Consult a fee-based financial adviser

Hi
I chance upon your blog and talk about the ILP and saving plan.
I have bought Pruflexicash (25years, monthly premium:$258) and the agent guarantees 3% of interest rate. I am confused by the yearly cashback . is it just withdrawal of our own money ? From your point of view , should i hold it or stop ?

I also bought GE ILP smart protection at $180 monthly . Would you advise me to stop or keep it ? i also bought GE 's life endowment plan (20 years with $231 monthly premium . It will only break even after 65 years old 

I don't mind to earn low interest as i will have my own way to earn more money . I just hope not to lose money at the end .

REPLY
Please consult David Soh
http://c-onyx.com/tag/146

Need for unemployment insurance

Some people like to use extreme cases to support their views.

Those who do not like unemployment insurance say that it will encourage people to be lazy and to abuse the system.

This may be true for some people, but may not be true for the majority.

A German once told me that in her home town, many people become unemployed as the shipping building industry could not compete with Asian countries. The workers wanted to work, but had to take unemployment insurance as a last resort.

They felt ashamed to be rely on this type of welfare and actively looked for alternative jobs. The unemployment benefit was helpful to tide them over a period of adjustment.

In any system, there will always be some abuse, but it should not detract from the help that is being provided to the majority. Any abuse can be managed by requiring the benefit recipient to show that they are making the effort to find alternative jobs.

Many countries are aware of the pros and cons of unemployment insurance, and have decided to introduce this system, in spite of the potential abuse.

Singapore should now examine the need for this system, rather than be close minded and deterred by the potential abuse.

Tan Kin Lian

Passenger planes should be tracked real time

How can an aircraft get lost, and nobody knows where it is? 
The airlines should have a global tracking system that shows where each aircraft is, and that connection cannot be switched off by the pilot. This is similar to tracking delivery tracks on land. 
To track the aircraft across the oceans, it is possible to use the service of inmarsat. It covers the globe. 
The data to be sent from the aircraft does not have to be detailed. It can just send the time and location every 15 seconds. If the aircraft stops sending the data, it is possible to send rescue party to the last location.

More about inmarsat service:
Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT) is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites. Inmarsat's network provides communications services to a range of governments, aid agencies, media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index as of December 2011.

Civil servants should not spend public money wastefully

Dear Mr. Tan
The mindset of most civil servants is - "My main concern is not to make a mistake. It does not matter how much it cost or the quality of service to the public. So long as I follow clear instructions, I will be all right".

Does this mindset bode well for the future? How can the mindset be changed to focus on reducing waste, reducing cost and improving service to the public?

REPLY
This mindset has been ingrained over a few decades. It will take a lot of effort to change the mindset. Even if someone wants to make a change, the civil servants will not trust him, and will not feel safe about making the change. 

We are stuck with it.

Website failed three times

This is the third time that I tried to register to speak at Hong Lim Park at 4 pm on 3 May, and it failed again. After entering the full details, I get this page. 

When I called the helpline each time, the staff answered my call politely but was not able to take down my application by phone, i.e. refused to take the responsibility.

Our G is making the citizens waste a lot of time on their inefficiency. They can't even have a simple website to work properly.

Improved benefits for NS men gets criticism from woman's group

SINGAPORE — The Government’s plan to enhance housing, healthcare and education benefits for operationally ready national servicemen has received a pushback from a gender-equality advocacy group, which disagreed that support for these basic requirements should be linked to military service.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/awares-pushback-more-benefits-nsmen-ignites-debate

MY VIEW:
A better approach is to reduce the full time and reservist obligations by about half from the current levels and to pay the NS men adequately for the time that they have to spend on "national service".

This will reduce the pressure to benefit them in other ways, that cause questions to be asked by other segments of the society.

Where HDB went wrong

HDB as a public good should never have been marked to market. And like many things else, PAP has forgotten their original mission and engineered a regime of profiteering from its citizens.

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/04/19/where-hdb-has-gone-wrong/

Three families of the Illumati

Alex Axel assked:
You have spoken much about the bad incompetent policies of SG garmen. However this issue is actually global, as more and more people around the world have awaken from the tyranny and enslavement by their govt. Singaporeans are in fact very late into this awakening.

So it is not just some stupid pappies in SG garmen that seems out of touch with the reality on the ground. Probably you have heard something called the illuminati, the new world order. The three controlling families of these entities are so powerful they are controlling the govts of many countries, hence controlling many aspects of the entire human race.

What is your view on this?

REPLY
I am not aware about the three families of the Illumati that is supposed to control the governments in many countries. Want to share which families?

But I am aware of one family that controls Singapore.

Paying a high price

Michael YP Ang asked:
It was mentioned in Parliament that SG are price takers when dealing with FIFA regarding World Cup broadcasts. Be that as it may, the govt should take note that the UK & Belgium have managed to force FIFA to sell rights to ONLY free-to-air channels. Presumably, the rights are sold at a lower price to free-to-air channels.

REPLY
I agree with you. It is clear that our Government ministers are incompetent and the system in Singapore sucks. We end up being suckers and pay the highest price in the world to watch the broadcast. 
Wow, isn't it nice? After becoming the most expensive city, we now get the recognition of paying the highest price per capita for the World Cup rights.

Boycott subscription to World Cup matches

I will not subscribe to the World Cup 2014 matches.

In fact, I stopped subscribing to Starhub Sports channel 5 years ago. My son watches some matches online live, and I watch some highlights on YouTube. The new arrangement works fine for us.

I strongly dislike the wasteful “competition” in Singapore, lack of regard for the interest of consumers and the incompetence of our regulators and government leaders.

The best recourse is for consumers to boycott the subscription to the World Cup now, and Engiish Premier League matches for next season. Let our voices be heard loud and clear.

ASEAN agreement on the movement of natural persons

The ASEAN agreement on the movement of natural persons will take effect next year.
http://cil.nus.edu.sg/rp/pdf/2012%20ASEAN%20Agreement%20on%20the%20Movement%20of%20Natural%20Persons-pdf.pdf

Many years back, such an agreement would be welcomed by Singaporeans, as it gave us the opportunity to tap into opportunities in the neighboring countries.

But this agreement will now pose dangers to Singaporean workers.

Read Leong Sze Hian's view
http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/04/18/is-fcf-even-applicable-for-asean-intra-corporate-transferees/

There was a similar agreement signed with India that brought tens of thousand professionals from India to work in Singapore. It has caused many of our PMETs to be unemployed.

At one time, the Singapore professionals were well trained, hard working and competitive. But this is not the case any more. Why is this the case?

Explore options to improve bus service now

PUBLISHED IN STRAITS TIME, 18 APRIL 2014

 0 3 0 0PRINTEMAIL

 

IT WILL be a few years before the centralised bus management system is implemented ("$68m contract for bus management system awarded"; April 10).

In the meantime, the Land Transport Authority should analyse existing data and use it to improve bus services.

It could explore options such as:

• Reviewing the time buses leave terminals and ensuring that schedules are observed. If buses leave the terminals at the scheduled times, bunching should be reduced.
• Using a mobile app to send revised schedules to bus drivers, if traffic conditions along a certain route are causing buses to bunch up.
• Deploying buses optimally according to demand. Demand can be measured by totting up the number of commuters boarding and alighting at each stop over a few weeks.
• Providing alerts on the operator's website if some buses are overcrowded due to uncontrollable factors. This will allow commuters to make other transport arrangements and ease demand for that service.

• The public would like to see improvement in bus services now, as far as possible, rather than a few years down the road.
• 
  

Tan Kin Lian

Do not vent our anger at the foreign workers

Let us not vent our anger at the foreign workers who have to live a hard life in Singapore.
http://c-onyx.com/page/1831

Adopt a sensible approach towards internet security

I recognize the risk of hacking and steps needs to be taken to minimize the risk. 

These steps should be decided with a balance between the risk and the inconvenience to the users. 

I find the steps taken in Singapore to be rather extreme, making the user experience to be quite terrible. 

We are not the only people that have to face the risk. Sites such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook also face the risk.

Do they implement Capcha? They found ways to handle the risk without causing inconvenience to their international users.
There are international websites for forex and future trading.

They do not need to implement the complicated security measures that are found in Singapore.

It is quite clear that the security people and the regulators in Singapore do not carry out a proper analysis of the risk and balance it with the added cost of implementing the measures.
They only know how to implement extreme measures using their approach of "do not take any risk".

Digital display to show the KM of bus stop

I have met with officials of the Land Transport Authority to explain the benefit of displaying the KM of each bus stop in the bus. 

I have just sent this article to them to explain my proposed system. 
http://c-onyx.com/page/1830

Do you think that my proposal is useful for commuters?

Instill punctuality in bus service

It is now the right time to install the habit of punctuality among our bus services. This can be achieved with the intelligent use of a mobile app. It does not cost millions of dollars. 
http://c-onyx.com/page/1828

Companies need a simple reminder system

I asked DBS Bank for some new currency notes at different denominations. They told me that $10 is available, but new new notes for $50 and $100. I asked them to call me when the new notes are available.

I did not hear from them for two weeks. They forgot about it.

I sent a reminder to them. They told me that there are no new notes for $50 and $100. I have to take the recycled notes.

DBS Bank does not have a good reminder system. If they have such a system, they do not need the customer to remind them. I think all big companies should have a simple reminder system to make sure that all customer requests are "settled".

How to improve the birth rate

One thing leads to another. 
The birth rate had been declining.
The government introduced many baby packages over the years, but they did not work.
They failed as they did not address the root of the problem.
With the low birth rate, the government had to increase immigration on a large scale, and they did it surreptitiously, without telling the people. 
This led to over-crowding and other problems faced by the citizens.
We need to go back to the root problem and ask - how do we increase the birth rate in Singapore?
Here are my suggestions:
http://c-onyx.com/page/1824

Our universities should employ local professors

Hi Mr Tan
Please share this letter published in the Straits Times
'Broader' perspective on hiring profs? 
(link: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/broader-perspective-hiring-profs-20140412 )

Tommy

Dr. Wong is a former Singaporean professor. He currently works as a freelance consultant, editor and author. His website is athttp://wisdomlife.page4.me/ , and his ebooks are available athttp://c-opal.com/books/4 .

Suggestions to improve bus services now

The Land Transport Authority can improve the bus service significantly just by paying attention to the data that is currently avaialble, and by acting on the data to take the appropriate actions.

There is no need to invest a lot of money and to wait for a few years for a new "intelligent system" to be implemented. Improvements can be made using the current infrastucture and data that is already available.

http://c-onyx.com/page/1825