A sexist remark?

If a man tells a girl that she is sexy, is it a sexist remark?

Most of the people answering in The Wisdom of the Crowd must be men. 49% said that it is not a sexist remark if it is meant as a compliment. Anouter 24% said that it is not a sexist remark if the girl does not feel offended.

See the votes in

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=315

I wonder what the girls really think?

Lee family dispute

What is the best way for the Lee siblings to solve their family dispute? Can you give some advice to Lee HL?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Intrusive advertisements

Online news website need to get some revenue, so they introduce intrusive advertisements. But their readers do not like them.

There are better ways to get revenue.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=314

How to prevent flooding of the MRT tunnel

Can you run SMRT better than CEO Kuek? Can you prevent the flooding of the tunnel? How can you do it?

Here are the views of the people who voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=313

The answers are quite straight forward, yet Kuek did not get it right?

Buying from a friend

Someone sent this question for me to pose in The Wisdom of the Crowd - When you buy something from a friend, do you expect to get a special discount

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Forest City Progress report - 15 Oct 2017

The marketing executive for Forest City sent me this progress report as at 15 Oct 2017. The development is progressing well.

It also shows the construction of the hotel and the clubhouse at the golf course. This should be of interest to golf enthusiasts (but not me).

http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF/1422

Forest City - 3 year guaranteed lease back

I am now considering the purchase of another unit in Forest City. Details as follows:

This is a 1+1 bedroom unit (517 sf) in Forest City.

The developer sells it for RM 673,832 (SGD 217,000) for advanced payment. This is after a discount of 15% for payment within 2 months. At this price, the cost psf is SGD 419.

The developer offers a lease back scheme for 3 years at 4%, 5% and 6% of the SPA price. It will be used for housing their staff. The average yield is 5% per year. After 3 years, the buyer can take over the apartment and use it on his own.

There is another payment for the renovation and furnishing of the apartment. I think it should be about RM 20,000 (but I have to check it).

You can view the PDF for the other payment schemes - if you do not wish to pay 100% upfront. You can also see a floor plan of the 1+1 bedroom apartment.

My investment
I have already bought a 3 bedroom apartment in Forest City. I am now considering purchasing this 1+1 bedroom apartment as an investment for 3 years. I will worry about how it is to be used after 3 years. By that time, maybe some tenants will be interested to rent the place to send a child to the international school.
http://www.tankinlian.com/PDF/1421

If you are interested to visit Forest City to view the development, send email to kinlian@gmail.com

The flooded tunnel and the future of Singapore

The flooded MRT tunnel on 7 Oct 2017 caused serious disruption to commuters. But this is not the main problem.

There is a more serious consequence. It showed the failure of Lee HL's system of government Singapore. It showed the incompetence of the people that he appoints to run our ministries and agencies.

It is a clear signal of the tremendous problems that ahead for Singapore.

When Desmond Kuek was appointed to run SMRT five years ago, I thought that he was the best person that could be found for the difficult job. He was chief of staff of the armed forces. He commanded resources that were much bigger than the entire SMRT.

If we could entrust the big defence budget on him and his generals, surely it would be a less difficult task to entrust the running of the train system?

Although he did not have personal experience in running a train system, he can appoint suitable engineering and management people for the task.

He failed quite badly in this task. In that case, I wonder if we could rely on people like him for the defence of Singapore?

When Khaw Boon Wan was appointed to be the minister for transport in 2015, he was considered to be the best minister for the job. He had successfully tackled big challenges in the health and national development ministries.

I was most disappointed personally and for him that he also failed in this daunting task.

What worried me is the underlying causes. CEO Desmond Kuek referred to the doop seated "cultural issues". I suspected that he was referring to the attitude of the maintenance staff that was in charge of the tunnel.

I look beyond this team of low level staff to the entire system of running Singapore that I would describe as Lee HL's system. There are many flaws in this system that I had described on many occasions in the past.

They include the culture of avoiding responsibility, finding excuses, not taking charge, and other bad habits. I considered it to be a serious disease.

Yes, it is a flooded tunnel that should not have happened. But it reflects very serious "cultural issues" that should be addressed from the very top, from the prime minister himself. I hope that he realize the underlying problems.

Tan Kin Lian

President Trump's lack of progress

It is rather sad to see President Trump struggle to get legislation to implement his campagn promises.

a) Build the border wall
b) Repeal and replace Obamacare.
c) Tax reform
d) Infrastructure.

He got nothing done in one year, except create a lot of chaos and uncertainty.

He can't even teach a lesson to the "Liftle Rocket Man".

It is difficult to govern America. Nothing gets done. Even the bold campaign promises cannot be implemented.

The big money's control of Congress is too strong.

Li Hongyi entry into politics

Would Li Hongyi's entry into politics be good for Singapore?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Li Hongyi in politics

Do you expect Li Hong Yi to be in the cabinet in the near future?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Do the work on the ground

In "the old days", managers carry out their work with dedication. A manager who is in charge of maintenance would go round to inspect the maintenance work that is carred out by the maintenance crew. If any work is not done properly, the manager would point out the shortcoming and get the crew to rectify it.

Today, most manager sit behind the desk to write paper reports. They do not go out to inspect the work that is supposed to be carried out.

If the SMRT managers had carried out their work like in "the old days", they would have noticed that the maintenance work was carried out in a sloppy manner and that tools and sludge were left in the tunnel. It eventually caused the breakdown of the pumps and the flooding of the tunnel.

We need to go back to the "good old days" and have managers actually do the work of inspecting and manager. We should not spend too much time at the desk preparing reports.

If CEO Kuek wants to know what is the "culture problem", he should look at the habit of writing reports instead of going out to inspect the actual work.

Naming of roads and buildings

When I moved into Thomson View Condominium in the early 1980s, I was surprised to see advertisements in the classified ads offering Thomson View at prices much higher than expected.

I learned later that these ads were for landed property in Thomson View (a road name) in Sembawang Hill Estates. It was not the ad for the units in the condominium.

It seemed rather confusing to have Thomson View Condomium and Thomson View (name of Road).

A few years ago, there was a collective sale of the mixed condominium called Seletar Gardens in Yio Chu Kang Road. It was located close to my current house.

The new development comprise of three separate condominiums called Flora Ville, Flora View and Flora Vista. Each condomiumium comprises of a small unumber of units.

Flora Road and Flora Drive are roads in Loyang. Why do they allow the name Flora to be used for three condominiums in Yio Chu Kang?

The suitable names for these condomiums should be Cactus or Seletar, not Flora.

Furthermore, why give three separate names when they can be treated as part of one bigger condominium?

I find the naming of roads and buildings in Singapore to be quite haphazard. This must certainly cause confusion for many years in the future. Nobody seem to be taking charge and paying attention to these matters.

People who "don't care"

I waited for bus 163 this morning. It was a long wait. During this time, I saw many bus 70, 86, 854 and 857 that went by relatively empty.

When bus 163 arrived, it was packed.

I get the impression that the demand for these services were not being monitored. They should be. The services that are relatively empty can have some buses diverted to the services that are packed.

This information can be obtained by studying the database each day showing the average number of passengers for each service.

I have suggested this method a year ago, and also send my suggestion to the Land Transport Authority. Nobody bothered to follow up with me on the suggestion. They don't care.

Each time I see the phenomena, and it must be happening daily, I get angry at the way this country is being run. My anger goes all the way to the top man, PM Lee.

Each time I see the MRT train breaks down, I say - this is to be expected. We have a "useless" transport minister and a land transport authority comprising of people who "don't care".

A communist country shows the way

Many people still look at China as a communist country that is run on totalitarian methods.

This was the propaganada of the western media.

If we look at the chaos and the violence in America, we would probably have second thoughts about the benefit of a "free society".

Looking beyond the surface of the control of the Communist Party of China, we can actually see that there is democratic election of the leaders of the Party. Although it does not involve the ordinary people of China, it does involve several hundred of millions of members of the CCP who elect their leaders at various levels of the party.

It seemed to produce more suitable leaders than the democratic system in America.

I am not saying that China has a perfect system. I am pointing out that all system have their flaws and their advantages. We need to see which system produce the best outcome for its people.

Up to now, the China system is way ahead, compared to America. Maybe, the system in Europe is better. We need to keep an open mind about it.

Now, I come to Singapore. There is a lot of flaw in our "democratic system" also. What can we learn from the successful systems adopted in other countries?

Rise of China

How do you view the rise of China in geo-politics?
Give your vote in www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Rex Tillerson

Rex Tillerson has a difficult relationship with President Trump. How long will he last in this office.

Read what the Wisdom of the Crowd thinks.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=312

The views are mixed.

PM Lee to meet President Trump

As PM Lee travel to US to meet President Trump, the people voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd has a clear message for him on the question -

Is it good for Singapore to maintain our strong ties with America at this time?

Read their votes here:

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=311

69% advised caution and the need to play a low key.

Can SMRT be managed directly by government?

Will SMRT operate more efficiently if it were to be run directly by the Government?

Give your vote in www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Flooded tunnel

Who should take most of the blame for the flooded tunnel at the NS line?
Give your vote in www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg