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#241
24-06-2018, 10:27 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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[GPGT]: Another WP banner covered up at Blk 722 by Victor Lye banner!  source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater Is this a great work of art? It's like the grassroots have to hide existence of WP! Now everyone in the GRC will know this highly important face! Saw this other post on fb:  Seems misleading to put up double posters as if he is already the mp. These kinda posters and notifications are everywhere and even occupied 100%of the noticeboard below my block. If the scenario was reversed an a "volunteer "did this in a pap ward, wonder the pap IBs will ripp the wp person to pieces. Here victor just got away with it. source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater 
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#242
24-06-2018, 10:32 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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#243
26-06-2018, 01:21 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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__________________
Don't just complain . Offer alternative solutions. Singkies have NO MORE right to complain . Ignore list : Craz78 rocket boy
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#244
02-07-2018, 05:40 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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On Victor Lye and OBike issues Published on 2018-06-26 by The Online Citizen  by Willy Sum As I ponder on the saga and discourse surrounding the People's Action Party appointed Grassroots losers of each General Election, I can't help but wonder how much does Singaporeans genuinely know about our lopsided political system for Victor Lye to smoke you and its implication for each successive PAP leaders who have become as "comfortable" as former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak previously was with his unchallenged status quo. All that has of course, changed with an awakened Malaysian electorate! These PAP "Grassroots Advisors" dominating and controlling government resources in the scene is not new and have stretched as far back as Mah Bow Tan and Andy Gan when they were trying to usurp power from then-Singapore Democratic Party Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong. They were being assisted by the Citizens' Consultative Committee chairman who in turn, reports to the "Constituency Directors" of each Community Centres located in the ward where the Workers' Party MPs are disallowed to utilise any of its facilities. I have even seen Alex Yeo meet residents in Kovan CC together with a Ms Jessie Heng when she should really be working with the elected MP of the area! All these are made possible as PM Lee claimed that you the voter, endorsed it, in addition to there being no protest outside Parliament House over this and other hot button issues. You should start asking yourselves, how is it that unelected political party members are allowed to "meet" residents in a non-political setting and draft letters for them despite having no mandate while even the "best losers" like Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Perera and Dennis Tan are unable to? The answer lies in the people that are appointed to head the Attorney-General's Chambers who have repeatedly took or refrain from taking action, in the ruling party's favour though we know that the law has been infringed! Cases in point: The Cheng San GRC polling centre incident in 1997, the abuse of power in the 38 Oxley saga, the blatant changing of Halimah's race and inability to challenge the vacancy in Marsiling-Yew Tee although Parliament's intention was clear of minority representation when it enacted the GRC system which has witnessed several unpopular PAP candidates and losers of previous election being coat-tailed into Parliament! Which brings me to the second point: Why is it that consumers are currently unable to obtain a refund of their deposits and membership fees from oBike when they absconded the local scene yesterday, pretty much like Uber and LTA, MTI does not seem to assist the affected? Bingo, it lies in the lopsided system! When you begin witnessing more and more of such issues and can't help but notice the inaction and rampant injustices, you know what lies ahead if you keep "endorsing" the system. Its eventual collapse will prove devastating when we learn about the truth of the state of affairs in our Country, abet the painful way! However, we can prevent this by voting wisely at the next election, purging some excess PAP MPs from East Coast, Marine Parade, Holland-Bt Timah, Marsiling-Yew Tee etc. and you will then notice real changes to the way we are governed! p.s. Voters of Aljunied: "if the PAP government do not even listen to their PAP MPs in other wards, what guarantee do you have they'll listen to your unelected PAP grassroots advisors?"
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#245
02-07-2018, 05:42 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...nvestigations/
 Lessons for Singapore from the 1MDB investigations Published on 2018-06-27 by The Online Citizen by H. M. Ong Since his electoral victory, Tun Mahathir bin Mohamad has shown the world, including Singaporeans, that he means business and is determined to make good his electoral pledge to raise the standards of living in Malaysia. One of the many things Singapore could learn from Dr Mahathir's administration is the political will to combat corruption. Less than six weeks after taking office, the Malaysian Police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department announced earlier today that items seized from six premises linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak's residences as part of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad probe are valued between RM900 million (S$304 million) and RM1.1 billion (S$371 million). While he did not suggest that arrests could be made soon, the CCID chief added that his officers have recorded more than 30 statements pertaining to the investigation so far. Based on Dr Mahathir's recent comments on the case, it could well be soon before arrests are made. Across the causeway, the most high-profile saga resembling the 1MDB raids took place last April when Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) raided the offices of several football clubs and the Football Association of Singapore as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of funds at one of the local clubs after Sport Singapore lodged a police report. The issue centred primarily on the donation of $500,000 to the Asean Football Federation - which FAS claimed was solicited by then President Zainudin Nordin but which the donor disputed. In addition, several of Zainudin's former colleagues in the FAS council claimed ignorance about the donation. These suggest that Zainudin could have an agenda in soliciting the donation. A deliberate attempt to demonise Zainudin for electoral gains? We don't know. But more than 14 months later, there has been no update despite the arrests of high-profile figures in the political, business and sporting arenas. To be fair, just how complicated this case is as compared to the IMDB saga is known only to the CAD. Moreover, grapevine talk has it that despite some figures (contesting in the April 2017 FAS elections) claiming that they were never told by then-President Zainudin Nordin about the $500,000 donation, evidence have since surfaced which proved that their claims were false. In other words, some of these candidates who had contested in the April 2017 elections (and who were part of the previous administration of Zainudin Nordin) were aware of the donation. This could well change the direction of the investigation. One can only hope CAD's delay in bringing this case to the next level is due to the discovery of new evidence. While it is best to leave the investigations to the CAD, one cannot help but wonder why our Malaysian neighbours and civil servants are able to work more efficiently than us? The answer is clear: the pressure arising from the political will demonstrated by their top leaders. Dr Mahathir is dead serious about combatting corruption, and I hope Singapore could one day be in a similar situation.
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#246
02-07-2018, 05:43 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...ir-mouths-are/
 Our leaders need to put their money where their mouths are Published on 2018-06-29 by Ghui Singapore is indeed a land of contradictions. Depending on the situation or the day, its answers and responses are different in very similar circumstances. On the one hand, social inequality has been cited as a chief concern in Singapore, while on the other hand, the government seems to take steps, whether unwittingly or otherwise, to strengthen the social divide rather than bridge it. For instance, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that Singapore would wither if society was rigid and stratified by class. Yet his government is proposing to increase Goods & Service Tax (GST) rather than income tax. I would not be the first to say that any consumer tax (especially one without exemptions) will always penalise the poor rather than the rich. By increasing GST without exempting basic necessities such as food, you will in effect be burdening the poorer people thereby widening the social chasm. Further, PM Lee's wife, Ho Ching, seems to have implied through the sharing of an article that she is of the view that GST has to be increased in order for more aid to be given to the needy. Is that really the case? Why not start by decreasing ministerial salaries or increasing the level of income tax for higher income earners? As a start, why not introduce exemptions on the GST exempting basic items such as food? To add insult to injury, elected MPs (overwhelmingly PAP members) only have to pay SGD385 per annum for the right to literally park anywhere when everyone else has to fork out more than double that amount just to park at only one vicinity. How is that a social leveler when MPs who are definitely considered high-income earners pay less for more? Minister Shanmugam has publicly stated that we cannot let inequality erode social cohesion. Why then is there evidence of policies that enhance divides rather than narrow the gaps? Then, there is Minister Ng Eng Hen declaring that he would like Singapore to be a place for the free exchange of divergent ideas when incidences in how local dissenters have been treated is anything but encouraging of the free flow of differing opinions. What of the constant refrain of Singapore being a meritocracy when there are arguably impressions (whether unwittingly or otherwise) of nepotism? For a country's political leaders to earn trust, they cannot be so confused in the message they are sending out. Put your money where your mouth is.
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#247
02-07-2018, 05:45 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...d-get-monkeys/
 Is it possible to pay top dollar and get monkeys? Published on 2018-06-30 by The Online Citizen by Augustine Low Conventional wisdom says that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys, and the more executives are paid, the better they perform. Not so, according to many studies. The most comprehensive study so far was undertaken by corporate-governance research firm MSCI which summarises its findings this way: “Has CEO pay reflected long-term stock performance? In a word, ‘no.’” In the United States, one hundred dollars invested in the 20% of corporations with the highest paid CEOs would have grown to $265 over the study’s 10-year window. Meanwhile, $100 invested in the companies overseen by the lowest paid CEOS would have increased to $367. In Singapore, the picture is no different, perhaps even worse. Management consulting firm Korn Ferry Hay conducted a study which showed that salaries of Singapore CEOs are starkly not aligned with performance. “Pay-for-performance alignment between a CEO’s pay and the company’s profitability continues to be an issue,” said the management consultancy in a report last September. It found that some CEOs still received bonuses when their companies were in the red, while others were paid fatter bonuses even when the company’s profits had shrunk. What does that say about the situation at government-linked corporations (GLCs) which are known to pay top dollar to top executives? One striking example is Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). It was reported that the company lost more than $1.5 billion while it was under the charge of former general Ng Yat Chung. To stem the losses, Temasek was forced to sell NOL to a French company in 2016. How much did Ng receive for running NOL to the ground? A whopping $16 million at the very least, according to reports. All he would say about the sale of NOL was: “Personally, it would be strange not to feel a little bit of regret, a tinge of this ‘sayang’ feeling.” To rub salt into the wound, NOL turned profitable within one year of the sale to French group CMA CGM. Now, the same Ng Yat Chung is doing his thing as CEO of Singapore Press Holdings, whose stock price has been hovering at a multi-year low. There is a similar case to be made for other controversy-ridden GLCs such as SMRT and Keppel Corp. Not to mention Temasek where transparency is thin and the salary of its CEO, Ho Ching, is a closely guarded secret. Now, how does everything we’ve discussed square with the notion that making our politicians and top civil servants the world’s highest paid would bring the best results for Singapore and there is no other option to ensure success? You be the judge of that.
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#248
02-07-2018, 05:47 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...e-performance/
 International columnist: PAP’s high Ministerial salaries cannot be justified given their mediocre performance Published on 2018-06-30 by Kwok Fangjie https://international.thenewslens.com/article/98785 Writing for international website The News Lens on Friday (29 Jun), columnist Justin Hugo opined that the high ministerial salaries for PAP leader cannot be justified given their mediocre performance. “After living in a bigger country, it is very difficult for me to wrap my head around the logic of [the People’s Action Party] that its Prime Minister and Ministers should be paid such high salaries”. Economic Growth and City slicking Hugo noted that the IMF projected Singapore’s economic growth for 2018 to be 2.9%, which was the same as New Zealand’s and slightly below Australia’s 3.0%. Yet the leaders of these 2 countries - Jacinda Arden and Malcolm Turnbull – are US$340,000 and $528,000 respectively. He also drew a comparison to Luxembourg’s economic growth at 4.3%, or 1.5 times higher than Singapore's. Noting that their Prime Minister Xavier Bettel earns US$278,000 a year, Hugo asked if it was fair that Bettel “is presiding over a country forecast to grow 1.5 times faster than Singapore, yet [Lee Hsien Loong] pays himself nearly six times the salary?”. Hugo then pointed to the Global Power City Index 2017, which evaluates and ranks the world's major cities in relation to their ability to attract businesses and individuals. He noted that London was ranked first, followed by New York and Tokyo. Singapore was ranked fifth in the Index. Hugo noted these cities “have two to five times the GDP of Singapore, yet the Singapore prime minister earns more than six to 12 times that of the London mayor, the New York City mayor and the Tokyo governor”. Has high salaries brought about socio-economic progress? Noting that the Ministerial formulae said that political “salaries should also be linked to the individual performance of political appointment holders, and the socio-economic progress of Singapore Citizens", Hugo asked if Singapore’s socio-economic progress is ten times that of its counterparts. He highlighted that Singapore “spending on social protections among the lowest in developed countries. If taken as a percentage of GDP [it] is less than half of that spent in South Korea and five times less than that allocated in Japan”. “Why is the government intent on lining its own pockets rather than putting that money to work for the as many as 35 percent of Singaporeans living in relative poverty?” Hugo asked. "In short, the whole twist of logic and propaganda that the Singapore government uses to feed their own addiction to high salaries can only be called one thing - bullshit, as Malaysia's new prime minister Mahathir would say". Hugo then concluded that “PAP has only helped themselves with the country's money to pay themselves high salaries, while leaving unaddressed Singapore's gaping income gap”. Does high ministerial salaries deter corruption? Hugo also debunked PAP’s reasoning for paying high ministerial salaries would prevent corruption. This is because “If [ordinary] Singaporeans are not paid the highest salaries, then by the PAP's logic, Singapore should be riddled with corruption”. Taking a look at other counties such as Germany and Taiwan, Hugo asked “if these countries are able to maintain a low level of corruption without paying their ministers such inflated salaries, what does that say about Singapore's ministers – that they need high salaries to prevent them from being corrupt?” He concludes that if “If the PAP insists that high salaries should simply be paid to them to prevent corruption, even as the economy performs similarly to other countries, then we are in effect giving out free money" to PAP politicians.
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#249
02-07-2018, 05:49 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.facebook.com/chris.kuan....44664485723641
Chris Kuan 30 June at 10:33 · NTUC proposes member to be NMP? Not that NMP means much but if you want an NMP to go missing in action, yeah go ahead let NTUC to have an NMP. Juz look at the teacher car park charging farrago and the deafening silence from union, you gotta ask what is the point of it all. Now I would be the first to admit that peaceful labour relationship is very important but if labour is completely neutered (or co-opted by a government that is friendly to business), then we have nasty consequences like poor job protection, wage stagnation and erosion of benefits. Weak labour unions also protect bad management and bad management practices lead to stuff like poor productivity and over reliance on cheap labour. Aggressive unions are bad, so are pussycat ones. For industry to prosper, there must be a certain amount of tension or friction in labour relationship. Without the necessary tension or friction, tripartite approach only makes life easier for business / management and the government and that means labour has to lose out. Just look at the teachers, who in position of power and responsibility is really speaking up for them.
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#250
02-07-2018, 05:51 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...y-tariffs-6-9/
 1 July 2018 – a Sunday with double price hikes in water (15%) and electricity tariffs (6.9%) Published on 2018-07-02 by Thomas Loh For most Singaporeans, the weekends have been a time for family bonding and rest. Yet starting from 1 July, they will find that merely resting at home will cost more than yesterday (30 Jun). This is because the 2nd phrase of the 30% water hike will kick in, while electricity tariffs for the Q3 2018 will be 6.9% higher than the previous quarter. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat first announced a 30% water hike in his budget speech in Feb 2017. The increase was due to "update our water prices to reflect the latest costs of water supply". According to the PUB, it costs $1.3 billion a year to operate Singapore's water system, up from $500 million in 2000. While there may be an increase in operating costs, a TOC contributor wrote last year that the whole issue of water price increase essentially stemmed from overpopulation which depleted Singapore's existing water supply which then necessitated more expensive means of water production. Phillip Ang – a blogger who has been advocating for government transparency – researched into the matter and found that the annual profit for SP has been making an annual profit of almost $1 billion a year for the past 13 years. Despite such massive profits, HDB households will pay $5 to $8 more a month for their water bills with this second stage increase. Alternative political parties have expressed strong disagreement over this matter. The Singapore Democratic Party has called this "taking advantage" of Singaporeans, considering that there are already 3 layers of tax – a Waterborne Fee, a Water Conservation Tax and a 7% GST levied on top of these 2 taxes. On the other side of the coin, this would be the 3rd consecutive quarter in which electricity tariffs have increased. In Q1 2018, the tariffs were $0.2156 cents per Kilowatt hour, while Singaporeans will see themselves paying $0.2365 cents per Kilowatt hour now, or a 9.6% increase in 6 months. Yet according to the Energy Market Authority in 2016, 95% of Singapore's electricity is generated using natural gas. In a separate blog post, Ang noted that natural gas prices were largely unchanged since a year ago and asked "why is PAP still justifying electricity tariff increase with increase in oil price instead of natural gas"? According to a commentary by research associates Allan Loi and Nur Azha Putra, gas imports are typically pegged to oil prices as they lack an established pricing benchmark. Given the nexus between oil prices and gas tariffs, they predicted that the tariffs "could rise to beyond 23 cents per kWh for this upcoming quarter". They advised that "households and businesses should prepare for yet another quarter of an increase in electricity tariffs - since oil prices already started to move up since mid-2017". Already netizens are feeling the pinch:       
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#251
02-07-2018, 05:55 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...r-raising-gst/
 PM Lee said PAP mad to raise GST in GE2015 but now says they’re giving notice for raising GST Published on 2018-05-21 by Correspondent On Sat (19 May), PM Lee rushed to KL and managed to talk to the new Malaysian PM Mahathir for half an hour. PM Lee went to KL to personally congratulate Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for his coalition's historic win at the recent Malaysian GE14. After the meeting, PM Lee was interviewed by reporters. When asked if Malaysia's move to abolish the GST would make it harder for Singapore government to sell its GST hike to Singaporeans, PM Lee said that the circumstances are different. PM Lee stressed that his Government is taking the planned GST hike “very seriously”. "We’ve given a lot of notice. I think there's time to explain and there's time to work out how exactly we will make sure that Singaporeans are given the right support in order to be able to live with the new tax,” he said. PM Lee at GE 2015: PAP mad to raise taxes if got strong mandate During the election campaigning at Singapore's GE 2015, PM Lee also "gave notice" that it would not raise taxes if the PAP won with a strong mandate. He rubbished claims that PAP would reverse policies if they garnered strong votes. He said his government "did not play such games with voters". At the time, he was referring to WP's comments that PAP could change "its mind anytime". WP had raised the possibility of an increase in GST if PAP won with a strong mandate. PM Lee said during GE 2015, "I think it's a strange psychology to think that this is a government which is only dying to do bad things to people... Do we look like that?" He added that PAP would be "mad" to raise taxes just because it had garnered a certain percentage of the votes. "Raising, adjusting taxes is a very big decision. You consider it carefully, you discuss it thoroughly, and you do it only when you absolutely have to," he said. "What will make you need to raise GST? Profligate spending and irresponsible, unsustainable plans. That is what will hurt and require you to raise taxes and GST." As things turned out, PAP did win with a very strong mandate in 2015 - it garnered some 70% of popular votes. Thereafter, during the budget debate early this year, it announced that it would be raising the GST from the current 7 to 9% after 2020, although technically speaking, PAP did not raise GST during its current term of government but aims to do so in the next term, with the assumption that it will surely win in the next GE. It has been further noted that the announcement to raise GST came on the back of huge surpluses generated in FY2016 (surplus $5.2 billion) and FY2017 (surplus of $9.6 billion). In fact, looking at historical data, out of the last 21 years (FY1997 to FY2017), Singapore registered 15 years of operating surpluses vs 6 years of operating deficits.  If government land sales were to be thrown in, in accordance with IMF way of calculating fiscal surpluses or deficits, it would be 21 vs 0 - 21 years of solid surpluses for Singapore. But PM Lee would still want to raise GST in any case. His father once told civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow years ago, "What's wrong with collecting more money?"
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#252
03-07-2018, 10:41 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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#253
06-07-2018, 04:04 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...es-will-go-up/
PUB Assistant Chief Executive: I don’t know if water prices will go up Published on 2018-07-05 by Correspondent  In an interview with Channel NewsAsia which was published yesterday ('Need more water? PUB aims to produce more with same amount of resources', 4 Jul), Public Utilities Board (PUB)'s assistant chief executive Harry Seah talked about investing in Research &Development (R&D) to double the amount of water by 2060 to meet demand. PUB wants to double water production by then, with the "same energy and waste footprint". To achieve this, investing in R&D is necessary. For instance in desalination, PUB has invested in electro-deionisation (EDI) technology, which uses an electric field to extract dissolved salts from seawater. Beyond EDI, PUB is also pouring resources into other water technologies ranging from electrical fields to cell membranes. "The price of energy is going to go up," Seah said. "If you don’t do anything today, the cost of producing water is going to go up." When asked if the technological innovations would help keep water prices stable, Seah said "we do our part through efficiency to drag it (out) as long as possible, that’s the best I can do". But water prices have already gone up. Since 1 July, the price of water has gone up 30 per cent following a second water price hike this month. Last year, Finance Minister Heng Swee Kiat told Parliament that the government needs to increase water prices to "reflect the latest costs of water supply". Seah continued, "Whether the price will go up, I don’t know, but we can try our best to make our water affordable to the public." He also highlighted that water prices would depend on other factors like manpower costs. "Basically, we have to look at it from the point of view of sustainability, besides dollar and cents."
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#255
07-07-2018, 08:17 PM
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Re: The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
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