Tattooed Banker

Old horses

2011-09-21T21:53:00.001+08:00

Today I was having a chat over lunch with a colleague of mine. Both of us had been in the industry for almost the same period of time, and having been through the ups and downs in the markets over the years, we are started to feel jaded about the job lately esp given the current market conditions.

After the lehmans crisis, i think any bankers that have gone through that would start to be more defensive with customer's portfolio. Sometimes, we tend to over-think. We are afraid of committing customers to risk even though customers might be ok with it themselves. Think the 'trauma' still linger on with us.

In comparisons, those that are newer in the industry are simply lapping up everything the research reports are saying, and in their eagerness to prove themselves, are getting customers into increasingly aggressive positions despite current market uncertainty.

I don't want to say they are wrong to do that. Maybe we are really over-thinking it. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe everything will turn out fine. Bull markets might be just round the corner and everyone will be making money and be happy once again. Like the good old days circa 2006.

I just don't really believe it.

End of the day, we bankers are hired by the banks to sell products to customers. Regardless of how you want to call it, re-balancing, positioning, portfolio allocation, financial planning etc, end of the day, we want to make a sale out of it, the bank wants us to sell to customers so that they earn the revenue. Bankers want to sell to you cos they want to earn that commission. We don't sell, the bank loses money on paying our salary, therefore, to cut their losses, the bank cuts your job. Its just business. Nothing personal.

But when personal feelings start to get in the way, maybe it's not the right job for you anymore

PM Lee apology

2011-05-04T22:56:00.000+08:00

Credit where credit is due, it's refreshing to hear PM Lee admitting and apologizing for 'mistakes' that had been made over the years. It is also admirable of him to stand up to MM Lee and tell voters that he does not feel the same way, and that he sending a reminder (to his dad no less) that he is now the man in charge.

However, the timing and sincerity of the apology left many questions unanswered. Why now?

If the apology had came IMMEDIATELY after the mishaps, I would have praised PAP for finally manning up and admitting to their fallacies.

If the apology had came AFTER THE ELECTIONS, after their expected re-entry as the legit govt for the next 5 years, I would have praised them for being a gentleman, and looked forward to see them carrying out changes.

Now, with the apology coming in the heat of the elections, after denying that there was a problem for so long, why now?? Pressure from opposition?? It seemed to lend weight to the opposition's argument that having a 'co-driver' or simply someone to watch over and instil pressure on the incumbent to do what they are supposed to do, and do it better. Yet another own goal from the PAP?

To PM Lee, thanks for taking the effort, I may give my vote to you as a person if I still reside in Amk, but I do not thing that your party is deserving of it.

Growth and share package

2011-05-03T20:34:00.001+08:00

This morning I encountered a long queue outside a local bank at 830am. Opening hour is 9am, but there was easily more than 50 people already in the queue which is far more than normal. I later realised that it was for the encashment of growth and share package cheque.

I remember when I used to work in our local banks, queues like these formed into the hundreds before branch opens during periods like this. Most of these people are the elderly and retirees which needs more attention in filling up forms or where to go etc so we try to help out the best we can.

I remember asking an elderly customer once.

"Why so kiasu auntie?" I said jokingly. "Wait a few more days then encash lah, or just drop into the quick cheque deposit box, tomorrow after 2pm can withdraw via ATM, no need to queue."

I can still remember what she said even now.

"Ah di, auntie no money already. Don't encash now how I am going to buy food for my next meal? I don't have any bank accounts with any banks as I cannot afford the minimum balance required and the banks keep deducting money from me every month!"

There are a lot more of these 'aunties' that I used to encounter almost on daily basis. They are mostly uneducated, illiterate and needs help to use machines or read the english letters the bank sent out. It seemed like the world has passed them by. Worst of all, they did not realised it.

They know that things are getting more expensive, but they don't understand why.

They know that jobs are getting more difficult to come by, but they don't understand why.

What they 'know' is that the government is 'helping' them by giving them money to spend. So they keep voting for the party that is actually causing them their problems in the first place.

Sad.

My 1st rally this year

2011-04-30T13:49:00.000+08:00

I attended my 1st rally of the year in serangoon stadium last night. It feels like a festival. WP flags, books, newsletters are being peddled around for a fee, people are sitting in and outside the stadium with the whole family, everyone seemed excited. But excited about what??

I paid $2 for a party flag, treating it as a small donation to the party's causes, and went into the stadium. Overwhelming crowd, sea of people everywhere. From the entrance, I couldn't see where the stage is, let alone identify who is speaking and on what issues. Finally managed to squeeze my way in eventually to have a better listen. In all honestly, the whole experience was a bit underwhelming, I had looked forwarded to and expected a better speech with more substance especially from CSM, but what disappointed me more was actually the crowd.

As impressive as the large numbers in the crowd may seem, a majority of them didn't seemed to be there to listen to the candidates speaking, to learn about what the party is doing or trying to do for them. I saw many simply having a picnic in the middle of the field, taking pictures, busy tweeting/facebooking then really listening to what is being said. To many, it's simply nothing more than a novelty, a form of 'entertainment'. Is it a new fad, especially for the younger crowd, to be seen as anti-establishment, a rebel? To be seen at an opposition rally? To take photos and 'check-in' on facebook just because its cool to be seen there?

Personally, that is not my ward. But I was there because I wanted to see how WP had evolved. The party is contesting in my ward, albeit with a different team. Not the 'A-team', but I wanted to get more of a feel on the party, and how they would make things better for us. I remember visiting quite alot of election rallies the last time round and the crowd was visibly different. There is a sense that people were taking things more seriously. This time round, people seemed to be taking it as entertainment, and the speakers seemed to be playing to the crowd as well, making generalistic popular statements that evoke emotions but doesn't really say too much.

I had hoped this election will be different.

I had hoped that it will be a next step towards a better future for us.

But I am not feeling so optimistic.

Lets pray it doesn't end 87 - 0

Respect

2011-04-27T23:58:00.000+08:00

Really salute Mr Low Thia Khiang for his decision to move out of his comfort zone in Hougang and contest a GRC in Aljunied. Put me in the same position and I may not have the guts and resolve to do what he did. He could pretty much stay put and keep on doing the same job which he had been doing very well, and drawing a high 'allowance' at the same time. He could treat it as his own little retirement village, a little bit like a small village chief in the old days, where he will live a comfortable life, and commands respect from the people in Hougang.

I used to live in Hougang a long long time again. Long before I knew anything about politics. To me, Hougang was never any different from the nearby AMK (which I moved to next), nice housing, amenities, places of worship etc. Only real 'difference' or question to me at that time was why there are no MRT there. I did not feel that it had been in anyway 'shortchanged' or disadvantaged. There is no reason for me to feel that way.

Only much later in life, just like in the matrix movie, after taking the red pill, did I realise how many things work in our uniquely Singapore context. Learnt new terms, such as 'pork barrel politics', 'gerrymandering', 'character assassination' and 'fear-mongering'.

I often see Mr Low when I visit Hougang. I even see him around my estate once or twice over the last couple of years even though he isn't contesting here. Rumor has it that he attends every single funeral wake or wedding banquets held in Hougang. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but if true, speaks volume for his character. To voters living in PAP wards, I pose this question, "when was the last time you ever saw your MP if they didn't need something (ie your votes) from you?" For me, its easier to strike 4d than to meet my MP.

By choosing this route, he is basically forcing voters that are still sitting on the fence to make a decision. To break status quo. To bring WP and opposition in Singapore to the next level. I sincerely hope he succeed. Its not going to be easy, especially against George Yeo who seemed to be genuinely well-liked by many and to give credit where its due, had been doing a pretty decent job as a foreign minister. The other members in his team are certainly no TPLs and can be counted on to stand on their own feet, but the WP team seems intent to match them all the way by fielding an very impressive lineup as well.

For this election, I finally decided to start doing something. I've volunteered my services as a polling/counting agent with WP.

A small step forward, may it lead to a big leap next.

DBS ramps up offerings to high net worth clients

2011-04-27T21:01:00.001+08:00

From Todayonline:

DBS ramps up offerings to high net worth clients
10:30 PM Apr 26, 2011
SINGAPORE - As part of its strategy to grow its assets under management from US$35 billion (S$43 billion) to US$50 billion in the next three years, DBS is ramping up its offerings to the high net-worth segment through a new wealth management platform.

Called Treasures Private Client, the platform is a one-stop shop of private banking and consumer banking solutions to give clients access to everyday transactional banking, along with investment offerings.

Analysts estimate that the number of high net worth individuals, with upwards of US$1 million of investable assets, is set to grow by 40 per cent in Asia in the next three years. Wealth amassed by such individuals in Asia is seen growing by US$80 billion in the same period.

Ms Pearlyn Phau, managing director and regional head, DBS Treasures, said, "We will roll Treasures Private Client out to Singapore and Hong Kong as these are the two key markets. We will roll it out to the rest of our key markets in due course."

"In terms of the growth of our customers in the US$1 million to US$3 million wealth bands, we see exponential growth in the next three years. So this will be the target market we're looking at," she said.

DBS also said that the new platform will have a team of 200 staffers, of which 30 to 40 per cent will be new hires.

Hmm... is it just me or is this new DBS CEO trying to mimic his previous employer? Even the name and the criteria is exactly the same. Just like their adding of 'specialists' and 'consultants' to the investment team. Similarly, can't even be bothered to change a title.

Let me guess what next. Instant credit card issuance? hmmm...

Sure makes the job look easy.

2011-04-26T22:29:00.000+08:00

I'm getting a bit of news overload lately. My RSS feeds are filled with election news. The local papers are full of articles glorifying the incumbents while the online articles are mainly full of articles 'de-glorifying' them. Its getting real predictable and boring.

Latest topic now is of cos on the sexual orientation of the SDP candidate, and the way the news was brought out. Now you really know things are in full swing.

Typical.Gutter.Shit.

Honestly unable to garner up any respect for any single of these incumbent MPs/ministers. Totally full of shit and out of touch. Yes, I do witness a lot of stupid singaporeans on a daily basis, but are they really the majority? Will they not be able to see through the bullshit and stunts that you are trying to pull?

random

2011-04-25T23:46:00.000+08:00

Not feeling well over the last couple of days. Basically slept the long weekend away.. sigh... after working so hard, thought I can finally have some time to do my personal stuff. oh well..

Thought i would go home earlier to rest since not feeling so good. Ended up reaching home after 9pm. sigh...

But I spent some time talking to a colleague. Someone junior who I can see works really hard, but is not getting the results that others are getting. Kinda reminded me of myself when I was just starting out in the industry. Unlike me though, he asked. And unlike my seniors back then, I shared and taught.

I remembered back then, I never really asked anyone anything. I tried initially, but very soon I realised, being in a sales role where a newbie is potentially your competitor, the culture is such that the seniors either can't be bothered to even talk to you, or will only teach you the bare minimum, or worse, teach you the wrong things on purpose. I'm kinda glad to be out of that kinda environment.

Speaking of environment, my current workplace is a surprisingly comfortable environment to work in. Despite some hiccups and the obvious sales vs all other departments problems, I have enjoyed working here thus far as compared to my previous workplace. Less politics, less stress, more bonding. Pretty lucky and happy to end up where I am, its just the sales targets that are killing me.

I wonder how long it can last though.

Obviously when the numbers are not there, the stress will come in, and attrition will kick in soon. Then its a whole new process of getting used to new people again. I wonder how many more times I will go through this cycle.

Meet with an old friend for lunch today. Things seemed to be going well for him. Having been working overseas pretty much half the time over the last couple of years, he's finally getting his posting back to Singapore soon. He's planning his wedding and its going to be 2 days before my birthday. haha

Started talking about housing and costs of living and inevitably, on the upcoming elections. He seemed to be very optimistic about change coming along soon. I, however, is not feeling so. I just hope we don't end up with just one opposition seat for the next 5 years.

2011-04-07T22:55:00.000+08:00

Finally booked a flat today. A cool half million for a HDB flat. Sigh... Seriously doubt its going to have any resale value or significant price appreciation for this area, its probably going to be another one of my poor investment choices. 80% loan at 2.6% HDB HL rate for 30 years. Monthly installment ~$1600/mth. 400,000 compounded 30 years equivalent ~$860,000. Seriously craaaaaaazy.....

End of the day, I suppose I should stop thinking of it so much of an investment but more as a home. Even if it never appreciates in price, I suppose its somewhere I'm willing to live in until I die. Welcome to a life of mediocrity, a life of middle income class.

Gotta start working harder. 3 more years to completion, 2 more years at most for me to really start saving up. Earn as much as I can, hopefully by then I would have upped my corporate rank and basic pay so that can move on to the next stage into a less stressful department and still have a comfortable enough income to maintain ~~the lifestyle i want~~ a family.

A family... kinda a scary thought.

By the time the house is completed, need to get married...... so.. finally came to this...

The thought of it is pretty daunting. I'm always someone who values privacy. I love being alone, hate crowds, doesn't like socializing. All the wedding dinners, ceremonies, photo taking etc... the thought of it alone is enough to put me off.. add to it the yearly cny dinners, birthdays, festives and what nots... its like my perpetual nightmare x2.

I wish I didn't have to go through all these.

But that's how life is I suppose..

That's how my life is now and going to be.

This is it.

I wish I still dared to dream.

Thoughts on CNA TV debate forum

2011-04-04T23:51:00.000+08:00

Touted as first time ever in Singapore, unedited, uncensored. It got me all excited staying in on a Saturday night to catch it. Honestly, I was kinda disappointed but I probably got my hopes up a bit too high. Some positives to take away from the whole show though, and it certainly changed my opinions on some of the parties involved. A very good writeup on the performance of the participants are provided here Just like to add some individual comments.

Vincent Wijeysingha from SDP really wooed me. To me and I believe alot of other Singaporeans, the SDP is a party characterized by CSJ. Love him or hate it, its a there isn't much middle ground. Often seen as extreme and attention seeking party by many, I'm pleasantly surprised to see someone like Vincent who speaks well, calm and collected, making decent points for us to think about along the way and backs up his arguments with facts instead of succumbing to emotions. Based on the performance of all present at the debate, he would get be the one getting my vote. 9/10

Minister Tharman was pretty decent too. The 2nd best performance in the entire debate. Calm, speaks clearly, and comes across as sincere and genuine. Didn't say anything that we haven't already heard but doesn't come across as snobbish at all which is not something I can say for most PAP candidates. 8/10

Gerald Giam from WP did decent. Not spectacular, seems to show some nerves, but able to articulate and brings his point across. Nowhere as witty as Vincent from SDP, but bring up some valid points and comes across as genuine was well. Does have a mummy's boy feeling though. Need more experience and perhaps a stronger guiding hand. 6.5/10

Josephine Teo from PAP came across as scripted and fake to me. Maybe I'm biased, but she seemed to have a condensing look and tone when speaking to the opposition which I personally can't stand. Didn't offer much at all. 4/10

Nazem Suki from SDA looks very uncomfortable. The way he keep looking at the fellow opposition members when he speaks and constantly asking for reassurance doesn't inspire confidence. I ended the show not really knowing what he or his party stands for. 4/10

Lina Chiam from SPP comes away from the debate rock bottom. Honestly, whenever the camera pans to her, I cringe a little. There was this period she totally went blank and tried to blame it on a headache or something which I felt totally disgraceful. Did she fall asleep while the others are talking?? I don't know how I can trust a person like this with my vote. 0/10

rants

2011-03-31T21:41:00.000+08:00

Feeling kinda lousy. Sometimes, I feel like I'm doing ok, somedays I feel like I'm doing great, today is one of those days where I basically feel like shit.

Stumbled upon one of my old classmate's record at work today. Finding the name oddly familiar, I did a double check and realised that it was an old uni mate of mine. 5 years since we both parted ways, 5 years since we both started working. We keep in touch every now and then, maybe once a year or so. He's based overseas, so basically I buy him dinner and drinks when he's back, he'll do the same for me when I visit. I know he's doing well, he was always really one step ahead of me all the time back in the days. I get a B, he would get an A. I get an A, he would get A+. I ended up with 2nd class honors, he grabbed 1st class. Sort of a friendly competition really. We motivated each other to do better.

I just didn't expect him to be doing so much better than me.

I always thought I am just one step behind. Now I realised that I have actually been left far behind.

He's living the expatriate lifestyle I wished about, getting the paycheck I'm still working my ass off for, avoiding all the reservists that I keep getting called up for. This sucks. Makes me wonder what the hell am I doing?!

Working for 5 years now. I wouldn't say I really excelled in work, but I do decent. Not the top, but definitely above the average worker. And I got satisfied with it. I started to accept that a simple life is fine. I have my gal and we spend time, do simple stuff and I thought I am happy with it. I supposed deep inside I'm not, no matter how I try to lie to myself about it. I am still a deeply competitive, deeply materialistic person that measures ones worth through monetary means.

Just applied for a HDB flat last month and was offered to go for selection next week. I was pleased. For a while. Then I realised how much my expectations had dropped. I was happy with a place. Any place. I always thought my first property would come before 30, and it would be a condo. Where I can do my favorite exercise of swimming every single day, maybe even twice a day. Where I do not need to pay season parking for my car. To be fair, I started saving up when I started working 5 years ago, at that time, a suburban condo is going for $500,000 or so. Ironically, my new HDB flat is going to cost me almost that much if not more. And I no longer owned, or have any desire to own a car anymore. With the crazy traffic and ERP everywhere, I pay more to arrive later than by train. Although its a more uncomfortable squeeze, but I realised that I am ok with it now. How much exactly have I digress?

I keep asking myself, have I matured and become real pragmatic? Or have I simply given up dreaming that my life is going to turn out any better than it is now? I honestly do not know how much harder I can work, I'm clock a minimum of 12 hours daily, somedays even more. I work Saturdays, and I even feel guilty not working on Sundays! Despite it all, I'm not even sure if I'm gng to hit half of a MP's 'allowance'. Can someone tell me how I can get that part time job? It's even better than Australia's 'best job in the world'!

On smear campaigns against Tin Pei Ling

2011-03-30T21:49:00.001+08:00

I'll put this across bluntly. People of jealous of this gal.

I'll put my hand up and admit it. I am jealous of her, I truly am. Because like many of the netizens, I feel that even I could make a better candidate than her. Nothing against her personally, she's probably a nice gal and all, your average gal next door, but its like.. she just lacks depth... What does she stands for? Who is she speaking for? Her biggest regret is not having brought her parents to Universal Studio?! I mean, seriously??? WTF?! Honestly, with people like her as your MP is like having Ris Low as Miss Singapore. It really really doesn't put Singapore in very good light. Is this really the best we got?

Irregardless, she is going to be someone, that apart from keeping her high-paying day job, gets another 'part-time' job that not only is probably going to pay higher than what you are getting in your full time job, YOU, as a tax payer are going to pay for it and there is nothing you can do about it cos of this bloody joke called the GRC.

In essence, the PAP could put their favorite tea-lady from the minister office say in MM Lee's GRC ward. She could be your next MP! So what if she may hail from China and doesn't speak a word of english and never attended school in her life? What are you going to do about it? You can be a degree holder and work yourself to death and chances are you would not be getting more than her 'part-time' job. To add insult to injury, the money you worked so hard to earn, goes into funding the fat paychecks of people like these. Are we suckers or what?! Angry? No, I'm JEALOUS!

Thats why everyone hates her. They want to be in her shoes.

Fukushima 50

2011-03-19T11:50:00.000+08:00

I really admire the Fukushima 50 team that is willing to put their lives on the line for the greater good. Instinctively if I were to be placed in the same position, I'll probably tell you that I'm willing to do it too. But realistically, unless I'm bought up in a closed culture like japan, it's very unlikely that I'll feel willing to sacrifice myself. To put it in our local context, would I do it? I probably would have said yes 10 years ago when I still feel a shred of nationalist pride. Not anymore when everywhere I looked are 'outsiders' here to leech off us. I dun blame them. As I have said many times, if there is another country or Govt as ~~stupid~~ liberal in immigration and favoring outsiders as much as ours, I would jump at the chance too.

End of the day, what I'm trying to say here is that as much as I admire the Fukushima 50, chances of me ever being willing to do so have fallen dramatically over the years. Unless the day comes again to make me feel this is my home once again, a home where it's willing to die for me as much as I would be willing to do for it, I'm still gng to be looking for my way out of this shithole

Reservist

2011-03-18T18:41:00.000+08:00

2 weeks of reservist passed in a flash. 1 more week to go before heading back to work.

To be honest, I hate reservist. I find that its a fucking waste of my time, esp when I am in a sales role. In sales, you need to find the momentum, to keep building the relationship with your clients, and just when you feel that you are doing so, you are on track, bamm! you're off for 3 weeks of reservist doing some mindless fuck shit that is going to cost me much more than whatever makeup pay you can give me. I dun care about some $9000 that I will get for serving 10 years of reservist. Its not even in cash, while I would gladly hand over $9000 or even $18,000 in CASH to the government to stop bothering me and leave me alone! I have already given up 2.5 years of my youth, watching me fall behind my female and other foreigners classmates. Its still not enough and you are fully intent to suck another 10 years out of me. WTF?!

I was IT trained back in the days, and given the speed IT moves, after my NS, all I have is a diploma cert that is nothing more than a irrelevant piece of paper and zero working experience, which of cos puts me at a major disadvantage. So what if I had 'sacrificed' my youth to the nation? What do I get in return? Does any employer care? So what if I had gotten a grading of 'Outstanding' in my NS certificate of conduct? Do you have any 'real life' working experience? They used to say that army makes you a man, well, I can't refute that in all honesty. I have never ever felt like a failure anytime in my life until after army when I tried to find work. Every employer puts me down until I almost believed I am a failure. I'll never forget an interviewer telling me that they can get a graduate with experience from overseas for lesser than what I would cost them, so why should they hire me? Sigh... those days were past. My angst are gone. More or less. Somehow I ended up in a different industry, something that I don't really have a passion about, something that I never considered myself doing, but thankfully, I'm still doing decently. I do often wondered though, how things might have been if I had been given the chance to pursue my passion....

Still, life goes on irregardless, so I do try to find positives in it. I try to take reservist as my annual 'vacation' off from work to recharge and restrategise. I get to meet old friends and new people. I get to get my mind off work for a while. I get interesting views, ideas and perspective from different people, people that I may only meet once a year, or maybe even once in my lifetime. People from different age groups from those very young (just ORD) compared to those that are older (gng to ROD). I don't really have a chance to do so in my social circle, most of my peers are around my age give and take a few years, so its kinda refreshing.

I do miss being young though. Reservist makes me feel, or rather, realised that I'm getting old. Where our topics back then was girls and partying, now its about housing, marriage and kids. The place though makes me feel as if I've stepped into a time wrap. Back to the time where there are no camera phones, no 3G/internet. Newspaper are shared around, amusements can be found in the simplest of things. Back then we are gathered in the 'yellow box' (smoking area) dreaming of our future, 8 years later, we are still standing in the same 'yellow box', but no more dreams. Everyone of us knows how harsh the reality is already, and we're all doing our best to survive in it.

2010-11-09T22:50:00.000+08:00

I attended a wedding banquet of an old friend last weekend at one of the 5 star hotel in singapore. It was a relatively low key affair, small ballroom of about 18 tables. Everything was nicely prepared, from cocktail reception to stage to dinner, just what you would expect from a 5 star hotel.

I observed something interesting during the entire dinner. Starting from the cocktail reception, I noticed that almost all the servers are non-singaporeans. I said almost all because I didn't managed to ask all of them, but I spoke to at least up to 10 of them, and none of them answered me in a Singaporean accent. Nothing against them at all, they did provide a wonderful dining experience, and to their credit, a good many of them spoke pretty decent english. By decent I mean I can understand them or that they can understand me by repeating less than 3 times, without wild gesturing and without having speaking to another staff. Yeah, my expectations of decent has really dropped way way down.

I remembered when I was younger, one of the better paying jobs for a teenager is serving at these banquets. If I remembered correctly, it paid about $8 - $12 per hour for a part-timer, and about $1500 - $2000 for a full timer. That was more than 10 years ago though, but for a teenager, and for a lot of semi-retirees, that was pretty decent income. Sadly, I saw none of either lately. I wonder if teenagers these days still do holiday/part-time work? Other than at fast food restaurants, I don't think I've seen them anywhere else. Used to be I see alot of them, especially during the school holidays, especially at banquets, restaurants, retail outlets etc. Nowadays, all I see are foreigners.

Just yesterday, I went shopping at Raffles City. Almost all the shops that I went to are manned by foreigners. I was buying a pair of shoes and I chose a pair and went to the counter for payment. The cashier was a Filipino lady (all smiles and credit to her) and asked for help with her colleague to get a new pair (in english). Her colleague responded to her in mandarin and after some gesturing, I decided to step in to help with the interpretation. I wonder in bemusement initally, why the store manager choose to place just the two of them in the store when they obviously had trouble communicating with each other. Then I realised that its actually a damn smart move. These foreigners obviously work at a local cost to the locals so the store save more and earn more. Being unable to communicate makes them being unable to stand around gossiping and thus focus on working. The Filipino serve all the english speaking customers and the Chinese to serve all the mandarin speaking ones, which basically covers majority of the demographics of the people who shop there.

Smart move to make best use of resources.

2010-10-29T06:49:00.000+08:00

Having insomnia. Must be the medication keeping me up somehow. Or maybe its just from the lack of work.

Starting my 3rd job in slightly over a year soon. Been clearing leave for a while now while waiting for the new job to start in November. Was thinking lately, did I make the right career decision by leaving my first job?

I was in the job for 3 years. My first banking job. After leaving, I'm starting my 3rd job next week. Its only been a year and 2 months. Why is it that I was able to stay so long in the first job while moving on so quickly thereafter? Was it because the organisation was so good, or was it because of the lack of experience and hence the lack of mobility opportunities? If I had stayed on, would I have progressed better than what I have now?

As a fresh graduate with no banking experience, I remember my first drawn pay was about $2300. Kinda low when I look at it now, but back then, compared to the IT jobs that were not evening offering me $2000, $300/mth made a big enough difference for me to change industry. The learning curve was pretty steep, but I hung on and survived. When I left almost 3 years later, I was only drawing ~$3000, an approximate 10% increment per year. A year later, I'm drawing a basic of ~50% more. After hopping around. Is this what we have to do to get recognition? I honestly did not like this moving around new jobs. I would have preferred to learn and stay and contribute back to the organisation that groomed me. If I had stayed on, would I be drawing the salary I am getting? I honestly doubt so. Do organisation take you for granted?

Moving on.. yet again

2010-09-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

Officially tendered my resignation today. Didn't manage to do so successfully on the first attempt, gotta really put my foot down tomorrow. Resignation is never easy for me, its kinda like breaking up in a relationship, which, sad to say, I don't really handle them well either.

Really, the more i think about it, the closer resemblance they hold. When you start a new job, just like a new relationship, you are full or hope and drive, wondering if this is 'the one' that you are looking for. Some people just enter into it for the sake of convenience, not wanting to be without a job/partner, and just holding on while waiting for a better one to come along.

When a better one comes along, the resignation is akin the breaking up part. Some people burn all bridges, some like myself, try to end things cordially, i.e. remain friends. Some work out, some doesn't. Some turn ugly, some you wish to forget...

I really hope this new job, just like my relationship now, is going to be 'the one'

Decision time again

2010-09-22T22:09:00.000+08:00

didnt expect it to be so fast, but another offer is coming along after just barely 4 mths into the new job and i am really excited about it. but feeling kinda bad leaving my boss and the other team mates behind so fast, had wanted to soldier on with them, but i think its easier said than done eh?

"man make their own history, but not under the circumstances of their own choosing"

one of my fav from karl marx.

i think its time i started writing a new chapter

$9000 for NSman, big fucking deal

2010-08-31T22:58:00.002+08:00

From CNA

MINDEF unveils details of NS Recognition Award
By S Ramesh | Posted: 31 August 2010 1214 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has given details of the National Service Recognition Award (NSRA) announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally.

The award is to recognise Singapore citizens who have served national service.

The NSRA is a monetary award of between S$9,000 and S$10,500 for each Singaporean NSman, with commanders getting more.

It will benefit full time and operationally-ready NSmen in service from August 29, the day it was announced by Prime Minister Lee, and will not be retroactive.

The money will be disbursed equally at three significant milestones during the serviceman's full-time training and his Operationally-Ready National Service (ORNS).

Eligible NSmen will receive S$3,000 at each of the milestones, and commanders will get S$500 more each time.

Commanders are those holding third sergeant rank and above in the Singapore Armed Forces, or sergeant and above in the HomeTeam.

Minister of State for Defence, Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee, said: "They do more... - usually for each in-camp training they come in one or two days earlier if not more to do the planning and they probably stay one or two days later - so they get more.

"We do not want to monetise the contributions of Nsmen, it is the value we place on it. And it is only for Singapore citizens - the signal that the Prime Minister and government (are sending) that Singaporeans come first and Singaporeans are always important.

"This recognition award is to recognise the contributions of Singapore citizens doing national service full-time and the in-camp training cycle. I think S$9,000 is very significant, but the significance goes beyond the S$9,000.

"It is the value the government and the Prime Minister place on the contributions of Singapore citizens. Many Singaporeans think it is the duty to do national service and this S$9,000 comes as a pleasant surprise and great bonus.

"The first S$3,000 is very useful for an NSman finishing NS and enroute to education. They can pay for their tuition fees for at least one year for most courses in NUS, NTU, SMU. The second and third tranche can go into the CPF to pay for housing and other requirements specified by the CPF."

The first milestone is when the serviceman completes his full-time national service. The money will be paid out at the 20th month of service. It will be deposited into the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) to help with further studies.

The second tranche will be paid after the completion of three high-key in-camp training, or five in-camp training stints, whichever is earlier. And the last payment will be when the full Operationally-Ready National Service training cycle is completed.

The second and third milestone awards will be paid in the servicemen's CPF accounts and distributed into the Ordinary, Special and Medisave accounts according to the prevailing CPF contribution rates. The servicemen can use the amount for their housing, healthcare and retirement needs.

As for those who have already completed their entire national service cycle, Prof Koo said: "Government policy has never been retroactive. The first significant milestone is on the 29th of August when the Prime Minister made the statement.

"Many generations who have served NS, like many of us... recognise that we have already benefited from previous policies and this policy is for NSmen going forward."

The disbursement of the National Service Recognition Award will start from February next year.

- CNA/wk/al

To Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee, if you think your $9000 is such a fucking big deal, why not I pay the govt $9000, fuck, I'll double your money and make it $18000, and you release me from the rest of my reservist liability? I'm already at the 3rd milestone already, so just fucking let me live my life. How about it eh??

Happy Birthday Singapore

2010-08-09T20:39:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday to my country.

The country where I was born, bred and will probably die in.

I don't love you as much as I used to, but I know it isn't really your fault.

You are just a country, a land mass, where I had lived all my life.

It isn't your fault that it is now being run by dogs and going down the hill.

It isn't your fault that you are now being trampled over by masses of barbarians with uncouth manners not to mention intelligence.

I bear arms for you once, I would have given my life to defend you and its people once, but nowadays, it just doesn't seemed worthwhile anymore.

I would never do you harm, but I don't know if you will do the same for me.

As much as I loved it here once, I will leave you now at the first opportunity that comes knocking.

Enjoy your 'birthday'

The state of our financial industry

2010-07-26T23:14:00.000+08:00

An interesting clash is brewing between insurer AXA vs Finexis. A well written article is written here. As the writer mentioned, the outcome was pretty obvious to those in the industry. Its actually pretty mind boggling as to how AXA came up with such a scheme in the first place. Anyone else could see the potential pitfalls from miles away.

The financial industry, or to be more specific, the wealth management are, to be honest, is a very 'grey' industry. Majority if not all of the sales force, including myself, is really in it for the money. I dare say I never ever mis-sold or rather misrepresented a product in all this years, but I dare not say that every single product I have sold was based on customer's needs. Its a running joke in the industry that the term 'needs based selling' is actually based on the adviser's and/or the bank/insurance company's needs first, not the customer's.

In a bank, whenever the bosses presses for sales, for 'flavor of the month', as a sales staff, you simply have to deliver. I remember vividly, one of my early cases in the bank, I recommended the customer a capital protected single premium product that I believe was best for the customer which the customer bought. At the end of the day, I had the entire set of sales documents thrown in my face, because I wasn't answering to the 'corporate call' of selling the bank's structured deposit. The manager basically stressed that he only wants sales for the structured deposit and nothing else and we have to deliver it 'one way or another'. Re-toolings, telecalls till late into the night, roadshows, etc.. all without extra OT pay, just stressing you until u gave up and start selling what they want before you are let off. That was an eye opening.

After leaving the bank, I went into the insurance industry, thinking that I am in control of what I wanna recommend to customers. My thinking wasn't exactly wrong, but you soon realise that without a basic pay, but with financial commitments to handle, you tend to recommend customers products that gave you the highest revenue. A very simple test to see if your agent is doing the same, simply by looking at the tenor of the plan they are offering you. More often than not, irregardless of whether you are 20 or 30 or 40, its always a life plan or at least a 25 year plan as it pays them full commission. So although there isn't someone telling or pressing you what to sell, consciously or subconsciously, you always end up selling the product that gives you the highest revenue, and thereby achieving what the company is pushing for that particular month anyway.

I would applaud if there ever comes a day financial planning can be done on a fee based basis. However, I probably wouldn't see it in my lifetime. The idea is great, but getting people to pay for advice, especially Singaporeans, are almost guaranteed to fail. Regardless of whether in a bank or insurance company, I never fail to meet someone who would try to bargain for better rates or free gifts etc. How can you expect this same group of people to pay for advice?

Honestly, its getting tougher and tougher for me each day to motivate myself for work these days.

Agents vs Bankers

2010-07-06T12:41:00.000+08:00

Just a little snippet of update, the tattooedbanker is once again moving back to banking. With the job market in an upswing, I really couldn't resist the opportunity to have a 40% pay increase and a move to one of the big names. So... here I am again...

I've been going through some training etc over the last month or so with my new employer, it was refreshing in certain ways, especially in terms of product offering, yet reeks of the bureaucratic bullshit that I hated of big organisations where every departments attitude was to cover their own ass and adopting a 'not my area' mindset. Its truly sickening...

I was in banking for about 3 years before I my last switch to an insurance company. Shocker number one, even though you are doing the same job, people tends to perceive insurance as more of a 'dirty' job while they look at banks with more prestige. You can actually hear the disdain in their voices when you mentioned that you are from an insurance company. Even customers whom you know that have high net worth will not place much funds with you as you are from an insurance company which they perceive as 'less stable' than a bank. The same customers that used to place hundreds of thousands worth of investments at a time suddenly reduced their figures to tens of thousands. Luckily they still gave me some 'face' though... I see the newbies to the industry really trying and struggling hard and I really pity them. Quite a few made it though, and once their confidence grows, they actually did very well. However, I do also observe that although they improve greatly in terms of rapport building, gaining customer's trust etc, they do not really gain much in terms of market knowledge or even current affairs. It may be somewhat of a generalization, but that is quite true from what I had seen so far, probably because their core focus are on long term insurance plans as it gives them maximum revenue, and their one and only retort to customer's objection on market conditions is that you don't have to worry about it as market will always sort itself out in the long run. Not wrong at all, but if I am a customer, I do enjoy or expect a little bit more depth from my advisor.

Banks on the other hand, have what I would describe as 'perceived legitimacy'. Everything that a bank does is being perceived as more 'aboveboard' and customers really trust them a lot, which may or may not be justified, I don't really wanna discuss that. Its up to the individual. The point is, newbies in banking have an added advantage of the bank's 'backing' and do not need to try so hard to gain the customer's trust, which, once again, can be good or bad, depending on which side of the fence you are on. However, banks do seemed to focus, or expect more of their staff in terms of general knowledge, especially if you are above the mass market segment. Even the tellers and non-sales staff can give a somewhat reasonable explanation on why the deposits rate are so low, currency risks or general market direction. I think this is something that the bank does really well in educating their staff through email updates and almost daily morning meetings. If you really wanna be able to take on the banks, this is something that I would like very much to see in insurance agencies instead of only focusing on the daily sales numbers only.

Personally, I think my short stint did me a lot of good. It opened my eyes to what is happening on the other side.

Not falling for hype

2010-06-18T18:24:00.001+08:00

This is a little belated but I simply had not had the time to sit down in front of the computer at home. This is something that I had written about some time back in regards to UOB offer to buy back certain structured products. At that time, I already made it clear that I see it as nothing more than a publicity stunt by UOB and that investors should just sit tight and hold on to their investment. Looks like I was right. ~~I wondered if UOB actually redeemed the funds as they said they would or did they actually sat on it for a while and made a tidy little profit in the process?~~

For those interested in my previous article

Reward for holding on

Investors in structured Prudential Yield product likely to make tidy profit
by Julie Quek 05:55 AM Jun 04, 2010

SINGAPORE - It was a structured product that was on the brink of collapse last year.

But investors who had held on to the Prudential Yield 15 and Yield 20 funds managed by Prudential Asset Management (Pams) look set to walk away with a tidy profit when the fund matures next Thursday.

In October last year, United Overseas Bank (UOB) made a buyback offer to about 4,000 customers who purchased the funds through the bank. UOB offered to redeem their units at par value or the initial price they paid for the investment, less all yearly payouts such as the interest coupon to date - or at 88 cents for Yield 15 and 82 US cents ($1.15) for Yield 20.

Other distributors of this structured product were HSBC, Maybank, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore and Hong Leong Finance.

At its lowest point, the Yield 15 and Yield 20 had dived to 37.5 cents and 39.8 US cents, respectively, at the end of March last year.

But improved credit conditions this year have caused the funds to recover and the price of each unit has rebounded to $1.074 for Yield 15 and US$1.104 for Yield 20 as of May 27.

Investors who held on to the fund for five years until maturity would also have earned 15-per-cent returns in coupon payments for the Yield 15 notes. This works out to about 3 per cent coupon interest a year. Meanwhile, holders of the Yield 20 fund would have collected 22.5 per cent over the 5-year investment period of the fund.

For investors, the potential capital gains coupled with the coupon payments mean that they would walk away from the fund in a better-off position at maturity than if they had redeemed those notes last year.

A retired investor who declined to be named told MediaCorp that she regretted her decision to accept UOB's buyback offer last year as this meant she lost out on the 15-per-cent returns from the coupon payments.

However, former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian told MediaCorp that he advised these investors not to regret their earlier decision, because no one would have known whether these funds would do well or fail at maturity this year.

The fund was in trouble last year and early this year, when it suffered a total of 17 defaults out of its 100 reference entities in its portfolio.

Had the fund been hit by six more defaults, the funds' capital would be adversely affected.

Customers are expected to receive their maturity proceeds by end-June.

Changes to Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)

2010-05-19T16:15:00.000+08:00

Some changes to the law about interrogation (clause 258) is making the waves online. Its kinda scary and to put it across in layman's term, basically it allows the police to use statements that they cheat or conned out of you, or statements that you made when you are drunk to convict you.

E.g. Someone who is caught drink driving is brought back to the police station. 1km away, there might have been a hit and run. Police questioned if the driver, who is his intoxicated state is understandably not in the best condition to answer but is forced relentlessly to answer all questions or sign a confession before he is allowed to rest. The police might also further assure him that it is not a confession he is signing but just a procedure that he needs to do before he is allowed to rest. Being so worn out and confused, the driver may just have answered wildly or signed any documents placed in front of them just to get some rest. However, the next morning, when he is sober, he is shocked to find out that what he had signed is actually a false confession as he did not commit the crime and tries to get it revoked. Unfortunately, he is unable to do so because of the law and ends up going to jail for a crime he did not commit. Is it fair?

You can say all kinds of bullshit about the integrity of our police force or government etc but I stand by Murphy's law that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Fuckups had, have and will continue to occur. No human being or system can be perfect. Can the police or govt guarantee a 100% no false conviction rate? By giving too much power to the agencies, what can the man on the street do to correct a wrong? Remember the case of Dickson Tan, who was caned more times than he was supposed to be? Or Tan Lai Kiat, who was released prematurely in 1999 but warrant of arrest issued again in 2003 because the courts realised that they make a mistake? If even the courts and prison can make a mistake when handling the CONVICTED, I can't see why we should put blind trust in police where the person might be actually innocent.

Rants

2010-05-10T02:14:00.000+08:00

I happen to come across this article by Lucky Tan comparing the life of Singaporeans from 4 years ago till now. Interesting read here

I have only one major grouse in all honestly, which I look at it as the root of all the problems, is the fact that Singapore is getting overcrowded. With the fucking wrong kind of people. The govt have basically been doling out PRs and citizenships to many people whom, to put it kindly, are hardly people that qualify as 'talent'. Lets be honest here, by just bringing in just any tom, dick and harry with fucking third world mentality and habits, do you expect to become a first world country even if you have first class infrastructure?

Personal experience, I saw this chinese boy about maybe 5 years old peeing at the void deck of my house. I shouted at him and he still had the cheek to make monkey faces at me before running to his parents, who was sitting a stone throw away at the tables, eating sunflower seeds while spitting the shells on the floor. I was then confronted by BOTH his parents, shouting at me not to scare their kid and there is nothing wrong with the kid pissing there as it was according to them, 'not outside your house'. I was fucking pissed off and wasn't going to let this go so after getting nowhere with them, I decided to call the police. Long story short, the police arrive, did nothing much, no fines or anything issued, just a verbal warning. Now whenever I see this family again, which is pretty regularly since we live in the same block, the mother would make snide remarks against us 'stupid petty Singaporeans' while the father would just glare at me with his fucked up face. Its taking all I can to make me fucking wanna punch their faces in. These are the same people that crowd with you everyday on the train, squeezing in before other comes out, jumping queues, buying up your houses and fucking polluting the land I was born in, the land that I was sworn to protect.

Yeah, I am probably generalizing, but I really fucking hate these people. I can't stand their attitudes, their cultures, their mentality. Fuck the govt about being tolerant and accepting them bullshit. If I am a visitor, I would take care to gravitate myself in accordance to the host's habits and behaviors etc. In no circumstances would I expect them to change themselves to accommodate me.

Yet I don't really blame them, its not exactly their fault that their mindset and culture is such, its normal in their own country to be such. Its very much a "me first' mentality I suppose, that is probably needed to survive in their own country, given the huge population that they have. If I were them, I would have probably done the same thing to go to another country that is willing to have me despite me having no talent and pay me a salary few times more than what I am earning here and allow me to bring my whole family along to live in their govt subsidized housing and do not have to play a part in protecting the country. They even use their people's tax money to throw parties for me, teach me a new language, and maybe even provide scholarship for my kids. Without bonds of course.

If only I can find a country that stupid that is willing to take me in on those terms. I'll pack my bags and be gone on the first plane out.

Micro Financing - workable model in singapore?

2010-04-25T01:39:00.000+08:00

I have been following the model of micro-financing or micro-loans as it is also known, for some time now. It first came to my notice through nobel prize winning Prof. Muhammad Yunus & Grameeen Bank. Then came Kiva.org which I recently became a member and pledged to do so on a monthly basis. Then I came across another for profit peer to peer site at prosper.com which really set me thinking. Can we have a similar model in Singapore?

While here I was, committing myself to a minimum of USD $25 monthly in helping someone I have never seen halfway across the globe, I began thinking if I should actually do more for my fellow citizens, my fellow neighbors. I currently contribute only a measly $2 per month to the Community Chest, while I used to contribute $10 or $15 monthly to NKF through their lifedrops programs, I stopped doing that since the NKF saga came to light. On and off, I make contributions whenever I see those fundraisers on the street or fundraiser shows on TV, but its nothing regular, an nothing exceeding $10 each time, after being wary after the NKF saga of how my money may actually be lining the pocket of some fat cats instead of reaching those that really need it.

I am quite captivated by Kiva's model, in the sense that it is peer to peer. Just a quick summary (please do check out the website for more details), what Kiva does is that it basically connect lenders willing to lend a min of USD $25 to poor entrepreneur borrowers to help them set up a small business in order to get out of poverty. As a lender, you browse the listing with photos and short description of the would-be borrowers and decide who you want to extend the loan to. In a way, you know that your money is going towards an individual or group of your choosing. It puts a face to your recipient and personally, it gives a warm fuzzy feeling to know that you have made a difference to that person and his family. Unlike giving to a charity, the borrowers will pay you back and upon receiving back your loan amount, you can choose to recycle the loan amount once again or donate the money to Kiva to aid their operating costs. Of course, there is always a risk of default, but personally, I am looking at this from a charity point of view, I am fully prepared not to get back my money, and if I do, I will be recycling them again to someone else in need.

The other site that I mentioned earlier, prosper.com, is similar to Kiva in a way in that it involves peer to peer lending, however, it does not limit itself to poor entrepreneurs, its really for anyone. The other difference is that the lenders gets to charge an interest compared to Kiva where the lenders does not earn any interest. Browsing through the site, most people are using it to reduce their credit card debts really, where instead of paying the bank on average 24% p.a on credit card interest rates, the borrowers get a peer to peer loan at interest rate for example 6%. The borrower saves on his interest rates, the lender earns a much much better rate than savings account interest rate.

I see this second model working here in Singapore. To be honest, I am sick and tired of seeing those personal loans and credit lines commercial that the banks are offering. In many adverts, they are encouraging people to use the loans for holidays, pay for some luxury products etc which I feel is somewhat irresponsible. Of course, a bank is still a business, and with personal loans and credit lines being big money makers for them, I can see why they are keen to expand that area of the business, but I wish they can do so in a slightly more social responsible way. Then again, they have no incentive to do so at all and its up to individual borrower to read and understand the terms and conditions.

If we can somehow implement the peer to peer lending model, we can actually help those people that get into debt unwittingly and help them out of the debt. Or to lend to people with genuine needs that couldn't qualify for a government aid. If the government can't or wouldn't help us, shouldn't we help each other?

Its an idea of course, implementation is another whole different matter.

Public transport

2010-04-21T19:36:00.001+08:00

"Public transport fares to go down by 2.5%" screams the headline today.

Explanation of how the 2.5% decrease is derived: NIL
Comparison of current pricing vs new pricing: NIL

I re-read the article a couple of times, just trying to see if I missed out anything. My understanding of the article tells me that

Transport costs will in future be based on distance
Some people may be paying less
Some people may be paying the same
Some people may be paying MORE

How is that a decrease??? Where the hell is the decrease?? What the hell is a "transfer penalty"??? I thought whenever you do a transfer, you get discounts/rebates??? Whats the penalty??? Have I been paying more all this time without me knowing?? (not surprised if i am)

To be very honest, I gave up trying to understand how much our public transports charge.

When I take a cab, I dunno what surcharges there is or going to be applied until I paid the final bill and asked for a receipt. The cabby could have told me I need to pay a surcharge for picking me up in front of a T-junction opposite a double white line and I would have believed him and paid for it anyway.

When I take a bus, I have no idea how much I will be paying when I alight, I simply struggle to tap my card while being shoved out by the other people, and I never double check. I understand there's a whole different pricing if I paid in cash, or if I am transferring from another bus or MRT.

The only time I can have 2 more seconds to look at my remaining EZlink card value is when I take the train. I think this is the only system I can understand with no surcharges or different pricings etc (i think?)

End of the day, no matter how much the cabs, bus and trains want to charge, how much they wanna increase the fares, there's nothing you can do about it at all. Its not like I can just walk to work? Just suck thumb and pay through nose lor.

Time to get another lot of those SMRT stocks.

Embrace migrants: MM Lee

2010-04-18T12:56:00.000+08:00

from the straits time
-------------

Apr 18, 2010
Embrace migrants: MM Lee
MM renews call for greater integration of new, highly educated migrants in society
By Rachel Lin

Singapore must not shy away from embracing new, highly educated migrants, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday. --ST PHOTO: CHUA CHIN HON

SINGAPORE must not shy away from embracing new, highly educated migrants, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.

Re-stating his view on the issue, he said Singapore would continue to need overseas talent to drive its economic dynamo.

Pointing to the first quarter growth of 13.1 per cent and revised government projections of 7 per cent to 9 per cent growth for the year, he said this was 'a big turnaround from our most difficult period in early 2009'.

With the outlook for the global economy now brighter, sustaining Singapore's long-term prospects meant the country needed to grow as an attractive hub for international trade, investment and talent.

'That was how we grew from a fishing village to a trading post under the British, and now a vibrant metropolis,' he said. 'We benefited from being open to immigrants from around the world, especially China, India and the region.'

He said while first-generation migrants might find it difficult to take on local habits and accents, their families would be naturalised.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.

lyuexin@sph.com.sg
-----------------------

Rationally, I think I speak for most Singaporeans when I say that we have no problems with the 'highly educated migrants' in Singapore. If only they were all like that. The ones we are having problems with are the lower educated ones, the ones that bring with them their 3rd world mentality and dirty 3rd world habits, the ones that we have to squeeze with on fucking overcrowded public transport on a daily basis.

Don't give me the crap about them doing jobs no one wanted to do, ask ong ah heng, there are Singaporeans doing it in the first place, but were replaced as these new pets of our ruling party are cheaper, faster and better. To me, they are also dirtier, smellier and a fucking thorn in my flesh.

I wish I can replace you and your son with people that actually do some real good work in action, rather then just words. Someone like maybe gordan brown and obama. After all, they are cheaper, faster and better too.

Cars a necessity?

2010-04-12T12:21:00.000+08:00

This is something that is really getting on my nerves.

The number of people that complains and complains that COE is too high and that cars are a necessity for them and there family etc etc etc. We are really a city of whiners and disillusioned people, but I think this fellow really takes the cake.

Cars a luxury? Not for us

How about a ballot to replace the bid system?

Letter from Mark Ho 05:55 AM Apr 12, 2010

ARE cars really luxury items that many of us can do without?

I would argue cars are not a "luxury" when one needs to transport young children, elderly folk and bulky goods. One is not guaranteed a seat on public transport when you most need it, and they are poor alternatives when one has to transport big, heavy items.

Besides, the time saved on transport when one owns a car helps families bond - just by virtue of allowing parents to get home faster to spend quality time with their children. Is family bonding time a luxury we should consider doing without?

If the intent of the COE system is to control the number of cars on the road, why do we need a COE bidding system, since it promotes unhealthy speculation? Just controlling the number of COEs (perhaps by ballot system) should suffice - without bringing money into the equation.

Seriously Mark? One is of course not guaranteed a seat, did you also know that your CPF rate is not guaranteed, your job is not guaranteed, your interest rate and money with the bank is also not guaranteed? The only guaranteed thing right now in this country other than walkovers is that you have been leading a way too sheltered life! Do you know that there are entire families who are homeless and live in tents on beaches? Do you know that there are people in Singapore that can't even afford to take public transport to go for a job interview? Have you ever seen pregnant ladies on the public transport every morning? Elderies and family carrying kids, baggages and disabled people? They too used the public transport on a daily basis. What makes you and your family so fucking special? You are an elite ah?!

Having a car helping a family bond is one of the most ridiculous thing I have heard in recent times. Are you implying that roads are too congested so you end up 'bonding' more in traffic jams? Family bonding times take place at anytime, all the time. I bond with my family by making it a point to have dinner together at least once a week. I bond with my family by calling them and asking about them during my lunch hour. I bond with my family by going on trips together. I certainly do not bond with them in a car cos that would (1) be dangerous if i am not paying a 100% while on the road and (2) if i were stuck in a jam, more often than not, I will be in a irritable mood that is not really conducive for bonding.

Finally, on proposing a ballot system for COE, I would like to ask what happens if someone like you, who considers a car a necessity, does not get one? Or do you simply assume that because you are special and have 'real' needs, you will be guaranteed one?

Wake up dude and be realistic!

Disclaimer: My family own ONE car for nearly 10 years that we share, and while there are undoubtly convenience in owning a car, it still IS a luxury, not a necessity at all! Kids take the school buses, my mum would take the occasional taxi for her medical checkups, and the adults take the public transport daily for work.

Empty vessels make the most noise

2010-04-12T00:28:00.001+08:00

Was doing some bedtime reading before heading to bed when i saw the following article on CNA

It is healthy that there's political contest in S'pore: Ng Eng Hen

By Lynda Hong | Posted: 11 April 2010 1940 hrs

It is healthy that there's political contest in S'pore: Ng Eng Hen

SINGAPORE : Education Minister Ng Eng Hen on Sunday said it is healthy that there is political contest in Singapore.

He was responding to reporters who asked him about the recent activity by opposition parties in various constituencies.

Dr Ng joined 300 residents in Toa Payoh for some Sunday morning exercise.

Elaborating on his point that political contest is healthy, Dr Ng said he would encourage would-be candidates and opposition parties to meet residents so that residents could ask them questions about what they stood for.

He said: "I think it is healthier for Singapore, rather than just appearing before the elections and then not continuing. I have noticed that opposition parties are doing this more regularly, and I think all-in-all, it is good for politics in Singapore."

Dr Ng said PAP MPs assume that there would be a contest each time, and so the MPs have been working the ground to improve the lives of residents.

This point was also emphasised by Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong at a separate community event.

Mr Gan also told reporters that there has not been a shortage of ideas within the ruling party.

He was asked to respond to Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam's comments in a TODAY interview that a one-party system will lead to a society closed to new ideas.

Mr Gan said that PAP MPs have been proactive in implementing their ideas.

He said: "During the last recession, you also see that we have rolled out many initiatives, including the Jobs Credit, SPUR and so on.

"They were very effective in helping our companies and workers cope with the recession and allowing our economy to recover very strongly, very quickly since the second half of last year."

Mr Gan added that the PAP MPs have also been focused on serving the residents and improving their estates. - CNA/ms

Not wanting to elaborate too much on the highlighted text, but based on my own personal very unscientific, biased and non-proven experience, I would like to re-account on the following,

I have lived in my current estate since year 2001. I have NEVER seen any walkabout by ANY political parties until 2006. Given that my estate was previously a walkover GRC, only to be remove and gazetted into another zone for the 2006 elections, it wasn't all that surprising. That was the first time I started seeing any parties appearing in or near my estate. So BOTH parties i would say are guilty of what Mr Ng mentioned, "just appearing before the elections". It was during this period though, that attending rallies etc that i know more or what each candidate, not just their party stood for, before I cast my first ever vote in 2006.

Fast-forward to today, 2010. My estate is a PAP ward. Over the last few years, I have seen the Workers Party people around my area, but they didn't come door to door I assume, cause I never did get to speak to them, but I recognised them through their party uniform. I also saw Mr Low twice, and said hi to him because I know and recognised who he is. On the other hand, I have yet to ever see any PAP people around my area, maybe they weren't wearing the party uniform, or they were not doing any group event, I honestly do not know. I have NEVER seen my MP, who is a full minister, and probably very busy with his work to come down from his ivory tower to talk to us lesser mortal.

Or maybe its just me who never had the good fortune of running into them when I'm in around the estate, and/or that I'm never home when they visited my place over the last couple of years. Just for the record, I think I have struck 4d about twice over the last couple of years, yet I have not met my MP before. So my personal conclusion is that, its easier to strike 4d than meeting ~~your~~ my MP?

Random rant: Our lovely transport system

2010-04-09T19:02:00.000+08:00

Just came back after meeting a few ex-colleagues earlier today. Haven't been taking the public transport at this kinda peak hrs for some time and wasn't expecting what I am about to experience.

It was 6pm at AMK station, heading towards Jurong East with one of my colleague staying in the same direction. As its the peak hour (or so I assumed), I expected the train interval to be like 2-3mins each. To my surprise, the board indicated 6 mins. Nevermind lor, just wait... and while waiting, crowd kept piling in. We were standing at the arrows pointing in, but soon people starting standing right smack where the door is gng to open, with the arrow pointing out. Train was packed to the brim and we couldn't squeeze in at all, only those fucking ugly singaporeans (and/or foreigners) whom squeezed their way in without waiting for the people to alight first managed to get in. Fuckers.

Next train took another 6 mins. 12 min of fucking waiting time during peak hour. Nice.

Jammed packed again, managed to squeeze in this time, but it was so bloody packed that me and my ex-colleague's lips were almost touching. No joke. It was damn embarrassing for both of us. Luckily for us both, our breath didn't stink.

Anyway, we tried to make some conversation during the journey and the issue of single gender train carriages came up. She wished that there will be a carriage entirely for women and perhaps the old folks.

"Imagine its you right now so its not so bad, but there are times where I'm being packed so closed to a stranger that we're almost kissing, its not alright at all" she laments.

I can understand where she's coming from but a couple of reasons seem to make this impossible.

Looking at the load right now, imagine a female only carriage is half empty, who is to stop anyone from packing into them? how are you gng to enforce it? Will in results in fights/arguments?

Others such as the wheelchair bound and family with kids etc will start to demand their own carriages. Can I than request that we ban eg kids strollers from entering any other carriages? While we're talking about kids strollers, i think its ridiculous when they enforce strict requirements on foldable bicycle but not strollers. Have you ever seen the size of one of those 3 in 1 kinda stroller?

I just wish we had a better system with more trains and shorter waiting time.

A little project

2010-03-09T19:38:00.000+08:00

I recently started this little project at 750words.com

I know I haven't been blogging alot. Other than being busy with work, the other reason for me not blogging more regularly is that I try to blog only when I have something relevant to say. I keep multiple blogs, for personal, tracking etc.

750words.com is interesting because I can basically dump all my thoughts there, and it even does an analysis of the entries to breakdown what they think they know about you from these entries. Its something like writing analysis if you like, which so far has been holding my attention. You should check it out.

MEASURES TO ENSURE A STABLE AND SUSTAINABLE PROPERTY MARKET

2010-02-23T00:21:00.000+08:00

From: http://www.mnd.gov.sg/newsroom/newsreleases/2010/news19022010.htm

In a nutshell, the govt plans to curb speculation through imposing the following,

Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) on Residential Properties Sold within 1 Year
Lowering Loan-To-Value (LTV) Limit to 80% for Housing Loans

A few question marks come to my mind immediately.

I can understand that the govt is keen to nip the impending bubble in the bud, but why nothing for HDB? Prices for HDB has been going upwards steadily largely due to the fact that PRs are allowed to 'speculate' in them in a way that seems to me to be more detrimental to property prices as compared to that of the private housing market.

Secondly, the 2 new rules in itself doesn't seem to me that its going to have much of an impact in curbing speculation because

A quick search through the sub-sale caveats lodged since Oct09 showed that only about 10% of them are 'flipped' within one year of purchase. So this new ruling will at best only affect up to 10% of all sales?
Most financial institutes are already being prudent (due largely to the crisis) and not offering any 90% loan at all. Redundant?

Impact is going to be minimal at best, probably 'scaring' investors off for a few months, like the last time they took away the interest absorption scheme.

I seriously dunno why they even bother.

Another bond offering for Temasek

2010-02-09T18:08:00.000+08:00

Frankly, I'm slightly disturbed. This is Temasek's 5th bond offering in as many months. Is Temasek really running out of money??

An other note, so far all the bonds have been rated triple A if I remember correctly, which is the highest grade possible. Given that even Warren Buffet's BH shares have been downgraded recently, I guess its safe to say that Temasek finances are still well and strong.

I wonder why Temasek not make the bonds available to the general public though. From what I know, they are only available to institutional investors. Given the relatively attractive yield of ~ close to 4%, they probably wouldn't have any problems raising the funds they need.

Maybe they get a better rate 'borrowing' from our CPF funds? Just a thought

Wakemate

2010-01-12T22:14:00.001+08:00

I'm not exactly what you call an impulsive shopper. In fact, most often than not, I would shop around, read reviews, make comparisons before I made a final purchase. However, I kinda bucked the trend today. I'm not sure why I did it, but I just had to get this.

http://wakemate.com/

Basically this little thing here tracks your sleep to wake you at the optimal time and collects data that can tell you how to improve your sleep quality. I always had trouble sleeping well at night. On average, I sleep only 4-5 hours on weekdays. No matter how tired I am during the day, I can't fall asleep until around 2-3am every night, and I get up for work at about 7am, dead tired. Although this thing is not gng to help me sleep at night, if it makes me less tired, its well worth the money. Not to mention I'm a sucker for statistics and data. I track my spending habits, my investments, my income, my workouts and being able to track my sleep somehow feels perversely exciting. ~~Not sure if it really works, since its a pre-launch and there's no reviews.~~

Can't wait to get my hands on it. :)

A minister apologises in Sinagapore, is hell freezing over?

2009-12-22T15:38:00.001+08:00

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

2009-12-17T23:43:00.000+08:00

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

2009-11-30T18:14:00.000+08:00

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!

2009-10-22T16:28:00.001+08:00

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?

2009-10-12T00:15:00.002+08:00

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!

2009-10-11T18:41:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-08T12:27:00.002+08:00

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?

2009-10-08T11:59:00.001+08:00

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

a123456 (changing the alphabet to b123456, c123456 etc in subsequent months),
a111111 (changing the numbers to a222222, c222222 etc in subsequent months),
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

2009-10-07T19:26:00.001+08:00

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

2009-10-01T18:44:00.001+08:00

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

2009-09-26T02:58:00.001+08:00

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

2009-09-25T13:28:00.002+08:00

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)

2009-09-24T23:03:00.000+08:00

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

2009-09-19T15:33:00.001+08:00

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)

2009-09-18T15:10:00.001+08:00

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?

2009-09-16T13:37:00.002+08:00

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

2009-09-14T17:37:00.001+08:00

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

2009-09-11T02:00:00.000+08:00

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

2009-09-10T02:40:00.002+08:00

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

2009-09-09T02:45:00.004+08:00

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!

2009-09-08T19:18:00.003+08:00

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