The government is often claiming that it has been subsidizing
the public housing or other essential services.
Is this claim truthful or supported by facts? Has it been
subsidizing essential services from the taxes like in housing,
medical care, education or utilities.
Despite averaging of at least S$2 billions of profits per year from
profiteering departments like URA, SLA, HDB, LTA and JTC and all
the GLCs etc which are not disclosed even in annual budget or
accounts of government, during proposals to increase taxes there is
no hesitation in increasing taxes at the drop of the hat with
making of all the false claims about deficits or impending
deficits.
Many a times while the government increased taxes on the assumption
of expecting deficits it only turned out to the making profits or
surpluses instead.
Many taxes like the vehicle excise duty, COE, ERP and petrol taxes
double or triple taxation for the same purposes. The petrol tax
should have been scrapped long ago with the introduction of
increases in vehicle excise duty, COE or ERP. Stamp duty on
property should have been scrapped once the development charge is
increased.
In addition all the lands and infrastructures were financed by
citizens' taxation and therefore owned by the taxpayers but these
lands were charged again at full market prices by HDB making double
profits at the expense of citizens even for provisions of essential
services like housing and medical care etc.
With all such huge profits made year after year by all the
departments and GLCs government is sucking up big monies from the
people every year but when it comes to reducing double charges and
other fees the government is taking ages to make even the slightest
concession with uttering of hypocrisy like no welfare and no
subsidy.
Coming to think of it has the government made any subsidy at all
for any services since it is making so much profits on lands and
infrastructures etc.
It should simply stop telling lies about subsidy (As Dr. Vivian
Balakrishnan is suggesting where he was announcing approval of some
assistance schemes to the needy to the CCC as reported in Straits
Times on 3.12.2007)
If the government does not over-spend on the rewards for their
elite MPs, Ministers and CEOs we the people would not today have to
face the plight in making ends meet every month even for families
which are earning more than $2,000 pm.
Will the scholars and the post-65 MPs please take note and do
something to stop all such hypocrisy?