1/25/2013
Subsidies are like crutches, for the richest people in the world
More subsidies, more subsidies, as if the govt is the Santa Claus. Oops, no, not the Santa Claus but the rich man doing charity and those stretching out their hands must feel grateful to this demi god. Without this demi god there will be no subsidies and the cost of everything will be unaffordable. So the grateful citizens that need subsidies will be forever grateful that the demi god is around. And this group of grateful will stretch from the low income to the middle income. This is a lot of grateful people.
Really, subsidies are like lelong sales. Price marked up exponentially only to give an equally big discount for the recipients to think they are getting a good deal. For that, they may even be cheated as the cost could be much lower and the price could be much lower too. If the prices are not marked up so high, there is no need for subsidies at all. It is all a matter of packaging. What really is important is the bottom line, what the people have to pay for it.
The other negative aspect of subsidies is that the recipients are portrayed as helpless, dependencies, desperadoes and needing charity, needing handouts. When or if the price is priced correctly, there is no need to queue for handouts. The dignity of the recipients will not be thrashed. Why make people go and beg for subsidies?
There are better ways to bring down the cost of operators or service providers without having to make the recipients queuing up for it, submit their particulars to plea for help. Things can be done much simply and respecting the pride and dignity of the recipients.
The proposed babies and parenthood scheme will eventually be eroded and the fees be raised by the operators to near the same level, with subsidies. The calibration to fine tune the handouts according to level of income is a very tedious and embarrassing affair, micro managing the life of people. The govt could work out the subsidies with operators and service providers, controlling their fees by giving more subsidies to more reasonably priced services while the upmarket brand be given less or no subsidies.
Still this is not the best option. It will, yes, become another crutch mentality thing. Making babies, bringing up babies must depend on govt subsidies! Why no one is talking about crutch mentality anymore?
Sinkies have become a people living on crutches, on govt handouts, despite being millionaires, multi millionaires or half a millionaires. Weird isn’t it? The richest people in the world but needing govt subsidies in almost everything to get by!
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23 comments:
Singapore uses money to control everything. Giving subsidies is one of the ploy. Conceptually it is a way to make the rich pay more and give the extra profits to the poor. But this is only a concept at best. In reality, everyone get affected by high prices. COE is a good example. It is supposed to suck up money from those who can affort to buy cars but the result of high COE pushes up transport costs so your plumber now charge more because of high COE, taxi fares go up also for the same reason. At the end these are all bull. The only party that makes the money is actually government.
The PAP govt are like drug lord who dish out addictive drug to get their clients hooked on to it. After that the clients are at their mercy. The addicts, poor or rich, cannot get by without daily dose of drug and willing to pay more and more money to satisfy their addiction.
Our cunning Govy got us hooked on to subsidies and have to vote them in to continue enjoying the subsidies.
Just to share the figures in the TAX INVOICE from Tampines Ployclinics for my 97 year old mother's routine check up.
Consultation:.........Full Amount:$36.82
Payable Amount........................:$05.80
Amlodipine Besilate Tab-(S1)-
MSV. .....................Full Amount:$149.07
Payable Amount................... ....:$ 16.80
Clopidogrel 75MG Tab(Placta)-
(S1)-MSV..............Full Amount:$199.81
Payable Amount.......................:$ 16.80
Omeprazole 20MG CAP-(S2)....
..............................Full Amount:$ 76.12
Payable Amount.......................:$ 10.08
Folic Acid 5MG TAB-(S1)..........
..............................Full Amount:$ 8.40
Payable Amount.......................:$ 8.40
Vit B1 100MG,B6 200MG, B12
200MCG TAB -(NS)..................
...............................Full Amount:$ 76.12
Payable Amount........................:$ 40.32
Sennosides 7.5MG TAB (SENNA)
-(S1).......................Full Amount:$ 12.68
Payable Amount........................:$ 2.80
Calcium 450MG, Vitamin D 200
Unit TAB-(S1).........Full Amount:$ 16.80
Payable Amount....................... :$ 16.80
Co-Amoxiclav 625MG TAB-(S2)
-MSV.......................Full Amount:$ 09.78
Payable Amount.........................:$ 01.30
Silver Sulfadiazine 1% CR 50G-
(S2)-MSV................Full Amount:$ 58.52
Payable Amount.........................:$ 07.75
Total Charges..............................$671.88
LESS GOVERNMENT GRANT.... .$538.03
Amount payable beforeTax........$133.85
Add: 7% GST................................$ 09.39
Amount payable after Tax..........$143.24
LESS: GST ABSORBED BY THE
GOVERNMENT............................$ 09.39
NET AMOUNT PAYABLE............$133.85.
Wow!
Can see that me saved almost $500 from the Rebates.
Got to believe it though it feels so unbelievable or incredible.
patriot
You must be very grateful for so much subsidies. and GST absorbed by the govt some more.
This is the best govt, a very caring govt. What more do you want?
Chin Leng:
I feel so lucky to save so much due to the great care of our rulers.
However, me just cannot help telling meself not to believe any discount beyond 50%.
And
as You can seen from my post; the Rebates were many times over 50%.
Now, me having problem to convince meself time and again that the medical bills that me has to pay regularly for my mother are indeed not the same as discounts at Singapore Expo.
patriot
Remember in Jakarta & Bangkok as two examples for cigarettes companies who give free cigarettes to street urchin boys to sell to car drivers and occupants at traffic junctions. Often endangering themselves when the traffic junction lights sunddenly turn green in favour of the cars to move off! 4-5 decades ago, we also had such street boys selling the Chinese newspapers at traffic light junction if you are old wenough and remember too.
Hi bro Patriot,
Let's me also illustrate my polyclinic bill for my HP medicine:-
Medication - amlodipine besilate tab- Sdollars 162.80 full amount.
After subsidy 22.40 for four months supply
Took s strip and went to JB pharmacy to ask for a week's supply at RM5.00- at Sin 2.40 cts
Take $100 from you in taxes, and give you $10 during elections, and you are supposed to be eternally grateful to them.
Pork barrel, anyone?
Vote in WP and
takes $130 from you as a result of higher personal income taxes, plus $50 from your children's account (aka reserves)
and gives you $50 during elections, and you are happy like bird.
$133.85 for so much medicine is peanuts yet you are still complaining. At least the quality of medicine is assured.
A neighbouring country (I m not naming which) offers citizens FREE medicine and FREE medical care and FREE surgery, yet most who can afford don't even dare to take it because of the dubious drug quality and doctors skills. They rather go to a private doctor and pay.
Politically speaking:
1. One should never give subsidies to those who really need it ...i.e. the dead-shit basket cases who are so broke even the rats and cockroaches moved out from lack of food. Poor fucks don't pay taxes except for GST. They are useless in terms of government "revenue" (theft)
2. "Rich" people are given subsidies because rich people pay the most taxes. Your average Singaporean is "rich" by global standards: he pays maid levy, he pays GST, he he pays COE and all the other taxes which come with vehicle ownership. And then there are corporate taxes, income taxes and CPF which is a TAX.
So your average Singaporean pays plenty in INDIRECT taxes even though the income and corporate taxes are amongst the LOWEST in the world.
3. "Rich" Singaporeans make up the bulk of the middle class, which is 80+ % of the population. Theses are your MAIN VOTER NUMBERS.
4. It makes perfect sense to "buy" votes from this demographic.
5. You must never use the term "buy votes". You must always use the term "subsidies", because it makes the government look like a benevolent, fair and just universal benefactor, only interested in "helping".
6. Handing out subsidies is a very effective method of gaining a ground swell of support, especially before an election. It is a proven strategy which delivers POSITIVE results. Even if people know it is a ruse, they will take the money and vote the government back in.
The people are already corrupt. So you need to feed their corruption by "bribes", in order to maintain that "connection".
Once the people have been BRIBED, you as the government can do anything you please.
@anon 259
I must agree there. Patriot's bill is very, very reasonable.
I must give praise where praise is due: Singapore pubic healthcare system is TOP CLASS. I was once rushed to S'pore from Bangkok because of a serious health scare which if proven to be true would put me in grave danger. I received top quality treatment at one of the fantastic public hospitals, and when I paid the bill, it was so reasonable I thought they made a mistake. I received full blood work, x rays etc and was discharged with medicine...the bill was less than $200, and the service 1st class professional.
Where can you get that quality? Not even in cuntrees with free doctors.
Do allow me to clarify here that me did not and does not claim that the medicines were expensive. As they are medicines that my mother has been taking for nearly 5 years and keeping her in good health at 97 year old, their quality and effectiveness are beyond doubt.
In the beginning, it used to be about $400 for 3 months prescription and on top of that me had to buy some others such as Calcium and Neuro supplements from the in-house retail counter. Now they are included in the prescription.
Me complained many times about their high costs to the doctors and pharmacy staff.
The cost reflected in my earlier comment was for 6 months, so, in term of cost, it has came down by a few folds. The GST was also been absorbed. Must also say that the elderlies are also given priority in queue, these are very positive developments deserving praise.
Somehow, me thinks that patients and their caregivers complaints must have helped in the lower charges. Forums and bloggers have played their parts as well. Most if not all find that imposing GST on treatment and medicine is unreasonable. In fact, it applies to other essentials as well.
What baffles and intrigues me is the amount of rebates reflected in the Bill that me had posted. The percentage is just simply unbelievable on many of the items. So, despite finding the cost reasonable, me has yet to understand how the (overly)generous rebates as shown.
As an aside; when Tampines Polyclinics opened for business many years ago, it was not fenced up, patients and visitors were able to access it from all direction.
It was fenced up some years ago and those on wheelchairs and other mobility aids lost all the ease of access. This fence up is one that hopefully will be removed from all hospitals and polyclinics. I do not see the need for them.
patriot
The amount of rebates shown must have been the work of an elite deskbound sinkie. Besides him, the doctors and the pharmacists who treated your mother must be much higher order elites. I am curious too, as to how the rebates are worked. Most of the times I would ask, and sometimes I would get a perfectly reasonable answer and I would reflect, opps, why I didn't think of that.
Public Health care systems in Singapore is comparable with developed countries in terms of patient outcomes for major diseases, whether it is TOP CLASS or not, it is subjective.
Hi Virgo49:
Thank You very much for sharing the informations with us, much appreciated..
Many had told me about costs of medical care and medicine in Malaysia. Me had personally spoken to Malaysians in Sg as well as in Malaysia. They are way beyond comparison for us, especially in their Public(Government) Health and Maternity Services.
A fellow Singaporean traveller fell ill and black out one morning when we were in Hainan Province(China) about 4 years back. He was picked up by ambulance from a public hospital where he had a head scan, medication and kept under observation for about one and a half day. He was charged about SID$119 for everything.
As one much interested in the way people live anywhere, me has the habit to find out from the locals of foreign lands about their livings. Up to now, has not feel that they have problem, even those living in remote tiny tiny islands around Bintan(Indonesia).
Me actually envy those that live in countryside at the places that me had visited. I hardly detected any backwardness or hardship.Though many live simply, they appeared happy and carefree. Never heard any of them complained about healthcare in their countries except from those that come to Sin for treatments.
Funny.
patriot
I would support a policy that all citizens 65 years and above should receive free medical benefits or at least pay a small token for the medicine. And those who are 70 and above should be treated free in polyclinics for their normal wear and tear problems.
@anon 541
Gee mate, what a dickhead you've turned out to be.
All opinion here is only opinion and that means it is ALL subjective. And when it relates to personal (anecdotal) experience -- as in mentioning my experience with S'pore's public health -- it can only be subjective!
Where did you learn English, motherfucker?
@ redbean
>> I would support a policy...[...]
Not me. I would rail against such policies. Here's why:
If such policies were implemented, that would send a very strong message that you don't need to be responsible for yourself and your own health.
When you reach the CPF withdrawal age, you could take the money and blow it on Chinese, Pinoy and Vietnamese hooker-pussy without any regard for your future needs...and when you get sick simply claim from the state your "free entitlement" socialised medicine.
Everyone who lives until 65, 70 and beyond has had the opportunity to prepare financially for their future. If they didn't, why should the rest of us "responsible" people pay these jolly-good-timers medical bills?
Balls to them!
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