Sinkies, aren’t you lucky?

With the latest govt proposal to provide health insurance for Sinkies till they die, even if they live up to 120 years, what more do the Sinkies want? Aren’t they lucky? I don’t think any govt in the world can do such a thing, to provide healthcare to all it citizens regardless of their age. Got meh? You mean in Australia and other First World countries their govt provide free healthcare to their senior citizens? Don’t bluff can? There is no free lunch. We Sinkies know that this life time Medishield health insurance we must pay ourselves.

And not only the govt is helping the people, the foreigners are all here to help them. The best talents from the Third World are here to help the Sinkies who are obviously sinking. Many could not even find jobs with their high qualifications and experience. They are so lucky as more would be jobless without the foreigners here.

And not only they came to help Sinkies with the economy and provided them with jobs, many foreign celebrities are here to help raise funds to help the old and the sick Sinkies as well. At the rate it is going, soon God too will descend from heaven to help the Sinkies. Why not when the middle class are all in debt and needing help? Soon our middle class will go the Detroit Way. But God will send the immortals down first to do the helping. Just hope the immortals are not helping themselves first.

There was a little thought by Chua Mui Hoong in the Sunday Times today. Though she was talking about the hot issue of tuition, her main point actually was a revelation of the kind of group think within the party/govt. For once she was saying something quite enlightening, about the way the group think among themselves and closed up to put on a united false front to the public. And many real issues were swept under the cloud of unity, a common position. She listed all the grouses of the people, from housing, healthcare, education, PMETs and populations, all disgustingly buried liked an ostrich just because some gods have taken a position and all must close ranks and complied.

The interesting point she made about Medishield Life for all, sick and unsick, tells the thinking behind the half baked solution. It is not fully cooked yet and still a WIP. Yes, the high medical cost to the oldies and sick has been raised much too often like all other issues but disregarded quietly, not heard, not seen, thus dunno.

Now there is a change. They are going to tackle it. But you pay, not the govt. They are going to rope in everybody to pay for the oldies and the sick. The healthy and those who don’t mind dying would not be given a choice to opt out of the scheme. The govt is going to dip into the pockets of everyone to fish out whatever it can get hold of to help the oldies and the sick. What a generous gesture! Daylight robbery for a good cause, like Robin Hood.

What is the problem? The problem is high medical cost. The problem is that not everyone wants to live forever and has the money to pay for it. The problem is that the govt could have cough up the money for the sick and oldies, with some conditions and limitations to prevent a bottomless healthcare scheme from emptying the reserves. The problem is that the govt is collecting too many taxes but not using it in the right place. A few monuments built less could be more than enough to pay for this Medishield Life. Just the annual running cost of that Avatar Garden that is losing its novelty would be enough to pay for the premiums of the oldies and sick with spare to change. And the land could be put to better use.

But the change is really no change. The problem comes from the people and the people will pay for it, not the govt when the govt could well afford it without being extravagant on the ‘good to have’ and the wasteful.

Sinkies could be much luckier if the govt spend its money in betterer ways, for the good of the people. To be specific, for the good of Sinkies.