At first Yeo Ning Hong claimed that PSA did not compete on costs but quality. But he later had to swallow his pride when major shipping companies migrated in hordes to Port Pelepas by reducing PSA charges.
Considering that he was one of the key ministers in the previous cabinet he had actually revealed a long-standing government secret in charging land costs on public and essential services when lands were already paid for by the citizens and should not be charged against the citizens once again as HDB has done in selling its flats to the people.
Yeo had at first stubbornly held his ground on the double land charge on PSA services and public housing and maintained the government's right to double-charge on land costs.
He had finally been forced to cancel the double land charge in the PSA fees and port dues as otherwise PSA might be swallowed up by the bigger sharks like Pelepas. So shrimps will not try to tinker with the sharks so Yeo relented and has to forgo land double charge to preserve PSA's economic competitiveness as against shark Pelepas.
How much cuts were made on the land costs by the PSA in the cut-back on its fees and port charges ? How much of these cuts were due to elimination of double charge on land rentals and how much were due to improved mechanisation and efficiency?
Why the LTA, JTC, HDB, Town Council, privatised hospitals and polyclinic and Utilities and Public Transport companies and all essential Public services could not do likewise to drop the double taxes on lands as these lands were already paid for by taxpayers.
Must the government continue to impose land charges resulting in increasing costs of living every year.
Must the government continue to corporatise essential public services to GLCs and allow GLCs to charge for lands and infrastructures all over again when these services were already paid by taxpayers before transfer to GLCs.
Does the government treat the people as smaller fish as shown in its giving way to Pelepas over the land costs whereas it refuses to cut back the land costs on essential medicare and utility and transportation services.
People have repeatedly suffered from high costs of medicare, utility and public transportation services due to unthinking double-charge on lands already owned by the people but government has refused to withdraw the double land charge whereas when threatened by Pelepas it would just capitulate as Yeo Ning Hong has had to be forced to do so?
If the world is like a big ocean where big fish eat small fish must government treat people as small shrimps to be bullied to no end.
Why do we need to elect government only to elect them as bigger sharks to eat us small fishes?
It is about time the principle of government charges be straightened out in the open and not hidden as cabinet discussions as Temasek or GIC are doing in investing away people's monies on lost shin corp or micropolis.
So all the so-called leadership end up in such big eat small as seen in past policies of how government charges and double charges the people?
Is that what the post 65 MPs or younger Ministers will recommend or tolerate in the globalised era.
People of the lower income group are forced to pay up to 40%-60% of their take-home pay on utilities and transportation costs jacked up by government by creative land accounting.
So if there is going to be a change for the economy to make it competitive like the 1960s-1970s, the first thing to change is to look into over-charging based on tax-and-recover and corporatization policies which have been the main reasons for high costs and dropping wages.
The earlier the old guards relented like Yeo Ning Hong the quicker will the people end the current suffering and MRT jumping.
Certainly the solution is not to put up only good news and forget to mention bad ones like the PSA or NKF hoping they will disappear on their own?
Big Fish eat Small Fish,
Small Fish eat Shrimps,
Shrimps eat Small Fry,
Small Fry eat sh*t
This has been a fact of Life, and the Singapore Government knows that Singaporeans are powerless to help ourselves - short of packing up and leave.
It is obvious that the Singapore Reserves is fat - and with the fat coming not from any export driven output, but from the large turnover of locally consumed economic activities of a captive population that is totally dependent on ONE SERVICE PROVIDER.