Root cause of problems not tackled so govt can keep talking.
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Actually ours is a country which has made good progress and could have been carrying on fine by the 19702 given the initial savings by the citizens, good industrialization programs implemented by that time and good public housing.
Sad to say, from 1970s our leaders have started to change such basic good governance. Instead they kept tinkering with the original pro-people and pro-business and pro-growth model adopted and change it to one where the government on the assumption that citizens are rich and country will perpetually do well treated the people as milking cows from which it only needs to keep milking non-stop in good time or bad time.
Government began to go into business and compete with citizens for the same economic pie which is no longer enough to grow the private sector economy. Government was no longer interested in lowering costs of living or doing business nor creating conditions conducive to growing vibrancy of citizens and the private sector economy.
Instead the government for some reasons not supported by substantive research has kept assuming the economy or private citizens are getting rich and can afford to pay the hundreds of thousands in direct and indirect taxes (LTA, HDB) from double charging on lands and infrastructures etc thus plunging the whole private sector economy into doldrum from which it is now still unable or finding it difficult to recover despite the few rich people, the foreign investments and government sector of the economy doing well.
By sucking monies from the citizens in the above-stated relentless manner, it is creating a situation where the citizens have to depend on the government now including the middle class for some assistances with the costs of living and doing business.
If we had a more creative and entrepreneurial government from the 1970s, instead of the one which treated citizens as milking cows on assumed success, using legalistic wrangling of laws and regulations to get its way and entrench itself in power, citizens would not have become defenceless and so dependent on government to expect help or assistance.
Now after creating such a government where even middle class has to plead with government not to jack up the heavy indirect taxes or costs further, the leaders are still saying it is not their fault and people should not expect free lunches etc to get their way.
So it is clear that root cause must be found. It is not whether citizens have become dependent but whether the government being too obsessed as shown in the foregoing has been sucking too much monies for itself to keep as surpluses like NKF at first under Durai which caused such dependency syndrome being talked about.
By moderating the autocratic taxing of monies from the people and its top-down legalistic wrangling of laws and regulations to get its way irrespective of problems suffered, ceasing the heavy direct and indirect taxes worsened by a system of corporatising services into GLCs for recovering all costs possible from citizens, Singaporeans can still avoid all the life struggles currently being suffered in silence by many of its citizens.
So we must understand the root cause of problems and not try to be engaged in intellectualizing and more theorizing about this and that cause.
The real cause has been found but no one is able to understand and look into the real cause.
To avoid the 400 suicides by citizens who cannot afford to live due to one-tracked policy of taxing and recovering all possible costs the government can simply hold its hand and declare a moratorium not to increase any more tax or recover too much costs on lands and infrastructures particularly which were already paid by citizens in the first place.
There is no need for more social engineering as put out by the press media or ministers to check or mould people behaviour or private conduct. There is no need for other studies or remedies which may not help at all but give more excuses to governing leaders to avoid solutions to root cause of problems.
Just solve the whole problem by taxing less or holding its hand on any more fee or tax increases because what the government is already taxing is more than enough to create surpluses to attract foreign and local investments. -
The root cause of all the problems facing the citizens today can be traced widespread use of administrative power through legalistic wrangling which were decided only by a few in control of political power without full accountability or any constitutional basis,
For examples, the following actions, policies and decisions were not properly decided with full facts presented to parliament with proper debates and voting but were merely pushed through by legalistic reading of bills through parliament :-
(1) HOTA (Comatose patient is presumed dead or clinically dead) ,
(2) GRC,
(3) GST Increase without revealing true surpluses and profits from land sales, hidden profits and capital gains by all GLCs being presented,
(4) Double-charging on lands (already paid by citizens through taxes) in public housing,
(5) Iriple taxations on vehicle ownership or usage (Import duty, COE, ERP),
(6) creation of posts like SM and MM posts to perpetuate politiciansÂ’ grip of power without sanction by due constitutional and election process,
(7) Ministers increasing their own pay (conflicts of interest) without independent assessment of performance,
(
IR,
(9) Racial quota in allotment of HDB flats etc.
There is no accountability in the exercise of political or administrative powers by the politicians leading to widespread use of legalistic wrangling of laws and regulations through puppet parliament at the expense of interests of citizens as seen in many problems created e.g NKF, Shin Corp etc.
To build an inclusive and cosmopolitan society the first change required is to moderate or restore such power back to the electorate and their elected parliament to make actions to the citizens. -
Don't complain. LKY say we must wait two terms for a minister to be effective. LHL only first term. So we must wait till his 3rd term.
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LKY had more then 6 terms in office - since 1957 till he stepped down in the 1990, and what happened ?
GCT picked it up in 1990 when LKY stepped down to be SM, while LHL left the SAF in 1984 before taking over the seat on 12 August 2004.
LHL sat through GCT's 3 and a half term in office before taking the helm from GCT, is he ready to steer the ship by himself ?
PAPa seems to be hovering in the background and used his ''good old knuckle duster techniques'' in dealing with ALPHA-S, making the President of the SIA Pilot Association - Ryan Goh - a scape goat to beat the other pilots into silent submission.
It seems that only the Government can do the talking, and no one else - it has been like this since 1957, all opposition is handled in the usual gangster-land rough house manner.
Only difference is that the Gang Leader fought his way up, while in politics proxies are used, and the Chief is protected by rings of henchmen.
Welcome to the Third World version of the ''1st World'' -
two terms?? den they cannot get full pay lar liddat....give allowance only.Originally posted by eagle:Don't complain. LKY say we must wait two terms for a minister to be effective. LHL only first term. So we must wait till his 3rd term.
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No wonder he offered to freeze his salary for five yearsOriginally posted by sg mata:two terms?? den they cannot get full pay lar liddat....give allowance only.