Let's talk about another truth often denied and denied again and
again with hypocrisy.
The people were told again and again way back in early years that
in order to solve the traffic congestion problem, people must pay
higher and higher taxes so the vehicle excise duty was increased
gradually year after year to 170% of OMV i.e.
S$15,000.00-S$100,000.00 for each vehicle depending on class and
values of OMV.
In the early 1980s, people were told that such excise duty like
170% of OMV was not deterrent to car ownership so people should pay
COE which means after paying the S$15,000.00 excise duty for the
physical import of the vehicle they cannot drive the car unless
they bid for a licence to put their vehicle on the road which cost
anything from $15,000.00 to the mind-boggling S$100,000.00 at one
time.
Ministers in introducing the COE said that it will eventually
replace the excise duty. Year after year COE was paid by the people
with no sign of excise duty being replaced. Is this the truth after
the need to replace excise duty by COE?
Again after some years despite COE there was traffic congestion. So
people were told by the ministers more truths and this time the
ministers said the truth was COE was not enough people must pay ERP
meaning usage tax.
Did the ministers fulfill their original promises to replace the
old taxes i.e. excise duty or COE some years after ERP was
introduced.
If COE and ERP succeeded in solving the traffic problem as
announced why should we the people grumble.
The truth and plain truth is these additional taxes did not and
will not solve traffic problems because the ministers simply did
nothing to do what should have been done - the simple alternative
of applying some portions of the excise duty, COE and ERP to
providing needed improvements like alternative routes, widening and
so on to keep up with all other necessary measures.
Raymond Lim had tried to explain these problems to the Sin Min
residents recently but got a big whacking.
He probably will get or has got another big jump in his salary plus
more than three months of bonuses this year for causing more
traffic congestions despite so many rounds of ERP increases.
The government tries to given an impression that ministers are
properly assessed with KPI before being given the bonuses and
salary jumps.
If he is successful in his KPI it should show solving of traffic
congestion with judicious ERP with COE, road taxes, petrol tax and
excise duty replaced gradually by the more effective ERP. But no he
would not stop the double taxing or triple taxing and he cannot
convince his cabinet to apply reason. That is his courage or
integrity KPI.
Now he even talked backwards trying to talk like it is the people
who asked for COE and not his government or his predecessor Mah
