CPF Shifting Goal Posts - What's New?

 

Sometimes its just better to steal with pride.

Have fun reading this "lively" post at CW's blog:

Another New CPF Shifting Post Without Informing Affected Members

I would like to take a shepherd's and landowner's angle on the matter. 

As a landowner, I only care how much my shepherd makes or saves for me. Period.

So if a talented or sharp-eyed shepherd comes to me with a presentation to help me save millions by simply tweaking a few simple administrative rules, wouldn't I give this shepherd a raise or promotion!? 

That's the Save More way of scoring brownie points in the corporate world.

To encourage my fellow landowners to keep old muttons in their flocks as long as possible, I have to give them an "incentive" like lowering the landowners' CPF contributions to their old muttons after age 55.

But that would also mean there's a shortfall in the old muttons' retirement as a pay cut is a pay cut...

This is where the enterprising shepherd with his excellent proposal to "cheerlead" CPF voluntary contributions come in. Brilliant or what?

That would make up the shortfall in their CPF after age 55!

Reminds me of the 3 bananas in the morning; 4 bananas in the evening monkey story no?

That's the Earn More way of getting your boss's attention for the win!

When was the last time you did something like that?

Landowners will pay top dollar to get shepherds who can make or save money for them!

Wouldn't you?

Property Sucks When No One Wants To Come Here

 

Cantopop Star Joey Yung Sells Hong Kong Flat At A Loss

Population decline can be offset with immigration, letting in more foreign talents/workers, and investor friendly policies to welcome foreigners investing into our local properties.

Little can be done if talented Singaporeans want to emigrate out, and foreigners have no interest to either work or invest here...

Combined with my previous post The Biggest Downside To Owning Property, that's why a city/country needs to Earn More...

And have the ability to protect what it earns!

The ancient thriving city states like Rome, Athens, Carthage, and Venice all have one thing in common: they have a bad ass military to protect their six!

 

The Biggest Downside To Owning Property

 

Looking at the latest situation in Ukraine, I guess property's biggest downside is you can't bring it with us!

I mean if we have to take the first flight out of a country, that's that!

This is not new to us in South East Asia.

Remember the Vietnamese boat people crisis of the 70s when North Vietnam took over Saigon in 1975 after booting out the US forces?

Then in Dec 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to kick out Pol Pot. Its a case of Russian supported communism against China supported communism... Argument on who is redder than red?

How about more recently in Myanmar?

I mean if you owned properties in these countries, how to take your money out if most of your wealth is in properties? 

I mean you got to have great foresight like Li Ka-Shing!

The moment Xi Jinping took over, Li got out of China! 

Now years later, we discover why...

Then again, it was the same Li Ka-Shing that bought into Hong Kong's bombed out property sector in 1967 when riots broke out courtesy to the Cultural Revolution in China...

When I'm in my youth, I don't care much for NS. 

Now as old fogey, I'm glad we have NS!

What's the point of wealth if we can't protect it?

That being said, I hope I don't have to be reunited with my AR15 ever again...

No wonder Singapore properties are so popular with foreigners...

Now that's a vote of confidence to our SAF!

 

What's My Name?

 

I noticed something quite positive during my weekend sales gig.

More and more youths are making an effort to read my name tag, and use my name in our sales conversations!?

Have you noticed how some old school landowners, chairman of a companies, CEOs, etc; often stop and greet security guards, toilet cleaners, or receptionists by their names?

Politicians often do that, beside kissing babies.

Some are born like that; most learned it as part of their upbringing, at school, or from their corporate trainings.

Why do they do so?

Just ask yourself. 

How would you feel if you are a junior member of the management team, yet the owner of the company is able to remember your name when you both enter into the elevator?

Back to those youths who obviously are making an effort in remembering my name during our sales encounter.

Needless to say, if I have to guess, I would bet most of them are working in sales or marketing lah! 

Not bad. They are putting into practice what they have learned. Kung fu don't practice will depreciate one! Its sharpening the saw that sort of thing.

If not in sales, then they are probably corporate high achievers climbing up the corporate ladder. 

Remember the episode where big daddy wanted to introduce a new candidate, but there's an outpour of criticisms? 

This is what happens when you though you just have to "tripod" your bosses, no need to bother with your peers and those beneath you...

How to win friends and influence people?

Start with their names. 

Wink.

 

The Biggest Risk Is...

 

Not taking any calculated risks at all!

Common Sense and Street Smarts

 

This video is 20 minutes short.

Watch it only when you have time to reflect.

Its something we Chinese with our 5,000 years of wisdom already knew; but few actually practice it...

We briefly talked about it in my previous blog post.

举一反三

Confucius said one!

School Never Teach...

 

We often hear the above statement thrown out carelessly, don't we?

School never teach us this, school never teach us that...

As if without spoon-feeding, we cannot function alone in the real world or think for ourselves?

Quick!

What's the purpose of an education again?

I didn't have much (formal) education myself, so I'm not an authority on the subject. But to me, if I can read, write, and count, I'll consider myself "educated"! 

On a side note. Another important purpose of education is to teach youths how to be good citizens; or to be a good person. 

Its usually reflected in the school motto. 

That's how "attas" schools set themselves apart from "every school is a good school".

Its the Values they impart to their students. 

Big daddy, as one of the biggest employer in Singapore, is perfectly aware of the limitation in recruiting 10-year series memorizers that can ace exams, but once in the real world, are totally lost when they don't have existing SOP (Standard Operational Procedures) or past precedents to work with... 

What they want are youths who can transfer what we learn in one context to an entire new one (举一反三).

Hence the decades of education "reforms" that's still ongoing.  

When its old fogeys lamenting school never teach... I'll give them a free pass. After all, they are products of the old regime. Plus the fact life probably has not been too kind to them...

But when youths use school never teach as a "shield", then its pretty obvious they have not got the memo: "师父领进门，修行在个人."

Which is China to mean, "Think for yourself!"

Wait a minute.

Maybe that's a better definition for an educated person?

The ability to think for ourselves!?

See Through People

 

Time flies!

End of this year, I'll be 55 years young!!!

Its true. 

After banging into walls and falling into multiple sink-holes through crash got sound, I can read people better, now that I'm no longer a "spring chicken"...

Then again, at my weekend sales gig, I do serve old fogeys in their 70s and 80s who still behaved like "bei kambings" when it comes to gullibility!?

How can it be?

I mean low IQ that cannot help. But life experiences got to count for something... No?

 

I guess it doesn't help if you have the habit of "delegating" or "outsourcing" decision making to others all your life... 

That's a convenient way to not take any personal responsibility for your actions!

But the downside is like having 1st year working experience times 30 years.

Any new hire can beat you in their 2nd year... 

The ability to see through people is an important EQ skill set.

If nothing else, it helps to determine who we will surround ourselves with.

Money lost pales in comparison to the disappointment in being let down by people whom you thought had your best interests at heart...