Is the PAP a profligate government?
-
Taken from:
http://singstatistician.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-pap-prolifigate-government.html
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Is the PAP a profligate government?
I am very worried about a profligate governement.
With all the publicity about the Elected President, everyone should know that one of the key functions of the President is to protect the reserves of Singapore. In 1984, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said the following at a dialogue session in Tanjong Pagar Community Centre.
If the Government acted irresponsibly, he noted, 'your one dollar now may be worth 20 cents by the end of the year'.
Indeed, if the Cabinet were spendthrift and cared only for short-term gain, it could dish out freebies with abandon, squandering reserves that had been prudently accumulated over decades, he added.
'What has been built in 25 years, you can throw away in 25 days of madness,' he warned, with a sobriety that many had come to associate with him.
http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/legal/ln2/rss/legalnews/72132.html
Mr Lee’s words got me thinking about the recent developments since GE 2011. During GE 2011, the Opposition adopted a Minister specific strategy pioneered by Goh Meng Seng. This strategy involved holding Ministers accountable for policy failures.
I never expected my Minister specific strategy to be
so effective at getting the PAP to listen to Singaporeans.
The Minister specific strategy worked spectacularly well. Ministers who were seen not to be performing saw their vote share drop significantly. The PAP recognized the potency of the strategy and “retired” Mah Bow Tan, Raymond Lim and Wong Kan Seng. Wary that they may become victims of a Minister specific strategy, the newly appointed Ministers have done a U-turn on many PAP policies. 
Mah Bow Tan made BIG mistakes. I am going
to correct them.For example, Minister Khaw Boon Wan wants to build 40,000 flats a year to solve Singapore's housing problems. This is even though our construction industry can only support building about 20,000 flats a year.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1132140/1/.html
Raymond Lim salah lah. I took bus and MRT so I know.
Minister Lui Teck Yew wants the government to work with the public transport companies to add more buses on the road. This is on top of the earlier announced multi-billion dollar upgrade of the MRT signaling system so that MRT trains can come at greater frequency.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/immediate-priorty-add-buses-increase-travel-information-053844875.html
I hope Khaw does better at MND. He left a lot of problem for
me to fix.Minister Gan Kim Yong has indicated the 3 areas that he would be working on to reduce the cost of healthcare in Singapore. The only way to make a meaningful impact would be to increase the level of government funding.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1132116/1/.html
I promise this time I will use a calculator and be careful about
the zeros.Flooding was not an election issue during GE 2011. The past two weekends have however seen heavy flooding in Singapore. Not one to be left out, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also joined in. He has convened an expert panel to look into the frequent flooding. This panel will undoubtedly come up with recommendations that will cost large sums of money to implement.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/expert-panel-review-flood-protection-measures-pore-123957983.html
The Ministers have therefore all discovered that the easiest way to become popular and well liked is to spend money and make voters happy. As this new thinking catches on, I expect more Ministers and MPs to come forward with ways to spend money.
Where however is all this money going to come from?
Did we find oil in Bukit Timah or something?
During the elections, DPM Tharman promised that GST will not go up for the next 5 years. If he goes back on his word or if he tries some clever scheme of raising other taxes, it is likely that he himself will become the target of a Minister specific strategy from Singaporeans struggling to make ends meet.
http://singaporege2011.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/tharman-contradicts-pm-lee-by-promising-no-gst-increase-in-next-5-years/
As I see it, the only place that they can find the money to keep all the promises is to get the money from the Reserves. If the money is going to be used to solve the problems above, I think many fair minded Singaporeans will agree that it is a good use of the money. However before we start drawing on the Reserves, we should really think whether we should be spending on the following:
$387 million YOG
$1.2 billion artificial Bishan river 
$1.87 billion National Stadium 
$575 ergonomic chair for civil servants
-
When opposition proposed something, PAP will ask where is the money to fund it.
Hypocrisy's colour is white.
High ministers salaries yet can't even spare a dime for the man in the street.
-
-
Originally posted by Askingyouto:
When opposition proposed something, PAP will ask where is the money to fund it.
Hypocrisy's colour is white.
High ministers salaries yet can't even spare a dime for the man in the street.
white is not a colour.
-
I just want to know how come it costs $1.2 billion dollars to build an artificial river in Bishan.
Seriously, $1.2 billion dollars for rocks, stones, trees and water?
-
Originally posted by charlize:
I just want to know how come it costs $1.2 billion dollars to build an artificial river in Bishan.
Seriously, $1.2 billion dollars for rocks, stones, trees and water?
DBSS.. design, build, stone stream.
-
Originally posted by Clivebenss:
DBSS.. design, build, stone stream.
