Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong explains why the government needs to pursue its growth strategy. His speech is reported by CNA. Article. And another report from Today. Article.
I will be writing to give my views on several points contained in his speech including the following:
a) Most countries pursue growth policy
b) But they balance this policy with other priorities, to give a better life for the people
c) Singapore's policies are not well balanced - leading to a feeling of insecurity, stress and lower quality of life
d) This is reflected in our low birth rate - among the lowest in the world
e) The policy of increasing asset value is flawed, as it is fueled by an asset bubble that will have to be paid by our future generation!
I will be writing to give my views on several points contained in his speech including the following:
a) Most countries pursue growth policy
b) But they balance this policy with other priorities, to give a better life for the people
c) Singapore's policies are not well balanced - leading to a feeling of insecurity, stress and lower quality of life
d) This is reflected in our low birth rate - among the lowest in the world
e) The policy of increasing asset value is flawed, as it is fueled by an asset bubble that will have to be paid by our future generation!
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Quote from the speech:
Some critics argue that we do not do enough for the less fortunate. The reality is that we do much more than we acknowledged or get credit for. We have equipped people with the skills and ability to do well for themselves. But we also recognise that not everyone will do equally well, and have developed social safety nets and transfers, especially for the low-income and elderly. In the past five years, transfers added one-fifth to low-income household earnings. Over a lifetime, a low-income household will receive more than S$500,000 from the government.
Unlike most other countries, we have emphasised boosting Singaporeans’ assets more than their incomes, and one asset in particular, HDB flats. Our HDB programme has been a major means of uplifting our people. The large majority of Singaporeans own their homes, including low-income households. They have used their CPF savings and received very generous subsidies from the state. In recent years, we have gone further with the state subsidies to enhance housing subsidies for low-income home buyers, through the
Additional Housing Grant and Special Housing Grant. In fact, households in the lowest income quintile (20 per cent) have on average more than S$200,000 of equity in their HDB flat! This is the direct result of government policy and government grants. It is unmatched by any other country, but our capital grants do not show up in the Gini coefficients.
So the PM is still of the opinion that with all the 'indirect assistance ", owning a HDB flat is still affordable and that the GINI Coefficient happen to be a incorrect measure for Singapore!
I am speechless.
Guess, it is expecting too much for one earning millions to be able to empathize with those earning very much less.
The property / housing bubble building up here is real.
Those with multiple private properties will of course, want the song never to stop.
Trouble is our very public housing known as the HDB had along its way pegged its brand new flat selling price to the "market".
All talk of subsidy to us are BS.
Last week, I feedback a case to a town council. The property officer came to meet me. He was not happy with his career - had benn retrenched by MNC. He enjoyed fat salary prior to join town council. He also delay to have baby - reason being too many econ crisis ahead.
I am very sad of such situation today.
A 60year old lady who work as a helper at a coffee shop daily. After work, she never go home to rest - continue her private business by serching valueable trash from HDB rubbish bin.
My wife always keep milk powder tin
for her to trade for few cents.
A 80yo relative who stay at Zion Road.
She move to a nearby 3-Room Flat under HDB re-development scheme.
Her family was given $300k. She pay $200k for the new flat. She left $100k for renovation and retirement if any. It sound like a good piece of happy news for the world.
Her husband, 90yo, stay in a nursing home. He was lucky to have a cheapest bed costs $1300/month. The market price is $1600/month. This is exclusive of medical cost and ambulance fee.
In plain simple English, the PM is saying,
"Enough with immigration control, we need to open the tap again for foreigners to enter, in order to strive for growth in the economy."
So folks, after about one year reprieve, we are back to square one, until another apology from PM this 2016 GE, so buckle up for 4 years of agony again.
There are two points in PM Lee's speech that I dislike:
a) He referred to "targeted assistance". This means writing rules on which gets and who does not get. These rules are usually arbitrary, complicated and unfair to those who are excluded at the margin, i.e. who just lose out due to the rules.
b) He said that the government may not be able to boost the income, but they are able to boost the value of the assets. It is easy to inflate asset values, e.g. build a property bubble, but it has cannot be sustained and has to burst one day, with serious consequences. Even if it is supported at a high level, the younger generation will pay for it through high prices and 30 year loans. This strategy is bad for the people.
These are two fundamental policies that has contributed to a difficult environment for the people today.
To Kin Lian,
For (b) via comparison with income differences of same job/industry/experience in different countries (through websites such as payscale), I do understand why PM Lee says that the government may not be able to boost the income.
Boosting the value of assets may well persuade some (the stability-seeking people) to stay put, but their income levels just wouldn't just rise as fast as we liked it to.
In the Singapore Job Market, it is not easy to earn significantly beyond the entry level grad pay since, in order for an average person to reach a basic paygrade of 4grand SGD/mth - at least ten years of related working experience must be proven.
For this new generation of Singaporean workers, rationally, will not wait for the ten years, and probably move elsewhere, and quickly if they are able to.
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