- Responding to Heng’s criticism of the WP MP speeches in the Budget debate.
- Sharing her suspicion that the government was “stuck” with its pronouncement that it will not need to raise GST for the rest of this decade.
What a world of difference between the Hong Kong Budget and the Singapore Budget!
Protected March 1st, 2018 | Author: Contributions
I refer to the article “Finance chief Paul Chan dishes out budget sweeteners worth billions to Hong Kong taxpayers” (South China morning post, Feb 28).
It states that ”
FAST FACTS:
• GDP to grow 3 to 4 per cent this year
• Fiscal reserves expected to reach HK$1.092 trillion
• HK$138 billion fiscal surplus; 40 per cent to be spent on relief measures
• HK$50 billion in tax breaks; reductions on salaries and profits tax, rates
• HK$50 billion for innovation and technology development
• HK$2,000 one-off cash handout for poor students
• No tax waiver on electric cars but drivers get subsidised one-for-one replacement scheme, capped at HK$250,000
• One-off allowance to ‘N-nothings’ makes comeback”
In contrast, with our overall Budget surplus for FY2017 and FY2016 (revised) at $9.6 and $12 billion, respectively – Singaporeans are only getting a SG Bonus of $100 to $300, Usave rebate of $20 a year to offset the carbon tax, an increase in the annual bursary quantum for pre-university students from S$750 to S$900, annual Edusave contributions will be increased from S$200 to S$230 for each primary school student, and from S$240 to S$290 for each secondary school student, and an increase in the income eligibility criteria for the Edusave Merit Bursary (S$6,000 in gross monthly household income, or S$1,500 in gross monthly household per capita income) to S$6,900 and S$1,725 respectively.
continue reading here :
Hong Kong reboots with ‘back to the future’ budget as Paul Chan splashes HK$50 billion on hi-tech spending and HK$50 billion on goodies
With a record surplus of HK$138 billion, financial secretary unveils spending blueprint that includes targeted tax reliefs, rate waivers and beefed-up allowances – and lots of money for innovation and technology
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 28 February, 2018, 7:46pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 01 March, 2018, 12:01pm
Hong Kong Budget 2018-2019
Paul Chan
Despite widespread calls for some of the bumper HK$138 billion surplus to be ploughed back to the public in cash handouts, only needy students will get a grant
Politics
Finance chief dishes out budget sweeteners worth billions to taxpayers
28 Feb 2018
Lawmakers take aim at financial secretary as survey finds just 26 per cent of Hongkongers are satisfied with spending plan – the lowest in four years
Politics
Most residents not impressed with big spender Chan’s budget efforts
1 Mar 2018
Measure not included in 2018-2019 blueprint as it requires computer system update, Financial Secretary Paul Chan says
Economy
Hong Kong looking into tax deduction for renters, finance chief reveals
28 Feb 2018
How Hong Kong’s ‘simple, low’ tax regime short-changes residents
28 Feb 2018 D
FAST FACTS:
• GDP to grow 3 to 4 per cent this year
• Fiscal reserves expected to reach HK$1.092 trillion
• HK$138 billion fiscal surplus; 40 per cent to be spent on relief measures
• HK$50 billion in tax breaks; reductions on salaries and profits tax, rates
• HK$50 billion for innovation and technology development
• HK$2,000 one-off cash handout for poor students
• No tax waiver on electric cars but drivers get subsidised one-for-one replacement scheme, capped at HK$250,000
• One-off allowance to ‘N-nothings’ makes comeback
A budget with a clear eye on the future and massive expenditure to alleviate people’s burdens – these were the twin pledges from Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po as he set out the Hong Kong government’s spending blueprint with a record surplus of HK$138 billion (US$17.7 billion) as its centrepiece.
A chunk of the bounty, more than HK$50 billion, will be shared with at least 2 million Hongkongers – mostly through targeted tax reliefs, rate waivers and beefed-up allowances. And in an even-handed gesture, he pledged to invest the same amount on hi-tech development to transform the economy.
“The current-term government is ready to think out of the box and act proactively to open up new horizons for Hong Kong,” Chan declared, as he delivered his first budget under the Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor administration.
Riding on 3.8 per cent growth last year, Chan’s forecast growth this year is as high as 4 per cent, with headline inflation kept at bay at 2.2 per cent.
The massive surplus – almost 8.5 times the amount projected in the last budget – also broke the 2007-08 record of HK$123.7 billion to become the biggest since the 1997 handover.
This also increased fiscal reserves to an estimated HK$1.092 trillion by end-March.
continue reading here :
Did PM Lee tell Ng Chee Meng what to say during parliamentary clash with Low Thia Khiang?
March 2, 2018
Workers’ Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang clashed with Minister for Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng on Wednesday after he questioned the timing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike announcement, which was announced as part of Budget 2018 last week.
While Low praised the Budget for being a forward-looking one, he asked why the GST hike had to be announced as part of the budget for 2018-2019 since the 2 per cent tax increase is only set to go into effect from 2021.
Low’s comments prompted Ng – who apparently did not intend to speak – to respond. Claiming that he was “increasingly baffled,” Ng engaged in a back-and-forth with Low over why the tax hike was announced during Budget 2018.
At one point, Ng brings up remarks Low had made during the Committee of Supply debate last year: “I quote ‘I hope he – meaning the Minister of Finance – can be upfront with Singaporeans now so that they are not blindsided by the Government as they were with the sudden 30 per cent increase in water prices’.”
He then quips, “You can’t have your cake and eat it,” drawing laughs from the chamber – most notably, from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who are seated together.
A video of the exchange shows that Ng is reading Low’s quote from an iPad or an electronic tablet of some sort. Interestingly, after he reads Low’s quote, Ng hands the iPad over to PM Lee, without being prompted to do so. This raises the question if the iPad Ng was reading from was, in fact, the Prime Minister’s as Ng seems to be returning the iPad to him.
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Hong Lim Park protest against increase of GST on 3 March
Published on 2018-03-02 by The Online Citizen
A protest against the 2% increase in GST will take place at Hong Lim Park tomorrow (3 March) 4pm to 7pm. The event is organised by Transitioning.org and will be expecting six speakers to talk about the Budget 2018.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had earlier announced that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) will be increased from 7% to 9% between 2021 and 2015, and the Budget has been passed in parliament with only Members of Parliament from the Workers’ Party objecting.
The six speakers are Lim Tean, Osman Sulaiman, Damanhuri, Tan Kin Lian, Goh Meng Seng and Prabu Ramachandra.
The banner as shown in the featured image is printed by the organisers, and writes “Angbao is one-time, GST is forever.” This is in reference to the $100 to $300 handouts given by the government in the Budget 2018.
Below is the write up by the organisers of the event and do note that there is a forecast of wet weather for tomorrow.
Singaporeans will need to pay another 2% of GST after 2021 and though the financial pain will only be felt in three years’ time, no one is really leaping up in joy.
GST is a regressive taxation system which will hurt the poor and lower-incomed more as their income is lesser than ordinary and they need to fork out more after the increase to make ends meet. The government has ensured that there will be subsidies and GST vouchers to help the poor but is it adequate?
There is also the sad fact that our GST covers all items compared to other countries whose basic essential items are GST-exempt making it a more humane and compassionate society.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...st-on-3-march/
What is the use of organising this protest ? The bill already pass . Thanks to the 70 % voters .
Online commenters rally against Shanmugam’s behaviour against Sylvia Lim
Published on 2018-03-03 by Neyla Zannia
Law Minister K Shanmugam lashed out against Workers’ Party Chairman Sylvia Lim after she made comments about the GST hike in the Parliament on Thursday (1 March).
Ms Lim stated that the Government had floated a “trial balloon” about the need to raise revenue in the run-up to the Budget, then possibly “backed down” due to the negative public reaction, saying, ““I rather suspect myself that the government is stuck with that announcement. Otherwise, if that announcement had not been made, perhaps we would be debating a GST hike today.”
Mr Shanmugam then commented that her statement is s a thoroughly hypocritical and dishonest statement and typical of the statements she makes in the house.
Online commenters rally behind Ms Lim, against the action of law minister
An overwhelming number of commenters on Channel News Asia’s Facebook page, criticised Mr Shanmugam for his words and behaviour in Parliament and praised Ms Lim and her party for standing up for Singaporeans.
DS Tfj wrote, “Thank you Ms Sylvia Lim for speaking up for the common man. At almost every single Parliamentary sitting, K. Shanmugam would jump up to wage a personal Attack on Sylvia, and even on Facebook. Salute to Sylvia for standing her ground and standing up to him. Power woman! I wonder is it because Shanmugam sees Sylvia as a formidable opponent that he has to attack her every single time. And mind you, it’s the responsibility of MPs to convey what the public feels on the ground. That’s what MPs are voted in for. Shanmugam characterises Sylvia’s questions as “rumours”. Wasn’t the big rumour of PM abusing his power in the Oxley Road saga brought into Parliament for debate too?”
Ben Oh wrote, “Shanmugam will attack anyone like a mad dog. He thinks he still a lawyer and Sylvia is a criminal. This guy has no respect for anyone.”
Henry Townshend wrote, “Both of them mix with different kind of crowds in their lives. Sylvia walk the streets of the commoners and heard the feedback from those people.
This Indian billionaire live sky high in his ivory tower rubbing shoulders with his own kind. What is 2% increase to this kind of people? Who you want to side with really depend on what kind of person you are and what your life values are.”
Muthu Balakhrisnan wrote, “Shanmugam is getting totally overboard - trying to intimidate Opposition MPs into not speaking up.”
Martin Lee wrote, ‘The opposition (MPs) have a right to oppose this budget bill cause none of the pap MPs have guts to hold each of them accountable.”
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The K Shanmugam-Sylvia Lim-Heng Swee Keat parliament clash, explained
We also laid out the full transcript of their exchange for your reading pleasure and judgement.
By Jeanette Tan | March 4, 2018
So on Thursday, March 1, the Budget debates concluded and were passed with a ruling-party majority (the Workers’ Party [WP] MPs present voted “No” because of the GST hike, explained in this story).
This would’ve been an otherwise non-event that takes place every year — because we have a budget, and by extension budget debate, every year — except that following an exchange between Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam decided to enter the fray.
And when Shanmugam meets Lim in Parliament, you’re almost guaranteed fiery debate.
Here’s what happened earlier
Screenshot via gov.sg YouTube video
But before we get to this exciting debate segment, we should tell you what preceded it to set the context. Minister Heng had just finished his Budget round-up speech, and the Workers’ Party Chairman rose to make a few follow-up points.
These, in summary, included these two key points:
Low Thia Khiang, in his speech, said announcing the future GST hike is a distraction to this year’s budget, which highlighted otherwise important things for our country’s future. Heng interpreted this, together with other WP MP speeches that carried suggestions for other means of obtaining the required revenue, as distractions in themselves, labelling them as “dishonest and irresponsible”.
Lim said Low’s point is not that the government should conceal the decision to hike the GST until after the next election — or closer to the next election — but that Heng should have announced the impending hike separately from the Budget, since doing so now has made everyone focus on it in the Budget debate when it “isn’t even a Budget measure”.
This is the point Lim made that would end up triggering Shanmugam to rise and challenge her. Lim noted that “the government itself is not definitive about when this (the GST hike) is going to happen”, and then pointed out her view that “in the run-up to the Budget discussion”, there were “test balloons” floated about the government’s need to raise revenue.
FYI: “Test balloon” is information that the government releases and which is reported in the media to gauge the response of the public before it enacts a policy.
The “balloons” she was referring to likely included PM Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party convention speech in mid-November last year, where he said
“For this current term of government, we have enough revenue, but our spending needs to grow so HSK was right when he said raising taxes is not a matter of whether but when.”
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Committee studying issue of online falsehoods to hold public hearings in March
Published 04 March, 2018
Updated 05 March, 2018
SINGAPORE — After asking the public to share their views on the spread of online falsehoods, the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods will be holding public hearings later this month.
The public hearings will be held on March 14-16, March 22-23 and March 27-29, said the Office of the Clerk of Parliament on Monday (March 5).
“The Select Committee will decide, as the hearings progress, whether all the dates need to be used,” it added.
The hearings will be held at the Parliament’s Public Hearing Room, which will be open to members of the public and the media.
Those who are interested can still make written representations to the Select Committee by 4.30pm on Wednesday.
More information on the written representations, as well as the individuals and organisations, who will be giving oral evidence at the public hearings, will be made available after the Select Committee meets on March 9.
Last week, Deputy Speaker Charles Chong — who chairs the committee — told TODAY that the deadline for the public to hand in written submissions were extended by a week from the original deadline at Feb 28.
The committee was convened on Jan 10, after Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shaunmugam tabled a motion in Parliament for a 10-member team to consider the entities and individuals that engage in spreading misinformation, their motivations, what consequences the spread of online falsehoods can have on Singapore, and how the Republic should prevent and combat it.
continue reading here :
https://www.todayonline.com/singapor...hearings-march
If the media is independent and provides a true ; accurate and timely information delivery the people would not have any excuse to turn to other sources of news .
The Art of Adding Insult to Injury
March 5, 2018
By Augustine Low
Forgo the GST hike and Singaporeans could end up finding imported goods and holidays less affordable. This was the warning given by Chan Chun Sing at a Lunar New Year dinner.
The pain of having to contend with price hikes and tax hikes is bad enough. But politicians like Chan have the habit of making it worse by giving excuses and rationale which shows a disregard for Singaporeans’ common sense and intelligence.
Defending the GST hike, Chan Chun Sing somehow managed to turn it into something which simply had to be done, otherwise Singaporeans would lose their privilege to continue enjoying imported goods and cheaper holidays.
How he got from GST hike to imported goods and cheaper holidays is a classic case of taking the argument to the extreme in order to convince Singaporeans that a GST hike is the only way out because the alternative is far worse.
To sum up Chan’s argument: without the GST hike, the government would have to draw from reserves and the world would surmise that Singapore has a weak fiscal policy. Forces at large would therefore collude to weaken and destabilise the Sing dollar, and after the Sing dollar comes under attack, Singaporeans’ savings and spending would be negatively impacted. The result: less money for imported goods and holidays.
Wow! And just like that, Singaporeans are supposed to buy into his argument that a GST hike is preferable to none?
Of course, Chan conveniently forgot to mention the most crucial part which would have killed off his rationale straightaway: Singapore’s reserves are already very high, far exceeding the reserve limit recommended by the International Monetary Fund for countries to keep in order to ward off currency attacks.
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Feeling lost in our own country, Singapore
Published on 2018-03-07 by The Online Citizen
by Raj Singh
I don’t know how Singaporeans feel but I feel that the country isn’t ours. No, don’t get me wrong. Nothing to do with locals, Permanent Residents, foreign workforce and etc.
Purely to do with how it is governed. On the outside, it seems like a well-oiled machine. But when I look at the faces of people, there is no laughter, no smile, no emotion.
Yes, everyone is in their little rat race trying to make ends meet. Can’t blame them. They need to make ends meet. Near my office, I greet the elderly cleaner. He’s all smiles and can recognise me. Maybe because he needs someone to acknowledge that he is still alive.
What has happened to this country where many of elderly can’t rest or enjoy their golden years. Who really wants to clean floors, tables, dishes or pick up boxes? Who would want their parents to?
Maybe people are feeling lost because they can do anything. Bills, economy, careers are all out of their hands.
Someone up there decides what you need to study and which stream you end up in.
Someone up there decides which army unit you will be assigned to.
continue reading here :
WP’s Sylvia Lim refuses to apologise to House, but admits ’test balloons’ allegation ‘may not have been correct’
Ms Lim said that while she can accept that her suspicion may have been wrong, she did not accept that her suspicion had no basis.
By Lianne Chia @LianneChiaCNA
08 Mar 2018 11:53AM (Updated: 08 Mar 2018 05:13PM)
SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim on Thursday (Mar 8) responded to House Leader Grace Fu’s request that she apologise to the House for alleging that the Government had floated “test balloons” before announcing an impending goods and services tax hike.
Ms Lim refused to apologise, but admitted that her “suspicion” that the Government may have backtracked on the timing of GST hike may not have been correct - a point conceded by WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang as well.
Those comments made by Ms Lim on Mar 1 prompted calls by Ms Fu and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat for her to apologise.
Speaking at the start of the Parliament sitting on Thursday, Ms Lim cited media reports and comments by economists that led her to suspect that the Government had planned to raise the GST sooner, before the timeline of between 2021 and 2025 that was announced in the Budget.
“The Government contributed to this suspicion by its non-denial of reports and economists’ predictions of an immediate GST rise,” she said. “Based on the sequence of events, I believed the Government could have intended to raise the GST at this Budget. Thus, during the heat of the exchanges at the Budget round-up I articulated my suspicion.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...ce-fu-10024858
I salute Ms Slyvia Lim for standing up to the bullies .