‘Leaders must be able to take criticism, acknowledge mistakes’: PM Lee

[skyleon]

Ministry of Finance seeks public feedback on Budget 2018

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat at Parliament House on Monday (Feb 20) to deliver Budget 2017. (Photo: Xabryna Kek)

03 Dec 2017 03:06PM (Updated: 03 Dec 2017 03:14PM)


SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is seeking views and suggestions from Singaporeans in preparation for Budget 2018, it said in a press release on Sunday (Dec 3).

The public can provide their views through several channels.

From Monday (Dec 4), Singaporeans can visit the REACH Pre-Budget 2018 microsite to submit their views, MOF said.

"Individuals, households, and businesses are welcome to provide feedback on issues such as how our businesses can compete, how our people can seize new opportunities, how we care for and support one another, and how we plan for future needs," MOF added.

During the feedback period, REACH will organise nine Pre-Budget 2018 Listening Points across Singapore for the public to give their views in person.

Locations of these Listening Points can be found on REACH's website.

In addition, REACH will organise a Pre-Budget 2018 Conversation with members of the public on Tuesday, Dec 5, 2017.

The Conversation will be hosted by Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Finance, and Mr Sam Tan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Manpower and REACH chairman.

A Pre-Budget Facebook Q&A session has been planned for Jan 4, 2018 from 8.00pm to 9.00pm where members of the public can join in the chat hosted on the REACH Facebook page.

In addition, Singaporeans can give their views and suggestions for the coming Budget 2018 online, including through the Singapore Budget Website, the REACH Discussion Forum, the REACH Budget microsite and the REACH Singapore Facebook page.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...t-2018-9464508


Another big wayang show from PAP government . Really asking us for feedback ??? Of course we will tell them not to increase taxes that will burden your voters .

[skyleon]

Ministry of Finance set up fake feedback exercise on 2018 Budget


December 3, 2017


In a press release yesterday (Dec 3), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced the setting up of a fake feedback exercise on next year’s Budget. According to MOF, Singaporeans can submit feedback on “how we plan for future needs” – hinting Singaporeans to suggest tax increases for the government:

“The MOF hope to gather views and suggestions from individuals, households and businesses on issues including “how our businesses can compete, how our people can seize new opportunities, how we care for and support one another, and how we plan for future needs.”

Singaporeans can provide their suggestions on various platforms over six weeks, however, their feedback will never be considered. Suggestions like “do not increase the GST”, “reduce the Ministerial million dollar salaries” or “one Minister for one Ministry” will not be entertained.

The Singapore dictatorship is bent on increasing the GST tax and making Singaporeans pay more for the increased infrastructure needs for a 6.9 million population.

A major spender of next year’s Budget will be public transport, where billions of taxes has always been channelled to subsidise the profitable duopoly companies, SMRT and SBS Transit.

The feedback exercise is meant as a publicity campaign to improve the reputation for the dictatorship, to appease the population’s demand for greater say in politics. Submissions will not be reviewed nor considered, and simply ended up straight into the trash bin. In fact, every year’s feedback exercise there is no mention of a single policy influenced by feedback contribution.

As Singaporeans are denied opposition representation (30% of the electoral popular votes are represented by only 6% opposition presence in Parliament), many feel disenfranchised and unrepresented. Following Lee Kuan Yew’s death, many ruling party voters also felt cheated when the country did not prosper as promised.


continue reading here : https://statestimesreview.com/2017/1...n-2018-budget/


US cut taxes . Here in Singapore the PAP government want to increase taxes . A reminder that the Singapore government has got a huge amount of reserves that can last for a long time . Why need to increase taxes ? Please provide your expenditure report for the public to see .

[skyleon]

How much fiscal sustainability is enough?

Published on 2017-12-06 by The Online Citizen


by Chris Kuan

"Fiscal sustainability key to achieving country’s goals: Heng Swee Keat" reports Today Online, we should expect more of this one-sided narrative given that taxes will go up, its only a matter of time.

Minister of Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat talks about that loaded sovereign finance term - fiscal sustainability. Same old same old of having the firepower to deal with an attack on the Singapore dollar, passing wealth to the next generation, the usual tired clichés of government narrative plus a new one, risks to traditional revenue sources from disruptions and changing business models.


Repeat - fiscal sustainability can be achieved without having reserves, without having to generate budget surpluses, without having to be stingy in social spending.

Lo and behold, it can even be achieved with budget deficits so long as these are not excessive. And once more, Singapore has fiscal space equal to 190% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according the Moody research used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 10th highest in the world without taking reserves into consideration.

This is no normal fiscal sustainability the government has always implemented – it is an extreme version that leads it to consider first, foremost and only tax hikes rather than seeking alternative means and asking crucial questions of sovereign finance – how much reserve is enough, when do the nation need to slow down the reserves accumulation.

Make no mistake, fiscal sustainability have costs, predominantly social ones. The more extreme , the higher the costs. High income inequality even after tax and social transfers, high individual portion of healthcare costs, low retirement adequacy, high "public housing" prices.

It is the cause of the reluctance to provide unemployment benefits in face of greater volatility in the global economy that leads to Growth Maximisation that generate lots of jobs, never mind what kind, never mind it also require the influx of foreign workers and never mind the dampening effect on wages. Now the long run consequences have caught up.

All of this begs many questions. E.g. why should there be an attack on the Singapore dollar that so much reserves are required to defend if the government did not messed almightily to begin with? How much protection does the government needs or how high the over-insurance must be in order to face risks?


continue reading here : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...ity-is-enough/

[skyleon]

Fees for LTA vehicle services to increase from Dec 20

Motorists enter the financial district area in Singapore on Oct 24, 2017.

PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO


Christopher Tan Senior Transport Correspondent
Vehicle buyers will have to pay more for a wide range of administrative services from Dec 20.

This comes on the back of increases to a wide range of fees levied by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for services ranging from vehicle registration to vehicle transfer.

In a letter sent out to motor traders last Friday, the authority said the change was because of the "rising costs of providing these services". These, it said, included things such as the setting up and maintenance of IT systems as well as manpower cost.

Fees with the biggest increases include the registration fee, which will go from $140 now to $220, a 57 per cent hike, and the transfer fee (which is levied when a vehicle's ownership changes), which will more than double from $11 to $25.

The fee to lay up a vehicle (for extended periods when it is not used) will more than treble from $5.35 to $17.12.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, an LTA spokesman said the changes arose from "a review of fees that are collected for administering vehicle services".

She said: "From Dec 20, 24 out of 61 existing fees will be adjusted upwards, as these fees have largely remained unchanged for more than 10 years."

Motor traders were surprised by the move.

"These fees are small when compared with things like the COE (certificate of entitlement) and ARF (additional registration fee), so I don't understand why they have to be raised," said Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor.

Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said he would refrain from commenting on tax revenue issues, but pointed out that the "cost will be passed on to consumers".

Motorist Gay Eng Joo, 46, said: "Cars are big-ticket items here, so I don't think these changes will make much of a difference to consumers."

Mr Gay, an engineer, said other schemes such as the new Vehicle Emissions Scheme (VES), which starts next month, will have a "bigger bite".


Continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...se-from-dec-20


Greedy white pigs . Those businesses who need vehicles would be hard hit .

[skyleon]

AGC: No such thing as privacy on Facebook


December 9, 2017



The Singapore Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) yesterday (Dec 9) defended the government’s lawsuit against Li Shengwu declaring that his private post “does not entitle him to privacy”:

“Mr Li Shengwu, 32, may have put his Facebook privacy settings on ‘friends only’ when he published a post that allegedly attacked the independence of Singapore’s judiciary, but this does not entitle him to claim privacy.”

The nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is currently being sued by the Singapore government for his private Facebook post lamenting that the government is “very litigious” and the judiciary is “pliant” to the dictatorship. Li Shengwu’s Facebook page is however spied upon by the dictatorship regime, and a government spy took a screenshot of the “offending” post and handed it over to the AGC to press charges.

The AGC insisted that it does not matter whether Li Shengwu has intentions to undermine public confidence and his effort to make amendments after shows he is guilty:

“For the case to proceed, it is not necessary to prove Mr Li intended to undermine public confidence, only that he intentionally published the post. This intentional act was indisputable. Mr Li subsequently amended parts of it, but AGC said his amendment of the post to clarify its meaning showed he was aware the phrase “pliant court system” was open to being understood at face value. It could be taken to mean the Singapore judiciary is easily influenced.”

The AGC also told the Singapore Courts that any material attacking the Singapore government is illegal so long as it “can be accessed in Singapore”:

“It is irrelevant whether the material was posted outside Singapore. Since it can be accessed in Singapore, its publication occurs in Singapore.”


continue reading here : http://statestimesreview.com/2017/12...y-on-facebook/

[LukasStar]

I wonder then what the purpose of having private settings in Facebook ? So can Facebook please explain ?

[AhBooon]

Originally Posted by skyleon

AGC: No such thing as privacy on Facebook


December 9, 2017



The Singapore Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) yesterday (Dec 9) defended the government’s lawsuit against Li Shengwu declaring that his private post “does not entitle him to privacy”:

“Mr Li Shengwu, 32, may have put his Facebook privacy settings on ‘friends only’ when he published a post that allegedly attacked the independence of Singapore’s judiciary, but this does not entitle him to claim privacy.”

The nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is currently being sued by the Singapore government for his private Facebook post lamenting that the government is “very litigious” and the judiciary is “pliant” to the dictatorship. Li Shengwu’s Facebook page is however spied upon by the dictatorship regime, and a government spy took a screenshot of the “offending” post and handed it over to the AGC to press charges.

The AGC insisted that it does not matter whether Li Shengwu has intentions to undermine public confidence and his effort to make amendments after shows he is guilty:

“For the case to proceed, it is not necessary to prove Mr Li intended to undermine public confidence, only that he intentionally published the post. This intentional act was indisputable. Mr Li subsequently amended parts of it, but AGC said his amendment of the post to clarify its meaning showed he was aware the phrase “pliant court system” was open to being understood at face value. It could be taken to mean the Singapore judiciary is easily influenced.”

The AGC also told the Singapore Courts that any material attacking the Singapore government is illegal so long as it “can be accessed in Singapore”:

“It is irrelevant whether the material was posted outside Singapore. Since it can be accessed in Singapore, its publication occurs in Singapore.”


continue reading here : http://statestimesreview.com/2017/12...y-on-facebook/

Garbage logic from garbagement

[skyleon]

Higher tuition fees for students joining polytechnics and ITE in 2018

11 Dec 2017 04:10PM (Updated: 11 Dec 2017 04:56PM)


SINGAPORE: Students planning to enrol in the polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) next year will see tuition fees go up.

The increase in tuition fees will be larger for permanent residents and foreigners, compared with Singapore citizens, the schools announced on their websites on Monday (Dec 11).

These revised fees apply only to the new batch of students joining the schools in the 2018 academic year. The polytechnics' term starts in April, while ITE has two intakes in January and April.

Singapore citizens looking to join the five polytechnics next year will pay an annual tuition fee of S$2,800, up from S$2,700 last year.

For permanent residents (PRs), fees will go up to S$5,600 from S$5,400, while tuition fees for international students will go up to S$10,000 from S$9,600.

The five polytechnics schools include Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic.

For the ITE, fees for full-time Nitec courses will go up to S$406 for Singaporeans, while PRs will pay S$5,023 and international students will foot S$13,482. These include fees such as the registration fee, supplementary fees and examination fees.

Singaporean citizen students who joined ITE this year paid S$386 in school fees, while PRs paid S$4,719 and international students paid S$12,582.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...ite-in-9488458

[skyleon]

Heng Swee Keat: Most important thing in S’pore’s political system is to win trust of the people

We will likely hear from Heng more often in the coming year.

By Chan Cheow Pong | 15 hours



For those who have been following our 4G Ministers closely, you may have noticed that future Prime Minister front-runner Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat has been popping up in the news quite frequently in recent times talking about big picture stuff.



Sharing his big picture views

Slightly more than two weeks ago, Heng who was visiting China, gave a rare speech on foreign relations in which he provided a road map for the future of Singapore-China relations.

Calling it three principles, five potential areas, and one vision, he advocated strengthening our evolving relations in the areas of trade, innovation, finance, people-to-people ties and environmental sustainability.

Just a week ago, he spoke at the The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum, where he tackled the topic of what Singapore needs to have as a nation to secure our future.

Clarity of values, good governance and leadership were the three ingredients he mentioned as critical to how Singapore should approach the future as an adaptive challenge.



continue reading here : https://mothership.sg/2017/12/heng-s...of-the-people/


Really how can we trust the government ? A good government strives to make its citizens life better and not make it harder . A good government must be willing to accept alternative views and not to silent its critics .

[jacky43]

Just returned from a tour at PT. Nothing much will post observations over at PT threads. I remembered it was 99% of the people leaving in high rise building, 1% in pte property. Should it be 99% living in hdb estates the 1% including condo and pte houses.

My point is hdb estates r the ones where the parties win the seats. Of course the "hammer" too need this too. Back to pay and pay, although it still manage in winning there is a drop in % past 17 years.

Watch it again my friends. Including PR and new pink ic holders who stayed at HDB estates. This people can't made it. We the born locals r fighting back and, no matter how they whack us in slow mrt services. We are not afraid anymore, because of FTs, blue and new pink ic holders who bully us at the workplaces.

52 yrs all ang mo men who married into this red dot r not accepted within the HDB estates. That inluding those who visit their born local wives partents at flats. The childrens I will urge them to cross over to us, if not they will also be rejected. I guess on the red dot, in my parents shoes r one eg of yrs from now. Their born local childrens will look down on their partents.

So? Dont bring their childrens back to their shits hole countries.

[jacky43]

An Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student who had commercial sex with a female secondary school student and left without paying her was jailed 10 months on Tuesday (12 December).

Hari Kumar Anpalagan, now 25, had met the girl through Tagged, a social networking platform, sometime between April and May last year. The girl, who cannot be named to protect her identity, had initially posted on Tagged asking for help to buy a new handphone.

Hari, a Singaporean, messaged her to ask what he could get in return for fulfilling her request and she offered sex.

Following a trial in the State Courts, Hari was convicted on 16 November on one count of obtaining commercial sex from a person below 18 years old.

The girl had initially turned to Tagged to seek financial help when she first knew Hari. After some negotiation, the girl agreed to provide sexual services to Hari for $70.

The two then met at a HDB void deck in May last year, where the girl informed Hari that she was 16 years old, according to the prosecution. The two later went to a staircase landing between the sixth and seventh floor where they had sex.

They only stopped when a resident, who was not identified, spotted them from an upper floor. The girl told Hari she would wait for him downstairs before running down. However, Hari did not show up, and the girl never got paid.

The girl’s school discovered that she was having sex for money and reported the matter to the police. The police later seized and conducted a forensic examination on the girl’s phone and traced Hari by referring his number to a telecommunications company.

The telco screened Hari’s mobile number and obtained his particulars. Five other men were identified through the telco screening and two of them were later prosecuted.

During his trial, Hari said that he believed the girl was 18 years old. He claimed that he had met the girl to give her $70 out of kindness when the girl suddenly pulled down his jeans and grabbed his penis.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) N K Anitha, however, said that Hari was well aware of the girl’s age before having sex with her. She added that Hari had exploited the financially desperate girl.

In mitigation, Hari, who was unrepresented, said that if he were sentenced, he would not be able to graduate as he would not be able to serve his internship, which was a requirement for graduation.

“If I’m sentenced, I won’t get a good job and will be unable to take care of my family. My whole life would be ruined,” said Hari, who asked the court to impose a fine instead of a jail term on him.

But District Judge Kenneth Yap rebuked Hari for his self-centeredness.

“You are evidently showing no remorse, everything you’re saying here hinges on you. What will happen to you if you’re incarcerated,” said the DJ.

“Everything you are saying is about your life, you have not shown a shred of remorse. To add salt to the wound, you didn’t pay her.”

Hari will have the commencement of his jail term delayed pending clarification by the prosecution with his school on his graduation requirement.

For having commercial sex with a person under 18 years old, Hari could have been jailed up to seven years and/or fined.

----------

This is what disturb me. The judge should not said it. Is that mean if the fucker paid up he will receive a lighter sentence?

[skyleon]

Complaints of noise from empty flat: Some issues defy explanation, Tan Chuan-Jin says

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

Lydia Lam


SINGAPORE - When he heard about a resident's complaint over the sound of chairs being dragged from a flat above, Marine Parade GRC MP Tan Chuan-Jin thought it was a neighbourly dispute.

However, he found out that there was no one living in the said flat, as the former occupant had died and the flat was empty.

Mr Tan, who is also Speaker of Parliament, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday night (Dec 12) that he encounters issues that may be beyond an MP's ability from time to time.

"And I mean way beyond," he quipped.

Mr Tan, 48, told The Straits Times on Wednesday that as an MP, he receives feedback from time to time that seems to "defy conventional explanation".

Some sounds that are commonly heard in Housing Board flats include the sound of marbles dropping or rolling, furniture shifting and footsteps.

"There are the usual explanations such as expansion and contraction of pipes and sounds transmitted from other units," he said. "Even cats mewing can sound like babies crying."


continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...chuan-jin-says

[skyleon]

Singapore is getting even tougher on free speech and curtailing debate, says Human Rights Watch


‘People in a country that calls itself a democracy shouldn’t be afraid to criticise the government’




PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 December, 2017, 3:01pm

UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 December, 2017, 10:56pm



Agence France-Presse


Singapore is increasingly using harsh laws to severely restrict freedom of speech and assembly, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, urging authorities to let people publicly debate matters of national interest.

A report from the New York-based rights group said that while the financial hub was an economic success, it was time to relax tough regulations which are not in line with international human rights standards.

“Singapore promotes itself as a modern nation and a good place to do business, but people in a country that calls itself a democracy shouldn’t be afraid to criticise the government or speak out about political issues,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The city state has long been accused of using tough laws to stifle dissent but Robertson said its use of them had been stepped up in recent times.

Last month prominent human rights activist Jolovan Wham was charged with organising public protests without a permit over three small demonstrations staged in the last year.

Singapore does not allow protests without approval from police, except in one corner of a downtown park.

In August, the government launched legal action against Li Shengwu, the grandson of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, over a Facebook post linked to a feud in the ruling family.



continue reading here : http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southe...ech-says-human

[skyleon]

New volunteer gardening initiative to make Istana grounds more accessible


By Cynthia Choo

Published13 December, 2017

Updated 14 December, 2017




SINGAPORE – Gardening enthusiasts will now get a chance to help shape the gardens at the Istana under a new Volunteer Gardeners@Istana programme.

Launched by President Halimah Yacob on Thursday (Dec 14), the programme will provide opportunities for the gardening community in Singapore to come together to maintain the greenery and landscape of the Istana.

Madam Halimah said: “The purpose (of the programme) is basically to encourage Singaporeans who are interested in community gardening to come and contribute their ideas and experiences, and also help to shape the gardens at the Istana.”

“The whole idea is also to engage and reach out to Singaporeans so that they feel that there is a part they can play in the Istanta garden,” she added.

She also said that this programme was a chance for volunteers to “develop collective memories” of the Istana.

Madam Halimah had previously said she wants to make the Istana more accessible to ordinary Singaporeans. The Volunter Gardeners@Istana programme is the second of such initiatives, with the first being the Picnic@Istana programme — which will see four picnics held a year — launched in November.

So far, about 50 people - from as young as 9 to 79-years-old - have signed up as volunteer gardeners, with the majority being in their 50s.


continue reading here : http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...ore-accessible


Very clever of her to come up with idea to get free labour to do the gardening at Istana House.

[sharklaserscom]

Originally Posted by skyleon

New volunteer gardening initiative to make Istana grounds more accessible

Very clever of her to come up with idea to get free labour to do the gardening at Istana House.