Crumbling of Singapore?

zhihau said:

one full term in office $$$ not enough

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TracyTan866 said:

So far what we know about the Pioneer Generation Package is that 450,000 pioneer Singaporeans will receive between $200 to $1000 per year. Information seemed to be deliberately scanty and confusing so that the average Singaporean is not able to draw any useful conclusion besides knowing that a pioneer Singapore receives some money from the govt each year which is deposited into the CPF account. But this money is tax payers' money and not pap money and it works out to be abt $1.5Billion per year. The $1.5B could have been used to reduce healthcare costs or to help the poor. But the govt chooses to put it into CPF account. The devils are in the details and show pap's evil scheme. They are:

1. Golden Goose for the CPF. This $1.5B goes into CPF. In other words, the CPF gets a golden egg of $1.5B from the govt every year. The pioneer Singaporeans cant use it except to buy MediShield or to pay for medical bills. If the pap is truly caring and wants to honour elderly Singaporeans, why doesn't the pap just give cash to them and honour them by letting them use the money anyway they want it rather than restricting it to CPF? By putting the money into CPF the pap shows that it is unwilling to use this money to help the poor but instead is locking this $1.5B and providing this yearly golden egg to CPF. Isnt this a golden egg for the CPF?

2. Cheap Fund. Deposits into CPF is locked in and the Singaporean cant use it anyway he wants. This is long term locking in. Paying 2.5% to 4% interest on such locked in money which the Singaporean cant withdraw when inflation is 5% is cheap fund to CPF and GIC to invest and gamble in global markets

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liongsum said:

Something is better than nothing.

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liongsum said:

What makes you think they need this roundabout way to assign funds to GIC and Temasek?

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liongsum said:

Would you be happier if the funds were to be given to them and they promise to use them for healthcare purposes only?

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TracyTan866 said:

Money given as an honour to someone should not have preconditions

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TracyTan866 said:

To a simpleton, "something is better than nothing" makes sense. But to me often it is not so simple.

Ever since the idea of medisave from cradle to grave was mooted, it is my favorite pastime to see how all medisave accounts can become sufficient to meet healthcare requirements.
I was very interested when sdp came out with some manifesto which started with condemning subsidies for healthcare as undignified (something like that). There I thought, free healthcare (actually 100% subsidized) will be the most undignified. Very noble. But for all the rhetoric, it was actually only a different formula of subsidies.

At today's rally, PM announced a silver package on the way. You might think it's nothing much again. To me, this is a small step. Good. But if you ask me further, this won't have much impact on people (nothing much). To have an impact, nothing beats a specifics focus like what I dreamed of, and if it is endorsed by parliament, it means the whole of Singapore agrees to fund healthcare for the needy from some specific quarters. It will be institutionalized. That will be a promise, not from the PM, but from the people of Singapore to the people of Singapore.

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liongsum said:

Whatever. But I think you are too taken away with the being grateful to the older generation. I didn't clap when I read it. Let's face it. It's not appropriate to honor this group of people by giving them money. I see the purpose is really to beef up their medisave because their earnings then were very different from today's. In fact, there should be a concerted effort to gradually beef up the medisave accounts of those who fall short. Govt would not lose much because they would spend less on subsidies. Can we reach a stage when nobody needs to be subsidized? Dare I suggest that all gaming revenue be used specifically for this purpose? This could be through an act of Parliament so that it is not easy to overturn. Maybe it is not enough (some mathematicians can do the calculations, including how many years it will take), but it's a start.

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liongsum said:

TracyTan866 said:

To a simpleton, "something is better than nothing" makes sense. But to me often it is not so simple.

Ever since the idea of medisave from cradle to grave was mooted, it is my favorite pastime to see how all medisave accounts can become sufficient to meet healthcare requirements.
I was very interested when sdp came out with some manifesto which started with condemning subsidies for healthcare as undignified (something like that). There I thought, free healthcare (actually 100% subsidized) will be the most undignified. Very noble. But for all the rhetoric, it was actually only a different formula of subsidies.

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Dear liongsum

You sound like an intelligent and fair minded Singaporean who wishes Singapore well. I am glad to have singaporeans like you in Singapore

I visited the Singapore Garden Festival yesterday at Gardens By The Bay yesterday. I saw two groups of people from Residents Committee who organised tours to SGF. I spoke with an auntie and she told me that the tour was sponsored by the RC. I spoke to the tour leader and was told by him that the RC got funds from PA. It's legal but again smells bad and comes with a bad taste that PA is using tax payers money for a political agenda

Last week I was invited by an organiser to attend Mountbatten Constituency's National Day celebrations at Tanjong Rhu. It was to be hawker fare stuff with good food. I was assured that food would be excellent and music good and tantalising fireworks. when I asked how much was the ticket, he told me that it was free as PA paid for the event because it was organised by the RC. I chose to skip it. Again the PA was using public funds to pay for PAP's political agenda. For any fair minded Singaporean, what PAP and PA are doing is wrong.

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liongsum said:

At today's rally said:

lhl has not learnt to respect and honour Singaporeans. what he announced at the NDR are tweaks in an attempt to pacify singaporeans and to address PAP's basic problems.

the pap has to change

1. LHL and pap have to respect Singaporeans. when Hougang voters chose Png as their MP with 62%, the pap must respect their choice and allow Png to work for the residents instead of being a stumbling block and made Desmond Choo the Constituency Advisor. That's totally wrong disrespectful of Singaporeans and angered many Singaporeans and many will not forget lhl and pap's vindictiveness and pettiness

2. LHL and pap must honour singaporeans by taking care of poor, sick and aged Singaporeans. As long as lhl and the pap pay only lip service and poor, sick and aged singaporeans are neglected in Singapore, Singaporeans will not honour the pap

3. LHL, GCT and the pap see themselves as our parents...what rubbish and what audacity...such attitudes infuriate singaporeans. Until LHL, GCT and the pap know that they asked to be voted in and are no more than just our representatives, they will alienate themselves.

4. Stop cronyism and benefiting their own kind using leegal but questionable means eg People's Association, defeated pap candidates as grassroot advisors.


etc

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TracyTan866 said:

liongsum said:

I read Cherian in the ST this morning, that the trend around the world is to move towards a system of Definite Contribution/Definite Benefits retirement savings system which converts to a life annuity upon retirement. Good move. Is he wrong? Upon retirement, this becomes very much like the pension system of old. We have come full circle. Another way to skin the cat.

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liongsum said:

TracyTan866 said:

liongsum said:

I read Cherian in the ST this morning, that the trend around the world is to move towards a system of Definite Contribution/Definite Benefits retirement savings system which converts to a life annuity upon retirement. Good move. Is he wrong? Upon retirement, this becomes very much like the pension system of old. We have come full circle. Another way to skin the cat.

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The CPF system has failed Singaporeans because the pap has mixed retirement savings with housing needs and health care. By mixing these, the pap is able to charge high hdb prices and high medical costs to singaporeans and profiteer from them. But these are done at the expense of retirement savings. Also the CPF Life is a bad scheme to allow fund managers to make money from CPF

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TracyTan866 said:

1. MRT Congestion
2. Housing problem
3. Hospital beds shortage
4. Unemployment of locals
5. Increased suicide rate
6. Unhappiness of citizens
7. Road congestion
8. High ERP rates without easing traffic congestion
9. Bus crowdedness
10. National Service for locals, jobs for foreigners
11. PAP running out of idea how to promote economic growth but having to resort to vices such as gambling.
12. Increased social problems and integration due to high influx of cheap, unskilled and unqualified migrant laboour with their 3rd world social behaviour and lawlessness

Are these signs of the crumbling of Singapore? The pap appears to run out of ideas how to bring SG forward but is taking the obvious easy ways out, bringing long term problems to SG.

Are the recent MRT failures precursors to more failures to come? Will there be forthcoming systemic failures of the Transport system, Medical Institutions, Housing issues, social problems?

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liongsum said:

ADD
13. Even the handicap are not spared. Were they collateral damage in the clash between Govt and dissenters. From every angle I look, the Govt, MPs, YMCA, Han HH are all responsible for the ugly show at Hong Lim yesterday. You are right. Singapore is indeed crumbling.

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liongsum said:

ADD
13. Even the handicap are not spared. Were they collateral damage in the clash between Govt and dissenters. From every angle I look, the Govt, MPs, YMCA, Han HH are all responsible for the ugly show at Hong Lim yesterday. You are right. Singapore is indeed crumbling.

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liongsum said:

ADD
13. Even the handicap are not spared. Were they collateral damage in the clash between Govt and dissenters. From every angle I look, the Govt, MPs, YMCA, Han HH are all responsible for the ugly show at Hong Lim yesterday. You are right. Singapore is indeed crumbling.

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liongsum said:

TracyTan866 said:

liongsum said:

I read Cherian in the ST this morning, that the trend around the world is to move towards a system of Definite Contribution/Definite Benefits retirement savings system which converts to a life annuity upon retirement. Good move. Is he wrong? Upon retirement, this becomes very much like the pension system of old. We have come full circle. Another way to skin the cat.

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Retirement scheme is still evolving. Cherian George is no wiser. But CPF Life is a scam. The pap takes the large pool of CPF fund and placed it under Fund Managers. they take their cut of management fee, whether they make money or lost money. The left over gains or losses are then distributed amongst the CFP depositors. The winners are the fund managers.

Look at the lessons learnt from the SAF Saver's scheme and you will know what a rip off CPF Life can be

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liongsum said:

ADD
13. Even the handicap are not spared. Were they collateral damage in the clash between Govt and dissenters. From every angle I look, the Govt, MPs, YMCA, Han HH are all responsible for the ugly show at Hong Lim yesterday. You are right. Singapore is indeed crumbling.

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