Ho Ching agrees with SDP that defence spending has to be cut in order to increase health care spending. This is the only time in her life she's said or done the right thing! Pinky will spank her tonight for supporting the SDP. 
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HO Ching
Yesterday at 19:02 · Edited ·
Remember our GDP in 1965? It was just under S$3 billion.
And with exchange rates of about S$8 to £1, and S$3 to US$1 in our independence years, Singdollar was also not as strong as today.
We really had to bootstrap ourselves, whether to build the SAF to defend ourselves or to build schools to educate our young.
Even then, about half of our Pioneer Generation didn’t get to finish Sec 2. Many had to go out to work to support their families, particularly the older children in the family.
Many of the older kids stopped school to start work. They had to chip in to earn money for the family.
Their younger siblings were luckier. Many younger children in large families were able to finish school, because of financial and other support from their older sisters or brothers. This is another reason why I am all for the Pioneer Generation package.
In 2014, our GDP has grown to S$390 billion, say S$400 billion by this year. Singdollar has strengthened to S$2 to £1, and under S$1.50 to US$1.
And as our GDP grew over the years, our SAF was able to establish itself with more resources.
Defence spending began tapering down to 4-5% of GDP by the late 1990s through to the 2000s. By FY2010, defence spending was down to 3% of GDP. Wow! Half the share it used to have!
In terms of total expenditure, this means spending on defence went from over 30% of our total expenditure, down to less than 20% projected for FY2015 this year.
We saw in my earlier posts that the NII/NIR contributions essentially matched the special transfers and top-ups, at 1.3% of GDP during the FY2000-2008 period and at around 2.3-2.4% for the FY2009-2014 period. So we know how the NII/NIR contributions have been used.
So what does this shrinking share of defence spending mean? Is money being released within the main budget to support other programmes and needs?
What were these?
Healthcare is one clear area of increased spending. Healthcare as a % of total expenditure went from 4-5% before FY2000, to 6-7% for FY2000-2008, and gradually increasing each year over FY2009-2014 to reach an estimated 14% of total spending for FY2015 this year.
Healthcare is taking a bigger and bigger chunk of our spending priorities.
Education has always been the second largest item in Singov budget for decades, after defence. Spending on education has also increased its share. This went from 18-19% of total spending before FY2000, to 20-24% since FY2000.
We can also tell from the quality and diversity of our schools today, catering to all needs, aptitudes and interests.
Teachers are also better paid to ensure the schools get a fair share of talents, and not lose them to other sectors.
Transport too went from single digit share of our spending purse during FY1997-2007, to 10-12% share during FY2008-2014. This is projected to jump to 16% for this year’s FY2015 spending, perhaps reflecting the stepped up pace of additional train lines being built over the next 10-15 years or so?
Clearly, the evolving shape of SG budget reflected the changing shape of Singov spending priorities – with healthcare being an increasing priority, starting some 15 years ago, and continuing.
New hospitals including community hospitals; more doctors, nurses, and healthcare specialists and support staff to meet the needs of an ageing and long living population - these are just some of the foreseeable priorities over the next 10-15 years.
Indeed, one reason for moving Temasek to the NIR framework from next financial year, is the expectation that there will be growing spending needs in healthcare.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st..._=top_level_post_id.896658260390183&__tn__=*s
HO Ching
Yesterday at 19:02 · Edited ·
Remember our GDP in 1965? It was just under S$3 billion.
And with exchange rates of about S$8 to £1, and S$3 to US$1 in our independence years, Singdollar was also not as strong as today.
We really had to bootstrap ourselves, whether to build the SAF to defend ourselves or to build schools to educate our young.
Even then, about half of our Pioneer Generation didn’t get to finish Sec 2. Many had to go out to work to support their families, particularly the older children in the family.
Many of the older kids stopped school to start work. They had to chip in to earn money for the family.
Their younger siblings were luckier. Many younger children in large families were able to finish school, because of financial and other support from their older sisters or brothers. This is another reason why I am all for the Pioneer Generation package.
In 2014, our GDP has grown to S$390 billion, say S$400 billion by this year. Singdollar has strengthened to S$2 to £1, and under S$1.50 to US$1.
And as our GDP grew over the years, our SAF was able to establish itself with more resources.
Defence spending began tapering down to 4-5% of GDP by the late 1990s through to the 2000s. By FY2010, defence spending was down to 3% of GDP. Wow! Half the share it used to have!
In terms of total expenditure, this means spending on defence went from over 30% of our total expenditure, down to less than 20% projected for FY2015 this year.
We saw in my earlier posts that the NII/NIR contributions essentially matched the special transfers and top-ups, at 1.3% of GDP during the FY2000-2008 period and at around 2.3-2.4% for the FY2009-2014 period. So we know how the NII/NIR contributions have been used.
So what does this shrinking share of defence spending mean? Is money being released within the main budget to support other programmes and needs?
What were these?
Healthcare is one clear area of increased spending. Healthcare as a % of total expenditure went from 4-5% before FY2000, to 6-7% for FY2000-2008, and gradually increasing each year over FY2009-2014 to reach an estimated 14% of total spending for FY2015 this year.
Healthcare is taking a bigger and bigger chunk of our spending priorities.
Education has always been the second largest item in Singov budget for decades, after defence. Spending on education has also increased its share. This went from 18-19% of total spending before FY2000, to 20-24% since FY2000.
We can also tell from the quality and diversity of our schools today, catering to all needs, aptitudes and interests.
Teachers are also better paid to ensure the schools get a fair share of talents, and not lose them to other sectors.
Transport too went from single digit share of our spending purse during FY1997-2007, to 10-12% share during FY2008-2014. This is projected to jump to 16% for this year’s FY2015 spending, perhaps reflecting the stepped up pace of additional train lines being built over the next 10-15 years or so?
Clearly, the evolving shape of SG budget reflected the changing shape of Singov spending priorities – with healthcare being an increasing priority, starting some 15 years ago, and continuing.
New hospitals including community hospitals; more doctors, nurses, and healthcare specialists and support staff to meet the needs of an ageing and long living population - these are just some of the foreseeable priorities over the next 10-15 years.
Indeed, one reason for moving Temasek to the NIR framework from next financial year, is the expectation that there will be growing spending needs in healthcare.
