The parliament is yet having another debates on rising costs
etc. What can we people expect from another sessions of wayang
kulit?
Ask any young ministers like Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan who was in
charge of remaking Singapore committee at one time to do something
about the perpetual rising costs as I have done at one Annual
Remaking Singapore Conference held at Suntec, his answer is "There
are many types of costs, the fixed cost and variable cost.
In this way he conveniently side-step the main issues by simply
saying that the government has not control over costs etc to avoid
the problem.
Instead he asked the people subsequently: "Do you have any
solutions to rising cost problem?" (As if people are paid to do his
job) He would add: "We will study them"
Actually solution is quite straighforward such as the
following:-
(1) Do not always go up, when costs come down, to pass back
saving
(2) Outsource all services to private sector firms in non-critical
areas.
(3) Do not double-tax e.g. HDB's charging on land twice.(Land
acquisition paid by citizens and charging on land via sale of HDB),
Vehicle Excise duty, Petrol Tax, COE, ERP.
(4) What go up when come down must come down e.g. Petrol tax should
be removed with taxing by COE and ERP.
(5) What go up behind must reveal to all - no profiteering on lands
and assets through corporatizing to GLCs as citizens already paid
infrastructures. GLCs should not charge on lands and assets
again.
(6) Annual budget especially in proposal to increase taxes or GST
must include full accounts showing profits made by all departments
and capital gains from all departments including GLCs, HDB, URA.
The hidden surpluses by HDB, URA for period 1900-2000 came to
S$20,000,000,000.00. Is this necessary to hoard monies of citizens
just to claim superficial success or worse for spending on Suzhou,
Shin Corp or be wasted on NKF malpractices.
The younger ministers do not seem to understand the root causes
affecting citizens' perpetual rising costs. Many families with
income of S$1,000.00 are paying more than half of their income on
bus fares, utilities, education and medical care.
More families are breaking up due to such squeeze by rising costs
with the government championing for all the monopoly GLCs to
increase their costs all the time year after year.
If we have indeed the true talents among our ministers we should
have solved such a straightforward problem long ago.
What keep the ministers and MPs from raising root causes and root
issues affecting rising costs?
I could not think of any other reason than the hedonism or worship
of the golden calf as posted in another thread.
They were there sitting pretty in parliament just for wayang kulit
to protect their own career in the autocracy which needs compliant
men to embolden autocracy self-serving agenda to cling to
power.
Let us find true talents like Sim Kee Boon who could take control
of overall complex problems and issues and deal with them quietly
without justifications or excuses and produce results acceptable to
all.
I will be waiting for the next parliament debates to see if we have
such Sim Kee Boons.
