- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
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I write this as a concerned citizen who wants change in this country so that there will be progress ahead.
As a concerned citizen, I believe the govt is doing too much for the poor and straying from important principles that has made Singapore so successful:
1. Workfare for those who are low income. This is free money obtained without doing work.
2. Rental flats - the same piece of land can be sold to developers to build high end condos yet the PAP govt use it for rental flats.
3. Subsidised healthcare - thousands of rich indonesians more than willing to pay for this at market rate why is govt giving it at subsidized rate to citizens and some under medifund get free care.
4. Public housing - this is one of the most ridiculous where govt sell new property below market price giving the buyer instant profits. Not only that generous grants for staying near parents, new buyers etc. Amazingly people complain the flats are too expensive which is ridiculous because all other options are even more expensive and a few years down they can sell this property for profits.
5. CDC giving aid to unemployed. People get something for not doing work.
6. Public Assistance given to those who do no work.
The PAP singlehandedly build up this island with its vision and planning. Now it has to give money to the citizens who have contributed the least to this success. Yet some people are not appreciative of this massive effort to help the people saying it is not enough. More has to be done for the poor? As one MP once succinctly put it, if and when these people die, the problem would go away. It is important to give these people just enough to live but not start a family and have children which is the right strategy. Those low income under workfare clearly have hardly enough by right should not have children. In the past, the govt have encourage sterilisation of such individuals however, today various aids such as rental flats, workfare is not longer linked to sterilisation and there is a risk that such people have children. Also, Medifund gives the poor access to healthcare. While Minister Khaw has improved our healthcare system tremendously by cutting subsidies through means testing and now pushing poorer patients to Malaysia these moves are not enough. We have adopted correct strategies by not giving free preventive care and creating the one of the most stressful living environment in world so that that will push the weaker segment closer to demise however more effort has to be put in to restrict access to medifund and make it unusable for the most advanced cure for serious illnesses such as cancer and expensive AIDS drugs. Budget surpluses when tend to cause hue and outcry among the masses can always be absorbed by the defense spending much of which goes to GLCs such as ST.
The efforts in recent years to dilute away poverty by importing people has been largely successful. Today, all relevant statistics are reported based on Citizens + PR lumped together as residents and this number has been improving. If we can get more Jet Li, Jacky Chans and GongLi and countless indians and CHinese who are in the professional class to become at PRs, they will contribute positively to our employment figures and income figures. Our govt is so clever to report aggregate figures and it now DOES NOT publish unemployment figures among citizens.
Today our successful system comes under threat from a few fronts. Restless youngsters on the Internet, old time opposition parties that have stepped up recruitment and a weakened monopoly on information dissemination. Even the academia is being infiltrated by unloyal elements who now begin to stray from ideological truths that made this nation successful. While these threats are now small and weak, the dangers they may pose in the next 2 decades cannot be underestimated. Long term we have to convert as many people who come to SIngapore because they like the system to citizens as possible so they can vote to support the system. It is estimated that 95% of new citizens will vote for the system. Not surprising if you consider they have left their home country and chosen Singapore. The second part is link personal progress in our society to loyalty to the system. In the past, disloyalty is punished e.g. Chee Soon Juan was sacked from NUS. However, the system can be greatly improved if say NUS dept heads are required to work well with govt agencies and support govt initiatives. Already, only PAP MPs can work and occupy high positions in GLCs while lowly members of opposition are not even allowed to work in these entities as clerks. The PAP has in its ESC made the GLCs central to our next phase of economic development, they will spearhead our 2nd wing and expansion beyond our shores. By directing more state resources to GLCs and making them key to our economic progress means that opportunities will be created in these entities and unsupportive opposing elements in our society will be left out in the next wave of economic progress.
The next thing that the govt has to tackle is the threat of democracy to our society. Although the need for security can always be played up to suppress this, younger SIngaporeans exposed to western ideas and changes in S. Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are now clamoring for democracy. While the govt has done certain cosmetic changes such as allowing Hong Lim Park for speeches and increasing NMP, NCMPs in parliament to placate this new restless generation of SIngaporeans....more has to be done before the calls for democracy become infectious and harmful. The last brilliant change for the system was GRC. The next I believe is to improve the education for the next generation of young people on history and political system. You see this being used successfully in China. I believe the govt made a mistake by not doing this earlier. That is why Shanmugam's idea to incorporate the study of political system is timely. Once they learn the truth about western democracy, they will be less likely to clamor for it in the future. The other change I can think of is our Pledge - somehow it has the word 'democracy' inside and confuses our youths on the true nature of our system.
Overall, I'm optimistic that if the govt adopts important changes to our society and political system, the future for this country will be bright in the coming decades.
As a concerned citizen, I believe the govt is doing too much for the poor and straying from important principles that has made Singapore so successful:
1. Workfare for those who are low income. This is free money obtained without doing work.
2. Rental flats - the same piece of land can be sold to developers to build high end condos yet the PAP govt use it for rental flats.
3. Subsidised healthcare - thousands of rich indonesians more than willing to pay for this at market rate why is govt giving it at subsidized rate to citizens and some under medifund get free care.
4. Public housing - this is one of the most ridiculous where govt sell new property below market price giving the buyer instant profits. Not only that generous grants for staying near parents, new buyers etc. Amazingly people complain the flats are too expensive which is ridiculous because all other options are even more expensive and a few years down they can sell this property for profits.
5. CDC giving aid to unemployed. People get something for not doing work.
6. Public Assistance given to those who do no work.
The PAP singlehandedly build up this island with its vision and planning. Now it has to give money to the citizens who have contributed the least to this success. Yet some people are not appreciative of this massive effort to help the people saying it is not enough. More has to be done for the poor? As one MP once succinctly put it, if and when these people die, the problem would go away. It is important to give these people just enough to live but not start a family and have children which is the right strategy. Those low income under workfare clearly have hardly enough by right should not have children. In the past, the govt have encourage sterilisation of such individuals however, today various aids such as rental flats, workfare is not longer linked to sterilisation and there is a risk that such people have children. Also, Medifund gives the poor access to healthcare. While Minister Khaw has improved our healthcare system tremendously by cutting subsidies through means testing and now pushing poorer patients to Malaysia these moves are not enough. We have adopted correct strategies by not giving free preventive care and creating the one of the most stressful living environment in world so that that will push the weaker segment closer to demise however more effort has to be put in to restrict access to medifund and make it unusable for the most advanced cure for serious illnesses such as cancer and expensive AIDS drugs. Budget surpluses when tend to cause hue and outcry among the masses can always be absorbed by the defense spending much of which goes to GLCs such as ST.
The efforts in recent years to dilute away poverty by importing people has been largely successful. Today, all relevant statistics are reported based on Citizens + PR lumped together as residents and this number has been improving. If we can get more Jet Li, Jacky Chans and GongLi and countless indians and CHinese who are in the professional class to become at PRs, they will contribute positively to our employment figures and income figures. Our govt is so clever to report aggregate figures and it now DOES NOT publish unemployment figures among citizens.
Today our successful system comes under threat from a few fronts. Restless youngsters on the Internet, old time opposition parties that have stepped up recruitment and a weakened monopoly on information dissemination. Even the academia is being infiltrated by unloyal elements who now begin to stray from ideological truths that made this nation successful. While these threats are now small and weak, the dangers they may pose in the next 2 decades cannot be underestimated. Long term we have to convert as many people who come to SIngapore because they like the system to citizens as possible so they can vote to support the system. It is estimated that 95% of new citizens will vote for the system. Not surprising if you consider they have left their home country and chosen Singapore. The second part is link personal progress in our society to loyalty to the system. In the past, disloyalty is punished e.g. Chee Soon Juan was sacked from NUS. However, the system can be greatly improved if say NUS dept heads are required to work well with govt agencies and support govt initiatives. Already, only PAP MPs can work and occupy high positions in GLCs while lowly members of opposition are not even allowed to work in these entities as clerks. The PAP has in its ESC made the GLCs central to our next phase of economic development, they will spearhead our 2nd wing and expansion beyond our shores. By directing more state resources to GLCs and making them key to our economic progress means that opportunities will be created in these entities and unsupportive opposing elements in our society will be left out in the next wave of economic progress.
The next thing that the govt has to tackle is the threat of democracy to our society. Although the need for security can always be played up to suppress this, younger SIngaporeans exposed to western ideas and changes in S. Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are now clamoring for democracy. While the govt has done certain cosmetic changes such as allowing Hong Lim Park for speeches and increasing NMP, NCMPs in parliament to placate this new restless generation of SIngaporeans....more has to be done before the calls for democracy become infectious and harmful. The last brilliant change for the system was GRC. The next I believe is to improve the education for the next generation of young people on history and political system. You see this being used successfully in China. I believe the govt made a mistake by not doing this earlier. That is why Shanmugam's idea to incorporate the study of political system is timely. Once they learn the truth about western democracy, they will be less likely to clamor for it in the future. The other change I can think of is our Pledge - somehow it has the word 'democracy' inside and confuses our youths on the true nature of our system.
Overall, I'm optimistic that if the govt adopts important changes to our society and political system, the future for this country will be bright in the coming decades.
