Comes Aug 09, 2015, Singapore will be 50 years old after the separation or rather “kicked out” from Malaysia in the year 1965. Since last year, the celebration of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee is splashed all over and is an oft repeated or used in all kinds of promotional gimmicks.
The PAP government is pulling all plugs to persuade Singaporeans to celebrate and enjoy the 50th years anniversary of our nation’s birth. We have come a long way and its time to be joyous. So it seems….
The government fire the first shot with the PGP, the so-called subsidised medical incentive honoring the pioneering generation. Then subsequently, we have:
SG50 payout to Pioneers, be it cash or in kind and from next year onwards, annually
SG50 Pioneer package of public transport top-up, kopi-tiam discounts, shopping discount vouchers, etc
SG50 National Day goodie packs
Extra public holiday declared
And the most recent, SG50 $500 payout to civil servants.
Netizens are wondering, never have the ruling party been so generous, what is their agenda? What is cooking in their “sick” mind? Is it vote buying as the next GE cannot be held later than Jan 2017 and the ground is deemed “sweet”? Can it be a case of giving you with the left hand and taking back with the right?
There is even speculation that it is the same old tactic of giving you $1 and taking back $10 back in future. The other analogy is giving you a single chicken wing and collecting a whole chicken back by other means in the future.
Netizens are repeating and regurgitating the “give-$1-take-back-$10″ kind of worry. This is nonsensical and preposterous.
How can you doubt our talent-stuffed government? They are definitely made of better stuffs than spinning the battered old record over and over again. After all, they are the scoured relentlessly and these are the best in the land.
You can either agreed or disagreed, hmm… this somehow sounds rather familiar. Reminds me of its either in or out …….. Anyhow, lets not digress too far off. Allow me to explain and put in perspective my thoughts on the stone age give-$1-take-back-$10 logic.
To me, the collections of monies started way back when:
The alcohol tax was increase by 25% with the ridiculous “it has not been increased for the last 25 years” excuse
Of course we also have ERPs sprouting all over the islands with the “jams” excuse even though car population and town plannings are all done by government
Tobacco tax increased to “take care of your health”
Petrol tax inceased even though crude oil price was reduced by more than 50%.
C&S charges increased even though PAP’s TC contractors are charging them less.
So gentle(wo)men, you see, its no more giving you $1 and taking back $10 over a period of time in the future. Now, Its taking money and putting into the pocket first before I decide how much to rebate and to whom, selectively.
Certain group will cry foul and will use examples where the government gives $50 in transportation top-up to the Pioneers and there is also the KopiTiam 30% discounts for beverages.
Let’s look at the $50 transport top-up for Pioneers. Why die die must increase fare prices after crude busted the US$50 per barrel price? Why give millions in incentives to the transport companies for service improvement when its their basic requirement to do so. Moreover, commuters’ perception is that there is no improvement in service. So much leeway given to them that they are recording high profits all round. If you look at it deeper, you will realise who the majority shareholders are. Put two and two together, you will most probably get the answer.
How about KopiTiam’s 30% discounts on beverages for Pioneers? Well, beforehand there was that quiet $0.10 increase for beverages in their neighbourhood coffeshops. If you do a simple calculation, the actual discount of kopi-O before and after the stealth price hike is actually only a 22% discount.
Not only that, if you beak down the kopi-O drinkers to 4 age groups, namely, 20~34, 35~49, 50~64 and 65~80 (pioneers) years old. Assuming 10 kopi-O drinkers order 10 cups per day for all age groups, you will find that overall they actually made an extra profit of $0.30. Now, multiply the extra daily profit by 30,000 for a estimated total figure of 1.2m consumers and you will be shocked at the figure.
Let’s also not forget that all these extra taxes and price increases are permanent while any discounts, offers or subsidies is not. In the end, we are one that got the blunt end of the bolt.
The Chinese has a saying: “羊毛出在羊身上”. Literally, it means “wools grow from the body of a sheep”. It is to denote that the source is from within.
Thus, whatever monies that are splurged during this Golden Jubilee comes from somewhere and we are the most likely source. Yup, monies from you and me, collected to be redistributed to whoever they have fancied for and to their advantage. In the past, we take the money and enjoyed first, then we get screwed. Now, we get screwed first and then maybe, just maybe, you can enjoy a little bit if you are lucky.
In other words, we common people got screwed again, OUCH!
呆傻帮主
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