[h=1]SINGAPOREANS’ WELL-BEING DEPENDS ON THE REMOVAL OF THE GREEDY PAP FROM GOVERNMENT[/h]
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10 Nov 2014 - 1:13pm
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As the dominant party in Parliament, the PAP has been able to enrich itself for decades. Every ‘proposal’ for a salary increase never failed to bring a smile on ministers’ faces. Pay increases have always been supported by ex PM Lee Kuan Yew, whose nonsensical justifications Singaporeans were expected to accept blindly.
In 1970 when ministers’ salaries were increased, Lee Kuan Yew said his PM salary would “remain at $3,500 to demonstrate his commitment to the policy of no wage increases without productivity growth”.
However, Lee’s pay shot up 171% from $3,500 to $9,500 three years later in 1973. So what happened to Lee’s commitment to the policy of no wage increases without policy growth? Did productivity increase by 171% in 3 years?
In 1981, Lee’s pay jumped to $16,500 for no rhyme or reason. Did productivity increase by 357% since 1970? Lee was clearly talking nonsense and Singaporeans were paying the price for the greed of our ‘leader’.
Lee had set a bad example after the PAP came into power and greed is now entrenched in our system – PAP MPs join politics not to serve but enrich themselves.
Like attracts like and it is therefore not surprising there are PAP MPs like Alvin Yeo who overcharged total legal costs by more than $1,000,000. But within our ‘greed is good’ system, the clear case of overcharging is treated by the Law Society as issue of “costs reduction”.
PAP’s propaganda attempts to convince Singaporeans that exorbitant salary attracts the best and the brightest to ‘serve’. But the reality is we have perm secs who are run-of-the-mill civil servants heading statutory boards assisting ministers/ex ministers like Mah Bow Tan who screwed up in housing, Yeo Cheow Tong, Lim Hng Kiang and Khaw Boon Wan in healthcare, Raymond Lim, Lui Tuck Yew in transportation, etc.
Perm Secs and CEOs without any relevant experience are rotated in a game of musical chairs. A recent example would be the CEO of LTA being appointed the Second Perm Sec of MND, leaving all the unresolved chronic issues to his successor from the PUB who likewise has ZERO experience in transportation.
Extremely poor planning in public housing construction, causing a property bubble to develop, is an epic PAP screw up. Higher property prices translate into additional hundreds of dollars in monthly mortgage installments, causing unnecessary stress over the loan period of 30 years. That housing prices are too high has been confirmed by DPM Tharman who would like to see a “meaningful reversal” despite the property market having corrected over the last few quarters.
When the PAP increased the population by 1 million but reduced hospital beds by 500, its idiocy also caused ordinary Singaporeans to suffer.
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The only way to reduce overcrowding on public transportation is to reduce the intake of foreigners. But the LTA came up with a stupid idea to allow buskers to perform at MRT stations to “enhance commuters’ experience”. Perhaps the LTA expects commuters to experience less overcrowding because there’s live music? The LTA knows it cannot address the overcrowding issue in any meaningful way because the PAP will increase the population to 6.9 million, probably more. The high cost of COE has caused hardship for many small businesses which either ‘closed shop’ or pass on the increased cost to consumers in order to survive.
Most PAP’s screw ups are due to greed – greed has blinded our ministers and civil servants to focus only on their KPIs. These are economic indicators which actually work against citizens’ interests ie increase in GDP rewards the PAP but these increases are mostly the result of increase in prices of housing and other necessities. The PAP can never govern properly with its eyes on generating more profits through the privatisation of healthcare, selling public flats at higher prices by including land cost in HDB flats which we DO NOT OWN, reducing the lifespan of motor vehicles through the COE scheme, etc.
Ex civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow had disagreed with the COE scheme which profits from Singaporeans. But Lee Kuan Yew had no qualms about making money at the expense of citizens and had asked Ngiam “What’s wrong with collecting more money?”. Lee had known ordinary citizens would ultimately bear the increased transportation costs but had prioritised profits over the well-being of citizens.
Since about 2 decades ago, ALL aspects of our life have worsened. Don’t be fooled by the latest hardware because too many chronic problems have remained unresolved – newer HDB flats may be more aesthetically pleasing but the issue of unaffordable housing has yet to be resolved, newer buses but overcrowding has worsened during peak hours, newer hospitals and better technology but healthcare more unaffordable, etc.
The PAP does not have any solution other than throwing more tax dollars. Since too many chronic issues persist, should Singaporeans continue to support the PAP?
PAP MPs receive an allowance for a part-time job that places them above the 90th percentile income. They are completely isolated from the issues of ordinary Singaporeans in their ivory tower. Why should any of them be bothered when none of them live in public housing, none commute by public transport and all will never be admitted to hospital corridors and tents instead of proper wards?
From political office holders to top civil servants (excluding most rank and file) and grassroots, the PAP is about insatiable greed. Ordinary Singaporeans will continue to suffer because the PAP has only been able to entice the greedy to ‘serve’. Greed is so entrenched in the PAP that Singaporeans’ well-being now depends on the removal of the greedy PAP from our government.
Phillip Ang
*The author blogs at http://likedatosocanmeh.wordpress.com
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10 Nov 2014 - 1:13pm
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As the dominant party in Parliament, the PAP has been able to enrich itself for decades. Every ‘proposal’ for a salary increase never failed to bring a smile on ministers’ faces. Pay increases have always been supported by ex PM Lee Kuan Yew, whose nonsensical justifications Singaporeans were expected to accept blindly.
In 1970 when ministers’ salaries were increased, Lee Kuan Yew said his PM salary would “remain at $3,500 to demonstrate his commitment to the policy of no wage increases without productivity growth”.
However, Lee’s pay shot up 171% from $3,500 to $9,500 three years later in 1973. So what happened to Lee’s commitment to the policy of no wage increases without policy growth? Did productivity increase by 171% in 3 years?
In 1981, Lee’s pay jumped to $16,500 for no rhyme or reason. Did productivity increase by 357% since 1970? Lee was clearly talking nonsense and Singaporeans were paying the price for the greed of our ‘leader’.
Lee had set a bad example after the PAP came into power and greed is now entrenched in our system – PAP MPs join politics not to serve but enrich themselves.
Like attracts like and it is therefore not surprising there are PAP MPs like Alvin Yeo who overcharged total legal costs by more than $1,000,000. But within our ‘greed is good’ system, the clear case of overcharging is treated by the Law Society as issue of “costs reduction”.
PAP’s propaganda attempts to convince Singaporeans that exorbitant salary attracts the best and the brightest to ‘serve’. But the reality is we have perm secs who are run-of-the-mill civil servants heading statutory boards assisting ministers/ex ministers like Mah Bow Tan who screwed up in housing, Yeo Cheow Tong, Lim Hng Kiang and Khaw Boon Wan in healthcare, Raymond Lim, Lui Tuck Yew in transportation, etc.
Perm Secs and CEOs without any relevant experience are rotated in a game of musical chairs. A recent example would be the CEO of LTA being appointed the Second Perm Sec of MND, leaving all the unresolved chronic issues to his successor from the PUB who likewise has ZERO experience in transportation.
Extremely poor planning in public housing construction, causing a property bubble to develop, is an epic PAP screw up. Higher property prices translate into additional hundreds of dollars in monthly mortgage installments, causing unnecessary stress over the loan period of 30 years. That housing prices are too high has been confirmed by DPM Tharman who would like to see a “meaningful reversal” despite the property market having corrected over the last few quarters.
When the PAP increased the population by 1 million but reduced hospital beds by 500, its idiocy also caused ordinary Singaporeans to suffer.
<ins id="aswift_1_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_1" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_1" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
The only way to reduce overcrowding on public transportation is to reduce the intake of foreigners. But the LTA came up with a stupid idea to allow buskers to perform at MRT stations to “enhance commuters’ experience”. Perhaps the LTA expects commuters to experience less overcrowding because there’s live music? The LTA knows it cannot address the overcrowding issue in any meaningful way because the PAP will increase the population to 6.9 million, probably more. The high cost of COE has caused hardship for many small businesses which either ‘closed shop’ or pass on the increased cost to consumers in order to survive.
Most PAP’s screw ups are due to greed – greed has blinded our ministers and civil servants to focus only on their KPIs. These are economic indicators which actually work against citizens’ interests ie increase in GDP rewards the PAP but these increases are mostly the result of increase in prices of housing and other necessities. The PAP can never govern properly with its eyes on generating more profits through the privatisation of healthcare, selling public flats at higher prices by including land cost in HDB flats which we DO NOT OWN, reducing the lifespan of motor vehicles through the COE scheme, etc.
Ex civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow had disagreed with the COE scheme which profits from Singaporeans. But Lee Kuan Yew had no qualms about making money at the expense of citizens and had asked Ngiam “What’s wrong with collecting more money?”. Lee had known ordinary citizens would ultimately bear the increased transportation costs but had prioritised profits over the well-being of citizens.
Since about 2 decades ago, ALL aspects of our life have worsened. Don’t be fooled by the latest hardware because too many chronic problems have remained unresolved – newer HDB flats may be more aesthetically pleasing but the issue of unaffordable housing has yet to be resolved, newer buses but overcrowding has worsened during peak hours, newer hospitals and better technology but healthcare more unaffordable, etc.
The PAP does not have any solution other than throwing more tax dollars. Since too many chronic issues persist, should Singaporeans continue to support the PAP?
PAP MPs receive an allowance for a part-time job that places them above the 90th percentile income. They are completely isolated from the issues of ordinary Singaporeans in their ivory tower. Why should any of them be bothered when none of them live in public housing, none commute by public transport and all will never be admitted to hospital corridors and tents instead of proper wards?
From political office holders to top civil servants (excluding most rank and file) and grassroots, the PAP is about insatiable greed. Ordinary Singaporeans will continue to suffer because the PAP has only been able to entice the greedy to ‘serve’. Greed is so entrenched in the PAP that Singaporeans’ well-being now depends on the removal of the greedy PAP from our government.
Phillip Ang
*The author blogs at http://likedatosocanmeh.wordpress.com
