Medishield Life – CPF owes you or you owe CPF money?

I quote here a couple of paragraphs from Leslie Chew’s article titled, ‘With friends like these, you don’t need enemies’ posted in TRE. In his concise post he explained why and how our savings in the CPF would turn from a credit to a liability with the introduction of Medishield Life. For now many people with money in the CPF are smiling thinking that the CPF owes them money. Once they retired and started to pay and pay for the Medishild Life till they reach 80, 90 or older, without an income, they will deplete whatever savings left in the CPF, including all the minimum sums, to service this insurance scheme that many don’t need and did not want’

Here’s the quote,

‘And now, he set(s) up a new company and force(s) your whole family to buy his insurance. The premiums will be deducted from the money he owes you. Opting out is not an option, as he will just deduct whether you like it or not. Furthermore, he alone will get to decide on how much the premiums are and you have no say.

Eventually, the premiums are going to wipe out whatever amount he owes you. That is when things get interesting. Now instead of him owing you money, you owe him. And with that, you have to pay him cash for the premiums he demands. If you fail to pay, he will file an injunction to prevent you from leaving the country, even if it is just for a short trip to relax in nearby JB, till you somehow manage to cough up money to pay him. On top of that, he will demand that you pay as high as 17% interests on whatever he says you owe him. If you keep refusing to make payment into his scam, he will have you thrown in jail.’

 

The ingenious Medishield Life Insurance scheme, a compulsory scheme designed and decided unilaterally and arbirarily by the Govt, will change the status of creditors to debtors and vice versa. This is what you paid millions of dollars for, for brilliant people and their brilliant schemes? It is simply too brilliant, or is it that the people are just too daft to say no?

There are several aspects of this Medishield Life that are simply vicious and unjust. Many people are losing their jobs in their 40s and 50s despite the raising of retirement age. How are these people going to service the premiums for the next 30 or 40 years or more? Many retiring in their 60s would also have problems doing so?

And there are Singaporeans overseas paying high taxes and insurance in foreign countries but must contribute to this Medishield Life when they are not using it? How can this be? The govt does not see anything wrong about it. Yes, to them forcing Singaporeans overseas to pay this tax is their right? Yes, it is no longer a CPF savings but a life time tax for all Singaporeans, to be paid from birth to death, regardless of age. The Govt has converted a CPF savings scheme into a life time taxation. The hideous part, other than those living and working abroad are compelled to pay, the babies and the oldies, retirees in their 70s, 80s, 90s, 100 year olds, must pay.

The Govt does not think there is anything wrong with this philosophy and policy. How could they see anything wrong to collect money from the people, from the young and old who have no income, and the Singaporeans working and staying overseas?

Can the people see anything wrong with these? Would they be infuriated to want to do something, to want change?

What do you think? Can you still smile at your CPF statements?

GE2015 – The million dollar question

The high ministerial pay will definitely be a hot issue in the GE. While some may still harbor the thought of higher pay for the ministers, since they have not have any increase for many years and in fact suffered a decrease, while in the corporate world the honchos are getting more millions, how can the situation be acceptable? It would be sad if the ministers resign all at the same time in protest that the lifestyle of their families have been affected by the stagnant millions they are getting. Then Singapore will become a headless chicken, with no able leaders to run the country. It is indeed a frightening thought.

Should the ministers be given a pay rise after the election? Maybe it is too early to ask such a question. Maybe the question should be, have any of the ministers done something to show that they deserve to be paid millions over the last term in office? What have they done, or anyone of them has done to justify being paid millions?

For offices like the PM, Defence and Home Affairs, Finance, these are big jobs and it is very difficult to dispute why they should not be paid in the millions. The counter argument is that Obama has a bigger job than anyone in the whole world.

What about the smaller jobs like Environment, Social and Families, the Trade Union Chief, Manpower or even Education, what have they done to justify the million dollars? I am sorry, I am ignorant and still scratching my head and still asking, what have they done to justify being paid in the millions?

Can anyone fill me in on the remarkable million dollar decisions being made and worthy of the million dollar salary? Sending children for leadership training, creating a Singaporean core, changing insulators in train system to improve public transport, training out of jobs PMEs to work overseas, cleaning roofs of hawker centres, making housing affordable for Singaporeans, bringing down medical cost, having the old folks to do well, helping the Singaporeans to be rich by protecting them from squandering away their CPF savings,….? Oh, helping other countries children to get a university education, providing millions of jobs for foreigners, building more universities for foreigners to get employed?

These must be it, million dollar decisions, to create a Singaporean identity and build a hotel, oops, a nation of 10m people, or was it 6.9m?

Rip Van Winkle awakes

Winkle has just woke up from his long slumber and he told me of his astonishment at the changes he saw in the island. When he took the train he said he was surrounded by foreigners all over. He tried very hard to find a familiar Singaporean face but could hardly see one. He said he felt strange and uncomfortable. Where are the Singaporeans?

He went shopping  and found out that all the sales staff serving him were foreigners. The only consideration was that they were very helpful and friendly. He still asked to be served by a Singaporean by the sales staff could not find one and did not know where have they been to.

He went for his favourite bak kut teh and char kway teow and could not help to notice that the hawkers were all foreigners. Where are the Singaporeans?

Then he went to see his banker to check on his deposits. The bank manager was also a foreigner, the counter staff also foreigners. Where have all the Singaporeans gone? He tried to contact his old kakis but could not find them as well.

After thinking over it for a while then he started to smile. The Singaporeans are so lucky. No need to work, no need to study, all on holiday. And all must be very rich, no need to take public transport. What a great life for Singaporeans. Now the foreigners are here to do all the work, even struggling to get a degree in the university while Singaporeans party and enjoying themselves.

He saw the big advertisement about the big party called SG50.  That must be a party to attend where all the Singaporeans would be there having a ball. Life is so good for the Singaporeans.

GE2015 is a very critical GE for Singaporeans

Singaporeans must take a step back and think very seriously about this GE. It is a life or death situation for Singaporeans. This is the time to determine the future you want for yourself and your children. It is no joking matter and not something that can be left to fate or to fools. If Singaporeans think that we have a good govt in charge and the direction the govt is taking the people forward is the right path, vote for the govt.

If there is doubt, if you are not happy with what you are seeing, not happy with the direction you are moving, it is time to reclaim your country. You cannot afford to wait anymore. Going forward can be the end of the good life for many Singaporeans.

Can we continue to pay the ministers and the elite in the millions? Where do you think the money is coming from? Who can afford to pay hundreds of millions or more to upkeep a bunch of elite with pay that is out of this world and keep mounting up, in numbers and in pay?

Can we afford to keep adding foreigners at such a rate to this little piece of rock? Are you happy with 5.5m, 6.9m or 10m people in this island? What do you want? You must decide, this is your country. This country belongs to every ordinary Singaporean, not to foreigners, not to any one person, not to the nobles and aristocrats. You want this country to be given away without a fight?

Do you want to pay outrageous money for a small little flat for 99 years as your prize possession in life? Do you want to pay half a million or more for something that would revert to zero value?

Do you want to be a minority in your own country? Do you want to have a say about the future of your country, to shape your country or to allow a few individuals to do as they pleased?

Do you want to save for a life time only for your savings to be locked up or to be forced to pay for insurance that you cannot say no to?

Do you want the country’s reserves or surpluses to make your life better or to make the life better for foreigners?

Singaporeans must stand up and make this election counts. You have no room or time for error. You cannot afford to sleep and think that your future is in good hands. But if you do, God bless.

For those who did not like what they are seeing, it is action time. Do something, talk to everyone of your fears and what should be done for the sake of your future and your children’s future. You cannot afford not to do anything if you want a change for the better, to take charge of your life and your country.

You know best what is good for you. Do not let anyone con you into complacency. It is now or never. Not doing anything is not an option. Make your vote counts.

SMRT disruption – Commuters are so lucky

After the biggest train disruption in the history of SMRT, the original suspicion on the root cause of the problem was an ageing train system. And there were recommendations that it was time to replace the train system with a new system and have a fresh new start. A brand new system would likely to be free from breakdowns for the first 20 years. The present system is starting to breakdown after 30 years.

Thankfully  or not thankfully, the team of experts have found the root cause of the disruption. I quote from Business Times, 

‘LTA, SMRT and five overseas experts carried out comprehensive system-wide checks across more than 200 km of train track and components such as the third rail, power cables and the signalling system to identify the root cause of the disruption. They also checked all 141 trains and analysed train logs from the day of the incident.

Their conclusion: a confluence of factors triggered the incident.

In the tunnel between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place, water was found dripping onto the third-rail cover near an insulator. Tests on a sample on the cover and on water collected from the tunnel leak found mineral deposits with a high chloride content. The presence of chloride on the insulator, coupled with a wet environment, would have significantly reduced the effectiveness of the insulator.’

Let me put it simply, rain water dripped on the third rail cover near an insulator, or was it over an insulator, and the water contained high level of chloride that caused a power leakage, reducing the effectiveness of the insulator.  And the solution,

‘To minimise the possibility of a similar recurrence, it has started replacing third-rail insulators, starting with those showing signs of electrical resistance weakness. The remaining insulators will be changed under a planned renewal of the third-rail system, to be completed by the first quarter of 2017.’

I confess that I am not an engineer and find it difficult to rationalise the solution to the cause of the problem. There was water seepage, which means either the cover was not covering properly or there was a hole somewhere for water to seep through. If this was an isolated incident, not all the covers were affected, and there was no other seepage of water elsewhere, would it be sufficient to just replace the cover or ensure that the cover is covering the insulator properly to prevent a seepage, or to make sure rain water did not leak into the insulator. Also, how come rain water contained so much chloride or salt equivalent? Normal, natural?

What I don’t understand is that why were there so much salt in the rain water just after a rain? Could it be someone or animal urinated on it? How many pieces were affected? Why not replace the cover at fault? Why the need to change all the insulators if it was the cover that was giving problem? Wasn’t the root cause due to water that contained too much chloride, and if no chloride, even the water would not affect the insulators? Why was it necessary to change all the insulators if the insulators were functioning well without chloride? I heard some comments about weak resistance of the insulators. Are these insulators meant for heavy duty works? A little water or chloride can cause severe system breakdowns?

What is the problem, cover not covering properly, water or chloride and where did the chloride came from? Or was it the insulator that was giving problem? Would it be effective if the source of water is removed or the source of chloride is removed or prevented from contacting the insulators?

Why the need to change all the insulators? I am just asking layman questions. When a switch in the house does not work, you don’t have to change all the switches. If someone spilled water on the switch, you don’t have to change all the switches. I think like a layman and using a layman’s logic. If I want to use power logic or the logic of having a lot of OPM, I can change all the trains too because of some water found with high content of chloride that seeped through a bad cover.