Is there welfarism or free lunches at grass root?
-
The government is going headlong into businesses to de-corporatise essential government services via the NTUC and GLCs.
It is also using taxes to go into businesses overseas which take away competitiveness and viability of the domestic or people's sector of the economy. It is difficult to survive in any businesses in Singapore except for the GLCs, NTUCs and big fishes connected to government not to mention high tax-and-recover system of running the government.
GLCs which are corporatised so as to do away with provision of basic government services allowing fees to be set at market levels should return their extra profits and reserves (30 -60 years) to lessen the tax and other costs burdens and not to allow the elites to claim credits and draw them as million-dollar salaries and 12 months' bonuses.
Government is telling people not to expect welfare or free lunches. Are giving away of people's monies to elites in the form of unjustified million-dollar salaries or bonuses of ministers or cither favorites not welfarism or free lunches? GLCs' profits should be pulled back to lessen costs of livings and not free lunches to elites !!!
The GDP of the domestic or people sector of the economy is very very bearish right now because of major mistakes in governing the country after minusing the contributions of GLCs and MNCs.
Look at the neighbourhood shops, the JTC factories, the sliding COEs and the half-dead property market (dropped 35 % from previous peak) and you will know whether the economy is growing by 3-4.5% this year.
All the statistics and figures released in the ND speeches are look-good artificial reports to justify continuing past policies which will finally benefit elites employed at highest pay, plus handsome bonuses like the NKF case.
People are asking for welfare. They will expect equal treatment and not welfares to our elites in the forms of freebies or free lunches
Why not share out the negara garden, big community clubs and generous give-aways of free parking and dinners presently given only to the grassroots and connections to avoid welfare to any section of the population. -
"You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people of the streets...Where are the beggars in Singapore? Show me."
Lee Kuan Yew
Source:
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/poverty.html -
Lee Hsien Loong:
“We have helped those who needed help...no one will be left behind.”
Goh Chok Tong:
“Your worries are mine too...we are one big family.”
Kishore Mahbubani:
“There are no homeless, destitute or starving people [in Singapore]
...Poverty has been eradicated.”
Mrs Goh Chok Tong:
“$600,000 is peanuts.”
Source:
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/povertyII.html -
Civil societies have done a far better job at looking after the aged, the homeless, and the destitutes than the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Singapore Government.
Some Budhist temples provide free meals to every and any person that walk into the temples.
Some provide free medical help, and only ask for contributions from those who can afford, so as to help maintain the free service.
What has the present Singapore Government done with all the BILLION DOLLAR PROFITS that have been ANUALLY GENERATED from the investments and performance of the GIC and all the GLCs - besides putting million dollar salaries into their own pockets ?
Or has the BILLION DOLLAR PROFIT been used to fill up the BIG HOLES that have been made in all the poor overseas investments and ventures over the past years ?
While mega-deals have made headlines when investments were announced and splashed over newspapers, what has happened to all those investments that were made in the past all over the world - in Africa, Australia, China, Europe, Korea, Japan, Middle-east, Myanmar, UK, USA and Vietnam ?
A mere ONE-BILLION DOLLAR from the annual profits of the GIC and GLCs will go a long way to help all the charity homes that look after the Aged, the Homeless, the Poor and the Destitutes.
It will also help to lower the costs of education, health care, transportation - of which will improve the STANDARDS of Living amongst the lower and struggling middle income groups, and also help to REDUCE the COST of Living in Singapore. -
Originally posted by Melculo:
I saw an old folk eating offerings meant for hungry ghosts.
[quote]Originally posted by Atobe:
[b]
[b]"You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people of the streets...Where are the beggars in Singapore? Show me."
Lee Kuan Yew
[/b] -
Question: How much $$$ can be invested into the people to learn to provide for themselves?
Where do these $$$ come from?
I do agree that people who have more expendable income are much more able to take risks and venture overseas for business opportunities, but the truth is that people invests in local luxuries and tours overseas to fulfill TV fantasies.
I also agree that only by giving the choices and opportunities to the people will we see the society mature.
It has always been a choice isn't it? But somebody have to work on work. You need somebody to be there to organise grassroot activities and do the work. For many others who have only whims and wants. And expect others to work for free, i'd say good luck.
There is no such thing as free lunches. -
The $$$ can come from the BILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL PROFITS made by GIC and all the GLCs.Originally posted by OH-FF:Question: How much $$$ can be invested into the people to learn to provide for themselves?
Where do these $$$ come from?
I do agree that people who have more expendable income are much more able to take risks and venture overseas for business opportunities, but the truth is that people invests in local luxuries and tours overseas to fulfill TV fantasies.
I also agree that only by giving the choices and opportunities to the people will we see the society mature.
It has always been a choice isn't it? But somebody have to work on work. You need somebody to be there to organise grassroot activities and do the work. For many others who have only whims and wants. And expect others to work for free, i'd say good luck.
There is no such thing as free lunches.
This call is NOT asking for ALL the BILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL PROFIT, but only ONE BILLION out of ALL THE BILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL PROFIT that is made KNOWN - (lets not even suspect the other $$$ amounts that are known only to the Elite).
'There is no such thing as free lunches' ?
I know of one Budhist temple at Kim Yam Road - off River Valley Road - that provide FREE MEALS 3 TIMES A DAY.
The Ren Ci Charity provides FREE MEDICAL CARE to the poor, and destitutes.
While attempting to create a more caring society, what has the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Singapore Government done - by ITSELF - to help the Poor, the Aged, and the Destitute ? -
If the double-taxing HDB flat sales and the multi-billion dollars made from say URA land sales are put into an endowment fund, the interests generated alone will provide for seed monies to get unfortunate people back to works.Originally posted by OH-FF:Question: How much $$$ can be invested into the people to learn to provide for themselves?
Where do these $$$ come from?
The principal sums from these kinds of double taxing which in the first place is most unjust amd uncalled for will remain intact. If we are afraid of draining out our resources from welfarism we can help in a different way by way of investing in putting the unfortunate back to work one day.
Such an endowment idea is very practical our leaders but we have not heard any one among our well-paid ministers trying to look into relief of people who are out of works. They only know how to pay lip service with excuses of all kinds. They only knows how to double-tax on lands already owned by citizens and charge them again at market prices. They only know how to corporatise essential government services and make the GLCs charge for them at market prices thereby to acccumulate the taxes paid into surpluses. The MPs also did nothing to represent the people's plights.
What is wrong in helping those suffering from unemployment to tie over the bad patches. Everything has been exaggerated by our ministers to make it look like people asking for free lunches given the media at their control to tell only scare tactics to the people.
Welfarism or free lunches are not what people are asking. They only ask for reasonable caring government - not to tax and at the same time recover costs up to full market values or double-charge on lands. They only ask for allocations of certain parts of profits of GLCs to go back to lessen the high costs of living or helping people to relieve temporary setbacks not free lunches. -
Yo Atobe, The Singapore Buddhist Lodge can afford to do what it does because it is financed by several corporate bigwigs, including UOB's Wee Cho Yaw and the late Khoo Teck Phuat of Goodwood Park (according to my uncle).
Also worth noting is the Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic.
A side note, I have yet to see any Christian churches offering similar services. Mount Alvernia hospital, while operated by the Catholic diocese, seems more of a private hospital run along the lines of those in Parkway Holdings's stable. -
Isn't it not Democratic not to give these $$$ earners choices in choosing their own methods of providing care to the people ?
The Choice is theirs . The so called legitimised high-earners.
You see, somebody have to do the work of providence and these workers need to feed their families as well.
I find that it would be more feasible to encourage the aged Citizens to be involved with community work and training with payment from a Set-up fund pooled from CPF or other Taxes.
This will help the community help itself and ensure that the Aged have the means to look after themselves and others. The poor can also get involved without the need to invest money, and earn from part-time community efforts.
Thus creating jobs and income for "Merits" that cannot be weighted by the source of certifications.
Are these things already in place ? What is the response of people looking for these jobs? -
Yes, the Budhist community has been blessed in having some very devout Budhist, who have succeeded in Life - as in Wee Cho Yaw.Originally posted by iveco:Yo Atobe, The Singapore Buddhist Lodge can afford to do what it does because it is financed by several corporate bigwigs, including UOB's Wee Cho Yaw and the late Khoo Teck Phuat of Goodwood Park (according to my uncle).
Also worth noting is the Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic.
A side note, I have yet to see any Christian churches offering similar services. Mount Alvernia hospital, while operated by the Catholic diocese, seems more of a private hospital run along the lines of those in Parkway Holdings's stable.
There are many charities offered by other religious groups, some of which are less known by us - who are not directly involved or active in the community.
Some of this include the St Andrew's home for the homeless and orphans, and there are some independent Churches that operate half-way house for Drug Addicts, and ex-Convicts.
The Singapore Muslim community (through MENDAKI) also run some homes for the Aged, Single Mothers, Run-aways, Drug Addicts, and ex-Convicts.
The help given by the Muslim community is also offered on a non-race basis.
The Sikh and Hindu community also has similar social services that have not been featured in any publicity, as their respective self-help charities are supported by patrons from within their very successful communities.
The larger Singapore Community has shown charity with a National Pride (and on a non-communal basis) - which has developed into 'run away' successes like the NKF.
However, what 'CHARITY' has the Ruling Party a.k.a. the present Singapore Government shown to help the SINGAPOREAN Community in return - to control our COST of Living, and improve the declining STANDARDS of Living ?
What is the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Singapore Government doing to prevent the shrinking numbers of the MIDDLE INCOME GROUP, and the slowly growing LOWER INCOME GROUP ?
Where is the promised SWISS Standard of Living dreamed by GCT ?
What has happened to the much propagated line of 'SPECIALIZATION' - (by Dr Goh Keng Swee, during 1970s) - of working hard with our Industries to improve our Singapore Dollar - by doing what we can do best, and which will finally allow us to BUY all our needs from our neighbours at a much lower costs ?
After FORTY YEARS, Singaporeans are feeling the purse getting tighter, the costs seems to be spiralling out of control, penny pinching is the order of the day, and yet many Singaporeans will have to DOWN GRADE when reaching retirement, in order not to join the poverty line.
It seems our neighbors enjoy a STANDARD OF LIVING comparable to ours, and at a MUCH LOWER COST of Living ! -
Originally posted by Atobe:
Trust me, it exists in Singapore. However, only a lucky few can enjoy it.
Where is the promised [b]SWISS Standard of Living dreamed by GCT ?
[/b]
-
Originally posted by iveco:
I believe you.
Trust me, it exists in Singapore. However, only a lucky few can enjoy it.
Only those who consider '$600,000 as PEANUTS' are the few Singaporeans who can truly enjoy the SWISS Standard of Living. -
Our Dear Leader has a great gift - the gift of the gap.
He truly made good use of this gift just like Adolf Hitler did to win the hearts and minds of the people.
There many things now exposed as mere bullshits by Our Dear Leader - I could sound out many examples but it would take pages to tell them all.
This so-called world's great statesman is also the world's greatest storyteller ! -
I know Suzhou was one of the mega flops. What are the others?Originally posted by Atobe:Or has the BILLION DOLLAR PROFIT been used to fill up the BIG HOLES that have been made in all the poor overseas investments and ventures over the past years ? -
Originally posted by Cindyfeh:
Without transparency on the part of the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Government, those mega flops can only be seen from what has been printed.
I know Suzhou was one of the mega flops. What are the others?
One of the spectacular crash that was published was the 'MICROPOLIS' debacle, in which $500MILLION was lost in taking over this 'hard-disk drive' manufacturer.
The other published news was the surprise of another US$500MILLION Plus loss from the unreported accounting of the Thai Danu Bank that DBS later discovered, which was on top of the earlier bad debts of over US$200MILLION that was written off during the take-over of this Thai bank.
There were numerous investments in the complete take over or outright purchases - (as well as paying mega-Million Dollars for small stake holdings) - of buildings, banks, commercial and industrial manufacturing enterprises.
Some of these take-overs had resulted in Temasek paying over priced valuations, when other similar take over was made by Private Enterprise, which paid a lower price for a higher value take-over target.
With so a string of investments all over the globe, and with newer investments added up till the middle of 2005, how many of these investments have borne returns, and how many have turned 'belly up' ?
What are the losses incurred for those investments that have to be written off ?
Try visiting the following threads printed in the past, and you may want to ask - or research for yourself - what has happened to all those investments :
Temasek Holdings
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=54801
Temasek Holding and GLCs – from Left Pocket to Right
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=92137
Folly of Singapore's corporation escapades
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw00/000709sc.htm
Singapore's risk capital
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw01/011213fe.htm
DBS sues magazines over comments of Temasek Links
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw03/030114sc.htm
Stirring up Singapore Inc
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020909bw.htm
Temasek in talks to buy stake in Bank of China : Report 9 August 2005
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw05/050809a1.htm -
In today's The Straits Times, Page H3, it talks about the Government has invested S$22 million in the bond-free Singapore Scholarships for Asean scholars.
Singaporean students get only S$200 Edusave a year. -
Can you believe this at all?Originally posted by caramon.:5. Singapore's standard of living has declined dramatically from 4th highest in the world to outside the top 25 in the world, but PAP politicians still award themselves the 1st highest salaries in the world. Singaporeans make half the salary of the average Swiss, but PAP politicians make multiple times the salary of the average Swiss politician. Singapore is one of a very small handful of countries in the world to have undergone a decline in the standard of living over the last decade. According to the World Bank, in absolute terms, Singapore now has a standard of living much closer to Colombia than Switzerland. -
Hell yeah I do.But I disagree about Colombia, I would say its closer to Spain or Greece.