Saturday, April 23, 2005

How to join NTUC Income

NTUC Income has an innovative way to recruit people.

We ask them to register in our recruitment portal, www.income.coop/careers/ and tell us the jobs that they are interested in.

When we have a vacancy, we will contact them to submit an application. This will reduce the time taken to recruit a person, and also ensure that our advertisement is not overlooked by those who are really keen to join us.

We now have 2,000 people who have registered and told us about the jobs that they like. We carry out preliminary screening of these candidates, and will be able to offer them a suitable job as soon as it becomes available.

www.income.coop/careers/

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Reduce tax on "green cars"

A friend told me that environmentally friendly "green cars" are more fuel efficient. There is a potential saving of 25% on fuel.

With high prices, we should encourage "green cars" on our roads.

However, there is an obstacle. Due to our tax system, "green cars" cost about $20,000 more than the conventional cars.

With an average monthly consumption of $200 in petrol, the monthly saving is only $50. It will take 30 years to recover the additional cost of the green car.

In the USA, green cars cost about S$5000 more than conventional cars. It will take less than 10 years to recover the investment.

I suggest that our tax system in Sigapore should be reviewed and a lower tax burden be placed on "green cars". This will encourage more people to use "green cars" and save on petrol.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Silence not golden for shareholders

Today (18 April) has this headline: "Silence not golden for shareholders".

It says, "As the Commercial Affairs Department investigates corporate wrongdoing, silence prevails, leaving investors in the cold".

The CAD is investing Accord Customer Care Service and Citiraya. In both cases, shareholders have not been informed about the nature of the investigations. The uncertainty has dragged on for several weeks. It is not clear whether the company or CAD should be releasing updates.

My friend told me that, in the USA, they have a faster way to resolve these issues. Action is taken quickly, and the issue is settled within a short time. In some cases, the CEO gets replaced quite quickly. In other cases, the matter is settled.

I hope that the authority in Singapore can find a way to resolve these issues more promptly.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Vehicle Navigation System

I installed a Vehicle Navigation system in my car. It cost about S$1,500.

It works well. The system allows me to set the destination. It guides me along the way. It shows the roads to take and when to turn. It is easy to use and quite reliable.

I will look for a way to help to introduce this system more widely in Singapore. I may buy a few units and offer it as a lucky draw prize for owners who insure their vehicle with us. I may offer a discounted price for our motorists.

Abusive customers

In recent years, an increasing proportion of customers are getting to be impatient, rude, abusive, demanding and unreasonable. Some employees do not want to work in the frontline to face customers.

This situation appears to happen in other countries as well. Recently, I was in Healthrow Airport. I saw a sign at the Information Desk. It goes along this line:

"Our customer service officers will do their best to serve you. Please do not abuse them. It is our duty to protect our employees. We will take legal action against any customer who harrass our employees".

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