Property Tax is a wealth tax

‘Property tax is a wealth tax, levied on property ownership.’ This is the reply from Kelly Wee, Director(Corporate Communications), Inland Revenue in her letter in the ST forum on 15 Dec. She was responding to complaints by the public about the property tax levied on HDB owners. This tax on HDB properties is now subject to a lot of public criticism as many now realized that they are but 99 year lessees. And this is not the same as 99 lessees of private properties when the latter assumed full ownership of the property during the lease with very few restrictions and no need to pay a cut to HDB when the property is sold.
 
The HDB ownership is cumbersome and comes with many restrictions that remind the HDB ownerships who is the real and ultimate owner. Just believe whatever you want to believe, as owners or lessees.
Property tax as a tax on the wealth of the people becomes questionable for many reasons. On face value, a HDB flat is temporary wealth on short term. In the long run, when the lease expires, it is no longer wealth. Its value is zero. Where is the wealth? Can the HDB owners ask for refund on the tax paid when the wealth is gone?
 
Many HDB owners are occupants of their flats. They live there for their whole life, a home, a roof over their heads. If not there is no where else to go. Other than those that rent out the flats, the only benefit is the right to live in the flats.
 
Compare this with private properties. These are real wealth and very big wealth. If the govt is taxing on the wealth of the people, why aim at the poor HDB owners or lessees, particularly the smaller HDB flats? Many could barely afford to pay for them. And the problem will get increasingly problematical to the retirees without an income, and still got to squeeze out whatever little savings left to pay for property tax.
 
Why is there no tax on the filthy rich when there is real wealth, horrendous wealth, in their estates? Why is the govt so quick in abolishing estate duties to free the very rich from paying anything from their rich estates? Are the estates of private properties in the millions and hundreds of millions not wealth? And taxing on the poor HDB flat lessees with an expiring lease as wealth? Many of the private properties and estates are freehold or 999 year lease, the real wealth, and not taxable under estate duties. Is this a case of taxing the poor and freeing the super rich from taxes?
 
GST is to help the poor? How many believe this story or agree to the logic of this story?

Kopi Level - Green

The arrogance of Power

American Exceptionalism is touted as some kind of a right that is granted to the Americans. They can do anything they want, to kill, to meddle with other countries domestic affairs, to threaten countries with sanctions, regime change, to incite and provoke wars. They can have the biggest military forces, the most nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems, but others are not allowed to have. They can talk down to countries about human rights but they could violate every human rights against anyone, at home or abroad. And the silly Afro Asians love them and accept this Exceptionalism as the law to abide by. And they pray to the Americans for being able to act so exceptionally and so arrogantly.
 
The audacity of it all is like someone living in the biggest glass house and throwing stones at everyone, not a bit shy or shameful that others could throw stones back at the big glass house that is fully transparent with all the faults and flaws for all to see.
 
Where else can one see such arrogance of power, do as I tell you, but not do like I do. Don’t cheat, but I can cheat. Be honest and transparent but don’t look at me. I am different, beyond reproach, for I hold all the powers there is. I dictate the rule of the game for others to play. I don’t need to play by the rules I set. I am above the rule of law, rule of decency, rule of deceit, rule of fair play, rule of transparency, rule of anything. I am the Master of the Universe, I am God.
 
Everyone must play by my rules. Everyone must not cheat. I can. And no one is allowed to say I cheat. I will come down very hard on those who dare say I cheat.
 
This is Exceptionalism. This is American Exceptionalism. Anyone wanting to imitate the Americans must possess the absolute power to rule over the helpless masses like the Americans hammering the Muslims and the Arabs to smithereens and acquiescence. What torture in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib? Only the Americans can do it and get away with it.
 
Rule of Law?

Kopi Level - Green

India, the superpower pretender

‘Recession plagued Russia needs India more than before.’ This is the subheading of an article, Old bedfellows, but commercially disjointed, by Sreenam Chaulia. Other than this catchy subtitle, the whole article was all about how great India is, and about India’s super power ambition, about India’s zone of influence, which are understandable, just like the award of Modi with the Asian of the Year Award for doing nothing except hurling rhetoric of how great India could be.
 
Back to the subtitle, Russia needs India more than before, or is it India needs Russia more than before? What is it that Russia needs from India other than money which India has very little? The truth, as Sreenam elaborated in his article is that India needs a lot of things from Russia and not the other way.
 
India is aspiring to be a super power but lacks everything a super power has except making hollow speeches of greatness and potential of greatness. What India needs from the Russians are weaponry, nuclear power stations for the high grade plutonium for nuclear weapons, of course the energy potential, the natural gases, fighter aircraft and aircraft technology, the submarines, aircraft carriers, cutting edge technology, not low budget engineering.
 
What can India offer to Russia? The minuscule trade figures tell the whole story. Putin is pushing for a US$100b trade with China next year. India is talking about a US$10b trade with the Russians. And Russia is willing to sell, can the Indians afford to buy? What is there for the Indians to sell to the Russians, maybe some foodstuff.
 
So, who needs who more? Russia needs India more? What can the Indians offer the Russians? Maybe the next article will be Singapore needs India more than India needs Singapore.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you.

PAP reviewing the CPF Scheme?

The CPF Scheme is a damn good saving scheme gone wrong. If the scheme has not be subject to so many abuses and misuses, today the retirees would be smiling in contentment in their twilight years, living off the savings they have set aside for a life time of work and toil. We are about the biggest savers as a people, saving as much as 50% of our income for retirement. How could this be not enough? How could this, with other savings, be not enough for our retirement?
 
Anyone wants to know why? Now Chuan Jin is going to review the CPF Minimum Sums to make it more flexible as the govt suddenly realized that not everyone has the same need or money problem. So a lot of efforts and resources will be devoted to make Minimum Sum more flexible, designed to the needs of different groups of individuals.
 
Is this not pathetic? One of the greatest and bestest saving schemes in trouble, money not enough! Anyone wants to know why money not enough? Think HDB prices. Anyone wants to scratch the pimples when the system is cancerous? Anyone wants to know what is the cause of the cancer?
 
This is like the Stock Exchange, nothing is wrong, very fine. Just massage the little thing, and all is fine. Why is everyone buying pimple creams when the body is dying of cancer?
If the hole is so big, no matter how much is put into the savings, nothing much will be left if the hole is not patched. The tweaking of the Minimum Sum which is not the problem but a symptom of how nonsensical the CPF Scheme has become is but just a diversion.
 
Deal with the real problems and causes that are eating away at the people’s savings. There should not be any minimum sums schemes at all. Return the money to the people as it was intended when the Scheme was first conceived. The CPF savings are the people’s money and it must be returned to the rightful owners, nothing less.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you.

National leaders versus boy scouts/girl guides

Many people take their early life experience with them wherever they go. Boy scouts and girl guides would bring along their fun times, their pranks and brickbats with them in their jobs as adults. And what are boy scouts and girl guides famous for? Curi ayam, placing thumb tacks on the chairs of unsuspecting victims, waking up in the middle of the night to flatten the sandcastles of competitors, pulling the chairs while someone is about to sit down. These are childish pranks that were fun where one is young in the heart and in the head. Hopefully the boys and girls, when turned adults, would remember them fondly as part and parcel of growing up, but not to think and practise them in adulthood.
 
Many boys and girls grow into top management positions. Some became professionals and some became national leaders. The wiser ones, the more intelligent ones, will know that their stations in life have changed. As a professional, they need to live and act as a professional. As national leaders, they must rise to the occasion and act and behave like national leaders, not like boy scouts and girl guides.
 
It is not funny, not at all, and very pathetic if these boys and girls grow up and still continue to behave like boy scouts and girl guides, playing their pranks and thinking they are very clever. Worse if any of them become national leaders and still behave in such manners. When are these boys and girls going to grow up and take their adult roles seriously and behave like adults and national leaders?
 
No more thumb tacks, please. No more pulling people’s chairs from their behinds.
 
Are you a national leader or a boy scout/girl guide?

Kopi Level - Yellow