A minister apologises in Sinagapore, is hell freezing over?

From Today online

Khaw apologises
by Hoe Yeen Nie and Claire Huang 05:55 AM Dec 22, 2009
SINGAPORE - Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has apologised for the over-crowding situation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

In his blog yesterday, he said the hospital's Accident and Emergency department is always packed. Several times a week, TTSH even has to divert civil defence ambulances to other hospitals. "It is no fun waiting for a bed, in a crowded room or in a corridor; I am truly sorry," wrote the minister.

The crush at TTSH has, in turn, spread the over-crowding situation to hospitals like Changi General Hospital and Singapore General Hospital.

Many patients are from Woodlands and Yishun in the north, and Mr Khaw hopes the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will ease the load when it opens.

"We are all looking forward to this, especially the colleagues in TTSH and other hospitals. They have been wonderful in putting up with the extra workload, without complaints. I thank the patients too for their patience and understanding," he said.

On hindsight, the Ministry of Health (MOH) made a mistake by not building the new hospital two years earlier.

"I am determined not to repeat this mistake in the west," said the minister. Hence, planning for the Jurong General Hospital was "activated" last year, with the management team "working enthusiastically to build a hassle-free healthcare system ... ".

Major changes are also coming up, especially in the allied health professions, with legislation having to keep up with these. After dental hygienists and advanced practice nurses, optometrists and opticians, Mr Khaw is "now getting ready" to go to Parliament again to register physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals.

The MOH has also taken steps to beef up manpower as well as widen staff skill sets.

So far, more than 1,200 people are enrolled in nursing courses in polytechnics while the Bachelor of Nursing course at the National University of Singapore is expected to see some 200 students.

"The nursing profession has regained its popularity," said Mr Khaw.

To be fair, I think Khaw Boon Wan is a minister that does more than he speaks, and maybe one of the few that honestly comes close to deserving a hugely inflated paycheck. In him, I see at least some humility as a person and his willingness to admit to his mistake is refreshing to say the least.

WKS, maybe you can learn something from your fellow colleague.

Musings

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I see this article from Today

Finance sector 'expected to increase hiring' next year
05:55 AM Dec 17, 2009

SINGAPORE - Industry leaders say the finance sector is expected to increasing hiring next year.

Speaking at an industry forum yesterday, they said with the economy recovering, more companies are expected to list or issue bonds. This will lead to more banking services and increase demand for talent especially in capital markets.

The Financial Training Institute at Singapore Management University (SMU) said there have already been more enquiries from industry for training in areas such as capital markets.

SMU's Dean of the office of executive and professional education Annie Koh said: "We are definitely going to see demand for banking services, transactions, and consumer banking services, and wealth management services. You need to have the back-end and middle-market trained to prepare for that front-end movement."

Overall, industry growth in the region will also be driven by rising affluence in Asia.

To develop and retain talent, forum participants said banks are increasingly looking at moving people between departments to grow their skills.

These include transfers between various operations within the company such as back, front and middle office operations.

DBS Bank, Chief Executive Officer, Piyush Gupta said: "I find that companies where people are given the opportunity to have lateral mobility, create a lot of talent, and create people who are extremely well-rounded."

He also said: "In my previous company, you could move wherever you wanted to as long as you put your hand up and say 'I want to move', people encourage you to move. And frankly, in my current company, that is something that I hope to be able to institute."

The finance sector contributes 13 per cent of Singapore's GDP and hires 5 per cent of the work force. Ryan Huang

Mr Gupta was previously from Citibank if my memory serves me right. Maybe they do practice such a culture, which is really great IMO. No matter how great you are in your current job, there will come a time when you feel that you have achieved all that you can, and yearn to move on to a new challenge, to something that can simulate your mind further. Or maybe that's just me.

I enjoyed what I was doing back in the bank, but after 3 years, it just doesn't seem that challenging anymore. Everything is so repetitive, I literally took only half the time to do what most others took, and ended up doing twice the same work than most others. Not a very smart move as it made my boss totally unwilling to release me when I asked for a internal transfer. I was very comfortable with the bank, its structure etc and was hoping that I can remain there, but doing some other role. I was literally waving both hands and feet shouting "I want to move!" but nothing ever happened. Plus, given that my boss is unwilling to release me, and HR is unwilling to do the dirty work in re-allocating me, I finally left. I don't know... but it really left a bad taste in my mouth, being that I really see myself as providing value to the organisation, yet....

I'm not alone in this situation so it seems. I think its a pretty common preference among local banks to 'outsource' rather than 'insource' to fill vacancies. Which to me, doesn't really make sense and simply makes for a big round of musical chairs. Most of my seniors, including my manager at that time, had been through all 3 of the local banks and some more. My mentor had been with the same bank for 9 years and counting, yet he is always overlooked for promotion as he is also deemed 'irreplacable' to the manager, and someone from another bank will be headhunted come in to fill up the vacancy despite not have the experience and capability of my mentor.  Does loyalty still count for anything these days?

Start of a new dawn

Finally finished most of the training and will be starting my new job 1st dec 09.

Despite a lot of negativity surrounding this industry and the people within it as a whole, I've also seen alot of positive and hope that I will not let the negativity get to me, especially since I am a born pessimist :P

Rejections and negativity aside, I must say that I have been very impressed by a lot of talented individuals in the very short time I interacted with them. In my 3 years in the bank, I have rarely, if ever, been 'wow' by a single individual. Most of the people I met are really either salesperson, really service oriented persons, but majority are bureaucrats whose main objective is to minimize their work, wait for knock off time, and hope for yearly bonus.

Here, I see talented, driven, (and hopefully ethical) individuals that really 'wow' me. When I listen to them, they make so much sense. It does not feel like bullshit. That's something new to me.

I guess other than money, the other motivating factor for me is knowledge. I felt that I had learnt a lot, especially from A.N. To put in KS words, he is truly a cut above. I concur, and truly respect that fact.

I hope I can one day achieve that.

A $10 million goodwill gesture by UOB? I don't think so!

From the Today paper yesterday

A $10 million goodwill gesture by UOB?
05:55 AM Oct 21, 2009
by Conrad Raj

SINGAPORE - As a gesture of goodwill to more than 4,000 customers, United Overseas Bank (UOB) has made a one-time offer to redeem the units of two funds it sold in 2005 - PruYield 15 and PruYield 20 - owned and managed by Prudential Asset Management (Singapore). The offer guarantees that customers, who had invested about $150 million in the two funds, get back their initial offer price less the annual payouts received to date.

The bank has written to customers, who bought the funds, offering 88 cents per unit for the PruYield 15 fund and US$0.82 per unit for the PruYield 20 Fund. If, however, the prevailing net asset value of the funds is higher on the applicable dealing day, the customer will get the higher price.

Explaining the move, UOB's executive vice president & head of personal financial services, Mr Eddie Khoo, said: "The performance of the funds has been impacted by the global financial crisis and some of our customers have expressed concerns about the impact of market volatility and economic uncertainty on their investments. Whilst we cannot do anything about market volatility and economic uncertainty, we can help to allay our customers' concerns by going the extra mile and giving them an element of certainty."

It is understood that UOB will not hold on to the funds, but sell them immediately, so it will not make any money on this exercise. In fact, UOB could be out of pocket by as much as $10 million based on prevailing net asset values and the number of customers likely to take up the offer.

The offer, which ends on November 6, is open to those who bought either fund directly from UOB and was holding on to the funds as at Oct 16.

As at Oct 16, the price of PruYield 15, comprising more than 95 per cent of the two funds sold, was 81.5 cents while PruYield 20 was US$0.842. With the interest paid so far, most investors would be able to recoup their original investment from the UOB offer. However, if PruYield 15 customers hold on to their funds till maturity in June next year, they could recoup their original $1 per unit plus 15 cents in total payouts.

Others who sold these two funds include HSBC, Maybank, Hong Leong Finance and Prudential itself. Most have yet to say if they would follow suit,

Said Maybank: "The investment has a current market value at the moment and the investment is due to mature in about eight months time. Customers may wish to decide to hold till maturity or redeem at any point in time. We will leave the options open for our customers."

A spokesman of HSBC, one of the biggest sellers of the PruYield funds, said, "We have been monitoring the situation very closely and keeping customers informed with regular updates on the funds' performance in particular the NAV which have been steadily improving. We will continue to do so including consideration of the appropriateness of a redemption offer which we will advise to customers in due course."

URL http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC091021-0000075/A-$10-million-goodwill-gesture-by-UOB
Copyright 2009 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

I would like to know, why are these 2 funds chosen? From the article, I quote UOB's executive vice president & head of personal financial services, Mr Eddie Khoo,

"The performance of the funds has been impacted by the global financial crisis and some of our customers have expressed concerns about the impact of market volatility and economic uncertainty on their investments. Whilst we cannot do anything about market volatility and economic uncertainty, we can help to allay our customers' concerns by going the extra mile and giving them an element of certainty."

Sounds nice and all, but it still doesn't explain why these 2 funds are chosen.

Is Prudential in any financial trouble, in risk of foreclosure? I doubt so.

Are the funds performing any worse than the other funds under UOB asset management? I don't think so.

Are the funds exposing the customers to excessive risks? Not at all.

I can easily pick many others whereby customer's are making a bigger loss than these two funds, many which may be unsuitably recommended for a certain customer's risk profile. (China/India, BRIC, Resources fund just to name a few)

The 2 funds chosen are both capital protected funds, with PruYield15 maturing NEXT YEAR with a protected price of $1 whereby UOB is only offering $0.88 (which btw is only $0.07 more than the offer price as at 16 Oct). Honestly, unless I'm in urgent need of money right now, why do I not want to hold on my money for another 8 months and get another 12% more return ($1 in Jun2010 vs - $0.88 from UOB = $0.12 = 12%)? Where else can I park my money if I redeem the fund which can offer me a guranteed 12% return??

For the PruYield20 Fund, price as of 16 Oct is US$0.842, yet UOB is offering US$0.82 and thats suppose to attract me why? If I sell the fund off in the open market, I can potentially still make a profit!

I'm not sure how I can put this across in a nice way, but I think this is bullshit. UOB is not showing sincerity that they are really offering any goodwill at all. Though they might have set aside $10 milion to provide for this provision, I would be interested to know what proportion of this money will be spent at all at the end of the offer, given that any rational investors would probably think like I do and not take up this ridiculous offer.

Is this a cheap publicity stunt by UOB now that they have become the smallest local bank and trying to retain/buy customer's confidence?

I'm not convinced, not by a long shot.

When was the last time you visited a wet market?

Amid all the hoo-ha over the possible closure of wet markets, am I the only one that is under no illusions that over time, they will eventually have to make way?

I'm not sure if this is the best time, or if there ever is a best time to close down the wet markets, but lets face it, how often do you really frequent the wet market? Not in the last 10 years for me that's for sure. Of course, my mother and alot of housewives still do, but even then they are not doing 100% of their marketing there anymore. (at least for my family) Its a mixture of NTUC, Seng Song, even Cold Storage (its fruits taste better, although more expensive according to my mum) and the occasional wet marketing maybe once a week.

Gone were the days when visits to the wet market is a daily affair, buying the daily freshest food and vegetables, especially for the younger generation. Most of us prefer to do our marketing on a weekly basis, buying in bulk, in the comfort and orderly confines of the nearest supermart, where you don't have to fear being ripped off, no need to bargain, and the food is treated and packaged nicely.

A visit to the wet market is pretty much a scary process, especially for the uninitiated. Navigating the mess of stalls, juggling your purchases while taking care not to slip on the wet floor amid the bustling crowd knocking you in every direction, haggling at every stall to get the best deal.. its really too much for me to handle.

I'll miss them no doubt, its human nature to reminisce over things that are long gone.

I miss the rickety single storey, non air-coned, cockroach infested SBS bus that only costs 15 cents per trip.

I miss the ice cream truck, the bread seller ringing their horns below my block.

I feel nostalgic everytime I went back to an old HDB estate with corridors where you can played soccer with friends once upon a time.

I will miss the wet markets as it is our moment of mother and son bonding whenever I went along to help her carry her marketing.

We may save the wet markets today, but it will not be there forever.

If you really want to preserve it, use it.

Its Offical!

Its been decided finally, the tattooedbanker is no longer going to be a banker anymore. I had it with the banks. I will be joining a financial institute where I will be offering my personal advice for a fee. To put it simply to the layman, insurance agent lah.

People around me are calling me crazy. Why give up a job in a big bank that pays you a fixed 3-4k regardless of whether you hit your target, with medical benefits, annual leave entitlement etc? For a job that potentially pays you nothing?! All valid reasons, but for me, I also see it as a job that potentially pays me the sky, and a chance for me to do everything that I want.

Lets face it. Back at the bank, I was basically working minimally 70hrs a week. In a month, 70 * 4 = 280hrs, getting $4000 = $14/hr.
That's not exactly a whole lot. I get the amount of money I get because I work really hard for it. I'm not the type of person that works standard office hours producing a fixed amount of production per hour. I want more. With 70hrs of work per week in a insurance firm, assuming I can produce just half of my production in the bank, I will be getting more than twice the returns. The only case I don't get income is if I don't bother to work, which in all honestly, is not likely going to happen. (exception being my annual reservist)

In terms of recognition and appreciation, I find it more rewarding as well. Back in the bank, although I was the top producer for the last couple of years, never did I once get any recognition or thanks from the top management, whom ironically, took home even bigger paychecks and bonus because of people like me, who helped them achieve their targets and market shares. To the bank, its because of THEIR great management that people like us are able to do our job well. For us, its a given, that's our job. No recognition, no appreciation.

I understand and is ready for the prejudice a insurance agent will face. Story of my life so far anyway :)

Wish me luck.

The right to smoke

Include more sales points?

05:55 AM Oct 08, 2009

by Alicia Wong

SINGAPORE - Supermarkets and places near schools and eateries are some outlets members of the public would like to see banned from selling cigarettes.

And, if most of the respondents to a public consultation had their way, the smoking ban should be extended to cover more public areas such as void decks, within vehicles and HDB homes.

The Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) released a summary of public feedback to their proposed amendments to the Smoking (Control of Advertisement and Sale of Tobacco) (Cast) Act yesterday.

The four-week consultation drew a total of 171 responses, of which 92 per cent supported reviewing the criteria to prohibit certain premises from selling tobacco products and only 5 per cent objected to prohibiting the sale of such products at petrol stations.

HPB and HSA said they would review the application criteria for tobacco retailers and would "consider the feedback and suggestions from the public."

Nine in 10 of the respondents also suggested other measures to reduce smoking rates, including extending the smoking ban and increasing tobacco taxation.

However, smoker Wong Meiling, 26, felt "smokers are already marginalised enough ... If you sell cigarettes in fewer places, we are still going to smoke".

While six in 10 respondents wanted cigarillos, which are mini-cigars, to be sold in packs of at least 20 sticks, others felt keeping to packs of 10 sticks and raising prices would be more effective instead.

In response, HPB said requiring cigarillos to be sold in bigger packs will "effectively" raise their retail price.

The majority of respondents - 87 per cent - which included individuals and industry players, also supported controlling alternative forms of tobacco products, such as shisha.

Student Charmaine Tan, 19, supported greater regulations against smoking shisha. Said Ms Tan, who smokes shisha occasionally: "It attracts young people (and) they (businesses) don't care about age limit (now)."

Opinions were divided, however, when it came to increasing the minimum composition fine from $30 to $100 as four in 10 respondents felt underaged offenders may come from low-income families. But HPB said first-time underaged offenders would have their fines waived if they completed an online smoking cessation programme.

The majority of respondents also favoured banning misleading labelling such as "light" or "mild" cigarettes, and replacing tar and nicotine labels with a general health warning.

 

Copyright 2009 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

I used to be a pretty heavy smoker, going through at least a pack of cigarettes per day. Happy to say that I had remained smoke-free for the last 10 months, and I do feel better overall I suppose, but that is my choice, to stop smoking. It wasn't forced on me, I don't think that it should be forced on anyone, by anyone.

Smokers are a marginalized bunch. Why are people not going after drinkers, that potentially is at a higher risk of hurting themselves or someone else when drunk. Why not the vehicles or factories that spew more smoke, carbon and pollutant than all smokers combined could? Yes, while I understand all the non-smokers health concerns about 2nd hand smoke etc which is why I think its fair that there are designated smoking areas where non-smokers can stay away from, especially at F&B establishments where kids and family congregate and have dinner and might poses health problems, especially to those with respiratory problems. Smoking is also rightly banned at bus stops, taxi stands, and other modes of public transports. Much as I hate and disagree with the ban on smoking at pubs and discos, I grudgingly accept the fact that non-smokers want an occasional drink without the smoke (although to be fair, I proposed at the time that why not have a smokers only pub/disco, which of course was duly shot down, but I still think its a very viable business idea :P)

But I think it really started to cross a line of absurdity when these people (the non-smokers I presumed) basically try to slap a "no smoking" label on anything and everything they can get their hands on. Might as well slap a label on their forehead and stigmatize them for life. I mean, I can understand, and even foresee a day (if it is not here already), that smokers will only be allowed to smoke in designated areas in public, but to extend it into their private spaces such as mentioned in the article above, within vehicles and HDB homes, I really feel its ridiculous to say the least. If they can't smoke in public places, can't smoke in void decks, can't smoke in their own cars, can't smoke in their own homes (especially given that 85% of Singaporeans live in HDB homes), where do you want them to go?!

Might as well ban tobacco like Bhuntan then. But somehow I doubt the government has the political will to push through that, given the high tax revenues they receive..

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How easy is it to hack a password?

Hacked Hotmail passwords: As simple as 123456
05:55 AM Oct 08, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO - Some surprisingly simple passwords were found in Hotmail's stolen account data, which were published online last week. Two of the most popular were 1234567 and 123456789.

Mr Bogdan Calin, a security researcher who obtained a copy of the 10,000 stolen Windows Live Hotmail usernames and passwords that were posted to the website PasteBin, said: "A big majority of Internet users still use very poor passwords".

Mr Cailin discovered that 82 out of 9,843 valid passwords used these two easily cracked number passwords. Another very popular password is 111111, reported IDG News Service.

The longest password Mr Cailin found: lafaroleratropezoooooooooooooo.

Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL have been hit by cyber-crooks using "phishing" tactics to trick users of free Web-based email service into revealing account and access information.

Phishing tactics include sending people tainted email attachments that promise enticing content such as sexy photos of celebrities and luring people to bogus log-in pages that are convincing replicas of legitimate websites.

Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo stressed that hackers did not breach their databases, but rather email users were conned into revealing information.

Other popular passwords are alejandra, alberto, and alejandro. Mr Calin speculates that the crooks were targeting Latinos, just by looking at the password names.

Security experts say that the secure passwords should use a combination of letters numbers and other characters, and not include things like names, dates or dictionary words. AGENCIES

Honestly, I wasn't too surprised by the recent news that thousands of accounts had been hacked using phishing tactics (which basically involves lying/cheating to get owner to reveal their passwords), and not direct attacks on the web servers. I'm also not surprised that many people still choose simple passwords such as 123456. Let me explain why.

Back in my ex-company, we have a few requirements for passwords. For example,

• The password that is at least 7 characters long, with a combination of numbers and alphabets. Which is good, as that is what makes up a strong password.Bad is, its difficult to remember.
  
• You need to change the password once a month, and the password cannot be the same as any of the last 10 passwords that you had used before. Which is good, in keeping things fresh. Bad is, how many random 7 character alphanumeric passwords that you can remember and come up with on a monthly basis?
  
• Lastly, it will automatically log you out of the system after 3 failed attempts, after which you will have to reset and in some cases, reapply for a new password. Which is also good, as it makes it difficult for someone to guess your password and try to access the system with it. Bad is it risks being disruptive to your work, especially at times when you return to the office to meet your deadlines, only to be logged out of system with no IT support due to it being after office hours or having to put in a application for a new passwords that takes up to a week to generate.
  

So what is really happening on the ground is that, people are using simple passwords so that they will not forget and be logged out of the system. Some of the common passwords that half my department are using include

1. a123456 (changing the alphabet to b123456, c123456 etc in subsequent months), 
2. a111111 (changing the numbers to a222222, c222222 etc in subsequent months),
   
3. the month and year combination (e.g. sep2009, oct2009 etc)
   

Either that, they will either write down their more complicated passwords and it will be somewhere near their desk, some even on post-it notes stuck to the keyboard. I could honestly have hacked the accounts of half the people in my department should I wished to.

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Starhub and EPL

I'm sure by now everyone knows that Starhub has lost out to Singtel in the EPL bidding war.

As a Starhub subscriber myself, I am seriously disappointed with the result. Granted, the price had been gng up over the years but being the crazy fan that I am, I've been giving in year after year just so that I can have my weekly fix of games. Moving forward, even though I willing to pay, I still have to go through the inconvience of getting mio tv, adding another set top box, another remote set to my already overflowing tv console that currently already hosts the Starhub set-top box, DVD player, wii, PS2, and hifi set. Sigh...

Lucky for me, my Starhub subscription will be expiring at the end of the season, before mio tv takes over, so I'm free to switch without any penalties. Sorry for those that just signed up though. In any case, to me, Starhub had been squeezing the sports fans for long enough IMO.  Jeannie Ong, StarHub's head of corporate communications, conceded that the company's top line will be affected by the loss of the English soccer rights in mid-2010. But she said the number of customers who use the company's pay TV services for the soccer content alone is a "very small number." Lets see how small this "very small number" really is. Most of the people I know simply get the sports channel for soccer only. For myself, I'm simply forced to take a basic package that I don't even know what channels there are since I do not watch them at all, before I'm able to take the sports channel, and I can't even choose just the football channel, but have to take a host of other programs that I don't watch as well, such as tennis and golf. Hopefully, Singtel doesn't need to do the same thing. I'm optimistic sometimes :P

I wonder if there's live streaming available online for matches, or worse case scenerio, any way to download a delayed telecast, instead of being held hostage by two warring telcos.

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Survey shows civil servants happier compared to those working in private sector

My first reaction seeing this article is "DUH!"

I mean, wouldn't you be, if you are doing basically nothing daily, non-accountable to anyone, cast-iron recession proof income without a need to provide any service at all. I know I would.

I have a friend in the civil service, working as a buyer in a major govt board. I was curious. I thought buyers normally exists only in retails chains etc so I probed more. Basically, his guy is to buy and distributes stationary to the department. With all due respect, I don't think that a graduate is needed to buy and distribute stationary with a salary of > $3000/mth. Of course, I kept quiet out of respect for my friend, but he was openly proud of landing this particular job, boasting about doing nothing most of the time, with his most troubling problem, in his own words, being "thinking of what to do while waiting to knock off". So basically you see him on facebook all the time. I wouldn't really mind a job like that, and wouldn't I be happier?


    
Survey shows civil servants happier compared to those working in private sector
Posted: 01 October 2009 1659 hrs

    
SINGAPORE : Employees working for the government are happier than those in the private sector. This is according to an online survey conducted by JobsCentral, one of Singapore's largest job portals.

Civil servants scored 58.5 on the JobsCentral Work Happiness Indicator, higher than the average score of 55.9 for employees in the private sector.

A score of 50 indicates that an employee feels neutral about his work happiness, and a full score of 100 will mean that he is very happy.

Chief Executive Officer of JobsCentral, Lim Der Shing, said the result was not surprising.

He said the civil service in Singapore is well-run and has rather progressive human resource policies in place.

Employees in education/training have emerge as the happiest followed by those in public relations and consulting.

As for industry, employees in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry are the happiest. - CNA/ms

 

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Just a letter

I came across this very well argued article from The Temasek Review which is well worth a read. It fanned a flame of indignation that I felt when I first came across news on the msm that a $10 million Integration Fund has been set up to sponsor projects such as cultural gatherings, seminars and social outings for the newcomers and Singaporeans.

First of all, let me just say this out loud. I detest the majority of these foreign 'talent'. I'm not going to be diplomatic, I'm going to be speaking from my heart, and I know many locals, both young and old, feel the same way.

I believe that, being born and bred in this country is a privilege, a stroke of fate, not by choice. Good or bad, we had and will continue to be Singaporeans. I believe that it is our birthright. We are not mercenaries, not opportunist, we do not look at countries that we believe offer the best opportunities and migrate their in the masses. We are not invaders or colonist! WE, the people of Singapore built the country into what it is today, and with all due respect, NOT our ancestors from long long ago that come from across the globe, not the PAP, but US, the people of Singapore since independence. The real Singaporeans.

These FT comes along to compete for places and receive special no bond scholarships in OUR local universities, forcing the locals to bear the burden of paying more in going for more expensive overseas university, take away OUR jobs right after graduation while WE have to go through mind-numbing, stupidity-inducing 2 (or 2.5) years of National Service and 10 - 15 years of disruptive yearly reservist trainings after that, they bring their 3rd world habits into OUR world class infrastructure WE painstaking build over the years. And to rub salt to the wound, the govt decides that they are worth spending $10 million to help them integrate while locals struggle to find jobs or even their next meal. I'm flabbergasted.

The govt wonders why we don't feel a sense of belonging, a pride in our country etc. To tell the truth, I feel like a 2nd class citizen in my own country. Its like your parents just suddenly adopted many new brothers and sisters from a strange country (which although they look the same, spoke in a way that you totally cannot understand) to share a room that you were living in, and while they are running amok, your parents started scolding you about not cleaning up your room (which you had painstakingly designed, built and maintained in tip top condition over the years), not sharing your stuff (that you had worked painstaking over many hours of part time jobs for to own) with them, while throwing parties and gifts at them on a daily basis and blaming you for not being understanding, not seeing how they can help you, its because you don't wanna do or lack skills to do certain things that's why I need to bring them here to help me you etc etc.... Well, I think you get the idea.

The govt can say what they want about how we need them blah blah blah... I've grown numb, and fashioned the ability to filter out bullshit and propaganda. For every reason they can muster, I can similarly refute their flaw reasoning, but I don't have the energy to really do that anymore. Besides, there are many other bloggers out there with facts and figures in hand waiting, if they care to listen to us at all.

I don't want to argue anymore as it feels like I'm always talking to myself. We probably know that we had never, and will probably never ever see the ruling party admiting any error. I am speaking from the heart, as a true blue Singaporean, and this is how I am feeling now, if you still have a heart, stop for a moment, drop your defensive stance, and just feel my scream within.

$5 charge for cashier's order

I've spoken to OCBC and Daisy about 6 months back regarding this issue and I'm pleased to see some common sense taking place.

When you start charging a fee for a service that is previously free, people will inadvertently complain. 

When you start charging a fee for a service that is previously free, and still free at your competitors, people will complain even more.

Not only does this inconvenience the customer, it affects other banks as well. I recall an encounter when a customer refused to pay the $5 charge, took out his withdrawal in cash, and tried to bank it into another bank just next door. Due to the big amount of money, the receiving bank is also wary of the source of funds is 'unknown' due to Anti Money Laundering (AML) guidelines. Customer who is already unhappy with OCBC trying to charge him, gets more frustrated with receiving bank endless questions, throws a tantrum and demands to see branch manager etc. Ends up problem being resolved when receiving bank manager accompanied customer back to OCBC to verify with the OCBC manager, and customer lodges complaints against both banks. Pity the receiving bank's branch manager, cos suay suay have to write report for doing his job.

From my understanding, the charges has been ongoing for almost a year before they decide to revoke it now, due to complains to the straits times forum. Internal complaints doesn't seem to be taken seriously. So note to all, to get things done, post to your local newspaper forum.

P.S. I hope the Ezlink company will be the next to reverse their GIRO charges

From the ST Forums
$5 charge for cashier's order waived by OCBC
I REFER to Mr Chin Kee Thou's Forum Online letter last Saturday, '$100k withdrawal wasn't customer's fault, why make him pay?'.

We would like to clarify that our branches typically hold cash in different denominations to cater to the varied banking needs of our customers. Depending on the volume of the day's transactions, there could be times when we do not have notes in the denominations a customer asks for.

When it comes to customers making large-sum withdrawals at our bank branches, our key concern is for their safety. Hence, we encourage our customers to consider fund transfer options such as crediting funds to other OCBC current or savings accounts as well as other non-OCBC bank accounts instead of cash withdrawals.

We are pleased to inform readers that with immediate effect, we will waive the $5 processing fee to issue a cashier's order made payable in the account holder's name if the individual is withdrawing funds from his personal accounts.

We would like also to take this opportunity to thank Mr Chin for his feedback.

Daisy Er (Ms)

Head, Customer Assurance

OCBC Bank

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Our obsession with medical certificates (MC)

An interesting post I came across regarding the qualifying criteria for medical leave.

Almost every company in Singapore that I know of have a medical leave entitlement on top of their annual leave, and almost every company that I know of requries a medical certificate to qualify for it. Same thing as back in school.

Of course, I can understand the rationale behind it. Without it, there will probably be alot of people that will want to use up their full 'entitlement' of their medical leave, even if they are not sick. A simple phone call 'entitles' you to a day off work, and with the normal companies practice of 14 days, I'll be betting that at least once a month many will be tempted to take that 'entitlement'.

But I personally faced a problem with this issue when I was back in school. Though I seldom fall sick nowadays (touch wood!), I was pretty sickly when I was younger. I started to get a lot better when instead of the western medication, my parents started bringing me to traditional chinese sinseh. I'm not sure if its still the case now, but back then my school refused to recognise that fact, and insist that I get a 'real' MC. I was threatened that I will not be allowed to take my examinations if I continue to miss any more days without an MC, and even after my parents wrote in and came down personally to speak to the principal, they insist it was MOE policies and stuck to their guns. Since then, whenever I was sick, I would have to endure a toturous wait in line at the polyclinic simply to get that MC, throw the medication away, and go to the chinese sinseh for consulation, and take that medication. Often, that would take up my entire day, compared to the 1/2 or 3/4 day that a normal school day entails.

I haven't been to a chinese sinseh for a while now, but with TCM becoming alot more mainstream, I heard that they even have their own MC now. Whether schools or companies accept that or not I really do not know... I sincerly hope that they do though...


From Today
Have days when no MC is needed
Letter from Edwin Yeo Tee Yeok 09:10 PM Sep 24, 2009

Currently, most employees in Singapore have about 14 days of medical leave benefit on top of their normal annual leave entitlement. However, to qualify for medical leave, employees are always required to produce a medical certificate or "MC".

Individuals are often caught in a dilemma when they wake up in the morning with a minor ailment, such as a cold or a cough. Should they go to work since it is only a minor condition, or should they stay home so as not to spread the virus at the office? Conventional wisdom would suggest the latter.

In most cases, there is in fact no need to consult a doctor for such minor conditions, since there is a variety of effective medication available off-the-shelf at pharmacies. Indeed, most families are already well-stocked up with such generic medicine.

The only reason that one would need to see a doctor is simply to obtain that piece of paper that allows him/her to apply for medical leave at the office, thus the familiar phrase - "to take MC". For that, he/she would have to pay for the consultation as well as medication that they do not need. This is not only a waste of money but also a waste of time since the individual could do better to stay home and rest, instead of spending half a day at the clinic's waiting room.

My suggestion is for employers to allocate a certain number of days out of the current medical leave entitlement and designate them simply as "sick leave" whereby employees can just call in sick without having to produce an MC. Of course, if the condition deteriorates, the individual should still consult a doctor. But, by allowing for such "sick leave", it would greatly reduce the number of times that Singaporeans have to see doctors for minor ailments. This will help to control medical costs for individuals as well as employers. At the same time, it will help in reducing the workload for primary healthcare providers; and, with less time pressure, doctors can also perform better in addressing the needs of those who have more serious conditions.

I hope the authorities and companies can look into this possibility.

No ERP charges at some gantries

When I saw this headline in the Today newspaper, I thought it was because of the public holiday this weekend or the govt is feeling guilty that they are actually charging us too much, and thus removing the charges at certain gantries.

Of cos, I am being naive once again, this is the Singapore govt that we are talking about, the one that will hardly do anything for the locals, but will go all out to court foreign acceptance and praise.

Maybe I'm being extreme, but I think I'm just really jaded. Being always second class in my own country.

No ERP charges at some gantries
05:55 AM Sep 19, 2009
There will be no Electronic Road Pricing at several gantries next week, as these may interfere with sensitive video transmission equipment used for the Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.

Gantries at New Bridge Road, South Bridge Road and on the ECP (east-bound) from Ophir Road will not be in operation on Sept 24 and 25, between 6pm and 8pm.

Gantries at Temasek Boulevard and Republic Boulevard will not be in operation on the same days, between noon and 8pm, and also on Sept 26, between 12.30pm and 8pm.

For more information on traffic arrangements next week, log on to www.lta.gov.sg/SGNightRace.htm.

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Myanmar Citizens not allowed to open bank account (in general)

I came across this post here that questions the fact that Than Shwe or any of his fellow Burmese generals can just open a bank account in Singapore and deposit there money there since Singapore has diplomatic relationship with Myanmar and views the junta as a legitimate regime.

I can't speak for all banks in Singapore, but from my understanding of the local banks at least, Citizens of Myanmar, North Korea and a few other countries I can't recall off-hand are listed under 'high risk' countries. To open a bank account for citizens of these countries, they would need to provide their passports, valid work permits/employment passes, reason for opening the account, source of funds etc to the bank which is subjected to approval on a case by case basis. For any large transactions involving any bank accounts, it will be monitored and reported to MAS if deemed suspicious by the bank.

Granted, approval criteria is set by individual banks, and exceptions or misjudgment do happen (as we seen in cases of Taiwan's ex-president fiasco) but in general, 'no questions asked' is a bit too unlikely.

In a nutshell, what I'm trying to say here is that, its not so easy lah.

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What weight do academic qualifications carry in PR applications?

I think this case is interesting and worth watching ICA's response.

The govt's stance is always we needed FT to plug the gap that locals do not have, bring with them skills we do not possesses etc etc. Or are we actually just bringing in whoever that wants to come?

What weight do academic qualifications carry in PR applications?
by Ong Dai Lin 05:55 AM Sep 16, 2009
FOR a skilled worker, how much weight does the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) place on his educational qualifications when approving his permanent resident application?

This was the question raised by Judge of Appeal V K Rajah during an appeal hearing involving China national Lin Shuliang. The latter is appealing against his two weeks' jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to lying to the ICA.

Lin, 38, submitted a permanent residency application form to ICA in July last year, claiming that he had graduated from the Fuqing San Shan Middle School in Fujian province and also attached a school-leaving certificate with his application.

ICA found the information to be false. Lin had only completed half of his studies in the school and did not graduate from it.

Lin came to Singapore in 1993 and was employed as a construction worker. He later rose to become the boss of two building firms.

During yesterday's hearing, Justice Rajah said in Lin's case, it is "quite clear that the basis for any approval of his status will be based on his skills more than the educational qualifications".

Justice Rajah said that for him to assess the severity of Lin's offence, he needs to know how much weight the ICA places on education qualifications when assessing a person's permanent resident application.

"The more material it is, the bigger is the sin."

Justice Rajah has instructed the prosecution to get more information from ICA on the criteria it uses to approve a person's permanent resident status.

The case will be heard again in the Court of Appeal on Friday. Ong Dai Lin

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Update: Understand that the appeal has failed and the accused was sentenced for lying. Credit where credit is due, glad that there was no indication of any double standards.  

News: Singapore Sets Measures to Prevent Home Price Swings

By Shiyin Chen and Jonathan Burgos
    Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore is introducing new measures to prevent excessive price swings in the property market following signs that speculative home buying may be on the rise, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said.

    The government will push for more sites to be sold and will bar interest-only mortgages for uncompleted housing projects, Mah said in parliament today. It will also stop allowing developers to absorb interest payments for apartments that are still being built, he added.

    Singapore’s home sales reached 10,000 homes in the first seven months, more than the 4,300 units sold for the whole of 2008, Mah said. The so-called take-up rate for these projects may exceed the historical high of 14,800 units in 2007, while home prices have started to increase “significantly” since June, he added.

    “We are currently seeing signs of heightened speculative activity, though the level of speculation is not that extreme,” Mah said. “Given the current market conditions, the government has decided to adopt several measures to temper the exuberance in the market and preempt
any speculative bubble from forming.”

    CapitaLand Ltd., Singapore’s largest developer, fell 4.7 percent to S$3.69 as of 4.09 p.m. local time. City Developments Ltd., the second-biggest property company, lost 6.5 percent to S$10.36, while Allgreen Properties Ltd. dropped 7.9 percent to S$1.16. The benchmark Straits Times Index slipped 1.4 percent to 2,643.25.

                           Land Sales

    “The measures should temper people’s expectations in the property market in the near term,” said Wilson Liew, an analyst at Kim Eng Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. “Over the longer-term, there shouldn’t be a huge impact. Most of the housing demand is coming from owner-occupiers.”

    The government will reinstate the so-called confirmed list of land sales in the first half of 2010, Mah said. It will also “replenish” the supply of land on the so-called reserved list, he added. These are sites that will only be offered for sale when the government receives a triggering
bid.

   The Monetary Authority of Singapore will also disallow the interest-absorption plan and interest-only loans currently offered to buyers of uncompleted private homes, Mah said. These are housing loans that either eliminate or lower the interest installment payments before the
completion of the property.

    This will take immediate effect for all private residential projects, Mah said. Still, the interest- absorption plan will be permitted for developments that are already on sale and that had previously offered the program, the minister added.

    The government also won’t extend assistance measures that were introduced in the 2009 budget when they lapse in January 2010, Mah said. These include allowing developers more time to complete their projects and allowing the reassignment of government sale sites.

    The measures “will help to preempt excessive price swings,” Mah said. “It is in everyone’s interest to have a steady property market where prices move steadily in line with economic fundamentals.”

--Editors: Sean Collins, Alan Soughley

To contact the reporter on this story:
Shiyin Chen in Singapore at +65-6212-1170 or
schen37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Linus Chua at +65-6212-1530 or
lchua@bloomberg.net

------------------------------------------------------------------------
While I would say that the move is long overdue, I wonder if anything would be done for the local HDB housing market. If the move succeed in cooling the private property market, will it spill over to the HDB sector or will it in fact bring up HDB prices as more people might choose to buy HDB instead due to probable ease of loan approval?

I'm also uneasy that Mah views that "level of speculation is not that extreme". I think its a known fact especially in the banking sector that there are a ridiculous number of foreign speculators buying properties in Singapore. I call them speculators because many of them do not live in Singapore, a good number of them not even living in Asia, and have no intention of living in the properties they purchased. A real estate agent friend was just relating to me that he had this BIG customer from the USA, came in over the last weekend and simply bought 3 properties worth approximately 2mil each, and flew back after giving instructions to my friend on his preferred selling prices. My friend of cos was thrilled, given that he earns a cool 1% each time he does a transaction. Good money for all involved, except maybe the last buying before market crash. My friend calls it musical chair, I call it russian roulette.

Personally, when I was still in the bank, I remembered helping this customer did up a loan for his property in Sentosa Cove. The land itself cost about 2mil if I remember correctly in 2006, added with a construction cost of approximately 2.2mil completed in late 2007 when market is still at its peak. The valuation for the property then was about 14mil. During the downturn early feb this year, the customer needed to increase his cashflow and came to me to mortgage his property for an overdraft facility. Bank valuation at that time was 8.5mil for that property. Now, just 7 mths later, the same customer had already sold off his property to a hongkong couple for a cool 20mil. Not excessive? I beg to differ...

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MAS response point 3.3: Fair and Balanced Marketing and Advertising Materials

I was just reading up on the MAS paper on my mobile phone after my meeting while making my way down to the COMEX show at Suntec City. The restrictions does makes the whole sales process a whole lot more challenging to say the least, but I was simply wondering how they are going to enforce it. Sure, its one thing for PRINTED materials to go through the compliance checks etc, but what are they going to do if the sales rep does not even show the customers the printed material, but instead relying simply on speech itself.

At the COMEX show itself, I noticed a group of well-dressed youth standing around with holders containing pictures of PSP, WII, mobile phones etc but with no price tags on them. (The pics, not the youths) As they happen to be standing right next to the booth I was testing the printer I am interested in buying, I overheard one of them approaching a gentleman beside me if they are interested in getting the gadgets in the pictures for free. Obviously, the gentleman was keen on the 'free gift' and proceed to ask her what he must buy to qualify for the gift. (At least he knows that there are no free lunches)

However, the lady in question left me pretty shocked with her answer and I this is the conversation as best as I can remember,

Lady with picture (LP): "Oh, no need to buy anything, we're not selling any products today, just a promotion for savings account."

Interested Guy (IG): "Savings account? So good? Which bank?"

LP: "Oh, we're not from the bank. Bank's interest rates are so low, less than even one percent! Not only are we giving you the free gadget, this account gives you a much higher interest rate any banks!"

IG: (Starting to get wary) "Got so good one meh? What's the catch?"

LP: "This account is really very good one, no catch. We help you to do regular savings so that you can earn higher interest! Why not you follow me, I show you the brochure and explain to you more in detail."

The conversation ended with the guy following the lady somewhere into the crowd. I didn't catch which booth they ended up in, but I am very sure that the lady is from an insurance company, trying to sell either a endownment plan or an investment linked policy (ILP). I'm left feeling very uneasy about the whole incident as these incidents have a direct impact on me as well as I am in the same industry.

My uneasiness arises first of all from the fact that this particular group of people are lurking at other vendors booths, presumably due to the fact that if they are standing under their own booth, customer would tend to give them the wide berth as their intention today was probably more on IT devices, and lets face it, most people do not want to talk to any insurance agents or financial planners as they always think that this group of people only wants their money. I would know, since I've been on the receiving end, so please make it clear that I'm not against any insurance agents or companies etc so I am also one of YOU! But I believe in carrying out business in an ethical way, as I also strongly believe that insurance DOES benefits the customers at the end of the day, and its our job to educate and make them see that. Not dusting the issue under the carpet and 'repackage' the product into something its not but you think customer will like.

In addition, MAS response point 3.3 sub-section Fair and Balanced View of Products states that

In response to concerns regarding the interpretation of “fair and balanced”, MAS will take into account the following factors in determining whether marketing and advertising materials are “fair and balanced”. Marketing and advertising materials would be considered “fair and balanced” if they:
(a) are clear and easily understood by the audience being addressed; 6
(b) set out clearly both the potential upside and downside of the investment;
(c) highlight prominently the risks of the product;
(d) do not give the impression that an investor can profit without risk;
(e) do not present information in footnotes if such presentation would cause difficulty to an investor in understanding the product; and
(f) do not omit any material information if the omission would cause the marketing and advertising materials to be misleading.

By enticing the potential investor with pictures of gadgets with no inkling of any products that they are trying to sell, or that they are in fact free gifts for signing up on an insurance plan does not seem fair to me.


MAS response point 3.3 sub-section Restrictions on Marketing and Advertising Materials also states that

In addition, MAS proposed that marketing and advertising materials should not suggest that:
(a) the product is, or is comparable to, a bank deposit; or
(b) there is no or little risk of the investor losing his principal or not achieving the stated or targeted rate of returns.

By stating first of all that the product IS a savings account, the investor immediately loses guard on point (b) by implictly implying that there is no risk to his principal which most likely is not the case, especially in the event of premature withdrawal, and dependent on market conditions.


I don't know if the gentleman eventually bought the "account" or got his "free gadget" from the lady, but I sincerely hope that the lady did eventually explain the features of what ever plan she was trying to sell and highlight the fact that it is NOT A SAVINGS ACCOUNT!

Incidents like these make me wonder if I'm making the right choice staying on in this industry.

MAS response to Consultation Paper on Review of the Regulatory Regime Governing the Sale and Marketing of Unlisted Investment Products

I was reading with interest on MAS response as it would obviously have a direct impact on me.

I would have like to do an in detailed analysis of how each would impact the banks and financial institute but I have an important meeting in approximately 5 hrs time and I should be getting some rest :P

You can read about it here if you had not already done so yet.

Will be back tonight for full analysis.

New Challenges

If you had been reading my old blog you would have known that I left my job a while back. Since then, I had been exploring a few options, which may or may not lead me back into a bona fide 'Banker' position in the near future. But I've grown to like this moniker a bit too much to change it to anything else :P

Thinking back, I was a bit rash in tendering my resignation, especially without the security of another job in waiting. I was probably also a bit too confident of my abilities that I can land another job easily despite the weak economy. I was proven wrong on more than one occasions. Despite that, I don't really regret my decision, except that it might have came a couple months early, else I would have gotten another increment which I could use to negotiate a higher pay elsewhere. That being said, it might have led to me being more unable to leave the job due to the security and comfort level.

An ironic thing that happened often during my interview sessions with various organization.

I guess we all know by now that Singaporeans are a pragmatic species. No one believes in ideals, beliefs, and principals anymore, everything is just about oneself and money.

The number one common question I had from interviewers is that

"Why did I choose to leave my job without securing another job first?"

My answer to them, which I honestly swear is the truth, is that I want to move out of my comfort zone. Everything was going abit too well for me, in the sense that my superiors trusted me to know I always do my job, they pretty much leave me alone and handed me autonomy over how I do my job. I know my job well and can do it with much ease, leaving little challenges for me. I don't get any satisfaction from my job anymore. Yet in a coporate sense, I was still relatively 'junior' and would have to wait out my turn for future promotions, which meant I would have to continue doing the same thing that I'm already very good at for the next couple of years before I can be even considered for a managerial position title, and then continue to do the exact same thing again, only at a higher pay then of course.

The other reason why I decided to leave without a new job was that, I wouldn't have the time to attend interviews with other organisations during work, and I don't think that it's right to fake an appointment to go for my interview, while my company is paying my salary, and my fellow colleagues are picking up the slack on my work while I was gone.

I don't know how you feel about the reasons I've given, but I can tell that 9 out of 10 of the interviewers I met so far doesn't believe me.

To them, a person like me couldn't have existed I supposed. In their heart, they were probably thinking things like I couldn't cut it at work and was asked to leave or something like that. There was this one particular interviewer who actually sniggered when I told him that I quited to look for a job full time as I didn't want to take advantage of my previous company by going to interviews on their time. I find that highly insulting on my integrity as person, and I don't find it funny (which I told him so and eventually probably caused me the opportunity)

The sad thing is, to most people, it seems to be the 'normal' thing to do. Take off/leave if you have to, they tell me, but its best if you just sneak out for a couple of hours during work, so that you can convert your leave/off into cash when you resign. Isn't that tantamount to cheating?

Anyway, what's passed is passed, and I shall not dwell on it further. I've pretty much decided the path I wanted to take next, and for the first time in my life, I suddenly felt like I have a direction, a goal to work towards! I may have stumbled into the financial line by accident, but damn if I'm not going to make the best out of it!

I had thought of going back to my comfort zone, back to my roots in the IT industry. I even had an offer to do something that I have been searching for before I joined banking, but I guessed it was a dream job that came 3 years too late. I'm getting too old to start all over again at the bottom. I know what to aim for now, and I will make sure I get there. Had a couple of negotiations already, and will be meeting with another company tomorrow.

I hope things can get settled soon and for the first time in months, I can't wait to start work.

Moved!

Moving the blog over from wordpress.

Can still view the old blog here.

I'll be making a few changes around the blog itself, hopefully with more regular posts, and posts that matters to me on a more personal level.

Hope you'll enjoy this new blog as much as I hope I will. :D