Shawn Tan - A man of 3 seasons

I would like to repeat this story of a man, full of himself, that visited Confucius to have an intellectual discourse with him. During his visit Confucius was having his meditation and could not see him immediately. So he engaged Confucius’ disciple on his theory of 3 seasons. He told the disciple confidently that there were only 3 seasons and not 4. They had a furious discussion and both could not agree obviously. To this man, there were only 3 seasons, but 4 to Confucius’ disciple.
 
When Confucius came to the room, his disciple explained to him what the commotion was about. Confucius nodded and agreed with the man to the astonishment of his disciple. How could that be when everyone knew that there were four seasons? After the man left, the unconvinced disciple confronted his master. Confucius explained that the man was like a kind of insect that lived only till autumn and would die before winter. In the insect’s lifespan it was good for only 3 reasons and would never know what winter was all about. And he was right.
 
My post on the interest rate for Medisave Minimum Sum received some ridicules from this Shawn Tan in TheRealSingapore site. Shawn Tan was confidently sure that I was talking nonsense on two points. There is a Medisave Account and no Medisave Minimum Sum Account. He was also very sure that the Medisave Account pays 4% interest rate and I got my facts wrong and posting rubbish without getting my facts right.
 
I just sent a reply to the CPF telling them that based on my statement in the CPF online record, the sum paid to me for my Medisave Minimum Sum was 1.92%. I got the numbers using a calculator. The amount of interest paid to my Retirement Account was 5.1%. Both numbers are facts, not guessing and have been sent to the CPF. Shawn Tan may choose to believe that I was talking rubbish still, with no facts or wrong facts. He is entitled to his belief.
 
In his post, he confidently said that there was only a Medisave Account and no such things as Medisave Minimum Sum Account. Let me quote from the CPF site on this.
 
‘What is Medisave Minimum Sum (MMS)?
 
The Medisave Minimum Sum (MMS) is the amount you need to retain in your Medisave Account (MA) for your healthcare needs. You may withdraw any excess Medisave savings on or after 55 subject to the applicable withdrawal rules after meeting the CPF MS requirement.
 
If you have set aside the CPF MS but are unable to meet the MMS requirement when you make a CPF withdrawal, you would need to top up your MA with all or part of the balances from your Special Account and Ordinary Account to meet the MMS prevailing at the time of withdrawal.
 
Since 1 July 2013, the MMS is $40,500.’
 
The MMS is only known to those who reached retirement age, or those who are in the know when what is left in the Medisave Account will be the MMS. For the young and not in the know, they will only know that there is a Medisave Account but no MMS. The quote from CPF site above explained clearly what MMS is. Let’s hope Shawn will understand that there is a MMS when he reaches retirement age. For the time being he can be confident that he is right, that there is no MMS.
 
A man of 3 seasons.