Friday, October 2, 2009

Crashgate - it ain't over

Read this article in Today Online.

Conrad Raj wrote about the incident where a Renault driver crashed his car deliberately at the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. A minister said that the Government will not be pursuing this matter, as it is a tactic used by the team. Conrad Raj asked:

* What about the crime of endangering life and limb?
* What about corruption of the highest order?
* What makes this crime so different from soccer fixing?

He said that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau ought to investigate this matter. I agree with his views.

Free market (11) - Customer satisfaction

In the past, businesses put in great efforts to guard their reputation. They address customer complaints actively and maintain their reputation for fair treatment of customers.

In recent years, the standard of customer service has declined. This comes during an era of relentless search for higher profits and a drop in business ethics. Businesses do not care as much for their reputation, as it is now quite common for their competitors to have similar low standards.

The regulators have also dropped their standard of enforcements. They consider that these matters could be left to the market. If the consumers are not happy, they can go to another supplier. Even the mainstream media is driven by advertising dollars and are not vigorous in reporting bad practices of businesses.

Many businesses now take the view that if a group of customers are dissatisfied, they can market their products to other groups of customers.

The decline in business ethics will be bad for society. We need a refocus on good business ethics and practices. This requires the action of the regulators, mainstream media, and the examples of good corporate leaders.

Consumers should also come forward to be more active in expressing their dissatisfaction and views. They can use the new media to voice their views.

Tan Kin Lian

RED Portal (15) Property Report

You can buy a property report on a specific project for $25. You have a choice of buying the RED property report or a more detailed report from Street Sine (also for $25). The information provided are slightly different in presentation.

Here is a sample webpage.

Go to the RED portal, Search for specific project, click on the Report tab, and you will get this page.

An honest agent

I asked my travel agent to recommend me a ticket to Paris or London. He obtained detailed quotes from three airlines. Two airlines quoted an economy fare of around $1,600. The third airline (which is of similar standing) quoted a fare of $1,000.

Although the agent earned a lower commission from the third airline, he brought the quote to my attention, so that I could consider it for my decision. He has to consider the interest of his client to build a long term relationship of trust.




Iceberg

View this amazing photo.

However, this is reported to be created by computer graphics and is not a real photo:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/iceberg.asp

Tough time ahead for US and global economy

In September, employers in the US cut 263,000 jobs. The unemployment rate increased to 9.8%. Stocks and the US dollar slumped. Reality is beginning to set in that this recovery is going to be very slow in developing and erratic as it goes on. The prospects for the global economy is also bleak.

Digital Health Records in USA

The hard road ahead.

Electronic Medical Record - Singapore

MOH Budget Speech (Part 2) - Transforming Healthcare

06 Mar 2007
By Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health
Venue: Parliament

Electronic Medical Record

7. First: an important infrastructure is the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). I have coined the slogan, "One Singaporean, One EMR" to catalyse this initiative. Right now, it is one Singaporean, multiple medical records, stored away in different clinics and hospitals in different formats, and not connected or consolidated. As a result, when patients visit different doctors, they have to have tests repeated and scans redone. This adds to unnecessary cost.

8. We are moving towards this target of "One Singaporean, One EMR". Because of legacy systems, we cannot achieve it in one step. But we have made progress. As pointed out by Dr Lam Pin Min, public hospitals now have the EMR eXchange (EMRX). We achieved a first but important psychological step in 2004 when public hospitals began to electronically exchange their Hospital Inpatient Discharge Summaries. Since then, we have made the EMRX more comprehensive, by adding other patient records such as laboratory tests, radiology reports and medication information. The electronic volume of laboratory results exchanged has grown 7 times in 2 years. Thousands of patients benefit from EMRX every month.

9. Our doctors' feedback is that EMRX has made their work easier. In particular, our Emergency Department doctors have said that the EMRX gives them greater reliability and confidence in treating patients, especially those with long and complicated medical histories. Extending EMRX to private doctors will be a natural step and is the objective. As Dr Lam pointed out, a National EMRX will minimise unnecessary medical investigations. More importantly, I see EMRX playing a critical role in the integrated delivery of care to patients.

10. However, this is a complex national project - very few if any countries have successfully implemented a system that links up public, private and the charity sector. This is because there are many issues such as data protection, regulation and audit to be addressed. We need to take a measured approach, to pilot and put together a comprehensive framework that takes care of these issues. This will begin with common data standards. We will do this within the public sector, and extend this to the step-down institutions. We have started to build the linkages to the private sector GP clinics by helping them to set up their IT systems under the Chronic Disease management effort. I am confident that we will get there.

Marketing technique of property consultant

My friend visited a new property launch. The price of the property had increased by more than 30% during the past six months. At the current price, the property was very expensive.

The property consultant recommended a specific unit at a good facing and with the price still not adjusted by as much as the other units. There is only one unit left with "good value". It was so enticing, that my friend almost presented a cheque to book that unit. She did not consider the heavy commitment, the monthly repayment, affordabilty and other factors.

Fortunately, a family member stopped her from making this "on the spot" purchase. After returning home, she realised that it was really beyond her reach.