Singapore is a very rich country?

[Octarine]

the issue is you are taxed the same whether you earn $1000 a month or $100,000 a month.

Have you had a look at the tax calculator at IRAS website? Do it.
If you earn $1k per month you don't pay a single Cent taxes. If you triple your income - you still don't pay any taxes.
But yeah, it was good shouting about it, right?

 

[ricohflex]

Singapore is OK.

Rich in many ways, not just in terms of money:

• So far, no natural disasters like earthquake or typhoons.
• No aggressive neighbours intent on spreading their power & influence over us.
• ASEAN has been good for SEA region.
• Nowadays no internal schisms along racial and or religious lines. We are a model on this. Not many countries can manage to achieve this.
• A generally benign previous colonial power (Great Britain) that left its influence on language, system of government (which we modify).
• Great seaport location. Much of the stuff we need comes by sea.
• So far, no jerks like Marcos, Gaddafi, Chen Shui Bian, Idi Amin, Kim Jong Il, Robert Mugabe...taking power and ruling over us.
• No medical crisis except for a short while SARS.

All is well. Please enjoy your life. Buy new cameras and lenses.

 

[Octarine]

i just mind my own business and focus on my own rat race
Nobody is blowing trumpets here, its an IMF report

:thumbsup: A shouting headline seems to be more important than the details, source and target audience of the report.
But yeah, it's good to rant a bit over kopi :bsmilie:

 

[Sion]

i just mind my own business and focus on my own rat race

Nobody is blowing trumpets here, its an IMF report

Maybe IMF's definition of rich is spiritually rich.

We'll do equally well in that department.

 

[Yutaka Go]

Maybe IMF's definition of rich is spiritually rich.

We'll do equally well in that department.

Maybe IMF thought average SG is rich because we burnt lots of these :bsmilie:

 

[diver-hloc]

Maybe IMF thought average SG is rich because we burnt lots of these :bsmilie:

Real World.... when country is over inflated...

 

[davidnn99]

Have you had a look at the tax calculator at IRAS website? Do it.
If you earn $1k per month you don't pay a single Cent taxes. If you triple your income - you still don't pay any taxes.
But yeah, it was good shouting about it, right?

only if you bury your head in the sand will you think that income tax is the only form of tax. and no, i wasnt shouting about it

 

[Octarine]

only if you bury your head in the sand will you think that income tax is the only form of tax. and no, i wasnt shouting about it

Didn't you talk about income tax in your posting? If not, please be so kind as to spell it our precisely. The way you phrased your posting it points towards income tax.
On the other hand: please share your ideas of an income-depending GST system. Really curious

 

[davidnn99]

Every nation in this Earth have some citizen struggling to put food on their table.... from 3rd World to so call 1st World countries... yet not one ever called USA or European countries poor.... by your very standard of 'every citizen can have a decent standard of life'.... then no Nation is rich. Because I sure that there are a lot more homeless people in the streets of major US/Europe Cities than here....

The simple fact is there almost no nation on Earth has a truly 'equal' society... even so called Communist countries like N.Korea or Cuba... there is always a group of elite or group of people richer than you.

Majority of S'porean does have a well off life.... if only the majority of them would stop trying to keeping up with "The Joneses"... must have Car, must have the latest gadget, must have that branded LV Leather Handbag... then they'll know no way are they as 'poor' as they like to portray. And they'll also have a less stressful life with minimum Rat Race...

I have no doubt that there are family struggling in SG... or even poor homeless people around. The question is what you, yourself, have been doing to help... beside, expecting 'other' people (the rich in this case) or the Govt to help ??

As announced recently... Govt may be (who are we kidding :bsmilie: ) rising the GST higher to afford more social welfare for all our underprivileged S'poreans... are you one of those who, as the old saying goes... put the money where the mouth is... and either 'support' or at least take it as it comes.... or are you one of those that is complaining and grumbling, and expect only the 'others' to do it ??

I am not talking about someone hankering for a LV or Gucci. I am talking about people such as security guards or cleaners who earn $800-$1000 a month trying to put food on the table for his family of 4 and pocket money for their kids.

And this is a forum, we are offering different views and perspective based on the headline topic. And it is pretty presumptious of you to make assumptions of what I do or do not do. Please exercise some etiquette and restrict your comments to the topic being discussed instead of making remarks of a personal nature.

 

[Octarine]

I am not talking about someone hankering for a LV or Gucci. I am talking about people such as security guards or cleaners who earn $800-$1000 a month trying to put food on the table for his family of 4 and pocket money for their kids.

An what shall the government do? As you might have noticed, they don't care about the income levels, leaving it entirely up to so-called market forces. The government will not introduce any form if minimum salary as it is established in other countries to protect the lower income ranges from further exploitation. The system has a long-term flaw: the undervaluation of human labour, especially in blue collar sector. As long as these jobs are considered as something undesired, best left to some cheap guys from whatever country the situation will not change. Only the appreciation of blue collar jobs and the resulting salary increments will bring these people to a decent living standard. Some tax corrections are a drop in the ocean.

And this is a forum, we are offering different views and perspective based on the headline topic. And it is pretty presumptious of you to make assumptions of what I do or do not do.

On the contrary, I find it a valid question. Because it has become a second nature to many to call for help from others. The (in)famous line "Can the relevant authority do something?" is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind is a deep rooted attitude problem that problems have to be solved by others, somewhere, somehow. It's never oneself who should do something about it.

 

[davidnn99]

Didn't you talk about income tax in your posting? If not, please be so kind as to spell it our precisely. The way you phrased your posting it points towards income tax.
On the other hand: please share your ideas of an income-depending GST system. Really curious

i think i mentioned income inequality or income gap, not income tax i believe the GST rebate is one way the government is trying to refund tax to low income families., I do not know what is their formula but it can probably be finetuned. I think recently the government has introduced quite a number of programs to help the poor and elderly. it is good that they are doing more to recognise the segment of Singapore that is being left behind amidst all the economic progress. Yes, even countries like US and Germany will have poor people, but you also know about their social security safety net. I even know of Singaporeans who retire to Canada and once naturalised. a couple can get up to #2,000 each (ie $4,000 in total) per month as pension and having the time of their lives ! That is simply not possible here.

 

[Dfive]

Most of us know that Singapore's per capital income is one of the highest in the world.

Despite that, the income inequality gap is widening. Not all Singaporeans enjoy the fruits of the labour of the country's prosperity.

IMF has urged Singapore government to narrow its huge current account surplus by increasing more government spending.

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/imf-urges-singapore-narrow-current-024500125.html

In other words, Singapore has lot of monies. :thumbsup:

Cars cost double anywhere else... YET #1 and #2 selling cars here are BMW / MERCEDES..... I think the only country that has that. :what:

Yeah either ALL Rich or Suckers for STATUS Symbols.... e.g. The Uncle with Rolex !!

 

[davidnn99]

On the contrary, I find it a valid question. Because it has become a second nature to many to call for help from others. The (in)famous line "Can the relevant authority do something?" is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind is a deep rooted attitude problem that problems have to be solved by others, somewhere, somehow. It's never oneself who should do something about it.

You are barking up the wrong tree. I earn a 5 figure monthly salary and have a substantial investment portfolio. I am talking about other peoples' problems. Individuals can do their own small part but problems concerning social inequality and imbalance has to be addressed at a national level by the government. Thats why we have a minister for social and family development and Minister Chan Choon Seng is doing a great job. Since he was appointed, so many programs have been introduced. But the citizenry can help by highlighting areas that are still not addressed. Yet there are still some who prefer to remain blind to the suffering of others. Fortunately Singapore does have capable ministers who do see, but for a long while, this was a rather neglected area.

By the way, why do you elect the government and pay them high salaries and not expect them to do something ?

 

[ricohflex]

Timeout.

Chill.

Listen to a nice song.

[video=youtube;tnEbRaFaqfg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnEbRaFaqfg[/video]

 

[kei1309]

You are barking up the wrong tree. I earn a 5 figure monthly salary and have a substantial investment portfolio. I am talking about other peoples' problems. Individuals can do their own small part but problems concerning social inequality and imbalance has to be addressed at a national level by the government. Thats why we have a minister for social and family development and Minister Chan Choon Seng is doing a great job. Since he was appointed, so many programs have been introduced. But the citizenry can help by highlighting areas that are still not addressed. Yet there are still some who prefer to remain blind to the suffering of others. Fortunately Singapore does have capable ministers who do see, but for a long while, this was a rather neglected area.

By the way, why do you elect the government and pay them high salaries and not expect them to do something ?

you're very capable at changing the name of a minister :bsmilie:

 

[Octarine]

By the way, why do you elect the government and pay them high salaries and not expect them to do something ?

Now, that is quite an assumption :bsmilie:

 

[Sion]

Maybe IMF thought average SG is rich because we burnt lots of these :bsmilie:

Have to set up an account first.

Don't simply burn as Bank of Universal is not a secured bank.

 

[Jedi]

All countries regardless of developed, developing or under-developed will have rich and poor citizens. It is quite impossible to have equality in wealth. As the saying goes, 20% of the world population controls the wealth while the remainder is struggling. Law of Balancing.

The job of any government is to narrow the income inequality over time. It can also help those who fall through the safety net. Failure to do so in the long term will cause social unrest.

Back to the topic. Is Singapore a very rich country? Yes, it is. Let us look at the nation as a whole.

From a fish village with no natural resources, Singapore has transformed itself into a developed nation over the last 40 over years. Our neighbouring countries are jealous over our success. Look at Malaysia which has so much of resources but the country is mismanaged. As such, it remains to be struggling for most Malaysians. This explains why thousands of Malaysians flocked to Singapore to work on the daily basis. They earn much more than back at home.

Based on IMF 2013 report on the world richest countries, the ranking is as follows :

1. Qatar
2. Luxembourg
3. Singapore
4. Norway
5. Brunei
6. UAE
7. USA
8. Hong Kong
9. Switzerland
10. Netherlands

Can all of us see that Singapore is in no. 3 spot. As a matter of fact, Singapore is the richest country in ASEAN followed by Brunei. No need to talk about Brunei as all of us know that it makes its fortune through its natural resources - OIL. What do Singapore have? No oil, only has human capital. With that, we make it to the no. 3 spot in the world. No bad indeed.

Our foreign reserves are huge such as speculators were very wary to attack our Sing $ during the Asia Financial Crisis in 1997. Almost all of neighbouring countries got slaughtered by the speculators

It is indeed amazing how did Singapore become so rich. Temasek or GIC doing a job for investing overseas to reap so much returns or it is the citizens who work so hard to drive the economy to the current state. What do you think?

 

[Jedi]

You are barking up the wrong tree. I earn a 5 figure monthly salary and have a substantial investment portfolio. I am talking about other peoples' problems. Individuals can do their own small part but problems concerning social inequality and imbalance has to be addressed at a national level by the government. Thats why we have a minister for social and family development and Minister Chan Choon Seng is doing a great job. Since he was appointed, so many programs have been introduced. But the citizenry can help by highlighting areas that are still not addressed. Yet there are still some who prefer to remain blind to the suffering of others. Fortunately Singapore does have capable ministers who do see, but for a long while, this was a rather neglected area.

By the way, why do you elect the government and pay them high salaries and not expect them to do something ?

I applauded for you by looking into the interest of the poor people in Singapore. Despite that you are quite well off and living in a very comfortable zone, you did not forget those who are struggling.

Perhaps you should go into politics so that you can really help those who are in need.

 

[Jedi]

Cars cost double anywhere else... YET #1 and #2 selling cars here are BMW / MERCEDES..... I think the only country that has that. :what:

Yeah either ALL Rich or Suckers for STATUS Symbols.... e.g. The Uncle with Rolex !!

I have no answer to it.

I am also wondering why so many people are still buying luxury cars despite that COE is almost $100k. Are they really suckers or simply very rich to afford it?

Some of us may think that they are suckers or simply go for status symbol despite that they barely could afford it. I seriously doubt so. If you really can't afford a $200K or more for BMW or Merc, etc, how are going to pursue the purchasing of the cars.

Instead of speculating, why not the owners of BMW, Merc or any luxury cars tell us how are you financing the purchases?