10 CPF hacks to grow your nest egg; Choosing the right CPF Life plan

By Lorna Tan, Invest Editor/Senior Correspondent, The Sunday Times, 15 Oct 2017

It is never too early to start preparing for retirement - think of it as a lifelong journey, one that in Singapore is inevitably linked to our Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings.

Whether you're starting work, about to buy a home, raising a family or nearing retirement, small steps like CPF transfers and cash top-ups can help build up your nest egg and secure a desired future lifestyle.

The CPF Board has been organising the CPF Retirement Planning Roadshow series in the past few years to raise awareness on how the system helps retirement planning.

Last year, more than 80,000 CPF members visited the five roadshows held islandwide.

The first one this year kicked off in August at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub and featured a wide range of interactive exhibits, including an augmented reality experience booth.

Not to be left out, young CPF members are encouraged to try out a mobile game app called Ready, Get Set, Grow. The app encourages them to take action today via CPF-related messages based on the three basic needs of retirement - housing, healthcare and income.

The Sunday Times highlights 10 hacks to "game" the CPF system.

Help available for those living on the streets: Ministry of Social and Family Development

We thank Mr V. Balu for his suggestions and concern for those in need (Set up task force to help those living on streets; Oct 11).

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) looks into each report of persons sleeping in public.

The MSF also conducts patrols and joint efforts with other agencies to engage those who are sleeping in public.

Our priority is to ascertain and address their immediate needs, in particular their health and safety.

Those with no family support and housing are offered shelter.

Individuals who need long-term support are cared for in welfare homes.



There are often multiple and complex issues that may result in a person sleeping in public.

For instance, some may have homes but are unable to return home due to a conflict with family members or tenants.

We work closely with social service, community and government agencies to extend help and support to these individuals by providing financial assistance, employment assistance, counselling to address marital and family issues, or referrals to other services.

There are also instances where individuals decline assistance, despite attempts by MSF officers, social workers and community members to engage them to offer the necessary support.

Members of the public can play a role too. If they see someone in need, they can approach him, understand his situation, and call the ComCare hotline on 1800-222-0000 or advise him to approach the nearest Social Service Office or Family Service Centre if he requires help.

Kong Kum Peck (Ms)
Director
ComCare and Social Support Division
Social Policy and Services Group
Ministry of Social and Family Development
ST Forum, 14 Oct 2017

Esplanade turns 15

#mydurian turns 15
At birth, it was feared that Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay might be a white elephant. Instead, it has become a hub for the arts and the community.
By Benson Puah, Published The Straits Times, 13 Oct 2017

In 2009, amid a financial crisis and rising religious intolerance, we at Singapore's national performing arts centre decided to do something to bring calm and reflection. We created a sacred music festival. We wanted to take sacred music out of the cloisters of religious communities, put it on a secular platform and enable people of different faiths to be uplifted by great and stirring music.

And the people came.

Since then, for one weekend every April, the festival A Tapestry of Sacred Music fills the centre with spiritual sounds. These range from the rousing vocal improvisations of South Asian qawwali (Sufi devotional music) singers to the tranquil chants of Tibetan Buddhist monks.

This festival is one of many in Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay's year-round calendar. It is a demonstration of our vision to be an arts centre for all, as we believe the arts can break down the walls that divide us.



Fifteen years ago, when the Esplanade opened on Oct 12, sceptics wondered if the arts centre would become a "white elephant". At that time, the arts were seen as an exclusive activity for those in the know. The last thing we wanted was to be a glittering but empty shell, underutilised and irrelevant. We wanted to be a living arts centre, alive with people who feel at home here.

To that end, we activated our public spaces to ensure that at any time, a person at the Esplanade will encounter the arts through daily free performances and art installations. For 15 years, we worked hard to develop relationships with the different communities, while raising the capabilities of the arts industry in Singapore to put on shows of the highest quality.

To date, more than 37,000 performances have taken place at the Esplanade, drawing an audience of 26 million patrons and 92 million visitors. And we continue each year to attract some two million attendances.

In 2011, famed Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai-min - whose Cloud Gate Dance Theatre has performed several times here - would remark in Lianhe Zaobao that Esplanade audiences are "not only there to watch performances" but to hang out with family and friends over food, beer and ice cream and that their behaviour, "be it before or after performances, always seems natural and full of joy".

He added: "A performing arts centre such as Esplanade is very rare elsewhere in the world. It represents an 'ecosystem' where arts & culture and life can coexist, and it's teeming with life."

Harvey Weinstein and the Silence of the Men

The hush in Hollywood about the mega producer only reinforces a culture that keeps women from speaking up.
By Lena Dunham, Published The Straits Times, 13 Oct 2017

I went to Hollywood when I was 23. I had made a low-budget film, won an award at a prestigious festival, scored an agent and made a TV deal all within six months. It was a fairy tale most people will never experience, and I knew, as well as a 23-year-old can know anything, that I was getting a pretty great deal. I bounced from meeting to meeting with the joy of Cinderella at the ball.

These meetings, almost always with men, were rife with acts of everyday sexism - the presumption that I must want to make small "intimate" movies, a suggestion that I write a comedy focused on "the way women's periods sync up and they go crazy for a week", the insistence that I'd be "really funny paired with a hot girl".



There were dinners that went on too long, work lunches that turned into confessions about the broken state of the film executive's marriage and the consistent insistence that I must, as my work suggests, be "up for anything in bed".

I took it in stride, unloading the day's injustices on the couch of my new friend (and now my work partner), Jenni Konner. She told me maddening stories of her own ascent and we plotted a new world for ourselves. We imagined a set run by women, men who wouldn't dream of overstepping or underpaying, a company where girls stretched as far as the eye could see, the chance to write scripts that changed people's perceptions of feminine identity.

We would tell any man who thought that was an invitation for sex to go eat a shoe. The men we have worked with - like Judd Apatow, Hollywood's least sleazy guy - have showed us utter respect. The only terrifying producer rage I ever experienced was from a gay man who tried to take back a purse he had bought me. We got to do all that we had dreamed of and more.

This past week, reports that Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed women for years came to light, making it crystal clear that not every woman in Hollywood has had the chance to walk our path.

Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but he's certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behaviour, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere.

Singapore women's CPF savings go up, narrowing gender gap

It is a reassuring sign that women can better meet their retirement needs, say experts
By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 12 Oct 2017

Singapore women's nest egg for retirement is growing at a faster pace than men's, Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board figures show.

Experts attribute it to a shift towards women holding better-paying jobs and working longer these days, and the easing of rules to encourage more husbands to top up their wives' CPF savings.

Over the past 10 years, women's average balance rose by 8.3 per cent a year against 7.7 per cent a year for men. This refers to savings in their Ordinary, Special, Retirement and Medisave accounts.

As a result, the gap in average CPF balances between women and men narrowed from 16 per cent in 2006 to 11 per cent last year - a reassuring sign that, increasingly, women can better meet their retirement needs.

The trend could help women enjoy a higher standard of living in their senior years and lower the financial pressure on their children and the national budget, said National University of Singapore (NUS) sociologist Tan Ern Ser.

He believes these children, being less likely to be part of the sandwiched generation that have to take care of both the old and young, would be inclined to have more children themselves.

The rise in women's balances is largely fuelled by job-related factors, such as higher wages and the growing proportion of working women, said NUS economist Chia Ngee Choon.

Sociologist Kang Soon-Hock of the Singapore University of Social Sciences said there are now more initiatives to encourage women to remain in or return to the workforce. Flexible work arrangements, for example, are more widespread.

Ms Mayda Jutahkiti, 43, an account director at Rice Communications, said she rejoined the workforce full time last month after four years as a stay-at-home mum.

"I was also a little worried about my retirement savings, given all the news about the rising cost of living," she added.

Also, more husbands are contributing to the CPF savings of their wives, a move encouraged by a change in the CPF transfer rule.

Last year, the minimum amount members must save before they could transfer excess savings to their spouses was halved.

Malaysian Muslim preacher arrested for sedition after criticising Johor Sultan's decree against Muslim-only launderette

He slammed ruler for barring Muslim-only launderette, called Chinese 'unhygienic'
By Shannon Teoh, Malaysia Bureau Chief In Kuala Lumpur, The Straits Times, 12 Oct 2017

Muslim preacher Zamihan Mat Zin was arrested yesterday for sedition following a religious lecture in which he criticised a sultan - understood to be the Johor ruler - for barring a Muslim-only launderette, and called Chinese people "unhygienic".

National criminal investigation chief Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd told The Straits Times the former officer with the government's Islamic Development Department, or Jakim, will be remanded today.

"He was arrested at 3.50pm, after he was summoned to have his statement recorded," he said.

The arrest comes after the Conference of Rulers issued a statement on Tuesday condemning moves to set up Muslim-only launderettes as divisive and tainting the reputation of Islam.



In a video of a lecture that has gone viral, the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Organisation president said the Muslim-only launderette controversy was sparked because the sultan commented on it.

"There was a sultan who had said Muslim-friendly launderettes are not allowed in his state. It is not right for the sultan to say such things. These launderettes are meant to show that Muslims prioritise cleanliness," he said. "Chinese usually don't wash after they urinate or defecate. What about menstrual blood on their underwear? Or if they had hugged a dog, or spilled alcohol or food containing pork? If they want to enter a laundry, then just go to a normal one."



In an interview with The Star last month, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar said he could not accept "this nonsense" after news broke of a Muslim-only launderette in Muar. "This is Johor, which belongs to Bangsa Johor, and it belongs to all races and faiths. This is a progressive, modern and moderate state. This is not a Taleban state and as the head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature," he said.

The Conference of Rulers - made up of Malaysia's nine Malay rulers and the governors of the four states without royalty - backed Sultan Ibrahim, as well as the Crown Prince of Perlis, who also ordered a similar launderette in the northern state to drop its Muslim-only policy.

Capability Transfer Programme: Foreign trainers to help impart expertise

Companies can tap new MOM scheme to help local workers learn from overseas experts
New govt programme will subsidise cost of bringing them in to train local workers
By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 11 Oct 2017

Singapore food manufacturers want to learn more about high-pressure processing to extend the shelf life of their products, while a furnishing firm wants to break into the healthcare interior furnishing market.

But such expertise is scarce here, a shortage the Government hopes to address with a new funding scheme.

Called the Capability Transfer Programme, it will subsidise the cost of bringing in trainers from abroad to arm local workers with skills and knowledge of new technology. The scheme will also help fund the salaries of both trainers and trainees.



Companies can get from 30 per cent to as much as 90 per cent of the cost of introducing such training.

More support will be provided to projects by small and medium-sized enterprises and those that benefit industries as a whole rather than a single company, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said yesterday when he announced a pilot run of the programme.

This latest move is part of an ongoing national effort to upgrade the skills of the local workforce, strengthen its "Singaporean core'' and enhance how local and foreign workers complement, rather than compete with, one another. Also, in the new world of rapid technological innovations, Singapore has to compete not just on cost, but also in new and better capabilities, Mr Lim said.

"It is simply not possible for any economy, corporation and workforce to try to be self-sufficient in the fast-changing world of technology, innovation and global competition. So, we have to build new capabilities that will be in great demand in the future but are currently lacking or in short supply here."

Hawkers' Productivity Grant: Kitchen equipment grant, info centre for hawkers launched

Initiatives part of the Government's efforts to sustain the hawker trade and attract more new hawkers
By Lim Min Zhang, The Straits Times, 10 Oct 2017

Potatoes, cucumbers and carrots - none is a match for the $2,000 commercial-grade vegetable cutter from Spain, which can slice up to 300kg of vegetables in an hour.

From yesterday, eligible hawkers might pay only 20 per cent for such kitchen automation equipment, by tapping a government grant announced in March.

The Hawkers' Productivity Grant, administered by the National Environment Agency (NEA), allows stallholders to claim 80 per cent of the unit cost of equipment on a reimbursement basis, up to a total of $5,000 within three years.

As part of the Government's efforts to sustain the hawker trade and attract more new hawkers, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor launched the grant at the opening of a one-stop information and service centre for hawkers yesterday.

Located at the revamped Customer Service Centre at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh, the centre provides information on the hawker trade for both aspiring and current hawkers, such as how to tender for a stall, where to take courses on food hygiene, and how to apply for the productivity grant.

Sharing sessions by veteran hawkers and courses related to the trade, such as on how to improve a stall's signboard and menu, are also in the works, said Dr Khor.

On some of the uses of the centre, Dr Khor said: "Apart from training, some hawkers are unaware of resources such as various types of equipment that can help in food preparation and suppliers' contacts for raw ingredients, which would be particularly helpful."

She added that the NEA will conduct briefings at hawker centres to help hawkers understand the types of equipment available to help them reduce their workload, especially for repetitive tasks such as chopping vegetables.

60 years of the Singapore citizenship: From hawkers to millionaires, they all queued up

How did the landmark 1957 citizenship law come about? What has changed in the 60 years since, and what were the consequences in terms of building a Singaporean identity? Insight takes a look.
By Elgin Toh, Insight Editor, The Sunday Times, 8 Oct 2017

"You go through one door, come out another door, and you are a Singapore citizen." So read an eye-catching quote by then Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock in a Straits Times report on Oct 15, 1957.

At a meeting with Chinese teachers, he sought to stress that an upcoming government campaign to register citizens - dubbed Operation Franchise - would be hassle-free.

The message was received.

Over a three-month window from November 1957 to January 1958, hundreds of thousands turned up to queue at registration points like the Singapore Citizenship Registry in Fort Canning Road, community centres and clan associations.

"Labourers, hawkers and millionaires queued up holding their application forms," said a news report.

In some cases, people waited more than an hour for their turn - but that did little to quell their eagerness, since some had waited decades for this moment.

The Chinese formed the bulk of those queueing, but there were also Indian and Malay registrants, and those of other races.

Millionaire banker Lien Ying Chow, among the first to submit papers, hailed the moment as important for overseas-born residents like himself who had worked hard to build a new life in Singapore.

India-born legislative assemblyman M.P.D. Nair registered, calling on others to follow, so that "they may help in shaping the destiny of our country".

By the end of Operation Franchise, more than 320,000 mostly foreign-born residents in Singapore had "come out another door" as Singapore citizens. A very big majority of those eligible signed up.

When added to a group of mainly local-born residents who were automatically considered citizens, the final tally was over 600,000 in total - the first people in history to be called Singapore citizens.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the enactment of the Singapore Citizenship Ordinance of 1957, the law that gave birth, unexpectedly, to a new national identity.

What led to the passing of this ordinance? What was its significance? How did it shape the course of later events? And what future scenarios are possible for the Singapore citizenship?

Insight speaks to historians and experts to shed light on the subject.

Singapore's first dementia-friendly coffee shop in Bishan

Stallholders trained as 'dementia friends' to recognise and help people with the condition
By Lin Yangchen, The Sunday Times, 8 Oct 2017

Since Friday, a bustling coffee shop in the heart of Bishan has displayed large decals showing life-sized photographs of delicious hawker food on every table big and small.

And if you sit down and read the accompanying text in English and Chinese, it tells you that someone who has dementia might not be able to see coin denominations correctly; think they have been served the wrong food; or ask for the wrong condiments, such as ketchup for half-boiled eggs.

Fifteen stallholders at Kim San Leng Food Centre at Block 511, Bishan Street 13, have also been trained as "dementia friends" to recognise and help possible dementia sufferers in what is being billed as Singapore's first dementia-friendly coffee shop.

They are also given a checklist to display in their stalls. It explains what to look out for, and contains advice to be polite and to let suspected dementia sufferers take their time instead of growing impatient.

This is the work of the Forget Us Not (FUN) initiative run by local philanthropic organisation Lien Foundation.



Mr Hoon Thing Leong, group chief executive of Kim San Leng and chairman of the Bishan Merchants' Association, said he immediately agreed to the proposal because his Bishan coffee shop has high footfall and the scheme would benefit many elderly people.

MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Chong Kee Hiong said the coffee shop is a good place to raise awareness as the tenants are long-term operators who know regular patrons and can alert family members if they notice any behaviour changes.

SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace: Big push to equip workers with basic digital skills

Largest national training programme in a decade to get 100,000 trained over 3 years
By Amelia Teng, Education Correspondent, The Straits Times, 6 Oct 2017

A major initiative to ensure that Singaporeans keep pace with the digital economy, at work and in everyday life, was launched yesterday.

Over the next three years, the SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace - the largest national training programme in a decade - aims to get 100,000 people equipped with basic digital skills that suit them, from the use of e-payments and e-commerce platforms, to data analytics and automation.

This will be done through two-day customised courses, developed with tech giants IBM, Lazada, Microsoft and Samsung. Courses cost $50 each, which can be paid using the $500 SkillsFuture credits given to all Singaporeans aged 25 and above.

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) said the aim is to instil digital confidence and a positive attitude towards digital disruptions - a point which Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung stressed yesterday when launching the initiative. "Every workplace that we go to - regardless of industry - we have to know IT, we have to know robotics, digital technology. We don't have to be experts, we don't all have to be coders but we must know that these are our friends," he said.

He recalled the sense of unease among certain segments of the population when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at this year's National Day Rally, highlighted the need to adopt cashless payments as key to Singapore's vision of becoming a Smart Nation. "The recent feedback we got when e-payment came on stream was a sign of this (fear)," said Mr Ong. "There are people who are not familiar with technology and they are afraid, concerned."

He described the digital workplace initiative as a "friendly way" to overcome this. He hopes that "more and more workers can be familiarised with digital technologies and that will help Singapore in our economic restructuring".

The courses, which SSG chief executive Ng Cher Pong said have already drawn strong interest from the public and small and medium-sized enterprises, will introduce participants to how technology can uplift jobs and personal lives.

Workplace role model: The chef who gave up his Michelin stars

By Stefan Stern, Published The Straits Times, 6 Oct 2017

Maybe life is too short to stuff a mushroom after all. That is one conclusion to draw from the news that three-star Michelin chef Sebastien Bras has decided to renounce the accolade for a simpler existence in the kitchen instead.

"I want to give a new meaning to my life… and redefine what is essential," he said last month in a Facebook video message. He still wants to cook, it seems, just not so much of the fancy stuff and not under constant scrutiny.



How should you react to achieving a lifetime's ambition? The restless and the neurotic would press on, set new goals, imagining new threats or rivals to dispatch.

Alexander the Great was said to have wept when he saw there were no new lands to conquer. But having reached the top, Bras has decided it is time to do something else, to choose a calmer life. Once you have reached a peak, it is hard to avoid a sense of slipping downhill. But keeping up a three-star culinary performance does not seem to Bras to be worth the candle, the linen or the silverware.

Motivation and satisfaction in doing a job well can be shattered if you feel disrespected, menaced or taken for granted. Indeed, that elusive third star sometimes seems to have as much to do with staffing levels and degrees of luxury as it does with the cooking. It costs money to run a place like that. If clients don't spend an average of £100 (S$180) a head, a three-star establishment would probably struggle to break even.

The real significance of Bras' decision is what it tells us about motivation and meaningful achievement at work. What he likes is cooking, not the theatre or outward frippery of the three-star venue. Nor does he want to be measured by the anonymous Michelin inspectors who might descend at any moment. He wants to do work that he feels good about, that matters to him. He wants to satisfy customers, not hit arbitrary targets or conform to other people's ideas of quality. His motivation comes from within. He cannot be motivated or "incentivised" by other people. It is all down to him.