Singapore — After being unable to use the S$46,000 in his MediSave account for a S$128 A&E bill, an 81-year-old man questioned if he would be able to even use the money to buy a coffin after he dies....
“Kindly note that we are not seeking any financial assistance regarding this situation.
I just hope that MOH will consider reviewing existing policy on the usage of Medisave during old age”, Mr Lim wrote.
Above two paragraphs are quoted from theindependent.sg concerning a 81 year old man unable to use his Medisave savings to pay for a $128 A&E bill, not some spurious and questionable bill. This is why the people are so angry and frustrated with the CPF for hoarding on so much of their money, supposedly meant for medical bills but more often than not when needed could not be made available.
Not many people live to 81 years and many in this category could die tomorrow and many did not have much money left. The $46,000 savings in the Medisave could be his whole fortune. He could not afford to cough out $128 for the bill as he could be retired and did not have an income for donkey years.
And CPF conveniently, in its straight jacket policy, refused to let a man in his twilight years to use the savings for medical bills. What kind of sadistic policy is this? This is definitely not stupidity has no cure. It is deliberate policy that wants to hold on to the people's money for as long as they could. Many Singaporeans would die in poverty, unable to feed themselves in their last days, unable to pay for medical bills but with tens of thousands tightly grabbed by the CPF, money that belong to the individuals, not to the CPF unless we accept the silly notion that the CPF is not the people's money.
When is the govt going to be humane, fair and just, to return the savings to the people in times of need? Grabbing the money in the CPF at all cost, with no exceptions, even to sick and dying people in very advanced age is cruel and inhuman.
Maybe it is time to bring the issue to the UN as an infringement on human rights. No one has the right to take other people's money under whatever frivolous excuses, not money of people that may not live another day longer.
The UNHCR must take note of this and address this issue as an abuse of individual rights to their property, and abuse of human rights in a so called civilised uncivilised country. It is inhumane, cruel, abusive, oppressive to hold on to a man's life savings in his twilight years. There must be a cut off age when all the money must be returned to the owners for them to at least enjoy a bit of their life savings before passing away.
What do you think, wicked imbeciles? It is a very unkind and cruel thing to do to deprive people from using their life savings, the money they worked for a life time, their blood, sweat and tears money and let them die with the money unused when it could make them feel better, live better, enjoy a little for a few days more, with their very own money.
Where is your conscience, where is your compassion?
PS. They often said that when they operated on a civil servant/politician, they could not find his heart.
30 comments:
This is what I have been referring to aa the cruel, cold, calculative, iron-hearred, ruthless government leaders in the world.
Not only they do not have any conscience and compassion, they do not even have a brain that can think logically and wisely.
Their brain can only think cunningly how to squeeze more blood and tears money out of all of us, so as to inflate their government coffers and personal bank accounts.
They are not humans. Not even animals. Not even aliens from outer space. They are evil spirits!
The CPF savings are the people's money, not their grandfather's money. They have no right to hold on to it at costs and to decide what it can be used or cannot use, especially for people that are over 60.
If they have any conscience or sense of justice and propriety, all the money must be returned to the people once they passed 60. People above 60 that fell through the cracks, the govt must give them a helping hand, not left in the lurch. This is what a socialist govt is responsible for, should do.
With the high cost of living, without a job or an income, the seniors need to use their savings to live on. There will be a few that would splash their money in Batam or Bintan. But they are the minorities in all societies and a safety net to provide for basic subsistence level of living may be needed.
Do not punish everyone for the indiscretion of a few oldies.
Again, I repeat, the CPF savings belong to the people, not to the govt.
It is immoral to seize the people's life savings and treat it as if it belongs to the government.
It is morally repugnant of the PAP politicians to deny old folks the use of their savings in times of medical needs while they splashed hundred billion dollars of the nation's reserves to help business people.
When that silly woman spoke in Parliament that the CPF money was not the people's money, they got the audacity to clap. How atrocious were they, like hyenas.
....cruel, cold, calculative, iron-hearred, ruthless government leaders in the world...do not have any conscience and compassion,...
Highway robbers of the poor and the old.
Taking the people's money to invest. Lost, kept quiet.
Made money, splurged on bonuses to pay themselves.
It is true that not many able to live beyond 80.....
By right should be FREE standard medical services for all seniors beyond 75....
Sad. Very sad. Very very sad!
If possible free standard medical services for all seniors beyond 70......hahaha...
Got money to pay themselves into millionaires, got money to anyhow gamble, got money to pay big, big bonuses....no money to provide medical care for the oldies.
Typical third world country with third world leaders and third world behaviour.
GIC posts highest 20-year annualised real return since 2015
Improved returns due to medical advancements, global vaccine rollouts and government policies that spurred broad-based growth
Fri, Jul 23, 2021 - 5:50 AM
EVEN as economic conditions improve, GIC continues to hold a cautious macro stance amid lofty asset prices and new Covid variants, as it reported a 4.3 per cent annualised rolling 20-year real rate of return - the highest since 2015 - on Friday.
The real return for the 20-year period ended March 31, 2021 is up from 2.7 per cent a year ago. Annualised nominal return for the latest period came in at 6.8 per cent, the highest since 2012. GIC manages well over US$100 billion in assets.
At a media briefing, its chief executive officer Lim Chow Kiat attributed the improved returns to medical advancements, global vaccine rollouts and government policies that have spurred broad-based growth.
"It wasn't just equities, almost all the risk assets have done really well. Even assets that directly had the negative impact from the pandemic held up reasonably well. We had a lot of assets performing and that contributed to the good performance of the portfolio," said Mr Lim.
But he cautioned that there is still a high degree of uncertainty in global vaccination rates and their efficacy levels, as well as new variants that risk derailing recovery.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/gic-posts-highest-20-year-annualised-real-return-since-2015
Why isn't Singaporean government more boastful about the growing reserves?
By accumulating reserves and self-restricting itself to drawing only what it can through a portion of long-term returns using NIRC, it retains a buffer big enough to salvage itself in case of a crisis bigger than any before - which is definitely not out of the realm of possibility given the recklessness with which national finance is generally managed abroad.
Successes deserve to be celebrated and people should be able to understand what they mean. But we can't forget that pride comes before a fall - so cool heads should prevail if Singapore's good run is to be extended into the future.
https://www.facebook.com/CriticalSpectator/posts/4016995698408127
Our country's leeders, they called themselves the First World country, are the cruel and uncompassionate goons for refusing to help out the said 81 y.o. uncle who could not use his medisave to pay for the medical bills. What sort of coverment is this ?
These Party Against People's millionaire politicians (whether retired or still in office) do not need to worry about their CPF. They have more than millions $$$ (some even billions $$$) plus pensions, etc. They have parents or even grandparents older than 81 y.o. but they are not worried like the said 81 y.o. uncle (one of the commoners in our society). Y ? Bcos they have rich sons/daughters who are or were millionaire mintsters (highest paid in the world). That is y these uncompassionate leeders could not empathize with many of commoners, who are retired used up their own savings, unemployed, sick and handicapped. They, millionaire mintsters could NOT understand that some money in the oldies CPF (Coffin Paid Fund) are so important and precious to them, but they set up so many rules and regulations to block them from using their Coffin Paid Fund. I hope these generations of millionaire leeders (retired or in office) lift up their pillows and think hard b4 they go to sleep each night !
Even lost money, they still get bonuses for a job well-done. These are immoral, unethical and inhuman bastards who not be tolerated in a decent society.
These are actually very cunning corrupted people at high places who made use of the Parliament to pass the laws that cover-up their sinful dealings and mentally deranged behaviour.
All Singaporean folks above 60 and their children must vote against the unconscionable, uncompassionate, unethical, unscrupulous and immoral PAP leaders in the next General Election.
Must make them at least lost the two-thirds majority in Parliament.
The call to arms with 'must vote against' has been around for ages. When election comes, it is still same same.
I know a friend who sometimes disappear and reappear on this blog and he may come out to do a sneak one-liner jab outburst like 'What to do? Singapore is like that'. LOL
Hahaha, that chap is your friend huh?
Everyone with a housing loan using CPF, please check the interest you owed to your own CPF savings. You can faint. The revised system shows you the number. It can be tens of thousands or more than a hundred thousand. Some may owe a couple of hundred thousands in interest alone. This is a system designed by highwayman.
The cunning scholars sent to Ivy League Universities using taxpayers' money as President Scholarship and SAF and SPF scholarships, and other government scholarships, instead of coming back to help the people, they use their brains to cheat, scrounge, drain and suck up more and more money from the people.
These unscrupulous Scholarship grabbers must be flogged until their ass bleed.
Anyone who knows these creeps should give them a word of advice, that it is very evil to cheat on old and helpless people. Do some good and gain some merits, at least by not making lives more miserable for old people.
Cheating old people, my goodness, what sins are these people committing?
Investing in India? Sovereign Wealth Funds Beware !
If the second wave of the virus has devastated India more deeply than anticipated, the long-term economic impact may be even more devastating.
More than two thirds of Indians surveyed above the age of 6 showed the presence of COVID-19 antibodies, according to the country's latest national serological survey. The result marks a dramatic jump from the previous survey, shedding light on the severity of the second wave in India.
The latest survey also appears to fuel speculation as to whether the Indian economy will suffer more severe shocks from the second wave even as it recedes.
The World Bank last month warned that South Asia risks suffering a financial crisis due to their vulnerability to growing levels of unsustainable debt. As the region's biggest economy, India is particularly exposed to sovereign debt and funding risks, especially after the pandemic drove businesses to go bankrupt and left millions unemployed.
With India is struggling to get back on track, it may find itself stuck with ballooning debt and rocketing inflation, problems that the Modi administration may have already faced for some time but which have been aggravated during the pandemic. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, the country recorded a government debt equivalent to 69.62 percent of its GDP in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Meanwhile, India recorded retail inflation of 6.3 percent in May and 6.26 percent in June, pushing the price gauge above the central bank's 6 percent target for the first time this year. Wholesale inflation hit a record high of almost 13 percent in May, before slipping to 12 percent in June, according to media reports.
Other ominous signs about its economic difficulties may also include findings that as many as 97 percent of Indian households suffered a fall in income and the bearish performance of the Indian rupee this year.
All these have called into question whether the Modi government exerted enough prudence and efficiency when it comes to economic policy. While the Indian government has laid bare its ambition to be a manufacturing power, the progress seems limited so far. Nevertheless, during the process of promoting manufacturing, the Indian economy has become gradually dependent on the consistent inflows of Western capital.
As a result, the financial risks are piling up. Due to concerns over prolonged economic uncertainty, foreign investors have been pulling money out of the Indian market in recent months. There are also growing concerns that once the Fed shifts monetary policy, India's economy may be trapped into a debt distress and facing shortage of the dollar.
The 1997 Asian financial crisis started in Thailand. If a similar crisis happens to India, it would likely send the regional financial markets into an even more severe mess. Governments in the region need act quickly to avert a deepening health and economic crisis.
Singapore’s GIC makes a strong comeback into desi startup market
Chennai: GIC of Singapore, the early backers of Indian companies is making a strong comeback into Indian startup space, writing cheques at a rapid pace, indicating its renewed interest in the Indian story.
For 20 months between January 2019 and October 2020, the sovereign investor from Singapore was dormant with no investments, new or follow on.
However, since October last year, when it signed a $100 million cheque for Razor Pay, it has been galloping ahead. And in the past 90 days five investments, of which three new and two follow on have been concluded.
Investors in the Indian space are broadly three categories viz., opportunistic, PE and strategic. GIC was donning the role of a strategic investor in Indian space, but has now changed its track and looking at the PE investment space too.
“GIC has suddenly become active in the investment space. Earlier their bets were more strategic (for example: investing in Bharti Airtel was to help SingTel come into partnership with Bharti), but now they are making financial investments like a PE investor,” said Arun Natarajan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Venture Intelligence, a firm that tracks VC/PE activity. Indian PE veteran Temasek too on its part has sharpened its focus on Indian investments.
For instance, over the past three years Temasek has backed 17 companies, of which six were signed over the past 90 days and within which four were new and two follow on.
“Normally the roles of investment appeared defined between Temasek and GIC, without any overlap of roles on investments, not anymore,” Natarajan said.
According to Chinese political phylosophy if the government no longer serves the people's interests and thus causing the people to suffer then the people have the right to carry out the 'Mandate of Heaven' to overthrow the government through a violent revolution if necessary. All the bad signs and iron hearted responses of the government show that the time is ripe to do just that.
Everyone has a duty to pass the massage round that this government is no more worthy of support and must be taken down at all cost.
A very sad disheartened octogenarian who has seen through the incompetency, the selfishness the pretensions and self-aggrandizement of our political clowns and buffooneries
Singapore’s Temasek set to lead $100m funding in Indian neobank Open
Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek has signed a term sheet to lead a $100-million funding round in Bengaluru-based neobank Open, sources privy to the development told DealStreetAsia.
The SME-focused neobank is also in talks with other investors including Tiger Global to raise the aforesaid amount. The round could also see the participation of homegrown venture capitalist 3one4 Capital. Both Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital are Open’s existing investors.
“Temasek has been finalised as the lead investor…..others are still negotiating the deal with the company, which is expected to be finalised in a month’s time,” one of the persons mentioned above said on condition of anonymity. “This is likely to be a $100-million oversubscribed round.”
Post investment, the startup is expected to be valued at over $600 million.
When contacted, the Temasek spokesperson and Open co-founder and COO Mabel Chacko declined to comment on the development. Meanwhile, separate emails sent to Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital did not elicit any response.
Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneurs Mabel Chacko, Ajeesh Achuthan and Anish Achuthan, Open offers a neobanking platform that helps over 10,00,000 SMEs and startups to automate and run their finances effectively. The startup claims to have all the tools that help businesses send and receive payments, automate their accounting, expense management, combined with developer-friendly APIs that help SMEs integrate banking into their business workflows.
Open had last raised $30 million in its Series B round led by Tiger Global about two years ago. In total, it has garnered a total of $35 million in funding so far and its other investors include Speedinvest, Beenext, Recruit Strategic Partners, AngelList, Unicorn India Ventures, and Tanglin Venture Partner Advisors, among others.
Over the last three years, India has seen the rise of neobanks with firms mushrooming to ride on the growth story. These include names such as 811 by Kotak, Yono by SBI, RazorpayX, and NiYo, among others.
A neobank is a new-age bank that provides financial services to customers but operates online and has no physical existence anywhere. Overall, the growth of neobanks in India and globally has been accelerated by the pandemic.
Last week, Novo, a neobank for small businesses, startups and freelancers raised $40.7 million in its Series A funding round from Valar Ventures along with Crosslink Capital, Rainfall Ventures, Red Sea Ventures and BoxGroup.
Meanwhile, in May, epiFi raised $12 million in its Series A round from its existing investors Ribbit Capital and Sequoia Capital. A month prior to that, Razorpay raised $160 million in its Series E financing round at a valuation of $3 billion. The funding was led by Sequoia Capital India and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. In a statement, the company said that its banking platform, RazorpayX, saw 400 percent growth in transaction volume in the last 12 months of COVID.
Which way is Singapore investment giant Temasek headed in India?
Temasek Holdings said its India exposure witnessed an increase of 55 percent despite a pandemic-imposed lockdown as the Singapore state investor believes the fundamental growth story remains intact and is likely to get expanded.“We are getting more comfortable with deployment of capital here. We have a positive bias towards India, and consider it as a favorable investment destination because it fits very well with our investment thesis,”
Temasek Holdings said its India exposure witnessed an increase of 55 percent despite a pandemic-imposed lockdown as the Singapore state investor believes the fundamental growth story remains intact and is likely to get expanded.
“We are getting more comfortable with deployment of capital here. We have a positive bias towards India, and consider it as a favorable investment destination because it fits very well with our investment thesis,” said Ravi Lambah, Head-India, Temasek.
Temasek’s exposure to Indian companies and assets stands at $14 billion as of March 31, 2021 compared to $9 billion a year ago. “It's about 5% of the portfolio globally. And, you know, we've not only been able to grow the portfolio, but also invest in some new spaces, which we were not investing before,” Lambah said.
Temasek has invested $5 billion in the last five years in India across sectors and this trend is likely to continue. “Initially, we were very careful in deploying the capital. I think, this trend is likely to continue,” said Promeet Ghosh, Deputy Head, India.
India’s IPO market is getting matured and investors are now focusing more on companies and management rather than promoters. “So, even if the IPO is full of secondary sales and there are hardly any cash for the company’s growth, investors are buying into it, if the management and the growth trajectory is in tact. This is a sign of maturity and we do believe this trend to continue,” Ghosh said.
Temasek will be looking at insurance and agriculture and related core economy sectors as the next set of their investment strategy after healthcare. “Of course healthcare is a strong space. But, looking forward, I think we see insurance as a growing category, where, you know, we will deploy good amount of capital. Then we're seeing more recently agri and agri tech becoming an interesting opportunity,” said Lambah. “In our early days, we used to invest in the banks, because the banks were very good proxy for economic growth. Then various sectors developed. We were able to enter those sectors independently.”
During FY21, Temasek invested $36 billion and divested $29 billion across the globe. In India, Temasek invested in Bandhan Bank, a microfinance provider promoting social inclusion. In September, Temasek-backed Schneider Electric India had completed its acquisition of Larsen & Toubro’s electrical and automation business for an all-cash consideration of Rs 14,000 crore.
Temasek's major investments in India include AU Small Finance Bank, Axis Bank, Billdesk, HDFC Bank, Pine Labs, Policy Bazaar, Adani Ports, Crompton Greaves, Devyani International, Licious, Global Health (Medanta), Intas Pharmaceuticals, PharmEasy and Syngene International.
Temasek has a net portfolio value (NPV) of $283 billion for the financial year ended 31 March 2021, up from $214 billion in the previous year.
Very bullish on e-commerce, digitisation; both have long runway in India and will see migration of new categories: Temasek
Temasek believes despite the crisis caused by COVID-19, foreign investor inflows have been very strong in India which indicates that India remains an attractive destination for investment. And with the government continuing the reform push and becoming more self-reliant, the investment behemoth is convinced the favourable investment climate will continue.
The size of its India portfolio is around $14 billion and over the years, the firm has pumped in money beyond e-commerce into sectors ranging from consumer (Crompton Greaves) to financial services (Bandhan Bank) to healthcare (Manipal Hospitals).
Moneycontrol’s Ashwin Mohan caught up earlier with Ravi Lambah, Joint Head, Investment Group, Temasek, and Promeet Ghosh, Deputy Head, India (Temasek), for a detailed chat on the firm’s investment strategy in the COVID-19 era, the fintech opportunity, its ESG mantra, how Agri and Agri Tech is a new sector of focus in India and much more.
GIC enters joint venture with India-based mall developer-operator
GIC has entered into a joint venture with Phoenix Mills, an India-based retail mall developer and operator, to establish an investment platform for retail-led mixed-use assets in India.
Under the agreement, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund will acquire a significant minority stake in Phoenix Mills' US$733 million portfolio of retail-led mixed-use developments, comprising about 3.4 million square feet of leasable retail and office space in the prime consumption centres of Mumbai and Pune.
Kishore Gotety, co-head of Asia (excluding China) real estate at GIC, said: "We recognise that the unprecedented global crisis is impacting consumer sentiment and that the necessary lockdown has made it challenging for all businesses, especially those in the retail sector.
"However, the long-term structural growth that the Indian retail industry continues to offer, due to favourable demographics, urbanisation, a growing middle class and increasing consumerism trends, will still benefit the joint venture."
Shishir Shrivastava, managing director of Phoenix Mills, said: "With multiple vaccines now feasible, we see a clear path towards turning the corner, past the second wave. As restrictions start relaxing, we are optimistic of a sharp rebound in consumption, as we experienced after the first wave."
Temasek and GIC are digging a very big hole in India using our reserves, dunno how many billions already sunk in there, ie people's savings and state money. It is looking like might as well put all in since cannot get out any more. The two organisations either crawl themselves out or be buried in the dark pit forever, together with Singapore's reserves.
Modi has no problem even if India entered a financial crisis like Thailand in the 1997 Asian Financial crisis as warned by the World Bank. India can depend on its rich colony to bail it out.
Floods Not Just In China But In India Also
Heavy rains in western Maharashtra state triggered landslides and flooding, killing dozens of people and causing widespread destruction.
Rescue workers in India have combed through the mud and debris in a frantic search for survivors after heavy rains lashed the western state of Maharashtra, triggering landslides, flooding and a building collapse and causing dozens of deaths.
The state government said in a statement on Saturday the death toll in multiple monsoon-related accidents since Thursday had risen to at least 76, with dozens of people missing.
Other reports said the number of people killed had exceeded 100.
“Torrential rainfall in various parts of the state often coinciding with high tides and also discharge from dams led to various regions … getting inundated thereby resulting in floods across multiple districts,” the statement said.
In hard-hit Raigad, south of Mumbai, where landslides buried dozens of houses, at least 47 people were killed and 53 others were feared trapped under layers of mud.
The downpour caused the Savitri river to burst its banks, leaving the town of Mahad completely inaccessible by road, and prompting terrified residents to climb onto rooftops and upper floors to escape swelling waters.
A combined rescue operation involving the army, navy and air force was under way to evacuate those stranded by the flooding. Their operations, though, were hampered by high water levels and landslides blocking roads, including the main highway between Mumbai and Goa.
Nearly 90,000 people have been evacuated in Maharashtra so far.
Water levels rose to nearly six metres (20 feet) on Thursday in areas of Chiplun, a city 250km (160 miles) from Mumbai, following 24 hours of uninterrupted rain that caused the Vashishti River to overflow, submerging roads and homes.
Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said emergency workers were struggling to reach cut-off neighbourhoods in Chiplun because of damage to roads and bridges there.
“We will do whatever it takes to save lives and property,” he told reporters. “This disaster has hit the entire state from Nagpur in the east to Mahabaleshwar in the west. The rains have been unprecedented and we’re facing an unexpected emergency.”
The navy deployed seven rescue teams equipped with rubber boats, life jackets and lifebuoys to the affected areas, along with specialist divers and a helicopter to airlift marooned residents.
India’s meteorological department has issued red alerts for several regions in the state, indicating that heavy rainfall will continue for the next few days.
Flooding and landslides are common during India’s monsoon season between June and September, which also often sees poorly constructed buildings and walls buckling after days of non-stop rain.
Four people died before dawn on Friday when a building collapsed in a poor Mumbai neighbourhood, authorities said.
The incident came less than a week after at least 34 people lost their lives when several homes were crushed by a collapsed wall and a landslide in the city.
Climate change is making India’s monsoons stronger, according to a report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) published in April.
The report warned of potentially severe consequences for food, farming and the economy affecting nearly a fifth of the world’s population.
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