More gripes and gripes. You advocate removal of taxes on oil?
The reason oil prices have spiraled up beyond the "tipping point"
is that demand has been inelastic of prices. Oil prices were
previously expected to level off at $100 because demand was
supposed to have tapered off due to consumers switching to
alternatives such as public transport and car pooling, or basically
changing their behavior to minimize oil consumption. That has not
been the case. Now we have Goldman Sach's analyst forecasting oil
prices to reach US$150-200 per barrel as they don't expect consumer
behavior to change until prices hit those new marks. So you
want to continue to add more stress into the demand side of the
equation by lowering taxes to make gasoline effectively cheaper?
Remember, oil is a non-renewable resource. OPEC is already
stretched with even the Saudis having difficulty increasing
production while Russia which was supposed to be a bright light in
the storm has been disappointing in terms of production growth.
The objective of the high tax on
fuel consumption in Singapore is to discourage the easy ownership
of cars, which unfortunately do not address the fact that
it will also increase the cost to the business community
providing essential services to consumers.
Reducing or removal of the fuel
tax is different from subsidising the cost of fuel, as it will
still be pegged to the international oil price that dictates its
final pump prices.
Everyone knows that oil is
a non-renewable resource, but is there any known alternative
available to Singapore, and is the Singapore Government
actively encouraging the search or R&D towards alternative to
oil ?
All that subsidies or price caps achieve, as seen in China and
Indonesia, is eat into government revenues and cultivate
a culture that ever more regards cheap oil as a birthright. I think
Singapore has done a great job in balancing car affordability and
gasoline prices to make car ownership a priviledge one has to work
hard for. One need only look at the minimal traffic jams on our
throughfares and compare them to other cosmopolitan cities to see
the difference that well thought out city planning has achieved.
And can you even give thanks to a government that has planned out
one of the best internal public transport systems in the world.
Most of our buses are clean and airconditioned, while the MRT runs
efficiently and on time.
Is anyone calling for price
fixing by having the fuel tax reduced or removed ?
The tax approach is available to
the Singapore Government in a direct way to help in lowering
the cost of living for Singaporeans, as it will have a trickle down
effect that reaches every Singaporean.
What is the use of the best
internal public transport system when the Citizens become broke
?
Is the best internal public
transport system of any use when the Citizens cannot afford to
travel due to the high costs of living and have to cut down on all
kinds of expenses that include unnecessary travel.
This will eventually affect the
bottom lines of the public transport services as they will surely
see a drop in passenger numbers - leading to a call for fare
increases to compensate for revenue losses but
cleverly disguised as higher operating costs.
You complain about GST. Well good luck finding another developed
country in the world where the income tax rate is as low as in
Singapore. Other than the oil rich countries of the world, or HK
(where social services are non-existent and the rich-poor disparity
is startling), very few countries that offer the ammenities that
Singapore does (such as community centers every few km, public
swimming pools, well developed public transport, advance and
subsidized education systems, as well as significant spending in
military and defense budgets) have such a low taxable base.
You are only looking at one
aspect of the tax system in Singapore - only from the income tax.
Have you not considered that this Government has impoverished the
AVERAGE Singaporeans - {the $1000 to
$3000 income group} - by taking a major part of
their monthly income through a plethora of tax
regimes which haunt every aspect of consumer life in
Singapore ?
Yes, the income tax in Singapore
is seemingly low, have you tried adding all the taxes that
this government imposed on all kinds of services and utilities
consumed
At least the Swedish Government is
more honest and by taxing a fixed sum upfront and provide all
services to its Citizens from cradle to grave - which explains for
Sweden's ability to renew its own population numbers compared
to Singapore's failure in self-renewal despite the supposedly low
tax environment, and have to rely on the import of foreign talent
to sustain population renewal.
Surely the Swedish Government is
more talented than those in the Singapore Government
?
You talk about the local needy? You must be kidding. Yes, there
are alot of the hard luck stories you occasionally come into
contact with, but affordable housing, food, and education is within
the means of most of the populace. More so I believe than in the
US, Indonesia, Malaysia or any of our south east asian brethren. I
don't presume to know too much about the needy, but I presume my
taxes and contributions to charity do somehow go to alleviate some
of their needs.
Affordable housing by whose
standards ?
What kind of housing does
Singaporeans get for the money that is paid ?
The Singapore Dollar is
supposedly managed by the Government to be stronger in
exchange rate and so as to be able to purchase raw
materials to help lower the cost of living - {in terms of housing,
transport, utilities and food}; yet despite this fact, our
cost of living is higher then that in Malaysia, Thailand and
Hongkong.
Do not be too presumptious to
believe that your small contributions in terms of taxes paid will
help the needy, as this Singapore Government is less charitable
than you.
It does not take too much of
your presumptious effort to know how much can you truly give to
charity that will be of any effect to alleviate their needs, when
the numbers are constantly manipulated in census, which do not
capture the data concerning the homeless.
Stop bitching and asking the government to take care of your
every need. Make more so you don't have to ask for a handout
everytime you face headwinds. Singaporeans already have a
stereotype of loving to complain yet being unable to think for
themselves. Don't make the stereotype into a reality.
Unfortunately, you poor sighting
of my text resulted in you seeing bitching and not understanding
the essence of my post.
Try to be less condescending and
presumptious and you will at least get some grip on
reality.
Is anyone asking for a handout, or
are you simply fixxated by a single point of view driven home by
repeated propaganda ?
Look, Understand, Think. - it does
not burn too much of your energy, which surely you can afford to
renew, or do you need to cut down on your charity ?
