Soaring Prices Hit Singapore's Poor

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Did you read Conrad Raj's article in Today (a couple of days ago) suggesting that perhaps the time had come for the government to go the off budget route to help the ordinary Singaporean (not just the poor) cope with the recent massive rise in the cost of living now? In particular he suggested cutting GST by at least one percentage point now.

The MOF then replied a day later in Today with a detailed rebuttal stating that instead of a broad based approach, the better approach instead would be specific direct targetted benefits helping those who need such benefits more. In fact the MOF claimed that the benefits would possibly put the poor in a better off position and the lower middle classes at least on an on par position with the benefits totalling $3billion.

Who is right?

the income gap is splitting wider by the day, the rich remain comfortable, maybe a small percentile fall into the middle income grp due to some miscalculations, the poor become poorer, while some of the middle income grp also relegated into the lower income grp.

sad to say, while the poor r getting poorer, the criterias set for aid entitlement is stipulated at beggar category. making alota ppl ineligible.

 

[pia]

Did you read Conrad Raj's article in Today (a couple of days ago) suggesting that perhaps the time had come for the government to go the off budget route to help the ordinary Singaporean (not just the poor) cope with the recent massive rise in the cost of living now? In particular he suggested cutting GST by at least one percentage point now.

The MOF then replied a day later in Today with a detailed rebuttal stating that instead of a broad based approach, the better approach instead would be specific direct targetted benefits helping those who need such benefits more. In fact the MOF claimed that the benefits would possibly put the poor in a better off position and the lower middle classes at least on an on par position with the benefits totalling $3billion.

Who is right?

And did they use the word "holistic approach" again?

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

I can't recall. But i don't think that is important. What is important is to examine whether the government's present approach is better than say a GST cut now. The government's general view on the GST cut appears to be that it would favour the rich as the rich consume more, hence the government prefers the specific direct target benefits approach.

Again I ask who is right?

And did they use the word "holistic approach" again?

 

[pia]

I can't recall. But i don't think that is important. What is important is to examine whether the government's present approach is better than say a GST cut now. The government's general view on the GST cut appears to be that it would favour the rich as the rich consume more, hence the government prefers the specific direct target benefits approach.

Again I ask who is right?

Very subjective to say whether to tax the rich more. If you are one of them, you may question why you have to be penalised for being more hardworking or enterprising. Naturally, even at flat tax rates, therich will contibute more to the tax coffers. What's important is you will want to qustion if the government is optimising the use of the tax revenue they receive.

 

[Eklipse]

This situation is not only unique in Singapore. You can find it everywhere in the world whereby the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Agreed. However when the powerful becomes one of the wealthiest, things may not be right. Look at USA. Bush is powerful but he is not one of the richest. Bill Gates is one of the richest but he is not politically powerful. The late Marcos and Suharto are both powerful and richest in their countries. Is that good for the country? If nations leaders are also the wealthiest, is it coincidence or are some of the policies flawed?.

 

[TD042]

We are living at the wrong time and wrong places

 

[gravure]

Let me just say that Singapore has been living on a time bomb for a while now. The poor are suffering because the powers that be have decided that labour needs to be competitive while other factors such as rental, utilities, GST, etc are all fixed and profitable. This is proven by the fact that MRT, Singtel, SingPower are all profitable.

So by allowing foreigners to work in Singapore, hence lowering labour costs, those who compete with the foreign labour, i.e the poor, will suffer.

And we have some wierd and fake economic measures in place that dont make sense. Let me elaborate

In some HDB areas, you can still find a plate of rice, pork, vegetable for S$2.00. In Malaysia, the same plate can cost RM3.00. Here is where it gets strange
- rental in Singapore is higher for the food court
- utilities are higher in Singapore
- rice in Malaysia is subsidized
- vegetables are grown in Malaysia
- pork in Malaysia is not imported
So how the heck is food able to be sold so cheaply in Singapore?

So we are facing the fact that food is too cheap, and hence foreign workers can eat this cheap food and compete with SG workers for work. If you raise the price of food, the FW will have to leave, (or salaries have to rise) and then the poor will not suffer so much.

 

[suteerak1099]

Did you read Conrad Raj's article in Today (a couple of days ago) suggesting that perhaps the time had come for the government to go the off budget route to help the ordinary Singaporean (not just the poor) cope with the recent massive rise in the cost of living now? In particular he suggested cutting GST by at least one percentage point now.

The MOF then replied a day later in Today with a detailed rebuttal stating that instead of a broad based approach, the better approach instead would be specific direct targetted benefits helping those who need such benefits more. In fact the MOF claimed that the benefits would possibly put the poor in a better off position and the lower middle classes at least on an on par position with the benefits totalling $3billion.

Who is right?

though it seems discretional, bt here's my opinon. in many other countries, reserves r never touched till its necessary, n we've very much witnessed so in recent times - piping funds into relief & restructuring for crisis struck regions.

here in sg, we may consider ourselves fortunate that we're not constantly weathered by storms & natural disasters. however, the economical roller coaster should be deemed as 1 major problem to be taken seriously. when the charts start turning red, we're in effect experiencing a storm - economically/financially.

it doesnt make sense to be insistant & inflexible in such trying times. as is, sgporeans r already largely buried in debts - virtually working for the banks, in order to sustain their livelihood. even in down times as such, hw much deeper do they expect the ppl to dig into the pockets? for many, i believe have already dug too deep into the pockets - thru n thru.

finance minister had also spoken on the news last night that we're expecting more trying times spilling into 2009. do we even think that sgporeans by large can hold out? or is it gonna be a case where we all as frogs in the well, start stacking on top of 1 another to reach the top? soon enough, those stacked at the bottom will drown & rot, contaminating the water. eventually all in the well will suffer from rotting contamination & disease.... while only the ones fortunate to be at the top can vacate the well & find new ponds to breed in.

 

[suteerak1099]

sometimes i find it really quite ironic, n the system seems to be running parallel where the objectives hardly converge.

1 of the reasons of making labor costs affordable, is to attract foreign investors here to provide jobs for our ppl. while the education system tries its level best to produce as many skilled/qualified workers to fill the industries. however, with the constant influx of FTs filling up job openings here, its becoming a hub for FTs to make a killing, while denying our graduants the opportunity of a job.

the stats claim that we have very high employment rates compared to many other countries, bt can we b certain that those jobs r filled by sgporeans or r they filled by FTs? lets also nt forget, being employed doesnt equate that the employed r earning enough to finance their liabilities. while its convenient for FTs to make a killing while they're here, n pack everything to go once they're earned their fill.

inevitably, its cutting sgporeans short of wat we rightfully deserve. heavy investments into studies is already a deficit to be dealt with. while, the remunerations take up a big chunk of their career lifespan to recover education expenses. when its time to settle down, there's virtually insufficient savings to make marriage happen - let alone housing instalments & financing retiring parents. when ends cant meet, making babies naturally is struck off the to-do list.

at the rate that things r done, its proven that the poor will continue to be poor, the low-income may eventually be relagated in the poor category, while more n more of the middle income drops into the low-income grp as well. rich perhaps wont stay rich for too long as well.

 

[2lanu]

Let me just say that Singapore has been living on a time bomb for a while now. The poor are suffering because the powers that be have decided that labour needs to be competitive while other factors such as rental, utilities, GST, etc are all fixed and profitable. This is proven by the fact that MRT, Singtel, SingPower are all profitable..

If you notice the MNC you mentioned, they are all having the monopoly that ensure profit for a long time. Then with the surplus, they would expand out to regional or pay back to Temasick to do other venture.

Donald Trump had said that business is like a rubgy game. The left back(cost) play defend while the forward(sales) charge forward. The in between is what he call profit. In SG case, they dun need fullback to do defending.

So by allowing foreigners to work in Singapore, hence lowering labour costs, those who compete with the foreign labour, i.e the poor, will suffer. And we have some wierd and fake economic measures in place that dont make sense.

An analogy to describe this situation will be this place is a bonzai being manipulate, twist and trim to what it is today. You gain some and sacriface some in the process.

Let me elaborate
In some HDB areas, you can still find a plate of rice, pork, vegetable for S$2.00. In Malaysia, the same plate can cost RM3.00. Here is where it gets strange
- rental in Singapore is higher for the food court
- utilities are higher in Singapore
- rice in Malaysia is subsidized
- vegetables are grown in Malaysia
- pork in Malaysia is not imported
So how the heck is food able to be sold so cheaply in Singapore?

What you have quote Malaysia is not relevant as the Malaysian Chinese already knew the stupidity of their govt to subsidize the petrol. We are enjoying all their cheaper product because of the cheaper oil price.

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Strange logic my friend, by inflating food prices do you think wages shall necessarily rise in tandem? In any event would this not just lead to more inflation?

So we are facing the fact that food is too cheap, and hence foreign workers can eat this cheap food and compete with SG workers for work. If you raise the price of food, the FW will have to leave, (or salaries have to rise) and then the poor will not suffer so much.

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Let's see if this over paid government is really up to the task. Inevitably something has to give as this appears to be a structural problem with those 40 yrs plus and above not being able to get and/or maintain reasonably well paid jobs to keep up with s'pore's never ending rise in cost of living. There is only so much retraining one can do at that age. Workfare and Comcare are good ideas in themselves, however I don't think it is enough to address this structural complex issue as you are asking substantial numbers of people to lower their standards of living while FTs appear to keep enjoying jobs. To these people I say "no pain no gain", experiencing such long intractable "pain" shall hopefully make them finally wake up and realise that this government needs to properly and adequately pressured at the ballot box to finally take proper and adequate heed of their plight.

finance minister had also spoken on the news last night that we're expecting more trying times spilling into 2009. do we even think that sgporeans by large can hold out? or is it gonna be a case where we all as frogs in the well, start stacking on top of 1 another to reach the top? soon enough, those stacked at the bottom will drown & rot, contaminating the water. eventually all in the well will suffer from rotting contamination & disease.... while only the ones fortunate to be at the top can vacate the well & find new ponds to breed in.

 

[gravure]

No, my point is that food prices in singapore is too cheap and economic reality does not support the current prices.

 

[suteerak1099]

the vehement statement on not bending back to advocate increment for the ppl's income is already sending a very clear message across the board. in other words, afford wat u can, graze grass if u cant.

 

[gravure]

I actually am not talking about the Malaysian Chinese. I am saying that Malaysia, which produces rice, pork and has lower costs, is just slightly cheaper only than Singapore for food. The cost of everything else is higher in Singapore, so how can food be so cheap in Singapore?

Therefore, this imbalance is the problem why the poor are doing so badly now in Singapore, and we are a time bomb.

 

[88max]

sometimes i find it really quite ironic, n the system seems to be running parallel where the objectives hardly converge.

1 of the reasons of making labor costs affordable, is to attract foreign investors here to provide jobs for our ppl. while the education system tries its level best to produce as many skilled/qualified workers to fill the industries. however, with the constant influx of FTs filling up job openings here, its becoming a hub for FTs to make a killing, while denying our graduants the opportunity of a job.

the stats claim that we have very high employment rates compared to many other countries, bt can we b certain that those jobs r filled by sgporeans or r they filled by FTs? lets also nt forget, being employed doesnt equate that the employed r earning enough to finance their liabilities. while its convenient for FTs to make a killing while they're here, n pack everything to go once they're earned their fill.

inevitably, its cutting sgporeans short of wat we rightfully deserve. heavy investments into studies is already a deficit to be dealt with. while, the remunerations take up a big chunk of their career lifespan to recover education expenses. when its time to settle down, there's virtually insufficient savings to make marriage happen - let alone housing instalments & financing retiring parents. when ends cant meet, making babies naturally is struck off the to-do list.

at the rate that things r done, its proven that the poor will continue to be poor, the low-income may eventually be relagated in the poor category, while more n more of the middle income drops into the low-income grp as well. rich perhaps wont stay rich for too long as well.

That the main reason why I get my children out of SG. I foreseen that the future jobs market for the next generation will be tough.

Future degree & skills doesn't mean anything cuz there more competitons coming in from cheap FTs.

If possible, I strongly urge S'poreons if you can , get your children out of SG as soon as possible. Time is running out.

 

[suteerak1099]

in recent times, we notice some form of stagnated econ in sg. despite property prices soaring, despite new development sprouting... many r stuck n finding it difficult to liquidate their assets. simply bcos the buyers r being conservative with expenditure... or if not, cant afford the extravagance in light of the uncertainties.

of course there's always a fraction of the ppl who're blinded by the situation, n they boldy go ahead to throw $ into assets despite the soaring prices. sad to say, they're probably in for a full term 30yrs loan. by the time they hit their retirment, they'd probably nt have anything left in their CPF. nt unless they strike TOTO/4D a few times in a yr.

 

[SneeringTree]

What? The PAP has done everything (but increase wages). What more do you want? The elites with their multi million salary packages, are suffering too, OK!

 

[xtrocious]

What to do, it is mainly due to 1) oil prices and 2) Property prices and rental going up ...

Thos with properties, whatever cost of living going up has been cancelled off by the property price going up .... I just pity those just starting out and with no property ...

Actually even those who "own" properties are screwed...

For those of us who are staying in our properties, the higher rental rates (which is used to measure annual value of our homes) will result in higher property taxes, which equals to more revenue for the gahmen...

So owner-occupants end up paying more taxes and get no benefits!

 

[johnny333]

Another alternative will be the communists way of thinking....

Why not have a DEMOCRACY?

Time for old old man to stop "fixing" & let progress take place in Spore.

We need a gov't in Spore and not a self-serving dynastic family.