independent directors need to be independent

Independent Directors need to be independent The issue of Independent Directors and corporate governance is in the headline again. It will continue to be a problem if there is no political will to make sure that independent directors are really independent. The existence of independent directors is in conflict with their appointments to company boards. Why would companies want to appoint independent directors to watch over them? They would all go for compliant or friendly directors that will not rock the boat. What is badly needed is for an independent body to appoint independent directors to company boards, independent from the companies. I have proposed this and even volunteered my service to SIAS. My suggestion to David Gerald is to seek MAS or SGX authorisation for SIAS to be the independent body for this role. SIAS has all the reasons to ensure that independent directors are independent and will look after the interest of the companies and minority shareholders' interest. I am still available to take on this task if there is a real interest to pursue this concept. I have been waiting for almost two years on this matter. And things are getting uglier by the day.

singaporeans to celebrate increase in GST!

Lower Income Singaporeans can celebrate rise in GST! The main reason for this increase in GST is to help the lower income Singaporeans, to close the income gap, to make their lives better. For closing the income gap, this can be simply dismissed. It is hardly a drop in the ocean. Forget it. There are 330,000 Singaporeans earning less than $1500 a month, bearly making ends meet. I believe this is the group that will be helped most. There should be better off because of the GST. This is the first time that some Singaporeans, or the lower income Singaporeans can celebrate on a rise in GST. How can they benefit and be better off? Assuming they spend every cent they earned, all $1500, which is very likely, a 2% increase means they will need to pay $30 more per month on their consumption. All things being equal, the govt needs to reimburse them $30 just to break even. For them to benefit from the GST increase, the sum to be given to them must be more than $30, maybe $50. This is hardly going to make a difference to their lives as money is hardly enough. Most are living on a monthly deficit. A more decent sum should be $100 a month. This may help them a little to cover some of the debt or things they have been skimping on. At $100 pm for 330,000 Singaporeans, this will work out to be $1200 x 330,000 or $396 million annually for as long as the 2% GST is in force. For the GST can only go away if it is cut. If not, they will have to bear the burden of this increase for the rest of their lives, an increase to make their lives better. The problem is the lower middle income group, maybe another 500,000 Singaporeans in this category. Say they be given the same amount, that will come to $600 million. If the total collection is $1.5 billion, there will still be a surplus of $500 million to go around. Now, will the lower income and lower middle income benefit from this GST increase? This just sounds too good to be true. What is the catch?

straw that breaks a camel's back

If there were to be anything that can break the camel's back, it will be this 2% GST. And it comes at a time when many people are sceptical that their lives are turning better. I dunno who advised for this move, it is an advice that will lead to tremendous ground shift.

gst to the rescue

Just a few days back, Low Thia Khiang proposed for more assistance for the poorer Singaporeans. This was shot down by Vivian who challenged him that if going the Low Thia Khiang way the country would go bankrupt. Last night Hsien Loong said we must give more help to the poor Singaporeans or they would be left behind by globalisation. And Hsien Loong was not worried about bankrupting the country. Well, with all the GLCs and Temasek companies registering great profits, with our foreign reserves hitting new high, and with great returns from investing them, surely we have plenty of money. And the economy is having a great run. This is the best time to help the poor. And we can also change the definition of earnings to include capital gains. There you are, we will have a lot of money to help the poor. Still not enough, no problem, raise GST. We just need to be creative, if we need to spend more, create more. How can we ever bankrupt the country if we think a little and spend within our means? Without raising GST we may not have enough money to help the poor. And only the poor needs to be helped. We cannot raise GST to subsidise the rich, especially those earning half a million or more. No more pay rise for them. Oops, payrise is not subsidy. Must give them the pay rise they deserved or they will not work or will migrate. I think 10% will do.

dark cloud over parliament

I could see all the disturbed faces when Hsien Loong announced 2% increase in GST after the news programme. To announce the increase at this time just didn't sound right. When I look at the expression of every MP in Parliament today, all their expressions told a very different story. The only person who was optimistic and full of enthusiasm was Hsien Loong. For the rest, the glum on their faces was the best answer to what were in their minds. Even the newscaster Hwee Goh's expression was anything but convincing that everything was fine. A dark cloud seemed to have hovered over the whole Parliament. The forummers in cyberspace would have a lot of theories to shout about.