Monday, December 9, 2013

Bamboo reinforcement for concrete

In the future bamboo may be replacing steel bar for reinforcement of concrete slabs/columns.  Bamboo has many advantages over steel as not only it does not corrode, it is lighter and highly sustainable material.  Bamboo continues to grow after it is cut.  Steel requires a huge amount of energy to produce, while bamboo leaves little carbon footprint and thus environmentally friendly.

It is not a new idea as in 1960s, US had experimental with bamboo as reinforcement due to it good tensile strength. However they failed as they used split bamboo which absorbed moisture and resulted in concrete cracking due to its swelling. When there was water lost, de-bonding happened between the bamboo and concrete.  That caused the structure to collapse.

The new approach is to extract the fibres from the bamboo and treat them so that they are water-proof. The project is being undertaken in a laboratory in Singapore. So if they are successful in commercializing bamboo reinforcement bars, our construction industry will likely be the first to benefit from the new technology.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

2% of retirement income is from CPF

There is an article from The Edge magazine that said the findings from Allianz, a global asset management and insurance firm, found that on average only 2% of retirement disposable income comes from CPF. This is despite the fact the CPF force savings has been in place for decades and its main purpose is to see us through our old age. This is a sad and clear sign of the gross failure of one of our major national policies.

Retirees golden years have been turned into rotten years due to fail CPF policies which keep sucking more of our money into it with its chameleon policies.

The problem is over the years, CPF fund has become more of an easy money for govt investment rather than to see the citizens through their retirement years.  The miserable low CPF interest rates have been stagnant for more than a decade, although our sovereign wealth fund investment reaps handsome profit.

With the high inflation rate, run away public housing prices and medical cost, the more 'lucky' ones have with a roof over their head but little disposable income to see them through their twilight years. The unlucky ones will have no roof and little food on the table. The most unlucky ones will also be bankrupt by high medical fee.

Currently, seems like most elderly folks depend on their children for support, which accounts for some 60% of their retirement income. This ranks S'pore as one of the highest amongst our neighboring countries for poor retirement provision.

Even our neighboring countries' pension fund outstripped S'pore pathetic on average 2% CPF disposal income provision. We have to bear in mind that theirs is a pension fund, while CPF is in fact our own money, which the govt loves to refer to as 'pension' fund in recent years.

Family support is an issue for the young generation as they have to plan for their own retirement too,  while at the same time burden with raising up kids and supporting their aging parents. So can't blame the young couples for not wanting more than 1 kid.  Bearing in mind one can end up in court for not supporting your parents.*  Living within your means in S'pore is make sure you are able to support your parents and not to have more children than you can afford. It is expensive to bring up a child in S'pore and support of frail parents can be very taxing due to the high medical cost.

* Note : having a law that encourages parents to sue their children is not so much a reflection of the social fibre but the mentality of PAP.  They love to sue and welfare is a dirty word to them.