Tharman: No parental benefits for your bastards! Only for legit kids!

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that the government will not give single mothers parental benefits.

Mr Tharman said this in response to a question from Member of Parliament Seah Kian Peng yesterday.

Mr Seah asked if the government will extend the Working Mother's Child Relief and Foreign Maid Levy Relief to taxpayers who are single mothers. He also asked what the estimated tax savings for them will be.

The Working Mother’s Child Relief allows a married working woman to receive a 15 percent tax rebate of their incomes for their first child, 20 percent for their second child and 25 percent for their subsequent children, up to a cap of 100 percent on their incomes.

The Foreign Maid Levy Relief allows a family to get $145 off the monthly foreign domestic worker levy if they hire a foreign domestic worker.

However, Mr Tharman said that the government does not want to extend the reliefs for single parents.

Mr Tharman said that these parental benefits will only be given to women who have to be married and working.

"They reflect the prevailing societal norm where marriage is the first step towards family formation," Mr Tharman said.

It is unclear if Singaporeans agree with this "prevailing societal norm" in Singapore.

Mr Tharman said that single mothers are only allowed to have a few benefits, such as centre-based infant and child care subsidies, Medisave grants for newborns and Medishield coverage for congenital and neonatal conditions.

But Mr Tharman also said, "As single parents currently do not claim for these tax reliefs, we do not have sufficient data such as on whether they have children who are studying full-time and their incomes if the children are working, to accurately estimate the tax savings arising from the reliefs."

In short, Mr Tharman is saying that the government is basically neglecting single mothers and that single mothers are unimportant in Singapore that their needs and their children's needs are not looked after in Singapore.

For the past 50 years, the PAP government has continued to discriminate against single mothers. This is even so that there is growing support for single mothers among Singaporeans.

Moreover, many Singaporeans have also said that as the Singapore society progresses and matures and more Singaporeans grow up in various family arrangements, the benefits provided for Singaporeans should be based on their individual needs rather than on a "prevailing societal norm" which is largely dictated by the government but not in line with Singaporeans' beliefs.

On top of that, single mothers also face societal discrimination, earn the lowest incomes and have to work the longest hours to support their children, as compared to other families. If anything, single mothers require the most support from the government.

However, the PAP government continues to discriminate against single mothers and singles in Singapore, and marginalise them, making it difficult for them to earn a proper livelihood in Singapore.

http://therealsingapore.com/content/tharman-govt-does-not-want-give-single-mothers-parental-benefits

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mojito said:

Of course. You cannot have the government sending the wrong message, implying it is ok to conceive outside wedlock. It makes public housing policy very complicated you see? So no, don't mess up our perfect policy frameworks and make us civil servants do more work ok?

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shittypore said:

Will the Aware Group fcuk PAP on this Botak speech?

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JohnTan said:

We are trying to teach sinkie males to stop whelping bastards on SPGs. The grassroots are active in promoting good moral values amongst perverted sinkies. It hasn't been easy.

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tanwahtiu said:

Nobody want to be a single mum or dad if they have a choice.

After 50 years of PAP a bully government it is time to change for a compassionate government. An educated nation, with high literacy rate, of politicans (this one PAP 84 ministers earning obscene salaries type) cannot see beyond compassionate and understanding of difficulties some citizens are facing?

LKY type of government must be removed, sack the whole lot of greedy, evil bully and uncompassionate political party.

Fuck PAP.

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myo539 said:

"It is unclear if Singaporeans agree with this "prevailing societal norm" in Singapore."

I am a Singaporean and I am very clear about the "prevailing societal norm". Who is not clear?

Singaporeans cannot expect the Government to freely dish out benefits to any Tom, Dick or Mary. The Government is running a country on behalf of its people using their money - it is far from running a charitable organisation. It must be prudent in using their money. Every out-of-the-norm benefit or subsidy given by the Government rightly must contain certain conditions or restrictions as is practised in all countries. For example, when Ah Seng or Ah Mei visits a government clinic or the zoo, they are given a subsidy or a discount - but it is available and restricted only to Singapore citizens or PRs. Foreigners are not entitled to it. Similarly Aminah visits a government clinic in Iskandar Malaysia, she is expected to pay a non-citizen unsubsidised rate.

One must know the target before aiming and shooting. You simply can't shoot without knowing the target. "Single" parent is a broad entity or term. One can be a "single" parent because she produces a baby without a husband; one can be "single" because the father has passed away; or one is single because she is divorced (in this case the husband pays for maintenance by law). The whole is not the same, or greater, than the sum of its parts. Tharman - or the target - is unmarried single mother - not ALL single mothers.

So some comments here are simply irrelevant because the writers are unenlightened or simply ignorant. The issue is "Working Mother's Child Relief" and the two basic conditions are the mother must be married AND working. If a mother is married but not working - no subsidy for child; similarly if the mother is working but not married - no subsidy either. If a mother is not married and not working - don't go knocking on the wrong door - Tharman's door. Knock on any church, temple, mosque, NGOs or some charitable or human rights organisations which are located all over the island.

Notwithstanding what is said above, of course, the conditions can be changed. If you want every mother to be subsidised no matter what her status is, then be prepared to pay more taxes. In countries such as Australia and Britain which provide universal health welfare to its people, the taxes they pay are very much higher than in Singapore - regardless of whether they utilise the benefits or facilities (that is, paying for others to use. Already Singaporeans kpkb that the Pinoys, Ah Nehs and Ah Tiongs are using their public transport meant to cater mainly for Singaporeans!). Sure they can get free spectacles or clutches, but who is paying - not World Health Organisation, surely! Singaporeans are basically a practical people, they vote for a Government that is pragmatic.

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