new direct flight from Singapore to San Francisco. Hurray

Source: CNA

Finally.. That's my feeling. With the large, and comfortable flights the long-haul flights should be a reality but thanks to sky high oil price, the justification failed it. Thanks to shale, or whatever now this is becoming a reality and I am really looking forward to reach my destination in less than 20 hours.

Ofcourse I still wish Concorde is here and I could potentially reach in 8 hours but doubt that is going to happen. Supersonic passenger flights are really a dream for current generation. 

SG Bloggers did a great job by writing an e-book (Investing your first 20,000 dollars), but no recommendation for CPF?

Came across this at work while having a nice cup of coffee to throw the bad feelings on the first monday morning of the year.

http://thefinance.sg/2016/01/04/free-ebook-investing-your-first-20000-by-singapore-finance-bloggers/

This is a good book and the suggestions are wonderful. Probably these young & mature investors are way better than my banker or myself or my friends when it comes to personal finance. But when I looked at the details, and surprisingly one thing is missing.  So the gist of the book is to invest 20K and have some brain dumps.

* you have 20,000 which you do not need for a long time
* No debts and no emergency needs.

Most of the bloggers ended up recommending investing in Index funds or REITs. I am surprised that not even a single soul thought of recommending CPF which is probably the best 'fund' for us according to CNBC
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/30/singapores-cpf-saving-plan-beat-markets-in-2015-with-steady-returns.html

If one were to start at 25, and by simply putting 20,000 in CPF and getting a 4%-5% interest would turn this in to 80,000 after 35 years which would be quite sufficient to cover the Medisave :)

Furthermore, there is no headache of worrying about index funds or REIT out of world asset valuations.

Indian students saga - Why students are deported from USA and common misconceptions about VISA

Recently there is a huge issue in Indian state of Andhra pradesh (& a bit in Telengana) about the ill-treatment by USA. As usual the media tried to blow it out of proportion and put emotional headings such as treating students like terrorists, keeping them with some unwanted people (??).  News articles here, here, here, here & here

But if one notices and do a simple search about what is a US VISA, one can clearly see,

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/frequently-asked-questions/about-visas-the-basics.html

A visa does not guarantee entry into the United States. A visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry, and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immigration inspector authorizes or denies admission to the United States

Similarly, many nations have a 'disclaimer' stating that the VISA doesnt guarantee an entry. Singapore recently became popular with certain nationalities and specific profiles. ICA even explained in an article here

So in a nutshell if someone need to take the blame and be responsible it is none other than the students themselves & their families. First of all, they are just trying to exploit the system of United States and trying to enter under the context of education but with a different motive. It is very clear to any layman that why people are going for studies but with less than $5 in their pockets and with dubious financial arrangements (e.g. my friend will pay first, then i will repay. This was an actual statement from a student).

Probably the Gov need to educate the people and perhaps put a exit visa for students as a sanity check. Be it the people going to middle east on "tourism" visa and end up as workers under horrible conditions (??) or students been deported from USA (may be UK, AU next). But knowing the way India works, it is going to be a dream. Wish, this new year some of my dreams will come true. :)