Business and Money Tips

Mr Lee Kuan Yew, aged 91, founder of modern Singapore and the (late) father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, passed away peacefully on 23 March 2015. (Get your course listing at here ) In 2009, I was asked by New Horizon Computer Learning Centre to conduct a one-week Management and Leadership training for a group of directors and senior managers from the Ministry of Finance and Economics of the Republic of Tanzania (a eastern African nation).  During the course, I was asked to summarise how Singapore transformed itself from a third world nation in 1963 with per capital income of US$1,500 to a first world nation having the highest per capita income of US$59,000 in 3 decades.  My answer to them is just 3 words: "Lee Kuan Yew". Born on 16 September 1923 to a upper income family, Lee Kuan Yew's grandfathers' wealth declined considerably during the Great Depression, and his father, Lee Chin Koon, became a poor shopkeeper. Lee Kuan Yew speaks English as his n

(Note: You can take advantage of $500 Training Credit now, not 2016, details at  here ) It's every manager or leader's dream to find the right staff to work for them so that they achieve more with less time.  There are 5 steps to getting the right people each and every time: Look for People that Have the Potential to Do Better Than What They Are Doing Now.  This means you cannot be looking for high flyers who are now having a very successful career.  You are looking for the hidden gems: people who are good but do not have a good career right now.   Offer them a salary that's higher than what they asked for.  This will lock in their interest and commitment in you.  Also offer increase in salary after probation or upon completion of certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Be Generous in Your Incentives .  Offer 3-tiers of incentives: high rewards for achievement of 'impossible' targets, rewards for achievement of mutually agreed targets and token reward fo

As part of Budget 2015 announced by the Finance Minister on 23 February 2015 (summary at here ), the Singapore Government is giving all Singaporeans (aged 25 and above) $500 Training Credit called "SkillsFuture Credit". This training credit can be used for all types of training and will be disbursed to all Singaporeans in 2016 and will be topped up subsequently. We at Asia Trainers know that people want to take advantage of this training credit now, not one year later.  That's why we come out with our own " Quarterly $500 Training Credit" (QTC).  Any individual or company (foreigners included) aged above 13 can sign up for our QTC.  Upon signed up, you will be given $500 training credit, which will be used to offset 25% of our training fees.   This Quarterly $500 Training Credit will expire by 31 December 2015.  It will be topped up quarterly. Conditions: Each individual or company only given one QTC per quarter Each QTC can be used

(Note: You can take advantage of $500 Training Credit now, not 2016, details at here ) A quick summary of Singapore Budget 2015 as announced by Finance Minister on 23 Feb 15: High-income earners hit with higher taxes. Personal income tax top marginal rate to rise by 2% from 20-22% for top 5% of earners with chargeable income of $320,000 and above SkillsFuture $500 Credit f or all Singaporeans aged 25 and above: each will get $500 credit in 2016 that can be used for all types of training.  GST Voucher will be increased by $50 for all. Seniors will get another $300 GST vouchers All individual income tax will be reduced by 50% , capped at $1,000 for each person Companies will enjoy income tax rebate of 30% , capped at $30,000 Domestic maid levy will be halved to $60 from May 2015 for households with children aged 16 and below One-year 20% road tax rebate for cars and 100% tax rebate for commercial vehicles.  But petrol duty tax will increase by $0.15 to $0.20 per litre w

Happy Lunar New Year. In our previous blog , we said that you don't need permission to do what is right, like upgrading your skills (courses at here ), In this new year, strive to do well in these 7 things:   No more reactive: be pro-active to ask for the sale, ask for more work, ask for better treatment, ask for upgrading etc  Avert less and Turn all your dislikes into likes .  Get used to things and stop complaining about how you dislike the way things are today compared to yesterday.  No more yesterday, only today and tomorrow matter. Team Achievement, not just Individual Achievement.  Studies show that the more the team achieves, the easier will be the individual's job Take care of people's hearts and people will work hard for you.  Don't use command, control and coercion. Instead inspire, influence and motivate people. Be tough and dare to do things that people dislike . Like follow-up your prospects and do service quality audit. Lea

* Take advantage of 2016 $500 Training Credit now, not 2016 at here * After reading the world's analysis, these are my 7 predictions for 2015 (as written on 21 Feb 2015): Low Interest rates in USA will not only not rise (as promised by Yellen), but remain the same or even decline.  The recent rise in the US Dollar will be reversed by the second half of the year If you think that the market is awash with liquidity, there will be even more hot money floating around.  This is because Europe and other nations like Canada, Japan, China and Australia are now embarking on ' Quantum Easing ', or printing of money into their economies Financial crisis will not materialize, instead there could be an Energy Crisis and Commodity Crisis . This means that everything will become cheaper due to the persistent low oil prices.  (note: I predict oil price will be below US$60 a barrel for most of 2015) Slow economic growth (less than 2%) will be the norm, and 1% to 1% growth is con

Now you too can start your day right with the following 7 mindful thoughts: 1.  Take Out Filler Words in Your Daily Conversation.   Filler words and phrases are sounds that have no meaning, they are there to fill in spaces while we are thinking.   The most common fillers are 'so', 'well', 'like', 'you know', 'how come' and 'sort of'.  Filler words reflect a unclear mind that just wants so speak.  Imagine a conversion full of filler words, what a mindless conversation it is! 2.  When Eating, Just Eat .   Many people like to gobble their food, and the more they like a food, the faster they eat it.  Many people are afraid that if they don't fast, that good food may be gone.   The point is until you adopt mindful eating, you are not absorbing the full benefits of the food you're eating and you're just wasting food!  In Japan, it is very rude to eat and talk at the same time, and munching a food while listening to a le

Exercise for you: once a day, look out for someone close to you - can be a family member, colleague, boss, Facebook friends, relatives or just friends - and give them a Mindful Compliment. Most people give compliments that are neither mindful nor meaningful.  Many are just flatteries, some are even sarcasms disguised as compliments.  Others compliment just for the sake of it, with no intention or mindfulness behind. Many people commented that when they give out compliments, the receiving person often block it."Oh, I am not perfect", or "Not really", "Today I am not in top form" or even start analysing the compliment and give their comment or rebuttal of it. In fact, being given a compliment creates vulnerability.  Some people may become wary of compliments at work, for the compliment from the boss often follows some kind of extra work and stress.  In adolescence, people often get compliments and later were stalked or teased.  Many people are not su

Are you a good boss?  Given a chance, would your employees want to work for you?  Most importantly, are you able to make people better than themselves, or make people better for just yourself?   Make no mistake: the best bosses could also be bad bosses at times.  The key to being a good boss is  how to Be the best, and learn from the Worst .  Taken from our all-time best-seller new course  How to Be a Great Boss  and books from Robert I Sutton, there are 5 things that you have to do: Don't Crush the Bird .  Managing people is like holding a bird in your hand.  If you hold it too tightly, you'll kill it. But if you let loose, you'll lose it.  Indeed managers that are too aggressive will damage relationships and managers that are too passive and not assertive enough will get people climb over their heads.  Like salt in a dish, too much will overwhelm the dish; too little is similarly distracting; but just the right amount of salt will leave an unforgettable experienc

In our training classes (listing at here ), people often ask me permission to do things like asking questions, sharing of experiences and even going to the toilets. I often told them, "You can do anything you like in my classes, including scolding me, as long as you pay your fees".  That inevitably draws chuckles from them.  We are unlike the Americans, who have never asked permission for anything.  They just go ahead and to it.  That's why Nike's slogan is "Just Do It".  If this is Asia, it would be "Ask Permission First".  Psychologists said that people feel the need to ask for permission because they don't want to be seen as aggressive or outshining others.  Some people go one step lower: fearing that their permission will not be granted, they dare not even ask for permission.  Such behaviour explains why many people are living below their potential.  You can see it everywhere like: Subordinates dare not do better than their boss Sa