Rebuttal to points made at Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum

Views sent by a reader of my blog

A number of points made by PM Lee at the recent Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum can easily be rebutted. Below are rebuttals in no particular order:

PM pointed out that The Economist had recently praised S’pore’s system. However, he conveniently forgotten that the same publication has previously criticized S’pore in numerous articles. Several other reputable magazines and newspapers have also criticised S’pore’s system, but they have been routinely slapped with multi-million-dollar defamation lawsuits filed solely in S’pore where the outcomes are certain (of course!!). Therefore, is the PM practising selective reading here?

In justifying the stratopheric pay for cabinet ministers, the PM said that past US presidents usually earn millions from speaking engagements and book publications. I wish to remind the PM that these monies don’t come from taxpayers. They come from willing buyers/payors in a competitive private setting. By contrast, the monstrous ministerial salaries are totally funded by taxpayers money. Furthermore, the oft repeated claims that our ministers are highly talented and thus, highly sought after in the private sector should mean that they can also easily earn the same millions by writing books and from speaking engagements?? No? What about the highly lucrative board positions at numerous GLCs and statutory boards given to our ministers after they step down? What about their special pension that starts paying them $179,000/year from age 55 till death? What about the huge benefits both pecuniary and in-kind our minister’s family members derive from him being in office? One just needs to check out the positions held by spouses and children of our senior civil servants and ministers.

PM claims that only PAP has an “A Team”, but the people have witnessed that their performances have been far from “A” grade. PAP is becoming like the ill-fated Titantic ship whose captain has become complacent and aloft.

In defending the GRC concept, PM said that some of the current ministers would not be in office had they started off contesting in SMCs. The same argument should apply to opposition party candidates. How do the people know whether these candidates are as “lousy” as PM made them out to be if they are not eve given a chance to hold office? All opposition party candidates face a baptism of fire at election. Nowhere else in the world do we have a political party candidate cruising to officer without having to fight an election!!

The NUS forum wasn’t aired on national TV, so the public won’t know what questions the students raised and whether they disagreed with the PM. It would be very very sad for S”pore as a nation if our varsity students are just a bunch of unthinking yes-men.

TY

Bad experience with UOB Bank

I was given a UOB Bank Infinite Visa card in 2006. There was waiver of the annual fee for the initial years. In November 2009, UOB deducted $1,500 in annual fee on the card, without telling me. I did not notice the deduction in the bill and only found out one month later. I called their hotline. They volunteered to refund the $1,500 to me (before I ask about it). I wanted to cancel the card on the next renewal date, but they volunteered to renew it for another year with fee waiver.

This year, I gave written instruction that they are not to renew my card without my approval of the annual fee. UOB replied that they are not able to accede to my request. It is a condition of the credit card that it will be automatically renewed and the annual fee is $1,500. I gave instruction to cancel the card on its expiry at the end of October.

UOB Bank cancelled the card immediately, without telling me. I only knew about it when my payment of an airline ticket was rejected. This give me a bad impression of the service provided by UOB Bank.

Tan Kin Lian

Service recovery by DBS Bank

I posted a blog about the poor service provided by DBS Bank leading to the cancellation of my GIRO arrangements. My relationship manager contacted me and helped me to restore the GIRO with the billing organisations. It was quite a bit of work on his part (but would have taken much more work for me, if I have to do it on my own). I appreciate his assistance and want to post this blog about their service recovery.

I made my earlier posting not for my personal convenience, but to send a message to business organisations. Do not just think about profits. Please improve the standard of your customer service. Get your employees to spend some time to see how you can help your customers and make life convenient for them. Even if they overlook to top up their account, alert them early, so that it does not cause too much damage.

I also have a message for government agencies. Do not think only about cutting down the time spent by your staff when your cost saving result in additional work and burden for the citizen. Do not save 10 minutes of your staff time by adding 1 hour of additional time on the public.  Think about the hassle that your cumbersome process is causing the citizens. Listen to their feedback.

Do not over-focus on security, beyond what is necessary and practical. Apply common sense and sound judgement. Get the right balance, so that your process is more convenient and less cumbersome.

Tan Kin Lian

Zeitgeist movie and Tommy Wong’s book

Watch the movie “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward” and read Tommy Wong’s book “Wisdom on How to Live Life” on how to build a “better” society.

Tommy Wong’s books can be ordered here.

Funding the US Government

The US Federal Government runs the risk of being shut down, if Congress does not approve the budget within this week. Although a solution will be found, this episode shows the unsatisfactory situation faced by the US government. The government is not collecting sufficient tax to pay for its operations and to provide welfare and public services to its citizens. Some legislators want the government to cut down its spending, especially on the welfare spending and other entitlements, but this will cause hardship to many poor or elderly people.

 In the past, the US Government has funded its budget deficit by increased borrowings, i.e. issue of government bonds. But there is a limit to this type of funding. Already, the US Government is the largest debtor in the world. Many people are now wary about continuing to buy these debts.

There has been continuing debate in the Congress on how to balance the budget. Some legislators wish to see more taxes being collected, especially from the rich. Other legislators prefer to cut the government spending. There has been no solution to this dilemma. This debate has been going on for years.

My view is that the Government needs to collect sufficient tax to meet its obligations. The tax has to be collected from people with higher incomes. The idea of reducing income tax is not sustainable. 

The government should also reduce its wasteful spending, especially on entitlements. However, there is a need to provide a basic level of support for elderly people and the poor. There is also a need to pay for defense, education and basic health care. 

Tan Kin Lian 

Financial Savvy Test #16

Take a test of your financial knowledge by answering the questions below. You can find the answer from www.tankinlian.com/information.aspx - type in the keyword to search for the relevant FAQ

1. Is it good to buy CPF Life? Keyword: CPF Life
2. What is social insurance? Keyword: social insurance

New candidates

Someone sent this view to me:
New candidates from the PAP should either stand alone in SMCs or as groups (only newbies) in GRCs.  

Countries with the most debts

Someone sent me this link and asked for my views:
http://www.businessinsider.com/debt-gdp-world-rankings-2011-04#9-singapore-7

It list the 15 countries with the most debt as a percentage of GDP. Singapore is listed as #7. The worst is #1 - Japan. Debt is only one side of the picture. The other side is the assets. The Singapore Government has assets that cover the debts a few times over.

For example, a large part of the debt of $300 billion (100% of GDP) represents the Government bonds issued to the CPF for the savings of Singaporeans. But these bonds are used to build HDB flats that are sold to the owners at many times of the cost price. The assets of the government includes the amounts owing by the HDB flat owners.We also have to add the assets held by Temasek, GIC and other government agencies.

Tan Kin Lian

Georgia Child Support | GA child support | Child Joint Custody

Child support enforcement GA ensures that all families have access to the services provided by the Ga department of human services and assists in locating non-custodial parents, enforcing medical support and child support orders, collecting child support payments and establishing paternity.

The Division of Child Support services website is truly interactive and packed with useful information about GA child support-information like child access and visitation, grandparents raising grandchildren, paternity establishment, reviews of child support orders, most wanted evaders, child support guidelines and much more.

(This is part of the child support series on http://ChildJointCustody.com)

In fact you can make GA child support payments online and use the child support payment calculator to check out your liability in respect of Georgia child support. The GA child support calculators are provided by Excel spreadsheet and there is an extensive range of booklets and supplementary information to allow you to calculate how much child support you should be paying or receiving.

via childjointcustody.com