Saturday, September 30, 2017

Performance score for Tan Chuan Jin

Tan Chuan Jin has gained in popularity over the past three weeks, since he took over the position of Speaker of Parliament.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/ChartJS.aspx…

Future relations with China

What is your view about the future relations after PM Lee's visit to China?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd. The results are not encouraging.

You can view the result here:
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=285

Next prime minister of Singapore

Who do you prefer to be the next prime minister of Singapore?

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd.

You can view the result here.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=284

Court case against Li Sheng Wu

What happened to the court case against Li Sheng Wu? We have not heard about it for some time.

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd.

Here are the votes.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=281

What has happened to Lee Hsien Yang?

What has happened to Lee Hsien Yang? We have not heard about him for quite some time.

I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd.

Here are the answers:
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=280


Friday, September 29, 2017

Will China support the Thai Canal?

Someone said that China is not likely to support the Thai Canal as they have invested billions in the Malaysian ports.

I think that this will not be the case.

China believes in approaching a problem in a multi-prong manner.

If there is no Thai Canal, the Malaysian ports will be an important part of their strategy.

If there is a Thai Canal, they will use both the canal and the Malaysian ports.

If Thailand is keen on the canal, we will see it happen within 10 to 15 years with financial and technical support from China. That is my view.

Excessive penalty imposed by ACRA

This is a message for the wonderful people in ACRA.

They did not send me a reminder to file my ACRA return.

I filed the return today and get fined $300 for filing the return late, in addition to the filing fee of $60.

They seem to think that business owners have nothing to do, except to comply with their filing requirements. They do not seem to think that a reminder is necessary.

Their penalty is excessive. No wonder ACRA makes a profit in their operations.
https://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/annualreports/2015-2016/pdf/Financial-Highlights.pdf




Review our bus network

I took a bus from my home to Country Garden's sales office in Cecil Street and took a bus from there to my office.

The first journey took more than 1 hour and the return journey about 1 hour.

The bus has to crawl slowly and stop every 0.2 km, or therabouts. Each journey must have taken more than 30 stops.

I was quite comfortably seated. However, the journey time was too long.

We need a better way to manage our bus network. I prefer our main bus services to stop every 2 km (or about 5 stops) and for the intermediate stops to be served by a feeder bus. It will cut down the time taken for each journey.

It is easy to change from a main service to a feeder service. The change is done at the same bus stop.

I have written about this concept in this article.
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1407

Many transit systems in other cities around the world use this approach, i.e. to have the main service make fewer stops and for the intermediate stops to be served by a feeder service.

In fact, our MRT system works on this concept.

I hope that our town planners will consider my proposal.

Visit to Country Garden Sales Gallery in Singapore

I could not make an internet transfer for my remaining payment for the purchase of my apartment in Forest City as the amount exceeded the transfer limit allowed by my bank.

I had to write a cheque. I could not rely on Singapore Post to deliver the cheque, as it might get lost. I decided to take a bus to Country Garden office at GB Building, 143 Cecil Street.

They have an impressive model of Forest City in the office, which acts as the sales gallery. However, it was rather quiet.

I approached the reception to make my payment.

It was manned by a very pretty girl. She could not speak English fluently. So, I spoke to her in English mixed with Mandarin.

TKL - Are you from China?
Girl - Yes.
TKL - Which part of China?
Girl - Fujian
TKL - Do you speak Hokkien?
Girl - Yes.
TKL - How long have you been in Singapore?
Girl - Ten years.

Surprise! She looked like this is her first job!

TKL - How old are you?
Girl - Twenty.

Okay, this is her first job. She came to Singapore to study and now work her.

Okay, if you are keen to see this pretty girl, go to Country Garden Sales Gallery at 143 Cecil Street to see the model of Forest City and to chat with her.

Finger print scanning for car drivers and passengers

Should car drivers and passengers have finger prints scanned at the checkpoints?

This new measure has been implemented and is likely to discourage travel by car between Singapore and Malaysia.

Do you agree with this measure introduced by Singapore?

Give your view in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

What will happen to Amos Yee?

Amos Yee has been granted asylum in America. What will happen to him over the next two years?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Will Temasek Holdings get a good return in its investment in Grab?

75% of the people voting in the Wisdom of the Crowd said "no" for two reasons. Only 25% said "yes".

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=283




Will President Trump attack North Korea in the near future?

75% of the people voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd said that he will not attack North Korea for two main reasons.

Find the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=282

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Get mothers to have babies earlier

The average age of the mother for new born babies has now exceeded 30 years. The report from the population board said that mothers who give birth to babies at a younger age have more children. It is obvious, isn't it?

If this is obvious, what is the government doing to encourage people to get married younger and have babies earlier? They just talk and have no clue how to solve this problem.

The solution is simple. Read this article.
http://www.tankinlian.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=1410

Pay more attention to the needs of pedestrians

This article reported that Singapore is good for driving but is not good for safety.

Why? The answer is obvious. Our cars are driving too fast.

I observe that traffic in other cities are much slower. It is caused partly by congested roads. But only partly.

In other cities, they pay more attention to the needs of pedestrians. But this is not the case for Singapore. The planners pay more attention to the needs of motorists.

I observe the different quite clearly when I was in Seoul. I fell safe to cross the road. The vehicles move slowly. They give more time for pedetrians to cross the road at their pedestrian crossings.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spore-one-best-cities-driving-not-road-safety?cid=emarsys-today_TODAY%27s+morning+briefing+for+Sept+28%2C+2017+%28ACTIVE%29_newsletter_28092017_today




Should PM Lee make the remark that One Belt One Road will bring China closer to the world?

57% of the people voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd said that he should not make this remark as it would appear that he is trying to teach China what to do.

The remainder viewed this remark as being positive in repairing relations with China.

View the detailed result in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=279

Should President Halimah continue to stay in her HDB flat in Yishun?


10% of the people who voted in The Wisdom of the Crowd said she should be allowed her personal choice of residents.

The remainder said "no" for two important reasons.

View the detailed result in:
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=278

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

NATO Phonetic alphabet

I found it difficult to read out the airline booking reference which contained six letters and numbers.

My friend suggested that I should use the NATO phonetic alphabet. I Googled and found the following:

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

I will try to use it in the future. Maybe, if this is commonly used, the character based booking reference becomes quite workable.

Source:
https://www.visualthesaurus.com/…/do-you-know-your-alfa-br…/

By-election in Marsiling Yew Tee - will PM Lee call a by-election?

Will PM Lee call a by-election in Marsiling Yew Tee GRC to fill the vacancy created by Halimah Yacob?

91% of the people voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd said that he will not call a by-election in this GRC for the rest of the current term.

See the breadkown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=276

By-election in Marsiling Yew Tee - should PM Lee call a by-election?

Should PM Lee call a by-election in Marsiling Yew Tee to find a replacement for Halimah Yacob?

87% said that he should call a by-election and gave four reasons for their decision. 13% said the PM Lee has the discretion to call or not call a by-election.

See the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=277

Wisdom of the Crowd - new issues

Here are new issues for voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd

a) Should small traders be allowed to peddle their ware to make a living?
b) Is the technical director Sablon justified his comment about lack of support from the FAS council?

Monday, September 25, 2017

Performance score of ministers have improved

The performance scores of all the ministers have improved during the latest week. Perhaps some of the pro-establishment people have started to give their votes.

Tan Chuan Jin is now at the top of his group that he is placed in.

http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/ChartJS.aspx?Section=Minister%203

You can submit your votes using the link on that page and win an prize IMMEDIATELY.






Unfair rejection of claim under integrated Shield plan

I have often advised consumers to stay with the basic Medishield Life and to avoid buying an integrated Shield plan.

I have been approached on many occasions from consumers for assistance with the rejection of their claims under an integrated plan.

Here is a recent example.
http://www.fisca.sg/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ID=513

Read the article in full (it is quite short) and understand the issue and the risk involved.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Need to improve signages in Singapore


Over the past decades, I have observed that the signages in Singapore are inadequate and confusing.

I often got lost following the signs and have to ask for directions. Often the people I asked don't know the way either.

I face this problem frequently. I followed the sign to a certain exit or destination. On arriving at a junction, the sign did not tell me whether to turn right or left. I have to walk back and see if I had missed any of the signs.

After visiting Seoul, I could see the big difference. Their signs are adequate and helpful. They even provide them in Korean, English and meaningful graphics.

They signs tell you where to go for the toilet or lift and also show you the distance in meters. The signs appears many times on the same corridor, so the public is assured that they are following the right direction.

Popular Videos on Financial Planning and Insurance

My short vidoes on financial planning and insurance continued to be very popular, especially with the young people. I monitor the visits and find that every day a few new viewers watched the videos.
http://www.tankinlian.com/video.aspx

For those who are interested to know more about what they can do with their savings, I encourage them to attend this talk on financial planning.
http://www.fisca.sg/event_det.aspx?id=16

It is free to FISCA members. You can join FISCA here.
http://www.fisca.sg/register.aspx

Win these popular books as prizes



I have selected several popular PDF books on financial planning and insurance as prizes for the public to vote in The Wisdom of the Crowd.

Click here to view the prizes.
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/page/115

Click here to start voting on the current issues:
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg

Wisdom of the Crowd - new issues

Here are the new issues for your voting in The Wisdom of the Crowd.

a) Should Singapore follow London to withdraw the licence for Uber to operate a taxi service?
b) Should supermarkets plan charge for plastic bags?

Give your vote in
www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg




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