Whether it is transparent enough is debatable. Depending on what infomation one is looking for and how the TCs chairmans/managers respond to emails and queries seeking such information.

After reading the article, I would say his remarks are fair and down to earth. What I call “ren hua” (meaning words spoken by a human being).

Some questions that have not been addressed are :

Why is there such a large accumulation of sinking fund ?

What is the basis for putting aside 30-35% of S&C charges to the sinking fund every month ? Just say that it is the law is not enough. The govt must disclose the basis of this decision on the percentage.

I am still of the opinion that the sinking fund managed by each TC must be capped based upon the expected outlay for cyclical repairs to be carried out in the next 2 or 3 years.

is he on medication? absolute transparency? without a shadow of a doubt? absolute poppycock!

Imagine a person with AIDS telling you “My blood pressure is normal, my pulse is normal, my [Insert any other positive test result] is normal. So I’m healthy. Let me sleep with you.”

Of course, it would not be in his/his system’s interest to reveal to you his most recent HIV test result.

Khaw’s TC is one of the positive samples. That is not where the problem is. The problem lies with the several other TCs who have lost money in bad investments and are trying very hard not to reveal any more information.

What is interesting though, is ST using a 2 page spread to try to brain wash the general reader about a fact that is plainly obvious.

That smacks of desperation.

So could elections be around the corner?

It is naturally dark because the Sun has set.

It is perfectly normal to see nothing in darkness.

Secret Society is secret meh?

Then how do you know it’s secret society?

puppy.

If it is so transparent then why elites don’t dare to tell us what their current paper losses/ profits are right now?

If it is so transparent then why elites don’t dare to tell us what is the performance of their fund managers who invest in high risk investments versus those who invest in low risk ones for the last few years?

If it is so transparent then why don’t they hold a townhall meeting and let the residents decide if the current crop of Town Councillors are still up to the task or should be replaced?

There is no smoke without fire and now we can smell their burning asses a mile away.

Our gahmen is sending out their most credible minister to address to the funds issue.

This i agreed its plainly brain washing at work. It has to be well planned and executed. Otherwise, why the delay after the big ‘hoo haa’ to address to this issues?

Is he talking on behalf of his TC or other TCs. His own TC it is ok, but other TCs like Pasir Ris and Bt. Panjang then I am doubtful.

In the news article, he said that all the information is in the annual reports. Not all TCs have uploaded their anuual reports to their website. So, those who have not uploaded their reports have something to hide? He said that it is not necessary to show too much information as it will lead to information overload.

Well, show us all the information first and let’s us decide if it is an information overload. They are trying to use KBW to bring closure to the TC investment debacle.

Mr Khaw, hold your horses and not so fast. It is not over yet.

Again, they think that people are stupid.

So tell us how much was invested and in what bonds/investments. And ultimately, just tell us how much you friggin’ lost the money. Gee… how hard is that?

Let the people decide if the TCs had squandered the savings, not according to you. Let us decide if it was transparent enough, not according to you.

Purely because it’s our money!

18 words, you’ve breathed out, Khaw, which is meaningless to us.

Let me teach you how to save your breath with 7 words instead:

“Ok guys, I think we ’stuffed’ up”.

Sheesh. If only your words are worth the millions paid to you.

Kaffein

Why don’t TOC compile a list of questions we want answered and send it to him? This will allow us to gauge the level of secrecy, whether there are secrets or none at all.

Another “Ling How Doong – Don’t talk cock” Minister

khor, how much money were invested in toxic products given the transparency?

oh you meant, an annual report and financial statement = transparency?

wow, my intelligence is impressed.

I think really there is no other way out.

the koo koo clock must stop
in order for big bang version 2.0

the new creation.

“It’s absolutely transparent because this is not a secret society activity…” Wow, that’s some pretty good stuff you’re smokin’. Gimme some of that dope!

Wow. Very transparent indeed. Ummh..let’s see: ” It’s absolutely transparent that [your mother is a woman] because this is not a secret….”. Better? See, I am telling the truth as it is.

Does he know the differences in ‘transparent, translucent or opaque’? Or perhaps he was refering to that kind of mirror where one can look out from the inside and cannot look in from the outside? Still transparent wat, from where he is sitting, right?

that I am disappointed with Mr. Khaw and his words. We may not be the smartest but we are no fools either.

How much have we lost? We just want a number. Is it so difficult?

I agree with point 10, I think it is a good idea , because they really don’t know where to start.

Good if we start to complie questions, these are mine.

1) Why the sudden URGE to disclose this loss
2) How do i know the money went into the toxic products, any statement of account ?
3) where is all our money tied up with ? what kinda of investment am I in?
4) I take it Mr.Khaw has gone through the details with a fine tooth comb himself ?
5) What is left on hand right now — cash on hand ?
6) How much paper loss have we incurred
7) How much is totally lost – as in went up in smoke ?
8) How much cash did we have to begin with ?

Please tell me how my money is put to good use ?

No secret society is for the olden days. Now that we are the first world country. they are the licensed mobster.

Hi people, they will never review anything to you no matter how cos if they do, they are admitting their wrong doings and they cannot afford to tell the truth. From what we observed from the day the saga begins till now, they have been delaying and keep very mum about it and instead they send a couple of the ministers to appear with different answers or other diverting topics, don’t you people observe what is going on behind the scene?

Hi tiredsingaporean,

Oh, they have a name for it. It’s call ‘transparency’. Didn’t you know?

They have all the facts, numbers and details in their hands and everything is more than transparent to them. It very transparent to them, so transparent that they forgot to share them with us.

Oh yes, their name is call transparency and it is also referring tp people like us, to them we are all transparent, they cannot see us anymore bc they are damn way too high up there and busy counting their $$$ in their golden vault.

Isn’t this the same Khaw Boon Wan who once say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with NKF prior the golden peanut saga explosion ?

Yes, when things gone wrong, the master will delegate some of his servants to come out with all kinds of lame excuses and reasons. Funny thing is that after hearing of them, their topics don’t seem to relate much to each other in the end. Why? bc these are scripts for them to deliver from their master so they just blah blah blah . . . then disappeared, then awhile later, another one would come out to do another one prepared by the same master.

My ba**s are more transparent than investments. Talk cock!!

Forummers should be objective on Mr. Khaw’s message. The jist is this: trust the PAP government with your money and your money will be safer (relative to the rest of the world). Without the TC’s investments and past gains over the years, the TC funds will not be in as good shape as it is now. Yes, there are losses (as with all investments), but these losses will not rock the stability of the nation nor will it erode the quality of service provided to the people of Singapore.

Having means testing, bringing foreign talents to Singapore to do the jobs that Singaporeans do not wish to do, improving transportation for all walks of life, all these achievements and more are meant to help Singaporeans.

Instead of dismissing the good Minister’s remarks, why not step forward and join the grassroots for a start and contribute back to society with your good ideas? Singapore is very fortunate to have dedicated Ministers to serve and lead us or else Singapore would not have made so much progress over the last 40 plus years.

Not everything can be that “open” and “transparent”, as such details would not serve any purpose to the man on the streets. Since Singaporeans elect the PAP into office, the least that Singaporeans can do is to trust their judgement and leadership.

At this juncture, no one else is able to help Singapore through the financial tsunami except the PAP government. Not LZH, not TKL nor GMS, so I think instead of pointing to their flaws, we should all close ranks and support PAP through thick and thin.

Hi partisan,

don’t you get it? WE CANNOT WAIT TO VOTE THE PAP OUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE JUST SHOWN THEMSELVES AS UNTRUSTWORTHY? FORGET YOUR CALLS FOR UNITY. TOO LATE.

sorry for screaming. let me put it nicely in a PAP way. As Singapore is a democratic nation and holds free and fair elections, Singaporeans who feel frustrated at what they perceive as a severe lack of transparency and competency despite the high ministerial pay will be more tempted to vote the incumbent party out in the next elections.

“At this juncture, no one else is able to help Singapore through the financial tsunami except the PAP government.” typical PAP arrogance of “only we can do it nobody else can”. so much for your “objectivity” in this statement.

I am waiting by the way. The last time I checked, YOUR PAP government led us into the recession, and we were the first in Asia. We are the first in everything.

“26) partisan on December 19th, 2008 5.05 pm

“Singapore is very fortunate to have dedicated Ministers to serve and lead us or else Singapore would not have made so much progress over the last 40 plus years.”

Always arrogantly self-congratulating themselves FIRST (via proxy through you mr. partisan) without giving credit to so many common singaporeans who have been so ‘obediently’ toeing the line most of the time.

“Not everything can be that “open” and “transparent”, as such details would not serve any purpose to the man on the streets.”

We are not talking about national security or military secrets where the country’s interest is being compromised if they are made known.

We are talking about investments made using public funds. Are such details so super sensitive to the extent that the normal man in the street is not deserving to know. Whether it serves any purpose to the man on the streets, it is up to him to decide especially when he has a stake and is asked to contribute to the common fund, either directly or indirectly.

“At this juncture, no one else is able to help Singapore through the financial tsunami except the PAP government. Not LZH, not TKL nor GMS, so I think instead of pointing to their flaws, we should all close ranks and support PAP through thick and thin.”

I do like your unflinching propagandizing style. They have surely found their right man in you.

Yes, absolutely transparent in making uniquely singaporean a world class legal organ trading centre for the rich to buy organs with $$ from the poor with gst tax on sold organ. Wise move :) MP from malaysia… out of the box revenue from human organs from million dollar health minister.

Hi All

For info, the online petition was forwarded to the cor ordinating chairman of the 14 PAP town councils today.

Thanks for those who have supported me in the petition – a total of 126 of Singaporeans have signed the petition.

The petiiton will still run till 31 Dec 08. Those of you who want to support the cause can still sign here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/tc0502/petition.html

Thanks all.

#28) Ah Kim

“… We are talking about investments made using public funds. Are such details so super sensitive to the extent that the normal man in the street is not deserving to know…”

It’s not about whether the normal man in the street is deserving or not deserving to know. It’s whether it is serve any purpose. E.g., TC invested in Fund A. Some people like Fund A, some people don’t. So what is the TC going to do? There is an Chinese proverb: “Yong Ren Bu Yi, Yi Ren Bu Yong”. In other words, if you trust someone, then let him/her do his job; if you are suspicious of someone, then do not let him do his job. PAP TCs have been prudent with their money and this exposure to Lehman/ML is immaterial to the overall fund performance over the long run.

You will agree that investments are never like linear, straight line graph. So sometimes you make, sometimes you don’t. But as long as the money is in good hands, such as PAP’s TC, you do not have to worry about it. Besides, it’s not they never disclose – it’s just the some people like more details.

Reply to partisan who penned message 26:

> Singapore is very fortunate to have dedicated Ministers to serve
> and lead us or else Singapore would not have made so much
> progress over the last 40 plus years.

The old guard were the ones who deserve this accolade in building Singapore. Of that batch, only LKY and Jayakumar remains.

The new batch of ministers who took over within the last 8 years or so have been frankly underwhelming.

> Not everything can be that “open” and “transparent”, as such details
> would not serve any purpose to the man on the streets.

Why not? When public money is collected, accountability is expected.

Of course, if the amount lost or could be potentially lost is so large that they fear to reveal it because of the scale of embarrassment, then it suggests a large systemic problem has developed that needs to be fixed. If there is no pubic airing of this issue, how will the public know that the systemic weakness has been fixed?

> Since Singaporeans elect the PAP into office, the least that
> Singaporeans can do is to trust their judgement and leadership.

Trust has got to be earned.

After seeing how NKF, Mas Selamat, GIC/Temasek losses in US subprime banks, the Lehmen minibonds case (amongst numerous other events) have been handled, is it still reasonable to have unquestioned trust in the new leadership as compared with those of the old guard?

> At this juncture, no one else is able to help Singapore …

Precisely, unless we, Singaporeans are informed of the truth and vote wisely, we will continue to remain hostages of circumstance and some might even say, of design.

Rewarding poor performance and “covering up” mistakes is the best way to short circuit the feedback loop that would otherwise bring our system back to equilibrium.

What is in Fund A and why cannot tell us what is in it? And who the hell decides why Fund A is chosen in the first place?

Do we have a choice on who should be our Town Councillors? What is so good about them? Have they performed better than their counterparts in Hougang or Potong Pasir?

If the money is in such good hands with PAP TC then why are the S&C charges are always increasing compared to the Hougang and Potong Pasir TC?

If you are not the best in the land then don’t come here bragging about it. Your nose will just get longer.

Talking about secret society, I think it is time to scrutinise PAP Town Councils and local charities for their exposure to the Madoff Scandal. A number of Israeli charities have already shut down due to overwhelming exposure to the Madoff Scandal.

“It’s absolutely transparent because this is not a secret society activity where there is secrecy and so on.”

I believe Khaw Boon Wan because the millions dollar piles of TC money is literally transparent (invisible but it’s there anyway if you believe the gahmen) that we mortal man can’t see it. Only the Emperor and his subjects agree it is there all along because they expect the gullible citizen to believe too. Singapore citizen is so to smoke and hookwinked.

Not a secret society ? Khaw Boon Wan, isn’t you swore to oath to serve the Emperor of singapore ? Isn’t our emperor has been living and operating in secrecy all along ?

Absolute transparency! Gosh. Does he know the meaning of the word “absolute”? It means that all the accounting books of the TC are thrown open to public scrutiny. The real truth is that TC books are far far from being transparent. After so many months of our digging, only the most superficial layer is exposed. So how can he claim to be absolutely transparent when he knows that it is utterly untrue???

oh, you mean
no secret society = transparency?

can clearify or nots? i no no wor.

#26, I did vote for them!!! They just walk over like many other area….If they dare, take away the GRC system then you will see if really many support behind them!

My gut feeling is that there are more skeletons in the cupboard. Unless the skeletons are also transparent (invisible to us), there is absolutely no way the TC can reveal all without political repercussion.

I there is transparency,

SO TELL ME,

What other risky investments did town councils invest in? (this information is not found on any financial statements published to date)

Are the Town Councils aware of the super high risk and low returns when putting millions of public money into the mini-bonds?

If they are aware of this, why make the bad decision of gambling public money into super high risk and low returns?

Where are the answers?

Should I be “thankful” that you put $16 million of public money in there and not $16 billion?

What other risky investments were public money put into?

Where are the answers?

Just let the Town Council officials meet the residents in a town hall
setting and explain, discuss, meet the residents and exchange ideas
without the presence of PAP political leaders.

The TC and the residence should meet face-to face regularly and not
sending letters or using those waste-of-money TC magazines(which
mostly thrown into the rubbish bin)as a medium for a frank discussion
on important subjects that interests the residence.This dialogue should
not be apolitical.

Then open the book for all residents to see. Very layman terms just say line by line what was invested? dont go round and round till we are confused.

$1 invested in abc = now 0.50 cents
$1 invested in xyz = now o.30 cents

Total $2 invested , we only have 0.80 cents. we lost $1.20. simple or not! do i need to teach all the bright sparks.

Also let us have the names of the commitee members who make decision on the investment. Are there any conflict of interest?

Show us you are transparent now.

The most important question to me is this:

The money lost is public money.

The town councils invested in risky products.

Investors too have invested in such products.

But the investors are seeking all ways to retrieve the money.

The question for Khaw Boon Wan and all TCs is: Are you also going to do everything you can to get the money back?

Or are you writing it off – all $16 million – as “bad investments”?

That is one question which has still not been answered.

partisan (#31),

Trust PAP? If you are the head of CPIB, would you dig up old books to verify that PAP is indeed a clean government? Show me verified evidence</b. that PAP is clean and not the lack of incriminating evidence, then I may trust PAP. The only situation where one should put up faith is when it comes to God, not politics because no man is immune is temptation.

“Absolutely transparent”, Minister. Well if that’s how Singapore is run, lets have the “Freedom of Information” or FOI act in place. Lets not hide behind the OSA or Official Secrets Act. When in comes to defence and military secrets we have no grudge. Lets be transparent then, let Ministers and MPs declare their assets and income for all to see. Let there be no assumptions in the so call subsidy of HDB flats. Lets have a conflict of interest policy in place and let the people be the judge and not some related politician. Lets have the detailed accounts of the TC, Temasek and GIC. Till all this is done, don’t even bother trying to pull the wool over over heads as you have done over the years.

Please Mr Khaw, please do not simply yell that it is absolutely transparent when you know full well that the TCs are still keeping all the “lost” secrets. Are you hoping that by claiming repeatedly again and again that the TCs are transparent then the people will come to believe your claim? Please just open up the TC accounting books for all to see for ourselves how much other “investments” your TCs have lost.
Do not let the TCs keep these secrets just like mini Temaseks.

I can imagine if this had happened in opposition TC…

Up to this day, the questions in the emails that we sent to TCs to ask about the details of investments were not replied.

If all details are in the TC annual report, the TC chairman should at least have the courtesy of replying to the email.

Until we get the answers to our questions, TRANSPARENCY? I don’t think so.

I tot Khaw Boon Wan is different from other PAP Ministers, but now I have different view on him after he speak this kind of irresponsible words. That make him nothing but the same kind of PAP Ministers, to hide their mistakes and boost their good works to get huge credits from a small matters.

Every human action contains some degree of secrecy. We know, and you know that. Stop insisting that there’s transparency, show it. Action speaks louder than words.

31) partisan on December 19th, 2008 8.04 pm
“You will agree that investments are never like linear, straight line graph. So sometimes you make, sometimes you don’t. But as long as the money is in good hands, such as PAP’s TC, you do not have to worry about it.”

Sometimes you make, sometimes you don’t. Yeah, please do it with your own money.

Linear ? By now most of would be wiser, the line of certain investments literally got terminated (kaput). Frankly speaking and let me tell you in no uncertain terms, I do not find much comfort.

I wonder how you can keep a straight face and tell us not to worry about it.

After 2 hours of interview and more than 2 full pages of print, it is most disappointing that what we get essentially is the same “trust us, let’s move on”. Where’s all the info the public has been pressing for disclosure? We are still in the dark as to the actual investment performances, all and not only the minibonds types. Khaw should not merely leverage the goodwill he has from the SARS episode to get the public to close their eyes. He should at least have demonstrated his take that everythging is aOK by providing the financial info of each TC’s investment position and performance so that the TCs can move on on a clean slate. Reading the interview in ST between the lines, I sense strongly that there could be larger skeletons in share investments by TCs as most share prices have fallen by 50% or more. That could be the real reason why they are unwilling to a full disclosure.
Otherwise he too will lose his goodwill.

Again, in today’s ST (20 Dec 2008, Page A12 & A13), they ran four news articles on the town councils.

Headlines of the articles are:
1. Bigger role for town councils?
2. Public reaction a chance to draw in residents
3. Budget: It is always about priority trade-offs
4. ‘Buy products you understand’

In the first article, Mr Khaw’s parting shots (Page A12):

It will not be possible to hold regular referendums on all issues, he said, so the answer lies in voters picking the right MP.
.
So at election time, candidates will have to explain what they will deliver to the town if they become the MP and voters will have to choose.
.
That in fact was the political intent of the introduction of town councils, to get voters to see the link between how they vote and how their estate is run.
.
“I have choices, who do I vote for? Who I vote for depends on the manifesto,” said Mr Khaw. “For a governing party, of course, you have national manifesto, but for MPs, you have local manifestos.”
.
For voters, it means taking care with deciding who to vote for. And candidates, too, have to deliver on what they promise.
.
“You cannot make empty promises,” he said.

Now, Mr Khaw, are you really sure that all voters have the choices to pick for “the right MP”? Another repeating groove on the LP record!

““You cannot make empty promises,” he said. ”

they just did.

i remember staying together, moving ahead. i remember the promise of accountability and transparency. and i remember a lot more.

43.4% of Singaporeans did not have a chance to vote in the last GE. What choices did these people have?

47) mee siam on December 20th, 2008 9.00 am
I can imagine if this had happened in opposition TC…

If these TCs are not scandal, then what is it then? Since the funds are monies belonging to the citizens and the public, can we sue them? My goedness, we do not even have the exact figure of how much are those lossess besides those which are already been forced out till today. IT could be much worst than that!

Some family thinks that hospital visits are good outings. The bring the children, sisters and brothers and the shuttle buses provided by the Changi General Hospital are pacled l;ike tour buses.
small kids occupy one whole single seat and the poor patients cannot board or have to stand or wait for the next bus.Can Changi General Hospital erase this unhealthy practice >

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

If you haven’t noticed, MP Teo Ho Pin has been removed from the Central Executive Committee. Add this to Minister Khaw coming out on the TCs’ investments. Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like Teo HP is riding into the sunset.

”

If you haven’t noticed, MP Teo Ho Pin has been removed from the Central Executive Committee. Add this to Minister Khaw coming out on the TCs’ investments. Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like Teo HP is riding into the sunset.”

he’s going to hidden in a stat board. don’t kid yourself.

Now I wonder which PAP Heavyweight will want Dr Teo HP to be contesting under his GRC team.

Talking about secret society. I remember a film from HK about a mafia boss who grew old and wanted to enjoy more of his remaining life but he cannot let go of power or else his enemies will try to do him in or he fear conspiracy theories and fear that if he lose power, his dirty linens will be disclosed transparently by his enemies and so he tells himself he lan lan must remain in power until he die.

so, he turned his underground operation into a legal business using black money and money laundering monies. legal via illegal. legal on surface.

morol of the hk story : secret society is masked as an open society . thus no secret society.

paiseh, i digressed completely.

26) partisan

that’s a nice post….did somebody gave you a script? as that sound so typical of “support the gahmen for your own good, they are the only one that can help us” speech, which is crap in fact…

maybe it is out of your own good will, but hw do you say that with a straight face? like that saying Zhen Yen Shou Xia Hua???

59) SIMPLE on December 20th, 2008 5.34 pm
If you haven’t noticed, MP Teo Ho Pin has been removed from the Central Executive Committee. Add this to Minister Khaw coming out on the TCs’ investments. Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like Teo HP is riding into the sunset.

This is PAP another move to avoid the people from questioning him about the TCs fund, so a new appointed one will take over as an excuse to revamp the system. So, when the guilty one is no more around, where then can you people even question the system anymore? smart move indeed!

tiredsingaporeans (#63),

Dr Teo may no longer be in PAP CEC but it is only a move to preserve PAP’s illusion of integrity and transparency. Don’t be surprised if Dr Teo will be appointed as an important figure head of some government statutory boards or given a senior management position in one of the GLCs/TLCs. After all, he is still a MP and PAP member.

64) smallvice585 on December 21st, 2008 1.36 am

Of course I know too. How many of these so called senior MPs have already being placed all over those stat board companies to collect their white elephant salaries, too many liao, lose count. I believe some are even getting double or triple the income from the various appointment they are holding. How easy money can be earned just through connection while the poor peasants are still struggling with their daily basic needs. Sad . . .real sad!

So next time people want to ask the gov or the committee what happen to TC fund, the gov will reply no answer as MP Teo Ho Pin has move on to other position and say we have to move on too. Typical of world-clown government system here. Elite Kangaroos are ruining Singapore.

See how easy to get away with things when you are in power these days. Just move here move there then disappear into thin air and those millions of taxpayers $$$ being lost, what is going to happen? just gone up in smoke like that? with no one to be accounted for?

They says Mas Selamat escaped but I says the greatest escape attempted of this year is MP Teo Ho Pin. Least remember Mas Selamat did not cause our tax money of 16 millions to disappear into thin air even though he is branded a terrorist by our unbelieveable government. Not only MP Teo Ho Pin escape legally but also happily getting his salary. Anyway, didn’t this Teo get extra salary been as overall in charge of TC fund ? Anything it is not nothing new, they have been performing David Copperfield’s tricks for more than 4 decades.

The ongoing riots in Greece is unbelievable, just see what the people did to the own country. I have a local friend there who send me updates of whats been happening becos the present garments are not doing anything to help the people. I just dont wish to see this things happening here but then again, there are already too many foreign aliens keep coming here with our garments welcoming them and things can just gone berserk anytime in time to come.

The ongoing riots in Greece is unbelievable, just see what the people did to the own country. I have a local friend there who send me updates of whats been happening becos the present garments are not doing anything to help the people. – tiredsingaporeans (#69)

The Greek ruling party has been fattening its coffers and neglecting populist needs over the years. There has always been a tension between the ruling party and the electorate, and all it took was a murder of a young boy carried out by a policeman to spark an all-out uprising. If indeed there are peaceful means to awake apathetic Singaporeans who don’t want their boat to be shaken, then only violent means should be rejected.

This is crazy!

The transparency is so invisible.

We asked why the Punggol/Pasir Ris and Teo Ho Pin’s TC invested in toxic products and lost our money, the Straits TImes came up with almost 4 pages of crap about the Health MInister’s take on transparency and brags about his particular Sembawang Town Council is.

3 words to describe it all : Full of Shit!

“You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you’ll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again… and your asset values will disappear, your apartment will be worth a fraction of what it is, your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other people’s countries, foreign workers.” – Justifying million-dollar pay hike for Singapore ministers (Straits Times, 5 April 2007)

Congratulations folks, really getting a good dose now!

More secrets from the society akan datang!

Good luck!

Transparent? Why take months after lehman brother collapse then you tell us?

Hi think-out-of-the-well-readers ,

I wonder and wondered,
TC sinking fund is people’s money.
Specifically, the money belongs to the people who LEASE flats,
which are not cheap at all.

IF this situation happens in 1st worlds like Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, England, California, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Seoul, Quebec, etc, WHAT THE …. WOULD HAPPEN? HOW DIFFERENTLY WOULD THE REACTIONS BE?

Note that I am limiting the scenarios to only purely the well developed countries known for their standard of living.

Like the song the lemon tree, I wonder how , I wonder why, ……and I wonder.

:(

You can run, hide, avoid but the FACT REMAINS in our face.

regards
1st world citizen of the type R.

Since NO ONE OWES US A LIVING,

we must have initiative and fend for ourselves.

Let’s be realistic, costs of living in many areas have gone up significantly and the people who are most affected are the majoriity of the working class.

What has the government done? Little or not enough.

Why should people have to pay GST for hospitalization and other medical costs? Becoming ill is bad enough and having to incur medical bills is another blow; but why GST?

Why should the cost of seeking treatment at the emergency clinic of a government hospital [SGH, for example] be set at a minimum of $90? One would not normally visit an emergency clinic unless it is an emergency. But look at the hefty cost one has to pay.

How many government depts, if any, are not operating on a profit basis?

Singaporeans may be interested to know.

If TOC or someone can list out each and every taxes implemented by this garments in this tiny country called singapore and show it to the people, I think it will be more shocking to know the truth of what we has been paying all these years. I bet you there are still many people here who do not know what they are paying for.

A very good example is one who is operating just a small F&B pub who have to pay for entertainment license, liquour license, tobacco license, TV license, karaoke license, food license, compass license . . . . . the list goes on and on . . . how to survive to pay for so many licenses??? if this is not extortion, then what?

Talking about transparency, does anyone know how much the GIC and Temasek lost in the rush to invest in CityGroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch?

LKY should be able to answer your question. As for the rest, they are being paid millions to keep the system going for him and his party to stay in power.

WKC – “but why GST?”

If you notice the GDP growth in Singapore is below 5% off late. If you take away GST which is 7% tax on goods & services we could be in recession for the next few years with negative GDPs. In my opinion, this is why GST is necessary.

Giving back cash (from GST collections) to the people as GST offsets is akin to a stimulus exercise and this tends to encourage people to spend and enhances the GDP figure. Looks like both GST and GST offsets tend to enhance the GDP.

But if you take away the GST, ARF, COE, maid and foreign workers levies, in my opinion, we could be in a permanent recession with negative GDPs!

JOQ (just one question)

So this is not secret society activity?

Great! Make sure it won’t come out that the Official Secret Act is executed when it come to pass that Town Councils must open their books to the public or judicial query for what ever reasons. Can that assurance be made?

Hehehehe….so funny. Are you trying to joke with me Khaw?

Think out of the box.

Can the residents go to court to force the TC to disclose details of their investments?

84) Anonymous on December 23rd, 2008 9.11 pm Think out of the box.

Can the residents go to court to force the TC to disclose details of their investments?

Why not? I’m sure alot of us are happy to contribute money in bringing those TCs to court. Remember TCs are independent companies managing public finds and the funds are collected from the people to maintain the flats. And if there are accounts irregularity then the people involved have the rights to do so.

When a TC published it annual report with all its revenues and expenditures fully accounted for and also open to question to justify expenditures would I consider they are open and transparent. Before that happened, doubt would remain as to what and where the money is spent . If TC had made investment decision that resulted in “negative growth of the fund” then they should clearly say so. To try to hideit from the town tax payers is both unethical and dishonest. A little bit of honesty would goes a long way. But our political climate do not encourage such quality. Official are terrified of failure even when it was due to external factors that were way outside their control.