2/21/2008

Money to bail out sick banks.

Below is an extract from an email that came to me. It shows how much money we have to invest in sick banks which I agree is a great opportunity given to us and a risk worth taking. But I also share the author's sentiment about why we were so desperate to need to raise GST by another 2% to help the poor when we actually have so much money to bail out sick banks. (I have omitted copying the cynical and naughty parts of the arguments as I am not sure of the source of this article.) In the past year alone, the Singapore government ¡V through its investment arms of Temasek and GIC - invested a whopping $34, 560, 000, 000.00 in various investments worldwide. That's $34.56 billion. GIC: UBS - $14 billion British Land - $388 million Citigroup - $9.8 billion US Hedge Fund - $429 million Temasek: British Bank Barclays - $4.3 billion Merrill Lynch - $5 billion Standard Chartered - $643 million And if you think the government is stretching itself too thin, no worries. GIC deputy chairman and executive director Tony Tan says the GIC has capacity to bail out another bank. (AFP) Now, government investments are not a bad thing, to be sure. Of course there are questions of transparency and accountability which some people have brought up. Be that as it may, what is even more troubling is another issue. This is the constant lament of the government about not having enough money or financial resources to deal with Singapore 's ageing population, helping the poor, providing subsidized healthcare and so on. Thus, the government has introduced the GST hike to 7% ("to help the poor"), and is introducing the Compulsory Longevity Insurance (for our ageing population), and Means Testing (for healthcare). All of these are paid for by Singaporeans, in some way or another. In raising the GST to 7%, Channel NewsAsia reported PM Lee as saying: "Mr Lee explained that the hike was necessary to finance the enhanced social safety nets, needed to help the lower income group.." (CNA) The extra 2% will give the government a further $1.5 billion to finance "the enhanced social safety nets, needed to help the lower income group". Now, if the GIC and Temasek Holdings have $34 billion to bail out ailing foreign banks, why does the government not have the money ( a mere $1.5b) to help poorer Singaporeans, which it says it needs? Why does the government not have enough money to spend more on the aged and healthcare? Contrast the obscene spending by the GIC and Temasek with the pathetic excuse given by MCYS minister Vivian Balakrishnan about giving those on public assistance a further $23 increase, which some MPs have asked for: "The government is reviewing the S$290 monthly public assistance (PA) allowance for needy Singaporeans to see if it should be increased. It is also conducting a separate review on the qualifying income limit for assistance, which currently stands at S$1,500 a month. The review is expected to be completed later this year." (CNA) (TOC) Why does the government need to have months of "review" to ascertain whether giving another $23 to those most in need is justified? If this is not the height of hilarity, then I don't know what is. It would be funny if it weren't so sad ¡V that our government would not blink an eye in spending billions bailing out foreign banks in risky undertakings while being so hardfisted about giving a mere $23 to its most vulnerable and needy citizens. Something is just not right. How did the government suddenly make $34.5 billion appear out of thin air when they were just lamenting, not too long ago, that they didn't even have $1.5 billion to help the poor? Now, the next time I hear the government says it does not have enough money and need to raise this and raise that to fund certain "programmes" to "help the poor", I will tell them: "Please stop....."

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is only tip of the iceberg. PRC scholars get $500 monthly allowance while poor citizens get only $330. This government really gets its priority wrong. We elect a government to look after our interest but this government repeatedly failed us. We really need an alternative.

Anonymous said...

We have one of the largest foreign reserve in the world. I wonder how much is enough before MIW channel it back to lower health care cost and to help the poor.

Anonymous said...

it is the book keeping that needs to be addressed. i think a part of the earnings from the reserves shud be channelled back into the country for better distribution..

no sane reason to keep locking up trillions of dollars.. and at the same time squabble abt the $23.

if that's what "everyone" really wants, there is no reason why this shudnt be done.

Anonymous said...

Hmm... $23 vs $ billions.

A case of penny wise, pound foolish perhaps?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

there is this wise saying, no matter how much money one has, if it is kept in the bank, it belongs to someone else.

it is only yours when you use it.

but nothing is for free. those people on PA scheme, what are they expecting? but still it is good to be generous to others than to self.

Anonymous said...

The original article is from here:

http://lalaland9.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/please-stop-lying-to-us/

Anonymous said...

Now you know why the GIC & Temasek Holding are headed only by their own family members and hunchmen. It is simply because they cannot allow the worms to crawl out and stain their inefficacy handling of Singaporean's money!!!!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

such negative perceptions are very strong when people talked about it in private. but these are just gut feels and very unhealthy feelings.

further, without any proof, people should not over state their positions on such perceptions. discussing over a beer among close friends is one thing and printing them on the net is another.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, the truth will come out in about 45 year's time because they told former President Ong that they needed 50 years to work out the assets of GIC and Temasek. Someone is already working on it for the second term as President. By the time this is sorted out, most of us will not be around to witness the truth. So no use talking about this in public lah. Can talk in private only.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

we need talents to work out such messy details. alas, we have no talents to do it.

Anonymous said...

You mean nobody is working this out? You also mean that the questions raised by former President Ong ia now under the carpet?

Anonymous said...

To say it plainly, the Gahmen has given me the impression that all this while they are giving us MERE excuses for not being transparent and would not hesitate to LIE to us to achieve whatever hidden agenda that they have.

Obviously there are some truths that the Gahmen does not wants us Singaporeans to find out.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why our President and Cabinet Ministers are highly paid to ensure that their lips are sealed.

I suppose one can also regard that as a form of bribery if indeed our Gahmen has some hidden skeletons or scandals to hide from us Singaporeans.

There is ABSOLUTELY no logic for not being transparent, WHAT MORE when our leaders professes our Gahmen to be uncorruptible in all its dealings.

Do we really need a financial scandal to occur before more can be revealed like the NKF or ENRON fiascos ?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

it will be embarrassing if an enron will to happen in singapore. but don't bet on it that it will not happen.

Anonymous said...

World Of Warcraft gold for cheap
wow power leveling,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow power leveling,
wow power leveling,
world of warcraft power leveling,
world of warcraft power leveling
wow power leveling,
cheap wow gold,
cheap wow gold,buy wow gold,
wow gold,
Cheap WoW Gold,
wow gold,
Cheap WoW Gold,
world of warcraft gold,
wow gold,
world of warcraft gold,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow gold,
wow gold
buy cheap World Of Warcraft gold l3a6a7of