good morning, guess we have to go through this debate here
again...
all i did was listed out the advantage of us Chinese, Indians,
Malays, Others living here in Singapore. i did not say it's due to
our government entirely. i never implied that we have no natural
disaster because of PAP.
first issue; crime rate. Johor Bahru itself isn't 20 times
bigger than Singapore but look at the crime rate. it's reputation
precedes itself.
second; you mentioned SPF... guess you must have a bad
experience with them but still, we are looking at a very safe
country compared to our neighbouring countries.
third; i have not used Australia as a main competitor but
seriously, though some areas are less prone to racism, we know we
will be treated a little different there by the whites. i've been
to Brisbane as a tourist and i can assure you, you can really
feel the difference in treatment.
fourth; income taxation at 42% and GST at 10%? woah! if you earn
less than $30,000 in Singapore, no tax. period.
fifth; "In sg is u can only do something if they allow you to.
In Oz, u can do anything you want unless they say you can't." - i
see no difference. if they don't allow you to steal in Singapore,
are you saying that you can do that in OZ?
sixth; you mentioned that Singaporeans have no rights? then
fight for it! if you feel that you have been wronged by the minions
of the government, seek redress instead of letting them walk over
you. but get your facts right first and if you feel you've been
short-changed, go f*ck somebody in that chain of command. you can
write to newspapers, forums, Stomp, see your MP and make lots of
noise. i assure that you will be heard.
i am not saying Australia is not a good country. it's perfect
for retirement! i am also planning to move there one day but not at
our prime and not when there is work to be done here on
Singapore's politics. if you read my posts, you will see that i'm
calling for the youths of Singapore to get involved in politics and
try to change our systems if they feel that some policies are not
beneficial to the growth of Singapore.
==== errm...i beg to differ. Lower tax rates & no tax rates is
not necc a good thing. Why do we have low tax rates ? Bcos if you
raise it higher, the rich will fly out of the country - duh...you
think its for the benefits of the citizens? \
Think twice, from beginning, we are run like a company - the
objective is to generate profits - in terms of taxes and revenues.
Thats why the government have to use instruments like income tax
and company tax to attract the high-earners and multinational
companies to invest here. Too high a tax rate, people will fly the
flock. Australia have high tax rates but what is their national
& average pay? And although Australia have high unemployment
rate - they can survive without a job. Land is cheaper there, you
can own a land, build a ranch and rear some animals, grow
vegetables and be sustainable and lead your own carefree life.
Regarding rights - sure, each country, based on its requirements
do sometimes set what is required and what is not. Perhaps, at the
onset of independance where we are facing uncertainties and the
unity & obedience of the people are required, we may be strict
and draconian. But overtime, as the society progress, things change
and so do policies. With Internet and blogs, no matter how you try
to stifle, we are still able to get news and listen to views that
may not neccessarily be plesant to the ears of the government.
Things like porn are so accessible nowadays that its like having no
censorship. The thing is, must the government continue to have a
heavy hand in shutting off opposition views and suing them for
defamation for every single word uttered?
Their actions speak for itself and they shld let the people
decide whether or not they are trustworthy. The effects of this
"stifling" style is already showing - in this competitive
environment where creativity and innovation wins the bread, we find
ourselves sorely lacking to compete amongst others - our education
and training all along is to execute perfectly not to create. Now,
the education minstry is trying to turn the direction but sadly its
slow and probably take longer than this generation.
