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Chitchat Why Jamus Lim join Workers' Party ?
- Thread starter batman1
- Start date
Jamus went on a river run. 
We went ahead with our October #SengkangGRC River Run with a small handful of runners, who braved the slight drizzle to join us on the cool(ish) evening jog. It was an eclectic mix, including soon-to-be undergraduates, a financier, and a former restauranteur, with age ranges in the decades. This just proves that there is no barrier to getting fitter and enjoying each others’ company. Until next month! #TeamSengkang
Jamus Lim
53 m ·We went ahead with our October #SengkangGRC River Run with a small handful of runners, who braved the slight drizzle to join us on the cool(ish) evening jog. It was an eclectic mix, including soon-to-be undergraduates, a financier, and a former restauranteur, with age ranges in the decades. This just proves that there is no barrier to getting fitter and enjoying each others’ company. Until next month! #TeamSengkang
Jamus Lim
22 h ·The Workers' Party
1 d ·In his speech on the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, Jamus Lim revisited the case for rebating the windfall revenue received by the Ministry of Finance in the past fiscal year—offering options for postponing the GST increase, increasing GST voucher payouts, or rolling out a fresh support package—to ease the burden of inflation for Singaporeans.
Jamus Lim
1 d ·The Workers' Party
2 d ·In his speech on the Business Trusts (Amendments) Bill, Jamus Lim offered some technical critiques on specific provisions in the Bill, before moving on to discuss the merits of such business trusts for the economy, as well as how trusts and foundations, more generally, may offer an additional source of fiscal support to meet societal needs.
Jamus went on house visits. 
Last week, we managed to wrap up our house visits to 258C #Compassvale, and also completely finish the remainder of 355A #Anchorvale. Many conversations dealt with housing, in particular housing policy.
There is little doubt that certain policies on public housing have been very welcome. I met a couple that lived together with one of their daughters, but had other children living within #SengkangGRC. The Housing Proximity Grant had enabled this, and the extended family regularly gathered for dinner after work. This is a remarkable adaptation of kampong life for the modern family, where many often wish to live on a day-to-day basis with only their nuclear family, but appreciate the extra babysitting help and combined meals that come from living close to parents or siblings.
Other residents who have moved out of their larger homes to smaller, shorter-lease Flexi units. The scheme has allowed many to extract savings out from their homes, now that their children were grown, and they didn’t need as much room, nor wished to maintain a large living space. They expressed their happiness that they were able to live in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood, and the convenience of the town being well-connected to other towns, as well as downtown (no doubt, the LRT/MRT system has been a boon for them).
But not all housing stories have been positive. Over the weekend and since, I spoke with some who were shocked and dismayed in response to the recent HDB demand cooling measures. One had been caught out by the suddenness of the measures, having sold their flat and signed an option to purchase a new one. Another thought that the measures only acted on one arm—demand—without addressing the supply crunch (people need a place to live, after all!). On our part, #TeamSengkang stands ready to assist any residents who are facing difficult situations with appeals, where needed.
Jamus Lim
2 d ·Last week, we managed to wrap up our house visits to 258C #Compassvale, and also completely finish the remainder of 355A #Anchorvale. Many conversations dealt with housing, in particular housing policy.
There is little doubt that certain policies on public housing have been very welcome. I met a couple that lived together with one of their daughters, but had other children living within #SengkangGRC. The Housing Proximity Grant had enabled this, and the extended family regularly gathered for dinner after work. This is a remarkable adaptation of kampong life for the modern family, where many often wish to live on a day-to-day basis with only their nuclear family, but appreciate the extra babysitting help and combined meals that come from living close to parents or siblings.
Other residents who have moved out of their larger homes to smaller, shorter-lease Flexi units. The scheme has allowed many to extract savings out from their homes, now that their children were grown, and they didn’t need as much room, nor wished to maintain a large living space. They expressed their happiness that they were able to live in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood, and the convenience of the town being well-connected to other towns, as well as downtown (no doubt, the LRT/MRT system has been a boon for them).
But not all housing stories have been positive. Over the weekend and since, I spoke with some who were shocked and dismayed in response to the recent HDB demand cooling measures. One had been caught out by the suddenness of the measures, having sold their flat and signed an option to purchase a new one. Another thought that the measures only acted on one arm—demand—without addressing the supply crunch (people need a place to live, after all!). On our part, #TeamSengkang stands ready to assist any residents who are facing difficult situations with appeals, where needed.
Jamus Lim
2 d ·The Workers' Party
3 d ·In his speech on the HealthySG motion, Jamus Lim shared his concerns about how public sector leadership and strong regulatory guidelines are needed to ensure that, as the private sector plays an increasingly important role, healthcare costs do not escalate.
Jamus asks PAP to increase the CPF interest rate.
Even those uninterested in matters of economics and finance would probably be aware that, of late, interest rates have been rising. This phenomenon isn’t unique to Singapore, but one seen worldwide. Unless you chose to lock in a fixed rate, you may have seen your monthly mortgage bill, or repayments on your small business loan, go up. This would be unpleasant, especially in light of how prices for just about everything have also gone up lately. If you’re a saver, however, your situation could be better. Many saving vehicles have raised deposit interest rates, which means that your getting at least something back to offset soaring inflation. And of course, almost all of us are huge savers, because of forced saving via CPF. Our national gross saving rate, at 44 percent, is among the highest in the world (since, for most workers, 37 percent of each paycheck is automatically saved).
So the return on our CPF balances matters enormously. But if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll also be aware that CPF OA interest rates have stubbornly remained at 2.5 percent (3.5 percent for the first $60K). This is because the OA interest rate is based on the average of major local banks’ plain-vanilla deposit rates over the recent past (or a minimum of 2.5 percent, whichever is higher). But our local banks have kept these deposit rates very low, in spite of inflation. This is also in spite of other interest rates having already climbed up significantly, accurately capturing the effects of inflation. Promotional fixed Ds are sparking long queues. Even super-safe Singapore Government Securities pay 3.4 percent (for 10 year bonds).
One way to help CPF account holders—especially retirees surviving on fixed incomes—navigate higher prices is to have the OA pay more interest. We can do so by pegging OA rates not only to the average of deposit, but also lending rates.
In response to my suggestion, Minister Tan See Leng explained that this comparison cannot be made, since OA returns are guaranteed by the government. But so are government securities, which are already paying more! He also suggested that those wishing to access higher rates can transfer their holdings to other CPF accounts. But SAs cannot be used as freely, and RAs are not available for those under 55.
Hopefully, in light of high inflation, there will be a reconsideration of the formula for calculating CPF rates. This will help all of us cope better with the higher cost of living. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: one objection to raising OA rates is that HDB mortgage loans are tied to this rate. That’s a fair concern, but if OA rates rise in tandem, then higher returns on members’ excess savings will go toward offsetting the higher loan rates.
Jamus Lim
2 d ·Even those uninterested in matters of economics and finance would probably be aware that, of late, interest rates have been rising. This phenomenon isn’t unique to Singapore, but one seen worldwide. Unless you chose to lock in a fixed rate, you may have seen your monthly mortgage bill, or repayments on your small business loan, go up. This would be unpleasant, especially in light of how prices for just about everything have also gone up lately. If you’re a saver, however, your situation could be better. Many saving vehicles have raised deposit interest rates, which means that your getting at least something back to offset soaring inflation. And of course, almost all of us are huge savers, because of forced saving via CPF. Our national gross saving rate, at 44 percent, is among the highest in the world (since, for most workers, 37 percent of each paycheck is automatically saved).
So the return on our CPF balances matters enormously. But if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll also be aware that CPF OA interest rates have stubbornly remained at 2.5 percent (3.5 percent for the first $60K). This is because the OA interest rate is based on the average of major local banks’ plain-vanilla deposit rates over the recent past (or a minimum of 2.5 percent, whichever is higher). But our local banks have kept these deposit rates very low, in spite of inflation. This is also in spite of other interest rates having already climbed up significantly, accurately capturing the effects of inflation. Promotional fixed Ds are sparking long queues. Even super-safe Singapore Government Securities pay 3.4 percent (for 10 year bonds).
One way to help CPF account holders—especially retirees surviving on fixed incomes—navigate higher prices is to have the OA pay more interest. We can do so by pegging OA rates not only to the average of deposit, but also lending rates.
In response to my suggestion, Minister Tan See Leng explained that this comparison cannot be made, since OA returns are guaranteed by the government. But so are government securities, which are already paying more! He also suggested that those wishing to access higher rates can transfer their holdings to other CPF accounts. But SAs cannot be used as freely, and RAs are not available for those under 55.
Hopefully, in light of high inflation, there will be a reconsideration of the formula for calculating CPF rates. This will help all of us cope better with the higher cost of living. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: one objection to raising OA rates is that HDB mortgage loans are tied to this rate. That’s a fair concern, but if OA rates rise in tandem, then higher returns on members’ excess savings will go toward offsetting the higher loan rates.
Jamus continues house visits.
Our #TeamSengkang house visits this week covered 332C #Anchorvale where—in a stunning feat of efficiency—we were able to wrap up the block over the course of the evening.
The block is both relatively young (around 7 years since completion) and located beside Sengkang Hospital. This combination of facts mean that the residents are mostly young families—many with small children—who have to deal with smokers from the nearby hospital taking their smoke breaks right around their block (since smoking is prohibited on hospital grounds).
This is a longstanding issue. The prior administration had worked with the town council to construct a smoker’s hut, located beside the carpark. This has helped concentrate smoking activity, but it has not restrained individual smokers—especially those who have booked private hire cars—from wandering beyond the designated spot. On our part, we have alerted the NEA about the matter, try to improve the conditions at the hut to encourage usage, while also working with hospital management to discuss options for influencing staff behavior (we even got SKH involved in our quarterly #CleanSG exercise, to enhance their sensitivity to littering concerns). Yet, the problem persists.
Of course, secondhand smoke is a common point of contention among neighbors, too. Smoking in common areas of HDB blocks is already prohibited. But there has been little effort to enforce violations of this principle, when the perpetrators are located within their apartments. Nee Soon MP Louis Ng has tirelessly spoken up on this issue, and I am hopeful that the government will see the wisdom of some of his commonsense proposals. At the least, even if catching those who blow smoke out of their windows is challenging (as the government has argued), simply codifying this prohibition into the law lends support to those longsuffering residents who wish to lodge a report, as some basis for a formal complaint.
The situations are vivid examples of the tradeoffs that come from modern town planning within a limited space. My residents, in the main, appreciate the presence of a high-quality hospital located in the neighborhood, especially during emergencies. But its presence inevitably carries some disamenities, such as itinerant smokers, a greater littering load, and ambulance sirens. Similarly, while most would accept the right of individuals to smoke within their homes, they draw the line at having to tolerate such smoke drifting into theirs. In the final analysis, we can all do our part by respecting the mutual commons, and I hope we will all make an effort to do so. #SengkangGRC
Jamus Lim
2 d ·Our #TeamSengkang house visits this week covered 332C #Anchorvale where—in a stunning feat of efficiency—we were able to wrap up the block over the course of the evening.
The block is both relatively young (around 7 years since completion) and located beside Sengkang Hospital. This combination of facts mean that the residents are mostly young families—many with small children—who have to deal with smokers from the nearby hospital taking their smoke breaks right around their block (since smoking is prohibited on hospital grounds).
This is a longstanding issue. The prior administration had worked with the town council to construct a smoker’s hut, located beside the carpark. This has helped concentrate smoking activity, but it has not restrained individual smokers—especially those who have booked private hire cars—from wandering beyond the designated spot. On our part, we have alerted the NEA about the matter, try to improve the conditions at the hut to encourage usage, while also working with hospital management to discuss options for influencing staff behavior (we even got SKH involved in our quarterly #CleanSG exercise, to enhance their sensitivity to littering concerns). Yet, the problem persists.
Of course, secondhand smoke is a common point of contention among neighbors, too. Smoking in common areas of HDB blocks is already prohibited. But there has been little effort to enforce violations of this principle, when the perpetrators are located within their apartments. Nee Soon MP Louis Ng has tirelessly spoken up on this issue, and I am hopeful that the government will see the wisdom of some of his commonsense proposals. At the least, even if catching those who blow smoke out of their windows is challenging (as the government has argued), simply codifying this prohibition into the law lends support to those longsuffering residents who wish to lodge a report, as some basis for a formal complaint.
The situations are vivid examples of the tradeoffs that come from modern town planning within a limited space. My residents, in the main, appreciate the presence of a high-quality hospital located in the neighborhood, especially during emergencies. But its presence inevitably carries some disamenities, such as itinerant smokers, a greater littering load, and ambulance sirens. Similarly, while most would accept the right of individuals to smoke within their homes, they draw the line at having to tolerate such smoke drifting into theirs. In the final analysis, we can all do our part by respecting the mutual commons, and I hope we will all make an effort to do so. #SengkangGRC
Jamus goes hiking. 
On Saturday morning, #TeamSengkang took advantage of the break in the rain (and resultant cooler morning) and joined a group of #SengkangGRC residents for the second of our pre-Jeju preparatory hikes. This time, we started from MacRitchie and hiked the trail through to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
We had just debated #HealthySG in Parliament—a government initiative to promote better health with a range of preventative actions—and exercise was, therefore, on my mind as we went through the paces. For some, the regular medical checkups and positive lifestyle routines weaved into a national program—buttressed by financial and nonfinancial incentives—will be important in helping them reach their individual health and fitness goals.
I was also reminded, however, that we often use exercise to excuse ourselves from all manner of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as overeating after a workout, treating exercise as a substitute for eating healthier, or saying that working out will make up for bad habits like smoking and drinking (I’m more than guilty of these myself). More generally, we should never think that prevention alone—as much as it makes a solid difference—can help with health outcomes, when what is needed is a cure (this was the theme of my speech on the motion, where I stressed the importance of watching out for other contributors to high medical costs, and not expect that healthier living alone would do the trick of containing cost escalation).
In my view, preventative healthcare must work hand-in-hand with a system that delivers excellent health outcomes for all, regardless of race, religion, or income. That’s what being one big family of Singaporeans is all about.
Postscript: Speaking of carrying family on each others’ back, I literally did this during our hike (as I will in Jeju), for our little one. The little does feel heavier as the hike progresses, though!
Jamus Lim
14 h ·On Saturday morning, #TeamSengkang took advantage of the break in the rain (and resultant cooler morning) and joined a group of #SengkangGRC residents for the second of our pre-Jeju preparatory hikes. This time, we started from MacRitchie and hiked the trail through to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
We had just debated #HealthySG in Parliament—a government initiative to promote better health with a range of preventative actions—and exercise was, therefore, on my mind as we went through the paces. For some, the regular medical checkups and positive lifestyle routines weaved into a national program—buttressed by financial and nonfinancial incentives—will be important in helping them reach their individual health and fitness goals.
I was also reminded, however, that we often use exercise to excuse ourselves from all manner of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as overeating after a workout, treating exercise as a substitute for eating healthier, or saying that working out will make up for bad habits like smoking and drinking (I’m more than guilty of these myself). More generally, we should never think that prevention alone—as much as it makes a solid difference—can help with health outcomes, when what is needed is a cure (this was the theme of my speech on the motion, where I stressed the importance of watching out for other contributors to high medical costs, and not expect that healthier living alone would do the trick of containing cost escalation).
In my view, preventative healthcare must work hand-in-hand with a system that delivers excellent health outcomes for all, regardless of race, religion, or income. That’s what being one big family of Singaporeans is all about.
Postscript: Speaking of carrying family on each others’ back, I literally did this during our hike (as I will in Jeju), for our little one. The little does feel heavier as the hike progresses, though!
