OCBC 360 Account VS UOB One Account

Disclaimer:
Personal views are being portrayed in this posts.
It might not be the absolute fact, and I have no professional background in this field.
To know more about my background, you can take a look here.


Hi,

I have recently heard about a new Banking Service that is as good, if not, better than the OCBC 360 account. It is known as UOB One. There are already some articles, like those from Investment Moats

The new OCBC 360 account boasts it "just got better". Personally, it just got more confusing and harder to hit the higher interest tiers.
To read its original source, it can be found here.

So what does this mean?

1. Credit your salary of at least $2k SGD through GIRO
Simple enough. Ask your company to pay you through GIRO to your OCBC account. But if your company doesn't use the GIRO system? No more 1.2% per annum!

2. Pay 3 bills online or through GIRO
This is quite easily done with all those bills hanging around. However, it was a downgrade from the previous system(1% previously to 0.5%)
You can pay your credit cards bills with this account and it counts as 1 bill. This will be helpful since 1 credit card is considered as 1 bill. So if you use all 3 OCBC credit cards, you can easily hit this criteria.
For myself, I would try to use 3 different cards just to get this, since i credit my phone bills to one of my cards for points and rebates.

3. Spend at least $500 on OCBC Credit Cards
This is something better than before if I intepretely correctly. Previously, I remembered it as $400 on 1 card. Now, it says $500 on OCBC Credit Cards and its FAQ states:

"You just need to spend a minimum of S$500 across your OCBC Credit Cards (examples of eligible cards are 365, Titanium, Platinum, FRANK, Robinsons, Plus! and Best Denki)."

This gives you flexibility to choose your favorite card to make dealings, instead of trying to clock the amount on one card.

BUT.
Do note that some cards requires a minimum amount to get the rebates, like you requires 600sgd spendings on OCBC 365 cards to be entitled 3% weekday dining rebates and 6% weekend dining rebates.

4. Insure or Invest to get 1% bonus for 12months
NOT all insurance or investment plans gives you this 1%. Hence this 1% is pretty hard to achieve. You can understand more from its FAQ

5. Increment your balance from previous balance
While all other clauses pays until $60k, this clauses pays until 1million SGD.
It counts your monthly average and compares it to your previous month average. The amount differences will then be given 1% per annum.
So to see substantial amount of money from this 1% monthly, the increment in difference must then be quite big.

6. It is capped at 60k.

Unlike OCBC 360 with seemingly achievable clauses, UOB One is a lot more simpler.

1. Spend on UOB One card or UOB Direct Visa Debit Card
2. Credit a minimum of $2k pay via GIRO OR perform 3 GIRO debit transaction
The point to note is that GIRO transaction is not online transaction.

And this would mean that, if you credit your pay to your bank account, but do not meet the $500 spending limit, you do not get any interest(apart from the 0.05%)

This table would tell you how much interest you would get.
Read it carefully.
First 10k is 1.5% (0 to 10k)
Next 20k is 2.00% (10001 to 30k)
Next 20k is 3.33% (30001 to 50k)
Capped at 50k.

First 10k will get you 1.5% which is 150sgd.
Next 20k will get you 2% which is 400sgd.
Final 20k will get u 3.33% which is 666sgd.
It is capped at 50k for this account.


So which one is better?
Considering OCBC 360 to be able to fulfill the salary, credit card and 3 bills components, you would be awarded with only 2.25%(1.2% from salary, 0.5 each from CC and bills, and 0.05 basic)

Calculation 1
Since it is capped at 60k for OCBC, we will calculate to 60k.
2.25% *60k would be 1350SGD.

As for UOB One would be
150+400+666+50 = 1266.

Calculation 2
if we were to calculate to only 50k...
OCBC would be:
2.25% of 50k would be 1125

As for UOB One..
150+400+666 = 1216!

Now, this is a substantial difference!

To compare in specific cases:
If you have less than 30k in your bank, OCBC 360 would seemed to pay you better interest because the 2.25% is consistent, unlike UOB One being tiered.

Also, UOB One accounts only allows the usage of UOB One card, which is a pretty awesome card. But because of that, there is a severe lack of flexibility, unlike OCBC 360.

However, the key thing about UOB One is simplicity. It is easy to understand and achieve, unlike OCBC 360, there are 3 clauses to cater for and achieve.



In conclusion,
If my calculation is to be trusted, UOB one is for people with above 30k but below 50k, or does not have 3 bills to pay.
Otherwise, IMO, OCBC 360 is still the best for general savings account!

Regards
Benjamin Chai

Central Depository Account (CDP) and MAS Bonds

Disclaimer
Whatever written is purely my own opinion and should not be taken as professional advice as I do not have any professional training in this field. However, please do read it any way, and give me feedback about my opinion.
To know more about me, please take a look at the post about my profile.

Hi,

CDP account is an account for you to keep your portfolio of stocks, bonds and many other stuffs.
This account is owned by the government and you can only have one of it. You do not require to close it either if you already have it as it is better to have it than not to have it.

So why do you want to make this CDP account?

Simple. So that you can buy MAS bonds.
As stated in their website, one of the things required is a CDP account, as well as a bank account with the participating banks.

In this site, it states the benefits of this bond and more details could be found in the news everywhere.

How do you make a CDP account?

The next most important question: how to make a CDP account?

Firstly, this account is a pain in the ass to make. You would require to be physically there to sign the form in front of the officers. Hence, postage is out of the way.
Secondly, if you were to make the CDP account with CDP themselves, you will have to visit during office hours, which is also a problematic thing.

So the next best way to do it is to open with a Securities Company.
A Securities Company is a company who provides a trading platform for you to buy and sell stocks. In that process, they would earn commission from your transaction.
If you tell them you want to open a Securities Account, they would first ask you for CDP.
Tell them no and they will start to help you apply for one as well.
Some examples of Securities Companies are Maybank Kim Eng, Ocbc Securities, Lim and Tan Securities, Philips Securities etc.

Among them all,
I find it easiest to open your CDP with OCBC securities.
This is because a call to IOCBC would tell you that you may open an account at most OCBC branches. And the best part about OCBC branches is that they have long operating hours, as well as Weekend banking.

So for people who are working, my suggestion is to open with them to get your CDP started up.

Once you get your CDP, remember to ask for your online services of CDP by calling them! Then you would receive your online banking pin, and your ONEKEY. This is so that it would be easier for you to track what you have in your CDP.

As for trading, most Securities charges a basic of $25sgd commission for trades in Singapore Exchange, a 0.275% clearance fee, a 7% GST and 0.0325% SGX trading fees. This seemed like a small number, but if your contract value is high, its pretty substantial.
So, before you trade, you would need to know when and if it is possible for you to break even the transaction fees and still make a profit.


Regards
Benjamin Chai

Diamond no Diamond? (earring)

Hi,

I know it is pretty stupid to buy a expensive gift for just a girl you like. She ain't my girlfriend, nor is there a chance that she will become my girlfriend (she rejected me by saying I am a nice guy, but let's be friend. Ironic isn't it?)
My friends scolded me for scaring the shit out of her and putting invisible pressure on her. And they also cursed that why am i spending such money when i could use it to treat them to a big feast.

But I don't really regret my decision. I didn't buy it because it is diamond; i bought it because i think it suits her. But that's not the reason of this blog post.

So, when buying a earring, i learnt a few stuffs.

The price range is insane. The cheap ones are going for 90cents a pair, while the real diamond real gold stuffs are going at 4 digits.

So what are the considerations you look at when buying a earring for a girl?

They are:
type of metal
type of precious stone
laser cutting
budget

Earring

It may sound pretty stupid talking about metal for an earring.

The cheaper versions are all made with plastics. But if you were to buy something that looks nice, it has to be metal.

The issue with metal is that there are so many bloody type of it.

Cosmetic metal- where it is just some cheap metal. If the wearer is allergic to metal, she would throw such cheapo earring away after wearing just a few times. Such earrings are usually in the cosmetic jewelry department where they are inexpensive and fairly ugly.

Surgical Steel - The name of it sounded awesome. But to me, it is just stainless steel. It may be slightly less allergic prone, but you cant be sure. They are after all, steel. They have a nice metallic color to it. Honestly speaking, i skipped these range totally since they are not really that cheap and their design looked ugly.

925 Silver-  Such silver are pretty and can be expensive. Their design are usually with some precious stones that are not diamond(diamond is high budgeted). Being 925, they are said to be good for people with metal allergies. Their price range are pretty good too, and they looked nice! But silver will never win its counterpart, which is known as...

Gold- Of course, gold is the best type of metal. But do not misunderstand me when i say gold here. I am not talking about the color, but talking about the metal itself. The normal yellow gold that we know of is seriously ugly, despite being the type of gold that worth the most money. 

White gold and rose gold is the most common for making earring. They are a pretty color and they are known to be the best type of metal for people with allergies. Well, they are in fact the only type of metal worthy to be paired with diamond! If you ever looked at any diamond earring, they are always paired with White gold or rose gold, or gold itself.


Then going to stones,
Precious Stones are pretty cheap usually, since they are pretty trashy and is only there because it is pretty.

Diamond, however, is in a league of its own. Forget about clarity and cutting. I do not have such large budget to look at stuffs like that. But I would like to bring out a point that there are in fact 2 types of diamond, man made or natural. Man made stuffs would always be cheaper than natural stuffs. And of course, contrary to popular belief, diamond aren't THAT expensive.
100++SGD would get you a pretty diamond earring coupled with White Gold or Rose Gold, and they claimed that those diamond are REAL ones, not man made.


So in combination,
When you go to the jeweler, they would first ask you, "Diamond, No Diamond?"

If you said "No diamond",
They would show you a range of earrings with either precious stones, or laser cut.
Their range is fair affordable, with some of them being less than 100SGD.
My point is is to focus more on the laser cut.

Laser Cut looked damn good under those blinding lights inside the jewelers' shop. This is because the white gold does shine bright like diamond when coupled with strong lights. However, upon looking closely to it, it is nothing comparable to a real diamond shine. The price is good, but if you really want something that shine, diamond should be the stuff you look at.

Comparing to Swarovski crystals, diamond are still in a higher league on its own. And the crystal earring i so wanted to buy was a part of a earring and necklace set. So I didn't buy it.

So once you decided that you have a more than 100SGD budget, I suggest you get a diamond earring. They are a lot more nicer than 925 silver with precious stones, or White and Rose Gold with coloured precious stones. But that's totally personal opinion!

But if budget is less than 100SGD, diamonds are out. I suggest White gold or Rose gold with a nice pattern, but NOT with laser cutting. Because although they shine bright, they are still not diamond and hence it looked fake. Of course you can buy other types of metals, but i guess Gold would always outshine the rest of those precious metals.

Lastly, the good thing about buying diamond is that you get a certificate of authenticity. This is kind of like you get a warranty of the stuff you bought. I think it is a warranty of 6 months or a year. I can't remember anymore. And, while the warranty is usually a receipt, if it is a gift, you can request for the certification to be printed without the price of the item. That way, your recipient will not know how much does the stuff cost!( this is particularly important to me to reduce the invisible pressure on the girl i like)

My conclusion about earring is that, it looked damn good when you hold it on your hand or in the box. But when it is being worn, I guess it is too small to be noticed by anyone. I am not sure about others but i really doubt i would notice such a small item placed on the ears, unless i have the chance to be THAT close to her.
But then again, being a gift, i guess i don't want to give a trash that she wouldn't wear due to allergies or due to it being out of her style. So with that in mind, I chose one that suits her best(based on how i perceive her).

Jeweler's Service

The next interesting thing stuff that I learnt about buying diamond is that the way you present yourself will determine how much enthusiasm you received from the salesperson.

While hunting for this particular present, i wore several outfit and went to several branches of jewelers. They are mostly the same few brands, some being the sister branding of their more premium range and bla bla bla. If the jewelers are selling the more high end precious metals and diamond, their salesperson would be wearing suits, else they would be just wearing some shirt.

When walking into the shop with polo tee and cargo pants, the service i got was quite lukewarm. It isn't that bad considering that they totally gave me a condescending "Hi Sir, how can I help you" when i walked in wearing t shirt and shorts with slippers.

But when I walked in with shirts and pants, they served me with more enthusiasm and the disappointment on their faces are a lot more when I walked out with no purchase.

So i guess, the saying of we are what we wear stays true. Dressing up does give us more confidence and gain more respect from people despite being empty vessels.

Don't judge a book by its cover doesn't work in the society i lived in.

I guess I couldn't get over the fact that i was once rejected by a girl for being too fat to even fit into her dreams.
Well, i do hope the monitoring of Mi Band will make me lose some weight so i can chase this current girl better.(she did say that no one else is chasing her hard, but that doesn't mean she won't run away herself )

Hope is the theme of my Christmas, but i lose more hope in christmas day itself than the whole year combined.

Regards
Benjamin Chai

The Proxor Test

Hello,

So my nightmare just ended during Wednesday where we sat thru the 6hours grueling programming test, and despite practicing long and hard, majority of us gotten a Proxor 3 rating, which is not that bad, but just meant we are just entry level programmers.

So what is Proxor?

http://www.proxor.com/

This is a set of test designed by some university professor to test real world software developers to see if they can really code, or are they just there to get the fat paycheck by smoking through.

Being in a company which uses Java as our core languages, we were asked to do the pilot test to help evaluate if this is a good tool for our company to use for recruitment.
We were given a preparation code which were almost identical to the test questions. There are a total of 13 questions, of which 4 will end up as our test questions.
http://www.proxor.com/page/howtoprepare

So after much preparation, I am glad to say that we have compiled some of the solutions. They are able to pass the Junit provided, but I believe that in order to do well in, you must be able to identify all the possible error situations like special characters and wrong inputs etc.
The code efficiency also do matter in my opinion.

There is no proper comments inside the code, but a benreadme.txt are provided for most of the questions.

Do read the READMEFIRST, then inside each question, read the readme to know what is the question about.
if it is not clear enough, a video to show how the output should be is here. (the link provided inside the readme is outdated)
http://www.proxor.com/page/solution


b3n's answers and brochures for Proxor
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t2aoaapm07z8urn/AACO3uX_zcXwEazomx7X6fqfa?dl=0

I am not sure if I have infringed any rights or not, but if i did, do send me an email to tell me about it and I will be sure to remove it immediately!


Last but not least, while it is still in pilot trial run, I believe that this would be a useful tools to differentiate a good coder from a mediocre ones, as well as to provide certain feedback on how you can further improve your coding standards and skills. But more can be done to make the results give more details on your strength and weaknesses in coding!



Regards
Benjamin Chai

Proxor answers
Proxor test
Proxor Java
Proxor Pilot Test
Proxor Test Solutions

Human

Hi,

Human are the one that made technology not improve.
While many stuffs are technologically feasible, human acceptance must be present to make it successful.

Regards
Benjamin Chai