WoonZai

A special report on business in America: : Life is expensive | The Economist

2009-05-31T10:32:39Z

A special report on business in America: : Life is expensive | The Economist.

If there’s anything I appreciated about Singapore - It’s the relentless efforts of the government to keep healthcare costs down and managable, without affecting the long term sustainability of the nation’s health care plans. Not many locals can appreciate how hard the government is working to keep healthcare costs from escalating. Be it through means testing or through shifting the medical burdens of a patient to their family. It is certainly not nice to have these burdens shifted to your own family (when you are one of the “victims”, but it is one way of ensuring the long term sustainability of our nations to cope with the increasing health-care costs.

If there’s anything worth mentioning in this article, it’s this one -

Employers can buy health insurance with pre-tax dollars. Individuals cannot. This creates an agency problem. When a typical patient goes to the doctor, he has no idea what anything costs. He pays only about 15% of the bill, so if the doctor recommends something he will probably say yes. The doctor gets paid for everything he does, so he has a powerful incentive to perform costly, unnecessary procedures. Besides, he may be socked for damages if he omits a test that a lawyer subsequently convinces a jury might have been useful. The costs are passed on to insurers, who pass them on to employers in the form of higher premiums, who then pass them on to workers in the form of lower pay.

My personal feel of the insurance coverage policies in Singapore - They are pretty sub-standard for the policy owners. I remembered my insurance coverage back in the States for a premium plan was based on an exclusion policy - ie the policies stated upfront which medical expenses they will not cover. The Singapore insurance industry policies only states which policies they will cover, leaving the policy owner to handle the whole universe of medical expenses. This is probably one way to contain the healthcare costs for the insurers. However, it led me to be really skeptical on the value of acquiring insurance in Singapore.

There are many reasons why American health care costs so much. Americans love fancy new medical technology. New drugs, for example, are prescribed a year or two earlier in America than in Europe, and do not come cheap. American doctors pay a fortune to insure themselves against frivolous lawsuits. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that even in cases where no medical error was found, plaintiffs received payments a quarter of the time. And half of medical malpractice payments were gobbled up by lawyers and overheads.

We always believed America to be on the fore-front of technology innovations, and these innovations are supposed to be driving down costs. But are they doing what they claim? There are times I’ve felt that the high level of entrepreneurial activities is actually caused by the number of internal problems that the country has. Lawsuits, insurance, and government regulations has raised the costs of doing business to an extent that the consumers are the ones who suffer. The lack of a proper public transport infrastructure makes it difficult for the lower class to continue on with their daily activities. The poor goes into a deep downward spiral of being poor always. Check these two articles out on the high costs of being poor in America.

1. Monday, May 18, 2009
Poor? Pay up.
Having Little Money Often Means No Car, No Washing Machine, No Checking Account And No Break From Fees and High Prices

By DeNeen L. Brown.Washington Post Staff Writer

2. Being Poor:
By John Scalzi, Sep 2005

5 months into my career

2009-05-31T10:05:10Z

It’s been sometime since I’ve last blogged. An update for my career - I’m still an account manager in IBM, but I have been transferred (in Jan 2009) to serve the mid-market segment in Singapore for the industrial sector (manufacturing, electronics, construction, property) firms. I think I prefer serving that industry better - There’s more areas for potential innovation within it.

Generally people have the perception that IBM is still a hardware/PC/laptop company, even till date. I believe it is part of my role to change that perception. I have not touched the IBM AS400 before, but feedback from my customers has led me to believe that it is one of the most stable/robust servers ever created. I want to own this machine one day.

Although hardware is an easy sell (in terms of sales cycle), it is no longer profitable with all the vendors being engaged in price wars. If I have the chance to meet you one day, I can probably share with you IBM’s acquisitions over the years. The company’s vision of building a smarter planet (http://www.asmarterplanet.com/) is pretty much in-line with my vision of “digitizing the world”, and working in ways where technology can help make the world a slightly better place.

As time moves on, I’m gradually begin to appreciate the company for what it is, and has built a love-hate relationship with this firm. It will take me months to share with you the journey and learning experience I’ve went through over here the past 5 months. Till date, I have been involved in a few global projects, and have customers calling me in from overseas to share with me their requirements after going through my repsite. .

More updates to come as we go along - There’s too much on my mind that I like to share with the world.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source

2009-01-18T03:22:36Z

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source.

I can’t believe the level of innovation going on at Apple. It’s really a breakthrough technology - Another whole new level.

Apple stands for electronic devices, what Google stands for web innovation. No further comments.

YouTube - Mac vs PC Transformers Version

2008-12-26T14:37:33Z

YouTube - Mac vs PC.

Amazing creativity shown in this video - However, I was expecting the PCs to gang up on the Mac, and not the Macs to gang up on the PCs since there are still more PCs than Macs.

YouTube - Benoit Mandelbrot thinks we’re all screwed

2008-12-23T03:21:13Z

YouTube - Benoit Mandelbrot thinks we’re all screwed.

It gets into this situation. I am skeptical of any good news regarding the current crisis the world is in, and is tired of hearing more Doomsday news and call-outs.

In the end, there’s so many directions the future can lead us to from this crisis. Nobody have the confidence to predict what will happen to the entire market. There might be wars, riots, jobless rates etc. But somehow or rather, people will survive it. That’s where our world starts all over again.

The advice I follow is - Be yourself and live life normally. Live within your means. You are not safe hoarding up on cash because inflation rates might shoot up. Your currency may devalue. There may be chaos and unrest.

You are not safe spending all your money either - I won’t need to elaborate more on that. You might think it’s a good time to buy stocks cheap, but this crisis is unlike any other crisis - The confidence in financial markets, and financial institutions are at an all-time low.

Talking Business - Avoiding a Financial Collapse, Indian-Style - NYTimes.com

2008-12-22T01:33:31Z

Talking Business - Avoiding a Financial Collapse, Indian-Style - NYTimes.com.

Some key quotes from the article. Probably I need to research on where MAS stands in our monetary policy. From what I see on the surface so far, they are doing a pretty decent job.

“Indian banks are not levered like American banks. Capital ratios are 12 and 13 percent, instead of 7 or 8 percent. All those exotic structures like C.D.O. and securitizations are a very tiny part of our banking system. So a lot of the temptations didn’t exist.”

“A lot of Indians, when you push them, will say that if you spend more than you earn you will get in trouble. Americans spent more than they earned.”

“Savings are important. Joint families exist. When one son moves out, the family helps them. So you don’t borrow so much from the bank.”

Seventy percent of the banking system in India is nationalized, so a strong regulator is critical, since any banking scandal amounts to a national political scandal as well.

The Madoff Economy - NYTimes.com

2008-12-22T01:17:16Z

Op-Ed Columnist - The Madoff Economy - NYTimes.com.

Was reading through this article and it crystallized what I felt back in university. While reading my texts, I felt that there was too much “financial” and “money” magic in this industry. This article did a better job at describing what I should also have questioned during that time.

Probably I would have been attracted to the industry if there was not such a distinct differences on the prestige between the front-office, middle-office and back-office.

With the severity of this recession/depression, it will be weird for finance students to study and extrapolate the equity market trends and returns over the next few years. Chances are, finance students will have to study the market all over again.

That being said, I still believe in the fundamental value that the banking system provides to the economy - In terms of identifying the lemon companies, and also to provide a basis for valuing the company.

The fundamental flaw with equity market theories, or with any public companies, is the increasing pressure to deliver year-on-year profit growth. The underlying cause of this flaw can be attributed to capitalism, which states that the welfare of an economy can be measured by tangible and material consumption of the people in the economy.

The emphasis on consumerism to sustain a market based on capitalism is not feasible, and increasingly what I witness is a market trend towards a “buy more, buy more! Consume more, consume more!” mentality that is pretty retarded. People move away from their inner sense of peace and tried to seek comfort in the pursuit of material consumption.

The movie “Fight Club” summarized it well when it quoted that people have evolved to “work in jobs that they hate, to buy things that they don’t need, to impress people that they don’t like.”

Light Fixtures for your home

2008-12-20T12:06:14Z

I think one of the things that most people fail to consider when getting a new apartment is how they want to furnish the lightings on their homes. Very often, you think about the type and kind of furniture that you want, the colors of the walls, and the different accessories that you want to install in your home.

While surfing around, I found a site that sells light fixtures online. I didn’t realize the variety of home lighting fixtures that are online - such as pendants, chandeliers, and wall scounces etc.

Probably I can get a chandelier for my future home?

They have a few categories for various kinds of lightings out there - Though it seemed to be pretty much the same, you might want to check out their kitchen light fixtures , ceiling light fixtures or probably some bathroom light fixtures ?

How about getting a candle holder? Hmm..

Building a Smarter Planet

2008-12-17T02:52:50Z

One of IBM’s initiatives to help make life a little better for the world.

My Career Journey begins here!

2008-12-14T10:48:48Z

From the lack of activity on my blog - You can sense that I have been somewhat held up with other stuff in my life. Career Planning, Job Searches, Job Interviews, Training, switching web hosts, and catching up with my friends. 2008 was a year full of FUD. I didn’t expect this to happen to me, but I think I went through a mini quarter-life crisis. Thanks to Yili, Kenneth and Alvin for being with me through this rough patch.

Career Planning

Ever since my return from California, I was contemplating my career path. I didn’t really wanted to go into a career in banking because I can never really understand what the banking profession entails. My impression was that the skill-sets I learnt in there is not easily transferrable - Which other industry will care about how well you can analyze numbers. I was not satisfied with the kind of pitch that banking recruiters gave - “A career full of challenges, projects, exposures, and networking opportunties, only for the brightest and smartest”. What I had in mind was - How do I know whether I’m a fit for your company unless you give me an overview of what is it that you do. Don’t give me generic high-level answers - Tell me what are your challenges. How do you add value? It’s a stark contrast from the technology sector - where information is shared openly and innovation is the key.

Fundamentally I believe that technology can change the world in some ways. It’s about helping businesses and enterprises live a better life. I have always wanted a life like this since I was 8 years old. Wireless mobility, office productivity, and the ability to access and share information around the world. Interacting with people that you never met before. Instant communications instead of snail mail. In a way, the digital age is my age and my dream which I’m living right now.

I have strong beliefs about the kind of company that I want to work in. I wanted to work in a company that innovates (ie Google, Salesforce) and is willing to challenge the status quo. I want to educate businesses how they can use technology to solve business problems. I wanted a company that values performance over attendance. Mobile workers who can work from home. A company that uses the least effort to achieve maximum productivity.

Job Searches
I went for quite a few job interviews. However, it comes to a point where both the interviewer and myself did not see a good fit between their job and my vision/wants. thought I was really specific about what I wanted - A career in technology consulting/sales, and that turned off a few consulting firms.
I took a shot at Accenture. I heard quite a few negative comments about them, even from one of my mentors - But I guess I wanted to give them a shot. Insane working hours should not matter that much if I’m working in a role that leverages technology to solve business problems.

The HR and the first two interviewers were professional and warm, and I already had the impression that I will be working there. The final interview was with a partner of the firm, who I think did not like me. He was 20 minutes late for the interview and I thought he spoke to me in utter contempt. I think the straw that broke the camel back for him, was when I asked whether there’s any networking opportunities within and without the firm. Whether I have the opportunity to go for technology conferences to meet people. But again, probably I did not do well enough for that interview.

I got into IBM eventually, but it was not a smooth path. I went for a consulting position interview, but the interviewer thought that I was a better fit for sales. I went through another 3 rounds of interview before I got in. I received the letter of offer 3 days before my first day.

Being in IBM
I think the nice thing about being in IBM is that it cleared a number of misconceptions I had about the company. Before I went in - My impression of the company is a huge giant who has limited innovation capabilities. Corporate. Boring. Bureaucratic. Lacking in innovation (Dead wrong on this one though I will not elaborate more in this post!). The next best thing is the amount of money they invest in new hires to get us oriented to the company. 12 weeks of sales training, which guided us through various projects on how to engage sales calls.

The innovation scene at IBM is pretty amazing. You can check out how IBM leverages enterprise social media in the presentation below.

Ibm Web 2 0 Goes To Work Presentation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ibm web)

I’m an account manager for the banking and insurance industry in Singapore. It’s not exactly a good time to start a career in sales, nor is it the best of times to be serving the banking industry. But nonetheless I will give my very best to work with my clients and understand what they really need and want at this point in time, and how we can help them further. 2009 is not going to be an easy year - But I work hard for it.