Subject: SINGAPORE -- THE WORKER'S PARTY: A VICTIM OF THE PAP
THE WORKER'S PARTY: A VICTIM OF THE PAP
http://therealsingapore.com/content/workers-party-victim-pap
18 Nov 2014 - 11:13pm
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/d...ic/field/image/AHPETC (1)_0.png?itok=RzteRaSR
It is about time the pot stop calling the kettle black.
The People's Action Party (PAP) thought that it was scoring political points when it lambasted the Worker's Party (WP) for the management of its town council, the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).
But little did the PAP know that the joke was on them.
The Ministry of National Development started the attack on the AHPETC, accusing the WP of “persistent poor performance” in “S&CC arrears management” and “corporate governance”, and said that it is of “grave public concern”.
Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee described the arrears rate as “shocking".
Ex-minister Lim Boon Heng added further criticism, saying that he was “personally quite disturbed”.
But the tables were turned when it was discovered that AHPETC did not suddenly go into a deficit. The deficit was not due to the WP's management.
It was the PAP's doing.
When the PAP lost their seats in the Aljunied GRC at the last general election, it had transferred the surplus that AHPETC would otherwise have into a sinking fund, which then deprived the Aljunied residents of their money.
But the story gets uglier.
While the PAP was pointing all its fingers at the WP, its own backyard was equally in a mess.
The TR Emeritus discovered that all the PAP-run town councils were running deficits as well. And if not for the additional grants that the government injects, the PAP-run town councils would just as well run embarrassingly low on funds and bad debts.
It gets worse. The WP was being placed on a significant financial disadvantage. Most of the PAP-run town councils were receiving even more government grants than the AHPETC.
The per capita grant that each resident in the WP-run town council was only $43 but when compared to another PAP-run town council, say the Tanjong Pagar GRC, where the grant per resident is $87, or twice as high as what a AHPETC resident would get.
But why the disparity? Are the residents in the different constituencies not all the same Singaporeans who paid taxes equally?
In fact, Tanjong Pagar which is helmed by ex-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, was running one of the highest deficits of nearly $9 million, prior to government grants. This was compared to only $5.6 million of deficit that the AHPETC was running on.
To cover for the massive deficit, the Tanjong Pagar GRC also received the most government grants, at nearly $15 million while the PAP-led government would only give the AHPETC slightly more than $7 million.
The double standards are glaring.
Likewise, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council, which is helmed by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong was running one of the highest deficits as well, at more than $6 million and similarly received one of the highest government grants. It received nearly $14 million.
Something is clearly amiss here.
Some fundamental questions pop up at this point. How is the distribution of government grants determined and why was it decided that the town council run by the WP would receive one of the lowest grants?
On top of that, the residents under the PAP-run town councils actually pay higher S&CC than the AHPETC residents.
Why is it the case that the PAP-run town councils charge higher S&CC but would languish into heavier debt that the AHPETC? Also, what is the rationale for the government pumping in the excessive grants thereafter to turn the situation around for the PAP-run town councils, such that these town councils end up with higher surpluses than the WP?
In fact, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council ran one of the highest deficit but because it received one of the largest government grants, ended up with the highest surpluses.
Now that we have the whole picture, something seems to be terribly wrong.
The question on many people's minds at this point would be - did the PAP-led government knowingly give the AHPETC low government grants to keep them in a deficit situation?
Was Mr Desmond Lee's attack on the WP fair then, if the WP is placed in a certain disadvantage from the start?
Has the WP become victim to a political punching?
On many counts, the WP simply is not placed on a level-playing field and for ministers under the PAP-led government who have the clear knowledge of the disadvantage that WP faces and yet pushes the blame onto the WP, exposes not only the unfair playing field but the amount of bullying that the WP faces.
Why did Mr Desmond Lee and Mr Lim not criticise Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Lee Hsien Loong for the massive deficits in the town councils they manage?
Also, with the revelation that some PAP supporters under the AHPETC had chosen not to pay to the AHPETC their S&CC which has caused the AHPETC to go into deficit, this has exposed even more the imbalances.
The injustice in the system has finally been exposed.
Tags:
Editorials
Some one might have post here!
But look what happened when you point finger at opposition,
you are actually pointing 3 fingers against yourself : PAP
THE WORKER'S PARTY: A VICTIM OF THE PAP
http://therealsingapore.com/content/workers-party-victim-pap
18 Nov 2014 - 11:13pm
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/d...ic/field/image/AHPETC (1)_0.png?itok=RzteRaSR
It is about time the pot stop calling the kettle black.
The People's Action Party (PAP) thought that it was scoring political points when it lambasted the Worker's Party (WP) for the management of its town council, the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).
But little did the PAP know that the joke was on them.
The Ministry of National Development started the attack on the AHPETC, accusing the WP of “persistent poor performance” in “S&CC arrears management” and “corporate governance”, and said that it is of “grave public concern”.
Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee described the arrears rate as “shocking".
Ex-minister Lim Boon Heng added further criticism, saying that he was “personally quite disturbed”.
But the tables were turned when it was discovered that AHPETC did not suddenly go into a deficit. The deficit was not due to the WP's management.
It was the PAP's doing.
When the PAP lost their seats in the Aljunied GRC at the last general election, it had transferred the surplus that AHPETC would otherwise have into a sinking fund, which then deprived the Aljunied residents of their money.
But the story gets uglier.
While the PAP was pointing all its fingers at the WP, its own backyard was equally in a mess.
The TR Emeritus discovered that all the PAP-run town councils were running deficits as well. And if not for the additional grants that the government injects, the PAP-run town councils would just as well run embarrassingly low on funds and bad debts.
It gets worse. The WP was being placed on a significant financial disadvantage. Most of the PAP-run town councils were receiving even more government grants than the AHPETC.
The per capita grant that each resident in the WP-run town council was only $43 but when compared to another PAP-run town council, say the Tanjong Pagar GRC, where the grant per resident is $87, or twice as high as what a AHPETC resident would get.
But why the disparity? Are the residents in the different constituencies not all the same Singaporeans who paid taxes equally?
In fact, Tanjong Pagar which is helmed by ex-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, was running one of the highest deficits of nearly $9 million, prior to government grants. This was compared to only $5.6 million of deficit that the AHPETC was running on.
To cover for the massive deficit, the Tanjong Pagar GRC also received the most government grants, at nearly $15 million while the PAP-led government would only give the AHPETC slightly more than $7 million.
The double standards are glaring.
Likewise, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council, which is helmed by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong was running one of the highest deficits as well, at more than $6 million and similarly received one of the highest government grants. It received nearly $14 million.
Something is clearly amiss here.
Some fundamental questions pop up at this point. How is the distribution of government grants determined and why was it decided that the town council run by the WP would receive one of the lowest grants?
On top of that, the residents under the PAP-run town councils actually pay higher S&CC than the AHPETC residents.
Why is it the case that the PAP-run town councils charge higher S&CC but would languish into heavier debt that the AHPETC? Also, what is the rationale for the government pumping in the excessive grants thereafter to turn the situation around for the PAP-run town councils, such that these town councils end up with higher surpluses than the WP?
In fact, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council ran one of the highest deficit but because it received one of the largest government grants, ended up with the highest surpluses.
Now that we have the whole picture, something seems to be terribly wrong.
The question on many people's minds at this point would be - did the PAP-led government knowingly give the AHPETC low government grants to keep them in a deficit situation?
Was Mr Desmond Lee's attack on the WP fair then, if the WP is placed in a certain disadvantage from the start?
Has the WP become victim to a political punching?
On many counts, the WP simply is not placed on a level-playing field and for ministers under the PAP-led government who have the clear knowledge of the disadvantage that WP faces and yet pushes the blame onto the WP, exposes not only the unfair playing field but the amount of bullying that the WP faces.
Why did Mr Desmond Lee and Mr Lim not criticise Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Lee Hsien Loong for the massive deficits in the town councils they manage?
Also, with the revelation that some PAP supporters under the AHPETC had chosen not to pay to the AHPETC their S&CC which has caused the AHPETC to go into deficit, this has exposed even more the imbalances.
The injustice in the system has finally been exposed.
Tags:
Editorials
Some one might have post here!
But look what happened when you point finger at opposition,
you are actually pointing 3 fingers against yourself : PAP
