealing with theoretical problems and finding theoretical answers.

Article

How to increase the birth rate in Singapore

The government has been trying to solve the problem of the low birth rate for three decades. They introduce one Baby package after another, but they all failed.

To solve this problem, we need a new mindset and a new approach. We have to recognize that the cost of raising children should be borne by the state, and not by the parents. The state has the money (at least in Singapore) but the parents are generally struggling financially.

What can be done? How can the state bear the cost of raising children? The answer is given in this paper.  http://c-onyx.com/page/1824

I want to emphasize that the state will be paying for raising up to two, or maybe three children, in the family. If the family wants to have more children, the parents have to bear the additional cost.

Increase in price for HDB flats is a bad idea

This is good news for early buyers but bad news for the current buyers. The doubling of price of new flats is not good for the country. It actually shows the incompetence of the government in managing the economy.

This report may gives the wrong impression that HDB flats are good investments at today's prices, and that the prices can continue to increase. This is heading for disaster.

http://www.straitstimes.com/…/bumper-profits-for-early-bto-…

Baby Bonus package has failed again

The government has been trying to improve the birth rate in Singapore for the past 30 years (since 1985). They introduced one Baby Bonus package after another. These packages have failed miserably and did not produce the intended result.

Instead of taking a new approach, they continue to repeat the same strategy. The famous scientist once define insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Our government leaders are insane, and should be sent to the Institute of Mental Health (instead of sending Amos Yee there).

Here is the news report about the latest failure
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fewer-sold-on-incentives-to-start-a-family-survey

Poor service from ACRA

I submitted my company's return to ACRA more than one week ago. I received this message from ACRA today.

ACRA had been inconsiderate in the following aspects:
1. They provide a long email containing information that may or may not be relevant to me.
2. They could have checked the computer records to ensure that I have filed it, instead of giving the statement in para 6. Is the system of ACRA so outdated that they have to generate their letter so many days in advance?
3. They sent the reminder at the last minute, instead of sending it in advance.


Dear Sir/Madam

Company Registration No. : 200700231C
Company Name : TAN KIN LIAN & ASSOCIATES PTE. LTD.

1.    Our records show that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of your company will be due on 16/08/2015.

2.    Under section 175 of the Companies Act, every company has to hold its first AGM within 18 months of its
incorporation. Thereafter, the AGM must be held once in every calendar year and not more than 15 months after the holding of the last preceding AGM.

3.    A private company may, by resolution passed in accordance with section 175A(2) of the Act, dispense with the holding of the AGM. Such a company may do anything required at an AGM by passing resolutions by written means instead. Section 197(4) of the Act requires any company without an overseas branch register to lodge the  Annual Return with ACRA within 1 month after the AGM.

4.    Section 201 of the Act also requires the directors of the company to lay before the company at its AGM its (1)
profit and loss account*, (2) balance sheet, (3) director or (4) auditor's reports (if applicable). In addition, the
profit and loss account of an unlisted company must be made up to a date not more than 6 months before the date of the AGM.

5.    If your company is not able to comply with the above requirements, and require more time to
comply, your company should apply online via Bizfile at www.bizfile.gov.sg for an extension of time. The company can check the status of application online via Bizfile under the heading "Status Enquiry". Please comply with the Act to avoid paying fines and/or court prosecution. For your convenience, we have placed the application guidelines as well as penalty and other useful information on our homepage at www.acra.gov.sg for your easy reference.

6.    As this reminder letter was generated in advance before posting, your company  may  have  filed  the  Annual
Return by the time you receive this letter.  If  your company has filed the Annual Return, thank you for your efforts to ensure timely compliance.

* Following the revision of the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, for
financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2009, the "profit and loss account" and "balance sheet" may also be known as "Statement of Comprehensive Income" (and where applicable, "Income Statement") and "Statement of Financial Position" respectively. Please refer to Practice Direction No. 4 of 2009 for more information.

Thank You

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
10 Anson Road
#05-01/15 International Plaza
Singapore 079903

Similarity between the politics in Greece and in Singapoe

There is a parallel between the politics in Greece and Singapore. The Greek government and the people are struggling against the austerity program and the harsh conditions imposed by the creditors. These are the government and the financial institutions of the richer countries in Europe.

The Greek people finally voted in a new government that comprised of the leftist coalition, the Syriza. They wanted change and to get out of the old social and economic conditions that did not offer a solution to the problems faced by the people.

I see a parallel with the politics in Singapore. The people find life to be difficult, with a high cost of living, and also wanted a change to a new economic and social order. The ruling party controls the funds and power and has a strong vested interest to maintain the status quo. They are like the creditor nations of Europe. The new Greek government is like the alternative parties in Singapore that has to win over the support of the people.

Will the people in Singapore have the courage to vote for the alternative parties and to face the uncertainty ahead to get the change that they wanted and needed?

It is interesting to watch what happened to Greece during the next two weeks.

Will Greece exit the Euro?

It has been very tough for Greece to find a solution to its economic and debt problems. The bailout programs offered by the richer countries of Europe had not worked over the past years. The economic conditions had gone worse.

The Greeks voted a new government, comprising of the left wing Syriza coalition. The new government was against the austerity program imposed by other European leaders. They just called a referendum and go the support of the people in voting against the austerity program imposed by the lenders. The voting in the referendum was a surprise 61% vote in support of the government's stand.

The Greek government wanted the lenders to take a discount on the past loans that they had lent to Greece. A possible outcome is that the strong support from the referendum will strengthen the hand of the Greek government in negotiating a substantial discount with the creditors.

The alternative option is for Greece to exit the Euro currency, a situation that Europe and Greece wanted to avoid. I expect that both sides will reach a compromise on the last minute to avoid this outcome, and that both sides will agree on that discount.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-06/greek-showdown-looms-with-europe-raising-heat-on-tsipras-ibs93ycs

Wage growth will not be disastrous

The conventional wisdom is that wage growth without productivity gain will be bad for Singapore's competitiveness. See this report:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/singapore-could-lose/1964694.html

This is an illusion. It was spun by people with vested interest to suppress wages, starting from our government and echoed by business leaders.

The wage component of our total cost is probably quite low, compared to most other developed countries. We can afford a higher component in wage cost, without getting into trouble.

Three other components can be adjusted to allow for higher wages - rental of premises, top management salaries and shareholder profits. These components are probably much higher than other countries, and lead to an unbalanced and unsustainable structure in Singapore.

We have to accept the restructuring of our cost components. Do not be misled by people with vested interest in the status quo.

Click & Collect Service

It is a good idea for a supermarket or department store to provide a "click and collect" service. Customers can order online and collect their goods from a convenient location near their home. Delivery to their home may not work if there is nobody at home to receive the goods.

Marks & Spencer in the UK is introducing this service. Our local supermarkets can learn from their example.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/britains-m-expand-free-click-collect-150659632--finance.html

Smart City - Japan shows the way

Singapore is building a smart nation concept. We need to learn from Japan. They adopt a more practical approach.

http://brandinsider.straitstimes.com/hitachi/building-a-smarter-singapore/

SingPass adopted a sensible approach towards enhanced security

SingPass has launched an enhanced security measure. It is explained as follows:

Users have to go to www.singpass.gov.sg and log in first to verify their details and sign up for the new SingPass. Under this system, users will log in with their username and SingPass as per usual. When they perform sensitive transactions, they will also have to input a one-time password which will be sent to their mobile phones, or generated through a token.

I like this approach of identifying which are normal transactions, where enhanced security is not required, and sensitive transactions, where a one time password is sent to the mobile phone. I find the mobile phone to be more practical, unlike the use of a bulky token.

SingPass seemed to have got it right. Well done!

Ten Most Peaceful Countries in the World

Add caption

The ten most peaceful countries in the world, starting from the top are:

1. Iceland
2. Denmark
3. Austria
4. New Zealand
5. Switzerland
6. Finland
7. Canada
8. Japan
9. Belgium
10. Norway

7 countries are in Europe, 1 in North America, 1 in Asia and 1 in Australasia.

Singapore did not make it within this list - most probably because of our high military expenditures.

http://womenosophy.com/worlds-most-peaceful-countries

Avoid useless regulations

The cost of complying with useless regulation is mind blogging. This writer identifies that the source of the regulation is America. But, in Singapore, we also have our own wasteful activities - doing paperwork that are useless and adding to the cost of doing business.

I wonder if our useless activities are also caused by the regulations that come from America. Quite likely, this is the case, but our regulators should have the guts and the independence to draw a line between what is necessary and what is not.

By enforcing a high level of compliance of useless regulations and paperwork, we are adding to the cost of doing business in Singapore.

http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/jp-morgan-private-banker-we-cant-make-money-anymore-17208/

Impact of Greece Default on Singapore's lending to IMF

Kenneth Jeyaretnam said that the Finance Minister had misled Parliament when he said that the loan to IMF does not carry any risk. If Greece defaults, the IMF will lose a lot of money and the lenders may have to take a loss.

http://sonofadud.com/…/greeces-imf-default-shows-clearly-t…/

SAF should apply judgment

Hi Mr Tan,

In the recent SEA Game, we have seen some very promising young Singapore athletes . The swimming team indeed caught my attention. Swimmers Joseph Schooling and even Quah Zheng Wen are potential Olympic medalists in the future. They need time to train and compete at highest level in the world stage to achieve their highest potential. National service seem to come in the way, as in the past. I am aware that Joseph Schooling had recently being deferred. I am also aware that Mindef has always been very supportive and granted time off to such athletes.

I feel that such promising athletes should be exempted from NS and be put to focus on full time training in their field of sport. Of course, there must be strict selection. At the end of the day, if they do win a medal in the world stage or even a gold medal (maybe I am dreaming), they bring honor to Singapore.

If we are reluctant to give exemption, just let them go for a 3 month BMT to learn the basic soldiering or whatever skill and then be released for full time sport training with the national coaches. To me, that is also a form of NS.

What is your opinion on this?

Shofaran from facebook.

REPLY
I agree with you. Our SAF generals should make judgement rather than apply the "no exception rule" blindly.

Natural aristocracy was first conceived by Thomas Jefferson

PM Lee refers to a "natural aristocracy". I searched Google and found this answer:


Thomas Jefferson on the Natural Aristocracy & Its Role in the Government.

"... I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class.

The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society. And indeed it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of the society.

May we not even say that that form of government is the best which provides the most effectually for a pure selection of these natural aristoi into the offices of government? The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provision should be made to prevent its ascendancy.

On the question, What is the best provision, you and I differ.... You think it best to put the Pseudo-aristoi into a separate chamber of legislation where they may be hindered from doing mischief by their coordinate branches, and where also they may be a protection to wealth against the Agrarian and plundering enterprises of the Majority of the people.

I think that to give them power in order to prevent them from doing mischief, is arming them for it, and increasing instead of remedying the evil. For if the coordinate branches can arrest their action, so may they of the coordinates.

Mischief may be done negatively as well as positively. Of this a cabal in the Senate of the United States has furnished many proofs. Nor do I believe them necessary to protect the wealthy; because enough of these will find their way into every branch of legislation to protect themselves. From 15 to 20 legislatures of our own, in action for 30 years past, have proved that no fears of an equalization of property are to be apprehended of them.

"I think the best remedy is exactly provided by all our constitutions, to leave the citizens the free election and separation of the aristoi from the pseudo-aristoi, of the wheat from the chaff. In some instances, wealth may corrupt, and birth blind them; but not in sufficient degree to endanger the society."

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams (1813).

Troublesome to get replies from government agencies

I received this email from CPF

Dear Employer
The electronic Record of Payment (eROP) for payment received on 01 Jul 2015 under CPF Submission Number 200700231C-PTE-01 is ready for viewing.

To view your eROP:1) Please login to CPF e-Submission (Employers) Service and click "View Record of Payment".2) Select the Statement No. to view the eROP.

Please check that the details in the Record of Payment are correct and inform us immediately if there are any discrepancies.

Yours faithfully

Electronic Submission Section

Central Provident Fund Board

I sent this reply

Dear CPF
I suggest that you send the eROP to me by email.
It is troublesome for me to login into the CPF website to view this eROP.
Be considerate.

Why do the government continue with a wasteful practice that gives so much trouble to the business sector?

Harmful consequence of National Service

I agreed with a view posted by another person that National Service has been harmful and has led to the low birth rate in Singapore over the decades.

An idiot who attacked me personally and said that without NS, Singapore will be in big trouble. This idiot can only think in "black and white", all or nothing. I have deleted his view and banned him.

Here is my view. We need a strong military service, but that can be achieved by a professional army.

We may need conscription, but it can be done within one year, like in most countries. We should not be wasting two years full time and another 10 years of reservists duty.

We are over doing this NS obligation. Times have changed since 1965.

If that idiot expressed his view without making a personal attack, it is all right. But idiots do not know how to be polite or sensible.

Some people think that National Service has done good for them. I do not dispute their view. It is their view, and they are entitled to it. But they should not impose this view on many other people who feel that NS, full time and reservists, has been harmful to their career and family life. We need to see issues from a wider perspective.

Non life insurers lose 6% of revenue due to fraud

Non life insurers in India lose 6% of their revenue due to fraud. I believe that similar figures can be found in other countries.

This article explains about fraud in health insurance claims. It also apply to motor insurance.

Generally, the insurance companies are quite weak in managing fraud. The tools are available today for them to handle the fraud more effectively. But few insurance companies are up to date in dealing with this issue.

I quote the following examples of effective measures to handle fraud:

1) When a motorist meets with an accident, he will usually call the insurance company immediately. The hotline staff can advice him to take photos of the damaged vehicles and send them by email to the insurer immediately. This should be done before the vehicle goes to the repair shop. The insurer should have a database to store and retrieve thousands of photos efficiently.

2) Insurers struggle with bills sent by hospitals for various procedures and by repair shops for parts. They can collect the data based on past payments and find out the average price for each medical treatment or spare part. The claims staff can be alerted if any bill exceeds the average by a margin.

3) The insurers can be more pro-active in guiding their customers to the honest repair shops and hospitals. The customer can get better service quality and the insurer pay a lower price. The additional cost due to fraud is prevented.

Will the prime minister antagonize more people?

Hi Mr. Tan
PM Lee must know that at least 500 to 1,000 people, ordinary people, have contributed to Roy's legal defense fund. They are people who did not defame the PM and must have felt that Roy was speaking on their behalf.

By asking the court to impose the maximum penalty on Roy, is the PM saying to these people - yes, you can support Roy when the amount is $100k, let's see if you can continue to support him when the damages are 5 to 10 times higher!

Is the PM trying to antagonize these people as well?

REPLY
If the damages are as high as you suggest, I am sure that the prime minister will be losing more votes at the next general election. He will be making more enemies. Even the neutral bystanders will feel that things have gone too far.

It is unwise for him to ask for "maximum damages". What is he trying to prove?

A bad precedent set by our court

Many decades ago, someone said that Mr. LKY was a gangster. He sued that person and won a large amount of damage.

I felt, at that time, that it was wrong for Mr. LKY to sue his opponent or for the court to award the damages. Any thinking person who know that that statement is so ridiculous as to be ignored. Nobody would believe that Mr. LKY was a gangster.

I still hold the same view today. It is wrong for a government leader to go around suing citizens who made incredible statements  about him, because few people who be so gullible as to believe these statements anyway.

Our court had set a bad precedent by awarding a large damage to Mr. LKY. I hope that the court will reverse this bad precedent in a future case.

A bad idea for PM Lee to sue Roy Ngerng

A few people have asked me what I would do, if I were the prime minister in reacting to the statements made by Roy.

I would give my own statement on the truth of the issue and stopped the matter at that stage. I would not bother to engage in a childish quarrel out of court or in court.

I do not need to sue anybody for making false statements about me. I ignore them. Ordinary thinking people would not believe them anyway.

A reputation is protected by personal character and integrity - not by suing people or bullying people.

Bad government policies have led to these serious challenges

PM Lee has identified productivity growth, population and identity as the key challenges facing Singapore over next 50 years. I agree with his view.  Article.

However, he talked as if he was an academic researcher who has just made this discovery. He forgot that he had been in the government for over 30 years and was primarily responsible for the policies that brought Singapore to this difficult situation. 

Where were these policies?

1) He was responsible for several policies that caused Singapore to have low productivity. He introduced measures such as the Goods & Services Tax and the dozens of calibrated measures that was wasteful and unproductive and create expensive administrative work for businesses and the government agencies. Low productivity is caused, to a large extent, by the ecosystem on how business is carried out.

2) The low birth rate that led to a declining local population was caused by the high cost of living, the high cost of housing and by national service. While he was not primarily responsible for these measures, he could have played a major role to identify these problems and found effective measures to combat them. 

3) The lost identity is a result of his policies to increase the population to bring in foreigners and to grant permanent residency and citizenship to them easily. He failed to recognize that this would bring about serious problems, especially as the local population had to make a big sacrifice in serving two years full time in national service, and another ten to 15 years in reservist duty. The local born males have now described that they face a serious disadvantage in competing for jobs in Singapore against the foreigners.

Singapore will continue to face daunting challenges, if the root causes are not identified and the bad policies, that has been a cancer on our social and economic fabric is not eradicated.

Poor claim handling standards in Singapore

I have been consulted on a few occasions about rejected critical illness or medical claims. The policyholder contracts a serious illness and submits a claim. The insurance company checks with the hospital or polyclinic and found record of a previous consultation which was not declared to the insurance company. On some occasions, the consultation was made several years earlier.

The policyholder told me that they did not declare the consultation because they was not aware of its significance. They did consult the doctor who assured them that the medical condition was not serious. It could be a borderline hypertension, but the doctor felt that it was not necessary to go on medication. This non-declaration, even though it was not intended, has often led to a rejection of the claim.

In many cases, the rejection was unjustified. However, it seemed to be a practice for the claim officer to look for a reason to reject a claim, and the alleged non-disclosure was a convenient reason.

Under the life or general insurance policy, there is usually a non-dispute clause. This clause states that the insurance company cannot dispute a claim on grounds of non-disclosure after a lapse of one or two years from the issue of the policy, "except in the case of fraud". Some claim officers argue that non-disclosure is fraudulent. They are mistaken. If challenged in court, they are likely to fail.

In some countries, the insurance company is more careful about disputing claims on such flimsy grounds, as they might be sued for punitive damages for their bad behavior or unreasonable rejection of claims. The actions are usually taken by the authority, acting in the interest of consumers, or by lawyers working on "success fee" basis - i.e. they lawyer do not charge any fee if they failed to get compensation for the victim. Unfortunately, we do not have these practices in Singapore.

Because of the poor claim handling standards in Singapore, I often advise consumers to avoid putting too much trust in insurance companies. It is distressful to be paying a large premium to an insurance company for the "peace of mind" only to find that the insurance company had rejected a claim unfairly.

For critical illness and medical fees, I prefer to rely on personal savings, rather than pay a large premium for an uncertain cover.  I advise buying personal accident insurance to cover accidents - which is usually more certain in settlement, compared to the other classes.

Low ranking of Singapore in happiness index

Alex Au has produced an excellent analysis of a survey called out by Gallops on the happiness level of 145 countries. Singapore stands at a miserable ranking of 97th, in spite of having one of the highest per capita income in the world. Something is seriously wrong with the balance of work and play in Singapore.

Here are the key findings:

Purpose, only 10 – 20% of Singapore respondents were thriving. We were nearly at the bottom compared to other countries, ranking 123 out of 145.  You could say that in general, Singaporeans didn’t like what they had to do each day, and were lacking in motivation.

Social, only 10 – 20 % of Singapore respondents were thriving. We were nearly at the bottom compared to other countries, ranking 123 out of 145. In general, we were reporting rather arid personal lives.

Financial, the picture was vastly different. Over 40% gave responses that Gallup classified as thriving. We ranked 9th out of 145 countries. The average Singaporean was a lot more financially secure than people in most other countries.

Community, we sank again. Only 20 – 30% were thriving, giving us a middling score: 72nd out of 145 countries.

Physical, we sank lowest of all. With only 10 – 20% responses classified as thriving, we ranked near the bottom: 137th out of 145 countries. It could be said that we felt our health was suffering and that we didn’t have the energy to get what we wanted done.

Overall index, Gallup ranked countries by the percentage of responses who were thriving in at least three of the five elements, indicative of a well-balanced life. In Singapore, only 12.7% were. Compared with other countries, this ranked us 97th.

This survey is consistent with what many people here feel: empty, exhausted, alienated. We’re a grumpy, stressed out and dissatisfied society.

You can read a more complete analysis here. 

Big progress on renewable energy

Here are big news on renewable energy. The key headlines are:
1. The price of solar power will continue to fall, until it becomes the cheapest form of power in a rapidly expanding number of national markets.
2. With solar power so cheap, investments will surge. Expect $3.7 trillion in solar investments between now and 2040, according to Bloomberg
3. The biggest solar revolution will take place on rooftops. High electricity prices and cheap residential battery storage will make small-scale rooftop solar ever more attractive, driving a 17-fold increase in installations.
4. Growth in demand for electricity is slowing. The reason: efficiency. To cram huge amounts of processing power into pocket-sized gadgets, engineers have had to focus on how to keep those gadgets from overheating.
5. Natural gas won't become the oft-idealized "bridge fuel" that transitions the world from coal to renewable energy.
6. The shift to renewables is happening shockingly fast, but not fast enough to prevent perilous levels of global warming.
Without additional policy action by governments, global carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector will continue to rise until 2029 and will remain 13 percent higher than today's pollution levels in 2040.
Read this Bloomberg article

Phey Yew Kok

Kenneth Jeyaretnam provides an interesting record of the questions raised in Parliament over the past years regarding the disappearance of Phey Yew Kok. Article.

No queue to top up SG50 transport voucher

I was at Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange. I saw the ticket office and asked if they could top up my SG50 transport voucher. They referred me to a nearby counter.

Me: can I top up my Transit Link card with the SG50 voucher?
Young man: yes
Me: do I need to show a letter with my voucher
Young man: no need

He did the top-up. And you now what? There was no queue at all. I was the only person who requested for the top-up.

What happened to all the people that enjoyed queuing for hours to get the top-up? They have gone!!!

Hey! Why do they deny me the fun of queuing up for two hours to get my top-up? I am a Singaporean, and I love long queue! LOL.

What happened to PM Lee's showcase of the popularity of his SG50 package?

Two month's wait to be treated as a subsidized patient

I went to Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic to do an X ray on the growth in my foot and to receive the appropriate treatment. They found that it was an early stage of tophus, which was caused by gout. They referred me to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

KTP Hospital finally contacted me with an appointment. There was a gap of two months. It seemed rather long.

I have the option to be a private patient and be treated immediately. Money talks in Singapore. But, I prefer to wait and see what happens.

I suspect that they purposely lengthen the queue for subsidized patients so that more people would opt to pay and jump queue. I wonder if anyone in the Ministry of Health is looking at how the resources are being allocated between the private and subsidized patients?

Perhaps the Ministry also have a conflict of interest? They prefer more people to be private patients so that the government subsidy is reduced, and they score better in their KPI and get better bonuses?

Time to stop an unnecessary and wasteful practice

My doctor prescribed medication to treat my medical condition. The clinic assistant asked me to pay $30. I said, "charge to my grandfather". She asked, "who is he?". I showed her my Pioneer Generation Card. She had a good laugh - hahaha.

But, I still have to pay $2. The remaining $28 is deducted from "my grandfather".

Why is there a need to pay the $2 and create extra work for the clinic assistant?

Perhaps, it was due to Mr. LKY. He did say that people should pay something, however small, so that they know that "nothing is for free".

But that was perhaps 40 years ago. Times have changed. Are these additional work really necessary? The cost of workers must have gone up 10 times. Why continue with this wasteful practice?

Does our current leaders know that Mr. LKY had since departed from this world? Did they not know that we had one week of national mourning for him? It is time for a change. 

Private website overcharges for the visa

I learned that visitors can apply for a tourist visit online to visit Myanmar. I searched for the website and found it. I entered the data needed for the application and was about to submit it. I checked the terms and conditions and learned that I had to pay a visa processing fee of US$120. That looked quite expensive.

I read the website more carefully and found that it was actually a private website and they are providing a service to apply for the visa. I abandoned the application.

My friend later found me the official website of the Myanmar Government. They charge a processing fee of US$50. The information required by the private website is the same as that needed by the official website.

The private website did not provide any value, but only added US$70 to the cost. They probably made their money from the public who were not aware of the over-charging. I nearly fell into their trap.

Complaints on poor quality of DBSS flats

I am surprised about the poor quality of workmanship for the DBSS housing projects. These are more expensive projects on HDB land but built by the private sector. The buyers have to pay a higher price for the flats.

DBSS is an acronym for Design, Build and Sell Scheme. Singaporeans, especially those in our elite political and government service, likes to create acronyms! It makes them feel great.

Are the workmanship really that bad, or is it due to higher expectation of the buyer. When paying a higher price, they will naturally expect better quality.

Perhaps the private developers went too far in trying to squeeze a high price and also to get the maximum sale-able space. In the process, the reduce the width of the corridors and open space. Maybe, they were trying to cut down cost also.

The complaints suggest that the DBSS scheme is a bad idea.

Read this article.

Many candidates for the US Presidential Election

13 high-profile Republicans have officially entered the campaign for the party's 2016 nomination. Only three major prospects remain: Ohio's Kasich, Wisconsin's Walker and New Jersey's Christie, each planning to announce his intentions in the coming weeks.

They are expected to join a field with five sitting or former senators, five current or former governors, two business leaders and a retired neurosurgeon. The "in or out" phase of the Republican presidential race is nearing its end, but with just over seven months until Iowa's leadoff caucuses, no clear leader has emerged in the race for the nomination.

There's so many candidates, it's almost impossible for the average person to keep track," said tea party leader Mark Meckler, who heads up the conservative group Citizens for Self-Governance.

Zurich Vista Plan

ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2012 (NOW RE-DATED)

Dear Mr. Tan,

As an expat in Singapore I signed up for Zurich's Vista Plan. Life in Singapore was good and I am very grateful for the hospitality and opportunity provided by the Singaporean Government. (My 2 kids are called Lee and Kuan, my wife's last name is Yu. That wasn't done on purpose, but in a way it does reflect our respect for the Minister Mentor.)

While liberal financial regulations have made Singapore what it is today, the top city to do business in, I feel that regulations aren't protecting end consumers as they should. MAS has brought some considerable improvement in this area, but does it go far enough?

As an example, I would like to call on all customers who regretfully have purchased a Zurich Vista investment plan.

I say regretfully, because for me it hasn't worked out. After several years of contribution, this is the score:

- on contributions of about us$ 200,000, Zurich has charged me us$20,000.-

- my gain has been around 4-5% per annum (which is good for Singapore, but standard in Australia)

- that gain is mostly due to the bonus which I was given at the beginning for signing up, this bonus effect will decline over the years

My main regret, besides the high cost, is regarding the terms and conditions that come into play when life changes and contributions to Zurich have to be paused.

Once I stopped making regular contributions, I found out that some of the charges simply continue and that stopping alltogether is costly, due to a steep surrender penalty. I am establishing if I have been mislead or ill-informed, or, whether it has been my own fault to buy into this product. 

My individual opinion - other people may have their own -  is that I bought 'flexibility', and that the fixed fee structure and high surrender penalties haven't been made clear enough. As a part of that process, if there are more customer like me, I am calling on them to see if we can take collective action:

Erik van Vulpen

Evanvulpen@yahoo.com

Australia

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Insurance funds for infrastructure projects

China's State Council, which is the Chinese cabinet, has announced that an insurance investment fund will be set up, with capital mainly from insurance institutions to support strategic or public projects like urban renewal, infrastructure, water conservation, transportation, and international cooperation initiatives.

The decision, made on Wednesday, envisages that the insurance investment fund would total CNY300 billion (US$48.3 billion). It said that the fund would be managed along commercial lines to invest in such projects.

In recent years, the Chinese insurance industry has developed very rapidly. Total premium revenues exceeded CNY2 trillion last year and total assets stood at more than CNY10 trillion.

Read the article here.

MY VIEWS:
This is an excellent approach. It should be used for countries that need to develop their infrastructure, such as India (where PM Modi wants to develop 100 smart cities) and Indonesia (where President Joko Widodo wants to upgrade their infrastructure also).

Australia - proposal to half the upfront commission on life insurance policies

AUSTRALIA: The life insurance industry faces a shake-up -including a halving of commission rates- under proposals submitted by three major financial advisory associations to be implemented over a transitional period of three years. The proposals are welcomed by the government.


The reform package, from the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and Financial Services Council (FSC), cuts the upfront commission rate on life insurance policies from 120% of premiums to 60% by 2018. On-going commissions will be limited to 20% of the annual premium from next January.

http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/33111/Type/eDaily?utm_source/Edaily-News-Letter/utm_medium/Group-Email/utm_campaign/Edaily-NewsLetter

Trading with technical analysis

Hi Mr. Tan
Do you encourage people to trade gold and commodities? Is it risky? I refer to this posting
http://tankinlian.blogspot.sg/…/how-to-trade-on-technical-a…

REPLY
I do not encourage people to trade - as it is similar to betting. In the long run, they will lose their money.

But many people like to take a bet. They call it investing, e.g. in gold or stocks, but in reality they are trading with the aim to make a profit in the short term.They should realize that it is easier to make a loss.

Some of them attend training courses and paid a few thousand dollars to learn the technical analysis, i.e. how to read the charts. It is a waste of time and money to attend these courses, as they will not produce the results that you look for. It takes a lot of practice and skills to be a good technical analyst.

I am suggesting an alternative approach. Let the experts make the technical analysis and follow their recommendations with a demo account. You will learn that apply the recommendations is also not easy. At least, the difficulty is reduced to some extent.

If you make a profit after trading with a demo account for a month, you can venture with real money. But you must remember:

1) Online websites allow you to trade with leverage. You are trading with 10 to 50 times of the money that you put in. At 50 times leverage, a 2% move against you will wipe out your entire capital.

2) Trade with money that you an afford to lose. It is like buying 4D. Do not think that you are investing.

Good luck.

Standard Life to close its Singapore operations

I was not aware that Standard Life has been operating in Singapore. Now they are shutting down their operations and writing off US$71 million in non-operating loss.

quote

Standard Life Plc is shutting its insurance division in Singapore, as the Edinburgh-based company moves its focus toward asset management.

Standard Life will incur a non-operating loss of about 45 million pounds ($71 million) from the closing, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The loss will be reported within half-year results on Aug. 4. along with a gain from the sale of its Canadian unit of about 1.1 billion pounds, it said.

The shutdown is “subject to regulatory approvals, and the business will no longer accept new applications or contributions to existing plans with immediate effect,” Standard Life said.


Scotland’s largest insurer named the head of its fund management unit, Keith Skeoch, chief executive officer last week as the company cuts back operations that require more capital. It sold its Canadian division to Manulife Financial Corp. for 2.2 billion pounds in 2014 and bought Ignis Asset Management Ltd. in March 2014, helping boost assets and fee-based revenue.

unquote

Difficult to train unskilled workers in a short time

Ministry of Manpower is taking action against the Accredited Training Providers for failing to maintain the standard in conducting the training and assessment of the workers that are being trained.

Read this article. 

The comments posted in the website suggest that the problem has been around for a long time, and that the Ministry and its officials have not been doing their job well.

I suspect that the problem is more deep rooted. We are allowing many unskilled workers to work in Singapore at low wages (and high levies paid to the government). Being unskilled, they do not have the language competence and the ability to learn the skills and knowledge.

The providers are probably under pressure to pass a quota of trainees, so they relaxed on their standards. Basically, the root cause is the type of people being allowed to work in the construction industry in Singapore.

It takes years to acquire the skills. It cannot be achieved with a crash course. I suspect that this is the root cause of the problem.

Unfortunately, this is the consequence of the contracting and tendering system that has been adopted for decades in Singapore and the reliance on low cost foreign workers. It does not give the prospects for local construction workers to stay long in the industry to develop the skills.

Take constructive actions against criminal hackers

The IDA has warned the public about the fraudulent phishing emails. These are sent out by criminal hackers to get the user ID and password of their victims. Read this article.

Is this all the IDA can do? It should be possible to trace the database of the hackers and bring criminal charges against them. If the hackers are located overseas, our authority could approach Interpol (the international police organization) to seek the cooperation of the countries where the criminals operate from.

It is important for the authority to take constructive action against these criminals, rather than sit back and "warn the public".

High vacancy rate among condos

According to this survey, most condos are darker at night now compared to a year earlier. This could mean that there is a higher vacancy rate among the condos or that the units are leased to tenants who travel more outside of Singapore.

More units are completed in recent months and the owners have not moved into the condos yet, or have difficulty in leasing out the units. The vacancy rate has increased.

So far, the owners are not under much pressure to dispose or lease their units, as interest rate remains low and they can fund their mortgage payments from past savings. But the situation will get more desperate if the vacancy rate remains high for a year or so.

Read this article.

How to trade on technical analysis

Some people spend a lot of money to attend training courses on technical analysis. They tried to apply the techniques to read the price charts. But it is difficult to read the charts correctly, unless you have many years of practical experience and you do the technically analysis regularly.

I have found a better way to trade on technical analysis. I follow the technical view of a specific analyst regularly and compare them with the actual price performance for the day. You can use a "demo account" to trade and see if you have made the right decisions following the recommendation of the technical analyst. 

The "demo account" is provided by many online stockbrokers. I prefer the one provided by Plus 500 which is available on iPad. 

For the technical analysis, I receive a daily emaily from Philips Securities. Currently, I am following only one trading item - Gold. 

An example of this chart is shown below. It tells me to take a short position in Gold when it is below 1180 and to cover the position when it goes above this level. I have found that the recommendation is reliable on many occasions.

Good luck on your trading. Remember to use the "demo account" to acquire your trading experience.

Benefits to be provided free to citizens

When a person join a club as a member, he or she has to pay a monthly or annual subscription and will be entitled to the benefits provided by the club. They may include free use of certain facilities of the club and to pay a reduced fee for the use of other facilities or to dine at the restaurant.

The same concept can be applied when a person becomes a citizen of Singapore. The citizen and his family is entitled to the use of certain public services free and to other services at a reduced rate or at cost. There is a need to prevent abuse of some free benefits by over consumption of the benefits. To prevent his abuse, a charge may be imposed.

Some services cannot be over consumed, for example, security, basic education or medical consultation. Most people will only use them out of necessity, rather than for "enjoyment". There is no need to charge for the use of these public services.

It does not make sense for the government to charge a fee for basic education. It is costly and unproductive to collect the small amount of fee from the students and to take action against poor students who are not able to pay the fee. The collection of the fees takes the time of the teachers which adds to their stress and work load.

Similarly, it is not necessary to collect fee for essential medical consultation. As the government already pays for a large part of the cost of these services, it is unproductive and wasteful to add to the cost by asking the patient to make a small payment. There are better ways to prevent the abuse, for example, by asking the patient to pay in full for the use of services in excess of a quota. As most people will use the services within the quota, it will reduce the administrative work of collecting the small fee. It also saves time of the patients in queuing to pay the fee.

Beyond the free services, there is a need for the government to charge for the use of other services which are discretionary and considered as non essential. The government can provide these services and give the benefit to the citizens of lower cost through bulk purchase of the services and control on over charging. The services that fall within this category include tertiary education and specialist health care.

The government can provide this services to a certain proportion (for example, 50 percent) of the total demand and allow the private sector to meet the rest of the demand. The citizens are willing to pay a higher price in the private sector to have shorter waiting time or better service. The prices set by the government for similar services will be useful to serve as a benchmark on the prices set in the private sector.

The current system used in Singapore of providing different levels of subsidies for the consumption of health services according to the income level of the family is troublesome and inefficient. A better way is to provide a direct monthly grant to people at the lower income level to be credited into a stored value card or restricted or open bank account.  The holder can use the money from the government to pay for the use of services at the normal charges applicable to citizens.







  

Three wishes to improve our health care system

I asked a friend, who has been a general practitioner for 35 years - if a genie appear and is willing to grant you three wishes to improve the health care system in Singapore for the benefit of the people, what would you wish for?

He thought about this for a minute and replied:

a) The first wish to the government should open pharmacies all over Singapore and provide drugs at the subsidized prices that are now available to patients who visit the government polyclinics and hospitals. This will bring down the cost of drugs significantly and reduce the health care cost for the people.

b) The second wish is to pay the doctors a fixed fee to take care of the patients, e.g. $1,000 a year for each patient who are chronically ill and a lower rate for the younger and healthier patients. (This will not include drugs, which have to be paid separately at the government pharmacies). This is called the "capitation system". The doctors do not make more money by getting the patients to see them many times. As they get the same amount, they will spend time to teach the patient to stay healthy and visit them less often.

c) The third wish is to get rid of the complicated subsidy scheme that is now the practice in Singapore. This is taking too much time for the doctors and their staff in computing what has to be paid by different types of patients and the time spent trying to game the system.

I remark that the first two wishes are what has been the practice in the United Kingdom for several decades. While that system has its faults, it is generally regarded as being good for the people.

On the third wish, it is something that is unique to Singapore. It is wasteful, confusing and add to the cost.

My friend will make a better minister for health than the current minister. He knows what the actual problems are on the ground better than someone who flew in by helicopter.