Excellent article as usual! Thanks~
though the PAP government should also clarify EXACTLY how much of
the tax revenues will be used to help the poor people (1%? 5%? how
much exactly?) and in the wake of the NKF scandal, EXACTLY how
efficient this avenue is going to be. (just as NKF's only $0.10 out
of every dollar went to help the patients? the rest go into
"administrative costs"?)
There is no point in raising revenue for any cause if the process
is so inefficient that only a pathetic miniscule fraction of the
amount actually helps the people who needs it.
Even then, the PAP must provide details on how much of the aid is
disbursed to the poor. Remember the SP power vouchers for the needy
which end up sitting in the town councils' offices? It is easy to
pledge money for any cause and through bureaucratic processes, make
it extremely difficult for the people who needs it to claim them -
which drives them to eventually give up, just like the MRT suicide
Mr Tan Jee Suan, who mysteriously stopped seeking aid before he
committed suicide.
Also, they need to answer why in their opinion, they feel the need
to raise GST to provide capital for investments? Isn't our
singapore reserves sufficient by now? If the returns are as good as
the PAP claims, then why is there a further need to increase the
tax burden on the people? In fact, the GST tax should be LOWERED
with the additional lurcrative income from their excellent
investments!
