Sunday...
feeling a very strong urge to blog now...Perhaps it's partly due to the sianness in having to meet later in the evening for a project....I'm feeling very motivated for all of my commitments here, except for this....
How can u feel motivated to pursue a project goal and objective wholeheartedly when the idea is not something which you support??? Darnz....forget it, it'll be over in a couple of month's time...when the Spring semester ends....
Aniwaiz....Liang and Xian, hahaz....u both got a lot of opinions hor..... =p
let me address some of them right now....
First, Xian, fret not abt the day when liang will be challenging me in some political debate when both of us are the direct and most immediate stakeholders...cos while I follow the news about Singapore's politics and related news, I have no interest to be a politician at all......
Even if entrepreneurship doesn't work out, I'd rather take the most common career path of climbing up the corporate ladder and I'd even prefer to take the wholly academic path than that of a politician's.....
so yah, no worries abt dat....hahaz....
Liang, I disagree with the fact that our govt's ruling party has lost its credibility somewhat....
The most obvious reason why it is giving tourist GST rebates is to promote tourism in Singapore and non-coincidentally, tourism has also been a steady source of revenue for our coffers, and this is best illustrated by the breaking of the records of number of tourists to Singapore in late 2006.....9 million or something if I never rem wrongly...
Sure, those in the lower income groups aren't directly benefiting from the revenue collected by the govt from tourism and/or other revenue streams....
but traditionally, our govt has alwaiz taken a more conservative approach to savings.....and that explains our constantly healthy balance of payments, GDP/GNP, and whatever yardsticks used to measure our wealth....
Certainly, this is open to debate as to how much wealth our govt shld be accumulating so as to best optimize all operations that lead to our economy's growth whilst not leaving any citizens behind in the process....
That, is an issue which I have not really thought about before, but is pretty subjective because while the conservatives will advocate a greater savings, those who are more risk-takers might prefer to have 'just enuff' in our bank acct.....
Next, certainly, the govt can have a multi-tier system to pro-rate the GST figures for different commodities....I know that there are countries doing this as well....
but this often is easier said than done in practice than in theory....
It's going to be again, very time consuming and resource draining to label the products that fall under a particular category, say, '2.5%', and for others to fall under other categories...
there will be disputes arising from disagreements as to which commodity will fall under which category....
so I guess the govt wants to avoid this slippery slope....cos at the end of the day, if this strategy fails, it will lead to more commotion and disarray than what is being done now....
Third, what I personally understand and gather from the govt's rationale to implement the GST hike and Workfare bonus strategy actually has other facets to it other than simply 'to increase the financial burden on Singaporeans'.
What is the main motivation behind such a move?
I'd say that the main motivation is to bridge the growing income gap and to make sure no Singaporeans are left behind to suffer while the economy grows at a healthy rate and the educated Singaporeans go on to enjoy life...
Sure, the government, with is brimming coffers, can afford to give 'red packets' to everyone who is considered to be in the low income group or falls into a certain category which makes them eligible for this bonus....
But if you think along the line of 'push-demand' and 'pull-demand', in a similar manner, this only serves to 'push' the amount of disposable income of those in the lower income group up....this certainly helps to bridge the income gap, but can onli be a short term solution as the govt cannot possibly give such aid year after year.....
On the contrary, be increasing the GST percentage, the govt is seeking to draw more tax revenue from the majority of the population.....and they have even projected an estimated additional revenue due to this GST hike alone....and that the money is going into Workfare bonuses and related offset packages to help those in the lower income group....
Note that I used the word 'seek'......The govt, in using this strategy, is also making many assumptions as well....for instance, it is assuming that consumer spending will not fall due to the GST hike, and thus, will be able to contribute to their projected additional revenue that is going to be used to help others in the lower income group...
This strategy thus goes on to put a heavier burden on Singaporeans who are not in the lower income group...and thus, kinda lowering their spending power....and disposable income....cos they now have lower spending power with the same amt of take home monthly income....thus it sorts of works to pull them down....
The additional tax revenue, distributed in the form of Workfare bonuses to the lower income group, pushes them up...
this results in a bigger overall effect in narrowing the income gap.....
Perhaps more importantly, I assume that the govt wants to nurture a spirit of helping fellow Singaporeans and making sure that we, as Singaporeans, are responsible for our own nation's progress in the years to come, and that does not onli include stellar economic results but at the same time, that every Singaporean is moving forward together....
So, this spirit of helping fellow Singaporeans is perhaps kinda 'forcefully' implemented in the form of a mandatory GST hike.....
At the end of the day, we really have to trust our govt and believe in its goals and strategies to support it and make sure they work....
Sure, no one is perfect similarly, no govt is perfect.....they may have made the wrong decision this time....but who will know until we all gain the benefit of hindsight when we look back 10 years later and can then be more judgmental....
So far, I feel that the govt is still doing a pretty decent job and the IR projects will definitely increase employment rates as well as tourism revenue after they are opened....
Perhaps I'm less skeptical, but these are onli my views and i definitely welcome anyone to challenge them....cos they might bring new perspectives into my prolly myopic vision and interpretation of the govt's intentions.....
hahaz....wah, very long post again.... =p
yah, so Liang and Xian, tis is juz my personal opinion lor...dono i got miss out anythg or whether ur get the picture of wat i'm trying to say anot....cos i'm juz typing very rapidly and whatever that comes to mind..... =p
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eh Xian, i'm oso dateless for Vdae lah....u r not alone.....hahahahaz! =p
i'll probably be busy with work and sch projs on that dae.....as I will be on CNY's first dae and everydae in fact.....so it doesn't make too big a difference to me tis yr....
sianz though....hahaz...
and yes, i went shopping yest!
managed to keep within my self-imposed budget of $100....hehez....
i spent onli $90 on clothes alone....which is less than S$150!! hee...still alot though.....i realized....
and so yah, i bought 1 Polo Ralph polo tee, 1 Banana Republic polo tee, 2 Aeropostales's tops, and 1 G-Star denim jacket!
woohoo! the G-star denim jacket was a super impulsive buy...cos it looks DAMN good....and G-Star products in Singapore cost in the excess of $300.....and that's the price for jeans alone!!!!!!!!
my jacket onli costs US$30!!!
and the jeans are also much cheaper than those sold in G-Star Singapore....in Paragon.....3 times more ex than Levi's in Singapore....
Can't imagine Singaporeans paying such obscene prices to these importers who make so much money out of these denim jeans and jackets.....
but i will never buy them lor.....over here, it's so damn cheap cos it's locally produced.....
so, what does that mean?
that simply means i'll be buying alot more before i return to Singapore!
hahahahaz.....BUT, i will try my best to stop buying jackets lah....hehez....i bought too many here oredi....
got 1 from AX, 1 from Polo Ralph, 1 from Levi's, yesterday's one from G-Star, and one from MIT.....hee....
right, i gotta go out oredi....wanna go gym first before getting a much needed hair cut...and then project meeting tonite....ALL nite i expect....sianz....but what has to be done has to be done....
c'mon!
nitez all my dear loved ones in Singapore.... =)
Singapore!!!
Jiayou bros!
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