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PM Lee’s $9000 “Carrot” to NSMen is an insult to all Male Singaporeans
August 31st, 2010 | Author: Your Correspondent
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
bn243072I read with amusment and contempt at the latest announcement of PM Lee’s decision to give $9000 to every male Singaporean who have completed his National Service liabilities as a distorted and twisted means of appeasing the local population in a feeble attempt to placate the locals and assuring them that Singaporeans’ interest are still “first” in the eyes of the PAP.
Insincerity of the Monetary Compensation
Perhaps the glaring and most obvious slap into the face of every male Singaporean is the fact that the $9000 monetary compensation for the 2.5 years that every male wastes in his National Service liability is that it comes in the form of CPF “money” and not cash. As much as the PAP would like us to think of our CPF money as our own money, the reality of the situation speaks otherwise. While there may be current seniors who were lucky enough to escape the recent spat of changes of ever more restrictive options of withdrawing CPF, a realistic analysis of the past behavior of PAP and their management of CPF will lead almost anyone under the age of 40 to conclude that he is probably unlikely to ever see his CPF retirement savings in his lifetime. With schemes like raising the Minimum Sum, raising the Retirement Age and most recently the reduced payout from CPF LIFE, as a mid-20s male citizen I am fairly confident that the only way that I will ever see my CPF money is when both my feet are in the coffin (an analogy that implies that the CPF money can only be withdrawn upon death or at a very old age). Thus, this token sum of $9000 CPF “money” that the PAP has offered is probably as useful as the “hell notes” that the Chinese burn as an offering to their ancestors. Quite simply, it is useless.
Inadequacy of Monetary Offer
Another slap into the face of every male Singaporean is the fact that TWO AND A HALF YEARS of the prime of our lives is only worth a pathetic $9000. In other words, the PAP has deemed that each male citizen is worth $3600/yr to $4500/yr (depending on whether you served 2.5 or 2.0 years of NS). In comparison, it makes every male citizen (in terms of monetary value) as valuable as the domestic maid you may have employed in your house. In fact, if one were to do a more accurate calculation and factor in the additional 10+ years of reservist liabilities, one will soon realize that (in terms of monetary value) maids have more value than male citizens in this country. Perhaps this was the point that PAP is trying to make – the lives of the male citizens in this country are less valuable than a maid, and probably approaching the value of a slave.
How Much is a NSMan Really Worth?
C0030762The following section attempts to calculate how much monetary compensation the PAP owes every male Singaporean. We shall use the most simple model to benchmark the lifetime earnings of a male Singaporean to that of a foreign “talent”. This models assumes the current age of 40 for the hypothetical person, 2 years of NS liability for the Singaporean, and 4 years of tertiary education for both the local and the foreigner, a starting salary of $30,000/yr, and an annual increment of 6.0%. With reference to the “Difference in Culumative Salary” column which denotes how much more a foreigner can earn in comparison to a local, the table below quite convincingly shows that a male citizen, age 40 as of this year should be entitled to claim around $150,000 based on the differential lifetime earning power when compared to a foreigner who has no such NS liability. In addition, to a first approximation, the table may be also used to derive the monetary entitlement for the compensation of National Service liability of any male from the age of 23 to 40 by looking up the respective value at the last column. When compared to the lowest value entitled for a 23 year old, which is $30,000, it does not take a genius to figure out that the $9000 monetary compensation from the PAP (even assuming it was paid out in cash) in a gross underestimate of how much the current government owes its male citizens.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
August 31st, 2010 | Author: Your Correspondent
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
bn243072I read with amusment and contempt at the latest announcement of PM Lee’s decision to give $9000 to every male Singaporean who have completed his National Service liabilities as a distorted and twisted means of appeasing the local population in a feeble attempt to placate the locals and assuring them that Singaporeans’ interest are still “first” in the eyes of the PAP.
Insincerity of the Monetary Compensation
Perhaps the glaring and most obvious slap into the face of every male Singaporean is the fact that the $9000 monetary compensation for the 2.5 years that every male wastes in his National Service liability is that it comes in the form of CPF “money” and not cash. As much as the PAP would like us to think of our CPF money as our own money, the reality of the situation speaks otherwise. While there may be current seniors who were lucky enough to escape the recent spat of changes of ever more restrictive options of withdrawing CPF, a realistic analysis of the past behavior of PAP and their management of CPF will lead almost anyone under the age of 40 to conclude that he is probably unlikely to ever see his CPF retirement savings in his lifetime. With schemes like raising the Minimum Sum, raising the Retirement Age and most recently the reduced payout from CPF LIFE, as a mid-20s male citizen I am fairly confident that the only way that I will ever see my CPF money is when both my feet are in the coffin (an analogy that implies that the CPF money can only be withdrawn upon death or at a very old age). Thus, this token sum of $9000 CPF “money” that the PAP has offered is probably as useful as the “hell notes” that the Chinese burn as an offering to their ancestors. Quite simply, it is useless.
Inadequacy of Monetary Offer
Another slap into the face of every male Singaporean is the fact that TWO AND A HALF YEARS of the prime of our lives is only worth a pathetic $9000. In other words, the PAP has deemed that each male citizen is worth $3600/yr to $4500/yr (depending on whether you served 2.5 or 2.0 years of NS). In comparison, it makes every male citizen (in terms of monetary value) as valuable as the domestic maid you may have employed in your house. In fact, if one were to do a more accurate calculation and factor in the additional 10+ years of reservist liabilities, one will soon realize that (in terms of monetary value) maids have more value than male citizens in this country. Perhaps this was the point that PAP is trying to make – the lives of the male citizens in this country are less valuable than a maid, and probably approaching the value of a slave.
How Much is a NSMan Really Worth?
C0030762The following section attempts to calculate how much monetary compensation the PAP owes every male Singaporean. We shall use the most simple model to benchmark the lifetime earnings of a male Singaporean to that of a foreign “talent”. This models assumes the current age of 40 for the hypothetical person, 2 years of NS liability for the Singaporean, and 4 years of tertiary education for both the local and the foreigner, a starting salary of $30,000/yr, and an annual increment of 6.0%. With reference to the “Difference in Culumative Salary” column which denotes how much more a foreigner can earn in comparison to a local, the table below quite convincingly shows that a male citizen, age 40 as of this year should be entitled to claim around $150,000 based on the differential lifetime earning power when compared to a foreigner who has no such NS liability. In addition, to a first approximation, the table may be also used to derive the monetary entitlement for the compensation of National Service liability of any male from the age of 23 to 40 by looking up the respective value at the last column. When compared to the lowest value entitled for a 23 year old, which is $30,000, it does not take a genius to figure out that the $9000 monetary compensation from the PAP (even assuming it was paid out in cash) in a gross underestimate of how much the current government owes its male citizens.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/0...-nsmen-is-an-insult-to-all-male-singaporeans/
