What do Singaporeans want?

The average Singaporeans are not too demanding, I believe. I will venture a guess on what an average Singaporean would think is a decent and comfortable life. 1. To be able to raise a family of 4, ie two children, put them through schools, polytechnic or university, without begging for assistance. 2. To live in a 4 or 5 rm flat, and being able to afford it. 3. To own a car, and be able to bring the family around for leisure. This may be a bit difficult given our space constraint and further complicated by the thoughtless ambitious dream of a 6.5m population. 4. For those without cars, decent public transportation that does not cause them an arm or a leg. 5. Basic medical healthcare that will not empty one's life savings. 6. Able to retire by 60 or 65 without having to work till death. I don't think the above expectations are unreasonable for a first world country. But it is evident that some of these basic dreams of the average Singaporeans will be unattainable. Bringing up two children is now impossible to a big number of Singaporeans. I was being generous in my earlier post suggesting that a family income of $3k could put a child to university by setting aside about $1k a mth. In reality, many, even with a household income of $4k cannot afford to save $500 pm. $3k is a bit far fetch. Then to retire at 60 or 65 is going to be very difficult. And buying a 4rm or 5 rm flat is gradually moving out of reach of the average Singaporeans. Medicare, if hospitalised, is going to bankrupt many Singaporeans or at least empty their live savings. It is time the govt rethink their policies on what is good for the average Singaporeans to live their lives and at a cost that is manageable. No need to waste so many millions and billions on gardens and world class resort facilities that the average Singaporeans cannot afford to enjoy.

Higher revenue with no effort

This is exactly what is happening with the LTA's drive to get more people to take public transport. The ERPs are hurting the people's pockets and more are switching to MRTs and buses. Both service providers are going to see higher profits through no direct effort of theirs. MRT reported that last month the number of trips taken have increased to 41.27 millions. At an average of $1.20 per trip, that is a cool $50 mil a month of revenue. Profit is going to soar. And they are going to apply for fare hike still. Oops, I have forgotten, the fare hike will benefit the greater majority of the commuters, which means the greater majority will pay less.

Supertalents deserve high pay

The coming transport fare hike is not only affordable, but also manageable. It may be 3% or 1%, regardless of how many millions the transport companies are still making. They needed the fare hike in view of higher oil prices, and of course accounting to the shareholders for a better profit. That is not all. The most brilliant part about the fare hike is that they will ensure the 'greater majority of commuters gain from the adjustment'. This is just as ingenious as the GST increase to help the poor. These supertalents must be nominated for the Nobel Prize for such creative fare hikes and GST hikes. No where in the world can increases in tax and fare hikes ended up benefitting the poor or the majority of commuters. This is uniquely Singapore. The same formula should be applied to other ministries and stats boards. The new ERPs will also help and improve businesses. Can we have more taxes to improve the well being of our population? Singaporeans should appeal for more increases in hospital bills and other bills to better their lots. Uniquely Singapore. That's the way to go. More pay for the ministers to better our lives. Just don't tell us to tighten our belts.

Time for mean testing

Yes, we need to mean test the population to see how many can still bear with the high cost of living. We need to know how much have the value of their money fallen or how much can each dollar buy now. We also need to know how much is need to get by for a family or 3 or 4. Mean testing is needed to see how mean is the runaway inflation caused by the upping of prices, of everything, is affecting the livelihood of the hardlanders.

Stop the influx before it is too late

Another sign of the bursting of the seams. Lack of hostel space is pushing up rentals at HDB flats. Is this a good sign? We are seeing signs everywhere that this little rock is about to burst under the weight of an exploding population. MRT squeeze, more ERPs needed, property prices and rentals skyrocketing, parents fighting for place in schools for kids, students fighting for place in universities, patients fighting for place in hospitals, public places jammed to the brim etc etc. How much more can we take? How much more signals will it need to waken the fanatics to stop the inflow of foreigners into the island? We are doing more harm to the country by feeding the appetite for those who seek economic growth through population explosion at the expense of the general population. What can be done to stop this madness? This is our country and we must not allow mad people to run it to the ground.