Well, having lessons at 4pm, I've only managed to watch the start of the Budget 'live' on CNA on Thursday.
Instead of a fiscal suggestion, as what was reported in the Straits Times today, it turned out to be a National Day Rally speech instead, with all the all-inspiring speech made with a kind and gentle face in the shape of Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (wow I can spell it!).
So, I had to turn to the Straits Times this morning for the report and highlights of the Budget this year.
Wow, how surprised I was! The Straits Times had glittering, encouraging and sensational reports of what the Singaporean public will be benefitting from this budget. We'll get rebates in ultility and conservancy bills, property tax rebates, lower road tax, a Public Transport Fund, 90% subsidy for kindergarden fees, 80% subsidy for post-diploma courses, reduced maid levy, Cess of 1% to be abolished in restaurants, WORKFARE BONUSES AND GST CREDITS!!!!
"Budget 2007: Poised for the future","Wage-boost for lower income", "Corporate tax cut, CPF rate up", "Govt shows its capitalist head, socialist heart", screamed the headlines.
The 'goodies' were even given coloured illustrations.
For a moment, instead of an 'objective, serious' report, I thought it was an advertisement for Shing Sheong's CNY sale or something.
The budget is good undeniably, but by giving such a sensational, colourful report of the budget kind of spoils the 'objectivity' supposedly needed in the mainstream press.
But well, God (or the Devil, depending on how you see it) is in the details. So digging amongst the stockpile of congratulatory messages and commentary, I managed to find out some details. Being the ever-selfish Singaporean, I first look at what 'goodies' will I get, since this is the first year I got considered in the Budget as an 'adult' Singaporean.
(Source: Sg govt media release: Budget 2007)
Basically, Line 2 is what the families will spend due to the GST hike, and Line 3 what the families will get.
At first glance, one will exclaim, wow! Everyone will benefit from the GST rise! All the amounts from Line 3 exceeds that of Line 2!!!
But again, God is in the details.
Firstly, the Line 2 is based on the 2002/03 Household Expenditure survey. How relavant is it today? Well, it's up to you to decide. Question: Where is the survey for 2005/06??
Secondly, Line 3 includes almost EVERYTHING, e.g. GST credits, Senior Citizens' Bonus, U-save rebates etc (read the fine print yourself). Erm, I thought BEFORE the GST hike, there were already these rebates in place?!?!? Didn't we have ultility rebates from around April to July last year? Why make it sound as if ALL the benefits we get from the state come from the GST hike?? Surely the money come from elsewhere as well??
Most importantly, any educated person with slighty-above-average IQ would have noticed by now, the Line 3 is the TOTAL benefits from FIVE YEARS, while Line 2 is the extra GST you have to pay for ONE YEAR!! What a creative way to present data! By comparing the benefits of FIVE YEARS vs the extra payment due to the GST in ONE YEAR, it is sure to make the benefits waaaaaaaaaaay higher than the extra payment due to the GST. Maybe I could try this method of rigging data in my Honours' Thesis in 3 years' time. hmm.
So, as my family do not have small children and zero low-income workers, what we'll (as a whole family) get is $800 per year (excluding the ultilities, service and conservancy rebates which were ALREADY in place), and assuming the calculations of the above annex is true (extra GST burden = $690), we'll only benefit $110 per year. Well, if my school frees of approximately $6000 per year is added, the extra GST will be paid will be added a further $120. hmm. So maybe for me, being in the so-called 'sandwiched' class, the increase in GST is perhaps negative for me instead of positive.
I can understand the government's direction of shifting direct taxes to indirect taxes. Firstly, we need to cut coporate taxes to make us more competative in the global market to woo foreign investors.
Secondly, as pointed out by my JC economics tutor Mrs Than, as our population ages, the tax base for direct taxes will shrink.. hence, to make sure the government's revenues are not compromised, we have to gradually shift our tax base from an direct one (income and coporate tax) to a indirect one (GST).
Well by both counts I agree with the government, but I worry for some sectors of our society.
The Workfare bonus is only available to those who work but are receiving wages of $1000 or less.. this is a good move, as it kinda gives them a pulling hand in a world of deflated wages for the lower income.
However, I worry for those who are jobless. In economics, there are people whom we call the 'discouraged' workers - those who tried to find jobs, but gave up after being consistently unable to find desirable jobs.
Also, I worry for people whom due to some sickness they have to visit the hospital frequently or be hospitalised. This situation is only going to hit them doubly hard. First by missing out on the Workfare, and second, hit by the extra 2% in GST when they consume healthcare (we know how expensive healthcare is these days, and 2% is A LOT to these poor people)
Therefore, other than just supplementing low-wage workers, it would be a lot more helpful that a fund could be set aside to help these people deal with the ever-increasing cost of healthcare or by exempting low-income/assets people from GST in healthcare, especially when healthcare is really so bloody expensive these days.
Blogger Molly Meek is very sharp. She noticed all how these calculations are based on the INCREASE in GST, instead of the TOTAL GST paid. The assumption will be such: the people would be already USED TO the old GST rate, so therefore, when calculating the costs and the benefits, we only need to calculate the INCREASE, not the TOTAL. Good measure? You decide.
The new GST credits last until 2010. Why 2010? Something I'm quite sure of is that, come 2011 (you can hold me to that in 4 years' time), we'll get one big lump sum. For what? Politically-savvy people should know what special year that is. The government is kinda 'storing' the extra revenue to be released on that 'special year'.
But beyond that? I think the GST is here to stay, and if any offset packages were to be offered after 2011, it would just to offset any further INCREASE from the 7%. The previous 7% would be forgetten, and we'll be stuck with it.
In conclusion, other than the suggestions I've made, this is quite a good Budget. Most importantly, as learnt from Jack Neo's movie 'Just Follow Law', perhaps more flexibility could be exercised when helping the lower-income/assets people in subsidising their healthcare, housing, ultilities, transport needs etc. Also, the government must really put in effort to reach out to these poor people, as they are the ones who are usually not so literate/aware, yet at the same time, need the most help, so to really make Singapore a pragmatic yet all-inclusive society.
Most importantly, we shouldn't treat this Budget as if it is the final, nailed-on one. It's just a 'suggestion' by the Finance Ministry.
"Referees get scrutinised left and right and players aren't helping them. I was probably the world's worst and I'm on my high horse because I kicked a lot of players, but there are a lot out there who are trying to put one over the referee by diving...We all know the high-profile players but I wouldn't give them the time of day and that's why I'm glad I'm not playing. I'd be pulling my hair out. There are lads playing for England, Scotland and Ireland who do it. It's not just a foreign thing. Lads I played with dive and it drives me crazy. They go down like they've been shot and it's crazy. If I'd gone down faking injury I would have had to go and see my family and they would disown me if I was trying to get another player in trouble. "
Then what? Should Keane's family now disown him? Or should the legions of Keane's football fans, or even those who hated him yet respected him disown him as well?
I've noticed myself to be blogging more regularly recently, and perhaps that's a bad thing.
I'm not sure why, almost every night after returning to my hall room from school, I would not know what I want to do, just watching tv (7pm show, 8pm variery shows, the Peak, then news), or plainly staring at the computer screen looking for things to surf.
And when I've almost done surfing all the regular content I surf everyday - social-commentary blogs, friends' blogs, Blackburn Rovers' news and forum, the Lions' news and forum, and perhaps some youtube clips, I find myself no knowing what to do, and simply staring at the laptop screen. After my astig-affected eyes are tired with all the glare from the screen, I simply doze off and sleep.
Subconciously of course, I have a vague impression that I want/need to MUG. But MUG what? Malay seems interesting enough, but that's a limit of things you can memorise at one go. SS, rrgh spare me the long reading. Philo? I can't get the logic when I'm tired.. another day perhaps. Microecons? It seems so easy although I still feel I know so little and shaky about it. Econometrics? It's simply the stupid statistics stuff we learnt in JC.. it's MATHS C stats! Not Fmaths stats.. coupled with the lack of questions given by the lecturer, it's simply crap.
With this attitude, it's no wonder I've seen myself doing nothing. I really want to push myself into the Dean's List this sem ( I missed by 0.1 the last sem), but my attitude is simply wrong.
Hence the blogging spree.
Tonight, it's a saturday night, and I've quite no mood to study again, so I shall blog.
Well, as almost in everyday life, especially during the holidays, I've accumulated quite some thoughts and perhaps I'll take this opportunity to jot all of them down =)
Stepping into the Singapore General Hospital, this is a place that brought back childhood memories. Seeing the travelling letter boxes on the ceiling humming and sending papers across the departments, it still fascinated me now as much as when I was a kid.
What's not so fascinating though, is that a few of my relatives died here, namely my mother, my great-grandmother, my grandfather (i was not born then) and my 老舅.
It reminded me of sad instances of relatives departing this world, but I had no time to indulge in my childhood memories.
Purposefully slowing down to accompany my auntie's walking speed, we walked towards one of the clinics in the hospital.
Looking around, the population I saw was hugely familiar, it has a 'Bedok' feel to it - old people, simple clothing, and that sense of simple frugality. The queue was rather long, as the simple old folks wait faithfully and nervously, sitting on the chairs provided, while clenching tightly to the piece of queue number issued to them.
What I saw was 无奈 faces. Faces staring into space, wondering what the doctors' verdicts on them will be.
As typical Singaporeans in a public, air-conditioned setting, they talked consciously, while taking a peek everytime of the queue no. display board as they chatted.
A sense of inevitability prevailed in the current setting.
The nurses, in needing to handle the vast amounts of human beings streaming in for doctor visits, handled the patients with mechanical efficiency, sometimes with a faint smile on their faces.
Finally, it was our chance to go in after a long wait.
After the doctor has accessed my auntie, her report could only come TWO WEEKS after the scan, and treatment can only begin ANOTHER THREE WEEKS, despite the illness being quite a urgent case.
It was the first time I stepped into the Bayshore Hospital in downtown Orchard. There, the hospital was noisier, despite having significantly less number of patients as compared to SGH.
Walking a short distance to the next clinic, I passed by the parking lot. There, I saw a sight perhaps not spotted during my visit to SGH. I don't know car brands and names, but sure they were HUGE. With careful attendants helping the old folks into the cars, all wearing long-sleeved business attires. The old folks, wearing clearly more expensive clothing, complete with even nicer-looking walking-sticks, walked carefully up those BIG vehicles I saw.
Entering the clinic, I was greated with a huge smile from the stuff, and the queue was almost non-existent. There were nobody except us, and my auntie were able to go for her test very fast.
Then some chinese-looking personnels come in. Swiftly, one handsome young man attended to them, and spewing malay-sounding words fluently. Judging from the great stress on the 'Rs' on the words, I suspect they're rich Indonesians.
With significantly less waiting time, auntie completed her test, and we proceed on to do other tests.
After the tests are finished, the doctor said she could go for the treatment IMMEDIATELY THE DAY AFTER.
Conclusion: 穷人不是人. 有钱才是人.
I swear I will earn enough money next time, so that when in the future, I would be able to provide the best medical care I can for my family, and make sure their health can be only compromised by fate, rather than by human processes.
Somtimes, to avoid being hurt by something that you well know you will be hurt by, well, is to simply avoid it.
People are hurt sometimes by overnight differences. They're at a loss why things change so dramatically overnight, and why such drastic actions are taken.
The human mind is like the truth. Often, we see it the way we WANT to see it, and try to convince ourselves what it actually is to fit our current mental states.
When one is in status A, he/she will view the Truth as mindset A, and thus have actions corresponding to status A, driven by mindset A - perhaps we can call this action A.
Similiarly, when one is in status B, he/she will view the Truth as mindset B, and thus have actions corresponding to status B, driven by mindset B and do action B.
But generically speaking, the whole Truth (a paraody of someone's heart/mind/thinking) hasn't changed at all.
The actions and current mindset is just a person's way of adapting to the present status.
(I've not taken pyschology - so all these crap are born from my own theory)
So why be sad over a person's actions when fundmentally, we well know his/her heart/mind/thing) hasn't changed at all?
He/she is simply reacting to his/her current status.
Back to the point of avoidance.
To avoid something, one can choose 3 levels of avoidance.
1. Actively contact, but keep contact superficial - gradually less than previously 2. Passively contact, not deliberately avoid contact nor deliberately set up contact. 3. Deliberate planning of avoidance - perhaps total avoidance
The question: How do you drop the level of contact with a person who had intense contact with you previosly to a level of 'normal' contact eventually?
To me, I would argue that the end state is similiar, which in my view, is 2.
Option 1 or 3, are simply different means to the same end.
What's the difference then?
1, to me, is the 'step-by-step' way. To reduce the ''obviousness" of reaching the end state of 2, one can choose option 1. However, to me, it has certain flaws. Firstly, it is slow in reaching the desired stage 2. Secondly, there is a 'false hope' syndrome. People could be self-eluded that they could possibly in stage 0 (intense contact). In option 1, one can argue that it will cushion the fall from stage 0 to stage 2, I tend to think that the "false hope" syndrome's cons outweigh the benefits of the cushioning effect.
Obviously, I favour going to option 3 before to option 2. Firstly, it avoids the "false hope" syndrome. Secondly, the way the human mind works, the less you are reminded of something, the faster perhaps you can forget something.
So, friend, the fact that one practises 3 before going to 2 only show three things:
1. It's a right thing to do rationally - avoiding the "false hope" syndrome 2. I tend to think that the more people care about something, the more people will tend to adopt option 3 3. The action you see now not necessarily reflect the Whole Truth - it is only part of the Truth - the Truth has never changed.
Please trust me - I've been doing this during the holidays too.
Option 3 sucks, but I've been adopting it too.
While you're at the receiving end of it, I've been in the creating end of it, which perhaps is even worse.
Just be comforted that although the action is cruel, the Truth has never changed.
Fantastic atmosphere at Kallang.. when you see almost the whole stadium decked in red and united for one purpose. And also, it must be the only place outside of army camps where you can spam vulgarities like nobody's business.
The players when the National Anthem was played - It's really hair-raising and we all could feel the adrenalin rush and sense of pride in our hearts when the WHOLE stadium sang Majulah Singapura at the top of our lungs. The feeling was indescribable!
the players
To our left:
To our right:
Zai walk off the pitch! Zai protest! Zai Thai Coup!
The players applauding the crowd walking into the dressing room towards the end:
Us!
Oh damn, I've having a hangover now.. I want more games like this!!!
