The GPC Chairman for Transport said that increased (COE) premium could be seen as a "cost of living" issue for current and future car owners. He said that any price increase, from COE to HDB prices, will have a "political implication".
I have heard the term "political implication" used many times by politicians from the ruling party over the past years. It is a necessary vocabulary to show their understanding of the ideology of our great leader.
There is another way to make decisions that is not based on "political implications". It is based on what is right and wrong, what is good and bad. It is right and good to take care of the welfare of the people, to maintain an affordable cost of living and to a comfortable and secure life to the people. It is not necessary to do them based on "political implications".
Tan Kin Lian
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Big rats and fat cats
How is this relevant to Singapore? What is the role of government? Read this article by Dr. Wong Wee Nam.
Quote
Role of Government
The poor will only get a fair share of the economic pie through a just re-distribution of income. The only way to re-distribute income is through public policies and laws. Unfortunately the problem is that most of the people who are in the position to influence, initiate or implement the changes are members of the tiny apex who have the largest share of the national income. Unless one is very altruistic, who would want to come out with an equitable system especially when it means affecting one’s self-interest? It is natural for anyone in this position to believe completely the virtue of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”.
Big businesses and corporations love to wave the flag of globalisation, free market and competitiveness. This is because the wages of the workers can always be kept low by making them compete against foreign workers that can be imported from the part of the world where many people are still hungry. They can easily wring concessions from workers with the threat of relocation. Conversely, no worker can hope to wring concession from the bosses with the threat of resignation or emigration.
The power of big corporations and businesses can also be be seen in Singapore. Thus when companies do not make profit, they can put pressure to cut the workers’ salaries so that they can still be profitable. If the profit is not attractive enough, they can exert pressure to bring down the corporate tax rates.
In the end not only do they pay lower taxes, the tax payers’ money that is used to produce skilled workers, good infrastructure and a safe environment for these companies will be raised through the GST that is paid by everyone.
In a just and equal society, the role of the government should be to act as a regulator to balance the needs of the people and the greed the big businesses. Its job should be to iron out any kinks that may give rise to injustice and conflict and to re-distribute wealth in a fair manner. Its policies should not favour one side or the other. It cannot play such role if it decides to go into business and become a Fat Cat itself.
For a just an equal society, a government must be able to control the greed of the Big Rats and trim the fat of the Fat Cats instead of justifying the necessity of their existence
Quote
Role of Government
The poor will only get a fair share of the economic pie through a just re-distribution of income. The only way to re-distribute income is through public policies and laws. Unfortunately the problem is that most of the people who are in the position to influence, initiate or implement the changes are members of the tiny apex who have the largest share of the national income. Unless one is very altruistic, who would want to come out with an equitable system especially when it means affecting one’s self-interest? It is natural for anyone in this position to believe completely the virtue of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”.
Big businesses and corporations love to wave the flag of globalisation, free market and competitiveness. This is because the wages of the workers can always be kept low by making them compete against foreign workers that can be imported from the part of the world where many people are still hungry. They can easily wring concessions from workers with the threat of relocation. Conversely, no worker can hope to wring concession from the bosses with the threat of resignation or emigration.
The power of big corporations and businesses can also be be seen in Singapore. Thus when companies do not make profit, they can put pressure to cut the workers’ salaries so that they can still be profitable. If the profit is not attractive enough, they can exert pressure to bring down the corporate tax rates.
In the end not only do they pay lower taxes, the tax payers’ money that is used to produce skilled workers, good infrastructure and a safe environment for these companies will be raised through the GST that is paid by everyone.
In a just and equal society, the role of the government should be to act as a regulator to balance the needs of the people and the greed the big businesses. Its job should be to iron out any kinks that may give rise to injustice and conflict and to re-distribute wealth in a fair manner. Its policies should not favour one side or the other. It cannot play such role if it decides to go into business and become a Fat Cat itself.
For a just an equal society, a government must be able to control the greed of the Big Rats and trim the fat of the Fat Cats instead of justifying the necessity of their existence
Make a date with FISCA on 8 May 2010
Make a date with FiSCA on 8 May 2010 from 3pm to 6pm. Talk on "Financial Planning - A Practical Guide"
Note this down in your diary. Put it in your calendar. Register now! It's free to all FiSCA members. Also, a free copy of the Practical Guide on Financial Planning book will be given out to all members who attend the talk.
The public is welcome to join in as well. Public participation fee is $30. For this event only, the public who attends the talk will also get a copy of the Practical Guide on Financial Planning book worth $12.
Note this down in your diary. Put it in your calendar. Register now! It's free to all FiSCA members. Also, a free copy of the Practical Guide on Financial Planning book will be given out to all members who attend the talk.
The public is welcome to join in as well. Public participation fee is $30. For this event only, the public who attends the talk will also get a copy of the Practical Guide on Financial Planning book worth $12.
Group insurance rates
You can view the group insurance rates charged by Aviva for SAF members and dependents here. These rates can be used as a benchmark to compare the rates offered by other insurance companies for term life, critical illness and personal accident insurance.
The rates for term life (payable on death) and personal accident (payable on death or injury by accident) is the same regardless of age.
The rates for critical illness increase sharply after age 45. If you find them to be expensive, you do not need to have this insurance, if you already have sufficient savings by that time. You can draw down on your savings in the event of a critical illness.
Example
Assume that you are 30 years old, earn $3,000 a month and wish to insure for the following:
Term life $200,000 premium $25.60
Critical illness $100,000 premium $10.00
Personal accident $100,000 premium $4.17
Total premium $39.17
The premium is about 1.3% of your earnings. This rate will remain unchanged until you reach age 45. After that, you have to pay a higher premium for critical illness, but you can discontinue it at that time.
The rates for term life (payable on death) and personal accident (payable on death or injury by accident) is the same regardless of age.
The rates for critical illness increase sharply after age 45. If you find them to be expensive, you do not need to have this insurance, if you already have sufficient savings by that time. You can draw down on your savings in the event of a critical illness.
Example
Assume that you are 30 years old, earn $3,000 a month and wish to insure for the following:
Term life $200,000 premium $25.60
Critical illness $100,000 premium $10.00
Personal accident $100,000 premium $4.17
Total premium $39.17
The premium is about 1.3% of your earnings. This rate will remain unchanged until you reach age 45. After that, you have to pay a higher premium for critical illness, but you can discontinue it at that time.
CNBC Interview with Roger Kirby
The US law firm Kirby McInerney will be speaking at a seminar on 13 April about class action in the USA to recover losses due to securities fraud. You can watch an interview with Roger Kirby in this CNBC video.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Investing and the casino
This article is quite frank. It says that investing is like the casino. The lessons from the casino can be applied to investing. I agree.
Lost & Found Service
I have launched the Lost & Found website.
I sent this media release, but the newspapers did not cover it. I have approached several transport companies and educational institutions to tell them about this service and to encourage them to report the lost & found items in this website, to make it easy for the items to be matched. Two of them have responded positively.
The Police called my office to tell me that under the law, I am not allowed to keep the found item. They said that the found item has to be reported to a neighborhood police station and kept in a central store. This works fine for me and save me the hassle. I will post more details about this service in the website.
I hope that my readers can help to promote this website through Facebook and other social media.
Tan Kin Lian
I sent this media release, but the newspapers did not cover it. I have approached several transport companies and educational institutions to tell them about this service and to encourage them to report the lost & found items in this website, to make it easy for the items to be matched. Two of them have responded positively.
The Police called my office to tell me that under the law, I am not allowed to keep the found item. They said that the found item has to be reported to a neighborhood police station and kept in a central store. This works fine for me and save me the hassle. I will post more details about this service in the website.
I hope that my readers can help to promote this website through Facebook and other social media.
Tan Kin Lian
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