By Leong Sze Hian
I refer to the article “Govt will need to be more open, says PM”. (Sunday Times, Mar 17)
Become more transparent?
It states that “the Government will become more transparent to adapt to society today, even if politics becomes untidy and it’s outcomes less predictable”.
“More transparent” means “less predictable”?
Does it mean that the “more transparent” a Government is, the “less predictable” it may be as to the “outcomes” of the vote in elections?
Disclose statistics?
So, in the context of being “more transparent”, for a start, can we be given the statistics on the following, as Singaporeans may have been asking for some of them for many years:-
Jobs
What is the breakdown of the “locals” statistics into Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) for total employment, employment change, long-term unemployed, etc?
Wages
Since “about 12 per cent of residents, or 238,000 workers, earn less than $1,000 a month for full-time and part-time work. And 6.4 per cent of full-time resident workers, or 114,100, earn less than $1,000″, how many earn less than $1,500?
What is the real wage growth (excluding employer CPF contribution) for the median and 20th percentile of workers, for the last 12 years?
University students
How many non-Singaporean students are there in the total enrolment of the local universities?
CPF
How many Singaporeans (including inactive CPF members) were able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum (currently at $139,000) entirely in cash at age 55, without pledging property?
Healthcare
What is the total sum of subsidies given to public hospitals and community hospitals’ patients, relative to the total sum of the subsidies shown in patients’ bills?
What is the Medifund rejection rates for patients – not number of applications?
Reserves
What is the Government Investment Corporation (GIC)’s nominal and real rates of return in S$ for the past 5, 10 and 20 years?
What is the total sum of our reserves?
What is the annual return on our reserves?
Budget
How much were our Budget surpluses over the years, if we include the transfer to Endowment Funds and revenue from land sales?
ComCare
How many Singaporean families have ever received financial assistance under ComCare, and how many have ever applied for ComCare?
Transport vouchers
How many needy Singaporeans are still getting transport vouchers for the 9 times that public transport fares have increased in the last 12 years?
HDB
What is the breakdown of the costs to build HDB flats?
How many HDB flat-owners have been served letters informing them that their flats will be compulsorily acquired, if their mortgage arrears continue to be outstanding?
How many HDB flat-owners are in arrears over 3 months on their HDB loans and HDB bank loans?
How many HDB flats have been foreclosed by the HDB and banks?
How many needy Singaporean families in HDB rental flats have had their rental of between $26 – $75 increased to $90 – $165 (which is as much as an increase of 246 per cent), when the HDB changed its policy to increase the rentals for household incomes from $801 – $1,500?
Procreation
How much Tax Procreation Benefitss ($8.2 billion for the current year) have been disbursed over the years, relative to Non-Tax Procreation Benefits ($2 billion for the current year)?
Transparency?
Some definitions of “transparent” are:-
“characterized by visibility or accessibility of information”
“free from pretense or deceit” (Merriam-Webster dictionary)
Shouldn’t Government just be transparent, instead of “will become more transparent”?
