Lew Yan Liang 刘彦良

Supervisor in Singapore physically and emotionally abuses employee

2013-05-21T22:47:00.001+08:00

Supervisor in Singapore physically and emotionally abuses employee

Abused emotionally and physically, undergraduate, now graduate paid $500 a month for 3 years?

To me, this is atrocious. For an intern's pay, $500 is below average. However, if the job provides good learning opportunities, the intern should decide whether to take on the low pay. To think the company has the audacity to continue paying $500 is just cruel. In Singapore, even low wage foreign workers earn more than that.

Why did the graduate intern accept such a pay? It was said that he was suffering from low self esteem. Doesn't this make the supervisor an even more disgusting human being? We do not bully someone suffering from a potential illness, much less to suffocate his career development (without offering any leaves and standard benefits) and well-being through suppressing his pay.

It was said that the same supervisor who was recorded slapping this intern had also locked up another female intern. The restriction of someone's freedom to move around can be arguably considered kidnapping.

I urge Singaporeans to report these abuses, whether sexual, emotional or physical. I hope the supervisor gets a jail term.

How to filter for prudent Small Cap Stocks using google finance

2013-05-21T21:41:00.001+08:00

Whenever I need money within 6 months, I will use google finance to filter small cap stocks. I will choose among these stocks those that own real assets (non utilities, non financial, non real estate, non insurance). Typically, there is a good 50% chance that they will jump in value by a few times within a few months.

This is a risky investment strategy. But has paid off for me so far.

Financial Literacy at work

2013-05-21T17:04:00.002+08:00

One of the things I have committed to do over the last 4 years of my life is to fight for proper financial education.

Government's content led by the MAS, CPF and various civil societies are just too boring and really, too academic. You can continue to sing praises of the ETF or the importance of savings, but Singaporeans will still succumb to fraudulent classes. They still gamble and treat traditional business of trading like a hobby. It is dangerous. I have seen a man gone bankrupt because he followed a few friends' tips to buy hot stocks.

We need to combat fraud with attractive content packages. Why allow the lies to be packaged in exciting ways and diminish the truth which could really help the people? That's why I created Seeking Returns. It is the premier trading and investment education platform, an initiative founded in 2008.

My main point is to tell people how fraud takes place, how people cheat investors wannabe and how high advisory fees can be. I offer them a solution and compare diversified investments side by side with questionable products such as selected MLM, Gold and Land Banking companies.

For trading, I expose how high learning fees can be when we include the data feeds, advance charting and special formulas. I tell them how to get the same products and content at not more than 5% of the price. For example, Quantshare offers lifetime free charting programme with free major market data downloads!

This is what I am still passionate in. As a CFA charterholder and the senior member of a financial society, helping people probono, providing good information and alternatives will always be a part of my life.

My MBIT Score

2013-05-20T14:41:00.000+08:00

Introvert(11%) iNtuitive(25%) Feeling(12%) Perceiving(44)%
Whatever this means. To me it just means that I am split right in the middle

Cheers, Alex

Woman who had been physically and sexually abused

2013-05-17T02:44:00.000+08:00

I was on duty for financial counseling today with Mr. Leong Sze Hian.

Was told that she had been turned down or taken lightly by some government officers due to mental illness. At her last resort, she came to us.

Summary of her case: she was not well to do and was receiving CDC and MUIS aid. Her partner had abused her in many forms over some time. She requested HDB to help her with a specific housing issue. (Can't say more here).

Am saddened by her case especially when policies appear to be unmovable even in the face of sexual and physical abuse.

When a woman lives with an abusive partner who is also on drugs, I wonder if the community would extend help in more practical ways than explaining existing policies!

Kudos to CDC for their financial assistance plans though.

Trading as a profitable hobby Part 1

2013-05-17T00:08:00.002+08:00

I have decided to share some thoughts on trading since I take trading of stocks seriously. When investing in real estate, everything depends on location. Nothing else matters. In trading, timing is everything. We wait for the right price and the right volume conditions.

When people buy stocks, there is often a feeling euphoria, stemming from emotions of hope and greet. If the trade turns into losses, the emotions turn into fear. Thus, I feel that the trader has to be emotionally stable.

Which is easier? To buy or to sell? I think its the former. When deciding to buy, one can usually make a fair assessment which his money is not committed to the trade. When deciding to sell, one can be irrational because he may be greedy for more or fearful of making a loss.

My golden advice is to never buy a stock on a decline and never short a stock on rallies. Get your cues from the market and let the market tell you what to do. Perhaps an investor or a gambler can be a contrarian, a trader can never predict the future. In fact, discipline traders are the most successful.

Do not make a trade until all odds are in your favour! Say, for instance, a stock is selling around $25 and has been consolidating within a range of $22 to $28 for a considerable period. Assuming that you believe that the stock should eventually sell at $50, have patience and wait until the stock becomes active, until it makes a new high, at around $28 to $29. Watch for an increase in volume activity, say 50% or more over normal volume. You will then know that you are correct. The stock must have gone into a very strong position, or it would not have broken out.

Don’t let the fact that you did not buy at $25 cause you any aggravation. The chances are if you had, you would have become tired of waiting and would have been out of it when the move started, because having once gotten out at a lower price, you would have become upset and perhaps fearful, and would not have gone back in when you should have.

Economic equality, from a different point of view

2013-04-30T18:34:00.001+08:00

Economic equality, from a different point of view

When I was in BMT, my sergeant always ordered the platoon to march everywhere, to the cookhouse, to the training area, back to bunk and to the terminal for booking out. Marching was easy and the platoon was always in line and tight.

However, when we were made to do fast marching or run down a lane, the platoon will always be extended. Some run faster, some slower. So eventually, the line gets so long. At times when we march quickly as an entire company, the company line can stretch up to 1 km.

Think of the stretch as equality. When the economy progresses slowly, there is less stretch, less inequality. But the team makes lesser progress together. We reach point A to point B slower than other teams. We are less competitive and the enemy might occupy the most strategic spots.

If we allow the fastest chaps in the platoon to run at their maximum potential, they can reach point B much faster. But the trade off is also clear. There will be a huge difference between the first and the last.

This is the dilemma. I believe for the best of the nation, we really need to let each "soldier" run at their maximum potential. Everyone makes progress. The slowest will be pushed to their personal best. But in the midst of this, some will be seen as much faster than the others. However, this could be the best outcome for the entire platoon.

Reader Disagrees with me on "Free MRT rides may not work as expected"

2013-04-23T09:12:00.001+08:00

Reader makes some good points. I posted it for discussion

I have to disagree with you on several points:

1. Crowded trains at 7am
The trains are crowded at 7am, but they are *extremely* crowded at 8am. The whole idea is to shift some of the crowd from the peak to not-so-peak period. It does not solve the problem, but it makes the guys boarding at 8am much less miserable. There could be a shift in travel patterns that could benefit everyone. For example, the guys boarding at 7:30am now board at 7:15am, and those boarding at 8am now board at 7:45am because the size of the crowds at different time intervals have changed.

2. Providing a reasonable service
Of course the PTOs have to provide a reasonable level of service. Our network is already operating past its peak at certain times in the morning. But this is an infrastructural issue which requires a larger rail network, although it also needs the PTOs to up their maintenance regime. These are being addressed.

3. Exiting the Station at 7:45am
Look, this is just a red herring argument. You could stagger the exit timings and apply a gradual discount or apply the discount upon entering the station, but there is no way that it will be 100% fair for everybody. Your solution has its own issues as well.

The point about this trial, and remember it's only a *trial*, is to test their assumptions. Come on, $10mil in an annual government budget of $60bil is a drop in the ocean. Would you rather we didn't have this scheme at all or what?

There's no time for public consultation on this unless it's something that you want discussed at length at numerous National Conversation meetings. By the time it is thoroughly discussed, one year would have been up and nothing would have started.

The time for action is NOW.

Free MRT rides may not work as expected

2013-04-21T10:00:00.001+08:00

As a user of public transport, I'm not convinced that the recently announced free rides will work as expected. The policy aims to alleviate congestion during the peak mornings in the morning.

Firstly, trains are already packed from 7am onwards. Stations like Jurong East, Choa Chu Kang and most of the green line stations in the East are already packed. Would the new system really help to push traffic to less congested hours? Theoretically, less congested hours may mean 5 to 6am. However, surely we do not expect anyone to travel to work at 5am.

Secondly, the public pay a fee to receive basis services. If we do not pay a fee, is SMRT obligated to provide reasonable service? Someone must be footing the bill in order for us to demand SMRT, a private company to provide for transport services. This is the fundamentals of entering into a contract.

Thirdly, the policy requires a person to exit the selected stations by 7:45am. What if a delay is caused by the operator? For example, a train travels slowly for 3 to 5 stops causing a delay of 5 mins. Passenger exits the station at 7:48am. Will he be made to pay? A better option would be to offer the free ride as long as he enters the station at 7am.

Lastly, we cannot expect SMRT to subsidize the free rides as they are a private company. I believe that SMRT will be increasing the fares significantly soon. Would it be fair for the rest to subsidize existing travelers during the time slot? Will we experience better travel experiences after paying the increases fare?

I felt that the policy was introduced too quickly without Punic consultation again.

What do you think?

Minimum wage will not work for Singapore

2013-04-13T23:57:00.001+08:00

A minimum wage would increase wages for the poor in the short term, but the policy will run the risk of increasing unemployment and the cost of food in Singapore.

See how the US min wage has moved over the years. However, inflated adjusted wages have not increased. Paying more artificial money has not helped the situation at all. Unemployment has increased and the poor continue to be dependent on government help.

In other countries, a minimum wage above the market wage will likely cause a black market to form. It would be a better solution to tackle the root of the issue. Help workers achieve higher pay through very targeted productivity drive, one sector at a time.

政府，网民关系

2013-04-08T08:39:00.001+08:00

Weibo source

庄子说，孔子教育颜回："你用自己的道理去教君主，他的脾气和你不对，你很危险；他的臣子为了邀功，会和你辩论，你就被孤立；你忙于辩解，就要步步退让失却初衷；你执理相争，君主就会发怒杀你。

把君主换成政府，把臣子换成五毛，把颜回换成网民.

Transparent reporting required

2013-04-03T08:31:00.001+08:00

LRT has broken down again in Bukit Panjang. I'm not surprised. I have long gotten used of it. My level of trust in the LRT system is so low it's non existing.

What infuriates me is that the operator can be sure there's only 40 passengers affected. Seriously? Only 40 passengers were delayed, trapped or made to change plans? We have to consider the entire situation, and not just so a simple count of those trapped behind moving trains.

What kind of irresponsible statement that is! I know for a fact that this is not accurate. So many of my neighbors were complaining!

I hope there can be more responsible reporting in Singapore. Surely more than 40 passengers were affected.

Wrong education KPI in Singapore?

2013-03-29T13:48:00.001+08:00

Singapore's education system prides itself in being able to develop students who can tackle tough math/science questions. The KPI is very simple. A primary 1 student who can do primary 3 math is better than a primary 1 student who is learning how to ask smart questions.

You will agree that parents get easily worried when their kids cannot tackle the toughest math questions. Their solution is to send their kids to expensive tuition centers.

In my analogy, MOE is merely concerned with filling up a small jug with water ASAP. The focus is so wrong! We should be shaping the jug and creating a bigger jug, enhancing the kids' learning capability in the long term!

This is why we lack entrepreneurs in Singapore. Kids are taught how to tackle tougher questions repeatedly. They are incentivized to learn answers to tough questions. While our competitors are teaching their kids how to ask questions, how to view a problem differently.

Yes, I agree that a Singaporean 16 year old kid may score better than another foreign 16 year old kid in an exam. But the foreigner may never stop innovating and learning! In the same example, Singapore fills its "jug" quicker than the world, but the world has a much bigger jug and will ultimately hold more water than our kids.

This will be the reason why Singapore may not be able to develop our own solution for sustainable urban growth.

Primary School Entry – Priority for the connected and resourceful?

2013-03-28T23:32:00.001+08:00

Primary School Entry – Priority for the connected and resourceful?

I have received feedback from parents hoping that the government can scrap the parent volunteer scheme. Many have said that those with connections to the school get too much priority. According to The Straits Times, many also complained that there are often more applicants than available places in later stages of the registration.

Parents who can commit at least 40 hours of voluntary work for the school in the Parent Volunteer Scheme can join phase 2B of the registration, a phase with priority over those with no connections. Priority does not constitute guarantee.

How widespread is this scheme? Volunteers have been asked to be traffic directors and ushers in school. Many sponsor items, donate money and man stalls. Sadly, the poor will not be able to give extra time for these activities. They are busy clocking hours in hawker centre or providing cleaning services. I understand that even a famous actress in Singapore (Tay) was not offered a guarantee after clocking 80 hours of voluntary work.

What are some other short cuts? Rumors were that grassroots leaders receive priority for their kids. In the last five years, an average of 330 children were admitted annually under the active community leaders scheme. I tried to google "Active Community Leaders Scheme" but cannot find any meaningful criteria/information.

Can the public help me with this?

Technical Analysis Book

2013-03-28T23:00:00.001+08:00

Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications (New York Institute of Finance)

I have amazed by people who people so much money for sub standard courses. It would be much better to buy a good book and read all about technical analysis comprehensively. I read this book and am blown away by the details and precision of technical analysis. This has formed a strong basis for my technical analysis skills development. Personally, I believe TA works very convincingly for the Singapore market.

I also lead an initiative at www.seekingreturns.com where I attempt to lower learning costs by at least 10 times. Most times, I make it a point to teach for free as well. My courses are not previews or invitation to treat.

Alex Lew, CFA

Poor goes for abortion in order to get HOPE scheme?

2013-03-25T11:29:00.001+08:00

In order to qualify for the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme, low income families cannot have more than two children. If a mother is pregnant, she will have to go through abortion in order to stay on the scheme.

In an example, a mother was made to go through 3 abortions in order to continue surviving with the HOPE programme.

She told me that this was not her first abortion, but her third. To be accountable to her family, she needed the financial and material benefits supplied on the HOPE scheme.

I wonder what do Singaporeans think of this policy that actually dishes out financial incentive in return for controlled population growth among the poor. Does it get worse when the poor has to abort babies in order to receive the financial benefits.

Whose fault is it for being poor? Do we accuse the poor of being lazy or incapable of qualify work? Certainly not! So why do the policy discriminate against the poor for having more than two children. Agree that we can support family planning. Education, free condoms, pills and other incentives can be considered. But abortion is just atrocious! To what extend should we continue to support this policy that gives money in order for poor to have less than 3 kids?

Procreation policies such as HOPE simply hint that only the rich should have more than 2 kids. Whoever said that poor families with more than 2 kids cannot be happy?

Will some leaders can pick up this issue.

My proposed solution

1. To suspend the requirement for 2 children limit for the poor. This will stop abortion from happening

2. To kickstart a family planning seminar series for recipients of the HOPE support. To support family planning through provision of toolkits.

3. To allocate mentors and counselors for each HOPE scheme recipient

Step by Step Guide to Creating a Super ETF Portfolio Cheaply

2013-03-19T00:51:00.001+08:00

Step by Step Guide to Creating a Super ETF Portfolio Cheaply

Why buy ETFs?

Index ETFs maintain relevant exposure in the country or market. ETFs reflects the economic composition and market structure of the economy. Over time, index providers adjust the indices to maintain this relevance. Existing ETF holders get to enjoy this adjustment without additional effort or cost. Index ETF holders will always be appropriately diversified.

Quality of index stocks is continually reviewed by index providers. Component stocks are regularly reviewed for suitability by the index provider. Only stocks that influence market movements and are actively traded will remain in the index.

ETFs incur low fees and charges. Unlike mutual funds/unit trusts, investors only pay brokerage commissions and Exchange charges during the sale and purchase of ETFs. In addition to the low management fees, there are no performance fees. Mutual funds and unit trusts may not be as diversified as the ETF and may charge annual fees up to 5% compared to ETFs with as little as 0.5% a year.

How to create a simple portfolio?

First step, download the list of ETFs on SGX's website. You can find the link here. For the common investor, you may form a portfolio with about 60% equities and 40% bonds.

Within the equities, diversify into as many regions as possible. You can park some money into various regions. Be careful not to do naïve diversification across all countries as you may have a lopsided exposure to Asian equities. Suggest to track

US S&P500
Chinese Hang Seng Index
Singapore STI
Japan
Australia
Index

Within the fixed income ETFs, you may diversify into the same regions. The entire list of ETFs for commodities, equities and bonds can be found in the list, publicly available.

For a younger investor with greater time horizon, one may own more than 60% equities. For an older investor with shorter time horizon, one may own less than 50% equities. Strike a good balance between return objectives and the risk levels.

How to rebalance?

On a yearly basis, find out how your portfolio can perform across the different sectors. You will only need to readjust your portfolio back to the original weights. If your equities have exceeded the original 60% to 70%, sell the excess 10% and rebalance it into other portions. Do this yearly, not too frequently.

Common portfolio allocation

60% equities 40% bonds - Most common allocation

80% equities, 20% bonds – Aggressive investor

40% equities, 60% bonds – Risk averse investor

80% bonds 20% equities – Investor with very short time horizon (less than 5 years)

Mega Trends of Jobs Part 2

2013-03-08T11:12:00.001+08:00

We follow up from the previous article on the future of jobs. Since we determined that the global trend is rapid automation, more companies will adopt a higher operating leverage model. A great deal of each company's resources will be invested in land, factories, machines, design systems and wages.

In a quick recession, which of these resources can be sold off and can be easily replaceable in a booming market? This depends on the structure of the liability. An office on lease is a cash flow liability. A machine on hire purchase and another asset on instalment cannot be sold due to the operational requirements. You don't sell the entire coffee machine just because you have lesser customers. You may downgrade the machine but it won't make financial sense after considering the depreciation.

In a recession, you are stuck with your machines as they are less liquid. You can downgrade the office size. You could also release workers from your payroll. Unfortunately, releasing workers from payroll is the most attractive solution since most workers are routine task performers and because wages are significant expenses. You could sack a financial analyst familiar with the SAP system and quickly recruit another. You could also sack 80% of your sales force as the top 20% would be bringing in 80% of the sales. You could release the part timers and less productive workers and outsource the tasks. The company could outsource telemarketing, accounting, designing, PR and even some forms of management. In summary, you are paying an adjustable fee instead of a salary. You won't need to deal with troublesome issues like office politics and demands for wage increase.

What kind of jobs cannot be released? If you own the business, you cannot be sacked. If you are managing the supply chain relationships, you will not be released. A motivator will not be released. The company needs the motivator to stay and rally the troops. If you are a creative engineer, solving solutions and initiative process transformation, you will be in hot demand at all times.

Next, we discuss the competitiveness of human development. This is directly related to the competitiveness of your career. In the early 1900s, a country could compete by improving nutrition, public health mechanisms. Generally, a healthier labour force was more attractive to businesses. Then, an unhealthy person could die at 40 years old. Most of the readers of this article would be above 40 and they will probably be in the pink of health. Nearer to 1950s, investments in literacy were the key. If you spoke English and had attended secondary school, you would have a high chance working for Royal Dutch Shell. You could also enter public administration and hold onto a very decent pay package. In 1990s to 2000s, investments pour did not pour into healthy, literate nations. They poured into cheap destinations. Why? Technology has allowed control systems to manage global operations. It would not be inaccurate to say that more than 50% of the work could be codified. Companies could push the pay way below the test of reasonableness.

At this point, many readers would conclude that you deserve a job because you can solve problems and because you are innovative and have 30 years of experience. I have bad news. As long as your experience can be codified, your experience will be absorbed by an application. Applications can find solutions faster and applications will be more dependable. At the least, they will not be caught surfing Facebook and Youtube channels. To continue being employable in a meaningful way, you may need to find jobs that design systems, regulate the industry, motivate a human, nurse the sick, pastor a church. This list is not exhaustive. But it gives you an idea

So what is stopping companies from embracing automation and reducing jobs? Absolutely nothing! In fact, companies not embracing such trends will face restructuring. These companies will request for support, they will lobby for policy changes. But they will eventually lose customers as their product offerings will be less competitive.

We urge readers to face this reality and start preparing for the revolution.

Alex Lew, CFA

The Future of Jobs in a globalized Singapore

2013-03-06T12:04:00.001+08:00

Summary: Singapore as an market taker will have to innovate its offering to stay relevant as service sector jobs become increasingly automated. We expect a large outflow of routine jobs due to advancing machines and ease of task outsource. Education becomes less useful as quality teachings emerge free online

Singapore believes that higher education will generally lead to a brighter future. Statistically, graduate workers earn more than non graduate workers on an average basis. Other than economic benefits, some say that a more educated society may take interest in a wide variety of issues such as crime rate, politics and healthcare.

However, this assumption is flawed. With the inflation of academic qualifications and the massive growth of near perfect and free information, one would argue that the competitive edge for education is over. We need to welcome the new trend of service automation. In the late 1900s, men embrace machine automation. That killed many low value manual tasks. During those times, a blue collar worker may be caught off guard. Over a century, men began to be machine handlers. Operator jobs were created, technicians were employed to maintain the machines and designers had the sexiest jobs as they created the logic within machines.

We need to be aware that a gigantic change is happening in the world now. The same trend of automation is sweeping the services industry. As information becomes more freely available, algorithms will replace the information processing activities in legal, accounting, financial and retail sectors. A person dealing with documentation will eventually lose his job. His eye for low value details will be priced at $0 when the machine can do the same scanning within a blink of an eye. A junior lawyer will not be appreciated for his/her memory of past cases but for his/her inference abilities.

Monte Carlo risk simulation (the most complete risk assessment tool and most expensive so far) in the financial industry was expensive in the past as numerous factors loaded the system. However, computer speed and memory restrictions are fast becoming a thing of the past. We believe that these established systems could be used to price risk to a point of near perfection. Yes, it can even take into consideration black swans. The fact is that automation of services and information processing will be unstoppable. Software and applications will replace the knowledge workers' jobs. One common theme describes these jobs that will be replaced – Routine. Routine tasks are predictable and can be codified.

The fear is that these trends are accelerating. One cannot remain unmoved in the face of the service jobs revolution. The opportunity cost of being employed in a routine job is massive. The high cost of education will also face diminishing returns. The reality is that technology is creating jobs for idea generators and designers of system, but destroying opportunities for the routine workers. Computers will take over the jobs such as data analyst, credit risk analysts, documentation specialists, event and trip planners, route optimizers, schedulers and most back end operations. Even in the medical field, entry level doctors may be compromised as technology compiles healthcare information and become competent in identifying illnesses.

Who will have a stable job in the future? Job requiring the human touch will become increasingly more important. A pre-school teacher, a caregiver, a nurse, a counsellor, a sales person, a drill master, a Congressman, a minister, a pastor, an artist and a mentor will have a job. The brightest policy makers, the sharpest business investor, the entrepreneur will be most appreciated figures in the future.

Wages will decrease for the majority but increase for the select few. Jobs that cannot be outsourced to lower wage workers and machines, will require top inference and critical thinking ability. The sharpest candidate can manage unlimited applications through smart processes. The most insightful investor can command his money to flow in and out of investments as immediately as information arrives at his desk.

If we do not embrace the impact of service sector revolution, I believe Singapore will be swept aside within 10 years. We note that most Singaporeans are still stuck in routine jobs.

Alex Lew, CFA

Consider buying commodities

2013-03-04T11:48:00.001+08:00

For natural resources firm, it is better to under-invest and have larger profit margins. They can lobby taxation policies to mitigate high taxes. This has to do with the oligopolistic natural resources sector where a few conglomerates own much of the world's resources. Their investment decisions directly influence the allocation of food suppliers.

I feel that demand for commodities will outstrip supply leading to a real price increase for food and oil. Investment decisions will be a key factor. Beyond that, growth of industries taking away precious farming land and farming expertise will also lead to shortage of food supplies in the future. I'm unsure about the impact of bio-fuels on food because food will always be a priority use above energy.

I'm also aware that a large number of farmers use low technology farming tools. It will be difficult to introduce high technology products to these inaccessible locations and persuade them to sell their harvest to global markets.

For these reasons, we should be long on food and energy commodities. We prefer ETFs for pure exposure.

Below 35, poor and no help!

2013-02-27T17:01:00.003+08:00

Contributed by a reader who cannot be named

I know of many young adults below the age of 35 years earning less than $1000. They are poor and they are not happy to hear the budget.

They hold a fixed pay. They are worried that when the employee CPF contribution rate moves up to 20% from 16%, their take home pay may reduce. The employer can choose to consider the entire pay package as one lump sum and will incorporate the required CPF contribution into the package.

In short, the cash component may be affected negatively. For a Singaporean that really requires help and is below 35 years old, workfare may not apply to him.

They question why the policy makers decide that people below 35 years old don’t need workfare? Similarly, just because the person is below 35 years old, he does not seem to qualify for the $200 top up of Medisave.

Coincidentally, if you are poor and below 35 years old, the income tax rebate does not apply to them as they don’t earn enough. Can things get worse? Certainly!

They also told me not to believe that just because the government is willing to subsidize pay increase by 40% under the Wage Credit Scheme it will positively affect their pay. Some of them are on an hourly rate, squeezed by contractors.

Advertisement to recruit only Philippine worker in Singapore

2013-02-17T14:55:00.001+08:00

I wonder why this 9 hour work shift wasn't offered to a Singaporean instead? Given the reasonable hours and incentive packages, would it be so tough to find a local?

Rather than thrash the hirer, perhaps we can find out from them why is hiring foreigners, even if they are only on Long Term pass, more attractive?

Is CPF contribution an issue?
Is the attitude of locals a problem?

What can we do to improve the situation?

Possible Misplacing of skill sets?

2013-02-12T02:05:00.001+08:00

This is a testimony I heard from a friend. A lady was armed with a Bachelor degree in Early Childhood from a university in Melbourne. She switched career from being a bid tender officer to child care and spent 4 years doing a part time degree from A private university. She did not do well in her GCE 'O' level and obtained only 3 credits.

She applied a job from a child care centre and was paid miserable $1,000 per month. This was a significant pay cut from her precious job. When working at the centre, they claimed that they couldn't move her to become a child care teacher as she did not have 5 'O' level credits even though she graduated with honours and had 6 months' on-the-job training in Melbourne as child care teacher.

She went to Australia to work as child care teacher and A$6,000 per month and even after deducting income tax at 15%, her net pay is still considerably higher than her pay in Singapore. How would her 5 GCE 'O' level credits affect her job performance?

What has 'O' level results got to do with being a good professionally qualified child care teacher who loves to work with children? The lady has been working here in Australia for 3 years now and is currently embarking on her Master degree in Early Childhood.

Is it right to depend on a teenager's achievements to seal his/her potential in the future?

More fall for exotic risky products

2013-02-11T21:13:00.001+08:00

Fólling the 2008 crisis, more investors have lost confidence in traditional products such as mutual funds and stocks. The subprime crisis was a systematic failure and the fault of regulators and rating agencies. They deserved to lose investors' confidence. However, this resulted in more investors seeking refuge, in a high inflation environment, in exotic products such as land banking, wine, carbon credits and stock trading courses.

Aggressive sales also push some of these risky products unscrupulously without regard for the risk profile of buyers. Systematic failures can happen and it has happened a few times in the history of men. However, the market generally rewards patient and consistent investors. Within 2 years of the crisis, the markets recovered. This may not be the case for exotic investors. Some fraudulent exotic product providers have ran off. In Singapore, we have many cases and 2 recent examples are the Sunshine Empire and the Gold Guarantee.

Manage your risks through diversification. Seek low cost, diversified funds.

Worries of a typical Singaporean that affect fertility rate

2013-02-03T23:09:00.001+08:00

Worries of a typical Singaporean that affect fertility rate

As a Singaporean close to 30 and waiting to get married in 2 years' time, I am well aware of the challenges of having children. Housing prices, renovation prices, marriage costs are also items on the top of my mind. Perhaps we can start by discussing the challenges to having children before going into developing solutions.

Cost of education

We need to provide competitive education for our child. This seems education in top primary schools. Some of us volunteer in famous schools like Nanyang Primary or Ai Tong. Some develop deep rooted relationships with powerful decision makers. These are fine. The world rewards people with networks. However, for the rest of the Singaporeans, they think twice about having a kid or more than one because they have lower chances of education their kids competitively. We know that a less educated child generally loses out in the rat race in Singapore. Good jobs are scarce and placements in better courses like law, medicine, and business can be very competitive. Many of the post 70s/80s parents want to send their kids to top tuition centres like the Learning Lab, Morries Allen and Lorna Winston. We understand that these enrichment classes help form a stronger language base for our kids. On average, tuition fees for better classes often hit about $600 to $1000 a month. Can children outperform without tuition? For a small group of children, certainly yes. I'm sure the fertility rate can increase if the government levels the playing field of education. We don't really need elite schools do we?

High costs of fringe activities

Schools have optional international trips and excursions. Some CCAs also require significant investment costs. As parents, I'm sure they won't want their kids to feel left out. They want to provide the best for their kids. To mitigate these costs, parents may choose to have less than 2 children. When I was in primary school, I remember some classmates who cannot afford international trips. I could remember their disappointment. There is no adequate and reasonable government intervention here. But I believe this is a reason why sophisticated parents don't have more than 1 or 2 kids usually.

Volatile Careers

A father who understands that he may lose his job by 40 will not reproduce excessively in his early 30s. Singaporean man are afraid of losing their jobs. A select few have hold very sticky jobs due to the niche nature of their business. However, the majority of the working adults do run into retrenchment. Without higher sense of security, without social safety net, it can be tough to have more than a kid.

Timeline

With 2 years of NS and 4 years of university education, a normal Singaporean guy will turn 26 on his first job. Assuming he uses 2 to 3 years to find a wife, he will turn 30 easily. The wait for BTO is about 5 years. It is not uncommon for a couple to get married nearer to their BTO. This long delay really closes the gap for having children. Perhaps the government can consider allowing NSFs to book out more often to minimize break ups. For a start, could we minimize confinements? Additionally, the BTO model may have to be reconsidered. How can we design a system to help Singaporeans marry earlier?

These are just a few of the many concerns a typical Singaporean may have. We can only hope these feedback are not wasted.