SINGAPORE: It looks like a simple gaming computer. But Mr Dexter Ng and his group of friends realised that it was able to produce cryptocurrencies through a process called “mining”.

Armed with a powerful graphics processing unit, these computers are able to solve complex math problems which will gain the user rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies like the bitcoin.

Bitcoin is just one of the many cryptocurrencies out in the market, but it is currently the most highly-valued.

BITCOIN PRICE SOARS

Its price soared to a record high of nearly US$7,500 on Nov 8, compared with around US$1,000 at the beginning of this year, and it has therefore generated greater investor interest among Singaporeans.

Bitcoin’s popularity has trickled down to other “alternate coins” like Ether and Litecoin, sparking interest in cryptocurrency mining in general.

So Mr Ng and his friends built more powerful “mining” computers and started selling them.

“Then we posted photos online, on Facebook, and people started asking how much is this and they wanted buy it off,” the 29-year-old said. “So I sold it to people who queried on Facebook, and after a while, we started selling many on Facebook, so we decided to incorporate this company.”

Mr Ng said that the sales of rigs have shot up in recent months. The company used to sell about 15 rigs per month in July this year, but it is now selling about 100 rigs a month.

“Customers come in and order 50 rigs on their own. Compared to last time, probably one person only buys one or two. Now we get customers who buy 10, 20 or even 50,” he added.

Called Mining.sg, the company in Geylang Lorong 23 boasts a 1,100-square-feet office space that can house up to 45 rigs.

Each rig can fetch from S$5,000 to over S$6,500, depending on its processing power.

TRADING OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Cryptocurrencies can be traded on exchanges for cash. And as the hype over cryptocurrencies grows, exchanges that operate in Singapore are reporting greater activity as investors jump on the bandwagon.

One such exchange, Coinhako, told Channel NewsAsia that the number of users using the platform has doubled since the beginning of this year.

Another exchange platform, Quoine, said it has seen double-digit growth in the demand for cryptocurrencies since the beginning of this year, with bitcoin seeing the highest increase in demand.

Mr Ian Chan, who bought a rig three months ago, says there are other factors to consider when mining cryptocurrencies for investment.

“Calculating the percentage of return is one thing but what if this machine every day gives me issue, where I need to debug or whatever,” he said. “Then to me, am I buying something that I need to work on every day? From that angle, if I start with buying 20 units, then my problem multiplied 20 times. So I start with one, try it out and if it is good, then I slowly increase my investment in that.”

Mr Chan’s rig is currently mining a cryptocurrency called ZCash. All the coins in his rig mines go into a virtual wallet, which he can then choose to cash out or store in the hopes that its value will rise in the future.

The amount of ZCash his rig mines currently gives him an income of about S$300 a month.

After removing the additional electricity cost that comes with having a rig running 24/7 in his home, Mr Chan estimates that he would take about two years to break even.

His 13-year-old son, Ryu, also now has his own mining rig.

While the soaring prices of bitcoins might be a sign that this alternative form of investment is gaining investor confidence, there are concerns over whether the rise is too much, too fast.

Mr Thomas McMahon doesn’t think that the bitcoin prices are in a bubble.

“If you look at it statistically, it’s actually probably still really cheap in terms of an asset class,” said Mr McMahon, who is the founder of Cleer, a digital commodities platform that is built on blockchain, the technology that underlies the use of cryptocurrencies.

But not everyone agrees.

Cryptocurrency researcher Stanley Yong said: “The price going up is probably a bubble, given that it has reached more than US$7,000 per bitcoin. And the question for us is not whether it is a bubble. But how long this bubble will be there. And whether that speculation will result in a correction that will be painful and destructive versus a correction that is healthy.”

MAS WON’T REGULATE CRYPTOCURRENCIES

The Monetary Authority of Singapore told Bloomberg last month that it will not regulate cryptocurrencies, but that it will monitor activities around these coins and decide what are the risks which would require regulation.

So while the jury is still out on whether cryptocurrencies will be accepted into the mainstream, industry watchers generally agree that bitcoin’s recent price surge is not purely speculative.

Part of its rise is based on some economic fundamentals – the belief that the blockchain technology underlying these virtual currencies has the potential to disrupt the economy.

“Blockchain itself is a revolutionary technology. It’s really a systemic shift,” said Mr McMahon.

Blockchain is essentially a chain of blocks, each of them containing a set of data. These blocks are stored in a distributed ledger. So unlike a centralised one, there is no one authority over it. Instead, every user in the network has access to the data stored in the ledger, and it cannot be changed by anyone.

“The ledger architecture that sits on the backbone of blockchain has an incredibly innate ability to create irrefutable, immutable retention of data in perpetuity,” Mr McMahon added.

If blockchain is the way of the future, it is no surprise then that some are betting big on cryptocurrencies.

But Mr Yong also cautioned that investors should be discerning if they’re looking to put their money into cryptocurrency businesses that are built on blockchain.

“Not all of them are equal. Not all of them are based on new economic models. Even when a promoter of such cryptocurrencies is to point to something innovative, there is no sure win in many of these cases even when there is no intent to commit fraud, even when the people behind the cryptocurrency are sincere in their intentions, there is always a high chance of failure,” Mr Yong said.

Whether cryptocurrencies are the future or just a fad, experts say that as with all forms of investment, investors should do their homework and understand the risks before diving in. 

SINGAPORE: The public consultation for the draft Cybersecurity Bill has closed, and attracted a more-than-expected 92 submissions from a “wide and diverse range of stakeholder groups”, according to the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).

When the public consultation was first launched, the agencies said the protection of the country’s critical information infrastructures (CIIs) in 11 key sectors is a cornerstone of the Bill, and the sectors are: Government, security and emergency, healthcare, telecommunications, banking and finance, energy, water, media, land transport, air transport and maritime.

In a joint press release on Monday (Nov 13), the authorities said respondents generally shared the Government’s concerns on the impact of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks which could potentially cause major disruptions or cripple the country’s economy. 

“Respondents acknowledged the timeliness and importance of the Bill in setting the necessary legislative framework for pro-active oversight and response to cyber threats and incidents,” they said, adding that there were some reservations over some parts of the draft such as the designation of CIIs and the licensing framework.

As a result, the agencies said they intend to refine the Bill in several aspects:

• Provide more clarity over the designation of CIIs: The draft will be amended to clarify that only systems which have been explicitly designated by the Commissioner will be considered CIIs. These CIIs have already informed for some time, and have been involved in exercises with the CSA, so those that have not been informed are not on the initial list.

• Removing need for CII designations to be under Official Secrets Act: There was feedback regarding the practicality of doing so by the public, so authorities are removing the need to do, saying it is more important to ensure the technical and operational details of each CII are kept confidential.

• Ensuring regulatory requirements are streamlined: Respondents had suggested that any codes of practices and standards of performance required under the new bill should account for existing sectoral ones. This was acknowledged and the agencies said the appointment of Assistant Commissioners to oversee CIIs in each sector will “ensure that the bill requirements are sensible and take into account existing sector-specific requirements”, including international ones.

• Requirements of licensing regime: The original draft proposed to license both individuals and companies in the provision of cybersecurity services, but several respondents were against licensing in any form as this could impact the development of the ecosystem here.

  As a response, the agencies said they intend to simplify the framework by doing away with the need to license individual professionals and remove distinction between “investigative and “non-investigative” types of licensing. They add that only penetration testing and managed security operations centre monitoring service providers will be required to get a license at this point. Doing so gives it room for changes in the fast-evolving industry.

The agencies said they would continue to work closely with stakeholders in finalising the Bill, which they intend to introduce in Parliament in early 2018.

STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION

Cybersecurity company FireEye was one of those who gave feedback during the consultation window, and it told Channel NewsAsia that, as a whole, the CSA has done a “good job” in factoring in public feedback.

Mr Bryce Boland, the company’s Asia Pacific CTO, told Channel NewsAsia in a phone interview that intended changes such as removing the need for OSA designations would “reduce compliance-related overheads significantly”.

The removal of the need to license individuals was also lauded, as on an operational level, he felt that it would be quite impossible to implement, given that these professionals could be freelancers or consultants roped in for specific projects, and not with the company on a permanent basis.

Mr Boland added that Singapore’s proposed bill is “unique” from other countries’ such as China because this bill does what it sets out to do – improve the cyber resilience of CIIs that the Singaporean people rely on. By contrast, other countries are “very focused” on establishing cyber sovereignty or a surveillance state with their cybersecurity laws.

“I hope that other countries will introduce similar legislation to address (today’s) cybersecurity risks,” he said.

SINGAPORE: A few months into my stint as a career adviser, I coached a bright-eyed, zealous student who was keen on a junior associate position at a consulting company.

We went through the usual gamut of topics: Application procedures, resume templates, even a mock interview with the requisite question-and-answer routine.

At the end of the session, I reminded her that as an employee there, she may have to work late to meet project deadlines, or even work on the go while travelling overseas to meet clients.

Genuinely shocked, she asked, “You mean I won’t get any work-life balance?”

“What do you understand by that term?” I responded. Looking defeated, she asked: “Can we look at other industries instead … like banking?”

Truth be told, “work-life balance” is a term tossed around like the proverbial unicorn that everyone is looking for but very few can find.

A recent Randstad Employer Brand Research 2017 Survey reveals that Singapore employees ranked good work-life balance as their top priority, while employers ranked it their eighth (being financially healthy was their first).

The fact is most job applicants often expect a strict division of time and space between work and non-work. However, mobile phones and immediate email alerts have rendered these notions meaningless in the modern era.

It is also ironic that many students and young adults who are technologically savvy millennials are the same ones who often hold on to the archaic, punch-card ideal of work-life balance.

What should one do to inch closer to finding this unicorn?

1. FOCUS ON YOUR ROLE

We all play different roles at different times of the day. Today, a common scenario is for most employees is to be distracted in the office by personal matters as a parent, child or spouse, only to go back to their homes and be distracted by work matters.

To counter this, stick to the role of an employee fully in the office. Resist the urge to check your social media profiles and mindlessly surf the internet, and curb time-wasting activities such as meandering meetings.

Similarly, assume the role of being a loved one or friend outside of the office, and resist thinking or talking about work.

You will find that spending uninterrupted quality time with people who matter to you not only helps you to destress from work, but also enhances your overall happiness. It can also be an unlikely source of ideas and inspiration.

2. URGENT VERSUS IMPORTANT

In tertiary institutions like NUS, students’ schedules are planned to a tee. When they make that transition into the workplace, they often find themselves at a loss at planning their time around competing tasks. The same goes for young adults when they switch to a new employer or industry.

Often, common symptoms indicating a lack of work-life balance are confusion or burn-out. In this case, everything is urgent and needs to be done immediately.

To counter this, draw up a list of tasks and targets at the beginning of each day and prioritise what to do first.

You will need to understand the difference between what is urgent (like replying to random emails) and what is important (such as providing that management report). The difference between the two will be determined by your management’s expectations and the organisational culture.

Does your organisation issue directives top-down and expect regular reports and updates along the way, or does it let ideas and concepts develop organically in a more laissez faire manner with everyone’s inputs included? As an employee, you will need to find that out.

3. COMMUNICATE YOUR INTENTIONS

Communication which is clear and early will go a long way for you as an employee. Most organisations today have flexible working arrangements to cater to different needs of diverse employees.

Need to leave slightly earlier every Tuesday to take care of parents or children or attend night classes? Let your boss know and offer to make it up sometime else.

Have a medical appointment before a major presentation the following morning? Let your colleagues or team mates know early so they can help pick up your slack.

It helps to communicate your intentions early so that no one is caught by surprise. Overall, this also enhances empathy for everyone in the office.

4. UNPLUG

We run regular workshops at the Centre for Future-ready Graduates. During these workshops, students are encouraged to put away all possible distractions, including mobile devices. This is done so they can focus their attention on learning.

The pervasiveness of technology today makes this difficult, especially for young adults who operate under the stress of the “fear of losing out” from what is happening at work.

To counter this, learn how to take some time off occasionally to unplug. By not reacting to every single update or alert, you will build more focus and resilience in the long run. Unplugging also ensures that you draw a mental boundary between work and your personal life.

In conclusion, work-life balance is not an elusive unicorn – it is all about self-management. The reality of the employment market is that job applicants are expected to formulate their own work-life balance equation within the framework of what needs to be done.

For a young adult, asking about it may imply a sense of entitlement which usually works against you. For a mid-career professional, asking about the same usually raises questions about your ability to self-manage.

At the end of the day, it is a state of mind you have to create and manage by yourself. And by following the points set out here, you can move closer to achieving work-life balance.

Ryan Ang heads the career advisory team for professional services and research at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Future-ready Graduates.

This is the second commentary in Channel NewsAsia’s series with the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates on achieving career success. 

Read the first commentary on why networking is not a dirty word but a necessary skill here.