Scenario #1 will happen as the
majority of Singaporeans are less sophisticated in their knowledge
of financial planning - as you have correctly identified.
To make matters worst, Public Housing that was targetted for the
lower-income are over-priced, and whatever meagre income have to be
split between daily needs - (consisting of food and
transportation), utility charges, children's education and ECA
activities, personal upgrading - is there anything left from a
low-income for any kind of savings for the longer term plan ?
Scenario #2 as you have correctly stated is a reality with a
shrinking Middle-Income Group - especially those in their 40s and
mid-50s - who were retrenched during the last economic downturn in
2002, and have not been able to regain their former financial
positions since then.
The government could have done more for ALL Singaporeans with the
small tid-bit handouts that have been uselessly dissipated into
individual accounts, simply to garner political favors from
Singaporeans.
A more viable - and longer term - solution would have been to
consolidate all the small handouts across the years that had
amounted to over ''S$7.8 Billion in total for a variety of
assistance measures not counting this Progress Package. This
includes the New Singapore Shares in 2001, the ERS from 2002 to
2004, the CPF Top-Ups from 2004 to 2006, U-Save, Service and
Conservancy Charges and Rental Rebates, etc - {which} a typical
low-income household would have received more than $11,000 in total
from all these schemes'' - as stated by PM LHL in the Budget Debate
2006.
If Welfarism is such a dirty word - we can call it ''The Singapore
Foundation'' that can be similar in the form to
some local Private Foundations - such as the Shaw Foundation, and
the Lee Kong Chian Foundation.
The funds going into ''The Singapore
Foundation'' can be drawn as a percentage taken out
of the Annual Gross Profits from the various Government Linked
Companies.
Such a scheme will need not burden the Singapore Budget nor placed
any cumbersome demands on Singaporeans with additional taxes. This
Singapore Foundation will provide ALL Singaporeans with a long term
safety net that will be comparable to that provided to the Citizens
of the Scandinavian Countries.
Unfortunately, it seems that this Government has lost its sense of
responsibility to lighten the burden placed on Singaporeans, and
will continuously demand more from Singaporeans without realising
that even the strongest metal will break beyond its natural tensile
strength.
