Cost of Living subsidies and cash the biggest vote winners

 Rising cost of living in this most expensive little island is no joke. Just to be alive with very basic necessities, walking or cycling in the parks, drinking kopi in kopitiams, would need at least $1,000 a month to get by. And this sum is not stagnant but increasing everyday. $1,000 pm or $1,500 pm is the poverty line in Singapore but could be a lot of money in many developing countries.

The cleaners in hawker centres are now paid more than $1,500 pm or else no takers. The tissue sellers would have to walk a lot to collect this sum of money to survive. There are many overheads, yes, overheads that every Singaporean, working or not working, would have to pay without having to leave their homes. And these overheads are also increasing and adding to their cost of living, to the cost of living of the retirees and the not working seniors who have graduated from the working class to join the retiree class.

The govt has come up with many schemes and subsidies to alleviate the financial burden and fears of not working and retiree class. Though the sum cannot come near to the million dollar salary they are getting, to those without an income, the few thousands a year, from CDC vouchers and sometimes cash, subsidies, rebates and once in 60 years SG60 cash, mean a lot to them. To those thinking of selling tissues or becoming cleaners, these handouts could come in handy and keep them away from taking these desperate steps to stay alive and be fed, and still a roof over their heads.

When a needy person is asking for $2 for his paltry meal, $450 cash or $850 cash, to those that qualified, is like striking 4D. It would mean having full stomach for a month or more and can drink kopi in the kopitiams. These windfalls are vote winners in the not working class when money is hard to come by but a necessity that they cannot do without, would be felt everyday.

As the govt introduces more of such subsidies and handouts to extend the net, to many of the recipients, it is hard not to give their votes to their benefactors, the govt. Never mind where the money is coming from. They would not and many could not think much about anything else. A little money in hard times, in extreme conditions, can bring tears to those that desperately need them.

The ruling party has struck on a winning formula, by designed or otherwise. How could the opposition parties beat this. Subsidies and hard cash are real, very real and life savers to the needy, even temporary and may not last. Where got govt give you money? And a few thousands in a year. This cannot happen anywhere in the world, only in the richest country in the world.

Thank Allah, Saudis and Houthis are not killing each other

If Iran has hypersonic missiles, I will not rule out the Houthis having them as well, sooner or later. And that is going the change the destiny of USA aircraft carriers lurking around the Gulf region.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the USA, had tried to intervene and control the Yemen leadership which led to the conflict erupting in 2015 between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, lasting more than ten years, with Iran backing the Houthis in Yemen. After the peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, brokered by Wang Yi, the situation de-escalated somewhat, but with the Gaza issue and the intervention of the USA in the Middle East, it flared up again with the Houthis resuming hostilities around the Gulf region.

Two cargo vessels have been struck and sunk by the Houthis in recent days, and shipping around the Gulf is facing real issues. One vessel was carrying cargoes destined for Israel. Would the USA now be about to send more aircraft carriers to the region in a show of strength as in the past? I think they have much to think about, after looking at what happened to Israeli cities hit by suspected hypersonic missiles fired by Iran. Is history in the making of the sinking of a USA aircraft carrier sooner or later?


Anonymous

China is going to eat the lunch of Western weapon makers

China is going to eat the lunch of Western weapon makers. When China targets a sector, you can expect its domination sooner or later. We have seen it in EVs, shipbuilding, renewable energy, high-speed rails and infrastructure building under the BRI.

Two other sectors that China is aiming for a bigger stake are aviation and semiconductors. The USA and the West can bet against it and erect barriers against it at their own peril. But do not push China into prioritizing it. The result would not be what they wished for.

China is no longer playing the nice guy. Weapons export is picking up speed after the India/Pakistan conflict. It is now being enhanced by Iran going full throttle buying up Chinese weapons - the whole Chinese 'air force' deal as they called it, with jets, missiles and defense system, the whole works. They are moving to Iran almost readily available by the trainloads - unknowingly, unseen and no loud noises.

Is Israel about to go for another pre-emptive strike against Iran? Maybe, if the earlier lesson has not been learnt. If Iran, with its self-developed missiles can already do so much damage to Israel, the Iranians must have seen something more useful with Chinese J10s, PL15 and China's Advance Warning Air Control System (AWACS).

Oh, by the way, Iran already found out how beneficial it was during the 12-day war using the Chinese Beidou Navigation Satellite system to target Israel cities and important infrastructures. Were Iran still using GPS, they would be targeting blind with the system jammed by the Israelis with help from the USA. Think about it.


Anonymous

American terrorists using the big stick at ASEAN to do its bidding

Marco Rubio is on a tour of ASEAN, to reassure ASEAN leaders that they still have the USA's commitment in the region despite being hit by the tariffs. Now that is really reassuring. That this is the USA style of diplomacy, which Winston Churchill would have winced if he were still alive.

What kind of commitment would the USA give ASEAN and in what sense? Get ready to fight China with the USA behind their backs? ASEAN leaders should know better who is more reliable in buttering their bread. When the USA's interest in using them against China is gone, under the bus they will go. Those tariffs should also tell ASEAN leaders it is time to upgrade strategic and economic co-operation with China, the Global South, and in particular BRICS countries, in order to move their economy forward. The tariffs will stifle their exports to the USA and the consequence does not need explaining.

With the USA trying to cripple ASEAN, to force the group to reorientate its relations with China towards the USA, increasing tariffs is not the way to do it. But I guess the USA has no more rope to hold on and is using punishment as a last resort to change the geopolitical landscape.

How ludicrous can it be when the USA is planning to cripple ASEAN with huge tariffs, aiming to eat the group's breakfast, lunch and dinner and telling them the USA has their interest at heart. If Marco Rubio wants to lie, he has to wear a clown's mask to avoid ridicule. All USA leaders are plain 'bald face liars' that I think the whole world has now come to accept.


Anonymous

Iran nuclear facilities destroyed? You must be kidding

 The American and Israeli terrorists have been bragging daily about how successful was their attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. They claimed to have delayed Iran's nuclear programme by a few years, then changed to a few months. The reports and satellite images have forced the Americans and Israelis to change their claims, from being obliterated to a little damage, and many red faces.

How serious was the damage to the Iranian facilities? The Israelis used conventional bombs that were not designed to penetrate deep bunkers. Obviously, they could not cause much damage to the Iranian underground facilities. 

The Americans bragged about their world best bunker penetrating bombs designed specifically to hit deep bunkers like those in Iran. The specs of the American bunker piercing bombs said that they could penetrate 60m of reinforced concrete or 21m of solid rock structure. The effectiveness of these bombs thus depends on how deep were the Iranian underground structures and protected by what material, reinforced concrete or solid rock foundation.

The Iranian nuclear sites were located in deep mountainous region. The heights of these mountains could easily be more than 10,000 feet or 3,000m. The Iranians did not need to dig deep into the ground to be a few hundred metres underground by just boring into the sides of the mountains. At any point, the underground facilities would be several times more than 60m deep, protected by reinforced concrete and solid mountain rock structures. Get the point?

The Iranians did not build their nuclear facilities under flat lands and had to dig deep into the earth. The mountains are the natural cover and protection for their nuclear facilities under them. What can bunker piercing bombs that could penetrate 60m or reinforced concrete or 21m of solid rock do? They could at best scratch the surface of the mountains, never would they get near to the Iranian underground facilities.

Given the protection from the mountains, and the limitations of the American bunker piercing bombs, the bombings were a complete waste of time and effort. What is 21m or 60m? They would not even shake the underground structures, let alone damaging them.

What do you think? Invincible Iron Dome, 100 per cent killed rate, bunker piercing bombs, and what more bullshitting coming from the Empire of Lies and Israel?