Yes, subsidies cannot solve all problems but given the right dosage, people will be better able to cope with the rises, especially when there is no end in sight to the escalating prices of commodities.

So what’s the government’s accumulation of surpluses for? Buildling bridges, landscaping, other developments, etc, only? Does it make more sense to put vast sum of public money in loss making investments and then hoping to recoup them in 5 years, maybe 20-30 years?

We are not investing in educating children where 20-30 years would be the norm. We are investing in the biggest banks which are more than matured. Isn”t LKY, being GIC’s chairman, responsible for this multi-billion losses? The combined profits from the other investments may not even cover for these losses.

So how do you justify the ministers’ multi-million salary? Base on collections from GST, income/corporate taxes, property taxes, road taxes, ERP, COE, foreign worker levy, land sales, S &C charges, PUB taxes, etc?

Reflect on yourself, LKY. Are you doing your future generations a favour or returning Singaporeans’ favour for their sacrifices?

I agree we should not go the subsidy route. But the lower-income folks are really suffering. There will be less need for subsidies if we do not take so much away from the people in the first place.

Just the “captive” or “annuity” income streams of the following will be more than enough revenue to keep the government going (per year):
Foreign workers levy/foreign domestic workers levy = 2 to 3 billion dollars
Betting/Singapore Pools = a few billion dollars
ERP/Vehicle related taxes = 2 to 3 billion dollars
GST = a few billion dollars.
Land sales = tens of billion of dollars?
[We haven't touch on the personal income and corporate tax yet - and these are the biggest sources of revenues]

My suggestion is to revert the GST back to 5%, or even to abolish it all together. It is really a regressive tax and punishes the poor more than the rich. We can still keep the GST machinery and re-activate it when we really need it. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, we don’t need the GST as the coffers are bursting at the seams and we had the embarrasing fiasco of getting the budget wrong by more than S$7 billion positive.

It is always a curious thing to me that when the govt talk of subsidy, they always take the worst possible case scenario and make their case from there.

I think Ngiam Tong Dow said it best recently when he chided the govt for spending millions on the F1 races but skimping on an extra $30 for those on public assistance.

I agree with Ngiam that it’s a matter of priority – and that the govt seems to have lost its sense of priority.

I mean, if you can debate and cite “work ethics” and what not just so that you can deny poor people an extra $30, then I think there is something woefully wrong with govt’s thinking.

In the same way, if ministers like LKY keep going to extremes when talking about subsidies, then I’d like to ask:

What’s the point of being a Singaporean? What’s the point of slogging day and night and when we need the govt’s help, the govt turns around and say, “Please don’t ask us for help.”?

Where is this “golden era” that LKY himself said we were in, not too long ago?

“It is always a curious thing to me that when the govt talk of subsidy, they always take the worst possible case scenario and make their case from there.”

When it is about money taking, it is positive case eg GST to help, Singapore recover from property price , Well-paid minister deliver moral authority

But when it is money giving, it is negative worse case , eg deliver crude mentiality, complacency…

hope that citizen start waking up to see that our coffers are nothing but selfish and self-agenda government officials.

no wonder so many young sporeans migrate or dont want to come back after their studies overseas, they find that spore govt wont help them much, but the other way by taking money from them. FT keep flooding spore and make spore as a stepping stone, and we keep supporting them, really no meaning , if got chance better migrate, otherwise die here, have to work til past late 60’s and cant get our cpf back. The motive of govt is not to let you grow rich, so you peasants can still vote pap because pap will continue helping you by giving workfare, progreess package, so govt. devise a scheme looks like they will take care of the peasants,

“I agree we should not go the subsidy route. But the lower-income folks are really suffering. ”

Not only the lower-income, but the middle income as well because now the government is going full-force to penalise the middle income …

It’s the PAP. What to do ? It’s happened

I was pi……. off when I read his comments and did not finish reading it.
We know where he is coming from and I agree too that subsidy is not the way to go.Economic shares and what not is also not the way to go. But what is his solution? We are caught with all these hikes and Mr Lee and his team knows that his own pocket will not be dented one bit.
And what can we do, is basically nothing.
Mr Lee should asked himself. Who raised the prices ( and kept rising ) of our utilities, housing etc, etc, don’t talk about food prices.
As we go on the pool of people struggling to make ends meet will slowly but surely increase. What makes him think the economy will be dynamic? What if a protracted recession due to the higher oil prices?
The economy is never totally dynamic at one go, it is always one sector here and one sector there. Look at housing, it’s dropping like dead flies.
These are simplistic views but what is needed from the government is a balanced approach to revenue generation and seeing to the basic needs of the general population, especially the lower placed in our society. How much wealth is need for the counrty, perenial question? We don’t know only, they know.
I think they know that a balance is needed but they will continue to push through as they know the general populace will be react much to it.
I agree too that the GST should be cut back to 5%. Perhaps the hand was too fast to shoot! and now all of us are shot in the foot and bleeding!
If Mr Lee can speak and offer us solutions I applause him if not shut up.
Our economy and policies and the needs and aspiration of the people have become a “messy intertwine” which the government is having a hard time untangling. A Gordan knot that cannot be cut with a swift blow of the sword.
It’s about time ( at the next election ) we boot some of them out. Perhaps things might change. Your children will ask of you. “If you knew all this is happening why didn’t you vote them out and now we are suffering the consequence of your inaction previously. ” Is it a matter of simply voting them out, yes! Will the country collapse, no! Singaporeans need courage at this time to change things for ourselves. If you have not done so the last time, do so the next time.
Thank you TOC for your alternative views and articles. Keep up the very good work.

NO wonder our society lack compassion and humanity because of these heartless and selfish leaders dictating.

It always make one blood boils when you heard someone says “No one own you a living”. I says “No one own the government a living too”, and if you concur the first statement, please ask the government to return what they have lost billions in bank then and return to all citizen. What I find in Singapore is comprised very much of Stupid citizen who cannot think but rather accept as way of life in Singapore.

Should be read as…
I think they know that a balance is needed but they will continue to push through as they know the general populace will not react too much to it.

ad nauseam…it’s really tiring listing to this same old ridiculous crap..over and over again. The problem with some people..they dont realise their expiry date.

we cant grow tapioca, corn…. who dont know that, always repeat and whine, what is the use, can’t solve the problem. In malaysia, the price of petrol stays at RM$1.92, for so long , the govt there no problem at all. pap always give so much excuse, we dont have this , we dont have that, we have to work hard… no wonder Mr Ling How Doong asked them dont talk cock!!

it always the case . when we ask for help , help the poor . they say cannot must save for future, when take money from us from all the taxes ,they say for future use. must save not enough. their salary never drop even we have problem .

sorry somemore to add
i always find out when there is help , help the poor ,it always company donated or we the pp who help other pp . do u feel so ?

It is no wonder so many people choose to leave Singapore. Why? That’s because Singaporeans are not longer able feel that Singapore is home anymore. How do you expect to have patriotic people in Singapore when we have such uncaring gahmen?

Over lunch, I had this though, I wonder if MM Lee paid the full fare to charter the SIA flight to carry his wife back to Singapore for medical treatment…….

And whatever happened to the golden age of Singapore as what the wise old MM have said not too long ago?

“And whatever happened to the golden age of Singapore as what the wise old MM have said not too long ago?”

MM thought all this rhetoric has been move on already like Selamat’s case and Swiss Standard of living. Like it is a diamond age he will spurt on. The golden age is over and consumed by the MIW and the coffers.

Once thing if MM say how glorious and wonderful thing to come, it only applies to his family, relative and folk of Lee’s dynasty, the rest need not apply. The rest can eat bitter medicine.

I’m not sure if reverting back to 5% GST is such a good idea. How many stores would bother to change their prices back down, as opposed to pocketing the extra 2%?

Also, I think educational subsisdies are fine for now. School fees up to JC level are pretty cheap (Except independent schools). But I do acknowledge that more can be done with regards to Uni education (bursaries are only for a select few) and of course, teachers’ pay (the last increase was miniscule; if human resource if our only resource, why are we skimping on it? They’re “civil servants” too, right?)

WE really hv to ask end of the day who really pays for these subsidies, the opp or the pple, u take a look at msia, subsidised petrol, end of the day who really benefits, u hv thais crossing over the borders dun mind waiting an hr or so jus to fill up their tanks, do it really benefit the msians or foreigners?

If u say we subsidise fish, wht kind of fish, do u knw there r pple who feed salmon to their dogs or the poor man in the street who eats kuning. Its nt really easy where to draw the line but we must hv targetted assisatnce for those at the bottom. If u subsidise across the board it will lead to sheer wastage end of the day maybe the rich chap feeding salmon to his dog benefits more. But if we hv targetted assistance then we will be able to identify those in need and dish out more.

Hv a vibrant economy, creat high value added jobs, move up the value chain, attract solid investments, invest in the young (particularly science and technology) so tht they can get gd paying jobs to fight inflation.

Hmm…. the old man say subsidies cannot solve problem but how come so much is given to MNCs to “invest” in SIngapore?

Well, 7% GST is done across the board on consumption whether you are rich or poor when it comes to basic neccesities.

Individual taxation is done across the board albeit on a progressive basis whether the net income is used to support a household of 2 persons or 10 persons.

Waiver of conservancy charges will be given to all 3 & 4-roomers across the board whether the 3 & 4-roomers are for 2 persons or 10 persons.

Create high value added jobs ? It is one matter if real foreign talents (like those of entrepreneur or synergestic qualities) are added to create net additional jobs for Singaporeans. It is another matter if low-value foreign talents (low income) are here to displace our own local low-income Singaporeans.

Just imagine a 40-year old retrenched production worker / supervisor being retrained (“upgraded”) to some area like clerical / sales / or you-name it position, what is the likelihood of being rehired after the employers have glanced through their past experience / resume. Do we have the culture to practise what we are preaching.

/// Well, 7% GST is done across the board on consumption whether you are rich or poor when it comes to basic neccesities. ///

Retrenched – think again. Yes, GST is applied across the board. But for the low-income group, the basic necessities comprise about 40% to 60% of their disposable income. For the poor, it is more than 100% of their income – in other words, they cannot make ends meet. For the rich, it is not even 1% or 5% of their disposable income. And for the elite, it is not even a decimal point. This is why it is a regressive tax. This is why it is taxing (pardon the pun) the poor more than the rich.

:(

I wonder how affected MM Lee is by The Relentless Rising Cost Of Living In Singapore.

Maybe he lives in a different world which affords him the luxury of saying “subsidies cannot solve problems.”

But when it comes to attracting people into the PAP – and the govt – MM Lee is a champion of paying top dollar, millions and millions, increasing their salaries 3 times in 2 years even.

All this, despite MM Lee himself saying that more ‘top brains’ are leaving our shores. In fact, MM Lee himself revealed that “1,000 top brains” leave every year.

It’s funny, isn’t it? That MM Lee would say “subsidies cannot solve problems” but champions paying obscene amounts to “top brains” who nonetheless choose to leave anyway.

Maybe someone should tell MM Lee that paying obscene millions to himself and his ministers “cannot solve the problem” of people not wanting to be in public service as well.

What is the price for the safety of our children? How much does it cost if seat belts are provided in all the school buses in Singapore? I bet that it is less than a year’s salary of a minister. So why are we quibbling over this? Is not the safety of our children paramount? What if the child who died is to become the Prime Minister of our country one day? Is a year’s salary of a minister too much to pay?

Though the general concept of subsidies being a slippery road to ruin, it must be applied intelligently. In the above case, I think it is very justifiable as it involves our precious young resources.

Furthermore, I was very surprised to read of MM’s remark about China government being very caring. If some ignorant man on the street says it I can understand. But surely someone of MM’s intelligence and wisdom will know that it is the same government that turned a blind eye to all that corruption which led to school buildings being made of “tofu bricks” that is the main cause of the massive casualties.

I would have expect that the Chinese government, which has billions of dollars in surpluses and taxes, should have spent more in building the schools so such a tragedy would not happen, even in an earthquake. Perhaps the Chinese government too have the same idea about “subsidies” being the slippery road to ruin and chose the other path, which in fact sacrificed so many of the young school children.

What should be the name of this path? Perhaps the “devil’s path to doom” should adequately describe it.

Quote:
‘The Government must ensure that everyone has the highest-paid job he is qualified to do. ‘

Even the above logical statement is not fulfilled. I get my highest pay overseas. In Singapore, I get to report to foreigners who report to foreigners. Sure, he can always say that if you do not get a high pay in Singapore then it is because you are not up to it. I believed that for over 30 years. Working overseas have really opened my eyes. Same person, same skills but I get paid over 4 times more out of Singapore, in a third world country to boot. Right now back in Singapore, I don’t get paid at all.

T

I agree with you 100% and no question about that. The impact is so much worst on the low-income group. My post was to address some comments made by a previous poster on “across-the-board implemention of subsidies.

LKY can take his subsidies and get out of my non-elite uncaring face.

Everything that has come from the govt has come with nothing but more caveats and loopholes with which they take back what they gave out and then some.

Please. Don’t. Help. Us. Anymore.

We. Cannot. Afford. Your Brand. Of. Top. Heavy. Government.

My Lord and Emperor Lee Huang Di, please tax us your humble servants and enjoy the fruits of our labors but leave us in peace.

Thank you.

Disagree.
Whatever help given is appreciated.
Donations are also fashions today – Myanmar & China will receive help from Singaporeans too.
Pay cut to help – can be made the next fashionable thing to do. Any one to lead ?
Thank you in advance.

We are told that we should not be asking for help. No clutch mentality.

So we should not helping the gahmen in their efforts to try to attract top talent by raising ministerial pays. They should help themselves and not rely on us. Go rely on the foreign talent loh.

Seriously, by saying all these IRRELEVANT things in the media, LKY is definitely losing respect… Is he getting old or what?

I distinguish between two types of subsidies:

1. those that can be abused
2. those that cannot be abused

If we subsidise rice and petrol, people will start to hoard these items, buy them in bulk and resell them at a profit. Even foreigners will come and buy them at the subsidised prices.

There are subsidies that cannot be abused. Examples are:

a. Basic education
b. Basic health care
c. Public transport
d. Safety
e. Old age pension (for the poor)

I refer to these item as “subsidies” as they are paid largely through tax revenue. Each person is entitled to only his or her personal share, and not more. It is a way of taking care of the poorer segments of our society.

Actually, we have been subsidising education for a long time. We call it “investing for the future”. I believe that good health and safety can be treated in the same manner.

I think that it is all right to subsidise public transport, so that more people will chose this option, instead of driving cars and congesting the roads. A better alternative is to encourage more people to work closer to their home, or to work from home.

I like a modest old age pension to be given to the poor. Most of them were not able to save enough during their working life, as they earned low wages.

Hey tan kin lian, they wouldnt understand as those old aged govert officials had millions a year to save. They can live till 5000 years and still survive well. When can we have a say in the elections ? No more walk overs pls.

I agree that for long-term, subsidies are not an answer.

But who asked for subsidies in the first place???

Don’t raise prices of utilities, HDB, ERP, transportation like taxi, bus and MRT and ministerial salary can oredi lar….

TOLONG lar….

The gahmen cant do anything. Inflation is imported (oil, food etc); manufacturing jobs have gone to China and IT jobs to India; EDB’s new sectors-bio, pharma- have places only for PhD’s and no jobs for even degree holders, and wont offer much employment ( the drug factories are in China and research labs practically no prospects for you lowly S’poreans), the govt sector also downsized. So there’s nothing the govt can do anymore in the way of employment. What they hope to hit big is the IRs..and that is still sometime away. Even then, what jobs do they offer? Croupiers, floor mgrs? Not highly paid ones.

The lucrative jobs are as PAP MPs, Ministers, in GLCs, town councils..even there if you are not pro PAP or without right connections, sorry, Joe.

So, highly paid MM, SM, PM, Ministers who can do nothing vs. the lowly paid rest who are suffering under low interest bank savings & CPF, high food and property prices etc. They deserve to suffer because they are poorer. They are poorer because they are stupid and dont have the IQs of Ministers who let the limping terrorist get away.

I fully agree with Andrew Loh that our mini-stars like to use an extreme case as an argument. When the people asked for a LITTLE financial assistance, our mini-stars is quick to cite “clutch mentality”. Eg. proposal to increase monthly payout for the very poor by $10, mini-star Vivian not only rejected it, but asked whether the poor want to eat at foodcourt or hawker centre!!!

MM Lee said “As long as we have a dynamic economy, we can solve our problems. Subsidies cannot solve them.”

Isn’t our economy dynamic enough now??? But why is inflation still causing us so mcuh pain?? MM Lee said last year that we are in a “golden age”. No??

In the LONG term, having a robust economy MIGHT be more important than giving subsidy, but like Keynes said, “in the long term, we are all dead”!!! How does MM Lee expect us to live to see our “dynamic economy” when we might die from hunger or malnutribtion NOW??

MM is right in as much as having subsidies can actually hurt people’s work ethic and produce a culture of complacency etc etc. I’ve known guys in Europe who have found a career in milking their governments for as many pennies as they can. Welfare systems have often become more welfare for the government bureaucracy than for the people they are supposed to help. He’s right in as much as business and growth in the economy can do more to help the poor than charity and government welfare.

Having said that, the Singapore economy has not been as shinny as its made out to be. I remember one foreign official telling me that cab drivers had complained that things have gotten more expensive even though the economy was supposed to be doing well. In short, its as if the government conspires to ensure that the people will have enough to eat but never enough to be “Financially Free.” Note that all tax increases come at times when the economy starts to perk up and people may get the idea that they can enjoy life with more money. Also note that there is a very welfare like activity of cutting employers CPF during recession but not having it restored in an economic boom – guess who is one of the biggest employers in Singapore.

Then there is the continued issue of a lack of competition. As I said to a young man over the weekend – when it comes to the rest of us, we need to live with global competition. So what if poor migrants are coming over to compete with jobs for the lower income. We need to have competition when the Middle Class face competition from foreign talent. But somehow when it comes to certain institutions. Remember when the media companies reestablished the duopoly in the Media – saving two monopolies from “Destructive Competition.”

Or think of the banks. To date do you know of banks that can pay you interest rates so low that you are giving them money for free. Money which they lend out at over 8% at least. And these are the very same banks that will charge you $2 a month if you have less than $500 in your account, because they are losing money – sorry this sounds like they’re being incompetently managed – but then as the government has always said, this is the private sector and not for them to interfere (but they do own the majority of share in the said banks).

So, yes don’t have subsidies that people can abuse. Work on having a booming economy. Do it by making certain companies compete in the real business world. We’ve done it before. SIA does not gain from government protection and competes with other airlines in the real world – it is a world class company. Have we produced other world class companies? Do you here people talking about how SingTel or DBS set standards in their basic industries? Probably a sign they’re profits have been coming from monopoly practices. But to be fair, SingTel has actually moved on with competition in its mobile services and DBS has bought banks overseas. But let’s do things like deregulate their home market and let them compete on an equal basis with people who care about Singaporean consumers. That would be good for the economy and the poor.

Perhaps MM was right about subsidies not being the correct way to tackle high inflation.

However, while other countries in the area are talking about reducing or removing subsidies, we are talking about government taxes!

I support MM’s view that we should pay the cost price…………..YES! That is exactly what we should do………….minus the petrol and diesel taxes…….the GST……the utilities taxes…………..etc….etc….etc.

Petrol and Utilities taxes were meant to discourage wasteful usage, or so they claimed. But now, the cost has risen very high, not because of such wasteful practice! How much more can a person reduce his/her usage? Bathe once a day? Once every two days? Shit once a week?

One thing `might’ work though: Everyone takes public transport……….and see how the transport system collapse!

Yes, pure cost recovery only with reasonable level of reserves for eventualities – not in the tune of hundreds of billions in reserves and yet we are stilll being asked to contribute in enhancing it further in the various forms of taxation / charges in all sorts of names. While the redistribution is skewed in maintaining a “expensive world class” public and civil service (just benchmark ours with some other developed countries in Europe).

Wealth should stay with the people for them to take care of their own individual needs and not too much being artificially diverted (in the forms of taxation / charges / fines for artificially created offences, etc) to maintain a very heavy government & bureaucratic machinery.

Don’t listen to MM Lee, his prediction all go haywire, golden age WTF, petrol cant go beyond $110 WTF, looks like now he is a fortune teller

MM Lee is right…subsidies cannot solve inflation problem. Only cutting the wages of Ministers and reducing the size of government by removing one closetodeadwood will help.

subsidies can not solve problem: MM Lee, but how come govt say HDB flat is subsidied, education is subsidized and also health care. Now he says can’t solve problem

Sorry guys.. could it be that we misunderstood ? Maybe subsidies cannot solve Their problem.. not ours?

LKY doesn’t seem to make sense nowadays.

Isn’t HDB subsidising public housing unless LKY also disagrees that “market” subsidy is a “real” subsidy?

Aren’t our taxes subsidising the cost of a First World Gahmen and Civil Service?

As one of the commentors mentioned, what is ERS, NSS GST-Offset packages if not subsidies?!

If the Gahmen didn’t take so much from the rakyat, we would have enough to fight inflation based on our wages and hard work. Instead, our costs are inflated by various Gahmen/Stat board/GLC fees and charges that more than recover costs.

Majullah Singapura.

Panzergrenadier,

Is it subsidies in first place ? In fact, I think there never is a subsidies in Singapore in the first place under the rule of LKY. As he said before, we are living in a make-believe world. You mean you jack up price far beyond the subsidy and then return a portion to you, and you call that subsidies to you ? Oh my goodness….

How the subsidies work ?
Do planning first before subsidies to ‘help the citizen’

Jack up the price and cite free market. Needless to say, unless it must be up and up all the way in the free market otherwise the gahmen will measurement.

Now the price went beyond the subsidies

Give the subsidies and announce in major headline in MSM, Today, and whatever mouthpiece, Radio that our govenment is full of love and compassionate. Now the world start believing the make-believe world of LKY.

If you work in stepboard, you will know that everything is preplan more or less. Yeah, they won’t even tell the shit to you… whether you want to believe or not, up to you. Isn’t our dear clown PM says that he won’t have time to fix opp party and buy supporter’s vote ? What he doing then ? Plan budget la… and giving is subsidies is one of budget… and oh… this clown also say that THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH ….

When it come to giving out money, the gahmen will say subsidies cannot solve the problem, BUT
when it come to taking the money suddenly it can solve the problem…. Take ERP for example, does increasing toll charges and ERP grantries charge solve the traffic problem drastically … Nope, right, so why they continue to charge PayAndPay then and even attend to residential area ?

LKY is giving another case of double standard. King of the clown and he think he knows better…

The same argument can be used against raising salary for MPs etc… raising salary for your son is not the solution !!!! Double standards !!!

“subsidies cannot solve all problems”??

I should tell my boss this , am sure i would stay gainfully employed.

we did not pay the elites so much money to come back to us with this one liner.
We expect positive results, for the awesome amount of money we are paying to maintain the elites.

If there is no other way but for us to work longer and and harder, then its sad to say we might have to outsource our problems to people who can create solutions.

In Singapore, everyone is a digit.

There will be no need for subsidy if
a. Singaporeans are fairly compensated for their works.
b. they are meaningful jobs for those over 40’s.
c. the pap government don’t bring in so many foreigners to compete against Singaporeans.
d. if the pap government don’t run the whole government machinery like a huge business empire where every government department serving the public is a profit centre, where basic utilities are commercialised.
The actions and policies of the pap government are causing hardships to Singaporeans and it is only fair that they subsidise those who are adversely affected by their policies. The country is rich enough to afford it.
Lee Kuan Yew is forever using threats of Singapore collapsing to justify some of his outdated and absurd policies like investing over US$450 billion all over the world while average Singaporeans are suffering.

Maybe old LKY can tell us why the Government thinks it is OK to pay himself & our Ministers such obscene salaries that will make the President of America green with envy.

Aren’t these f**king sky-high salaries a ridiculous form of subsidy for our Cabinet Ministers. And by implication isn’t LKY a hypocrite for him to say it’s OK to pay such salaries to himself and our Ministers.

he cries from the people are getting stronger each day. If the “poor” gahmen dont bother they are going to lose more support in the future.

When the citizen finally can overcome their difficulty on their own without the help of gahmen. Do you think they will be more inclined to vote against PAP? I bet so.

When we are push hard to a corner, the natural response is one that will determine the outcome. No subsidies, never mind, RAISE MORE TAXES, never mind, INCREASE FESS, never mind, UP MINISTER SALARIES, never mind, LOWER PAY FOR WORKERS, never mind, LET IN MORE FT, never mind….we singaporeans can SWALLOW it all. I cant imagined how indigestion we can become when we will VOMIT everything BACK at The UNCARING ELITE FACE OF GAHMEN.

Watch OUT CLOWNS!

FG

I reckon we have 2 camps here, one is the well off, who do not know what they are taking about, because they are not able to taste the reality of the ground.

What I have seen is that the very hands that built the country have been told to work harder and longer, like buffalo and mules. I guess they are wrong to suggest that.

They might as well come clean to say. Hey I got no solutions to help my fellow Singaporeans, who built this very land.

I failed in my duties and no amount of words can change the course of my policies that were formulated and have failed to current date.

Golden question, why do we need SM, MM and PM ?
They should learn from the makers of GOLD ROAST 3 in 1 Coffee mix
How much would they cost us ?
How much do they help us ?

Moral of the story, we only need one capable person.

I wonder if this LKY knows about the oil ban from Singaporean in Malaysia beforehand. His ‘word of wisdom’ coincide with the ban of oil purchase. Did LKY knows something we don’t know ?

talk so much no use vote in 25 opposition MPs to scare them off.

When’s the next election? 2011? Too far … How does one petition for an elections to be called?

Guys, haven’t we learn from the year-long sales, closing down sales (which happens perpetually and all kind of Singapore Sales.

The actual cost of product = $1. Mark it up to $4. Then declare a clearance sale at $2 — a fantastic discount or subsidy of 50% on the market rate of $4. Good deal, eh?

:(

52 comments here, none of which I had read came remotely close in supporting his view. I don’t even understand why he bothers making speeches that do not resonate with his people. As one of the younger generation in s’pore, I’m finding it so hard to believe in his words. Has he ever wondered the kind of legacy he wish to leave behind when he’s gone?

It is uncaring to say the least. How can the garment ever understand hardship of the people facing if their priority is to enriching themselves with millions of salaries.

I agree with many of the netizens that the people do not need subsidies and the escalating costs can be better managed if the various government agencies collected less from them. The budget surplus, exorbitant spending on defence, bloated gov’t bureaucracy with excessive remuneration and the foolish investments of state funds are within the control of this government. Obviously the insatiable greed of this government to collect more money from citizens has exacerbated the situation. And right now, the ordinary people in Singapore do not need this incorrigible despot to preach to them.

I’d like to suggest that it’s not so much of a subsidy we’re looking at? More of a cut in tax? Everything here is taxed. I’m sure the govt can afford to give us some reprieve by cutting some excessive taxes, (eg. the petrol tax of 44 cents a litre). Cutting taxes will go a long way to the average citizens like us, even more so for lower income Singaporeans. At the same time, it does not eat into the govt’s coffers but merely reduces revenues, which I dare to say, we can more than afford to do so. Can’t we?

Shirley,
Well 50 over comments arent reflective of the Singapore voters… many of us here can be said to be “converterd”. thus what happens online is more akin to preaching to the converted.

@ Ned Stark
You are right. But also, the openess of the internet that allows the converted to share and pool ideas forthrightly in order to refine our perception of the incumbent government that is calculatively transparent and otherwise difficult to analyse with a state censored media articulating their words.

I think what Lee meant is that subsidies should only be used to spur growth and not used to pacify dissent — aka as charity elephant.
One thing’s for sure, the Singapore government is functioning like a real-estate corporation deciding for itself on how to use the land to maximise profits while keeping its paying tenants from unrest.
Also, from Lee’s statement, he has this presumptive attitude of how and what Singapore should be as opposed to what the citizens desire.
Yes he may be listening, but only takes suggestions that agree with what the pary has in mind before they even started listening. In the end, PAP decides all-powerfully while our useless President idly goes by doing his household chores.

PAP is powerful because Singapore is a divided lot of cultures and hence thinking. One thing i would vote for is for the integration of the cultures in Singapore.

Subsidies cannot solve problems and neither can our over paid million dollar ministers. Why? As we have been repeated ly told “Its a gloabl problem”.

We must take the bitter bill and hope that government keeps helping the poor by raising GST, taxes, utility charges, S&C charges, ERP charges, parking charges and not to forget also help the big banks overseas by bailing them out.

Well the buzz word with ailing banks is to approach Singapore if you need cash…we have proven at least to the rest of the world or the financial players that we are a first world country with leadership not accountable to any screw ups and a out of this world salary

Ned, that was what UMNO thought so too until the day after 8 March 2008. Look for today’s papers for the comments by Najib regarding blogs…

subsidies cannot solve problems but it can remove hardships of the poor and struggling!!!! thats precisely why the world uses it. the whole purpose of subsidies is not to solve problems.

as for the some problems that MAY (may only) come along with using subsidies, the remedy is to remove subsidies only in very few instances and in most instances the remedy is to INTELLIGENTLY set up and regulate using appropriate checks and balances. this is ECONOMICS 101 which isnt taught in law classes.

frankly what can solve all problems? letting market decide all the time? a total “pay for each and every thing” based system? creating a largest pie possible and letting all fight for it? growth growth growth? money money money?

It is very sad indeed that the Lee Kuan Yew has left such a bad impression on us. No doubt he has done much good for the country in the past. My parents, in their 70s’ had such good impressions and support for him and the PAP has taken a 180 degree turn! It says alot of him and it is long overdue for him to graciously step down and contribute in other ways to the country especially in the area of non profit organisations which I have not seen him do, maybe so much as to make donations though.

I think then he will be remembered more fondly as a great leader both in the political and social areas. Perhaps then too he can empathise with his countryman. For that matter SM should also step down. Well the reason they are still around is because of their seats. On the same breath I do not have much confidence and hope for our PM. He has not shown his worth and mettle. The days of great leaders for us are over. Our current leaders are very comfortable where they are. I think this whole thing about meritocracy has certainly has it downsides. It has become a “given” , all the perks and what not.

Now it the time for the leaders to show their worth in our difficult times, but I doubt, they dare not break the lion’s back as long as LKY is around.

Remember the phrase, “not leave any stones unturned”. At that time I thought it is just lip service. At the end of the day we always have to suffer and put up with their policies which are beginning to have a shorter and shorter life span and run out date. Good luck to all!!

Bluey,

You’re right on how the salad bowl has contributed to a lack of real integration like a melting pot, where policies cannot be subtly tuned for a divide-and-rule outcome.

The latter is what we’re experiencing now, the former is what we were supposed to achieve, or get on the road to acheiving. I have always believed that a true encompassing Singaporean identity, is a cultural vehicle for greater citizen empowerment and a sense of ownership in all matters concerning this nation, be it policymaking or consumption of policies.

When I graduated, the leaders said alot of things…
Over many many years of unemployment… I read this line and feel so sad:
“The Government must ensure that everyone has the highest-paid job he is qualified to do.”

This is something I don’t know what to say about it.

Elfred,

What you mentioned is very sad indeed? How did the Gahmen ensure we are paid well and not be cut throat by cheap foreign talent? Look at other countries, where jobs are for locals only and are paid well. Even FT who are qualified cant apply. Here in SG, we are competing we FT neck to neck. How life in my once lovely SG has become?

Sad isn’t it.

FG

One question for my dear PM.

Who is the PM? Why is it always the crappy stuffs are communicate through MM? Who is running the gahmen? PM or MM? Who did we vote for as PM? We definitely like to see our dear PM taking issues to task personally and give support to the needy. He must be seen with strong leadership and not keep telling daddy to do the dirty talks. Does MM said represent PM ’s views? Who is taking charge?

A very confusing leadership is born when there are too many cooks to spoil the soup.

Thank you Mr Lee, for telling us the obvious. No one in their right mind actually argues that we should ignore economic growth and dole out handouts for all. That is just not how you run a country.

I agree that subsidies in general are a bad idea- but not because they lead to slow growth. For example, if you have a blanket subsidy on say, petrol ( as malaysia and indonesia do), it isn’t economically efficient because industries will tend to use the fuel wastefully. It also tends to be a drain on public money which can be used more usefully elsewhere ( like investing in good schools and hospitals).

But if by subsidy he means not even allowing targeted help at vulnerable people, because this would make them idle and unproductive ( which I think he’s talking about), that’s also only half-true. It depends on how you carry out the program.

Soon, I predict that there will be serious food shortages in non food producing nations (I hope that I will be wrong) – it is not that the nation has no money to buy the basic food necessities – it will be others not selling to us. Then what ? Whatever investments made cannot help much. Couple it with continuous petrol price hike as it is happening now, subsidies cannot solve problems – when crystal balling the future turn out to be correct.
So dear fellow citizens, please prepare and brace yourselves.
Also as our thoughtful Health Minister had said to the effect of – “help others whenever you can – life can be unpredictable”.
It is really the time to open our hearts and minds.
TOC, thank you for the platform to cry out………………………………………………………………..

Like someone mentioned here, if subsidies are not the answer then what is the solution to this impending problem. If we don’t address the issue now, there will a significant growth in poverty due to the food shortage and the inflation.

Also could someone explain to me (if there’s an explaination!) why the government subsidises fees for foreign students at SMU. I have no grudge against anyone who deserves to study here. Still the question of priority comes to mind. The few thousands of dollars subsidy for foreigners is justified but not the few dollars for the citizen.

http://www.smu.edu.sg/admissions/fees_financial/fees_financial_assistance.html#tuitionfees

Did all of you see the AVA video on TV regarding eating FROZEN FOOD? The way the actress tasting the roasted chicken and “yummeee look”.

Gahmen instead of lowering GST and classify some basic food items with subsidies are busy making videos to brainwash us. To tell us buy cheaper food, is that a solution? There are poor people who are buying frozen food and feeling the pinch as well. How about milk powder for children can they make cheaper alternative?

More good years? Golden period of Singapore? What a load of crap!

MM Lee is loosing his edge and he knew that his new Government is a total failure this time around.

There are many things the PAP did was not to the people’s heart. In most of the news media we see, it’s all a propoganda. Most of the people attending to most of their events are always well arranged by the RC/ Grassroots leaders to put on a show as if they are very welcome and well received. Like movies, there is always “Behind the scene”.

From elections to investments, there is not a single stuff that pleased the people. Worst of all Ho Ching is the holding power of Temasek.

In any Governance, the PAP should not be monopolizing using Temasek Holding in most dealing. The Government has already been receiving pay and they should not in anyway get involve in any transactional business.

During election, PM Lee said and used the word “Fix the opposition”. That is a serious issue and I believe that Singaporean will never forget what was said.

Today, the citizen are not stupid anymore. They can judge for themselves and I strong believe the PAP will not be the call shot in time to come. But then again, the new Government will be left with nothing. Why?
1.) Most of the Government sectors are already private listed company including hospitals.
2.) Singtel is belongs to Temasek Holding
3.) SIA or even Shipyards are also partly belongs to PAP

So from here we all can see, this is not Singapore; it is Lee’s Empire. maybe he should change the pledge as it does not reflect to what we are receiving or what they do. maybe I should compose a pledge for it:

We the citizens of Lee Dynasty
Pledge ourselves as one united slaves
Regardless of race, language or religion
To build a dictatorship society
there will be no justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress
for the Lee family.

“Subsidies cannot solve problems”

Subsidies cannot solve THEIR problems.

BUT

Subsidies can surely solve OUR problems.

“But then again, the new Government will be left with nothing. Why?
1.) Most of the Government sectors are already private listed company including hospitals.
2.) Singtel is belongs to Temasek Holding
3.) SIA or even Shipyards are also partly belongs to PAP”

Learn from some countries like Russia, Venezuela and Malaysia too (remember Clob).

When you are the new government, you call the shot and you make the rules (new rules). The collective will of the people reigns supreme.

There is such a thing called re-nationalization which has been practised and nothing new. There are no dearth of experts on these areas. The right price has to be paid only. Hey I thought we have 300+ billions right ?

Let me answer to your question “Always be humble”.

1,) Why they privatize most Government sectors including hospitals: So that they can siphon more more from citizens. And if the opposition should take over, they have nothing left to support. Remember this, to fight a war, one need good logistic.

2.) Why Singtel belongs to Temasek Holding?: Well, firstly the call shot is Ho Ching which is LHL wife. The government (PAP) is playing it right, they say the Government got nothing to do inside. But why is LHL wife doing inside there? For example you are a government servant and has rule that you are not allowed to do moonlighting. So fine; what you need to do is to register a company directly under your parents, wife, brothers etc name. At the end of the day, the profit is still yours.

3.) SIA and Shipyard are the most important part of PAP assets. That why if anything goes wrong in SIA, MM Lee will appear and you will see people getting sacked, PR Revoke and etc.

Oh the 300+ billions, hahahahaha, ya right. All now maybe either invested in USB or Citi Group, China investments, India investments and etc. Then they will loose money and increase GST, Tax, Fuel, Transportations, ERP and many more. Because they know citizens won’t dare to fight back, not like other countries. They know our citizens are bunch of scared to fight back people. So they will implement whatever they think it’s possible to squeeze the money out from citizens.

Like buying HDB flat, why must we pay deposit in solid cash? That is stupid isn’t it? We have our money in the CPF, so we have the rights to do what we want with our money. It is not for the PAP or Government to tell what to do; WE TELL THEM WHAT TO DO! They take salary from us and they are working for us. If the citizens don;t vote for them in 1959, they will be worst off the any other opposition parties valid.

So Singaporeans, time to wake up and let them know we are united and this is our homeland and we work for it and they enjoy the fruits. Wait till old man die, I would want to see his dear family get into trouble as bad as Thaksin.