your baby pays tax

not only your baby pays tax. your grandpa and grandma pay tax. your school going children pay tax. your unborn baby also pays tax. gst is non discriminatory. anyone who consumes goods and services pay gst. the unemployed are not exempted. the old and bed riddened are also not spare. all pay gst. that is why i called for discrimination in gst. there must be discrimination so that those who should not be paying tax should not be taxed. whether this be in the form of direct exemption or indirect refund or some systems, let the administrators go and think about it. otherwise, no one is free from tax. the young and the old, working or not working, all pays tax. is this what we want? this is uniquely singapore.

ezlink card: super efficiency or profit crazy

for all the students who have just completed their 'o' level exam and are waiting for their results, some may have proceeded to jcs immediately, and some may still be waiting for entry to polys. many are still holding on to their student ezlink cards. what has happened is that the cards have been reprogrammed to charge them non student concession rate without any announcement. and for those students who have gained admission to jcs, they will be happily paying adult rate if they did not check their cards. and if they do, they would likely have to get the jcs to verify their student status and get mrt to revert them to student rates. any refund? this is efficiency in singapore that is not only ugly but frightening. can't the authorities be graceful enough to let the children use the c0ncession cards for a couple of months till after the 'o' level result is out? why the eagerness to earn those extra few cents from school children? well, are they working for their own bonuses or what? so, are privatisation and profitability turning humans into mindless greedy robots? shall we pray to this new god called privatisation? are we becoming a passionless society where everyone thinks of nothing but money?

the fear of red

the colour of red is getting unwelcome. red invitation card, and hongpow. i was reading this article in the paper where the mother of 6 children mentioned that sometimes she felt unwelcome because of angpows. got to give to 6 children. and the wedding invitation card can be quite formidable as a demand for payment. it is not easy to invite your colleagues or friends to a wedding when the angpow is now $100 per head when held in a hotel. some even put in $200 per angpow. at the rate the angpow is inflating i think one day wedding at hotel will only be for the very rich. and one of these days the wedding couple may get into shock when no one turns up for the wedding, all because of the hefty angpow. why be compelled to attend a wedding and pay so much? then a $2 or $1.10 angpow is disappearing and people are loading them with red $10 notes, and some times more than a couple inside for the lunar new year. how far will this go before giving angpows becomes a frightening experience? should someone speak out and reverse this trend, when giving angpows is just a token for good luck and not pot luck. angpow should be reverted back to its former practice, as a goodwill gesture with a small token sum, maybe standardised at $2. the specially big angpows be reserved for children giving to their parents. preservation of a tradition and culture must not become so expensive and prohibitive that eventually it will kill it.

straits times editorial joking

the first funny article i read in the editorial of the straits times. it more or less suggests that a tour guide must also drive the tour bus, be an expert in both and thus earn more. this is called job redesigning or upgrading. so we have two jobs reduced into one in order that one man can earn more while one man loses his job. i prefer another approach. create more attractive jobs and paying very well too. from one job, create another two jobs from the first jobs, and all pay equally well. how does it work? have a ceo. then create a senior ceo. then create another advisor to the ceo. all big titles and deserving at least ceo pay. in one stroke it kills two birds. create more jobs and jobs that pay more. why destroy jobs when there is unemployment? why take away someone's ricebowl to give it to another leaving one without a job? it is hilarious.

ns defaulters: what is fair?

i watched the censored version of the debate on tv last night. not much of a debate actually. just some brief cuts here and there. the main issue from those for punishment is to make it equitable as ns is a vital national institution that cannot be undermined. the other side of the argument is to treasure every singaporean, defaulters or not defaulters. the latter group even go to the extent to saying, 'just tell me how much and we will pay' to default and escape ns. but there are the feelings of more than 700,000 ns men to contend with, and more along the way. any thought that anyone can buy themselves out of ns is a no go. i can appreciate the need to welcome back the prodigal son. no one shall be condemned to be exiled. the thought that the country may offer the route of pr for those who have taken up foreign citizenship and be allowed to return did crop up in my mind. be kind and generous and let them return in a different form, but not as a citizen. this option is good only if citizenship is so desirable, that citizenship comes with plenty of privileges, that people are craving to be citizens to be favoured by the nation. but unfortunately it is not. citizenship comes with a heavy burden and a big personal sacrifice. the cost of being a citizen is very high. a ns man actually gave away 2 to 2 and a 1/2 years of his life to the state. during this period he is owned by the state and have to go through all the training, regimentation, sleeping on dirt, braving the weather, playing with fire or weapons, and in the process, risk losing his limbs or life. and what did he get in return? pittance from the state that he probably had to ask his parents for pocket money. then another 20 years of reservist liabilities when his life can be disrupted by the call of duty. ippt, in camp training, overseas training, silent recall, on standby etc. and don't forget the military punishment, detention, extra duties for breach of discipline. can all these pains be worth it? is a fine of $10,000 or 3 years jail enough compensation? why would a man choose to pay so dearly for a title called citizen when he can enjoy practically everything a citizen has by just being a pr and without having to go through ns? is a $1 million bond good enough to pay? after going through the sacrifices a ns man has to go through, i think the new punishment is still not enough. there is no privilege being a citizen except the right to vote. to protect the institution of ns and the defence of the nation, the nation would have to live with losing a few prodigal sons. unless citizenship is so attractive that just being a pr is so disadvantaged that people would want to volunteer for ns. only then can the nation be generous enough to offer a pr route for singaporeans who still want to remain here and avoid ns. that is, when pr is a second rate resident while citizenship is first class with first class privileges.