LHL pressed on land sales revenue

[makapaaa]

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[TD="class: msgtxt"][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_808982.html[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]FAP's LHL is finally pressed on their unusual practice
of excluding land sales revenue (and we all know just how much honey they
creamed off in the past decade alone by allowing the real estate property bubble
to form)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]And his reply is still the same old usual reply 10,20
years ago - he will not include them, saying silly things like it is
"undependable"[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]Really?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]With the government controlling the supply of land via
SLA, the demand of land via immigration policies, total control over all
ministries to implement whatever policies they want, total control over
parliament to ram through whatever changes to constitution they need, total
control over the cabinet to make sure whatever they want gets
through,[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]this LHL has the gall to tell us it is
"undependable"? [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss]And that begs the question. Where does all these money
go to then? If Singapore is not going to benefit from these revenue, then where
is our dear LHL putting the money to use? Temasek? GIC? Swiss bank
accounts?
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Government 'cannot depend on land sales for income'
Published on Jun 9, 2012

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By Robin Chan and Janice Heng


<!--start of story text-->Land sales are not a dependable source of government income, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday evening in response to a question on other possible sources of revenue.
The income from land sales can be very good in some years but can be as little as zero in other years, he said during a question-and-answer session at the Economic Society of Singapore dinner.
'If we are renting out land for three to four years, fair enough it is current income. If it is 99 years and you want to spend it upfront, then I would consider doing it over 99 years. I would be hesitant as treating it as a bonanza,' Mr Lee said.
<!--close .relatedLinks, if any-->[h=5]Background story[/h]What others say
DIFFERENT SOCIETIES
'You cannot look at an economic model without incorporating the societal structure. If you ask the Danes whether they would prefer high welfare and no growth or high growth and no welfare, all political results show that they prefer high welfare and no growth. And they are ready to pay for it. Singapore is a completely different society, facing different challenges.'
- Former Danish ambassador to Singapore Joergen Moeller, agreeing with PM Lee's point that the Scandinavian model

 

[Fook Seng]

I say, cut NS to one year. Immediately the supply to the job market can be up around 20k, providing an opportunity to wean off our dependency on FT to prop up our economy. The budget saved can be re-used to re-balance the income structure and to launch more social enhancement programmes.

I also believe insufficient credit has been given to Prof Lim Chong Yah for proposing to correct the income inequality without affecting the overall manpower cost trend. Without sheer political will how can any change be made especially a change with such a major impact on our society?

Also Prof Tommy Koh's point to differentiate tradable services and non-tradable services when determining the impact of salary changes on international competitiveness is not without merit and limited consideration has so far been given to it.

 

[laksaboy]

But a lot of GLCs depend on NS for jobs: SFI cookhouse aunties, ST Logistics, Singapore Technologies, Chartered Industries, Changi General Hospital, contractors, landscapers etc.

It ain't really about national security as it is about maintaining jobs and businesses for the usual suspects.

 

[Fook Seng]

But a lot of GLCs depend on NS for jobs: SFI cookhouse aunties, ST Logistics, Singapore Technologies, Chartered Industries, Changi General Hospital, contractors, landscapers etc.

Ok for services, they can serve the community at large. Army cooks can replace FT cooks. As for weapons, forget about the outdated weapons which a total waste of money. Maybe every active serviceman can now have his own zeroed personal arms.