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Any seniors here can advise?

TOKYO—Japan's $1.26 trillion public pension fund will likely announce a boost to stock and foreign-bond investments in early autumn, the head of its investment committee said Tuesday, potentially sending tens of billions of dollars into new markets. A shuffle at the world's largest pension fund would achieve one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's objectives and could help invigorate Japan's economy, which is beginning to emerge from a decadeslong era in which investors mostly avoided risk. "I personally think that we need to complete [the new portfolio] in September or October," Yasuhiro Yonezawa, head of the Government Pension Investment Fund's investment committee, said in an interview. "There's no reason to be slow." Mr. Yonezawa outlined a tentative plan for a portfolio shift that would raise the allotments of the fund's assets to go into domestic stocks, foreign bonds and foreign stocks by five percentage points in each category. The aim is twofold: to boost returns to ensure Japanese retirees get the payouts they expect, and to stimulate risk-taking at home by funneling money into growing Japanese businesses. That is in tune with the prime minister's pro-growth "Abenomics" policies. Since taking office in late 2012, Mr. Abe has exhorted the pension fund to rethink its long-standing conservative investment strategy. Currently, domestic stocks and foreign stocks are each targeted to get about 12% of the fund's investment. Under the baseline scenario outlined by Mr. Yonezawa, those figures would rise to 17% each, while the portion allotted to foreign bonds would rise to 16% from 11%. Domestic bonds would fall to 40% from 60%, and the portfolio would likely include a new category for alternative investments in areas such as infrastructure, he said. Mr. Yonezawa said he and two other members of the eight-member investment committee would begin to craft a new portfolio this week. The figures could change based on the group's discussions, he said, adding that the three members would discuss whether to carry out the reshuffle before or after the announcement set for this autumn. The changes could raise uncertainty for tens of millions of Japanese who count on steady pension payouts in retirement. With its traditional focus on Japanese sovereign debt, the fund has performed relatively well in recent years despite extremely low debt yields, in part because the country's deflationary environment was good for bonds. "The [Government Pension Investment Fund] shouldn't be used as a tool for short-term-oriented intervention in asset markets. It's not a piggy bank for short-term policy purposes. Each penny of the GPIF is pension money," said Nobusuke Tamaki, a former fund official who now teaches at Otsuma Women's University. The new focus is essentially a bet on inflation, which Mr. Abe and Japan's central bank have pledged to create. "Until now, it wasn't too good to invest in Japanese stocks, when there wasn't Abenomics," Mr. Yonezawa said. "But recently, Japanese companies are changing, and I think things are getting better." He said Japanese firms were getting a higher return on equity and shifting toward stronger corporate governance. The Japanese pension fund is like Social Security in the U.S. in that it collects money from payroll taxes and uses the cash for payments to retirees. But, unlike Social Security, which puts its funds in nontradable Treasury securities, the Japanese fund can invest in a range of assets, including stocks and bonds from both Japanese and foreign issuers. The fund has invested conservatively, giving a 60% weighting to domestic bonds. It has operated on a shoestring budget out of a single office in Tokyo with fewer than 80 employees. By comparison, the second-largest pension fund in the world—Norway's $770 billion Government Pension Fund Global—is run by an organization with about 370 employees. Reports of changes to the Japanese fund lifted the Tokyo stock market last week, with investors aware that even a shift of a percentage point could send $10 billion flowing in a new direction. But the Nikkei Stock Average remains down for the year as foreign investors question whether Mr. Abe's program will be enough to jolt Japan's economy out of its doldrums. While the Japanese pension fund's changing priorities could push up the value of some foreign assets, the money would likely be so diversified that its impact would be diluted. Even before the new portfolio is completed, the fund has made significant changes in recent months. In February, it said it would start its first joint infrastructure-investment program, through which it would work with other investors to fund projects such as power plants, gas pipelines and railways in developed countries. The fund has started a new four-person division dedicated to nonlisted assets such as infrastructure, private equity and real estate, people with knowledge of the organization say. The fund has traditionally hired large asset managers such as BlackRock Inc., but in April it unveiled a new roster of managers for its portfolio of Japanese stocks and brought on some little-known names. One of the new managers, Seattle-based Taiyo Pacific Partners, has sponsored annual retreats for 25 to 35 Japanese chief executives for the past five years with the hope that improving management will translate into better shareholder returns. In one group activity at the retreat, Japanese managers work together under hot conditions to pound unfinished metal into samurai swords. Fund managers are interested in seeing whether the pension fund will continue to diversify its roster of asset managers, although some say the fund's paltry management fees don't make the business worthwhile. The pension paid a little more than $200 million, or about 0.02% of its portfolio, for outside managers in the fiscal year that ended in March 2013.

The ugly truth about TFR and foreign influx

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/02/22/25-foreign-employees-jailed-for-forged-academic-certificates/ 25 foreign employees jailed for forged academic certificates February 22nd, 2014 | Author: Editorial 25 foreigners were sentenced to jail on Thursday (20 Feb) for submitting forged academic certificates to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to illegally obtain work passes to work in Singapore. All 25 foreign employees pleaded guilty. 22 of them were sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail, 2 to 12 weeks’ and 1 to 4 weeks’. 25 is the largest number of foreign employees prosecuted for the offence this year, and the penalties are the most severe the courts have ever meted out for the offence. The 25 foreigners obtained forged academic certificates in their home countries, and used them to apply for work passes between 2 November 2012 and 7 June 2013. Based on the false information submitted, 20 were issued an S-Pass and 5 an Employment Pass (EP). An S-Pass holder needs to have a minimum fixed monthly salary of $2,200 and an EP holder $3,300. The nationalities of these 25 foreigners, comprising 21 males and 4 females, are: 16 from Myanmar 7 from India 2 from the Philippines They were issued work passes to work in operations, sales, and food and beverage. Among them were a hair restoration technologist, a quality control executive and a chef. They all worked for less than a year in Singapore. MOM launched investigations between November and December 2013, and discovered that their academic certificates were forged through checks with the relevant certificate issuing institutions and respective foreign government departments. They had mislead MOM to believe that they met the required educational criteria to obtain the work passes. MOM’s investigations revealed that all the employers were unaware that the foreign employees had submitted forged academic certificates for their work pass applications. As the employers were not complicit, no action was taken against them. Last year, MOM prosecuted 78 foreigners for similar offences. Convicted foreigners are barred from working in Singapore. MOM amended the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act in November 2012, and made the offence of making a false statement or submitting any false document relating to academic qualifications a standalone offence with stiffer penalties. Offenders may be fined up to $20,000 and/or imprisoned up to 2 years. Apart from legislative measures, MOM said it is strengthening its processes and fraud detection capabilities. This includes enhancing internal database checks, verifying the certificate’s authenticity directly with the issuing educational institution, and requiring employers/employment agents to upload verification/proof of diplomas and higher qualifications for applications for EP, S-Pass and Training Employment Pass. MOM also performs retrospective audits. In addition, MOM is supplementing its checks with third-party screening agencies. Last month, MOM announced that they had hired Dataflow Services in New Delhi to conduct random checks on education certificates and employment history declared by Indian nationals working in Singapore [Link]. MOM said that it would use “independent verification channels” like Dataflow to conduct its own random audits. Dataflow says on its website that it helps clients ensure that the staff they hire are qualified and competent. “We identify fraudsters and unwanted professionals by verifying their qualifications and checking individuals against proprietary database and international watch lists.” MOM requires all foreign applicants for passes to make accurate, complete and truthful declarations to the Controller. Making a false declaration by submitting a forged academic certificate or certificates is a deliberate attempt to mislead the Controller. MOM said it will not condone such acts of deceit, and will take severe action against offenders, as well as errant employers and employment agencies if they abet foreign applicants who submit forged academic certificates. MOM is also seeking the co-operation of the public. Any member of the public who knows of foreign employees using forged certificate(s) can and should call MOM at (65) 6438 5122 or email [email protected]. All information is kept strictly confidential.

Read the comments too... So true, some of them! https://www.facebook.com/liupam/posts/634203156641015 He pulled my sleeve and told me to boldly cross the busy street when we were Hong Kong, telling me that he is "Kwai Lo" (Hong Kong term for expat) and nobody will dare run him down. And he was right. The van screeched to a halt and we made it across the street safely. I turned to apologize to the driver but he just waddled off. I was shocked that he was so confident that he would get the same treatment in any Asian country, since he has worked in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore. For the first time, I regretted employing him as our CFO. That evening, we had dinner and I apologized that he waited for five minutes and mentioned it was bad manners. He told me he expected no manners or etiquette from Chinese, since we spit into the bowls we eat out of. Though I was angry, I just smiled politely. And that is the problem. Because we choose to be polite, people like him think we are stupid. Because we are not confrontational, we are weak. That was the last C-level Brit I have ever employed when I was running my companies. At our annual meeting a few years back, our outgoing President made a remark that set everyone in the room laughing. His remark was, "Singaporeans can't write." I wasn't sure if that was a joke or a criticism. And when he said that, I looked around the room to search for some kind of reaction, since it was a room full of academics who depended on their writing to make a living. But they just laughed, as politely as I did when I was told I had no table etiquette even before I started sat at the table. I think SOME (not all) people who are not familiar with our culture have clearly misunderstood us. Singaporeans and Asians in general are polite and non-confrontational people, even in the face of insults. While MOST westerners are polite and know their limits, SOME think that we agree with them simply because we do not violently disagree. I see this at the work place, in the university, and in my own companies. I believe if one wants to work or live in a foreign land, he needs to learn to respect the people of the land, and not categorize people or things according to his standards. So what if our food requires us to take bones out in the middle of a meal? So what if we use our cutlery differently? So what if we dress in our smartest office wear and eat humbly with anyone in a hawker center? So what if our kids do not get to play outside? So what if our accent sounds wrong? So what if we like our coffee in a plastic bag? So what if our secretaries in the office are obliging and willing to make your coffee? So what if we write differently? So what if we have less opportunities in our education because our country was poor when we were young? So what if we like to dress simply and take our public transport? If you are a foreigner in Singapore, here's a little tip: you have no right to mindlessly throw insults just because we are too polite to tell you off. You shouldn't think that you can fool us with lies, excuses and half-truths, since we can see through these, and just don't want to make you to look bad. You shouldn't measure us with your yardsticks because if we measure them against ours, you will fail badly as well. If any foreigner can make an attempt to blend in, we will receive him with open arms. But if he cannot respect our people, our culture and our habits, please go home. We bear no grudges. Hopefully a better place with better opportunities awaits him.

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...one_helped.html link has video

this is applying to professionals, good or bad?

So, last time they had to buy..whoops..i meant find girls from Hungary? At least ah loong led by example, Singaporean wife. http://theunseensingapore.blogspot.sg/2013...ign-talent.html

Taken from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/25-foreign-job-se...-102005226.html The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) charged 25 foreigners on Tuesday for furnishing false information to the Controller of Work Passes to obtain work passes. According to a statement released by the ministry on Wednesday, the accused persons submitted forged academic certificates between May and August 2012. All 25 accused pleaded guilty to the charges on Tuesday. Of the 25, 20 were sentenced to four weeks

This was aired yesterday. Drama when the filipino lady cried...... my take is no. this would lead to more entrants of bogus marriages and social issues. I say ship them back to where they came from. your views?

The tightening for employment is getting fierce, man. Going all the way to to plug holes and cracks. I can see, is going to be tough business environment for IT, banks' back offices and banking. Especially those have been abusing the employment act. Tightening controls

wow... i must say the stomper was incredibly patient think if i was in his shoes, i would give that bugger a taste of my fist liao

if a worker is found by MOM to have fake education cert and his S-pass renewal rejected. is it that this worker will no longer be able to work in singapore once the current s-pass expired?

The Straits Times; Published on Dec 07, 2012 FOREIGN LABOUR: Try COE-style bidding for productivity boost THE current system of a fixed percentage quota with an algorithm of escalating tax levies does not promote competition and the efficient use of scarce manpower ("Forum gathers public views on next year's Budget"; last Friday). Unproductive employers often hide under the protection of an assured quota of cheap foreign labour to survive, making the productivity drive fruitless. To improve productivity in a sustainable way, industries should adopt a bidding system for labour like the auction for certificates of entitlement (COEs) for cars. There should be separate categories for different industries. Work permits or high-income employment passes should be divided into the following categories: Construction/marine sectors; Manufacturing sector; Service sector; Open category for industries that have exceeded their quota limits; Maids for permanent and foreign residents; Maids for families of citizens with a combined income of more than $8,000 a month and/or are private property owners; and Maids for families with a combined monthly income of under $3,000 and/or who own up to a four-room Housing Board flat, with children under 10 years old. Disabled Singaporeans and elderly parents should be exempt from the bidding scheme and be allowed to hire a maid at a concession. The hiring of maids is a luxury, like the owning of cars. Families which wish to obtain such a luxury should be charged stiff fees to discourage usage. To cater to the eventuality of there being fewer maids, more neighbourhood eldercare and childcare centres should be opened in residential areas. Businesses, including charity organisations, must bid for the labour COE. The Government can allocate special subsidies in the form of credits for deserving companies which serve the public interest. It can also consider giving special credits to companies in which citizens make up 80 per cent of the workforce. Lai Yew Sin Copyright

This time looks like a smaller portable ScanEagle drone. The drone looks in good condition from the video. According to Iranian military on Dec 5, the drone was "hijacked" by Iranian forces over their airspace near Kharg Island,. Interestingly, the US Navy is the first to claim no losing any drone, even though Iranian has yet to publicly name the country who operated the drone. This comes almost a year after a RQ-170 stealth drone was captured by Iran and a US Air Force Predator was shot at a month ago. PS: Singapore Navy vessels also uses Scan Eagle.

might be leaving the country in year end, thinking of coming back occassionally like once or twice a month to visit mum and other commitments. thinking of selling my current car when times come and settle for a foreign vehicle. Already wrote to LTA about the intention, any one has similar experience and willing to share some pointer. thanks in advance

I'm thinking what legal rights and expertise rights do they have to stop and guide traffic. I saw one foreign worker holding a stop sign and show the sign right in my face while signalling me to go and it was messy. There were three trucks waiting to turn into the site. Are they authorized to do that? They don't look trained in traffic wardenship.

Bloomberg reports Anti Foreign Sentiment in SG - Global News now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ferrari Deaths Fuel Anti-Foreigner Anger Before Singapore Poll 2012-05-25 01:24:53.256 GMT By Shamim Adam and Andrea Tan May 25 (Bloomberg) -- At 4.09 a.m. on May 12, Chinese national Ma Chi sped through a Singapore stop light in his $1.4 million Ferrari 599 GTO and slammed into a taxi, killing himself and two others and sparking a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment. The crash, caught on camera by another cab and viewed more than 7 million times on the Internet, prompted ministers to try to defuse public anger over immigration policies and the rising wealth gap that caused the ruling party

Have been watching documentries on tv how various foreign celebs etc visited the diasaster towns and gave their words of encouragements / tangible helps etc to the victims and their families. Some of the foreigners are renowned musicians etc. Their priority seems to be trying to offer whatever helps they could. Just watched one documentry last nite showing a celeb tv host from china doing the same visit but with a difference: when asked why he made the visit, his answer: "To check if the place is still safe for tourist from mainland to visit"!!!! .... is this his priority?

Not sure if it is already the case and not trying to be racist. Just stating the obvious that road conditions and driving culture here are different from road conditions and culture elsewhere. Maybe in other countries weaving around a dozen pedestrains at 50km is considered skillful but here it is dangerous driving.

Can anyone advise if my wife, a Malaysian, is allowed to own foreign property? The property is not for residence but shophouse instead.

Illegal parking on double-yellow line still can argue wan meh? And mata also kena called in? From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...eign_woman.html Posted on 28 May 2012 Foreign woman goes berserk after she's fined for illegal parking STOMPer Supernovi says this foreign woman kicked up a big fuss after being issued a fine for parking illegally along a double yellow line at Bukit Timah. The police eventually had to be called in to resolve the matter. Says the STOMPer: "My friends and I were at Bukit Timah Plaza and we came upon a Chinese National woman getting booked for a parking offence along a double yellow line. "Apparently, she insisted that the enforcement officer allow her a grace period but when she came back, she received a ticket. "Question: Which enforcement officer will allow anyone any grace period for parking along a double yellow line? "Clearly she was in the wrong and she created such a big fuss that her own kid was crying. Afterwards, when the traffic enforcement officers were about to leave the scene on their bike, the kid allegedly blocked their way and caused them to nearly fall. "The officers had no choice but to disembark and call the police. "The police came later and she kept on complaining that she was still right and we were like 50 metres away and we still could hear the commotion. "After a good 20 minutes, they all left the scene. "The woman should have known better, why create such a big fuss when you are in the wrong in the first place? Please adhere to the laws of Singapore, even though it may be just a parking summon. "Irony of the story, one of the enforcement officers is also a Chinese National."

an extract from the WP rally: http://wp.sg/2012/05/rally-1-jennjong/ it's really disgusting if true... earlier, the figure was 36m spent each year, which already caused a hoo-ha hope MOE can come clean and tell the citizens exactly how much is spent on foreign scholarships almost 150m per year is ridiculous... at least to me

From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg..._couple_to.html Posted on 10 Apr 2012 Malaysian mechanics force S'pore couple to pay $925 for minor car repair STOMPer fendi and her husband encountered several mechanics in a workshop in Malaysia who had initially promised them that repairing their broken down car would cost them $103, but later increased the fee to $925. Said the STOMPer: "I'm sharing our bad ordeal which happened on Sunday (Apr 8) at the North-South highway. "Our car broke down at Senawang, Seremban. "At that moment, a red car pulled over and a man in dark blue uniform with an Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) pass and logo told us that he has a workshop and will arrange for towing and promised us that it would cost RM250 (SGD$103), inclusive of towing. "The boss told my hubby that it was probably the gearbox but luckily my hubby is familiar with cars and told him that it was the alternator that was spoilt. "The boss told us that he would need to order the parts and asked us to stay at a hotel and collect it the next day. "But we refused and my hubby kept monitoring the progress. "He asked the boss what the cost would be but the boss said to settle it later. "We reached the workshop at 3pm. "The driver that picked us started drinking hard liquor. "After waiting for the repairs (which took 4 hours) to be done, he showed us the bill and we got shocked -- the total amount was RM2,250 (SGD$925). "We told the boss that it was ridiculous and asked why the cost was different from the amount that was earlier promised. We also told him that it was unlikely that a second-hand alternator would cost that much. "At this point, the men started to get rowdy and raised their voices. "We told him that we didn't have enough money, and he asked us to walk to the pump station to withdraw. "My hubby was thinking of our safety, hence we had no choice but to pay them as it was getting dark and we needed to travel a 4-hour long journey back home. "Even the staff at the pump station knew about that workshop and their dishonest methods.. "Back home, I did a search on Google and found out that many others had also fallen prey to this same workshop. "The workshop had used the same method on all their customers, and some who had innocently left their cars at the workshop overnight had ended up paying RM9000 (SGD$3,698) even after a police report was made. "Be cautious. "Why can't the police do anything about this?"

Business Times - 28 Feb 2012 DBS security head quits, cites health reasons By NISHA RAMCHANDANI AND KENNETH LIM (SINGAPORE) There has been no indication so far that the card-skimming syndicate which struck three DBS Bank ATMs has been selling the data cloned from the cards online, the bank said yesterday. 'We are working closely with the police on the investigation, and so far, the sale of cloned data online has not been detected,' said a DBS spokesman in response to queries from BT, commenting on speculation that the syndicate could have sold confidential client data online. The card-skimming syndicate first hit DBS customers in January, withdrawing cash from ATMs in Malaysia with clones of original cards used at two ATM machines in Bugis in November. Nearly 700 DBS customers lost a total of about $1 million, which the bank compensated. DBS also deactivated and replaced the cards of 2,726 customers - deemed to be 'high-risk' - who had used the two ATMs at Bugis. This was followed by another bout of unauthorised withdrawals on Feb 19, this time in Singapore, when the fraudsters stole $23,000 from the accounts of 17 DBS customers. Last week, DBS revealed that it believed a different ATM - without divulging the location - in addition to the two at Bugis had been compromised at around the same time of the Bugis skimming. The 17 customers were compensated within 24 hours. The bank again deactivated and replaced the cards of a further group of customers who were potentially at risk of fraudulent domestic withdrawals. DBS has been replacing cards with an EMV chip, as part of a re-carding process that began in January, as the banks in Singapore seek to move to EMV chip technology by 2014. In response to a query on whether more ATMs could have been compromised, the spokesman said: 'Only if and when actual fraudulent withdrawals take place, and common patterns identified, can a bank conclude that skimming has taken place.' To minimise risk, it has rolled out measures including SMS alerts upon withdrawals and blocking overseas withdrawals. Separately, DBS said its managing director of compliance services and security, Jim Pasqurell, has tendered his resignation due to health issues but added that ongoing investigations will not be hampered by his departure. Mr Pasqurell, 62, will remain with the bank until end-May to ensure a smooth transition process.