Positive thinking

Some people have a habit of looking at the negative side and to focus on what could go wrong. This habit is developed over the years, and could be attributed to the education system. They do not acquire the skill of looking at the positive side.

Here is an example to illustrate my point. My friend, who is a skin specialist, wanted to create a website for patients to submit their case for consultation through the internet. I helped him to carry out a survey.

Several respondents to the survey pointed out why this approach would not work, as the specialist needs to see the patient to be able to give the right treatment.

They overlook to see the cases where this approach might work, e.g. where the symptoms are adequately described in the laboratory tests or medical reports. In these cases, a personal visit and examination may not be necessary.

Even if the specialists needs to see the patient before coming to a medical decision, the earlier submission of the medical reports and tests would be helpful in reducing the time that needs to be spent by the patient or the doctor at the visit. So, the website would still be useful.

If we learn to see the positive side, to see what can work (rather than what cannot work), we will have a different outcome. We need to learn to have a positive approach and see the positive side.

I wish to share a story that is almost 30 years old. A minister was chairing a meeting to develop a recreational facility for workers. The planners came and give several reasons why the site was not suitable. The minister asked them to go back and look for the reasons why the site was suitable. They planners came back with these positive reasons. The project went ahead. This story, which was told to me by a friend, showed that there is a positive and negative side to any issue. The correct approach is to see both sides and come to a balanced decision.

Tan Kin Lian

Dual currency investments

A reader asked why dual currency investments are risky. I have described this type of risky investments in several postings in my blog. You can read them here:
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/search?q=dual+currency+

There is a chapter in my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning, that explains the the risk of various tyoes of structured products, including dual currency investments, and of unregulated products, such as land banking, ponzi schemes and other scams.

Civil servant's pay

Mr Tan Kin Lian,

It came upon me an interesting article from BBC. UK government is making effort to make the salaries of senior civil servants transparent. The names of person who earns above GBP 150,000 per year were revealed.


This is what the British Prime Minster said. "Openness will not be comfortable for us in government, but it will enable the public to hold our feet to the fire. This way lies better government."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10200387.stm


From Cashew Nut


Some 171 civil servants are paid more than Prime Minister David Cameron's £142,500-a-year salary, according to Cabinet Office figures.

Risky financial products

This article explains that the approach taken in Hong Kong may not be sufficient to protect the investors.

My comment.
There is a mention of Deposit Plus which is similar to the dual currency deposits sold in Singapore. It is risky and should be avoided.

Fraud in the financial sector

Read this article about securities and market fraud in Hong Kong.

My comments
The same challenges apply to Singapore.