My apologies, my reference was made to a stable property price.
Not taking into accounts the fluctuation of property prices or when the landlords are out to make profits.
GST up to 7%
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My apologies, my reference was made to a stable property price.
Not taking into accounts the fluctuation of property prices or when the landlords are out to make profits.
You are kidding me. I am paying $5k per year in income tax. And I am not getting salary increments.
I can't afford my Nikon 17-55mm F2.8 lens!
with 66.6% support..GST up to 7 %.
next time..if the situation is > 66.6%, no surprise GST will go up to 10%.
next time..if the situation is > 66.6%, no surprise GST will go up to 10%.
Paying $5k for income tax = ur pay is high enough for u to live comfortably.
Pls put urself in the shoes of those who have to worry abt their daily basic needs.
Agreed.
The more u earn, the higher the percentage of income taxes.
eg, maintence the % for middle income group, tax less on lower income earners, increase tazes for high income earners, even for those so-called Elites.
Cut Ministers' pay.
Got this from another forum.
----------------------------------------------------
Adapted from:
http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2064
Policy Watch
Commentary on Ministers pay cut
(Singapore Review, 2 May 2003)
13 May 2003 by Mellanie Hewlitt
The headlines blared loudly in the 2 May 2003 issues of the Straits Times and Business Times "Pay cut? Ministers ready to lead by example: DPM", announcing to the entire world this selfless act of leadership by Singapore's Ruling Elite.
In what appeared to be an initial move to reduce severely inflated salaries, to more reasonable industry standards, Singapore's Ruling Elite have bowed to public pressure and hinted at accepting a pay cut.
Or have they?
What exactly does "Leading By Example" mean? Lets try to put some substance behind those brave words. As of last count, average take home pay of a Singapore minister was well in excess of SGD100,000/- a month.
The below table puts things back in proper perspective: (these are basic figures as of July 2000 and did not include last year's pay hikes or other benefits. Otherwise the updated numbers may well be much larger)
1. Singapore Prime Minister's Basic Salary US$1,100,000 (SGD1,958,000) a year Minister's Basic: US$655,530 to US$819,124 (SGD1,166,844 to SGD1,458,040) a year
2. United States of America President: US$200,000 Vice President: US$181,400 Cabinet Secretaries: US$157,000
3. United Kingdom Prime Minister: US$170,556 Ministers: US$146,299 Senior Civil Servants: US$262,438
4. Australia Prime Minister: US$137,060 Deputy Prime Minister: US$111,439 Treasurer: US$102,682
5. Hong Kong Chief Executive : US$416,615 Top Civil Servant: US$278,538 Financial Sec: US$315,077
Source: Asian Wall Street Journal July 10 2000
In relative terms, less then 20% of Singaporeans here have take home salaries exceeding SGD100,000/- A YEAR.
In stark contrast, BASIC SALARY FOR A MINISTER STARTS AT SGD1,166,844 A YEAR, OR JUST UNDER SGD100,000 A MONTH.
What these ministers earns in just ONE MONTH exceeds the ANNUAL TAKE HOME salary of 80% of Singapore's income earning population. Lets not even begin to compare annual packages which will exceed SGD1 million easily.
With the above numbers and figures now in perspective, it is easier to give substance to the words "leading by example". Several facts are noteworthy here;
a) That the ministerial salaries are grossly out of proportion, even when compared with their counterparts in much larger countries (US and UK) who have far heavier responsibilities.
b) That these salary reductions were long overdue. In the past, such handsome remuneration were "justified" on the back of resounding performance. However, Singapore's economy has been in the doldrums of a recession for several years now (with beginnings reaching as far back as the 1997 Asian economic crisis). This economic barometer is a rough measure of performance and implies that ministerial salaries were due for review at least 3-4 years ago.
c) That adjustments should be made to bring them back within the industry benchmarks. Taking the salary of US vice president as a rule of thumb, the percentage for reductions should start at 50% of current pay. Even if a Singapore minister takes a 50% pay-cut, he would still be earning much more then the US vice president.
d) The percentage reductions should greater then 50% if the intent is to bring the salaries within the perspective of Singapore's domestic scene.
With such inflated figures, it is understandable why the local government controlled media (Singapore Press Holdings) have taken pains to exclude mention of actual numbers for the world to see. The numbers would be too glaring and no amount of window dressing or creative writing could have reconciled these numbers with a sane figure and restored credibility.
It is unlikely that Singapore's Ruling Elite will accept such huge salary cuts. Exactly How much and when the ministerial pay-cuts takes effect is not revealed. Ask any man on the street and 9 out of 10 responses indicate many agree the current ministerial salaries are grossly inflated, especially in these lean and difficult times.
Said a long time forumer from an internet political chat group: "First of all the Ministers are NOT leading on pay cut. Workers' salaries have been drastically reduced since the beginning of the recession while thousands have been unemployed. so the Ministers are NOT LEADING. they are only CATCHING UP. And they have several decades to catch up on."
"Secondly, how much of a pay cut will Ministers take? 10%? 20%? unless its a cut that will affect their lifestyles, it is merely symbolic and they would still not know what it feels like to be a normal worker. as such, this is not Leading by Example. Its just another bogus political propaganda stunt"
A 29 yr old executive who requested to remain anonymous admitted sheepishly ; "The numbers (ministerial salaries) are a national embarrassment really, because it reflects the underlying materialistic value systems of Singapore Ministers. No matter how you look at it, the fact remains that our ministers are money faced, and these are supposed to be Singapore's leaders, with value systems that Singaporeans should follow." "It (the ministerial salaries) puts Singapore in a bad light in the eyes of the world. The rest of Singaporeans really put in an honest days work for every penny they earn. And the process for review and approval of the ministerial salaries is also a joke. Imagine sitting on the board and approving (on White Paper)your own salary increments! Its all a wayang show".
This also raises the question as to the authenticity of the actual process for review and approval of cabinet minister's salaries. Who decides on these numbers? Is there independence and transparency?
Veteran opposition figure J.B. Jeyaretnam on Wednesday, Nov 20, 2002 challenged Singapore government ministers to take a pay cut to show they understand the economic hardships faced by the public. And the over-riding concern is that Singapore's Ruling Elite are unable to appreciate the economic hardship that the masses face in these tough times.
The growing public resentment comes afew months after PM Goh's careless comments that "lay-offs were notall bad", drew a backlash from the public with a flood of e-mails being sent to the foreign press to register public indignation.
My friend, if are paying 5K in taxes, your annual income must be in excess of 60K, probably more if you take in reliefs. That puts you in the top 20% at least!
Hmmm... it tells us nothing of the Incumbent. Neither does it say anything abt the Alternatives.
Lets say a new lemon 17-40L (already famed for its wide-opened sharpness & value-for-money) happened to land in the hands of a reviewer, one with extensive contacts in the photographic industry & rather influential, says that Canon actually used radioactive materials in production of the 17-40L. Something which is close to impossible to verify (except known to ppl within the industry) even if some rocket scientist forumer has a Geiger Meter and u hear everyone all abuzz about this famed EOS L that's possibly laced with radioactive material.
Would u choose to believe it? :think: And what do u think it says of Canon?
Suggest u look at other electorial scandals where the issue of duplicate votes, phantom voters suddenly pop out.No.... I meant the schooling thingy.Urban legend lah is it?
anw, this reminds me of one of the Thomas Edison invention, a vote counting machine that he invented. Politician laugh at his invention though....as during the olden days, cheating was pretty common...said one of the politician.
Yeh....I know about the voting thingy, been there 5 yrs ago....Oh yeah, I saw the S/N though! Can't finger out why do they need a S/N. Forgot what's the reason given liao.
Maybe just like the big sweep lah, need to authenticate a true copy loh! They're scared that you bring in 10 copy and vote the opp candidate mah! :bsmilie:
Every single piece of ballot paper's accountable for. Goodness me, u mean ur company doesn't have serial numbers on ur office inventory? Do tell me where u work in, cos if its some upclass Shenton Way business, I'd love to take that Cisco Router & replace it with one of an lower model since its unmarked... :lovegrin:
After all, its all simply routers right? Audit ppl wun know one lah. :heart:
Goodness gracious me. U mean 'normal ordinary/typical demographical computer savvy people' all parrot on the same anti-establishment fodder?I was :bigeyes: when I was told that group/s of kids/people hired/paid by the garment have infiltrated/joined forums/sites/blogs to provide reason/s and provide positive comments on unpopular policies to stem the unhappiness by cyberpersons like u and me.
Just by looking at the number of new members joined this forum (and others) in recent months and the appearance of these sudden ardent vocal supporters seems really out of the normal ordinary/typical demographical computer savy people.
What do you think? :think:
My membership experience here tells me something is more than just fishy.... LOL
Phew, I'm glad I've got a moderate opinion of my own. :sweat:
If there's a choice between a 'normal ordinary/typical demographical computer savvy people' and one that's abnormal. I'll take the latter than to follow the crowd like a herd of domesticated sheep. :vhappy:
There's the Tamron 17-55 f/2.8 as well. :think:
Hmm.... With comments like these, makes me wonder if the so-called 'middle class' are really slapping themselves.
On one hand, everyone scream no money.
But on the other hand (based on est. avg national expenditures), we all seem to be spending more and more - cars, fancy stuff, etc.
And looking on another situation, the number of philanthropists don't seem to be rising.
Am I looking at a weird situation where ppl seem to be enjoying the self-screw process? :dunno:
Goodness, there really is some hope after all!
Yeah, don't let the naysayers bully you into submission.
Btw, the Joseph/Pharoah piece is from Genesis Chpt 41.
Oh is it?
you mean pappies or wp also sent out phantom voters? Hmmm....:think: Accountable for? That's bad, no wonder civil servant are paranoid, they've the reason to be then! :sweat:
You wanna to take something from my company, CAN!! Anything except the Asset Tag items..... Still, I'll hv my deputy chief security officer waiting for you at the lobby! Really Bad kid you! :devil:
Asset tagged items? So, I assume those are inventorised & serial number tagged items?Oh is it?
Accountable for? That's bad, no wonder civil servant are paranoid, they've the reason to be then! :sweat:
You wanna to take something from my company, CAN!! Anything except the Asset Tag items..... Still, I'll hv my deputy chief security officer waiting for you at the lobby! Really Bad kid you! :devil:
Staying on the net since the days of Newsgroups and BBS, its been interesting (especially with my current field of studies involving human mind, double that). At times I wonder if I'm getting too old in mind for all these stuff. Perhaps its time I 'retire' from this world.
Then the garment must be talking C**K lah.... this is wat they said what? Maybe they never explain why to me lah! :bsmilie: Okie... wait for the FM to address us okie, let the expert do the job. :angel:
Oh...Cost of business cutting? Hmm..... no wonder I smell retrenchment is lurking around the corner.
*poke poke*Then the garment must be talking C**K lah.... this is wat they said what? Maybe they never explain why to me lah! :bsmilie: Okie... wait for the FM to address us okie, let the expert do the job. :angel:
Oh...Cost of business cutting? Hmm..... no wonder I smell retrenchment is lurking around the corner.
Ur company's routers and servers asset tagged? Tell me when I can pick it up leh.... I'll pick it up in a lorry. U can juz shift those to the lobby, I'll do the rest of the work.
I kinda expected somehow...give ERS, NSS - you all think free ah! Money no Enough...........
But why maintain low corporate tax and increase GST. Reminds me of a game I used to play SIMS 2000 but this no game.
I would rather not have the ERS, NSS and stick with 5% GST. Gahment say they already give billions on ERS, NSS so National reserve left S$115 billion. Need to top up again.
I wish my salary also increase by another extra 2% next year..he..he...he
Asset tagged items? So, I assume those are inventorised & serial number tagged items?
Staying on the net since the days of Newsgroups and BBS, its been interesting (especially with my current field of studies involving human mind, double that). At times I wonder if I'm getting too old in mind for all these stuff. Perhaps its time I 'retire' from this world.
Oo...no no no, there are other serialized items that is not in the list. Interested? We call these items The phantom!
You study psychology is it....tough subject eh? Seems like you're forum hopping to understand human mind/thinking? Writing thesis har?
What's the job prospect for studying in this field har? Such as criminal profiler....just interest to know more in this field. Electronics is just some boring lah! :sweat:
Not really tough if u have the interest. As for job prospects, one would require a minimum of Masters to practice it (those holding 'Dr' titles usually go for PhDs in specialised fields or they already had a Medical Degree prior and Psychology is like a compliment on their knowledge).Oo...no no no, there are other serialized items that is not in the list. Interested? We call these items The phantom!
You study psychology is it....tough subject eh? Seems like you're forum hopping to understand human mind/thinking? Writing thesis har?
What's the job prospect for studying in this field har? Such as criminal profiler....just interest to know more in this field. Electronics is just some boring lah! :sweat:
And looking on, I've got close to zero job prospects on my current field of study unless I continue to Hons or Masters & specialise. ;p
Of cos, its all purely where ur interest lies. Humanities or Engineering. Electronics can be pretty interesting as well since I envy those who can actually use a soldering iron! I can't solder for nuts man. :bsmilie:
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