Train service disruption along the NSL on Monday early morning

Commuters were met with a train service disruption along the North South…

Singapore ranked as one of the 10 worst countries in tackling inequality

Singapore is one of the worst performing countries in the world at…

No more safekeeping of salaries, MOM tells employers of domestic foreign workers

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on Sunday (7th Oct) a new…

Why you need to be contrarians in property investment

In the preface of No B.S. Guide to Property Investment, I mentioned…

Suspension of CHAS participation for 10 Access Medical clinics

In a press release on Monday (8 October), the Ministry of Health…

SDP warned about EIP and PAP’s racial politics years ago

Below is a blog post by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) It…

Dangerous class divides in Singapore

According to some news reports, it is class and not race that…

If the doors to TC management are to be thrown wide open, then all doors to all TCs have to be open to scrutiny, not just WP ones

The Housing Development Board (HDB) appointing an independent panel to represent a…

If the WP have breached their fiduciary duties, what about the PAP?

The high profile court case involving involving three Workers’ Party (WP) MPs…

世界排名149 新加坡缩小社会贫富差距不力

国际慈善组织乐施会(Oxfam)于今日公布乐施会降低贫富不均指数,显示我国、尼日利亚和印度,社会中超级富豪和低收入阶层鸿沟扩大,在缩小贫富差距的努力上成效不彰,排名倒数十名。 该指数乃针对世界157各国家,对缩小贫富差距的努力作出排名,我国排名第149,尼日利亚因缩减贫富差距最为不力,排名垫底。 至于韩国、格鲁吉亚和印尼,从社会开支、税收和劳工权益着手,因致力改善贫富差距获赞扬。 乐施会提醒,贫富不均已达到严峻水平,世界最富有的1巴仙人口,却坐享2016至2017年中期生产的八成财富,但是最贫穷的一半人口的财富几乎没有任何增长。 解决贫富不均取决于政治意愿 这份指数是在巴厘岛举行的世界银行与国际货币基金会组织年会上发布,各国财政部长和央行行长皆齐聚此会。 乐施会指出,要解决贫富不均问题乃取决于政治意愿,而非国家是否富有。 “新加坡是世界上最富有国家之一,但排名倒数第九,其便于避税的措施乃是部分因素。再者没有定制最低薪资,保障劳工权益不力。” 避税政策致政府消贫资金不足 报告指出,新加坡增加个人所得税达2巴仙,但是对于收入最多者的最高征税率仍维持22巴仙。再者,一些不利措施也导致一些大企业,在我国可以在海外避开数十亿元的税收,致使政府没有足够的资金解决贫富不均问题。 与此同时,对于社会开支仍相对很低- 只有39巴仙花在教育、医疗和社会保障上,不如南韩和泰国,一半开支都花在这三个项目。…