S'PORE TOTE BOARD HAS BILLIONS BUT HOW MUCH USED TO HELP NEEDY S'POREANS?

I refer to the article “Statistician debunks myths ahead of TotoHongbao Draw” (Straits Times, Feb 18).

Toto: 1 in 14m chance?

It states that “The odds of winning the Toto jackpot are heavily stacked against you. These things are more likely to happen to you than striking Toto with a $1 ordinary bet (a 1 in 14 million chance)”.

Odds of more S’poreans getting help?

What are the odds that more needy Singaporeans may get more help, as more people contribute to gaming revenue?

Tote Board reserves $4.7b?

According to the Tote Board’s 2015 annual report –  its Capital and Reserves was $4.7 billion.

This is an increase of $1.7 billion, or 57 per cent from 2010’s $3 billion.

Why have so much reserves?

As I understand that the Tote Board was set up primarily to operate and receive gaming revenue to help the community, why does it need to have so much accumulated reserves?

$1.7b paid to govt.?

Its annual contribution to Government (betting duties, income tax and contribution to the consolidated fund) was about $1.71 billion.

I understand that this may be an all-time high.

Donate more to Charity, less to govt?

Since the cash Budget surplus was $25 billion in FY2012 as well as FY2013 under IMF fiscal reporting guidelines, may I suggest that the law be reviewed to pay less “annual contributon to the government”, and donate more to charity.

Is Singapore the country with the highest cash Budget surplus (per capita) in the world?

ComCare disbursed $116m?

In contrast, according to the Community Care Endowment Fund annual report for FY2014– ComCare disbursed $116 million to 91,093 overall unique beneficiaries assisted.

Does this mean that ComCare assistance was only about 7 per cent ($116 million divided by $1.71 billion) of the Tote Board’s annual contribution to Government?

$106 assistance per beneficiary?

Does this mean that the average assistance per beneficiary was only about $106 monthly ($116 million divided by 91,093 beneficiaries divided by 12 months)?

LeongSzeHian