Tag: Singaporean

Well-Educated, Well-Paid, But Mired In Debt

A TERTIARY education, average or even above-average income but crushing credit card or other unsecured debt of at least two years’ worth of annual pay.

That is the typical profile of an estimated 32,000 people in Singapore who are affected by new rules on unsecured debt – that is, debt with no collateral.

The rules will be phased in over the next four years rather than implemented all at once, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on Monday.

But from June 1 this year, these most heavily indebted of borrowers will be prevented from adding to their loan burden.

Data compiled by financial institutions and the Credit Bureau Singapore show that as of February, 32,000 borrowers had total interest-charging unsecured debts above 24 times their monthly incomes.

Most of these heavily indebted borrowers have tertiary education qualifications – a diploma or higher – with incomes above or around the median income.

Credit Counselling Singapore president Kuo How Nam said that last year, he saw a high-earning borrower with an unsecured debt of $1.8 million.

“We successfully restructured a repayment plan for him and things are all right now.”

The 32,000 make up 2 per cent of the total number of unsecured-credit borrowers, but their borrowings pose no risk to the stability of the banking industry.

Including these borrowers, those with total interest-charging unsecured debts of more than 12 times their monthly income made up about 84,000, or 5 per cent, of unsecured borrowers.

These figures are up from those released in October last year, when Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said about 3 per cent of unsecured borrowers have debts exceeding their annual incomes.

Since the new MAS rules were announced in September 2013, financial institutions and credit bureaus have been enhancing their systems to capture more comprehensive and updated data – and 5 per cent is the updated figure.

The revised, graduated timeframe for the new rules will also mean that from June 1, 2017, those with total unsecured debts of more than 18 times their monthly income will be affected.

And from June 1, 2019, those with total unsecured debts of more than 12 times will see the rule kick in.

Once the borrowing limits start, an affected borrower will not be able to charge new purchases to his credit cards or apply for new cards, for instance.

Loans for medical, education or business purposes do not count towards the borrowing limit.

Mr Kuo said besides overspending on lifestyle wants, another major reason for falling in debt is job-related.

“For example, a spouse could have lost a job. Another 20 per cent to 30 per cent make stupid investments, lend money to friends or pump funds into failing businesses.”

He added that another 20 per cent to 25 per cent cite gambling as a reason, and that people fall into debt because of multiple reasons, not just one.

BACKGROUND STORY

Data compiled by financial institutions and the Credit Bureau Singapore show that as of February, 32,000 borrowers had total interest-charging unsecured debts above 24 times their monthly income.

Most of these heavily indebted borrowers have tertiary education qualifications – a diploma or higher – with incomes above or around the median income.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

April 8, 2015
Filipino Ed Munsell Bello Ello Charged For Publishing Two Seditious Comments

The nurse who allegedly made anti-Singaporean comments on Facebook was charged on Tuesday with sedition and giving false information to the police.

Filipino Ed Mundsel Bello Ello, who was sacked by Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), faces two charges of publishing a seditious comment on his Facebook account and three of lying to the police.

The 28-year-old allegedly said Singaporeans are “loosers” (sic) and vowed to “evict” them from their country and prayed that “disators” (disasters) strike Singapore and then he would celebrate.

He ended by saying that “Pinoy better and stronger than Stinkaporeans” in his Jan 2 post.

He also allegedly commented in another post that evening that he would “kick out all Singaporeans and SG will be the new filipno state”.

The charges, under the Sedition Act, say the publications have the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Singaporeans and Filipinos in Singapore.

Ello is accused of lying to the police at Chong Pang Neighbourhood Police Post the next day that he did not post the comments on Facebook.

On Jan 4, he is said to have lied to a senior officer at at Ang Mo Kio Police Division headquarters that he did not post those comments and that his Facebook account had been hacked.

The last charge accuses him of giving false information to the same officer on Jan 5.

Ello, who was not represented, told the court he would be engaging a lawyer.

Bail of $10,000 was offered and his passport has been impounded.

A pre-trial conference has been set for April 21.

If convicted, he could be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to three years on each charge of sedition.

For lying to the police, he could be jailed for up to one year and/or fined up to $5,000 on each charge.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

April 7, 2015
Fiona Bartholomeusz: 15 Lessons From 15 Years Of Running An Agency In Singapore

Fiona Bartholomeusz has just celebrated her 15th year since founding Singapore independent creative agency Formul8, which also has an office in Dubai.In this guest post, Bartholomeusz offers 15 lessons from her 15 years running an agency in Singapore, from getting over rejection and the lack of loyalty in advertising, to dealing with sexism and cost-conscious clients.

#15. It’s a business first. It doesn’t matter how creative you are or how you’re going to revolutionise the ad world if you can’t run a proper business first. I get a kick out of reading about the next person who wants to create the next award-winning/multinational/experiential/mega network in Asia when they can’t even get it right in their own backyard first.
There’s no harm in dreaming big, but walk the talk first.

#14. There is no loyalty in this business. Get used to it and get over it. Clients and staff rarely remember what you’ve done for them, but for the rare ones who do, keep them close and well fed!

#13. This is a rejection-based business. Losing is tough but there will always be another client to be won, but do learn and grow stronger from it. I try never to enter a pitch half-arsed, so if we lose one, I tell my team, it’s the client’s loss not ours. If you don’t believe in your own product, then half the battle is already lost before you’ve even begun.

#12. Learn how to drink well, this applies to any gender in the business. Alcohol and client entertainment mixed with the inability to hold down your liquor is sheer disaster!

#11. It’s not always about work. I’ve made amazing friends out of some clients, and these are things you can’t put a price on.

#10. If you care more about money than the work, go do something else. You will pull in more hours and make less than what your peers in banking/law/medicine get paid so you’ll need to have an innate love for what advertising is. People who work solely to chase money or an acquisition, have lost the plot in my opinion.

#9. Hire people with integrity, not just those with talent. People with heart and a good head on their shoulders can be taught to be great at what they do. Talent often comes with a colossal ego that obstructs the ability to see or think straight. Seen too many in this business alas.

#8. Never start your job application letter with “I have an MBA from…..” – it doesn’t matter how schooled you are, that’s not a guarantee of success in this business. Street smarts, yes. School of life, hell yeah.

#7. Just because you’re Singaporean doesn’t mean I owe you a job. You’ll have to earn it. As a Singaporean myself, I’m appalled with the sense of self-entitlement I see coming from many of the Gen Ys. I do worry about the future here if people really don’t buck up and learn to be hungry and ambitious because the rest of Asia is catching up with us. It’s really not the time to be complacent.

#6. The industry is small. So don’t lie about what you have done, whose work it was, why you left the agency and don’t list someone as a referee if they are not going to give you a good referral. Duh…

#5. Sexism exists. Use it to your advantage. Some clients just prefer not to deal with a woman or only want to deal with a female specifically. I don’t care as long as we get the work and clients remain professional and above board. The ones who are initially tougher on females end up being far more respectful once they realise you know your stuff and can’t be browbeaten. Trust me, I’ve worked in the UAE for seven years. There’s enough tales to fill a book I tell you…

#4. Winning business because you’re the cheapest agency is a death knell for the agency and industry. “Free ET and proofing/three months waiver of retainer/free creative director on the account/free creative concepts” – I’ve heard it all. It’s myopic and you’re just propagating the notion that our work doesn’t have value in the communications food chain. Why aspire to be a sweatshop, there’ll always be a cheaper agency anyway.

#3. Get out of Singapore, being comfortable isn’t good. Fly the flag high as Singapore Inc. has value overseas. Now with so many tax incentives, why not? At the worst, it can be an offshoot base for the talent you can’t seem to hire here.

#2. Be shameless about wanting the business. Clients love the passion, energy and excitement an agency has because it’s infectious. What’s the worst that could happen? You lose the pitch because you’re just too damn happy to work on the account? Yup, that’s not going to happen anytime soon…

#1. It should always be fun. Work with people you like as you’ll be spending more time with them than your partners/family. S**t hits the fan all the time, it’s stressful, staffing issues will always drive you nuts, the hours do not make any sense whatsoever but if you wake up wishing it was a Saturday, then do something that fuels you again. Life is too short to be spent doing something you dread. I’m lucky to work with an amazing bunch of colleagues and clients and they’re the reason why I still love what I do after all these years. That and a healthy dose of masochism…

Source: www.mumbrella.asia

April 7, 2015
Sanjay Perera: Lee Kuan Yew’s Legacy In Our Collective Trust

“Where does Singapore go from here?” (April 4) is an excellent piece that calls on Singaporeans to reflect on the precious legacy handed down to us from the first-generation leaders and people.

The sense of loss from Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s passing is not only national but, for some of us, personal. A close friend’s sibling, when paying her last respects at Mr Lee’s bier, asked permission to stand there a little longer to say a prayer. She stood there for 10 minutes.

She informed her brother that Mr Lee’s death reminded her of their father’s demise. It connected her to the memory of what their parents told them about coming to Singapore as immigrants to start a new life.

This is understandable. I recalled the loss of my own father, a pioneer in local broadcasting who worked closely with Mr Lee and the first-generation leaders, during Mr Lee’s funeral.

My father’s working experience was intertwined with the country’s struggle for success and the political compact that had to be forged with the populace.

He was the television floor manager when Mr Lee cried over Singapore’s separation from Malaysia. Despite the tears and Mr Lee’s request to stop for a while, the cameras kept rolling. That iconic moment is part of the national consciousness.

My father spent nights in discussions and going through the speeches of ministers and Mr Lee before they were broadcast. It was a time of synergy, and all the talent that could be mustered was used to enhance political stability.

Sometimes, when my father was required to see Mr Lee at the Istana, a car was sent to fetch him from his office at Caldecott Hill.

The reason: As my father did not drive at the time, Mr Lee did not want him to be given lifts by others who would then try to influence his thinking en route to see the Prime Minister.

After those discussions, if it was going to rain, Mr Lee would ask a security officer to drop my father off at a bus stop or taxi stand to make his own way back. He often came home late, as Mr Lee was hard at work.

Despite my disagreements with some of Mr Lee’s policies, my father would remind me that many may yet realise how much we are indebted to Mr Lee. The turnout at his funeral vindicates this view.

It is indeed left to us to carry on the strengths of his legacy. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that Singapore carries on successfully and peaceably.

Those who choose to push the country onto a path that countermands this for reasons motivated primarily by past quarrels, but cloaked in the guise of democracy, and instigate verbal violence on social media, are irresponsible.

Political change must arrive responsibly. Those who fail to understand this undermine a legacy that has been placed in our trust.

*This article by Sanjay Perera first appeared on Voices, Today, on 7 Apr 2015.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 7, 2015
Singapore: A Fascinating Alternative To The Welfare State
Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, died last week at age 91. Almost every obituary has remarked on the radical transition his leadership heralded. As John Fund wrote at National Review:

By embracing free trade, capital formation, vigorous meritocratic education, low taxes, and a reliable judicial system, Lee raised the per capita income of his country from $500 a year to some $52,000 a year today. That’s 50 percent higher than that of Britain, the colonial power that ruled Singapore for 150 years. Its average annual growth rate has averaged 7 percent since the 1970s.

Part of the reason for Singapore’s remarkable climb up the international income ladder is bread and butter capitalism. The Fraser nstitute’s Freedom of the World report lists Singapore as the second freest economy in the world — right behind Hong Kong. As Frasier scholars have demonstrated year after year, economic growth and free markets go hand and hand.

But Singapore has done something even more remarkable than its economic accomplishments. It has built an alternative to the European style welfare state. Think of all the reasons why people turn to government in other developed countries: retirement income, housing, education, medical care etc. In Singapore people are required to save to take care of these needs themselves.

At times the forced saving rate has been as high as 50% of income. Today, employees under 50 years of age must set aside 20% of their wages and employers must contribute another 16%. These funds go into accounts where they grow through time until specific needs arise. For example, one of the uses for these savings is housing. About 90% of Singapore households are home owners – the highest rate of home ownership in the world.

In health care, Singapore started an extensive system of “Medisave Accounts” in 1984 – the very year that Richard Rahn and I proposed “Medical IRAs” for America in the Wall Street Journal. Today, 7 percentage points of Singapore’s 36% required savings rate is for health care and is deposited in a separate Medisave account for each employee. Individuals are also automatically enrolled in catastrophic health insurance, although they can opt out. When a Medisave account balance reaches about $34,100 (an amount equal to a little less than half of the median family income) any excess funds are rolled over into another account and may be used for non-health care purposes.

For many years, the only two scholars in the Western world who paid much attention to Singapore were Washington University economist Michael Sherraden and me. Michael approached the Singapore experience from a left-of-center perspective and I came from the opposite direction. We both ended in the same place: this is an alternative to the welfare state that works.

Lately, quite a number of other scholars have discovered Singapore, especially its health care system – again, with both right and left finding a lot to admire. It’s taken almost three decades, but Singapore is now the subject of a book by Brookings Institution, a whole slew of posts by Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll, and a good overview by Tyler Cowen, with links to other studies and comments.

Sherraden recently summarized some of Singapore’s major social policy innovations as follows:

Step by step, the Singapore state created a new social policy system that had asset building as its central structure…. In the world of social policy, it would be hard to overstate the exceptionality and the extent of this innovation…. During the past 25 years, Singapore policy has taken important steps toward lifelong asset building, beginning very early in life. These innovations include EduSave, the Baby Bonus, Child Development Accounts, and related asset-building incentives.

For John Fund, Singapore’s most significant accomplishment is the avoidance of the mistakes of other countries:

I believe that the least appreciated part of Lee Kwan Yew’s legacy is his method of ensuring that one generation won’t bankrupt future generations by selfishly living beyond its means. It’s a welfare state that works, and one he always said was available to any political leader with the courage to tell his people the truth about the limits of government’s power to pass out goodies.

For my part, I would summarize the philosophy of Singapore as follows:
- Each generation should pay its own way.
- Each family should pay its own way.
- Each individual should pay his own way.
- Only after passing through these three filters should anyone turn to the government for help.
If the United States had adopted a similar approach to public policy, there would be no deficit problem in this country.

Source: www.forbes.com
April 6, 2015