Balancing risk and reward (Sunday Times 24 Jan)
Jan 24, 2010
Balancing risk and reward
When investing money, consider your need and ability to take risk
The other side of the coin is when investors get so caught up chasing high returns that they ignore the risk element.
So it’s worth trying to understand what your personal risk profile is before investing your money.
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Some casino staff told to leave (ST 23 Jan)
Jan 23, 2010
Some casino staff told to leave
Applications to work at gaming tables rejected by the authorities
IT WILL be months before the first cards are dealt at Singapore’s two casinos, but several employees have already been fired because of stringent rules that dictate who can work there.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has fired more than 30 casino employees, while Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has also told an unknown number of workers to go.
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Reader’s Mail: Unemployed with 2 degrees and 4 certs
Hi Gilbert!
I came across your site whilst surfing the web for a support site for the unemployed.
Briefly about myself … I am 36, Malaysian Chinese, female and resigned in April 2009 from my MYR150k / annum job. Reason being that I needed a break and the work culture of the organisation was doing me no good. I am still looking for a job (albeit a good job, altho in times like this it is hard to even say that). During the course of my unemployment I have done 4 papers and gotten 4 certs, worked at MalaysiaKini briefly for about 3 months (but felt I didn’ have the knack for journalism) and am currently working at a marketing job (that’s paying 1/2 of what I used to get). At the same time, I am sending out my CV to scores of companies (both within KL and Singapore) for jobs within my area of specialism.
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Reader’s Mail: Exercise Helps Me During Unemployment
Hi Gilbert,
I’m one of the readers of your blog and also got myself unemployed involuntarily.
During this period of unemployment, each and every single day of staying at home becomes an increasingly difficult task to manage.
I was “enjoying” the first month of unemployment and by time the second month comes, every single day becomes an increasingly difficult task when you wake up in the morning, switch on the computer, search the jobs web directories for new postings (many were actually repeated postings) and have nothing else to do.
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2010: The Best of Times Or The Worst? (Robert Kiyosaki)
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
– Charles Dickens
Is the recession over? Are happy days really here again? Paraphrasing Dickens, my answer is, “For people who are prepared, 2010 will be the best of times. For many, 2010 will be the worst of times.”
The following are a few of my predictions and reasons behind them…
Prediction #1: The real estate market will crash again.
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My Published Letter: Help borrowers find hope (Today 14 Jan)
I refer to the well-written report “Authorities armed to the teeth” (Jan 13).
The Government is to be applauded for providing the relevant authorities with more power to tackle the growing loan-sharking problem before the opening of the integrated resorts. Gambling and loan-sharking go hand in hand.
There was a serious recession last year, so illegal money lending grew as the unemployed searched for funds. There is only so much that a person can borrow from friends and relatives. For some, loan sharks might even be their first choice of lender as it saves them the embarrassment of approaching people they know.
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More Sporeans returning home (ST 12 Jan)
Singaporeans celebrating Singapore Day at Hampton Court Palace in London. More overseas Singaporeans are also returning, attracted by the opportunities back home. — PHOTO: OVERSEAS SINGAPOREAN UNIT
BESIDES a growing pool of foreign talent, more overseas Singaporeans are also returning, attracted by the opportunities back home.
There are about 180,000 Singaporeans living abroad currently. Many are making enquiries about jobs back home as well as in the region as some have found it difficult to get a job overseas.
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When it does not add up (Today 11 Jan)
SINGAPORE – What would you do if your employment contract said that if you get injured at work, the hospitalisation bill would be docked from your pay? And that you would not be paid during your recuperation?
On top of that, you would have to pay your employer $200 a month for not fulfilling your contract.
And you can forget about taking your complaints to the authorities on anything about the company. Otherwise you would have to pay for your employer’s legal, transport and administrative costs of between $100 and $300 a day.
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S’pore workers put in longest hours: Survey (ST 11 Jan)
Jan 11, 2010
S’pore workers put in longest hours: Survey
They top international poll of 13 economies; MOM’s figure is 45.9 hours a week for 2008
The report puts them at the top of 13 economies in the group’s Global Wages Report for 2008-09, surpassing even the notoriously hardworking Japanese and Taiwanese.
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Opinion: Poor Employment Practices – Lack of Compensation Package
Our Poor Employment Practics – Lack of Compensation Package
Written by: Gilbert Goh
Many people who were retrenched during the recent recession lamented how badly they were treated after been laid off by their companies. Though retrenchment is generally expected by many people when there is a down turn, more can be done by the authorities to ensure that compensation is paid out when someone is being laid off.
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Fewer in full time jobs (Today 7 Jan)
SINGAPORE – If recent national employment figures possibly cast diploma holders in a comfortable position relative to degree holders, the five polytechnics’ graduate employment survey released yesterday was slightly less rosy.
This is because full-time employment rates dipped slightly last year for fresh polytechnic graduates and post-National Service (NS) graduates, while the proportion of those in part-time and temporary employment increased overall.
In 2009, 62.6 per cent of fresh poly graduates were employed full time, down from 68.5 per cent the year before. Similarly for post-NS graduates, it was 71.1 per cent last year, down from 76 per cent in 2008.
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Don’t put all your bets on IRs for a rebound (ST 6 Jan)
Jan 6, 2010
Don’t put all your bets on IRs for a rebound
Services will be the star, but it’s unclear how big a role resorts will play
The buzz surrounding Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa has intensified recently, as the resorts gear up for their big openings while Singapore readies itself for a robust 2010 recovery.
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“Too good” to be true (Today 5 Jan)
SINGAPORE – To them, it sounded like a good offer: A $900 monthly salary to be a cleaner at the integrated resorts. All they needed to do was pay a “processing fee”.
Foreign domestic worker Raquel Abella certainly thought it would be a good opportunity for her husband to join her in Singapore.
She was about to pay an agent $1,800 this week when she received an SMS from Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics (Home), a migrant welfare group, alerting her that the transaction was a scam.
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Job losses minimised in 2009, thanks to govt action (Asiaone 4 Jan)
Job losses minimised in 2009, thanks to govt action
But with Jobs Credit scheme expiring in June, will bosses let go of redundant staff? -BT
Mon, Jan 04, 2010
The Business Times
THE list of casualties wasn’t as long as you might have expected from the worst global downturn since the 1929 Great Depression. By the time 2009 ended, about 20,000 workers had been laid off here, according to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
And that’s less than the numbers in the previous two crashes – 29,080 during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and 25,840 during the 2001 Sars outbreak.
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Why you should embrace that contract (Today)
For many workers the data may be unnerving. Instead of an increase in permanent employment, what’s actually rising is contract employment.
The latest Singapore Workforce report from the Ministry of Manpower showed that nearly 13 per cent of resident employees are on term contracts. On top of this, the percentage of part-timers in the resident workforce rose from 6.8 per cent last year to 8.4 per cent this year. With such a high proportion of employees currently in contract and part-time positions – and with the percentages rising – the very nature of employment has changed substantially.
