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