From UK Daily Mail
2 January 2010
Robert Burns has a blunt message for cheats who set up companies to con the public. 'There is an organisation that can take action against you and put you out of business,' he warns. That organisation is the Companies Investigation Branch. You may not have heard of it - much of its work is confidential - but it may have quietly taken action to stop you falling victim to sharp practice.
Some traditional types of malpractice recur. One involves 'land banking', where plots of land are purchased and sold to investors on the basis that planning permission will be granted.
'We find time and time again that the prospects of planning permission are south of zero,' says Burns.
'In one case, the land had everything wrong with it from a development point of view. It was green belt, a heritage site and was on a flood plain. There was just about every conceivable obstacle.'
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The benefits of social insurance
Social insurance is operated differently from private insurance. Social insurance is operated by the state, and is usually compulsory. It is funded partly by contributions from the insured members with the deficit covered by tax revenue.
Examples of social insurance are the unemployment insurance and old age pensions operated by many developed countries. In America, this is called social security. It is popular in America, which is the capital of capitalism and free market. Many countries also have health care insurance operated as a social insurance, e.g. UK, Canada and most countries of Europe.
Under a social health care insurance, there is no need to worry about pre-existing or congential conditions as they are covered. There is the risk of over-consumption of health care services which are paid by insurance, but this can be controlled to a large extent. There is also the need to control the charges made by doctors and hospitals. When the control is exercised by the state, backed by the law, it produced better results than control by private individuals exercising market choice, as can be seen by the high cost incurred by private health care insurance in America.
Singapore has stayed away from social insurance on the fear that they can be abused. This fear is exaggerated, and reflects the mindset of Singaporeans, including our leaders, in avoiding taking personal judgement and responsibility. We have to change this mindset and find new solutions to problems that have been ignored a long time. Private insurance is not suitable to handle problems such as unemployment relief and affordable health care.
Tan Kin Lian
Examples of social insurance are the unemployment insurance and old age pensions operated by many developed countries. In America, this is called social security. It is popular in America, which is the capital of capitalism and free market. Many countries also have health care insurance operated as a social insurance, e.g. UK, Canada and most countries of Europe.
Under a social health care insurance, there is no need to worry about pre-existing or congential conditions as they are covered. There is the risk of over-consumption of health care services which are paid by insurance, but this can be controlled to a large extent. There is also the need to control the charges made by doctors and hospitals. When the control is exercised by the state, backed by the law, it produced better results than control by private individuals exercising market choice, as can be seen by the high cost incurred by private health care insurance in America.
Singapore has stayed away from social insurance on the fear that they can be abused. This fear is exaggerated, and reflects the mindset of Singaporeans, including our leaders, in avoiding taking personal judgement and responsibility. We have to change this mindset and find new solutions to problems that have been ignored a long time. Private insurance is not suitable to handle problems such as unemployment relief and affordable health care.
Tan Kin Lian
Responsible communication
Here are two rulings by the Supreme Court in Canada that recognize the importance of responsible communication made in the public interest.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Risk and how to manage them
Many people think of risk as "something can go wrong". Actually, risk is defined as variation from the expected.
Everyone has to die one day, so this is expected and is not a risk. The risk is that one may die at a young age, and have dependents that cannot support themselves.
As we grow older, we expect to be sick more often and to incur higher medical bills. This is not a risk, as it is expected. The risk is that the medical bills may be too high and beyond our means.
This risk can be managed by making better decisions. The medical specialists have a vested interest to get the patient to spend a lot of money on treatment, even if the chance of recovery is slim. There could be better ways of dealing with the illness that is not so costly.
Buying expensive medical insurance is not really a good way to deal with this risk, as the insured may be misled into taking expensive treatment that is not effective, and may have to bear a significant portion of the bill through the co-payments.
Many health care risks can be managed through having adequate savings, and making an informed decision on how to choose the right doctors and treatment. For most people, it is better to go to subsidized wards, as the risk of given expensive, unnecessary treatment, is minimised. The high cost can be covered by basic Medishield. This will allow us to avoid the situation in America where health care takes up 16% of the GDP.
Tan Kin Lian
Everyone has to die one day, so this is expected and is not a risk. The risk is that one may die at a young age, and have dependents that cannot support themselves.
As we grow older, we expect to be sick more often and to incur higher medical bills. This is not a risk, as it is expected. The risk is that the medical bills may be too high and beyond our means.
This risk can be managed by making better decisions. The medical specialists have a vested interest to get the patient to spend a lot of money on treatment, even if the chance of recovery is slim. There could be better ways of dealing with the illness that is not so costly.
Buying expensive medical insurance is not really a good way to deal with this risk, as the insured may be misled into taking expensive treatment that is not effective, and may have to bear a significant portion of the bill through the co-payments.
Many health care risks can be managed through having adequate savings, and making an informed decision on how to choose the right doctors and treatment. For most people, it is better to go to subsidized wards, as the risk of given expensive, unnecessary treatment, is minimised. The high cost can be covered by basic Medishield. This will allow us to avoid the situation in America where health care takes up 16% of the GDP.
Tan Kin Lian
A more caring community
We live in a community. Are we prepared to stand by and watch the weaker members of our society, including their children, go hungry or had a hard life? Or, do we want to help them, so that they also can have the hope of a better future?
Most people are generous and kind in nature, and will want to play a part to help the poor and the weak. This is where charity comes in, but there is also a selfish reason - if others have a decent life, there is no need to resort to theft or crime, and there is no need to have many criminals put into jail (which is also costly).
Mostly, people are poor as they do not get adequate wage and the cost of living is high. They will get into financial difficulty, if someone in the family falls sick and has to incur expensive medical bills. They may lose their savings through bad investments, or have been cheated by investment scams.
Some people are poor due to gambling, drinking and other vices - but they do not represent the majority of the poor. We can leave aside this problem for a separate discussion.
In a competitive world, we all have to work and compete hard to make sure that our business succeed. However, we have to balance competition with compassion. We should not push competition to the extreme, to the extent that other people (who may not be so smart as us) gets employed and helpless.
The European societies have a more proper balance in their lives. They pay adequate wages, have a shorter working hours and more holidays. They may be less competitive globally but they give a better quality of life to their people. They pay higher taxes, so that the ordinary people have better health care and old age pension. They may not be very rich, but they have better distribution of income and are a more caring community.
Recently, the Economist magazine carried out an online debate. 80% of the voters (probably from around the world) voted in favor of the European system of having more holidays. Many people feel that the competitive world force them to work too hard.
I prefer the European system (especially Scandinavia) of higher taxes, more social benefits, less working hours and a more caring community.
Tan Kin Lian
Most people are generous and kind in nature, and will want to play a part to help the poor and the weak. This is where charity comes in, but there is also a selfish reason - if others have a decent life, there is no need to resort to theft or crime, and there is no need to have many criminals put into jail (which is also costly).
Mostly, people are poor as they do not get adequate wage and the cost of living is high. They will get into financial difficulty, if someone in the family falls sick and has to incur expensive medical bills. They may lose their savings through bad investments, or have been cheated by investment scams.
Some people are poor due to gambling, drinking and other vices - but they do not represent the majority of the poor. We can leave aside this problem for a separate discussion.
In a competitive world, we all have to work and compete hard to make sure that our business succeed. However, we have to balance competition with compassion. We should not push competition to the extreme, to the extent that other people (who may not be so smart as us) gets employed and helpless.
The European societies have a more proper balance in their lives. They pay adequate wages, have a shorter working hours and more holidays. They may be less competitive globally but they give a better quality of life to their people. They pay higher taxes, so that the ordinary people have better health care and old age pension. They may not be very rich, but they have better distribution of income and are a more caring community.
Recently, the Economist magazine carried out an online debate. 80% of the voters (probably from around the world) voted in favor of the European system of having more holidays. Many people feel that the competitive world force them to work too hard.
I prefer the European system (especially Scandinavia) of higher taxes, more social benefits, less working hours and a more caring community.
Tan Kin Lian
Singaporeans are able to see beyond racial lines
Dear MR TAN KIN LIAN
I like to share with you a hearty observation about Singapore Idol competition results. This competition showed that Singaporeans are able to see beyond racial lines, when choosing their singing idol.
In the Singapore Idol competition, we saw Malay topped the competition consecutively from Season 1 in year 2006 to Season 3 in Y2009. This is a 100% winning streak for Malay singers, who won by on-line polling. This is despite the fact that Malays are minority in Singapore. This shows that Singaporeans have grown beyond racial line. Nobody entered the competition with preferential treatment. No single race is protected by any preferential arrangement”. Yet, our Malay fellow brothers won in three clean sweeps.
This showed that Singaporeans will vote for you if you are good and continue to improve.
I think this is another example Singapore Government should seriously consider setting a timeline to eliminate GRC for general election. In the future, it may be even difficult to define who is an Indians, for example. I see many inter-racial marriages in Singapore today.
** Record of winners for Singapore Idols **
Singapore Idol 1 (Y2004) Taufik Batisah beat Sylvester Sim.
Singapore Idol 2 (Y2006) Hady Mirza beat Jonathan Leong
Singapore Idol 3 (Y2009) Sezairi Sezali beat Sylvia Ratonel
CASHEW NUT
I like to share with you a hearty observation about Singapore Idol competition results. This competition showed that Singaporeans are able to see beyond racial lines, when choosing their singing idol.
In the Singapore Idol competition, we saw Malay topped the competition consecutively from Season 1 in year 2006 to Season 3 in Y2009. This is a 100% winning streak for Malay singers, who won by on-line polling. This is despite the fact that Malays are minority in Singapore. This shows that Singaporeans have grown beyond racial line. Nobody entered the competition with preferential treatment. No single race is protected by any preferential arrangement”. Yet, our Malay fellow brothers won in three clean sweeps.
This showed that Singaporeans will vote for you if you are good and continue to improve.
I think this is another example Singapore Government should seriously consider setting a timeline to eliminate GRC for general election. In the future, it may be even difficult to define who is an Indians, for example. I see many inter-racial marriages in Singapore today.
** Record of winners for Singapore Idols **
Singapore Idol 1 (Y2004) Taufik Batisah beat Sylvester Sim.
Singapore Idol 2 (Y2006) Hady Mirza beat Jonathan Leong
Singapore Idol 3 (Y2009) Sezairi Sezali beat Sylvia Ratonel
CASHEW NUT
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