Call for Unconventional NMPs in Parliament

Call for Unconventional NMPs in Parliament I am still yawning and musing over the excitement that this call will bring. And as usual, there is no lack of support and enthusiasm from all quarters. We need a more colourful Parliament to hear voices from all corners of the population. It sounds like a good idea. Now I have heard of suggestions that the disabled needs to be represented, preferably by a disabled person, a blind or mobility impaired person will be ideal. The athletes too need to be represented. A string of footballers' names came to my mind. And the grey population must be represented. Oh oh, are we going to reverse the trend and bring the old hags into Parliament again? But my creative juices are running, and I would like more unconventional NMPs to come from the people they represent. We need one 18 year old to represent the young, a bak kut teh hawker to represent the foodcourt. A meesiam seller will do if can't find the other. Taxi drivers need to be represented, and bus drivers too. What about the housewives? They missed out during the last progress package. And the beggars in the street corners surely need to be represented. There is a beggarchief in YPAP forum that could fit the role. And the buskers. Now for a little change. Parliament needs to be renovated. Maybe even relocated to the National Stadium. But some more urgent things would be to make Parliament friendly to the handicaps. Braille sets must be available, passages for wheelchairs. And yes, the beautiful metal studs that lined MRT stations must be fitted in Parliament. We can invite Gus Dur to try them first. We will then have a great Parliament that truly represents the people from all walks of life. Or create a Senate and they be all addressed as Senators. Is there any merit to such a call? Is Parliament missing something that such a call will come at this time? Why did all these different groups feel that they need to be represented by their own kind? Ok I am now fully awake. Nice musing, but hopefully Parliament is not transformed into a circus or HDB void deck.

steve job said

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." Steve Job

fund expenses from income, not taxes

My challenge to the govt is to cap the tax rates at the current level, stop all the formula of profit first on essential services and finance its growing expenses from investment income. We have more than a hundred billions in GIC and Temasek each. And it was claimed that GIC's profit is 8% while Temasek is 18%. These combined will give $26 billion annually. If they can grow on these two mammoth organisations they will not have to raise taxes continuously on the people. GST and raising wages will only erode our competitive edge in a globalised economy. There is no magic formula that you can raise wages and GST and think we can compete with the world. Our shopper's paradise will be overtaken in no time. Our workforce will go the American and European way. We will price ourselves out of the market. We have to grow out of the rich kid mentality. Working, earn a salary and still dipping into the parents' pocket. The rich kid must grow up and earns his keep and if he wants to spend more, he just have to earn more. Not stretching out his hand to ask from the parents.

the magic of GST

I think either we are entering a phase of creative thinking or creative accounting on a national level. And I must say that the ordinary people need to be very creative and ingenius to break down all the old ideas and concepts and to embrace all the new thinkings. We need a new curriculum on National Education to educate the people on what is good for them. The GST increase is good for the poor and the lower middle income. Today Teo Chee Hean said that it is also good for the middle income and higher income groups because they can expect higher pay rise. This I definitely believe. Just a 5% or 10% pay rise will not only absorb all the 2% GST but will also be enough to go for a few more holidays. Now isn't this GST a magical formula? It is good for the low income, lower middle income, middle income and higher income. Actually it is good for everyone. Now why are the people so angry, so frighten and so delirious over such a good thing? And one thing for sure, we need not worry about competiting with other countries on labour cost. We are going to raise our labour cost, and wages are going up. Now the 4 million smiles are going to come true. Good times are here.

myth 93

'Raising GST is bad for the people' According to Hsien Loong, raising the GST by another 2% will help the lower income Singaporeans, make their lives better and close the income gap. So raising GST cannot be bad for the people. Singapore has found another great formula on how to improve the lives of its poorer citizens through higher taxes. I am so fascinated by it and can't wait for the secret formula to be revealed.