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Foreign talents and taxi drivers
- Thread starter Thick Face Black Heart
- Start date
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I walk the talk:
Boh Tiok................................... :(
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Yes, but now your biggest problem is when the number comes out and you didn't buy.
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My experience with young taxi drivers is that generally they are enthusiastic, efficient, and don't make excuses about not getting the route correct. Any mistake, they immediately apologize and don't try to deflect. I'm come across a few who speak really good English. Very often I find myself thinking, if a young chap has such gumption, surely there are other job opportunities waiting for him out there. Again, this is not to disparage taxi driving in any way.
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There are some taxi drivers who are gossipy or bad mannered, but by and large, taxi drivers provide a wonderful service to society and should be applauded. More importantly, being a taxi driver is one of the hot jobs in SG, together with insurance agents, financial advisors, credit card promoters and charity salespeople.
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if sinkie uncle is knowledgeable about converting, compressing and encapsulating in-phase quadrature amplitude modulation bit streams coupled with fast fourier transforms and forward error correction into ip frames yet achieve sub-30 nanosecond time stamps with extremely low frame delay variation (jitter), packet loss, and timely and robust packet sequencing, he's hired. better still with experience and skills in coding and hacking fpga, cpu, and sod based on open api's. is there any sinkie taxi uncle who can do this? 
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Insurance is another growth industry. I see batches of young graduates heading to this industry every year and I wonder why as I feel there are obviously much better options available in the marketplace. So I did a little digging.
Turns out recruitment drive has been stepped up over the years and senior managers are engaging kids at point of graduation. Lots of youngsters get in by word of mouth and referrals, and that is something insurance agents are good at. The bigger insurance outfits will have full day events and the highest echelons will be obliged to make an appearance. Smaller outfits in particular IFAs will organize a series of seminars, wine and cheese gatherings, etc. Same methodology used by small outfits to gain access into corporate insurance though with limited success from what I gathered.
The picture being painted is one of an industry that has undergone significant change and is no longer the "snake oil merchant" industry of yeasteryears. The Financial Advisers Act 2002 and revised in 2007 is cited as instrumental in dismantling the old "tied agency" model and ushering in a new process, system, and methodology of financial planning. In other words, Govt legislation is used as part of marketing and branding tool to create the image of an industry revamped.
In reality, the FA Act is simply a piece of legislation designed to address long standing malpractices like mis-selling. Note that despite the Act, that did not stop banks from selling Lehman bonds to unqualified investors who had no clue of the risks involved. The FA Act merely formalizes what should have been common sense and decent human behaviour. It is the subsidiary legislation that deals with finer points like what kind of data an agent should collect before advising on a sale. Formally having all these pieces of legislation however does not mean that all agents now behave decently. Everyone has to make a living and old practices still thrive in plain sight.
A career as an insurance agent is marketed as challenging, rewarding, and full of potential for personal growth. Emphasis is on personal development and that attracts the idealistic kids who believe in intangible values and qualities of character. Once the kids are in, some are brought into Christianity if the manager is of that particular persuasion. I see lots of conversions and that is understandable given the relatively young age and desire to conform.
MAS has kicked in new initiatives to encourage people to buy small policies directly from product manufacturers in order to save on costly commissions. That however does not change the fact that most insurance products except integrated shield plans are very poor financial options. I see young people dressed to the nines selling these in cafes and sidewalks and feel there are better careers out there than selling poor financial protection instruments.
Meanwhile of course foreign PMETs are snapping up the choicest jobs which 25 years ago would have gone to our brightest local graduates. Once these youngster spend a few years in insurance there is little desire to move out as the competition of good job is so bloody intense with all the foreign PMETs having their foot in the door.
Turns out recruitment drive has been stepped up over the years and senior managers are engaging kids at point of graduation. Lots of youngsters get in by word of mouth and referrals, and that is something insurance agents are good at. The bigger insurance outfits will have full day events and the highest echelons will be obliged to make an appearance. Smaller outfits in particular IFAs will organize a series of seminars, wine and cheese gatherings, etc. Same methodology used by small outfits to gain access into corporate insurance though with limited success from what I gathered.
The picture being painted is one of an industry that has undergone significant change and is no longer the "snake oil merchant" industry of yeasteryears. The Financial Advisers Act 2002 and revised in 2007 is cited as instrumental in dismantling the old "tied agency" model and ushering in a new process, system, and methodology of financial planning. In other words, Govt legislation is used as part of marketing and branding tool to create the image of an industry revamped.
In reality, the FA Act is simply a piece of legislation designed to address long standing malpractices like mis-selling. Note that despite the Act, that did not stop banks from selling Lehman bonds to unqualified investors who had no clue of the risks involved. The FA Act merely formalizes what should have been common sense and decent human behaviour. It is the subsidiary legislation that deals with finer points like what kind of data an agent should collect before advising on a sale. Formally having all these pieces of legislation however does not mean that all agents now behave decently. Everyone has to make a living and old practices still thrive in plain sight.
A career as an insurance agent is marketed as challenging, rewarding, and full of potential for personal growth. Emphasis is on personal development and that attracts the idealistic kids who believe in intangible values and qualities of character. Once the kids are in, some are brought into Christianity if the manager is of that particular persuasion. I see lots of conversions and that is understandable given the relatively young age and desire to conform.
MAS has kicked in new initiatives to encourage people to buy small policies directly from product manufacturers in order to save on costly commissions. That however does not change the fact that most insurance products except integrated shield plans are very poor financial options. I see young people dressed to the nines selling these in cafes and sidewalks and feel there are better careers out there than selling poor financial protection instruments.
Meanwhile of course foreign PMETs are snapping up the choicest jobs which 25 years ago would have gone to our brightest local graduates. Once these youngster spend a few years in insurance there is little desire to move out as the competition of good job is so bloody intense with all the foreign PMETs having their foot in the door.
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The biggest industry in SG now is selling charity donations. The irony is that these people will always start their pitch by claiming that they are not selling anything. Taxi drivers who are tired of driving or gossiping can consider joining this thriving industry.
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The top insurance agents in SG are some of the highest earners around. Taxi drivers should consider switching to this industry to earn more. However the bottom lot of insurance agents are some of the lowest earners around. These agents should consider becoming taxi drivers.
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- Joined
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Sinkie cabbies by and large provide a convenient service to Sinkies who don't want to take the bus or mrt. Only those cabbies who are rude or unreasonable should be screwed.
The Insurance agency owners began targeting school leavers and fresh graduates and have no minimum requirements. They took in all and sundry. They knew that all recruits will end up buying a policy for themselves, and will sell an average of 4 policies to their parents and siblings within the first 2 months. The family will alway support someone starting on a new job. This is at the low end of the scale. The average for the higher end recruit is about 10 policies in the first year mostly friends, school and NS mates. Commissions are tiered and everyone in the reporting hierarchy gets a %. So when these recruit leave, the commissions will continue to be received by the supervisors and agency owners. None of this requires any form of investment form the agency. The row of desks will always be occupied. Some of these recruits pay a big sum to attend sales and motivational talks and the agency also gets a cut from these.
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Those hitting mid career stall and kenna screwed by ft policies can also consider being insurance agents, property agents or charity salespeople.
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The elephant in the room is underemployment of PMETs and why they are forced mid career into insurance, taxi driving, private tuition, etc. Is this the best our vaunted first world economy has to offer our citizens?
It is understandable that more youths these days are targeted to by the insurance industry masquerading as financial planning. A poor career choice but one which i understand can be some people's cup of tea. But at a young age driving taxis? I'm sure not very many of them are opting for that out of passion.
It is understandable that more youths these days are targeted to by the insurance industry masquerading as financial planning. A poor career choice but one which i understand can be some people's cup of tea. But at a young age driving taxis? I'm sure not very many of them are opting for that out of passion.
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The fact that some people earn big bucks as taxi driver or tutor or insurance agent does not detract from the main issue of underemployment.
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Very true, under-employment does not allow sinkies to reach their true potential. :(
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