PAP moves to counter criticism of party, govt in cyberspace
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OM,
are you one of them?
the above article appeared in today's straits times. -
Got another one, but with anti Oz agenda put in, primarily used for stark contrasting issues.
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Prime News
PAP moves to counter criticism of party, Govt in cyberspace
Li Xueying
565 words
3 February 2007
Straits Times
English
(c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
THE People's Action Party (PAP) is mounting a quiet counter-insurgency against its online critics.
It has members going into Internet forums and blogs to rebut anti-establishment views and putting up postings anonymously.
Sources told The Straits Times the initiative is driven by two sub-committees of the PAP's 'new media' committee chaired by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen.
One sub-committee, co-headed by Minister of State (Education) Lui Tuck Yew and Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad, strategises the campaign.
The other is led by Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Josephine Teo. Called the 'new media capabilities group', it executes the strategies.
Both were set up after last year's General Election. Aside from politicians, some 20 IT-savvy party activists are also involved.
When contacted, Mr Baey declined to give details of the group's activities, but he outlined the broad principles of the initiative.
It was necessary for the PAP to have a voice in cyberspace as there were few in the online community who were pro-establishment, he said.
As such, the committees aim to 'observe how new media is developing and see how we can use the new media as part of the overall media landscape', he added.
'How do we facilitate views that are pro-party and propagate them through the Internet?'
The approach reflects comments by Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui at the PAP's party conference in December. He called on younger activists to put up views 'to moderate the vitriol and balance the skewed comments' on the Internet.
But this can only work if activists are not 'too obvious' about it, Mr Baey said yesterday. Otherwise it comes across as 'propaganda'.
'The identity is not important. It is the message that is important,' he added.
One activist who is involved said that when posting comments on online forums and the feedback boxes of blogs, he does not identify himself as a PAP member.
He tracks popular blogs and forums to 'see if there is anything we can clarify' on hot-button topics such as the impending hike in the Goods and Services Tax.
But he added: 'We don't rebut everything. Sometimes, what is said is fair enough, and we send the feedback on to the committee.'
This latest initiative comes on top of a blog site with posts by 12 MPs born after Singapore's Independence in 1965.
It recognises that more younger Singaporeans are relying on the new media as a main source of information.
An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study conducted last year found that younger and better-educated Singaporeans relied on information from the Internet when shaping their voting choices at the last GE.
Among the opposition parties, members and supporters of the Workers' Party, in particular, post regularly on forums online.
But IPS senior research fellow Tan Tarn How wonders about the effectiveness of the PAP's campaign.
He said Internet users who post on forums such as Sammyboy tend not to be interested in 'intellectual debate' and so will not be persuaded by PAP activists anyway.
As for more serious-minded bloggers, he said the views that the activists may put out are already available in the mainstream media.
[email protected] -
So which one of their activities is top priority? Online propaganda or hip hop dancing?
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PAP MPs and ministers are invited to salmanize us forumers on our posts which we do not think are anti-government but pro-singapore.
For a start, minister Lui Tuck Yew should try to reply our views and comments on the following issues and problems-
The 1st question - why is HDB charging for lands in selling the public housing when lands are already owned by the people. Has HDB actually subsidised the HDB flats as it has claimed. If lands were acquired using taxpayers' monies aren't the lands owned by the people. So when HDB charged for the public housing at market price giving a little discount like Hotel Property has done, is not such charging double-charging on lands resulting in citizens paying all their earnings to the HDB.
The 2nd question - Why are ministers like Mah Boh Tan making use of excuses like road congestion to double- and triple-tax people for vehicular use of road i.e. 1st tax :excise duty at 110-170% of OMV, 2nd tax - COE, 3rd tax- ERP, 4th tax - petrol duty, 5th tax- car park charges (car park construction costs already paid for by HDB flat purchasers) etc etc
The 3rd question - Is PAP not running a government which is based on mercilessly taxing against the people and recovering all costs to accumulate taxes as surpluses through HDB, LTA and all the corporatized GLCs thereby driving up the costs of living to S$1,500.00 per month per family resulting in many deep recessions caused mainly by such taxing and cost-recovering system.
Owing to failures of the PAP in upgrading and restructuring the economy as promised from the 1970s, many citizens who are highly educated and highly trained are unemployed or under-employed and many many heartlanders (3-4 roomers) are earning lesser than S$1,000.00 per family unable to keep up with the state-driven high costs. -
I wonder issit they sent the lowest echelons of their counter-insurgency team to sgforums?
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if that were true then apparently they are getting creamed.........because there's nothing i've come across so far that convinces me the govt listens...
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Basically, the self-centred top-down system of government MM Lee has created has prevented him to decentralize decisions and implementation through appropriately designed step processes which would have allowed all the whole team of scholars to work with coordination and practical knowledge application as explained in the following call-centred process management:-
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERIZED CALL-CENTRE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM(OSP)
“The secret of getting ahead is to get started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex and overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.” - Mark Twain
INTUITIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH
Objective-Steps Processing Management System divides complex tasks in 4 lego steps as follows:-
(a) Study of Ideas,
(b) Enquiry,
(c) Contracts and
(d) Contract Administration.
STEP 1 – STUDY OF IDEAS
The first step “Study of Ideas” strikes at the core of creativity as it empowers everyone in knowledge applications.
STEP 2 – MAKE ENQUIRIES
The second step “Make Enquiry” is action-oriented as idea is followed up with hands-on enquiries, “Quotations/Tenders” to maximize resource application.
STEP 3 – CONTRACTS
The third step is result-oriented as it empower staff to close deal and manage an enterprise competitively.
STEP 4 – CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
Any enterprise will waste a great deal of time and resources in flip-flopping through detailed functional tasks necessary to attain results through coordination and micro-management.
To avoid such flip-flops and wastages, it is essential to standardize and pre-set various contracted tasks in 10 departments with each department pre-defined in 3-4 sets of core activities to attain consistent and focused project-like management.
Divide the multi-functional operational tasks into 10 departments thus:
1.(General) 2.(Human Resource) 3.(Revenue) 4.(Accounts) 5.(Marketing) 6.(Services-all external or outsourced works) 7.(Facility) 8.(Enforcement) 9. (Production) 10.(Compliance).
Set up departmentalized core activities in work forms to be performed by all through delegation with coordination and knowledge application.
Next, set up a call centre to process tasks in input-task-lines in the following work forms, viz:-
1. Administration Forms (General department)
3. Work Forms (Operations in 10 departments)
4. Generate quantified Feedbacks via department reports (Friday)
5. Close task-lines with Corrective actions and status information.
PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION
In addition, coordinate all departments by means of a multi-purpose clearance Form which avoid double-handling, inefficiencies, mishaps, security and fire risks etc.
Call-centre processes all tasks in the form of an input task-line through the following forms (administration) AND work forms (Operational):-
LIST OF PROCESSING FORMS
Standard letters (FGL) work orders (FGW), production orders (FNO), tender/quotations, (FQL), purchase orders (FCP), salary/remuneration orders, (FHS), contracts, (FCP) invoices, (FAI) vouchers, (FAV) etc.
LIST OF PROCESSING WORK FORMS
Work Forms include Budget Control Work Form (WAB), Security Check Work Form (WSS), Stock Control Work Form (WNS) etc.
Such processing of Forms and Work Forms generates quantified feedbacks of “1”, “2” and “3” (easily converted to percentages) representing non-attainment, attainment and excellence respectively.
You can now empower all staff to close all tasks on their own efficient performances without all the petty detailed micro-management or intervention incurring expensive executive costs.
It will also produce good corporate goverrnance as every policy, decision and action is well considered and implemented without self-centred hidden agendas of anyone.
Such a call-centre processing system will lead to efficient performance and satisfaction of shareholders, employees as it will avoid and prevent self-centredness and concentration of power in individual leading to the kind of malpractices we are witnessing every day in our businesses and corporations. -
Our leaders have over-emphasised on the academic talents so much for past forty years that they have discriminated against many practical talents in all aspects of nation building.
They made it worse by over-emphasising on the so-called meritocracy, giving only those with good academic attainments the fast-forward job and promotion opportunities at the expense of those who are good in implementation and applying practical knowledge.
Such a one-tracked policy has totally discouraged the average child from schooling age to apply his other practical talents in specific areas from music to sports and use and application of existing knowledge and technologies.
So people recognise that in order to move ahead they have to turn to academic pursuits with everyone caring only to pass examinations and getting on a piece of paper like a degree of certain university to get ahead.
So what happen today? The practical talents are struggling to find support of their ideas and practical inventions and many who are discouraged by their rejections by EDB, Spring, WDA etc have learned to move their ideas elsewhere the very first moment they could get sponsors overseas.
Who and what kind of talents we should promote - academic or practical talent ? Ministers are confusing the people as their ministries continue to turn away people with good ideas by bureaucratic reasons of one kind or another.
Today we should create a totally new environment to nurture and grant opportunities to the practical talents instead of producing more academic talents who will be waiting for sinecure employments in the public service.
People now learn to move in tandem with a system and disengage themselves from practical broad-based and knowledge applications posted by me to the Feedback Unit since 2002.
If I am still a student in school, I will spend all my time trying short-cuts to pass my academic subjects that score points instead of learning how to invent better microsoft applications or youtube.
Why should I when I know that I will be wasting time to learn such thing which will not gain me better jobs and better incomes when I apply for a job with the government.
Government needs to overhaul its entire motivational system from recruitments of staff to rewarding application of technology and business start-ups.
Government only talks about wanting more people to go into this or that area of excellence but by their own actions, they are not treasuring real talents of the knowledge application kind that counts.
The real talents in such areas like youtube will go instead to USA or the West who are more likely to use their skills and talents so at the end nothing will change.
I am still after more than a few attempts trying to get the government to use my call-centre process management to increase accountability and transparency and efficiency in public sector,
Spring or EDB cannot be bothered if our own people have come up with better ideas in anything. They only want to invite those who are already famous like michael jackson or tiger wood to see them.
So all the ordinary people who have talents of the practical kind in implementation areas including invention of new products, systems, applications of existing technologies to new users are taking their ideas overseas now from cartooning to clean-room system and software engineering so we are now still going downhill in technology race. -
How much were the salaries of civil servants working in Singapore Post, Mediacorp, Singapore Power, PSA etc before these services were corporatized into Pte Ltd GLCs.
I remember that at the earlier times, in the early 1970s Singapore Post, Mediacorp and Singapore Power and PSA etc were providing efficient services without the constant need to keep raising fees because their managers at that time were paid between S$3,000.00 pm and S$6,000.00 pm.
After corporatisation into Pte Ltd GLCs many of these government departments were upgraded with managers (without change with public advertisement) becoming CEOs and salaries jumping to S$10,000.00-S$20,000.00 pm while the services remain the same.
No wonder GLCs have to keep raising fees every two to three years to pay for their highly inflated bill collector positions.
No wonder Mediacorp/Mediawork sustained heavy losses by the hundreds of millions because these sinicure positions which do not need any entrepreneurial skills except to service the ministers are now eating into the company profits.
Similarly SBS and PSA which previously did not have GM/CEO have had to upgrade managers into high-flyer names each paid the inflated million-dollar salaries - perhaps so as to justify ministers' own increments and salary inflation.
Durai would not be wrong in thinking that he should be paid likewise. In a way, he was not totally wrong in pushing for his own rewards to keep up with what is happening in GLCs and the public sector's method of self-rewards.
SBS therefore has to keep raising their fares at the expense of the public commuters and tax payers because of such self-reward schemes instituted through corporatization under the Goh Keng Swee doctrine - push up salaries to upgrade the economy to value-adding model.
Major mistakes have been made by our political leaders in assuming that Singapore public sector was underpaid not knowing that by the 1980s, public sector sinecure managers who do not worry about profits or where the funds are coming from were paid three times that of equivalent positions in the private sector.
A Car Park division director was paid more than S$10,000.00 pm when private car park operator could only pay their equivalent manager only S$5,000.00 pm at the most.
So if you want proof, we do have plenty. Look at teacher's pay of S$8,000 pm as compared with adjunct teacher (relief) of S$100 per day.
The whole salary scheme for public sector has been screwed up on some wrong assumptions of the past and yet our leaders do not want to admit such fundamental errors of government. -
quote:Elfred wrote:
Elfred,
JJ wrote:
At the personal level, my humble view is that there are some trends and some things that we cannot fight.
Elfred may mean well in saying we should swim against this tsunami. That is very easy to say. But it is totally another thing to actually get down to doing. I never believe in forcing people to work, upgrade or whatever. I only believe in encouraging and enticing them in the general direction of current and future trends.
Like many developed nations, we are at the top of the growth curve where growth can only come at a slower pace compared to the last 4 decades. And that is no fault of the PAP or whoever is in power.
What if I can reverse this tsunami? Hahahaha...
But I can only reduce the politically impact, which is actually what's the game is all about.
I tell you JJ, trends are a result of human behaviors. Rules are set by gahmen. Power is the gahmen where the duties lie. This trend in Singapore cannot be siamed, and must be fight against. No gahmen worths the salt can siam, especially when it is in a small barren piles of rock.
You really think we are at the top of the growth...? Hahaha...
For those in the 60s, yes. They are seeing what they never imagined in 2007. For those who see Dow Jones at 4000 from 1000, 10000 is ridiculous.
How can Singapore be already at the top of curve? Can't you see how many heavily invested local talents stuck in zero or minimum capacity? Because of one Wee's attitude and the likes, the entire bunch outside elites are wasted capacity! You call this top of the curve?
Is this how economics implies? Is this growth peaked out? Look at Singaporeans. Groomy. Stucked. Wanna flee. This is what? Even ##^#eye should know this means heavily wasted capacity! And our governance is still going to create such happenings. Waste. Loss. Unhappiness. Then chaos.
We don't have a choice. This is trend that gahmen has to fight. They holds ultimate power, nobody can stop them to do good in Singapore. If this PM cannot wake up but continue with such thinking, no doubt we will have trouble.
We are not forcing the people. Jobless people want jobs suitable for them. Ambitious talents want positions to glow. Nobody would refuse to upgrade when they can afford to. We invest more than any countries per capita on education, and yet they are FORCED into Mcdonalds, driving taxis, cleaning... and we have totally incapable people in politics, offering shark fins. What is this? This kinda Tan Tock Seng how won't go into trouble?
Singapore is going the wrong way. And all the elites can do is blame whiners whining. You mean Singapore is paying these elites in political positions to deal with the trend by blaming whiners?
This is like western medication. They just try to cover the fire here and there and at the end, volcano exploded and they say "Oh... I do alot liao...". The whole basic thinking has to be reconsidered. Now the rentals are edging up again.
What does that mean? But has the governance improved or the situation different?
No.
Income gap will widen to a point where society will end in chaos which will destablise Singapore in the slightest wind. The most to suffer are the honest population, the good core, of every society. Families are broken, human love is undermined, conflicts resulted...
This is tsunami. It is not easy to swim through. JJ, you can just stand there and wait for tsunami, or migrate. I wanna evacuate. Under such smart elites, where got hope? And they still assume $2000 amonth is enough. And they still want babies. And after 40years of Nation building, we end up still a migrant society not only with foreigners flushing in, but also Singaporeans wanna get out in large scales...
So why bloat the education budget?
What direction can we entice the population? In this population, in political sense, it is a direction for both fit and unfit to become fit. Now if going by the norm, we are only aggravating situation. Only fools let such trend goes on becos as if tsunami come we stand here waiting. We have to weed out those not suitable for political offices and gear up for the tsunami.
We long ago should already be seriously prepared. But... ... Sigh. It's a shame we have kami kazes under the efficient and effective governance of caring MPs from the highest calibre... yahdayahdayahda...
Now PAP started out in a world of racial conflicts in the region. It was a trend. Last time they could fight for a utopia. Now they cannot? Now they can only say world imperfect? Now MM still calls himself fighter? What is he fighting against? Where are spirits of the old gahmen? All drown in the built up bureacratic culture...?
There is no utopia, so we go for one lah~
Not easy. I taught those kids and dealing with those funny parents and under such ironical situation more uneasy.
Now you either prepare to charge the walls or let it come crushing. The entire gahmen needs to be restructured! The entire direction needs to be revised! The entire thinking need to be evolved! And Singapore Inc MUST stop. The cross influences of Inc mentality to civil sector has created too negative an impact.
The only people who can help Singaporeans are wise men and women. The only things they need is not GST but good governance.
Anyway... ... ... ...
Actually since all clueless, we all just wait for things to happen. As it is the norm now. This issue and many others will never stop or remedied before the leader/s for the job rise to the occassion. JJ, disappointed as I may be, I understand we can only wait or run. Hahaha... sad but true, isn't it?
PAP has finally reached such a state... after the oldies shouted 'medaka'...
This era, who will lead us to shout medeka again...
I also want medaka.
You... got any lobang to work outside for poor Elfred?
I think you have made some good points here about the current state of government, politics and political culture here:-
(1) The government's basic governing philosophy is flawed. It is aimed at making monies for itself through taxing and recovering all possible costs using all kinds of excuses to do so to good effect so far ..
(2) The average families (heartlanders staying in 3-4 room hdb flats) need to earn at least S$1,500.00 pm to pay for transport, utilities, schooling, meals and feeding the dependent elders but many are not earning S$1,000.00 pm or are unemployed or under-employed despite possessing educations.
(3) Such high costs of living were not caused by natural market forces but were caused by the system of government adopted. Many people including ngiam tong dow, active citizens have already given feedbacks which were largely ignored with leaders covering up such problems as Durai has done for the years.
(4) The taxing and cost-recovering system of government has already been the primary cause of our recessions and local businesses closures. Even with GDP growing at 7%, these local businesses will not turn around.
(5) Government uses its legal and administrative and the controlled media to bulldoze through all taxing and cost recovering and continue to cover up all the above-stated serious problems and deny feedbacks and stop internal debates with their mighty powers at the MM-controlled cabinet level with all the mps and ministers merely serving as underlings to support their doings and give an impression that everything is well.
Such a government does not solve real problems. It is merely covering up NKF problems by denials using their legal muscle and the controlled media to do so.
NFK is a small tsunami which erupted after the stupid sph gaff with durai. If not for this face-saving mistake by durai the whole system would have carried on ad infinitum supported quietly from behind by mrs goh, mm and sm and mrs lee.
This is a system based on government taking everything away from the people. The people are finding it more and more difficult to live even on necessities ..they can no longer afford to live and pay for the high hdb mortgages they were previously stuck with under gct era and none of our scholars can save the tsunami. Ambitious ministers and newbies like mah boh tan continue to push for more taxing and cost recovery to get into good book of mm and everyone continues to suffer.
They only made it worse and worse hoping that meritocracy or the education game will one day miraculously offer a cure.
There is no superman in the whole government who has the mighty prestige or abilities to save this nation.
I agree that it is a tsunami in the making which will destroy everything this country has built over the past 40 years. -
It's time for a witchhunt!
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So, Lui Tuck Yew wants to start a war in cyberspace to defeat his own people? LetÂ’s give him a war.
Forumners and bloggers can fight and defeat his elitist debaters with a rag-tag army consisting of arguments, with the support of facts.
Ooops! Wait ! ItÂ’s time to take my medication. -
Reproduced below is perhaps one underling reply to counter forumer's criticisms at youngpap.org.sg:-
47WYL18RW wrote:
Just answer to the facts and logics stated in the above-stated posts point by point.
All this destructive government criticisms about what is wrong or taking money from citizens to line their pockets are all WRONG.
It is just pure sour grapes and has no merit or evidence--only guesswork of the machinery that govt. does to sell things and make money for their selfish gains. Corruption is a crime punishable by jail lock-in.
Tiere is not one shred of independant evidence on any of the gripes --only lip service that what the government do is WRONG WRONG WRONG.
"GOOD GOVERNANCE" IS SUCH AN INTELLECTUAL WORD . also
"efficiency"
"self centred top-down govt"
hahaha.
well, only you think you know--all in government are fools.
such a sypnosis of "good governance" is first year high school stuff.
maybe 1 or 2 here will take the bait[dumber?]--most just turn away from rubbish to seek new redish day to day hard hitting solutions of jobs, money and a progressive future.
LOL.
Do not try to use catch phrases like "globalization", "no free lunch" "dangers of western permissive society", "welfarism", "meritocracy", "leadership", "talents" to justify more taxes or fee increases or hide existing problems.
Majority of heartlanders are struggling to pay the average costs of living jacked up to S$1,500.00 per family and many are not earning even S$1,000.00.
Government can avoid double-charging on lands or triple-taxing on vehicular usage and people will immediately be relieved of all their present problems and economy will take care of itself next year without any further need to raise GST to 7%. -
Actually Minister Lui Tuck Yew might be trying to respond to my several private emails to PM, MM and himself to invite forumers to take part in internal debates on major government policies with the people.Originally posted by googoomuck:So, Lui Tuck Yew wants to start a war in cyberspace to defeat his own people? LetÂ’s give him a war.
Forumners and bloggers can fight and defeat his elitist debaters with a rag-tag army consisting of arguments, with the support of facts.
Ooops! Wait ! ItÂ’s time to take my medication.
But for some reasons, after PM Lee and Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have invited people with non-conformist views on mainstream or conventional policies, my self-invitation was not accepted. So it is not true that government intends to engage the people in robust debates on policies.
If minister Lui wants to do so sincerely, we should all welcome him to reply to our posts here personally and not use pseudonyms to hide identity. -
The cyberspace is an almost unstopable media that cannot be control like the state media. this is a threat to the the news that is not wanted to be seen or heard. cyberspace provides such media
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Do you realise some of the opposition who come online gave their name readily?
We havent seen one Lui Tuck Yew or something here right?
Who knows, some of these PAP supporters could engage in unneccessary but equally shameful flamewars and we wouldnt have a clue.
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perhaps, but if they are not bright enough to realize that winning a debate or getting the last word in here actually means fark all, ... then we're in serious trouble ...
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"counter-insurgency" - spies?
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and whats with the term 'counter insurgency'?
this is getting worrisome, anti PAP = anti nation = coup?
Definition of insurgency from wiki
"An insurgency, or insurrection, is an armed uprising, or revolt against an established civil or political authority. Persons engaging in insurgency are called insurgents, and typically engage in regular or guerrilla combat against the armed forces of the established regime, or conduct sabotage and harassment in the land in order to undermine the government's position as leader.
An insurgency differs from a resistance both in its political overtones and in the nature of the conflict: an insurgency connotes an internal struggle against a standing, established government, whereas a resistance connotes a struggle against invading or occupying foreign forces and their collaborators." -
Li Ka Shing did it after Warren Buffet and Bill Gate. Sim Wong Hoo did it. All these people earn their own monies from the market place from entrepreneurship and abilities.
The ministers who are taking monies from the citizens by going to the parliament to pass any laws they want to increase their own salaries and pay exceptionally incredible amounts of bonuses they want and create their own lifelong annuities not to mention director fees etc should actually be the first ones to donate the excesses to the deprived and needy who could not survive in our tax-and-recover system. -
machiam saying we're gonna rebel and throw em off by force lidat.
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Let them send their reps into cyberspace and we will remove their brainwashing.
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If Minister Lui Tuck Yew sincerely wants to exercise his entrepreneurial spirit and ability he could tell the people he would not sue them for any defamation in the course of engaging them in policy debates.
He could start off for example by declaring a no-hold bar debate and post their responses to one of the major issues affecting the people e.g. whether HDB has subsidised the public housing as published in the Forum page of Straits Times to which so far there is still no satisfactory reply from any of the HDB CEO or senior personnel or the ministers:-No subsidy in new HDB flats, just a discount
Quote:
FROM the letter by the Housing Board's Ms Kee Lay Cheng ('How prices of new HDB flats arrived at'; ST, Nov 17), it would appear that new flats that are sold are not subsidised.
Ms Kee said that 'new HDB flats are... priced below their equivalent market values so that buyers enjoy a substantial market subsidy' - that is, they are sold at prices lower than those sold in the open market.
In fact, there is no such thing as 'market subsidy'. If a flat's price in the open market is $400,000 and the seller reduces it to, say, $350,000, he is giving a discount and not a subsidy. Likewise, if the HDB sells its flats at $350,000 each, it is giving a discount to what similar flats can fetch in the open market.
A subsidy is the difference between the cost of a product or service and the reduced price at which the product or service is sold or provided, the difference being absorbed by the Government to make the product or service available to those who may not otherwise be able to afford it.
Thus, if it costs $200,000 to build each flat (land cost + construction cost + consultants' fees and other incidentals) and they are sold at $150,000, then the HDB is giving a subsidy of $50,000. On the other hand, if it sells the flats at, say, $350,000, it is in fact making a profit of $150,000, even though it may be giving a discount of $50,000 to the market price.
The flats in Queenstown that are close to the MRT station were constructed after demolishing low- and medium-rise blocks that were constructed during the early 1960s. The land on which they stood was acquired at very low cost. Even allowing for inflation, the final costs of the flats cannot be the prices now quoted by the HDB. At these prices, the flats are not subsidised.
To say they are sold at these prices because they are near the MRT station is to place a value on them and not their cost. It would have been far better had the HDB said that, because the flats are located close to amenities, they will not be subsidised, but will be sold at cost or even at a small profit to subsidise flats that are not so well located.
Cheong Chee Mun -
they are serious ones, where got play, play ones...Originally posted by robertteh:If Minister Lui Tuck Yew sincerely wants to exercise his entrepreneurial spirit and ability he could tell the people he would not sue them for any defamation in the course of engaging them in policy debates.
He could start off for example by declaring a no-hold bar debate and post their responses to one of the major issues affecting the people e.g. whether HDB has subsidised the public housing as published in the Forum page of Straits Times to which so far there is still no satisfactory reply from any of the HDB CEO or senior personnel or the ministers:-