Learn the skill of picking the right stocks through this simulation game.
Go to http://www.easysearch.sg to play this game (Pro-Investor).
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
FISCA Financial Planning Talk
The next talk is on 31 July. Go to www.fisca.sg for more details and to register. I will be giving the talk and taking questions.
Outsourcing of public works
I asked a knowledgeable person about flooding in Singapore. Could it be due to the replacement of older, experienced persons by young scholars, without the experience, in the government agency? He said that this was an important factor.
Another factor is the outsourcing of the work, especially to foreign contractors. Many government agencies prefer to outsource to foreign experts, rather than use local experts. The foreign contractors did not know the local conditions and may not give the optimal solution. We are now seeing the possible consequence of this practice. Singapore had been free of flood for man years; why should we get the flooding now?
The practice of outsourcing will deplete the in-house expertise in the government agency. In a crisis, the agency does not have in-house expertise to solve the problem. They have to rely on the outsourcing contractor to solve the problem. The agency has to negotiate the price for this service, and will has no choice but to pay the high price that is demanded by the contractor.
I searched Google for articles about outsourcing. Here is an interesting article about the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing. It seemed that the benefits are short term, and the pitfalls are long term.
Tan Kin Lian
Another factor is the outsourcing of the work, especially to foreign contractors. Many government agencies prefer to outsource to foreign experts, rather than use local experts. The foreign contractors did not know the local conditions and may not give the optimal solution. We are now seeing the possible consequence of this practice. Singapore had been free of flood for man years; why should we get the flooding now?
The practice of outsourcing will deplete the in-house expertise in the government agency. In a crisis, the agency does not have in-house expertise to solve the problem. They have to rely on the outsourcing contractor to solve the problem. The agency has to negotiate the price for this service, and will has no choice but to pay the high price that is demanded by the contractor.
I searched Google for articles about outsourcing. Here is an interesting article about the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing. It seemed that the benefits are short term, and the pitfalls are long term.
Tan Kin Lian
String of bad luck
There is an article in Today from Conrad Raj about the poor responses to the Singapore Pavilion at Shanghai Expo. The pavilion received 1 million visitors so far, compared to 3 million visitors to the Indonesian pavilion, which was built with a smaller budget.
There is an article in the Straits Times that the organisers have a Plan B to cope with disruption during the Youth Olympic Games in the event of flood.
Singapore seems to be having a string of bad luck and bad planning. Perhaps this has some connection with the practice of replacing old, experienced people by young, inexperienced scholars.
There is an article in the Straits Times that the organisers have a Plan B to cope with disruption during the Youth Olympic Games in the event of flood.
Singapore seems to be having a string of bad luck and bad planning. Perhaps this has some connection with the practice of replacing old, experienced people by young, inexperienced scholars.
Jobs for older PMETs
The Government had been trying for a long time to create the environment for older PMETs (i.e. professionals, managers, executives and technical people) to get jobs. But the results have been small. What are the measures that went wrong? What can be done to improve the situation? Share your views in this survey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)