Watch a country go down the drain

Mr. Tan,

Most people cannot imagine how a country, that used to be great, can go down the drain.

There is no need to use their imagination. They only need to open their eyes. It is happening right in front of us.

Like
Increase GST
Pass law on fake news.

The unimaginable is possible.

My reply:
Right!

Cruise ship - Genting Dream

I am taking a cruise on Genting Dream. I just watched a video about this cruise ship.

The ship was built in Germany. (Here, what happened to our shipyards in Singapore?)

The service staff was recruited from Shanghai. What happened to our unemployed graduates?

Here is the wiki report:

And the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=526b_qUx4Jg

Lee HL can collect his million dollar salary. But he is not doing his job to make Singapore competitive and get generate more employment for our people.

What is the title of GCMG?

I saw that Mr Lee Kuan Yew had the title GCMG.

Twenty years ago, I was met an Englishman with a similar title. He explained the significance of the title to me.

This title is given to people who have served a long time and with distinction in the public service, i.e.  civil servants and political leaders.

The rationale was that public service paid a low salary compared to the private sector and those in the public service need to be separately recognized for their sacrifice to serve the people.

Of course, it does not apply to Singapore today as our public servants are political leaders are paid quite handsome salaries compared to the private sector. However, Singapore is probably an exception.

Back to the title GCMG. It is the highest among the three titles in the same series - CMG, KCMG and GCMG.

When you have served the country loyally and with distinction in the public service for many years, the Queen award you the title of CMG - Companion of St Michael and St George. I have checked and confirm that carries the title of "Sir".

After many more years of distinguished service, you may be awarded KCMG - Knight Commander of St Michael and St George.

After many more years, you get the title of GCMC - which is Grand Cross of St Michael and St George. This is the top honor in that series.

The Englishman told me that it is general public had created a new description for these titles.

If you are awarded CMG - you tell your friend that they can "Call Me God".

If you get KCMG - you can tell your fiends - the King (or Queen) calls me God.

If you get GMCG - guess who has to call you God?

I hope that Mr. LKY is now in heaven with God and he can tell God that he has the title GCMG.

I hope you enjoy the joke. Only broad minded people enjoy jokes. Others may find it offensive.

Tan Kin Lian

Venture out of comfort zone

I have two rabbits. They are kept in two separate cages and are sheltered from the rain. They receive their food three times a day.

I let them out once in a while to roam freely in the garden. If both are out together, they are likely to fight.

Do these rabbits prefer the comfort of the cages or to roam freely in the garden?

I reflect on this choice and think about the ordinary Singaporeans. If they have a job, they can live comfortably in their HDB flats and work hard every day. They don't want to venture out of their comfort zone and into the unknown.

When they lose their jobs and have no money to feed their family, they go out to fight each other for the limited jobs as Uber or Grab drivers.

But this opportunity will soon be bleak. There is an over supply of taxis and private hire cars. The high demand, which is generated by promotions has already started to reverse. Times will get very tough for them, unless they have a new government.

Back to my rabbits. When I open the door of their cage, they hesitate to come out. After a while, they leave their cage and enjoy the freedom, but still in the garden. They don't want to come back, even for food.

Is there a lesson for Singaporeans? Is it worth venturing out for some freedom? Can we move out of the comfort zone? Are they more tame than the rabbits?

Capitalism and socialism

Many Singaporeans believe that capitalism is good and socialism is bad.

This belief, which is the outcome of ignorance and brainwashing over the decades, reminds me of the sheep in the novel titled "Animal Farm".

In that novel, the sheep represented the ordinary people. At the beginning, they were told by their animal leaders that the anmials (with four legs) were better than humans (with two legs). They were taught to repeat the slogan "four legs good, two legs bad". They were brainwashed and believed in the slogan.

Many years later, the leaders started to follow the ways of the humans. They changed their teaching and told the sheep to chant the new slogan "four legs good, two legs better".

Being ignorant, the sheep believed and followed the teachings of their leaders.

Now, I ask you. What are the color of the sheep. Most of them are white, right? Have you ever seen a blue sheep?

Back to capalism and socialism. Many Singaporeans are ignorant about the real difference between capitalism and socialism. They only believe that the propaganda that capitalism is good, that it creates wealth and that socialism is bad, that it destroys wealth.

They follow the brainwashing of the American media. The Americans also also brainwashed. They believe that capitalism is good and that low tax regime is good.

But they also want to have their socal security, unemployment benefit and Medicare. They do not realize that these social programs are produced by socialist policies enacted a few decades ago.

We can continue to be ignorant and follow the slogans taught by the leaders. Alternatively, we can start thinking for ourselves.

Should the Deductible be removed from the Medishield and integrated plans?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should the Deductible be removed from the Medishield and integrated plans?

55% said that this should be made optional.
36% said that the increase in premium is lower than the cost of the rider (taken with a private insurer) to cover the co-payment.
10% like to keep the status quo;

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=544

Is the government spending the tax revenue prudently and wisely?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Is the government spending the tax revenue prudently and wisely?

56% said that they are not spending enough to help the people cope with the high cost of living.

40% said that they spend too much on defense.

None said that they spend too much on infrastructure.

See the breakdown of the votes at
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=545

Simulation of general election 2020

Mr. Tan,
I have looked at your simulation of the general election due on 2020. I do not believe the results. I think they simulations are incredible. Are they fake news?

Reply
I agree with you.
They are as incredible as Donald Trump being elected as President of the United States. Right?

Here are the simulated results.
If you do not agree with the extreme simulations, you can select and view the more moderate simulation with swing less than 25%.
http://tklcloud.com/Election/const2.aspx

If you are still not happy, you can do you own simulation and choose the factors that are not so bad for the PAP. Here is the link:
http://tklcloud.com/Election/const.aspx

How to deal with "deliberate fake news"

I will now give my views about the current attempt by the government to pass legislation to deal with "deliberate fake news". I understand that the government wish to pass a law to impose penalties on the people involved.

I will deal with these questions:

a) What is real news and what is fake news?
b) How to identify a malicious intent from a mistake, a joke or just an opinion?
c) Should the culpability be extended to the platform or website owner?

The large social media owners have testified to the select parliamentary committee that they do not have the ability to judge what is real news and what is fake news.

I agree with their view. It is impossible for them to deal with this matter when there are millions of posts that are put up each day on their platform.

A practical approach is for them to act when a party, who is affected by the fake news, raises an objection. The platform owner can remove the posting, if they agree that the objection is legitimate.

The aggrieved party can also ask the platform owner to post a correction to the fake news. This is the approach taken by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew one or two decade earlier. It is a fair and practical approach.

To be fair, the correction should not be longer than the original post. Exceptions can be made.

I will now deal with another matter. Suppose someone puts up a fake news. So what?

Why do I say so? Common sense will tell us about the following:

a) Not many people read the fake news.
b) Even if it is circulated virally, not many people will believe it.

There is therefore no need for the government to deal with this matter by passing any law, especially a law that may be ambigious and cause other problems, such as the curtailment of free speech or the right to express an opinon, or even to criticise the government for an unjust or dishonest act.

The best way to deal with fake news is to put up the real facts and let the people judge for themselves. We have to trust that most people have common sense and are decent people. They do not believe in any untruths or half truths that are pushed to them. Some of these half truths are put up by the government itself.

If we look at what is happening in America, we will realise the magnitude of the problem. President Trump makes statements that are considered outrageous by many people with common sense. But he believed in these statements. He is also the most powerful person in America and maybe the whole world. If there is a law against deliberate fake news, how will President Trump be judged and who will judge him?

Mental block with the name "Lee"

I may be getting dementia. I had a very good friend. His name is Kum Tatt. He was a great scientist. But I forgot his surname. Was it Chan, Wong or Tan?

After raking my memory, I remembered. It was Lee Kum Tatt. He passed away about 10 years ago.

Next. the prime minister of Singapore. I know that his initial is LHL. I also remember his name as Hsien Loong. But I forgot his surname.

Is it Lim, Low or Loo?

After much effort, I remembered that it was a Lee.

It seemed that I faced a mental block when it comes to a "Lee". I don't know why.

OK, this is just a joke. It is not fake news, OK?

Here is the link to tell you more about my friend, Lee Kum Tatt

http://leekumtatt.blogspot.sg/

An anomaly will be removed by year end

At last. All rail networks will come under the "open system". It is long overdue!
Welcome to Singapore!

'Open system'
No additional charges for transfers between different rail lines by the year end

At the end of this year, commuters will no longer have to pay an additional boarding charge when they transfer between MRT or LRT stations on different lines within 15 minutes. The move to treat the rail network as an "open system" comes as it becomes denser, with more rail lines slated to open in the coming years, said Public Transport Council chief executive Tan Kim Hong.

Terrorists do not need to depend on social media

Josephine Teo said:

Quote:
In several overseas incidents, police forces had appealed to the public not to transmit or broadcast videos of ongoing operations, to protect the safety of their officers and the public,” said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo in Parliament. “But this is usually not effective. Cases of individuals and media knowingly transmitting and broadcasting are common, even when they are told the information may lead to the loss of lives.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/ban-photos-videos-message…
Unquote:

I think that she had exaggerated the point. The terrorists would be too busy to watch the social media and the videos that are being shared.There must be tens of thousand of these feeds. There is also the risk that some of these feeds are unreliable or fake.

A strange reason to increase public transport fares

I read this news summary:

Public transport fares could rise after revision to fare formula
Announcing the revised fare formula on Thursday (March 22), the Public Transport Council said the new component, called Network Capacity Factor, will track the structural changes to operating costs as a result of the changes in capacity and usage attributed to the growing rail network. This means that fares will increase if the capacity growth in the public transport network outstrips ridership growth.

My comment:
It seems that the fare will increase when the capacity is not fully used. It does not seem to make economic sense. Normally, the fare should drop when there is excess supply to encourage demand.

OK. We are talking here of a monopoly and inelasticity of supply. Even if the fare increases, people still have to take public transport. They have to pay the higher fare.

In that case, why are we increasing supply in excess of actual demand? It seems that our planners have got their plans wrong!

Welcome to Singapore!

Will tourists avoid Singapore?

The flight back from Sydney to Singapore was almost full. Two British girls, who finished High School, sat next to me. They stayed one month in Sydney and were on the way to Bangkok. They stopped in Singapore for the connecting flight but will not stay in Singapore.

I wonder if they found Singapore to be too expensive?

At the immigration counters, I saw more Singaporeans at the automated gates than the foreigners at the manned counters. It is the first time that I saw more locals than foreigners.

Maybe, it is once off? Or maybe some people are already avoiding Singapore due to the higher levy?

Airport charge is already quite high

The price for my return ticket to Sydney on Scoot was $450. The breakdown was:

Air fare $280 (62%)
Airport charges and levy $170 (38%)

For $280, Scoot had to ferry me for 9 hours to Sydney and another 9 hours back, and all the fuel. They also provide the captain and cabin crew. They did not provide meals, as I have to pay for them separately.

For $170, Changi and Sydney airports provide the check-in staff, and security check. It seemed quite a lot for an hour of service. This fee will soon increase due to the additional levy for Terminal 5.

When will Lee HL and his ministers realize that we are already far too expensive!

Costly to process the claim under the integrated plan

When you submit a claim for hospital treatment under an integrated plan, the claims officer has to go through the following steps to process the claim:

a) Determine if the treatment is covered under the policy by looking at the coverage and exclusions.
b) Check with your previous doctors to see if you had failed to disclose previous medical condition when you applied for the integrated plan. Your claim could be rejected due to non-disclosure.
c) Look at the individual items of the bill to see which items are covered, and which are not, and see in the amount under each item exceed the "inner limit".
d) See how much of the bill can be paid after applying the deductible and the co-insurance.
e) Determine how much of the claim is covered under Medishield Life and can be claimed from the Central Provident Fund.
f) Determine how much of the bill can be paid through Medisave, which has its own set of rules
g) Finally, you are likely to bear a portion of the bill in cash.

Processing of the claim can take a lot of work and can add to the cost of the insurance. This is reflected in the premium that you have to pay for the integrated plan.

The insurance company has also to incur the expense of marketing the plan, issuing the policy, collecting the premium, etc.

We have a complicated system which is costly to administer. It adds up to the cost of insurance.

I like the system used in Japan. The patient has to pay the fee that is negotiated and fixed. 70% of the bill is paid by the government or insurance. The patient pays the remaining 30%.

I think that the patient can buy insurance to cover the 30% or have it paid by the employer. It seems to be much simpler than the complicated system adopted here.

Welcome to Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian

What is the best way to control the escalation of medical charges

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way to control the escalation of medical charges

40% said we should set a medical fee guideline for each treatment.

36% said we should negotiate the fee for each treatment at national level.

24% said that the government should audit the fee charged for each treatment that exceed the benchmark.

None said that a co-payment should be imposed.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=541

What are your views about the abrupt change in the US secretary of state

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What are your views about the abrupt change in the US secretary of state

33% said that President Trump is unpredicatable and dangerous.

33% said that nothing will happen. We will just prod along.

29% said that America will get into more diplomatic disagreement with other countries.

A total of 62% are negative towards this abrupt change.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=542

Should Singapore send troops to Iraq?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should Singapore send troops to Iraq?

50% of those who voted said No, as our national interest is not at stake.

50% said that the peope must be told the reason for this involvement and give their support

Nobody voted for the other two reasons to support this ove.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=543

Vote on these issues

You can vote on these issues in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

a) Should the government reserve public sector jobs only for locals?
b) Should the government give a wage subsidy to private sector employers to employ locals?

Should schools start later in the morning?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Should schools start later in the morning?

48% of those who voted said that it will give the children more time to have a good sleep and be more attentive in the class.

26% said the current time allow parents to fetch their children to school on the way to work.

17% said it will help to reduce traffic congestion in the morning.

8% said it is better to instil the discipline of waking up early in the morning.

A total of 65% are in favor of staring schools later in the morning.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=540

What is the best way to control the spiraling cost of health care?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way to control the spiraling cost of health care?

58% of those who voted said that the ministry of health should negotiate with the providers on the fees to be charged for most medical procedures.

42% said that the ministry should audit the billings of hospitals to identify the unnecessary procedures.

There was no vote for the other two measures. None of the voters think that the co-payments will help to control the spiiraling cost.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=539

What happens when a new government runs Singapore?

Many people do not like the PAP. But they are more worried about leaving the government to the alternative parties. They ask - can a coalition of these alternative parties run the government?

I can understand their concern. It is too risky to leave their future and the future of their children to the unknown.

Are we then stuck with the PAP and their bad policies? These policies had made life very costly, very stressful and very difficult to the local Singaporeans.


I will not dwell on the reasons why the PAP pursue these bad policies. Rather, I like to identify what are the big challenges facing the people and what can be done to deal with these challenges.

The big challenges are:

a) High cost of living
b) High cost of doing business causing us to lose out on global competition.
c) Insecurity of jobs for local Singaporeans caused by being replaced by cheaper foreign workers.
d) High cost of health care
e) High stress caused by excessive and unnecessary competition in schools and the workplace

These challenges, who have not been addressed, have resulted in a low and declining birth rate during the past three decades. Our national birth rate is now the lowest among all the countries. I see this as the key indicator of the failure of the policies pursued by the PAP.

How can these challenges be addressed?

We need a new government that can make major changes to the policies of the current government to address these challenges. I believe that we need to make these changes:

a) Abolish GST
b) Reserve public sector jobs for local Singaporeans
c) Help the private sector to be competitive by reducing the cost of doing business and the cost of employing local Singaporeans.
d) Have a more efficient and less costly system of providing health care to the people.
e) Have a transparent and more effective system of managing big expenditure on infrastructure, defense and other types of government spending.

I will be covering these changes in more detail in separate posts and videos.

If a large proportion of voters like the changes and are willing to vote for leaders who believe in these changes, we can minimise the unknown when a new government comes into power.

If the goals are clear, the new government will be able to attract capable people in the public and private sector to implement these goals. If they adopt a transparent approach, they can overcome the unexpected difficulties by using collective wisdom and common sense. It is not that difficult.

I hope that many voters will be wiling to take the risk by voting for leaders who support a clear alternative strategy to the current PAP policies.

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Can patients trust their doctors to be ethical and avoid over servicing?
Will PM Lee's efforts as chair of ASEAN benefit Singapore?
What will happen to the US Dollar when China sells a large holding of US Treasuries?
How will China respond to strong tariffs imposed by President Trump?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Did the government floated a "test balloon" on the GST hike?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Did the government floated a "test balloon" on the GST hike?

42% of these who voted said that they agreed with Sylvia Lim that the government did float a test balloon.

42% said that the PAP was not honest in disclosing the real reason for this decision to implement the GST hike in a few year's time.

15% said that the government did intend to hike GST earlier but were surprised by the unexpected surplus of $9.6 billion.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=536

Will the "test ballon" saga in Parliament affect the votes at the next general election?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Will the "test ballon" saga in Parliament affect the votes at the next general election?

34% of those who voted said that the voters will worry about the calibre of the 4th generation ministers.

29% said that people will still vote PAP when the government gives them some goodies.

26% said that people have formed a bad opinion of the 4th generation leaders.

10% said that people will forget about this matter soon.

A total 0f 60% said that it will reduce the votes for the PAP. 40% said that it will not have any impact.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=537

What is your opinion of the PAP ministers involved in the "test balloon" saga?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What is your opinion of the PAP ministers involved in the "test balloon" saga?

56% of those who voted said that they are hypocrites and bullies.

34% said that they are not honest in disclosing the real reason for the strange GST hike decision.

9% said that they behave like small children.

Nobody think that they are dedicated and can run the country to a hide standard of conduct.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=538

Remove the deductible under Medishield Life

I have suggested that the deductible be removed from basic medishield and the integrated plans.

The deductible currently varies from $1,000 to $1,500. The patient has to pay the deductible before claiming under the medishield or integrated plan. Many people buy a rider to cover the deductible.

I suggest that consumers be allowed to cover the deductible under basic medishield by paying a higher premium. This will save them the additional cost of buying the rider from an insurance company.

They need to move to the integrated plan to buy the rider. The premium for the rider is higher than the cost of insuring the deductible as it involves marketing and administration expenses.

Tan Kin Lian

Why are there more floods in Singapore in recent years?

Rachel Ash said:

Mr Tan.
There was no reports on "ponding" before during Sir Stamford Raffles time. It all has to do with modernization. Rainwater needs to run off into somewhere and often this mean into drains, then river and finally the sea. Also rainwater seeps into the ground and finds the water table. Unfortunately, we have built ourselves a concrete jungle where rainwater mainly run off into man-made drains/canals which becomes increasingly insufficient.

I believe this issue has more impart than the Barrage. The more important question, I keep asking myself, year after year, decades after decades, there is always some widening/ deepening works on our drains/canals like our Bukit Timah canal but we are experiencing more episodes of ponding.

The most irritating thing I find that despite many ponding areas occurring in Singapore, our authorities NEVER issue us residents with fishing rods.

On a more serious note: is this a case of poor planning, penny wise pound foolish (like our MTR maintenance neglect). poor coordination among our agencies, stubborn and cocky (fail to listen to industry expert and rely on the wrong people for advice (ministers), part of their plan to have constant infra-structure projects to boost GDP numbers to earn fat bonuses or ............

REPLY
Each fishing rod cost $5. Can you buy it from the SG bonus of $100 to $300 that Heng SK is giving to you?

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Is the Singapore economy in good shape?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Does the Marina Barrage help to reduce flooding in Singapore?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Should the deductible under basic Medishield be removed?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

What are your views about Ong Ye Kung?

Here are the results of the votes on the issue in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What are your views about Ong Ye Kung?

71% of the voters think that he is arrogant and think highly of his capabilities.

14% said that he is somewhat immature and inexperienced.


A total of 85% had a negative opinion. The remaining 15% has a positive view.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=533

What are your views about Heng Swee Keat?

Here are the results of the votes on the issue in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What are your views about Heng Swee Keat?

72% of the voters think that he is arrogant and think highly of his capabilities.

6% said that he is somewhat immature and inexperienced.

A total of 78% had a negative opinion. The remaining 22% has a positive view.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=534

Do you support the government's plan to increase GST to provide more social benefits

Here are the results of the voting on this issue in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you support the government's plan to increase GST to provide more social benefits

49% of the voters said that the government should give more social benefits by reducing wasteful spending.

24% said that they can increase social benefits without tax increases.

22% said that they will collect more revenue and give very little in return.

A total of 95% are negative towards this move. The remaining 5% are supportive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=535

Do you expect North Korea to abandan their nuclear development in 2018?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you expect North Korea to abandan their nuclear development in 2018?

Here are the results of the voting.

48% said that this is not likely to happen. They cannot trust the North Korean regime.

36% said that America has an interest to keep the high tension in North Korea.

A total of 84% said that this is not likely to happen. The remaining 16% are positive.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=529

Is Sylvia Lim's remark about the trial balloon offensive?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Is Sylvia Lim's remark about the trial balloon offensive?

Here are the results of the voting.

51% said that the PAP ministers are acting as bullies.

46% said that Sylvia Lim is justified in making the remark.

A total of 96% are positive towards Sylvia Lim. The remaining 4% said that she should apologize for making the remark.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=530

Do you support the building of terminal 5?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you support the building of terminal 5

63% said they objected as they did not see the budget and the payback calculations.

15% said that it is costly and extravagant.

7% said that we should spend a smaller budget and keep the other four terminals.

A total of 85% is against this project. The remaining 15% support it.

See the breakdown of the votes at
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=531

The total of the negative vote is 82%. The remaining 18% said that this is necessary for our future.

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Is the government spending the tax revenue prudently and wisely?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Should the Deductible be removed from the Medishield and integrated plans?
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Consider removing deductible for integrated plans

Co-payment feature in insurance riders: Consider removing deductible for integrated plans

By TAN KIN LIAN, PRESIDENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSUMER ASSOCIATION

The Ministry of Health has announced that new riders for all Integrated Shield Plans should have a co-payment of at least 5 per cent of the hospital bill, subject to a cap.

I wish to suggest a more holistic approach to this matter.

The Integrated Shield Plans comprise a MediShield Life portion managed by the Central Provident Fund (CPF), and another portion with extra coverage by private insurers.

The problem with the Standard Integrated Shield Plan is the high deductible, the fixed amount in cash the claimant has to pay before insurance payout kicks in.

There is no need to have a deductible to deter patients from staying in the hospital. They go for treatment out of necessity, rather than choice.

If the deductible is removed, there is no need for policyholders to buy a rider.

The co-payment of 10 per cent that is found in the Standard Integrated Shield Plan can remain, and a cap can be placed on that.

Over the longer term, we also need to address the problem of the escalating charges for treatment in hospitals and specialists.

I suggest that the Ministry of Health study the system used in Japan. Each year, their ministry negotiates with hospitals and doctors on the fixed fees to be charged for most kinds of medical procedures.

I understand that the providers have to follow strictly to these fees and are not allowed to make extra billings on the patients.

We can adopt the same approach for all treatments that are covered Medisave, Medishield Life and the integrated plans.

I believe that this approach will address the root of the problem and will also reduce the cost of administration of the financial payments for healthcare.

Should we remove PSLE?

Here are the results of the voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd on this issue - Should we remove PSLE?

40% said that we should scrap PSLE entirely to remove the pressure on the children.

28% said we should keep PSLE but show the results in two bands - pass, fail.

22% said that we should keep PSLE in its present form as it encourages students to study hard and get good results.

10% said that we should keep PSLE but have three bands - excellent, pass, fail.

A total of 72% prefer PSLE to be scrapped or changed significantly.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=528

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

What are your views about the abrupt change in the US secreatary of state

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

What is the best way to control the escalation of medical charges
Give your vote in
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Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Should schools start later in the morning?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

What is the best way to control the spiraling cost of health care

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Can you understand all the confusing "Life" schemes?

Many people are confused with CPF Life, Medishield Life and Eldershield Life.

They are also confused with the earlier versions of these CPF schemes. They do not understand what is being covered under each scheme. Some of the coverage seems to be over lapping.

To add to the confusion, there are two options available in CPF Life (previously, there were four). There are also many options available under the integrated plans (which is an alternative to Medishield Life).

They still do not understand what is covered under Eldershield or Eldershield Life. Even if someone takes the trouble to explain to them, it will not help. They will remain confused.

Some of these schemes are compulsory and some are opt-out. And some are compuslory only for certain people and optional for the others. This adds to the confusion.

Confused? So am I.

I believe that all of these "Life" schemes are cooked up by Lee HL. He likes to have complicated schemes because he can understand them. But he does not realize that most other people are not as smart as he is. How many people graduated with a double first degree from a prestigious UK university?

Maybe, he has another reason. Maybe he wants the "Life" schemes to be his legacy.

With the passage of time, will people get to understand these schemes better? I doubt it. A decade has passed, and many people are still confused with them. Some might understand the scheme, but many are not able to cope.

Could all of these confusion be avoided?

Yes. If someone cared to listen. Ten years ago or thereabouts, there was a committee formed to study CPF Life. I met the committee. I gave my views - do not make CPF Life compulsory, make it attractive!

Basically, I suggested that members should be allowed to take out their CPF savings at 65 if they wish to. It is their money. Let them decide what to do with it. Maybe they have some debt and need the money to repay the debt.

However, make CPF Life attractive. Offer an attractive subsidy for them to buy this plan. For example, it may cost $100,000 to buy a life annuity that makes a monthly payment of $X for the rest of life. If they buy a similar plan from CPF Life, they only need to pay $70,000 from the CPF savings. The subsidy of 30% comes from the government.

The government can afford the subsidy because they have been making a lot of money from the difference between what they actually earned from investing the CPF savings and the interest of 2.5% paid to the CPF members. That is a lot of money for all the past years.

If there is an attractive subsidy, I am sure that many people will queue up to join CPF Life. Some may hesistate initially (because they don't trust the government) but they will queue up later when they saw other people joined voluntarily.

The same approach can be done for Medishield Life and for Eldershield Life. By the way, there is no need for Eldershield because it can be made a part of Medishield.

I am sure that the people who joined will understand the scheme. They will not be confused. They will remember that they paid only $70,000 for a scheme that cost $100,000 in the private market.

Sadly, the committee refused to consider my suggestion. They must be thinking about what Lee HL wanted. He wanted CPF Life a certain way .He got it.

And the people got all kinds of confusing "Life" schemes that they cannot understand.

Welcome to Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian

Insurance premium is a heavy commitment

Sally visited my office to seek my office on the life insurance policies that she and her husband had bought. They are paying too much premium and wish to reduce their budget.

Sally is 35 and her husband is 40 years.

TKL - Do you have any children?

Sally - No.

TKL - Is it your choice or you had difficulty getting a baby?

Sally - Baby hard to come by.

TKL - Is it due to stress and over work?

Sally - Quite likely. I have many friends in the same situation.

We went through the life insurance policies from two companies. We found that three policies were bought for investments, but gave a negative return. Sally will probably give up these policies.

She and her husband had adequate term insurance. They provide adequate cover, even after the life policies are cancelled.

They also bought two critical illness policies. Are they necessary? The premium is more than $100 a month. It does not provide any return.

I do not have any statistics on the claim to premium ratio. This would be a good way to understand if the policy is good for consumers.

My own preference is to avoid this type of cover. But I am not able to give a convincing reason - other than to say that the insurance company makes a big profit from selling this type of policy.

Sally decided to reduce the sum assured by 50%. This will reduce the premium by 50%. It seemed to be a good approach.

As Sally is having a difficult time with her budget, I did not ask her to make a donation to FISCA for my time.

Tan Kin Lian

Keep SingPass option for business users of e-govt services

Straits Times Forum.

I am a director of a company as well as an office bearer of an association.

Up until recently, I have used SingPass to log into government websites for personal matters as well as matters involving my company and association.

But now, with CorpPass replacing SingPass for businesses, I have to register separate CorpPass accounts for my company and association. Each account must have a unique ID, user ID and password.

It is not easy to remember the different details associated with the two CorpPass accounts. If I become involved in more companies or associations, it will become even more difficult.

I suggest that government websites allow users to choose either SingPass or CorpPass, instead of removing the SingPass option.

Tan Kin Lian

Terminal 5 and Downtown Line - signs of poor leadership?

I was depressed by two news items this morning. It reminded me of how bad the situation is and how much Singapore has regressed under the leadership of Lee HL.

The first new item is the "relief package" that is being put together to help airlines using Changi Airport. It followed the recent announcements that passengers will soon have to pay higher charges to fund the building of Terminal 5.

The reaction from the airlines and from IATA (Internatial Air Transport Association) must have been severe to cause this kind of panic reaction.

This raised many unanswered questions:

a) a) Why do we need to build Terminal 5 which is bigger than T1, T2 and T3 combined? Is it intended to replace these terminals?
b) Should we have build a smaller terminal to complement the existing terminals?
c) How much does Terminal 5 cost?
d) Can it be funded from the reserves - can we ask the Elected President to approve it?

It is certainly a bad idea to fund it by increasing the charges on passengers. Many of them will avoid Singapore - this is my judgement. Why are we taking this risk, when we already faced many issues about competitiveness internationally?

The second news item is about the ridership on the Downtown Line belong lower than expected. When we build the new MRT lines, the budget was horrendous.

The cost of the Downtown Line was reported to be $20.7 billion in 2012. I have not seen any updated figure. I expect that it would be higher. I remembered the Thomson Line cost $18 billion. That is probably more than Terminal 5 (estimated to cost more than $10 billion).

If there is lower ridership on the Downtown Line, we can expect the situation to be worse when the Thomson Line is ready. What about the other new lines that are being planned? Will they cost a lot of money and are they really necessary?

I have been very concerned about the way that large infrastructure projects are being approved, apparently without proper analysis of the need and the cost benefit analysis. Surely, the financial studies should be publicised to the public at large? They come from our taxes, right?

I have a nagging fear. Large infrastructure projects and purchases of military hardware are the source of massive corruption and bribery in many countries. Do we have a robust system to prevent this kind of corruption and bribery in Singapore? I wonder.

Some people will say that the large infrastructure projects are being planned for 6.7 million population or maybe the 10 million population. That would make Singapore too crowded, right?

Tan Kin Lian

What is the best way for the government to deal with "fake news

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way for the government to deal with "fake news"

73% of those who voted said that the government should present the facts and let the people judge for themselves.

8% said ignore the fact news as people will not believe them.

This makes a total of 81%.

19% supported the move to pass a law to make it an offense to spread fake news.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=527

Do you agree with PM Lee's praise of Low TK's speech on the role of Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you agree with PM Lee's praise of Low TK's speech on the role of Singapore?

59% of those who voted said that PM Lee is a hypocrite. His MP followed his behavior.
21% said that PM Lee should ask him MP to avoid personal attack on the Worker Party MPs.
A total of 80% looked at his action unfavorably.
The remaining 20% gave favourable comments about PM Lee.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=526

A messy and inefficient health insurance system

Hi Mr Tan,
Your post on the over consumption of medical services is very good and to the point. Unfortunately, as we know by now, the government will not retract its stand even when it is clearly wrong.

For the shield plans issue, I have a few comments :

1) This point I have raised many times but MOH seems to be brushed under the carpet. I believe that majority of the policyholders are working adults. As company medical insurance is compulsory and shield plans are on last payout status, why has the insurer not put on action on getting policyholders to claim from their company insurance? I believe it is a paradox problem as most of the shield plan insurers are also corporate insurance providers. If the policyholders claim from the corporate insurance, they will have to increase the premiums for the companies. Hence, it maybe easier to not do too much and when claims raises they can show MOH the stats and increase the premiums accordingly. As it is mandated for shield plans to be last payor, all policyholders should do their part to claim from their corporate insurance.

2) MOH point on over servicing. Singapore has always pride itself to be comparable to the best in medical treatments in the world. Is MOH saying that the services is too much? Should we convert the a class to c class facilities at all restructured hospitals?

3) Over charging by doctors and medical establishments. By stating this point MOH should have already identified which doctors and medical establishments are over charging. Has MOH taken any action against them. Highly unlikely. By penalizing the patients for the over charging by doctors is similar to punishing by the victim of a bully so that he will be more careful in the future. Will the bully still continue to bully in the future? Yes because he is never punished and will think that what he is doing is right. Hence, will doctors stop over charging because of this change. I don't think so.

4) Overconsumption of medical services. Besides the points raised. One important point is that if there is no medical condition and if the tests and surgeries are done purely as preventive measures. The claims assessors should have rejected the claims according to the policy contracts and this will not have been a point to be raised. If the insurers are incapable of processing the claims according to the policy contract terms and conditions, why penalise all the other policyholders? Processing of claims is not just about speed but the accuracy of the claim. I used to train my claims assessors based on the value of FAIR.

F - Fast processing of all claims
A -Accurate processing of all claims with minimum errors
I - Integrity and unbiased processing of all claims
R - Reliability. All claims assessor must be knowledgeable and able to respond to any queries that clients may have.

REPLY

Dear X
Thank you for your comments. I see that you are a health insurance practitioner.

Let me answer your questions briefly.

1) I do not know whether the medishield insurers do or do not exercise their right to be the payer of last resort, i.e. insist that the patient claim first under the company's plan. Some working adults are covered under their company's plans but they are many who are not covered under their company's plan, or their coverage under the company's plan is limited in scope.

2) I believe that it is better for all restructured hospitals to serve only the subsidised patients (B2 and C). But it would be very difficult to make this change now.

3) MOH has the data to identify the hospitals and doctors that are overcharging and overservicing. But I suspect that they are not doing it. They like the patients to do it through the co-payment. But this strategy has not worked for three decades. This strategy has to change.

4) I agree with your point about rejecting of claims due to negative test results.

Let me make this summary. We have a messy and inefficient health insurance system. It is very costly to administer. They is confusion about the over lapping coverage and exclusions. I am quite disappointed about our 3M system (medisave, medishield, medifund).

I hope that the health minister has the wisdom to recognize the problem and the courage to take the correct steps to change the system. I am willing to help them, if they find my service to be useful.

Tan Kin Lian

Do we need to maintain the current level of spending on defense?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do we need to maintain the current level of spending on defense?

45% of those who voted said that we can reduce the defense spending and still have a credible defense force.

41% said that we should reduce the defense spending and use the saving for healthcare, elderly and needy.

This makes a total of 86% in favor of reducing the defense spending.

The remaining 14% said that the defense spending should be maintained or increased.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=523

Will the US tariff on steel and aluminium lead to a trade war?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd. - Will the US tariff on steel and aluminium lead to a trade war?

39% of those who voted said it will lead to a serious trade war.

27% said other countries will be able to adjust to the trade tariffs without serious impact on global trade.

18% said it will be contained and not have serious consequences.

15% said the US tariffs will be withdrawn within a year.

In summary, 39% predict disaster while 61% did not expect any serious consequences.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=524

What is the best way to buy life insurance?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way to buy life insurance?

51% of those who voted said that they will buy life insurance only for protection and not for investment.

29% said that they will avoid all types of life insurance as an investment.

20% said that they will find an agent that they can trust.

Nobody said they will buy life insurance through a bank.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=525

You can vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Did the government floated a "test balloon" on the GST hike?

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What is your opinion of the PAP ministers involved in the "test balloon" saga?

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Will the "test ballon" saga in Parliament affect the votes at the next general election?

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The "test balloon" saga in the Singapore Parliament

Did the PAP float a test balloon on the GST hike?

Sylia Lim suggested that they did. The PAP ministers said they did not.

I believe the PAP ministers. I think they did not float a test balloon. I believe that the PAP did intend to hike the GST soon after this budget.

What made them change their mind? In my opinion, they were surprised at the budget surplus of $9.6 billion.

I said this in my speech at Hong Lim Park on 3 March 2018. I said that the finance minister must be sleeping. He must be incompetent and he was not aware of the surplus. I also asked whether the prime minister was also incompetent?

With this budget surplus, it was not tenable for them to hike the GST immediately. So, I think that they found the "solution" to announce a hike a few years down the road.

If I am correct, then the ministers are not honest and not honorable in hiding the real reason for this strange decision. Are they trying to hide an incompetency?

Hey, this is an opinion. I am not abusing any privilege of the right of free speech. if I am wrong, please tell me. Don't ask me for an apology, OK?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vCRavQFYHw&t=1549s

Tan Kin Lian

Is the government being honest by announcing a GST hike in advance?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Is the government being honest by announcing a GST hike in advance?

72% said that the government is not honest in disclosing the reason for this strange decision. 8% said they were surprised by the large budget surplus. 7% said they realized that they did not need the hike after all.

This makes a total of 87%.

Only 13% said that the hike is necessary in a few years time.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=521

Forego increase in minister's salary

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you agree with the government decison to forego the increase in minister's salary?

59% of those who replied said the salary is too high and should be reduced. 31% said that the benchmark is flawed. This makes a total of 90%.

10% said that it is a good gesture for the ministers to forego the salary increase.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=522

Are we paranoid about cyber security?

The government is worried about cyber security. They consider it a big risk. They want to put a lot of resources to combat this risk. They want to train a lot of cyber experts.

They want to strengthen cyber security for the government agencies and the business community.

I think they may be over-reacting to the risk and may be putting in a lot of resources that will be costly, and will also make life difficult for the ordinary users.

To deal with the risk or hype of cyber security, we need to apply our common sense and identify the risks that are real and those that are not critical.

You hear about hackers who intrude into database and download customer data, and worse, publish the data into websites.

If the information concerns name, telephone numbers and email addresses, it does not really matter. In the old days, when telephone directories are published, the name, address and telephone numbers are available. They are not kept private, unless the subscriber request the data to be unlisted.

It may be more harmful if the password is disclosed. The concern is that the hacker can use the password to access other websites of that person using the same password.

Really? There must be a million records that are published. The risk that someone is going to hack into a specific person's account is one in a million (less than the risk of dying in an accident). Who wants to take the trouble, unless he or she is targeting a specific person. And that would be a crime, right?

Even the publication of personal data in a website is a crime. It is easy to ask the owner to take down the website. If the culprit can be caught, he can be sent to jail.

There is the risk that the hacker can alter the data. This risk can be better protected by having an audit trial to highlight unauthorised alteration to the data. Once detected, there are backups to establish the correct the correct data.

Actually, it is not easy to hack into a database and alter the data. It require a professional hacker. Still, it is a risk that require some protection, but one need not be paranoid about it. It is similar to the risk that someone will fire a rocket into my home, and that can be more harmful.

We must not overlook the real risk that our own employees could be the people responsible to alter the data. There are more employees than professional hackers.

Knowing this risk from internal people, I prefer to rely on an effective audit system to highlight unauthorised alteration of data (whether from internal people or external hackers) rather than to over-invest in sophisticaled cyber security measures.

I write this article to generate a discussion about the real risk of cyber security. I may have over looked some of the real risks, and I welcome someone pointing them out.

I assure these experts that I am aware about the things that professional hackers can do, but I look at the practical outcome. Is it so serious? I also live each day knowing that someone can shoot me with a gun or break into my home and office to steal my assets.

As my friends know, I do not have a paranoid fear of things that I do not really understand. I apply my common sense to them.

Tan Kin Lian

The buffet syndrome in health care services

The health minister used the term "buffet syndrome" to describe the unnecessary and over-comsumption of health care services. He blamed the patients for this behavior. He thinks that the patients like to consumer the services because it is free, i.e. paid by insurance or largely subsidised by the government.

The minister is mistaken. I am not referring only to the current minister, but to the previous ministers. This mistaken belief had been prevalent for three decades.

I have not found any evidence of patients who like to consume health care because it is free or largely subsidised.

The over consumption is largely due to doctors and hospitals. They are running a business. If they can get the patients to consume more, they earn a larger income or profit.

Some doctors and hospitals will prescribe more treatment to generate the income and profit. I am not suggesting that all doctors and hospitals behave in this manner. But the anecdotal evidence does suggest that this is quite prevalent.

To overcome the over comsumption, attention should be focused on the doctors and hospitals, rather than the patients.

The patients do not have a choice. They depend on the doctors for advice on what is necessary. Even if they ask for a second opinion, it does not help much in most situations.

Asking patients to make a co-payment does not solve the problem. Most patients will buy insurance, known as a "rider" to cover the co-payments.

Restricting the scope fo the rider will also not solve the problem. Most patients are not able to make the sensible choice.

To stop the over-consumption and explosion of health care cost, the ministry of health has to step in. They have to set system to prevent the over consumption of services and the over charging for these services.

We can study the system adopted in Japan. Each year, the ministry of health negotiates with the doctors and hospitals on the cost of providing each type of treatment. This negotiation produces charges that are adequate for doctors and hospitals to cover their expenses and earn an adequate income and prevent the over charging for these expenses. It also ensure that the charges are reasonable from the perspective of the patient and the government, which bears 70% of the cost.

As there is sufficient demand for the services, there is no need for the doctors and hospitals to generate unnecessary demand to increase their income.

I believe that there is a system for the ministry of health to audit the provision of the services. i do not know if this is the case. It should be possible for this kind of audit to be carried out.

Tan Kin Lian

What are your views about Chan Chun Sing?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - What are your views about Chan Chun Sing?

Here are the top votes:

He is arrogant and think highly of his capabilities - 67%
He is somewhat immature and inexperienced - 24%
He comes from a humble background and can connect with the people - 4%
He is capable and confident and can lead Singapore well - 4%.

91% have a negative view of him.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=519

Should people attend the protest in Hong Lim Park against the proposed increase in GST?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should people attend the protest in Hong Lim Park against the proposed increase in GST?

Here are the votes:

We must make our voices heard even if the government does not care to listen - 52%
We must tell the government that GST should be reduced or abolished - 30%
We should keep GST at the current level - 11%
We must increase GST to allow the government to spend more on social benefits - 7%.

82% are against the proposed increase in GST. 18% support it.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=520

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What are your views about Ong Ye Kung?

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What are your views about Heng Swee Keat?

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Do you support the government's plan to increase GST to provide more social benefits

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What is the best way for the government to reduce the financial stress for the people?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What is the best way for the government to reduce the financial stress for the people?

The top choices of those who voted are:

Reduce unfair competition for jobs from foreigners - 53%
Remove GST entirely - 20%
Make health care affordable - 20%
Reduce NS obligations - 7%

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=516

Do we need to continue a high budget for defense?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Do we need to continue a high budget for defense?

Here are the top choices from the people who voted:

We can reduce the defense budget and still maintain a high level of security - 63%
We can reduce the defense budget and use the money to help the low income people - 16%
We can reduce the defense budget to match the level spent by neighboring countries - 8%

The total of these three choices is 87%.

The remaining 13% said that a high defense budget is necessary for our security.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=517

Will the higher levy on air travellers using Changi Airport spell trouble for Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Will the higher levy on air travellers using Changi Airport spell trouble for Singapore?

The top choices from those who voted are:

It will add to the high cost - 47%
Some passengers will avoid flying through Singapore - 18%
IATA has expressed strong views against it - 16%

A total of 81% of the votes is against the higher level

The remaining 19% support the higher levy.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=518

If the government scraps the planned increase in GST, what would be your response?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - If the government scraps the planned increase in GST, what would be your response?

57% of those who voted were sceptical. They said, "Maybe pigs will fly".
31% voted that they might scrap GST to win more votes.
The remaining 12% chose three other reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=513

Are successful hawkers still able to make a big fortune?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Are successful hawkers still able to make a big fortune?

82% said that it is difficult for various reasons. 21% said that they can make a fortune if they are good and willing to work long hours.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=514

How do you describe PM Lee?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - How do you describe PM Lee?

Here are the replies:
Intelligent and competent - 6%
Friendly and approachable - 3%
Work for the good of the people - 3%
Kind and generous - 0%
None of the above - 88%

The overall score is VERY BAD.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=515

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Is Sylvia Lim's remark about the trial balloon offensive?

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Do you expect North Korea to abandan their nuclear development in 2018?

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Simulation website for Taxi Booking algorithm

I have improved the algorithm to simulate the movement of taxis. You can view the results here. It now shows the situation every hour for the past 12 hours.

http://tklcloud.com/Taxi/monitor.aspx

It also shows the average earnings of the drivers for 8, 10 and 12 hours of work. The average earnings are high because the booking algorithm is more efficient.

You can watch the video here:
http://tklcloud.com/Taxi/video.aspx?ID=20

This algorithm is better than the algorithm used by Uber, Grab and taxi companies.

What are the obstacles that prevent Singapore firms from reaching out to global markets?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - What are the obstacles that prevent Singapore firms from reaching out to global markets?

The top votes go to
Inability to innovate - 38%
High cost of doing business in Singapore - 30%
Obstacles created by government agencies - 20%
Inability to move out of Singapore - 12%.

Roughly, half of the blame goes to our business leaders and the other half goes to government policies.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=510

Can Singapore afford to remove GST?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Can Singapore afford to remove GST?

Here are the replies:
74% of the people who voted support this move for two reasons. The remaining 26% like to retain GST for 3 reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=511

By the way, I debunked the three reason in my speech in Hong Lim Park on 3 March 2018.

Is it good for China to remove the 2 term limit for their President and Vice President?

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Is it good for China to remove the 2 term limit for their President and Vice President?

73% of those who voted are against this move for two reasons. 27% support the move for two reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=509

Saudi Airport contract

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Why did the Saudi Airport authority cancel the 20 year contract with Changi Airport Group?

40% of those who voted said that bribery was involved. 35% said that the price was too high.

You can see the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=508

GST should be abolished and does not need to be replaced

GST has been harmful to Singapore. It has increased the cost of living and the cost of doing business. It has led to our economic decline over the past three decades. It is totally unnecessary.

The best way to deal with this serious problem is to abolish GST. The government has sufficient revenue and does not need to replace GST with income tax or other taxes.

Find out why GST is unnecessary and harmful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gZ4gG06phM&t=13s

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

What is the best way for the government to deal with "fake news"?
Give your vote in
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Do you agree with PM Lee's praise of Low TK's speech on the role of Singapore?

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Law against fake news

Mr. Tan
The best way to combat fake news is to give the true facts and let the people judge for themselves.

If the people in authority continues to hide the facts, ordinary people will make all kinds of speculation. Some may be untrue, but they are not fake. The main cause is the lack of transparency in the first place.

The most powerful man in the world is also responsible for sending out facts that are not true using his Twitter account. Should be be charged and jailed for sending out "fake news"?

After a while, people know how to judge his tweets. They come out with the facts. The media also plays a part in presenting the facts through "fact checks".

Let us not forget that government also present only the positive aspects of the facts and downplay the negative aspects. Are they also responsible for giving "fake news"?

REPLY
I think you are referring to the new law that is now being considered by a Parliamentary committee. I understand that they intend to act on people who are deliberate in spreading lies.

I agree that it is difficult to tell the difference whether it was a genuine mistake or a deliberate attempt to spread falsehoods.







I do not know how the Parliamentary committee intends to deal with it in the law. Maybe, they will leave it to the judge to make a decision based on the facts.

Vote on these issues in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Will the US tariff on steel and aluminium lead to a trade war?

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Do we need to maintain the current level of spending on defense?

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The best rate for GST is 0%

Most people will say - keep GST at 7%. Do not reduce it.

Some may wish that GST be reduced to 5% or 3%. That would be helpful.

They are not able to think out of the box. The best rate for GST is 0%.

I explain in this 12 minute video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gZ4gG06phM&t=9s

Alternatively, you can attend the forum at Speaker's Corner at 4 to 7 pm this afternoon. There will be six speakers. I am one of the speaker.
http://www.tklcloud.com/event/event_det.aspx?ID=63

Issues for you to vote in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Do you agree with the government decison to forego the increase in minister's salary?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Is the government being honest by announcing a GST hike in advance?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Older workers face the risk of being replaced

Hi Mr. Tan
A few decades ago, I was a young man. I was energetic, hard working and hungry. I was not well paid compared to older colleagues doing the same job.

I saw some of the older collegues being replaced due to poor health and other reasons. I felt that this was necessary because the company needs to keep the productive employees and get rid of dead wood.

I am now much older, but still remain productive and energetic. Sad to say, I feel insecure, as I am highly paid compared to younger employees. It is just a matter of time before I get the boot.

I am quite depressed, as I still have financial commitments for my family. I now realise, too late, that older workers are not fairly treated.

What is your advice?

COMMENT
Guess which of the following reply that I gave to him?

a) Welcome to Singapore.
b) This is due to the bad policy of the PAP government.
c) We need to look beyond our own interest to see the interest of other people.

Issues for your vote - Wisdom of the Crowd

What are your views about Chan Chun Sing?

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Should people attend the protest in Hong Lim Park against the proposed increase in GST?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Do you like budget 2018?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Do you like budget 2018?

65% of those who voted said that it does not address the real challenges facing the people. 20% said that the programs are wasteful and not effective. The total negative votes is 85%.

15% like the budget for three reasons.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=507

Book a taxi

I asked this question in the Wisdom of the Crowd - Which is most important when a customer book a taxi?

54% of those who voted said they wish the booking to be accepted within 5 minutes, even if the fare is slightly higher.

29% prefer low fares, even if the waiting time is slightly longer.

17% prefer an experienced driver rather than a part time driver.

See the breakdown of the votes in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Dealing with cancer of a child

Dear Mr Tan,

I remember reading your views on prohibitive treatment for elderly parents with potentially terminal cancers.

My question is, what if the cancer applies to a child?

There is a fund raising request circulating on facebook for a child with high risk neuroblastoma. The treatment cost is sgd 1.2M that includes treatment in the US.

Naturally, parents will do everything for a child, including bankrupting themselves under crippling debt, to give a child a chance.

What are your views on this?

Wikipedia has this to say about this type of cancer - Between 20% and 50% of high-risk cases do not respond adequately to induction high-dose chemotherapy and are progressive or refractory. Relapse after completion of frontline therapy is also common. Further treatment is available in phase I and phase II clinical trials that test new agents and combinations of agents against neuroblastoma, but the outcome remains very poor for relapsed high-risk disease.

Most long-term survivors alive today had low or intermediate risk disease and milder courses of treatment compared to high-risk disease. The majority of survivors have long-term effects from the treatment. Survivors of intermediate and high-risk treatment often experience hearing loss. Growth reduction, thyroid function disorders, learning difficulties, and greater risk of secondary cancers affect survivors of high-risk disease.[An estimated two of three survivors of childhood cancer will ultimately develop at least one chronic and sometimes life-threatening health problem within 20 to 30 years after the cancer diagnosis

REPLY

There are ways to deal with the cancer, other than to pay high medical bills. One way is to pray for a miracle. It sometimes happens. Another way is to go for herbal treatment. it might help. I do not agree that the family should "bankrupt themselves" to seek expensive treatment. They money should be kept for the benefit of the other children or to take care of the parents when they grow old.

I might take a different view if the doctor is able to guarantee success, i.e. if the treatment is not successful, the parents do not have to pay the bill.

Interest to visit Forest City

Someone called me to ask about Forest City. He was interested to buy an apartment there but was worried about the over-supply. He asked my views.

My reply.

There will be an over-supply of property all over Johore. This is a known fact. It will not change.

I decided to buy an apartment in Forest City as an alternative to putting the same money in the bank to earn 0.2% per annum. My cost of holding the Forest City apartment is only 0.2% per annum. It is almost free of cost to me.

I paid $400 psf for an 1,200 apartment. The tenure is freehold. My invested sum is less than $500,000.

I do not expect to lease the apartment due to the over-supply. I intend to use it as a holiday home. I will pass it to my grand-children who might find it to be useful in 20 years time.

Last Christmas, I brought my Indonesian friend to stay in the hotel at Forest City. He is middle income and has three children. The family decided to buy a small apartment in Forest City on their first visit. They might send their son to study in the international school in Forest City or in Iskandar.

They also like to apply for the MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) which gives them permanent residency for 10 years. They want a place to go in case there is racial problem in Indonesia, which occurred 20 years ago. More families might make similar plans. It is too costly to buy a property in Singapore. Johor is a good alternative.

I also like the concept of a modern city, with innovative transport facilities, and an eco-friendly environment. They have a 4 level road system. One level is for vehicles, another level for parking, the third level is for people (no vehicles!) and the top level is a light rail system.

He wanted to visit Forest City to take a look. I introduced him to the sales and marketing consultant to arrange the visit and briefing.

I gave him a tip: If you have cash, you can pay for the property upfront and enjoy a 15% discount. (I did!). I monitored the share price of the developer, Country Garden. The share price increased 3 times during the past 2 years. It gave me the confidence that their development is doing well.

Vote on these issues

Do we need to continue a high budget for defense?

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What is the best way for the government to reduce the financial stress for the people?

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Will the higher levy on air travellers using Changi Airport spell trouble for Singapore?

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Protect agains the risk of retrenchment

It is important for young people to invest their savings in a proper way, as they may need it to protect them against the risk of retrenchment several years down the road. This is a real risk that will happen to half of the workforce!

They should register immediately to attend this talk - otherwise they may overlook it.

Parents should register for their children who are able to start work or have just started work. It is a valuable gift for your children. It may change their financial future.

http://www.fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=18

Customers are not keen to make NETS QR Payment

I visited a stall at Sembawang Food Center and order laksa. I paid $4 cash.

TKL - Do you accept QR payment from DBS Paylah?
Vendor - Yes.

She showed me to the NETS QR sticker. It allows payment from DBS, OCBC, UOB and a few other wallets.

TKL - Do you customer pay through NETS.
Vendor - No.
TKL - Does NETS charge you a fee?
Vendor - NETS offered free for 3 years.

The problem is that the customers are quite happy to continue to pay cash and the vendor is quite happy to accept cash. What is needed to make the customers and vendors change this habit?

I have an idea. I wonder if NETS is interested to hear me?

Poor signage

I had a lot of trouble to find a toilet at Toa Payoh bus interchange. One sign pointed the direction to the toilet. After that, there were no more sign. I looked around the whole atrium. No sign of a toilet. I went one level down to the MRT station. No toilet. I asked a sales staff. Dont know. I asked the MRT staff. Take the glass lift one level up and turn right. That's where I came from. Finally, I saw this small sign in an obscure place. Its seems the location of the toilet is not important to the planners. No revenue, right? Welcome to Singapore.

Friends Provident Investment Plan

Dear Mr tan,

I am writing to try and get connected to someone who posted on your blog on March 30, 2017 regarding the Friends Provident Global Wealth Advance Savings Plan – and who had, like me, been fooled and misled by a Singapore financial adviser to choose this plan.

Is it possible for you to connect me?

NOTE TO MY READERS
If you have invested in the Friends Provident Plan and wish to connect with the writer, please send email to kinlian@gmail.com

Issues for voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd

Are successful hawkers still able to make a big fortune?

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If the government scraps the planned increase in GST, what would be your response?

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How do you describe PM Lee?

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www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Issues for your votes

Can Singapore afford to remove GST?
Give your vote in
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What are the obstacles that prevent Singapore firms from reaching out to global markets?
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Is it good for China to remove the 2 term limit for their President and Vice President?

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Is it good for Singapore to accumulate huge reserves?

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Bad reasons to impose GST

The suppporter of GST has put up three reasons why they think that GST is "good" for the country. They said:

a) GST is on spending. If you don't spend, you do not need to pay GST.
b) GST catches people who do not pay income tax, such as hawkers, taxi drivers and the self employed.
c) Most advanced countries have GST. They can't be wrong, right?

Let me debunk these reasons.

a) GST is on spending. If yo don't spend, you do not need to pay GST.
Really?
Do people need to spend on food? Medicine? Doctor's fees? Drink water?
They have to pay GST on all of these spending. Can they stop eating or fall sick?
The low income people spend most of their meagre earnings on these items. Why tax them through GST?

b) GST catches people who do not pay income tax, such as hawkers, taxi drivers and the self employed.

Really?
These people are already paying high rentals for their stalls and hire of taxis. If the government wants to have revenue from these people, take it from the rentals and hire charges.
Most of these people struggle to make a living.

c) Most advanced countries have GST. They can't be wrong, right?

Really?
Do these countries have COE (for purchase of vehicles) that contribute to a large part of the tax revenue? Do they have a large land bank that they can sell each year to get the revenue? Do they impose a levy on foreign workers?

COE and vehicle taxes contribute to $9.2 billion in 2017. The revenue from land sale is expected to be about $20 billion a year. I am not able to find the revenue from foreign workers levy

With these revenue sources, there is no need for the finance minister to levy GST.

We have to act boldly and get rid of GST. This will reduce the cost of living and improve the life of the people. The government can afford to remove GST and still have a healthy budget surplus.






Tan Kin Lian

Why GST should be removed totally

Many people said - "We have a budget surplus of $9.6 billion n 2017. There is no need to increate GST. Let us keep it at 7%.

I disagree.

We should not keep GST at 7%. We should remove GST totally.

Why?

If we remove GST totally, we will reduce the cost of living by 9% to 10%. 7% is from GST directly. Another 2% to 3% is from the additional cost that business has to incur to handle the accounting for GST. The business pass this cost to the consumers.

If GST is removed, how does the government find another $11 billion in tax revenue to replace it?

They do not need to replace this tax revenue. They collect $20 to $30 billion each year from the sale of land.

The finance minister might argue that the sale of land is "capital" item and should not be counted as "recurring revenue". If that is the case, I ask the finance minister - why are you taking the cost of building roads and MRT as "current expenses". They amount to a large part of the $13.7 billion allocated to transport. These are also capital items and can be funded separately.

The cost of living and the cost of business has been increasing for the past 30 years. GST is an important factor that contributes to this situation. It is time to remove GST totally.

Do you agree?