Hi MM,
Thanks for sharing your ideas and you must have given a lot of thought on how we ordinary citizens could be helped during this particularly difficult times.
GST: The 7% GST is excessively heavy and this is felt by the population even at the best of times. Given that HK has rejected the GST system of taxing and yet we had ours increased from 5% to 7% during a year of budget surplus shows how insensitive our govt is towards difficulties faced by its own citizens. I am with you on a 3 percentage points reduction since it would help us tide over this crisis. Yes, $5 billion is not a great sum compared to the amount GIC and Temasek has lost so far and it is for a worthy cause - its own citizens, IF the govt has any thoughts for us. If they do not, then they will whip out a thousand and one usual excuses why it should not do so.
Reserves: Yes, rainy days have come and now is time this is used to help citizens. I noticed you have specifically mentioned citizens for the last 15 years although I might add that this criteria should be for those who are not born here. While they have been investing abroad with the money it has to come a time where charity begins at home for its own citizens, unless they feel that citizens are replaceable with immigration which would then mean that being a citizen is meaningless.
Funds recovery through fines: We should bring back tighter enforcements of laws in many areas and some of which you have already touched on. In addition, if you look at the litter these days, I would believe that we should have even stricter enforcement than in the early days when this law came into force. Increase the fines 2 to 3 fold.
I would not even want to make further suggestions as to what form they need to turn to to recover the shortfall but increasingly bleeding the citizens to generate their funds will have to stop.
CPF: Any tweaking of this is always at the expense of the population so I agree with you, this should be left untouched.
Freeze on salaries and essential services: You have my complete support on this. The obscene salaries of those at the top will have to come down by at least by 50 percent. I cannot believe that while significant proportion of people are in dire straits (some losing their jobs) they can still justify their current salaries with another obscene increment on the way.
Raising tariffs and prices from utilities to transport during a period like this smacks of arrogance and displays a complete lack of rational thinking on their part. They will not only have to freeze the increases but need to make a U-turn to the previous prices. The fat cat is getting fatter at the population's expense again. The obscene salaries and the availalbiltity of scholars have not made any difference in their approach to better govern this country.
Employment: Nobody likes a hand out if one is able bodied to work for a fair salary to bring up a family. We are not convinced that keeping middle management foreigners here will help to provide jobs for Singaporeans.
They have repeated this ad nauseam hoping that by repeating over and over again it may somehow become the truth but they have yet to provide an instance of what they say is the truth. On the other hand, there are many living examples of Singaporeans being displaced in their jobs because of these foreigners.
Even when it comes to retrenchments they have declined any obligation to look after Singaporeans first. The scheme in which the NTUC chief announced for employers to keep staff on their payroll but send them for further training does not even qualify if this scheme is meant for Singaporeans only or are foreigners included. If it is the latter, then are we again spending our money on others at a time like this?
Cheers
