Reaction to a pointless Budget

[aurvandil]

If you look at social media, you will notice that there is an eerie clam.

By right, the sites should be buzzing with debate and discussion about the budget being debated. Instead, we find a sort of numbness and lethargy. The entire budget debate seems pointless and meaningless. The White Paper has been passed and the PAP will be proceeding with their population plan. There doesn't seem to be any excitement or interest in the goodies being rolled out to woo back unhappy Singaporeans.

My hypothesis is that the little bit of trust that the PAP had left was squandered on the White Paper. The minds of many Singaporeans seem to have been made up that PAP leaders cannot be trusted or believed. No point therefore to talk or write anymore. Instead all are just waiting for 2016.

Internally, I heard that the PAP are interpreting the silence differently. They are arguing that their actions have won many over which is why there is now silence.

What do you think?

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

If you look at social media, you will notice that there is an eerie clam.

By right, the sites should be buzzing with debate and discussion about the budget being debated. Instead, we find a sort of numbness and lethargy. The entire budget debate seems pointless and meaningless. The White Paper has been passed and the PAP will be proceeding with their population plan. There doesn't seem to be any excitement or interest in the goodies being rolled out to woo back unhappy Singaporeans.

My hypothesis is that the little bit of trust that the PAP had left was squandered on the White Paper. The minds of many Singaporeans seem to have been made up that PAP leaders cannot be trusted or believed. No point therefore to talk or write anymore. Instead all are just waiting for 2016.

Internally, I heard that the PAP are interpreting the silence differently. They are arguing that their actions have won many over which is why there is now silence.

What do you think?

There was nothing in the budget worth discussing to begin with. No new proposals, nothing out of the ordinary, no spectacular handouts, no special concessions. The wage subsidy is not a new idea, neither is it particularly generous, nor is deemed to be effective in promoting hiring of locals. Apart from this, what else is there to say about the budget?

 

[aurvandil]

The PAP will be quite disappointed at this reaction. To them it is supposed to be a "shock and awe" budget that was so overwhelming that it wowed people like us into silence.

There was nothing in the budget worth discussing to begin with. No new proposals, nothing out of the ordinary, no spectacular handouts, no special concessions. The wage subsidy is not a new idea, neither is it particularly generous, nor is deemed to be effective in promoting hiring of locals. Apart from this, what else is there to say about the budget?

 

[indig10]

I wouldn't speculate on the ruling party's opinion of the people's reaction towards the budget. No point.

I would, however, simply note the words of various ministers and MPs towards the budget. Tharman, for example, said that the budget is focused towards SMEs. Just note the tone and focus of the other MPs as well. I've not heard a single ruling party MP emphasise that Singaporeans are the focus of the budget. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Says a lot, doesn't it?

And if anyone had been paying attention to the sidelines, the IB has made another chess move. Just observe the types of blogs being aggregated on Singaporedaily recently and those that have disappeared gradually.

 

[aurvandil]

The PAP were very puzzled by the silence and lack of reaction. After a while, they filled in the blanks and came to the conclusion that the silence is because everyone was so awed by the budget and the "hard hitting" "realistic" speeches of the PAP MPs.

I wouldn't speculate on the ruling party's opinion of the people's reaction towards the budget. No point.

I would, however, simply note the words of various ministers and MPs towards the budget. Tharman, for example, said that the budget is focused towards SMEs. Just note the tone and focus of the other MPs as well. I've not heard a single ruling party MP emphasise that Singaporeans are the focus of the budget. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Says a lot, doesn't it?

And if anyone had been paying attention to the sidelines, the IB has made another chess move. Just observe the types of blogs being aggregated on Singaporedaily recently and those that have disappeared gradually.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

The PAP will be quite disappointed at this reaction. To them it is supposed to be a "shock and awe" budget that was so overwhelming that it wowed people like us into silence.

After the 6.9 million figure, nothing else really matters.

 

[songsongpunggol]

SGP budget written by scholars have no idea what the ground really needs.

So every time always pah qiu cheng. like incentives for population grow fails big time.

babies only increase by 0.2% LOL!!!

 

[metalmickey]

If you look at social media, you will notice that there is an eerie clam.

By right, the sites should be buzzing with debate and discussion about the budget being debated. Instead, we find a sort of numbness and lethargy. The entire budget debate seems pointless and meaningless. The White Paper has been passed and the PAP will be proceeding with their population plan. There doesn't seem to be any excitement or interest in the goodies being rolled out to woo back unhappy Singaporeans.

Well there was GE 2011 and as most of you remember there was so much heat and excitement.

Barely had the heat and excitement died down when we had Tan vs Tan vs Tan vs Tan.

And not long after that we had a lot of excitement with the Ng Boon Gay / Tey Hsun Hang court cases. And the City Harvest Church scandal that had been brewing for a long time

And then after that was the Yaw Shin Leong incident, which led to a by-election.

Then the Michael Palmer incident which also led to a by-election.

And in between, there was the AIM saga.

And although the Hougang erection was pretty straightforward, the Punggol East - with the SDP will they or will they not, with the 2 "other" candidates nobody votes for, and with the issue of opposition unity, with the shock victory - the Punggol East by-elections was not straightforward.

Finally there was the population white paper which demonstrated that in spite of all the heat generated by the fucked up population policies, we would be getting more of the same.

It's not that there is no heat. It is that after continuously bashing the PAP over the head for the past 18 months some of us are quite tired and deserve a break.

 

[scroobal]

The white paper debacle completely overwhelmed all other events. That fact the press interview Inderjit on the white paper well after the budget was released was quite telling.

TS, is right, unusually quiet on the western front.

 

[indig10]

The timing was the issue.

On the day (Saturday night/Sunday morning) when TCH held the press conference for PE BE defeat, the press had asked what the defeat meant for the ruling party's plans. Guess what he said? To paraphrase, "... this will not change our long term plans..." Go watch the YouTube video.

Barely 1 day later on Monday, the news reported the NPTD white paper.

That was the utterly unbelievable stunner.

It wasn't simply about the white paper. It was about the calculations and miscalculations that the ruling party had made in damage control right after its release. I don't expect them to be wizards in regulating all government information to the public, but I do expect a certain degree of capability in damage control, exhibiting tact and empathy. Sadly, decades of power have demolished these qualities.

The sheer language and choice of words from the ministers and MPs show the total disconnect from public sentiment.

I watched those 3 weeks after the BE unfold with sadness. In a long chain of faux pas, this white paper debacle is the straw that broke the camel's back for Singaporeans. I say this not due to the "recency effect" but because the timing of its release had struck a lot of people deeply after almost a decade of tolerance.

 

[Summerbee]

I noticed that KBW new Housing Policies were announced outside of Tharman's Budget. This was unusual as all ministries consolidated their issues for the annual budget such as the Manpower Policies. Yet KBW Housing Policies were brought up at the budget debate so timeline was not an issue.

The Finance Minister Tharman should be the one and only to consolidate the Budget for voting, not another person holding back and introducing separate policies not mentioned in Budget, then how to vote to pass the budget ha? Vote 2 times ha? Got 2 finance ministers ha?

In past PAP, there was strong team spirit and no individual showmanship. Now got individual ministry announcing new policies alongside Budget I very confused leh. So Budget finish or still more?

 

[watchman8]

I noticed that KBW new Housing Policies were announced outside of Tharman's Budget. This was unusual as all ministries consolidated their issues for the annual budget such as the Manpower Policies. Yet KBW Housing Policies were brought up at the budget debate so timeline was not an issue.

The Finance Minister Tharman should be the one and only to consolidate the Budget for voting, not another person holding back and introducing separate policies not mentioned in Budget, then how to vote to pass the budget ha? Vote 2 times ha? Got 2 finance ministers ha?

In past PAP, there was strong team spirit and no individual showmanship. Now got individual ministry announcing new policies alongside Budget I very confused leh. So Budget finish or still more?

Nothing wrong with khaw doing policy change announcement as it has nothing to do with budget. Same like the MAS change to car financing, which was also out of budget discussion.

 

[Summerbee]

Of course housing is part of the Budget. Look at foreign worker dependency ceiling, it is the major part of the Budget even though it has even less relevancy to budgetting. Unless KBW built his HDB from his own money, housing is a MAJOR part of the budget. More like an individual showmanship, should really let Tharman announced.

Nothing wrong with khaw doing policy change announcement as it has nothing to do with budget. Same like the MAS change to car financing, which was also out of budget discussion.

 

[prancku]

Of course housing is part of the Budget. Look at foreign worker dependency ceiling, it is the major part of the Budget even though it has even less relevancy to budgetting. Unless KBW built his HDB from his own money, housing is a MAJOR part of the budget. More like an individual showmanship, should really let Tharman announced.

Why the silence?

....because it is whammy after whammy after whammy...people, young and old lose their hopes on having something to look forward to, one after another.... financial freedom to use CPF savings after 55, transportation convenience, tolerable costs of living, having a place in the university to upgrade oneself, housing, car, personal space... what is next?

Note warning words have already been uttered on how free wheeling comments on the internet online is bad for the people (or the rulers???)... and that more jobs will be lost....akan datang...

AS A PEOPLE, SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE BY SINGAPOREANS TO REVERSE SUCH A BLEAK LOOKING FUTURE... NOT ONLY FOR OURSELVES, BUT ALSO FOR OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN THEREAFTER...

 

[watchman8]

Of course housing is part of the Budget. Look at foreign worker dependency ceiling, it is the major part of the Budget even though it has even less relevancy to budgetting. Unless KBW built his HDB from his own money, housing is a MAJOR part of the budget. More like an individual showmanship, should really let Tharman announced.

Then what is not part of budget? By your broad definition then even NEA plan to curb mosquitoes also part of budget?

Issues of tax and levies are part of budget because it is about revenue. On the other hand to allow singles to buy brand new flats has nothing to do with budget.

 

[Summerbee]

KBW himself called his speech the MND budget for the financial year. Do you all really follow anything? Or just come here to oppose WP for the sake of opposing.

Then what is not part of budget? By your broad definition then even NEA plan to curb mosquitoes also part of budget?

Issues of tax and levies are part of budget because it is about revenue. On the other hand to allow singles to buy brand new flats has nothing to do with budget.

 

[metalmickey]

It wasn't simply about the white paper. It was about the calculations and miscalculations that the ruling party had made in damage control right after its release. I don't expect them to be wizards in regulating all government information to the public, but I do expect a certain degree of capability in damage control, exhibiting tact and empathy. Sadly, decades of power have demolished these qualities.

The sheer language and choice of words from the ministers and MPs show the total disconnect from public sentiment.

I watched those 3 weeks after the BE unfold with sadness. In a long chain of faux pas, this white paper debacle is the straw that broke the camel's back for Singaporeans. I say this not due to the "recency effect" but because the timing of its release had struck a lot of people deeply after almost a decade of tolerance.

Regarding the white paper I had sensed that maybe the PAP was saying "fuck it, we're going to release this shit at this point in time anyway so we'll do it now." Why?

1. Because this is less than 2 years after the last elections, where the govt is still operating in "fuck the people" mode.
2. Because they want to find out how far they can push their misguided and stupid policies. This is what Cherian George calls "calibrated coersion"
3. Because they want all the shit to come out in a short time frame to absorb all the impact, rather than having a lot of new shit come out in a short time span.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

I am starting to believe aurvandil's thesis that the white paper was to prep the population for an eventual 7-8 million target, but they grossly underestimated the resentment and ground frustration due to the closed nature of their sampling technique. There is nothing in the paper that is remotely vote winning.

The next few years will be economically rough and they also want to ensure foreign enterprise that the momentum will continue.

 

[metalmickey]

I am starting to believe aurvandil's thesis that the white paper was to prep the population for an eventual 7-8 million target, but they grossly underestimated the resentment and ground frustration due to the closed nature of their sampling technique. There is nothing in the paper that is remotely vote winning.

The next few years will be economically rough and they also want to ensure foreign enterprise that the momentum will continue.

The fact is that we are all moving away from the fundamentals. Sometimes even those people who oppose the PAP have blurry vision.

Why are we still concerned about "growing the economy"? There was a time, long long ago, when "Growing the economy" meant that people have a better standard of living. Now, it merely means that people are living in smaller and smaller houses, and are working harder and harder for what they used to have.

It used to be that everybody lived in flats that cost 100K. Now suppose everybody lived in flats that cost 500K, but they are half the size, and there are twice as many flats as before. Has the economy "grown"? Yes. Are we better off? Obviously not. Such is the nature of "economic growth" in Singapore. It's basically a sham and most people still don't realise it. So they'll say "our lives will be harder but we need 7 mil people to grow the economy". And they didn't stop to ask, "you want economic growth for fuck?"

There are ways of improving peoples' standards of living that have nothing to do with "economic growth" Making the prices of flats go down will make the economy contract, but that's what we have to do.

 

[Troll]

If you look at social media, you will notice that there is an eerie clam.

By right, the sites should be buzzing with debate and discussion about the budget being debated. Instead, we find a sort of numbness and lethargy. The entire budget debate seems pointless and meaningless. The White Paper has been passed and the PAP will be proceeding with their population plan. There doesn't seem to be any excitement or interest in the goodies being rolled out to woo back unhappy Singaporeans.

My hypothesis is that the little bit of trust that the PAP had left was squandered on the White Paper. The minds of many Singaporeans seem to have been made up that PAP leaders cannot be trusted or believed. No point therefore to talk or write anymore. Instead all are just waiting for 2016.

Internally, I heard that the PAP are interpreting the silence differently. They are arguing that their actions have won many over which is why there is now silence.

What do you think?

Apart from the draconian COE cooling measure (which is a monster of PAP's making), there was nothing much worth talking about.