Tan Kah Kee Station

How can we called an MRT station Tan Kah Kee Station? Who is Tan Kah Kee to deserve such an honour? Never heard of him or his contribution. A better name for that station should be Queen Elizabeth Station. This will remind everyone of the royal neighbourhood of Duchesses and Kings and royalties. It will also remind Singaporeans of the great contributions of our colonial rulers. These are the legacies of the neighbourhood according to Leslie Raj. Actually I don't care a damn about the royalties. To the many ignoramus, the piece of land which Hwa Chong sits was donated by the philantrophist Tan Kah Kee. That piece of land is as large and as far as the eyes can see. For those who only know the value of money, please count how many condominiums can be built on that piece of land, real prime estate. Tan Kah Kee's contribution was more than that, if one bothers to read the history of Chinese High School and Hwa Chong. Their existence came about by the spirit of the community to break the stranglehood of secondary education for our children when the British govt refused to educate them but only at primary school level to be clerks and office boys. The community stood up, led be Tan Kah Kee, to build the first secondary school for the Chinese community in this island. And Tan Kah Kee donated his treasured piece of land on which the school stood today. That is the legacy of Tan Kah Kee and Hwa Chong. And his contribution is not just in and around Hwa Chong. Tan Kah Kee is most deserving to be honoured by having the station named after him.

HDB lease buybacks is on

The first batch of HDB owners have opted for the HDB lease buyback scheme yesterday. The scheme will ensure that they will have a roof over their heads and an annuity payout for the rest of their life. By this scheme, these people would have some form of income in their old age, a replica of what CPF annuity scheme and minimum sum scheme were trying to do. So, does it mean that now these people do not need to buy annuity scheme or have their CPF locked up in the minimum sum scheme? To continue to retain their money in the CPF will not be accepted as good faith. People will now see the retention of CPF minimum sum in a different and negative light. The money must be returned to these folks as they have made provisions for their retirement and old age. To claim that the amount from the lease buyback scheme is insufficient and the need to continue to hold back to the minimum sum is anything but atrocious. No amount is enough if the reasoning shall go this way.

A proactive and caring govt - A big thank you

In the 60s and 70s, most of the population were living in wooden huts, squatters and cubicles in the city. Then came the govt to the rescue. They built cheap and affordable HDB flats at less than $10k in Queenstown for the people. When the people get richer in the 70s/80s, the govt started to build better and bigger flats, 5rm, executive and HUDC flats for the people. Then came 90s, people getting more prosperous. And the govt was pleased. They started to build condominiums for the people. All still quite affordable. Now comes 2000s, what happens, flats are now too expensive. People cannot afford to buy bigger flats. So comes the proactive and caring govt. It starts to build smaller flats, 2/3 rms and even 1 rm rental flats. The people are so lucky. They can always downgrade. Always a roof of their choice to befit their pocket. Very affordable.

Medisave - the magic cure

It is reported in the ST today that chronic disease patients managed their health better when allowed to tap on Medisave. In a study by the MOH, 'Diabetics, for one, experienced improved diabetic, lipid and blood pressure control over the two years... 46% had optimal control by the end of last year. And nearly 4 in 5 diabetics with initial poor control, had made improvements by the second year....As for hypertensive patients, up to 85% of those with poor blood pressure control made improvements by the end of last year.' These fantastic findings were due to they 'being allowed to tap on their Medisave for outpatient treatment.' Wow, Medisave must be a wonder drug. The MOH must allow more patients to dip into Medisave to improve their health. I was involved in a free health screening in one of the constituencies in the North. We were surprised that despite being free, and so many volunteer doctors, very few people came forward. So some of our volunteers went to one of the aged homes nearby to encourage the inmates to come forward. They were scolded by the oldies. Their reason, screening was free. But what about the followup and medicine that were prescribed after the free screening? They could not afford to pay for them. So they rather stayed put and gave the free screening a pass. The moral of the story is have money have good health. No money, poor health.

The greatest con game

This game is invented by the fund managers. They gamble with OPM, other people's money, and call it investing. When they placed a winning bet they pat themselves on their back and proclaimed how clever they were. When they lost, they still charged the investors a management fee. They cannot lose. Just like the doctors and lawyers, whether one is cured or otherwise, wins or loses a case, they are paid handsomely. But fund managers outdo the other professions by the way they measure their performance. They have a shifting or relative target, mark to market. If the market makes $1m and they make $1.2m, they are better than the market. If the market loses $1b and they lose $900m, they outperformed the market. In both instances the investors must thank them for being smarter than the market, and even reward them. The other trick which they invented is selective data. Choose a time frame or a specific area that makes money, just talk about it and ignore the rest that register losses. Or do some window dressing on a particular day of the month for book closing. Push up the prices before market closes to look profitable or lose lesser. I want to be a fund manager.