Angry with foreign talents or with Singaporeans? Why?

Recently, there has been quite a bit of news regarding a male foreigner working as a nurse in one of our hospitals making some insensitive remarks about Singaporeans and praying for Singapore to suffer disasters. As a Singaporean, of course, I felt very unhappy about it.

However, when I thought that this misguided soul could represent a minority of foreign workers in Singapore, I calmed down. Surely, most foreign workers do not think like him, I told myself.



Maybe, only male FTs feel this way since there is reference to taking our women but not our men? Kidding! ;p

Recently, I received an email from a reader who signed off as:

" (FT follower of AK) :) "

He was quite open about his thoughts and his fears before and I once replied to him like so:

"I like to think that the Singaporean readers who have commented in my blog on the issue are level headed and generous people. In fact, I know some of them and I am sure they are. :)

"However, Singapore has this thing called National Service which PRs and new citizens do not have to perform. So, I do understand that it is something that Singaporeans feel sore about.

"For me, generally, I don't think of people as FTs, PRs, born Singaporeans or new citizens. I like to think of everyone as just people and I like to see everyone achieve financial security and freedom and be happy.

"As long as people have respect for Singapore and her people, as long as they contribute to the country in any way and do not disturb the peace, I would like to welcome them. So, no rioting, no peeing in public, no complaining about neighbors cooking curry, for examples. :)

"Thank you very much for the email but I want to encourage you to leave a comment in my blog, if possible. If it is thoughtful, considerate and courteous, I do not see why anyone should flame you. :) "

Whether you are a foreigner in our land or a Singaporean, old or new, please treat every person with courtesy and respect. Common decency is not beyond anyone's reach, I am sure.

Don't you believe this to be the right thing to do as well?

In the news:
Philippine embassy reminds TTSH nurse...

Related post:
"Sorry No Cure" for Anton Casey?

CPF: Minimum Sum Top Up and Interest Computation.

This blog post is a reply to questions posed by a reader, Vicster: here.




Hi Vicster,

1. Since your home loan is fully paid up and if you do not have any other uses for the funds in your OA now or in the future, you could consider doing an OA to SA funds transfer.





2. "You can enjoy tax relief of up to $7,000 per calendar year, for cash top-up for yourself and/or cash top-ups received from your employer. You can enjoy an additional tax relief of up to $7,000 per calendar year if you make cash top-ups for your parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, spouse and siblings. To qualify for tax relief for cash top-ups for your spouse/sibling(s), he must not have an annual income exceeding $4,000 in the year preceding the year of top-up (e.g. salary or tax-exempt income such as bank interest, dividends, and pension) or is handicapped."




Source: Application to Make Top-Ups Under the Minimum Sum Topping-Up Scheme (For Members)

3. That is a good idea but you could also do an estimate of what your mandatory contributions (MC) for the year might be and do a voluntary contribution (VC) earlier in the year to receive more in interest payments.


4. "CPF interest is computed monthly, then compounded and credited annually to your respective accounts."




Source: CPF Interest Rates: FAQs.

Related post:
How to upsize $100K to $225K in 20 years?