This is not about efficiency alone, and what ground you think the tax burden is low.

tax burden is a transfer of wealth from people to govt to do good for people, so, let’s see what happiness index Sgp scored, let;s see how many above 70s people work 12 hours daily to earn enough to buy medicine and comoared these to

a) Developed nations like USA and Western Europe
b) Developing countries like China and Vietnam

Their people are happier than Singaporeans in all age groups !

make a tour and u will see by your own eyes

Never believe what its released from government survey. Take everything with a pinch of salt! Have a look at the information released from the Singapore Yearbook of Manpower Statistics, 2006, published by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department, Ministry of Manpower and reflect with the wages from your peers within those occupation.

http://www.contactsingapore.sg/home/index.php/eng/content/download/2535/15276/file/2008YearBook_Wtable2_4.pdf

Our balance budget is always 1B to -1B. Yes, they leave only 1B to the national surplus every year even with all the GST, tax increases while siphoning Billions to their salaries and to their private companies.

How can this be possible to achieve? Even in good years, when the economy grows 8%, we have only 1B surpkus? Hello 8% of the GDP is tens of billions ok?

We seem to forget about the time when we were capable of our own simple low-cost innovations that have endured because we didn’t have unlimited resources, like parking coupons (printing paper instead of instaling costly parking meters), Area Licensing Scheme, or hooks outside the window of the HDB flat for bamboo poles to dry clothes.

I think we’ve regressed to a point where only high-tech, large capital investment, and some fancy policy initiative that can be reduced to an acronym (like STELLAR, SPRING, SMART, whatever) would work.

R

I agree with you. I do not think efficiency is the main issue. Maybe it can be improve, but in the overall scheme of things, nothing too drastic will result.

Personally, I think it is the POLICIES that are the issue. … off hand, I would say the main culprit to be housing policy (how it is priced and how we are allowed to finance the debt). .

cut the most redundant craps – MM, SM, President and Mayors first.

cut the monetary awards to the highest in the world level to half across the board for all Satboards esp the Ministers.

cut GST.

taxes or charges hikes for next 5 years.

you dont need a rocket scientist to do sum, DO YOU?

Change to what?

I’d rather remain here than there -
http://www.ams.org/membership/develop.html

It’s worse there, right? $16 per household per day.

So hard to be on the other side. Less than 20 countries on the planet of 196!

Use yours brans lah . . . .

In Singapore, one party, major industries in control of the government, which in turn controls and regulate the prices for maximum profit. The average Singaporeans cannot afford more and more things, according to a survey. But another government survey said everything is becoming affordable, ironical twist.

Anyway, Singaporeans are tightly squeezed, more and more until we are forced into a tight corner. But boy arent they happy and keep voting?

Just remember, $750 peanuts to civil servants but still 12months of discretionary bonuses available to already multi-million dollar pay? What you think? Set by example?

If paying them millions doesn’t get them to do work, then taking away millions will help incentivise them.

They need to cut down.

All the more when the public service is not producing sufficiently.

The reward on the net result of paying the top money for this expensive civil services are as follows:-

1) The more efficient and effective to tax you – GST, ERP, COE etc.
2) The more efficient and effective to make you pay on time the HDB’s conservancy.
3) The more efficient and effective to get foreign talents to take over Singaporeans’ job.
4) The more efficient and effective to give out PR to PRC.
5) The more efficient and effective to fix the opposition.
6) The more efficient and effective to shut you out with self censorship.

If you crave for efficiency, you get more efficiency.

What we need now is not more efficiency, we have enough of that already, however what we need is more genuine compassion, love and care to add more variety. What we need is to bring the smile back to Singaporean and not made to them work like a robot and machine to pay for more efficiency.

Get rid of MM Lee Kuan Yew, SM Goh Chok Tong and President Nathan unless they work for free. They are already old, senile and already way past their expiry date.

Reduce the number of MPs to 50; reduce by half the ministers, very senior officers in the civil service. Most of their work can be out-sourced.

Scrap all the GRCs and those who get to parliament must show that they are worthy of the position and that means that they compete one-on-one against candidates from other political parties. As it is, 90% of PAP MPs are quite useless and waste of tax-payers money.

Scrap the posts of Mayors. Close down People’s Association.

Cut away two-thirds of the fat in government institutions, the academic institutions.

Impose a 15% tax on PRs, foreigners and recent male Singaporeans under 40 years old. These taxes can be used to help deserving jobless Singaporeans.

“Compounded over the decades, we have a management structure that is top-heavy,”

Where else to put the PAP supporters. They simply cannot abondon them, can they …so it grows.

Just take a look at the social services or welfare or charity organisations and CDC’s in Singapore. Numerous and what do we still have. People jumping on tracks every now and then.

They do not want to bring it under one umberella and get things organised for people. Umemployed & retrenched go to one corner, the disable to another and the needy to one. These might seem like many problems…but they can be bunched togather and proper statistics on such people can be kept like many western countries.

But Singapore chooses to do otherwise…Why….how to provide employment to their supporters…look at sports..in particular football.

Had an Aussie lament to me lately that 60 years olds who know nothing about football development and management are sitting on the boards. Couldn’t even argue with him on that.

It’s becoming like India…hahaha.
Worst when good people leave.