2/12/2011
Rising cost of living an issue in Parliament
Several MPs will be raising issues and concerns about rising cost of living, or costs of everything in Parliament on Monday. My eye balls are rolling all over. Who is the major contributor to the high cost of living? External factors! Bull! We all know who and what were the major causes of high prices and high inflation. But no one is going to go to the monkey and stick a pin into its back.
The indiscriminate jacking up of prices by the hawkers is causing great worries. Really? Are the hawkers the real culprits, or were the price hike indiscriminate?
Who were the real Mohicans who have been raising prices indiscriminately? Then again they will tell you all the hikes were justified with numbers and statistics and graphs and charts presented by the most talented managers. You can’t beat that can you? Only the hawkers, facing higher and higher rentals, refurbished and upgraded facilities, aircon, etc etc and higher cost of raw materials, transportation,…but unable to come out with beautifully cooked data and charts, are seen as indiscriminate.
The real causes of high prices are the big corporations, big businesses and, who else? …. Rentals, fees, transportations, land prices, and whatever were Not indiscriminately raised, but with very good reasons that are unquestionable. At worst they would not even show you the real statistics.
Would someone be real and ask some honest and real questions in Parliament? Or would asking questions solve anything other than getting some prepared answers from the ministers and matter closed?
Don’t be surprised some jokers will say inflation is progress! Or inflation is good or else how could a $10k HDB flat becomes $300k after 30 years. And high prices of cars, COEs and HDB flats are signs that the people are wealthy and rich and can afford to pay for them. With this kind of brilliant answers, one can argue until the cow comes home, and nothing will change. Any change will be temporary, pre GE, and the worst is yet to come, with more brilliant explanations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
Raising issues in Parliament? More like using Parliament to justify those increases. What is the point? Have there been efforts to address issues like this in the past through 'debating' in Parliament?
Higher bidding for land leads to higher rentals, leading to higher prices of everything.
But, believe me, the final conclusion will be it is a global effect and they cannot do anything about it.
There is always the robber shouting robbery and calling for police.
What's new ?
patriot
the govt seems to be paralysed when it comes to solutions. the only one it seems to know is to tack on more monetary penalties. occasionally a small handout which doesn't help anyone in their hour of need.
i just questioned a friend from england about britain's now 20% VAT. she pointed out that there is no VAT on raw food and medical bills, books, children's paraphenalia and such.
it is for sure impossible that in the face of rising medical costs and food prices here that the spore govt will remove the GST on food and medical care/medicine/vet fees, which it never should have put GST on. instead, as we know, it came up with means testing for medical bills! and sold off hawker centres to the private sector, which then promptly raised rent. and now it lurks, waiting to raise transport costs on crushed trains.
worse, the health minister, who is quite willing to flash his flabby body online, won't even reveal how he paid $8 for a heart bypass op. (i still think he paid too much. after all, isn't healthcare free for him?!)
this govt will claim that this country will face wrack and ruin if it does remove the GST on those items. that spore will be wandering into the bomb-spiked fields of welfarism. that the country will run up huge budget deficits.
It will insist on this, though it now has two new cash cows/two very large money printing machines - the 2 casinos.
it would seem we have leaders who are merely money-minded and book smart - and nothing else. hell, even budgeting is difficult for them. how else can u see a $9BILLION difference betw projections and reality for the national Budget!!!
unfortunately, life is not something that can be worked out merely on paper or pontificated on. it has to actually be lived - without the protection of obscenely large salaries and bonuses and, of course, pensions.
Privatising hawker centres is another wrong move by the Government, but as always, making money is their prime motive.
Firstly, they do not have to bother about collecting rentals from individual stalls. Secondly, the highest bidder gets the right to operate the food centres and when hawkers have to pay much higher rentals, the cost is passed on to the customers. It always ends with the working people bearing the brunt of the inflated prices.
The writing is already on the wall that we are going to see food outlets charging sky high prices for food, because workers have no other choices during lunch breaks when those outlets are operated by cartel operators outbidding everyone else.
Do you really believe the Government cannot do anything or would you rather believe that they do not want to do anything, when they have the licence to squeeze every drop of juice from us citizens?
My niece just came home for CNY and at the same time hoping to buy cheaper stuff, and particularly clothings, here. She did that over the last few years. What she found out this year was that she could now get them cheaper in the UK. That must tell us something about inflation over here. Are we getting the real inflation figures I wonder?
I think it must be true that things are terribly expensive over here, although I have not done much shopping elsewhere.
Time for fashion wears and non essential items such as latest phone and computer to be expensive. Too much unnecessary spending. Having said that, prices of food, uncooked and cooked must be made as affordable as possible and not raised as though they are luxuries. Of course those going to restaurants for meals are a different category.
Die liao..saw some million $ minster on t.v telling us to be realistic in the coming "angpow"...and this is the same elite who only "bought" a pink school bag for a little girl from a poot family during Christmas years ago on national t.v (not sure if he paid from his own pocket)...sigh
No other important issues to bring up?Or the rising cost started yesterday?
$1 for U, $1000 for ME. Please say thank you.
The same old issues will circulate in our Parliament, over and over again, without any constructive resolution being found. As all queries must be provided in advance, so the ministers and their underlings can craft their answers to justify their actions, which in most cases are already signed, sealed and stamped. And so the story goes, round and round, and it is always back to square one.
All these are just to show the MPs are doing their work, gathering feedback. Whether bringing these issues up in Parliament will accomplish anything is another matter.
Welcome to feedback, Singapore style.
"Do you really believe the Government cannot do anything or would you rather believe that they do not want to do anything, when they have the licence to squeeze every drop of juice from us citizens?"
Answer this: How did the poor Egyptian folks and the young and jobless, get the attention they need from the govt?
From times immemorial, there is ONLY one way to catch the attention of those high up in their ivory towers or helicopters.
Parliament is only a side show for part time politicians to pretend to ask some prepared questions followed by a scripted reply to belittle citizens for their stupidity, frog in well mentality. Do not take it too seriously, it could get better in future if the rumours of some half baked actor standing for elections, gets into Parliament.
Don't be surprised, the best American President was an actor. The rest of their Presidents want to be actors or look like actors. And it took a real actor to beat them all: )
In Sin, many want to be KOK singers. Maybe they should look around for a KOK singer.
If Tay Ping Hui gets himself into parliament, it will not be surprising. However, for him to be CEO of Sin, impossible.
In any case, feel that he has join PAP at the wrong time; unless he wants to be considered an opportunist. The sentiments against the leaders are at its' highest and even if he becomes a parliamentarian, even if he is a good actor, he will still loose much respect from his fans.
>>Maybe they should look around for a KOK singer.
Hhmm?...thought they also got the betterest in Wong Can't Sing...pic of him singing away is frequent in local papers
I also thought we do have actors in Parliament now, mediocre at best. Zorro Lim is one. Unashamedly tried to garner an oscar but failed.
Post a Comment