Originally posted by Salman:
Its not the govt's fault. Its just the realities of life.
The world is getting more competitive, especially with a devalued
yuan and people are living longer.
Is the world getting more competitive ?
Not what I see in the " World of Singapore's Politics " - in which
the Ruling Party a.k.a the Singapore Government had sole monopoly
over POLITICS, ECONOMICS, SOCIAL and CULTURAL matters for FORTY
YEARS.
What has happened to a population after FORTY YEARS ?
The cause of our non-competitive position was the strive towards a
Swiss Standard of Living - WITHOUT realising the ensuing SWISS COST
OF LIVING that has to come along, and with ourselves living in this
part of Asia where living costs is much lower.
We have a Higher Cost of Living and became less competitive than
our neighbors.
The cause of our non-competitiveness was made worst despite the
fact that we were pursuing a STRONG SINGAPORE DOLLAR - supposedly
to allow us to be take advantage of the Economics of Comparative
Advantage, allowing us to move ahead of others in the areas of
industry and commerce with our limited population and resources;
and buying from others who are more competitive in agriculture that
we cannot do so at any lower costs.
Despite our Strong Singapore Dollar, we pay a Higher Cost of Living
than our neighbors.
The cause of our non-competitiveness was made worst despite the
fact that land were seized and compensated BELOW MARKET VALUE, so
as to allow the Government to restructure land use in Singapore,
and prepare Singapore for the New World of the Twenty First
Century.
Unfortunately, having found that Singaporeans have a high
propensity favoring towards high priced Private Appartments than
HDB flats, the Ruling Party a.k.a the Singapore Government decide
to "share" big slice of the profit cake from Private Developers.
Our Ministry of National Development manages the Urban Renewal
Authority - with both rationing the land parcels put up for public
auction at arbitrary prices which they fixed with a high minimum
price. On top of the High Minimum Price for the piece of land, all
developers will have to pay a HIGH DEVELOPMENT FEE fixed at 30%
(??) of the development cost, and also a HIGH STAMP FEE on top of
those other charges, besides the FINAL 5% GST that is also
payable.
Before the land becomes a developed commercial property available
for sale, all these high fees imposed onto the Developer will have
to be paid, and SUBSEQUENTLY PASSED ON to the Singaporean Home
Buyer and CONSUMER - either when purchasing the property, or paying
for the goods and services that are sold by the owners occupying
these High Priced Properties.
The above are two simple causes of our present misery and taken
from a long list of political failures by the Ruling Party which
has brought us to this present situation.
The last few Economic Review Committee formed during each economic
crash - 1987, 1995, 2002 - had identified several weakness in
Government Political, Economic and Social Policies. The Ruling
Party a.k.a the Singapore Government boasted loudly that 'all HOLY
COWS will be slaugthered - and no stones will be left unturned' to
prepare us for the Twenty First Century.
We are already into the Twenty First Century, yet we are
floundering like a fish out of the water, searching for a new path
ahead.
We are still led by 'HOLY COWS' and with quite a few "old political
stones that continue to roll in front of us trying to gather no
moss" but obstructing our smooth path into the Twenty First Century
- as the Ruling Party feel that some "old stone are best left in
place, even if those stones are worn and broken" - with the real
reason being their insecurity and non-confidence in walking a new
path DESPITE the firm MONOPOLISTIC grip on the Political, Economic,
Social and Cultural Life of Singapore.
