Khaw Kawbeh on Citizens' Kawbehing

The rush to build flats, flats and more flats, more than 50,000 since 2011, cannot be sustained says our minister Khaw Boon Wan. No shit Sherlock! Facepalm.

Nobody said that HDB should build until glut, just build slightly more than enough to cope. Layperson ball park figure, 5000-10000 flats excess, mix of 3-4 bedrooms in ulu areas scattered across the island. Obviously his predecessor Mah didn't understand that and fucked it up for everyone and his PAP when election time came in 2011. Mah fucked public housing policy more than Khaw did for sure and the former MND minister lost his job.

Besides supply of flats and that has happily pushed up prices for existing flat sellers because of shortage of flats, the other pain to the buyers' wallet is COV. This is cash, not something from CPF and buyers can't take a mortgage loan for it. Loanshark, overdraft, credit card and other unsecured loans can, but not a proper currently low interest rate mortgage loan.

HDB should actually listen, not just hear, people. Sellers can sell their flats at whatever market price they think but buyers should get loans based on the valuation of the flat without any COV, just like buyers of private properties. Both buyers and sellers will be relatively satisfied.

WTF in fact, why should HDB resale flat buyers be penalised for buying flats in this way compared to private property buyers? If the resale flat or a private condo apartment is $1 million, a buyer of a HDB flat is going to pay more cash than if he were to buy a condo, all things equal. That doesn't make a HDB flat sound affordable. No?

Ramped up supply of HDB flats not sustainable in long run: Khaw Boon Wan

SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been ramping up the number of flats it has launched in the last few years but National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said this number could slow down after 2015 to prevent a glut in the market.

Mr Khaw was speaking to the media on Monday after witnessing the handover of a completed Build-To-Order block in Woodlands from the contractor to HDB.

25,000 BTO flats were launched in 2011 and another 27,000 were launched last year.

While this has helped satisfy the backlog of demand from first and second time home buyers, Mr Khaw stressed this cannot continue.

This year alone, HDB plans to launch at least 25,000 new flats but Mr Khaw said this continued ramped up supply is not sustainable in the long run.

Mr Khaw said he is not worried about a "small glut" forming in the public sector as he wants to help more groups, like singles. He said he hopes to build up an inventory such that flats are ready if there is demand.

While he doesn't foresee a glut happening in the next two years, Mr Khaw cautioned the market need to go back to a steady state.

He said: "Don't expect this 25,000 units per year or the construction ramped up programme to continue forever. It can't be. It is not sustainable, bearing in mind that new family formation is only at 15,000 a year. As we clear the back log, we should be able to move back to the steady state.

"The steady state does not necessarily mean 15,000 units construction per year. Some may prefer to buy resale flats so that they can move in immediately. More importantly, they can select which flats to buy and which areas to buy because their parents might not be in the non-mature estates or their parents might not want to move into non-mature estates so we should always keep those options open."

Mr Khaw also said he is confident that HDB will be able to deliver on the flats it has promised.

This is despite the tightening of foreign manpower into Singapore. Mr Khaw pointed out the use of pre-fabricated components in HDB projects has helped to address this constraint.

Mr Khaw said HDB is on track to deliver the 13,600 units planned for completion this year and he added the effect of the ramped up supply is beginning to be felt this year while the full effect will be felt over the next two years.

About 6,000 HDB residential units have already been completed as of end May.

Mr Khaw said: "The steady state is a sustainable property market. I think property prices will probably always float upwards unless the economy crashes. We hope not to have prolonged recession. So long as economy is growing steadily, wages will go up steadily, and therefore property prices will also go up steadily.

“But there will be times when the asset appreciates much faster than wage increases, like in the last five years, so that is not sustainable. That was a period for happy sellers and very unhappy buyers but we are slowly tilting and hopefully we will reach a happier state, a fairer state between buyer and seller sometime soon."

However, Mr Khaw said what he is concerned about is a glut occurring in the private market.

He noted that a large proportion of private property is taken up by investors who are hoping to rent out their units.

He cautioned that if there is a glut in the market, rental yields could drop very quickly.

This will also cause serious financial trouble for those who have taken up a private loan, especially when global liquidity begins to ease.

Mr Khaw added this is why the Urban Redevelopment Authority's land sales have only been on a six-monthly basis.

"We have to be very nimble, and fairly skilful and also a little bit lucky. So far we have been lucky, but don't count on that for too long," stressed Mr Khaw.

On the ongoing 'Our Singapore Conversation' on housing, Mr Khaw said there have been plenty of suggestions but he addressed some participants' calls to scrap the Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) component for HDB resale flats.

He pointed out the transaction is an agreement between buyer and seller and said if home buyers are keen to pay above valuation, there is little he can to do to prevent it.

"Sometimes, you may love the place so much that (you are) prepared to pay higher – that is how COV crops up. How do I prevent it from happening? If you insist on doing so, (either by) under the counter or giving an 'angpow' (red packet) three days later in a wet market somewhere, how am I going to catch you? So it doesn't work to say let’s ban COV."

Mr Khaw added one thing participants agreed on and are proud of is Singapore's home ownership numbers.

He said in particular, he has been paying attention to the discussion on seniors, as more begin to retire and start to look at how they can get extra pocket money from their homes whether from renting out a room or right sizing their home to a studio apartment.

Mr Khaw stressed that preserving the value of property has practical implications for retirees but capital appreciation has to be reasonable, and not like the last few years.

Mr Khaw added he is working on making BTO flats more affordable.

He hopes to bring down the cost from five years of a couple's annual income to four years but he said home buyers will need to have the right expectations.

"If you engineer the softening of prices, and everybody shifted their expectation where previously they'd buy a three-room and now they'd buy a five-room, then you're chasing tails and the problem will never be solved," said Mr Khaw.

- CNA/fa

May Day! May Day! Gilbert Shouts

Why do loser parents ask their kids to hold placards? For sympathy? Act cute? Tsk tsk human shield?

Who the fuck is this guy Gilbert Goh? From Australia, unemployed, not liked even by some activists, party hopper from Reform Party then to National Solidarity Party, and from the patronage he got from SDP, he might join SDP soon. Or maybe not. Vincent from SDP pulled out from the May Day event - is it because he suddenly realised that Gilbert Goh is a political lead weight around his neck that would pull his SDP down? The smart guy who have noticed that all this while, WP have distanced themselves from Gilbert. WP knows its shit.

Another guy who backed out was Nizam Ismail. I never heard of him before and must have been the token Malay to speak at the event. He pulled out from the May Day event and left poor Gilbert swinging.  WTF, that's what politics is, grow up and grow some balls. First say want to whack the government, and then after a while backed down? Hey, did that apply to Vincent too?

The only good outcome of the event was that Speakers Corner can be a lively place and peaceful protests is not an oxymoron. Never mind that many there were many motley groups of disgruntled people e.g. people in their 40s who claimed foreigners took their jobs and never understood that people in 40s lose their jobs every time as they are more expensive and less productive, not because foreigners stole their jobs. 

In fact, more peaceful protests at Speakers Corner please! Don't let Pink Dot dominate or let Speakers Corner be wasted by Mad Ravi booking a Saturday and then end up hugging and molesting a Hong Lim Park tree. I'm happily looking for more protests by Gilbert - it is like an entertaining retard circus of whining Singaporeans who only complain and don't realise that foreigners are needed in Singapore and all that matters for us to welcome them into our arms, besides the Vietnam and Tiong XMM at health centres, is better infrastructure to manage the numbers.

Update

This retard is back with the same sign! He is persistent!

Rental Market at Crossroads

Now at least 3 times slower to find rental for property! Rental cash cow is mooing softly rather than loudly as more supply in the market, economy is shaky and fewer foreigners. Triple whammy! If the whams continue harder and harder and rentals, if any, cannot keep up with monthly mortgages for those who stretched the monthly payments and prayed for rental to cover it, added pressure on correction of the property market coming soon to a mass market condo near you.

Pray for more PRC and Indian foreigners and tenants to work here and save our heartland landlords! Never mind, I stop cooking curry and start watching Bollywood movies to bond with these foreigners and make them welcome! WTF Rental yield already good at 3% plus and any lower yield, might as well buy high yield aka junk bonds instead of buying property for yield! Lower capital outlay, higher yields and errr just as risky. LOL

Add the other pressure on older folks finding harder to get home loans after the new MAS age and tenure restrictions imposed imposed last weekend to cool the market again, are we going to see resale property market correction especially? Owners want to sell but some segments they hoping to sell to cannot afford to buy as not enough cash, not enough time!

Rentals for private homes expected to ease: experts
by Wong Siew Ying
Updated 07:07 PM Oct 09, 2012

SINGAPORE - Rentals for private homes are expected to ease in the next 12 months, especially those in the luxury segment.

Experts said current rentals for private homes are just 1 per cent off the peak recorded in the second quarter of 2008.

It used to take about a month to secure a tenant for private homes in the rental market last year.

Now, it takes about three to four months, according to analysts.

While rentals have edged up slightly in recent years, the vacancy rate too has gone up, especially for high-end units.

Mr Ku Swee Yong, CEO of International Property Advisor, said: "In the luxury segment, if we were to include Sentosa Cove, then the vacancies are as high as 9 to 10 per cent, whereas islandwide, we are still seeing...average vacancies of about 5.5 to 6 per cent."

On average, it would cost about S$5 to S$8 per square foot per month to rent a luxury home.

Some analysts said rentals for high-end units could come under pressure over the next 12 months, in view of the uncertain economic outlook and the additional supply of new units hitting the market.

They said average rentals could dip by 3 to 5 per cent next year.

Mr Donald Han, special advisor at HSR, said: "Corporates are looking at reducing its cost, and part of the cost that will be reduced is expatriate housing allowances, so the first top-tier of that market being the luxury end of the residential apartments, some good class bungalow projects have seen a drop in terms of actual transacted rents."

Mr Han said that for instance, the rent for a 15,000 square feet good class bungalow which is about 10 years old went for S$28,000 to S$38,000 per month last year, but rentals have dropped by 3 per cent since.

Meanwhile, the rental prospect of mass market units remained fairly stable.

Some analysts said the rents for such homes could see a 1 to 2 per cent upside in the year ahead.

Industry players said average rental for mass market homes currently ranges between S$3 and S$4.50 per square foot per month.

But there will be stiffer competition for areas like Hougang, Pasir Ris, Sengkang and Punggol, where many new housing projects are lined up.

"My own estimation is that these areas would account for 50,000 new homes by 2015, and that is a significant addition to that stretch," said Mr Ku.

Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants, said: "Whenever a new project is to be completed in a certain area, the owners who are planning to rent it out are probably being approached by many agents, and tenants typically would prefer newer apartments with newer amenities. So we will definitely see some tenants being drawn away from the older developments to newer ones."

With some key events coming up, industry players expect overall rental rates to stay soft in the coming months.

The events include the US presidential elections in November and the ongoing efforts to fix the eurozone debt crisis which is now into its third year.

Poof went the Pension!

 Shhh you hear it? Crackkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

JLB MPs and office-holders from parliamentary secretaries to ministers to prime ministers, basically anyone who is a MP will now no longer have pension if they meet certain conditions. Opposition MPs like the new WP ones too cannot dip into state purses in their retirement, except Low Thia Khiang and others who served more than 8 years as MP. In the first place, what is the cost of maintaining these former MPs on pension anyway, although the pension for a minister can be about 10% of the annual salary in some complex formula. Proportion seems fair and small but as we know ministers earn at least $1million, that's a fucking large amount! I forgot, is pension taxable?

Was this a big issue, the pension of MPs all the way to prime minister? Yes, considering that the public sector did away with pensions so as not to waste public funds, and Singapore is of course not a welfare state, so a teensy bit hard to justify that politicians alone could get to keep the pension.

LOL if politicians are in the same retirement boat like all of us with their pensions going poof into smoke, maybe now they would be more on the ball about CPF, its Life Plans and other retirement policies on a greying Singapore population. Being in the same rocking sampan goes a long way to build empathy. I bet this move to do away with pension is going to make some groups within the PAP unhappy and form cracks within its ranks.

Pensions for office-holders, MPs scrapped
AsiaOne
Monday, Sep 10, 2012

Singapore's Parliament today passed a bill scrapping pensions for office-holders and Members of Parliament (MPs).

This means government office-holders who turn 55 and remain in office may no longer collect pension. Those who have been accruing pensions have had the amounts frozen since May 20 last year.

With the Parliamentary Pensions (Abolition) Bill, new office-holders appointed on or after May 21, 2011 as well as office-holders who had served for less than eight years by that date will not be eligible for pension.

The Parliament also passed a bill removing its power to grant a pension to a former president. A provision to grant pension to the widow and surviving residents of the president or former presidents was also removed.

These changes were proposed in a White Paper on ministerial salaries that was endorsed last January and have already been put into effect administratively.

Get Long Loan? Get Screwed!

Cannot afford means cannot afford WTF. When Mr Ah Beng next door who has monthly household income of $6,000 decided to buy a mass market condo, you also want to keep up with the Bengs since UOB gave this magic own a bigger property than you can afford genie lamp. Why people even consider thinking of taking 50-year loan just to make themselves feel smug and shiok that they can "afford" a damn fucking expensive 99LH condo in Bishan or Toa Payoh? If  people snapped it up because they think it makes monthly installments "affordable", then they should just use a simple online amortisation or mortgage calculator to have a good rough feel of how banks shove it up my ass and yours once we take up a home loan. "Afford" means to me is that you can pay for the home in full and you only take a loan since interest rate is so low now at less than 2%, and the money is spent earning something else in the meantime where there are better returns. OK you get a picture of how of conservative I am.

Simple calculation  - loan of $1 million at 2% fixed, impossible for it to be fixed at 2% but let's play along in this magic genie lamp world, over 50 years. Monthly payment is $2,633.34 and total interest paid at end of 50 years is $580,003. Interest paid is half the loan amount! WTF! Beware of the genie's wishes given to home buyers!

In contrast with $1 million loan at 2% fixed over a standard 30 years tenure, again let's pretend that we live in a nice fluffy world of flowers and low interest rates, the monthly installment of $3,692  is higher but total interest paid to the blood-sucking bank is $329,139 after 30 years! Simple compare and contrast of an oversimplified fixed low interest rate and the result is that the longer you take the loan, the higher the total interest paid! The home is not that cheap after all. Wake the fuck up, my fellow daft Singaporeans who want to afford a home by taking a 50-years loan.

Anyway, some analysts and industry players interviewed said that UOB's loan gimmick is because banks are competing for loans and not because the property market is in trouble. WTF loser explanation. Facepalm. The property market is in trouble and that is why banks want to compete for the shrinking pool of home buyers taking loans. Duh. Anyway, the property agents and developers have a vested interest to give the impression that their industry is still booming and point the fingers at the banks having loan competitions unilaterally instead.

Longer mortgage tenures could have adverse implications
By Linette Lim | Posted: 14 August 2012 2150 hrs

SINGAPORE: Longer mortgage tenures could have adverse implications for the property market, borrowers and banks if it becomes more widespread.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam gave the assessment in a written reply to Parliament on Monday.

He added that the government will continue to closely monitor the property market.

Stretching a home loan out over 50 years does translate to a lower monthly instalment. But this is just an illusion of affordability.

Mr Tharman said that the borrower ends up paying more interest. The repayment period could also stretch past the retirement age, when the borrower may no longer have a steady income stream.

According to analysts, the higher interest rate on a longer term loan would mean that loan repayment can be easily be 20 per cent more in the long run, compared to taking a 30-year loan.

The government said it will monitor mortgage tenure in the context of how banks structure their mortgage products, as well as banks' underwriting standards.

Still, analysts said the government is wary such loans could fuel speculative buying and undo its efforts to cool the property market.

Alfred Chan, director, Financial Institutions, Fitch Ratings, said: "Had property prices not been where they are, let's say (if) they were to be increasing at a more moderate pace, I think affordability wouldn't be an issue and banks wouldn't need to go out that aggressively to offer 50-year loan tenors."

Analysts added that the move to offer 50-year tenor loans also reflects the stiff competition among banks.

Loan yields in Singapore are at 2 per cent compared to emerging markets like Indonesia, with 6 per cent.

Timothy Kua, director, SmartLoans.sg, said: "I don't think the property market has cooled very significantly. It is still fairly healthy and UOB's 50-year loan tenor is probably more of an inter-bank competitive move to try and win over a bigger chunk of the mortgage market."

The government said its cooling measures in recent years have helped reduce the risk of a sharp escalation in property prices.

Still, it has cause for concern.

Fifty-year tenor loans first appeared six years ago in California, driven by sky-rocketing home prices.

California now has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the United States as of last July. According to reports, its foreclosure rate is one in every 239 households.

Aristocare's Great Bluff and a Singaporean Kiasu Dream

This is one random story that makes me laugh again during this national day period as I reflect on Singapore chionging ahead to get ahead. This is the story of Aristocare, which is more aptly named Aristofuckcare. This story is even more relevant now when Primary 1 phase 2C is over and some kancheong parents are feeling so left out in the game as they felt they are letting their kids off with a bad start at the blocks because they could not get their kids into a "good" school blablabla.

The Singapore kiasu dream - study, go enrichment classes and have tuition to get ahead of the pack. What's next is... cheating in exams. Don't shake your head. Because it is not about dishonesty, it is about winning! That's the motto for my tuition centre that I'm going to set up. After all, that is what Kelvin Ong from Aristocare is telling everyone.

Just so you get a rough idea,the fees for Aristocare's GEP class is $1,100 for 4 lessons, each lesson 1.5 hrs, ++ other fees. If there are 5 kids in a class, that's $5,500 in the pocket. If he does 10 kids, 20 kids, 30 kids, you get the picture. MOE already busted his ass, CASE is on his ass, IRAS should be next. If Kelvin Ong Wee Loong screwed some old frigid sex-deprived MOE staff to look the other way all these years, you bet CPIB is next asking him out for kopi.  LOL

How was Kelvin Ong dishonest? He said he graduated from NUS, was a gifted student at ACS, was a teacher at ACS - all untrue. Sexposed by NUS and ACS. He preyed on what Singaporean parents wanted - they believe in hothousing their average normal kids and magically making them geniuses by attending fancy overpriced elitist enrichment schools. By eagerly buying into the tuition centre industry, they get a bonus for their kids' social mobility. Right. Kelvin Ong must have felt that it was so easy to con Singaporeans. No wonder Ah Tiong businessmen like to do business deals with Singaporeans in China - we are generally gullible and want to part with our money buying magic stones. Facepalm.

Singapore parents want to believe they are doing the best for their kids. So watch out, be suspicious if your tutor from some branded United Square centre said he has a Phd from MIT, a photo framed on the wall with his arm around Tomas Transtromer's shoulders, and taught at Eton before. When he tells you that, quickly check and hold onto your wallet to make sure it is not pickpocketed already. Also check if MIT, the M is actually "Madras", the person has a Phd and is not some quack doctor, that photo of Tomas is not just some old random ang moh and Eton is really Eton College.


The saddest part about all his dishonesty as others before me have said and I need to repeat as it is so hilarious, is that he tried to blame his mother. He said that, wait for this champion lame excuse, his mother claimed to him "Boy boy, you are my smart boy boy, so gao that you were in the gifted programme in ACS". WTF Dishonest never mind, still so spineless and blame his mother! LOL

Khaw and the Brompton Saga

Taptaptap. Did you hear that? That is someone in Nparks tapping out after getting a Guillotine Choke for gaming the purchasing system. Khaw Boon Wan, famous for asking us to send our old folks to Batam or was it JB to live in retirement villages, is trying to gain moral high ground.

With a mighty wave of his hand, he has suspended a civil servant who outsmarted the system to get cool bikes for his teams. I want to work with such a boss if I was a civil servant! Use taxpayers money and get ourselves nice Subaru WRX or Volvos as company cars to drive around for productivity. Oh shit, Traffic Police already thought of that first! FUCK. Anyway, so far this Nparks Brompton bikes case is not a corruption scandal. Unless the suspended guy got a blow job, had money under the table or some other woohoo favours, like the CNB and SCDF chiefs had.

Just the start of this month, Ah Khaw supported the decision to buy 26 pricey Brompton foldable bikes, each costing S$2,400. I don't cycle and don't know the difference between a Cannondale and a Colnago, so maybe it is a good bang for buck for a branded bike in terms of value. Although the cheapskate in me says what looks like the stiff 20-kg sub-$200 bikes in Carrefour or Giant seem like a better deal in terms of absolute price. So cheap, can buy more! In different colours! The extra unspent money can even buy pretty blue and pink ribbons, and bells for the handlebars, and a tiny white basket at the back of the bike to tarpau food. OK these add-ons make the bikes look pussy compared to a rugged mountain bike. But fuck, a foldy, Brompton or not, is damn guniang anyway.

When public pressure mounted and painfully humped him in the backside, Khaw desperately decided to salvage the situation. While trying to defend the earlier productivity reasoning, he also finally admitted there might be personal bias in the buying.  Facepalm. Wasn't it obvious from the start? So cheers for the Hardwarezone CSI guys who exposed these eerrr "discrepancies" right at the start. It's our taxpayers money we are talking about!  For bringing this to light, give them a Tiger! I mean a Chang, errr I mean a Heineken, errr I mean a Kirin. FUCK. Which is it now? OK CSI team, Brompton bikes over, go check the books on those pre-owned Leopards we bought!

MND statement on suspension of NParks officer

Updated 09:34 PM Jul 24, 2012

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of National Development (MND) has released a statement on the suspension of the National Park Boards (NParks) officer in charge of buying foldable bikes. The following is its statement in full.

"Last month, an MND Internal Audit team was tasked by Minister Khaw Boon Wan to work with NParks to review the purchase of 26 foldable bikes by NParks, with a view to ascertain its justification and to see if its procurement process could be improved. This followed a report on the purchase, in the local media, on June 24.

"The internal audit has been completed. While the audit established that the reasons for purchasing foldable bikes to enhance work productivity of NParks field staff were valid, it had also uncovered some discrepancies which, although inconclusive by themselves, suggested the possibility of bias in the procurement.

"MND has decided that the discrepancies were significant and warrant further investigation. Meanwhile, the NParks officer responsible for the transaction has been suspended from duty."

Donate to Locals or Foreigners?

Recently, there was the sad MRT accident at the Downtown Line Bugis station work site and 2 PRC workers unfortunately died. Condolences.They are foreign workers working at MRT and other construction sites as Singaporeans like me don't want to do such hard jobs. Even if one day manual workers are really unionised and have minimum wages, not the NTUC-type of union, raise the pay to $5000 a month also I might not take it up - injuries, short shelf life since I get too old for the job fast as it is a physically demanding job, stigma of being a construction worker in white-collar economy Singapore.

Some do-gooders want to start a donation drive for the dead. Score karma points, go ahead, whatever makes you feel tingly and good. Whatever, but these workers get compensation as the company bought insurance which is compulsory. In the event of unfortunate uplorry, the compensation is $111,00 maximum if those workers earn less than $1,600 a month under the Workmen's Compensation Act by MOM.Just so that you know the context of your donation and whether you should donate now or after the compensation is given so that you can adjust how much to give.

Then the sensible question most cynics would ask. Donate is good, even donate to foreigners, as they are humans too. However, those who donated or worse, ask people to donate but don't donate themselves, have they ever donated to people in Singapore, fellow Singaporeans? They have, good! They don't, errr ok. Facepalm. So many uncles and aunties living on streets, who look shit poor. Any big calls for donations to these locals?  Furthermore, some do-gooders were mortified by Singaporeans' triage mentality over donations arising from dramatic events and accidents!

They have compensation. It is never enough compensation one. It is harsh reality of workers, migrant or not, manual or not.

Cynics like me have the right to be selfishly selective in how we want to be selfless what. LOL  I donate to temple or my alma mater building fund or some kids charity, I buy overpriced tissue packets from the tissue aunty at hawker centres as I support her for not depending on a handout, I donate to the blind lady singer at Tampines MRT when I see her for the same reasons and more since she really can sing not like some other baskers, and I don't feel bad at all not donating to the families of the PRC workers who died in the sad accident. I'm outright discriminatory on this form of charity.

Why? Because there is a priority in who I donate to and who I want to feel good about. $2, $20, $200 donate to the PRC families who can get compensation from insurance anyway? I would rather give that $2, $20, $200 to someone local who needs it just as much. Zero-sum games in life is a bitch, and we prioritise. It is right and our right to express on prioritising who to donate, not based on xenophobia as I don't hate foreigners at all, but I sympathise with the plight of locals more and have a kindred bond with them especially in charity.

LOL sounds like the government telling the people - Complain so much, you come up with better suggestions and do it! We so unappreciated boohoohoo!

Younger Singaporeans and Tax Burdens

Shanmugam is the law minister and also foreign affairs minister, and he is out of his depth outside of these areas. Recently, he is like me and most of us, he talked a lot of cock regarding income and tax. A $1,000 household income is enough to afford a BTO HDB flat after factoring housing grants. Of course one who knows his plebeian lot in life and is not fussy about a life-long mortgage can afford a 2-room BTO in some corner of Singapore with no MRT within walking distance, but not enough for food, transport, utilities for the family perhaps. Then a few days ago he said younger Singaporeans should not be burdened with taxes. Which is good in intention and I almost thumped my chest with my fist in affirmation to his ideals.

However, the law minister was talking specifically about Singapore's income tax, which is truly among the lowest in the world, and along with low corporate tax is part of the PAP's golden plan to bring in FDI and talents into Singapore. Nevertheless, Singaporeans young and old, are taxed in other ways. Tax by other names.

Consumption tax like the GST is one and it is especially hurting in its current form as there is only one level of tax for essential or luxury goods and services. True the current 7% GST is low compared to other developed nations e.g. the roughly 20% in Nordic countries, but GST is regressive taxation and the lower income are relatively taxed more than the higher income. Still the PAP assured that they would not raise taxes until at least 5 more years as part of an election vote-winner, so good thing there. BTW you know if we assume younger Singaporeans because they just entered the workforce and don't earn as much compared to those who worked longer, all things equal, GST means they are arguably taxed more even!

When the younger Singaporean buys a home. He is also taxed. The last I know stamp duty aka tax when one buys HDB or private property, is age-blind for first property owners. Stamp duty is progressive and can be hefty. As far as I know, there is no discount for "younger Singaporeans" who just bought their new home. Whether they should get a discount in stamp duty if they buy a BTO vs a resale HDB vs a private property is a different complex social-economic manipulation altogether. But the bottom line is, younger generation, lets say those below 30 or 35, are taxed as much as those who upgraded their property (excluding investment property owners where there are various market-cooling stamp duties). BTW it is the same with property tax. I didn't know there was relief for "younger Singaporeans".

Keeping an eye on the ball, younger Singaporeans are already burdened with tax, just the same, if not more, than older Singaporeans. And Shanmugam.defended that younger Singaporeans should not shoulder a bigger tax burden for the less privileged in Singapore. Of course not, They should't. The more well-off should shoulder that burden instead.

Younger S'poreans should not be burdened with taxes: K Shanmugam
By Dylan Loh | Posted: 11 March 2012 1827 hrs

SINGAPORE: Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that the government does not want younger Singaporeans to be saddled with tax burdens, even as the elderly are looked after.

He said it's important to balance the country's revenue and expenditure.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to the recently concluded Budget Debate in Parliament, at the sidelines of a community event at the Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency.

Mr Shanmugam said the government wants a society which looks after one another, especially those who can't help themselves.

"There's a lot of debate on whether you can survive in Singapore on S$1,000 or S$850. We don't want anyone to earn that amount, which is why we give opportunities for people to upgrade themselves. And education is made, literally free, for those who can't afford to pay for it," he said.

This year's doubling of health care spending and help for the low income as well as disabled, all point towards an inclusive approach.

But at the same time, the accounts do not go unchecked.

Mr Shanmugam said: "When I talk to my grassroots leaders, I just did a walkabout in my constituency, we also have to send another message, which is that, only about 50 per cent of Singaporeans pay taxes.

"And you look at all the other fees and everything else that's collected, in terms of what the government gets, and what it spends, it's all in the book.

"And today if you look at it in those terms, in terms of the revenue and expenditure, it is something the government has to be careful about."

Mr Shanmugam said currently a significant part of taxes are paid by foreigners who are easily mobile, and by the better-off.

But the government also ensures that tax rates in Singapore remain competitive.

And rather than increasing taxes, he noted that the government would rather people keep their money and support those in need, for a truly inclusive society.

He said: "We keep our tax rates competitive, 20 per cent at the top rate. Hong Kong is 15 per cent. If you go to UK, US, you know what their tax rates are?

"You're talking about 40 per cent, 50 per cent, people are talking about even higher. We don't want those kind of rates.

"We rather people keep their money and spend it as they like, buy insurance for their health and at the same time the government supports those who despite all the help, still need further help. So inclusive society."

Want Better Healthcare? Higher Tax!

That is what Tharman said in parliament during the budget debate. If people want better healthcare, medicine and trained medical staff don't fall from the sky, and there would be higher tax!

Wow such a scary ultimatum man. Did it occur to the dear minister that we don't mind paying more tax if there is better healthcare? Wait! Mr IRAS, don't come knocking at my door! I insert caveat now. Although, depends on how much tax more also as I don't want to pay a health tax that is twice half my income tax, just to subsidise for another Mr fat diabetic always-eat-sleep-never-exercise citizen's healthcare bills.

With the population getting older and apprehension of inflation and rising health costs, the Budget promised  medifund and medisave top-ups. Clap. There is more subsidies for patients in community hospitals of 20-50%. Clap clap.They would push out more hospital beds - 1,900 in the general (acute) hospitals and ,1800 beds in the community hospitals. Clap clap clap. To give a rough idea of the scale of the beds being pushed into the wards, Singapore General Hospital has about 1,500 beds. The new Khoo Teck Puat hospital has about 550 beds in comparison. So not a small number of beds, assuming that there is enough healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, technicians to service the beds. Hand about to clap but stop. More beds so what, if there is not enough attentive doctors and pretty nurses. Nursing isn't something glam for locals as a career and Pinoys and PRC workers would continue to be around in the wards.

However, why didn't the Budget assure for me in healthcare despite the enhanced instruments? The simple fact was that Tharman promised healthcare spending may reach 3.5% of GDP in 2030. 2030, not 2020, not 2015. Also, I despair to think that the foreigners here might stress our healthcare infrastructure just like they stressed housing and transport. Yet, there was no populist gesture of a citizens-first healthcare. Maybe like the more subsidised B and C wards only for citizens? The PAP government just does not seem serious or sincere enough about assuring us in our growing healthcare worry.

DBS ATM CMI WTF

DBSATMCMIWTF!

More news of more unauthorised withdrawals from DBS ATMs and more bitching about DBS is justified and expected. Previously, 700 over customers and close to $1million stolen from ATMs. This time about $23,000 was stolen from 17 unfortunate DBS-POSB customers over the weekend. Compensation is on the way for them though.

DBS was quick to assure its customers that it was not new skimming, just that it was the horrible thieves who stole ATM card info did not have time to steal all the money the earlier round. Right, very assuring. Now that the thieves had spent all the booty on booze, women, gambling, their kids overseas' education fund and God knows what other vices, they need more money and dug deeply into their bank accounts ahem... DBS customers' bank accounts, which are the same thing.

So! Some questions we should ask, while we decide whether we should move all our money into a competitor bank or just stuff the cash into Milo tins in the kitchen,

1) The skimming were from 2 ATMs located at Bugis Street some time in November 2011, and 2,726 people had used those dodgy ATMs. Simple maths meant that up to 800 people had their bank accounts broken into already from the news reports and close to 2,000 more are next in line. Did DBS earlier inform these 2,000 customers that they might be next and they should get a new card and change their passwords as a temporary security measure?

2) The police were quick to arrest 2 Malaysian ATM card skimmers soon after the big ATM heist last month. The latest ATM theft of $23,000 simply showed that the lads in blue did not nab all members of the ring. Or they snared a different ring last month, which is fantastic I really know, but unfortunately it isn't enough.

The Facepalm of Increasing CPF Contribution Rates for Old Folks

Tolong, tolong, don't retrench me even though I very old, expensive and not productive hor!

Come on, give the government credit. They actually want to help out the old folks by pushing employers to give employees above 50 years a higher CPF contribution rate than now. Currently, those 50-55 have their employer CPF contribution rate at 12% (a drop from the 16% before 50 years) and those 56-60 at 9% and those above 60 years at 6.5%.

From September 2012, the new tongkat for the old folks is that employer CPF contribution rates would increase in the 51-55, 56-60 and above 60 bands by 2%, 1.5% and 0.5% respectively.

Anybody who has a brain would know that this increases costs for businesses. It would now be more expensive to retain older employees, and SMEs, the backbone of Singapore's family businesses, would be affected more than others.

The government has good intentions to try stock up the old folks' CPF piggy bank so that these old timers have more for retirement, or at least more for servicing their mortgage as many in Singapore still have a housing loan to pay right until they retire.

The cruel irony is that this do-good policy actually screws the old folks more than support them. Already, employers are reluctant to retain old folks - more expensive due to seniority in the company and must spend more on retraining them, and less productive as these people just are less efficient than before. Only McDonalds hires old folks but sometimes I'm scared that the aunty or uncle falls down breaks their hip when they rush to serve me french fries. I won't be able to sleep at night if that happens.

From the cushy swivel armchair I'm sitting, if they want to increase CPF contributions and keep old folks employed, what the government could have done is actually increase the CPF contributions rates of those 31-50 (so that these lot theoretically have more for retirement but if they want to squander away their retirement savings on mortgages, their problem) and lower the contribution rates even more for those above 50 (so that these lot theoretically have more chances of being retained despite having lower productivity because of their age). Am I a fucking CPF policy expert or what.

The End is Nigh!

After the GE and PE, gloomy times are ahead as you, yes you, you and you voted the PAP in! OK OK export-oriented Singapore is helpless as the world's economy is going shit but I want to blame them anyway.

Inflation might be at least 5% this year, supported by ridiculously high car and property prices. The high carb black chai tao kway and char kway tiao you like to have for breakfast, lunch and even dinner are going to cost more. Singapore is expecting 5.3% growth, instead of the 6.2% growth predicted in the previous quarter. However, unemployment is a low 1.9% despite whatever xeno-bullshit-phobia ignorant people have been bitching about foreigners stealing jobs. If the Pinoys, Indians and Chinamen were stealing our jobs, unemployment would be fucking 19%, not 1.9%. Nonetheless dark clouds ahead. The Singapore dollar is fucking strong and therefore, our exports and manufacturing are screwed. MAS is going to leave a strong SGD - fantastic if you want to head to the USA for shopping at Premium Outlets. Despite the strong SGD, tourists are not bothered and it is doing its big part to prevent the economy from heading into a technical recession. Three cheers for the tourists from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, as they are not affected by the Eurocrisis for now. But when the PIIGS keel over onto its back with trotters in the air, gloomy days would be back.

PM Claimes No GST Hike after GE

So said PM Lee Hsien Loong according to today's ST. Let me quote this very hard to believe claim,

I very much doubt that. Unless we go wild on our spending plans, then of course we will run out of money, and then you will have to raise GST. But if we have prudent budgets and we are careful in our plans, and if we grow the economy, I think we should be in good shape.

Excuse me Mr PM, I find it hard to believe that the PAP government would not raise GST like what it did after the 2006 election. This was what the PM said months after the PAP won that election.

"It will give us precious extra resources to implement social programmes like Workfare later on. Our aim is to help the lower income groups and the elderly, not to increase their burdens. When we implement the GST increase, it's not just the GST increase, it's the package which will fully offset the impact of the GST increase and begin to strengthen the social safety nets and tilt the balance in favour of the low income groups - we will not just raise the GST but we will have a comprehensive offset package,

The PAP would increase GST to 9% or higher from the the 7% now after the election - it is just a matter of when. To have a moral high ground, they would again cite the reason that the government needs more money to help the less privileged in Singapore and that money has to come from GST.  In 2009, GST collected was close to $7 billion and the total tax revenue was more than $36 billion. Hence, GST formed a fat 20% of the overall money pocketed by the government. So, my point? Let's see if the PAP goes back on its words.