Excerpts from Channelnewsasia:
Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua said the goods and services tax (GST) will not be reduced.
During the second reading of the GST Amendment Bill on Tuesday, Mrs Lim was asked by West Coast GRC MP Ho Geok Choo if the GST can be cut temporarily if economic conditions worsen.
Mrs Lim said a temporary cut is not desirable as it will result in more administrative costs due to the higher compliance.
“A two per cent GST cut would be less effective in helping the lower and middle income groups compared to the measures that were announced to help households in the Budget 2009 statement. A better way would be to target household assistance schemes at those who would require these assistance more.” – Lim Hwee Hua.
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49) Nakasomo Fingelitus
Nope, i for 1 didn’t and never will….cos i live in a walkover district…
Lily Neo…with common sense and compassion…would have made a better minister than this big time flower vase!
If you are in need of help, pl step forward. There are government bodies and schemes to help you.
If you choose to hide behind the screen and think of yourself as pitiful, lament on your sorry plight, that is your choice.
The people who really need help rarely step forward, that’s a very sad thing. The govt wants to reach out to these pple but how?
Did the govt not want to help them? No! They did not want to help themselves.
Lim Hwee Hua clealy has the foresight that cutting GST is a temporary fire-fighting solution.
Lowering GST = Lesser Revenue = lesser funds to help those who really need help
Think long term, think big picture, do not waver in the heat of the crisis. And for this, Minister Lim Hwee Hua has displayed her nerves of steel.
I
If you know of pple who need assistance, pl direct them to the Meet people session.
We should be the eyes and ears on the ground for the govt.
If you choose to ignore your neighbour in need of financial assistance, it will be another tragedy if one day you find the stench of decomposing matter too unbearable, and that your neighbour has die of hunger or lack of medical care.
This is real. SIngaporeans shd help one another.
Complaining and adding to the problem does not help solve the problem.
In Victoria, Australia, I believe that simple necessities are tax free. Things like milk and bread. If the government wishes to help the middle and poor income groups, they can look at that scheme rather than drop GST (which imo a unfair tax).
In UK, there is no VAT (equivalent to GST) on children cloths, book, printed material , uncooked food and medicine). University fee has no VAT also. What do one expect from the PAP regime who run the country like a company and its citizens just like employees.Even in communist China, its citizen from time to time take to the streets to tell their master they had enough and I suggest that SINkaporean should take a page out of there if there is an opportunity for ten of thousand of you to come together to show your displesure – peaceful demonstration mind you. Being a born and bred Sinkaporean living abroad for the last twenty years after graduation I still feel sad reading about the suffering the people are going through when the nation has enough resources to help.I know many Sinkaporean who could has voted with their feet and settle down in Australia, New Zealand, UK including former Chief of Army who had a property in Perth. If Sinkapore is a paradise island as PAP propagada said so, why is so many Sinkaporean voted with their feet when the opportunity arises?
Import of so many FT had caused disquiet among the lower income group gradually moving up to middle income group.Keeping wages low using supply and demand principle? Culturally it will bring changes and I hoped it will put a bit of backbone to Sinkaporean to stand up for their right as stated in the constitution. It is there except that fear prevent many decent Sinkaporean from doing anything about it. Sinkaporean, hoping you do have to wait to long as the dictator is now 85, maybe another 10-20 year? The oldest in UK that passed away recently was 113. So assumed he reach that record – another 28 year? If there is God and justice, the great maker above should pity Sinkaporean and invite the great LKH to return and come back as an oridinary citizen and see what he think of his own handy work.
[i] koyomin on August 19th, 2009 5.19 pm If you are in need of help, pl step forward. There are government bodies and schemes to help you.
If you choose to hide behind the screen and think of yourself as pitiful, lament on your sorry plight, that is your choice.
The people who really need help rarely step forward, that’s a very sad thing. The govt wants to reach out to these pple but how?
Did the govt not want to help them? No! They did not want to help themselves.[/i]
wah you sink song better than titanic i must says
remembered the han dicap father who had a sick wife and 2 youn sec scholl sons? he was terminated as a hdb market private contractor carpark simply becaused he was handicapped sometim his familly would had to forgo their meals let alone the school fees
didn’t he approached his MPs for assistance? no he didn’t asked for a handout, he just want a job to substain his ailin wife and his 2 youn sons…
what did the pap mp do? feel free to share? they did NOTHIN!!! ZERO actions
so the poor father had to jump into an oncomin mrt train which resulted in his death, the polis man on called went to the family house to seek the ailin wife to identify the whatever leftover carcass.
the ailin wife screamed with what when i don’t even have the busfare to go down? the polisman on call give her $5 from his OWNED pocket!
what happenned next? within the next few days sympathie pour in from fellow singapooriums, the silver dollar$ raised to an astonished amount of near a HALF million$..guess what?
the brighteyes female mp who married the scottish ole man from scotland act blur tryin to gain a slice of the silver $$$ by tryin to teach the poor ailin widow and her 2 youn sons to setup a trust fund mananged none other than the PAP mp herself blarrin out loud she too came from a poor family when she was born and RAISED in penang…
so please lark..don’t anyhow sink songs here
we sank so many sad songs till today none were echoed in parliaments…
Sorry folks, no way the GST will go down. They never increase to 10% consider lucky. This is the ultimate aim that the gov. want to achieve through what I see. It might be wrong, if not why it was raise to 7% so quickly in 2006 when economy is good.
“She said Britain made a two per cent cut in Value Added Tax but there was no perceivable effect in terms of an increase in consumer spending.
Wah this Minister does not even know whats happening in her own country can comment on Britain! Where is she living to say “there was no perceivable effect……” I live in Britain and there is no ready stats to show this (as there are many other reasons why people might spend more or less).
As far as I know it helps a lot in making people spend, myself for one. I decided to do house renovation taking advantange of the 2% cut, help create jobs for the workers and sales for the trade and saves me a thousand pounds. There are more like me spending big money because the saving is substantial.
Also, Singaporeans, please get this: There is zero GST on food and basic stuff in Britain. Whenever I returned to SG, I feel the pinch from my wallet! Thought the currency difference would cost me less, but no, its like spending in Sterling Pounds in Spore. Luckily for me, I am earning Sterling Pounds, and above minumum wage too!
#56, koyomin
you still think we need a handout huh? pls lah, S’porean got backbone one, not like some thick skin breed, need an enormous pay to survive, we just need some sense of belonging, and pride to be a S’porean, and not as if we need help from ppl who make life harder for fellow citizen, then give some sweets back for show!!
#62 ob marker,
well said, we all have backbone. but i need to remind not to be stubborn. when u need help, u need help. this help is not forever but acts as a little push to jumpstart those who need it.
i have a sense of belonging and i have pride to be a singaporean.
but if you are still searching, pl share how the country can give you this sense of belonging & this pride.
61) Sporean Foreign ‘Talent’ :
friend,
what works in another country may not work for us. if there is a “plug-and-play-and-works-for-all” govt, this world will be a much better place. and so much easier to govern also.
pl come back often, bring your big sterling pounds and spend here to boost the economy of your birth country.
Maybe she should’ve said GST is to help the poor…therefore cannot cut. Sigh
koyomin,
friend,
Are you serious of what you have said? Then why did the gahman keep on comparing?
[i]koyomin on August 19th, 2009 8.56 pm 61) Sporean Foreign ‘Talent’ :
friend,
what works in another country may not work for us. if there is a “plug-and-play-and-works-for-all” govt, this world will be a much better place. and so much easier to govern also[/i]
indeed well spoken, if like that leekuanyew long time gone nuts lioa.
imagined he go britain he tried to bang tables/chairs in parliament
next very day the british parliaments would have tied him in a pigbasket and throw him into the river thames
so where is the pap mp help assistances when you were singin so loud today?
still lookin for the penangborn lady mp who married the scottish ole man in a pub in boat quays perhaps?
easier to govern right? liked botaktharma who tell you
shuthefartup koyomin?
Daniel ranting get no where.
Lim Hwee Hua is the right person and she is the answer to Temasek and Temasek problems.. Frankly i would like to see her as the CEO of Temasek and in this position many SIN would believes there is morwe impartilaity in running this State Fund.
Lim Hwee Hua said something very new & brave — we dont award the lowest tenderers. WOW what fresh air. How many had gone bankrput doing govt project which pay little and worked you down. Govt exist to enrich their citizen and pricing right secures bizness. Pricing it wrong means hard work and no pay makes jack a dull boy.. 3 Cheers to her..
Lim Hwee Hua is the answer to many problems we are facing.. she is fair and speak her mind… she can get ppl to listen and that is important..
Daniel’s …ranting is stupid.
66) tiredman,
Any skin of your back when comparing?? you can’t even take this?
67) teacherofkoyomin,
my teacher, alamak, you worse than your student lah.
so many assistances out there lor.
go find out yourself, dun ask the trivia.
never do homework still want to go out and play??
this is an open forum, so why should i “shuthefartup” ?? :)
relax la (as i always tell the pple here)… gettin emotional and all worked up where got fun?? still got a long way more to go, this is not life & death right?
[i]so many assistances out there lor.
go find out yourself, dun ask the trivia.
never do homework still want to go out and play??
this is an open forum, so why should i “shuthefartup” ?? [/i]
you haven’t answered my rebuttal on the poor man who jumped the mrt track 2 years ago? so where is the assistances? unless you want to says that the penangborn mp who married the scottish ole man is givin birth in tekka market?
so? this time you want leekuanyew to tell you shuthefartup as well?
off course you would had says leekuanyew built so many nice buildins and provide so many facilities liked placin video cameras in honglim park to protect couples liked you from bein robbed in broad daylight perhaps?
RAISE GST NO ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS !?!??!!?
WHAT KIND OF REASON IS THIS !?!?!?!?
DONT MAKE SENSE !!!!!!
This shows that the new and first woman minister in sg is so out if touch with common people.
A very simplified estimation:
If a family makes $26,000 a year, less CPF, their disposable income is around $22,900 before GST, before tax.
A cabinet minister earns $2,000,000 a years, less CPF their disposable income is at $1,760,000 before GST and Tax
That is 77 times of the common people, so does she funderstand the GST pressure on people ?
Hi,
I think anyone dreaming of a GST cut is dreaming. Most countries in Europe seem to be increasing VAT/GST – Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia. I saw on this website http://www.tmf-vat.com that Finland is next.
We will all be paying for the financial bubble at the cash register.
David
GST is good. Equates to revenue. more money to help the needy and surplus can boost up reserves.
dun be so narrow sighted to think that GST is bad.
the govt can always remove GST and tax you jialat jialat on income tax, you want?
please use your puny little brain (if you still have) to think.
Pay & Pay regime will find any excuse to help themselves to more of the people’s hard earned money. All of us had come to expect nothing moral or just will ever come from a PAP minister. When are we going to do anything to stop these liar and crook. They had been at it for so long now, they are begining to believe in their own lies and propagada. Fellow Sinkaporean, let us work hard to put the “g” back instead of “k” in the name of the country. Remember Singapore belong to all Singaporean and all of us should reclaim it back for the sake of our children. We may not be interested in politic in the past as we were too busy earning a living to buy that nice car etc. We should pause and take stock and exercise our democratic rights before its totally disappeared. God Bless
A cabinet minister earns $2,000,000 a years, less CPF their disposable income is at $1,760,000 before GST and Tax..
not sure if your calcuation is right. CPF contribition caps at 4500. so your contribution no matter how much you are drawing is only 900. Again not sure of the 2 million dollars include employer side too. but that caps too.
so comparatively their take home can be really HUGE