• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Giving equal access to social benefits

by onlinecitizen
04/06/2008
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 6 mins read
0

Tan Kin Lian

A Government needs to collect sufficient tax to pay the expenses of running the country and to provide the social benefits to its citizens.

The tax should be collected fairly from the citizens. Those with higher incomes should pay more tax. A high income earner should pay more tax willingly. It is better to earn more and pay more tax, rather than be in the opposite situation.

After paying a higher amount of tax, the high income earner should be entitled to the same social benefits as other citizens. They do not expect to receive more social benefits, but they should not be given less.

Subsidised Healthcare

I am against means testing for subsidized health care. I believe that all citizens should be entitled to education, safety, security and the other benefits of living in Singapore, including access to subsidized health care.

We should avoid the requirement for people to provide proof and be labeled as “poor” in order to receive subsidized health care. It is best that this type of classification be avoided.

Type of Housing

The Government now distributes budget surpluses to the citizens in some years, based on income tax level or type of housing.

I prefer the distribution to be made equally to all citizens or be based on objective criteria such as age or number of members in the family.

There is some inequity in distributing the benefits based on type of housing. Some retirees have little or no income, but live in private properties bought at a low price many years ago. Some live in the private property as tenants, not owners. These people are not as well-off as the owners.

We also have the cases where the residents of HDB flats own expensive cars and are quite wealthy. They enjoy the higher payouts based on their type of housing.

It may be argued by the proponents of the current method of distribution that the percentage of odd cases (i.e. those who receive more or less than they should be entitled to) is small. Nonetheless, it is better to avoid this anomaly entirely.

Types of taxes

I prefer a system of taxation where more revenue is collected from income tax. Those who earn more, pay more tax.

In recent years, there has been a move to shift taxation from income tax to consumption tax, which is known as goods and services tax (GST) in Singapore. GST has increased the cost of living for everyone and has hit the lower income people hardest.

I hope that the GST will not be increased further from the current level. If possible, it should be reduced to 5 percent or lower. If more tax revenue is required, it can be collected from income tax, property tax and other sources.

Minimum Wage

I recent years, the low wage earners in Singapore are hit hard from two sources – lower wages due to competition from the influx of foreign workers and a higher cost of living.

It is time for us to consider the need for all workers to be given a minimum wage that will allow them to earn enough for a hard day’s work to maintain a basic standard of living for the family. The same minimum wage can apply for foreign workers, but as the foreign worker’s levy is deducted, their net wage will be lower.

A minimum wage will raise the operating cost for some businesses. The business can still be made competitive through lower rents, levies and a lower profit margin (but still attractive to the investor). If wages are raised to the minimum, it is likely that there is less demand for business premises. This will lead to lower rentals that will offset the higher wages.

Foreign Investments

The low corporate tax strategy is aimed at attracting foreign investments into Singapore. We should examine some of its negative impact.

I observe that some foreign investors set up businesses in Singapore but depend heavily on low cost foreign workers. These businesses create few jobs for Singaporeans. They create a high social cost – depressed wages of local workers, congestion in housing and public transport and changes to the social fabric.

We have also attracted many wealthy foreigners to bring large sums of money into Singapore. They increase the prices of private property to levels that are not affordable to most citizens.

Low interest rate

Even the money brought into Singapore by foreign investors has a negative impact on Singaporeans. They cause interest rate to be at a low level, among the lowest in the world. The low interest rate means less interest income on the savings of Singaporeans, especially the retired persons. The low interest rate makes it difficult for them to have a sufficient income to meet the cost of living.

Conclusion

Our past economic strategy has contributed to the economic success of Singapore. They have also contributed to social problems. Some of these problems have not been understood or analysed.

I believe that a system of higher corporate and income taxes, and lower consumption tax (i.e. GST) may be more beneficial to citizens and permanent residents living in Singapore.

We also need to review the current policy on “means testing” and also the manner of distributing budget surpluses based on type of housing. I prefer a system of equal access to the social benefits. I hope that these issues can now be considered.

——————

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study
AFP

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia
Court Cases

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe
AFP

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

27/01/2023
ASEAN

ASEAN governments must stop using ‘lawfare’ against critics, Southeast Asian MPs say

27/01/2023
Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”
Economics

Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

27/01/2023
Malaysian court sentences man to 1,050 years’ jail, 24 strokes of the cane, for raping stepdaughter 105 times
AFP

Thai court jails activist for 28 years jail for royal defamation

26/01/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

27/01/2023

ASEAN governments must stop using ‘lawfare’ against critics, Southeast Asian MPs say

27/01/2023
Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

27/01/2023
Malaysian court sentences man to 1,050 years’ jail, 24 strokes of the cane, for raping stepdaughter 105 times

Thai court jails activist for 28 years jail for royal defamation

26/01/2023
Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

26/01/2023
KKH’s lack of continuous monitoring baby’s vital signs “was not ideal”, said State Coroner

KKH’s lack of continuous monitoring baby’s vital signs “was not ideal”, said State Coroner

26/01/2023

Trending posts

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
32

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
44

...

Giving equal access to social benefits

by onlinecitizen
04/06/2008
0

...

“党籍不会过期失效”  前进党称已就党籍终止知会卡拉

AGC asked to explain purposes of 68 private letters of inmates illegitimately forwarded to prosecutors

by The Online Citizen
21/01/2023
16

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
32

...

June 2008
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« May   Jul »
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz