8/04/2010
Manifesto of Reform Party
Below are the 19 policy pledges of the Reform Party that I copied from its site.
This is a list of 19 policy pledges that are on the top of our agenda for action when we gain a majority in Parliament:
Providing Cheaper and Better Lower-Income Housing by releasing more land for house-building and allowing the private sector a greater role
Universal health insurance to be funded through current CPF contributions replacing current Medisave and Medishield schemes
Basic Old Age Pension payable to all provided they have worked and paid into CPF for a sufficient number of years
Reform of CPF to make contributions above those necessary to fund health and unemployment insurance and basic pension voluntary
Universal child benefit scheme (as part of Guaranteed Minimum Income) to replace current tax breaks that heavily favour women on higher incomes
Guaranteed Minimum Income for those in work to replace current Workfare system and to be integrated with child benefit and tax system
A Minimum Wage to encourage businesses to raise productivity
Reforms to Foreign Worker Policy to ensure that business gets the skilled labour it needs but that our own citizens come first
Reductions in or exemptions from GST for certain categories of goods like food that form a higher proportion of total expenditure for those on median incomes and below
Universal free and compulsory education from pre-school through to secondary level
Expanded university enrolment and increased investment in improving quality of education for everyone
Increased assistance for older workers and women re-entering the labour market to retrain and acquire new educational qualifications
Reduction in NS to 18 months initially with aim to reduce it to one year as soon as feasible
Requirement for new citizens and PRs to do NS or to pay lump sum tax instead
Privatization of Temasek and GIC and distribution of equity to Singaporean citizens of more than five years standing
Continuing Business and Foreign Investment Friendly Environment coupled with low tax rates
Greater help and support for local SMEs to grow world-class companies
Abolish restrictions on freedom of expression to encourage creativity and innovation necessary for a 21st century knowledge-based economy
Reduce waste and inefficiency in government starting with slashing ministerial salaries and replacing it with performance-linked earnings tied to indicators directly related to your welfare
I am sold to these pledges. I just want to add one point on the housing policy. Do away with salary ceiling. If we build enough flats, there is no fear of those who earns a bit more fighting with those who earn lesser. Forcing young people to buy expensive private flats is wicked.
Also, every citizen who has served NS should be entitled to buy a flat from HDB as a recognition for his sacrifice to the nation.
I support all the 19 pledges.
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16 comments:
Hehe,
Somebody gotta pay for all these.
Who?
There's lots more but I like to add two for the time being:
1. COE and ERP will be abolished. They didn't produced the desired results anyway, ie reduce traffic on our roads.
2. GRCs will be abolished. All electoral wards will revert back to single seat wards principally to ensure that there will be no coattail piggy rides for persons with little or no merit.
One more and this is targeted at those who are not citizens yet but behave they are already immortals.
1. No PRs will be permitted to engage in local political activities. Infringement of this regulation will be reason for immediate revocation of PR status and the said person and or family immediately repatriated, without appeal.
In the world of politics, politicians promise the sun and the moon before getting elected. After getting elected, they do not remember what they had promised.
Yup, that's why sometimes it's better to stick with a known devil than an unknown angel.
Hehe.
Wally my Fren;
it is good to give everybody an opportunity to prove his/her worth rather than to stick with sickening clowns. If it is proven there is a devil, then it is imperative to have it exorcised.
Anyway, like to suggest that the Political CEO of the future be limited to a maximun of two terms and no one of his or her immediate family can vie to be the next CEO for a generation.
patriot
Patriot,
You are absolutely correct.
Just wondering how this Reform Party can project themselves to form the majority in Parliament when they hasn't even got a single seat yet. A grandiose plan to be sure but one that takes a lot of hard work and perseverance.
One more to add to the manifesto:
All public transport companies including the SMRT will be nationalized and will not be profit driven. Public transport is a responsibility of national government and will be managed as such.
Din't forget hospitals and HDB as well. Return them to the govt to be run on cost plus basis.
WOW! Socialism and the welfare state.
Looks like my "Matilah Singapura" will come true.
I have always made the argument that it will be the introduction of an advanced welfare state that would bring S'pore down and make everyone "equally poor".
Fuck, I hope they get in. I wanna see the fun. It is not often that you get to witness the total collapse of a society all from one core ideology: the entitlement mentality.
Rockin!
Matilah is right!
IF they get in, we could become an impoverished welfare state like Sweden or Denmark that can only produce world famous companies every year or two
We should stick with the capitalist system that has produced such successes as Haiti, Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea!
True, I second that.
Seriously, capitalism,communism, socialism, on their extremes, are bad. We are heading towards one extreme of capitalism that will lead to our own downfall.
I believe we have the wisdom to moderate socialism and capitalism to benefit as many citizens as possible without going to the extremes.
Matilah is always talking about extremes. Free unabridged market and political system, no country, no citizens, capitalism with a big C or socialism with a big S like Europe.
No one is advocating such stuff. Moderation is what is necessary to keep everyone from going wild.
Oh, I will like to offer the Reform Party a chance to have a go at it. Not this time, but we need to give them at least 20 seats to build up for the next GE. By then they will have some experience, attract more better people and can put up a serious challenge to run the country.
Not changing and to continue with the present bunch, in my view, will lead us over the cliff.
True, but let it not be one step forward and two steps back in the end.
As Wally said, somebody gotta pay for all the goodies.
> No one is advocating such stuff. Moderation is what is necessary to keep everyone from going wild.
True, that I am. Middle ground is compromise, and that is worse.
WRT "extremes" -- the context in which my ideas spring are from the realm of individual thought and action -- i.e. you are responsible for yourself -- your "extreme" views or "wimpy moderation" will reap you consequences according to natural laws of the universe which don't give a shit about you, your life, the state of your consciousness nor your relationships.
Everyone who is born carries within them their own eventual death.
What do you do in the time between birth and death? Huh? Up to you. You want to believe in the "wisdom of the crowd", go ahead -- the herd is always wrong when it is in the political realm.
In the free-capitalist realm, individual action is rewarded or penalised -- i.e. your profits are yours, your losses are yours to experience.
In the mixed-economic/ socialist/ statist system profits are personalised but losses are socialised. Therefore you have to pay for everyone else's "bad behaviour" and "greedy evil deeds".
You like that system? Good for you.
I will laugh at your eventual suffering! Afterall, I earned that right as you earned the right to be wrong.
Matilah, what would you consider our current system? Socialist or capitalist?
My take is that it is capitalist, getting purer by the days. And because of this, it will disintegrate in a matter of time.
redebean,
After the end of the Cold War, there are very few states which are "Pure" capitalism" or "socialsm". The only pure socialist states which comes to mind is N Korea.
Most of the nation states of today's world are mixed economies -- they have some aspects of socialism and some capitalism... in varying degrees.
Singapore is actually moving AWAY from their "relatively pure" laissez faire beginnings starting with Raffle's Brit outpost in the "far east".
Capitalism where the state plays an increasing active role is NOT "capitalism" in the true sense -- i.e. voluntary individual enterprise conducted in a rubric of private property and individual rights.
In Singapore the state and its cronies play an active part not only in "capitalism" itself, but also influence govt policy.
That is a recipie for impending disaster.
Any centralisation of economic (and political) activity is SOCIALISM. Welfare for corporations is SOCIALISM. Favours for the rich is SOCIALSM... it is just the "opposite" of "worker" socialism, but it is still socialism.
That is the root of our decline. Favours the elite and rich, to make more and more and more.
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