Update: I am revising this blog to show the accurate figures are presented in the comments.
Many people got the wrong impression that the Minister for Health paid only $8 for the heart bypass surgery. I recalled reading a news report that the $8 was the amount paid in cash. The minister paid $5,000 from his Medisave account and claimed $20,000 from this Private Shield plan. The message in blogs that he paid only $8 is not correct and needs to be corrected.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Drink Driving Disqualifications and Penalties | BusinessAndLegal.ie
Drink driving convictions result in a mandatory, consequential disqualification from driving. The Court does not have any discretion into disqualification but may in addition impose a fine and/or imprisonment and a contribution towards the costs of the Bureau which provides analysis of samples and specimens of drivers who have been bagged or otherwise tested.(This is part of the Road traffic offences series of articles on this site).
Sorry tale of local professors in Singapore
For those who are academically inclined, one common dream is to become a university professor. For many countries in the world, this is a position worth aspiring to as professorship carries prestige and comfortable income. For Singaporeans who aspire to become professors in Singapore, it is sad to say that based on the happenings in a local university over the last few years, they found it a nightmare.
In this university, many Singaporean professors have been fired when they reach the age of around 55 (much lower than the national retirement age). Many of these professors have contributed to the development of the university for more than 20 years. And to add insult to injury, many of the university management who decided to fire them are actually foreigners.
When the university recruit new professors, many of them are also foreigners and some of them are in their 60s or even late 60s. As the university is heavily subsidised with Singapore money, is it not more logical to hire Singaporeans so that the money is invested back to Singaporeans? Instead, the money is now used by foreigners for their career advancement or retirement outside Singapore.
This situation is particularly sad as Singaporeans have worked very hard to accumulate this wealth. So why let foreigners enjoy the fruits of Singaporean labour? And to add to the irony, many of the Singaporean ex-professors do not have enough savings for their retirement. They have to make a career switch at the age of 55 – is this not a nightmare? Even though this situation has been going for quite some time, it is not a lost cause. The Singapore government can reverse the situation to demonstrate that they truly place Singaporeans first.
Local professor
More money than your neighbours
Hi Mr. Tan,
Thought you might be interested to read this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7497380/Money-only-makes-you-happy-if-you-have-more-than-neighbours.html
Quote:
"Making everybody in society richer will not necessarily increase overall happiness because it is only having a higher income than other people that matters," he said.......
Dr Boyce said the study raises questions about whether the relentless pursuit of economic growth was a good thing for the nation.
But he cautioned that economic growth did provide jobs which were an important requirement for happiness not just for the income they provided but for the sense of purpose they gave people.
Unquote
HL
Hi
I agree with the view.
There is no point in pursuing economic growth relentlessly.
The Singapore approach is not good, as it results in a low birth rate, high immigration and will make Singaporeans lose our identity.
It is important to provide jobs for everybody and it can be best achieved by regulating the maximum hours of work, so that the available work can be spread to all those who are willing to work and each person will have more free time for families and hobbies.
Thought you might be interested to read this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7497380/Money-only-makes-you-happy-if-you-have-more-than-neighbours.html
Quote:
"Making everybody in society richer will not necessarily increase overall happiness because it is only having a higher income than other people that matters," he said.......
Dr Boyce said the study raises questions about whether the relentless pursuit of economic growth was a good thing for the nation.
But he cautioned that economic growth did provide jobs which were an important requirement for happiness not just for the income they provided but for the sense of purpose they gave people.
Unquote
HL
Hi
I agree with the view.
There is no point in pursuing economic growth relentlessly.
The Singapore approach is not good, as it results in a low birth rate, high immigration and will make Singaporeans lose our identity.
It is important to provide jobs for everybody and it can be best achieved by regulating the maximum hours of work, so that the available work can be spread to all those who are willing to work and each person will have more free time for families and hobbies.
How to get a higher yield
Dear Mr. Tan
I have carried out the Financial Plan in your website based on my personal situation. I now understand how the difference in yield of 2% can make a lot of difference to my retirement income. I never realized it before - did not even check the yield.
May I ask a question. How can I get a higher yield? Where can I find the right insurance policy?
REPLY
You can buy my book "Get Value from your Life Insurance". It shows the yield earned by the life insurance policies in the market. In most cases, the yield is 2% or less. This is quite unsatisfactory.
If you wish to earn a higher yield, you have to invest in an indexed fund. This is explained in my talk "Financial Planning - A Practical Guide" organised by FISCA. You can join the talk on this Saturday. You will also get a free copy of my book "Practical Guide on Financial Planning".
I have carried out the Financial Plan in your website based on my personal situation. I now understand how the difference in yield of 2% can make a lot of difference to my retirement income. I never realized it before - did not even check the yield.
May I ask a question. How can I get a higher yield? Where can I find the right insurance policy?
REPLY
You can buy my book "Get Value from your Life Insurance". It shows the yield earned by the life insurance policies in the market. In most cases, the yield is 2% or less. This is quite unsatisfactory.
If you wish to earn a higher yield, you have to invest in an indexed fund. This is explained in my talk "Financial Planning - A Practical Guide" organised by FISCA. You can join the talk on this Saturday. You will also get a free copy of my book "Practical Guide on Financial Planning".
Revolution in the Middle East
** The man who wrote the revolution rulebook **
Dr Gene Sharp is the man credited with the strategy behind the toppling of governments from Serbia to Egypt. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-middle-east-12522848
Will it spread to China and other countries?
Dr Gene Sharp is the man credited with the strategy behind the toppling of governments from Serbia to Egypt. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-middle-east-12522848
Will it spread to China and other countries?
Financial Plan - revised format
A revised format has been implemented for the Financial Plan. Here is a sample of the new format.
Click here to generate a new financial plan for your own situation.
Wine Investment - complaint about cheating
Posted in my blog
The company is ISO certified and has won business performance award from Australia. The local and expatriate executives had high turn over. It started with a nice approach and promised the investment will give a profitable return, once the wine was auctioned at China. The investors hoped that their money can grow somewhere or in good use. The promoters came into the market with a difference objective that get rich by telling one lie after another.
I hope that the Singapore Govt. will investigate into this investment scheme immediately, otherwise it will be another Lehman saga. On the blogs, I asked for assistance on which government department to report to?
REPLY
You should get a few other co-investors and lodge a report to the Police (who will refer it to the commercial affairs department. If you come to my office, I will help you to prepare the document to file the complaint of cheating. Send e-mail to kinlian@gmail.com
The company is ISO certified and has won business performance award from Australia. The local and expatriate executives had high turn over. It started with a nice approach and promised the investment will give a profitable return, once the wine was auctioned at China. The investors hoped that their money can grow somewhere or in good use. The promoters came into the market with a difference objective that get rich by telling one lie after another.
I hope that the Singapore Govt. will investigate into this investment scheme immediately, otherwise it will be another Lehman saga. On the blogs, I asked for assistance on which government department to report to?
REPLY
You should get a few other co-investors and lodge a report to the Police (who will refer it to the commercial affairs department. If you come to my office, I will help you to prepare the document to file the complaint of cheating. Send e-mail to kinlian@gmail.com
Family Life Challenge (win book prizes worth $20)
A Family Life Challenge will be created every day starting at 10 am (from 22 February). Each virtual year will take 1/2 hour and the game can be completed by 6 am of the following day. A bundle of 3 books (Sudoku, Tangram and Shape Quiz) worth $20 will be given as the prize to the top 5 winners in each game.
Each player is entitled to win the prize only once. To claim your prize, you have to take a screen shot of the final year, showing the results of your avatar and its place within the top 5 positions for the year. Include your name, address and a brief comment about the game. This is to be sent to kinlian@gmail.com. An example of the screen shot is found here. In this example, the avatar #1 (current player) has achieved the 3rd position and is entitled to a prize.
This prize will be awarded until further notice.
You can practice with the Practice (1 min) game at 8 pm and the Practice (3 min) game at 9 pm. There will be no prize for these fast games. Players can try this game to practice for the Family Life Challenge.
Tan Kin Lian
Traditional Chinese Medicine - reply to Dr. Colin Ng
Printed in St Times Online Forum
I refer to the letter from Dr. Colin Lim, entitled “SMA’s confusing suggestion (ST 17 Feb 2011).
I agree with the approach taken by the council of the Singapore Medical Association to allow the use of alternative medicine.
My family have enjoyed the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for three generations. It has been effective in overcoming some health problems that can be corrected by restoring the balance in the body. We seek western medicine only for the more serious conditions. This has helped us to reduce the cost of medical care.
Singapore does not have sufficient doctors who are trained in western medicine to take care of our large population, including the growing number of elderly people. We need all the available resources. The TCM practitioners can play a role in the areas that they are good in.
I agree with Dr. Ng on the value of getting evidence on the effectiveness of the TCM practices. While there is a lack of data of the effective of TCM, based on the approach of data collation used in western medicine, we must not overlook the fact that TCM has been used by many generations and have been found to be useful. If TCM was not useful, it would have been abandoned long ago.
Tan Kin Lian
I refer to the letter from Dr. Colin Lim, entitled “SMA’s confusing suggestion (ST 17 Feb 2011).
I agree with the approach taken by the council of the Singapore Medical Association to allow the use of alternative medicine.
My family have enjoyed the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for three generations. It has been effective in overcoming some health problems that can be corrected by restoring the balance in the body. We seek western medicine only for the more serious conditions. This has helped us to reduce the cost of medical care.
Singapore does not have sufficient doctors who are trained in western medicine to take care of our large population, including the growing number of elderly people. We need all the available resources. The TCM practitioners can play a role in the areas that they are good in.
I agree with Dr. Ng on the value of getting evidence on the effectiveness of the TCM practices. While there is a lack of data of the effective of TCM, based on the approach of data collation used in western medicine, we must not overlook the fact that TCM has been used by many generations and have been found to be useful. If TCM was not useful, it would have been abandoned long ago.
Tan Kin Lian
Use Google Map to get directions
This example shows how you can use Google Map to get direction to TKL office in Sin Ming. You can buy the books at a discount of up to 50% this week (5 pm to 6.30 pm).
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