Are the people themselves ready to vote in an Opposition?
Published on 2018-06-17 by The Online Citizen
by Willy Sum
I refer to Ms Jaffar’s Facebook post reproduced on your site a couple days ago, “Is our opposition ready for 2020? I doubt so!”. Before we criticise the various Opposition parties, my assertion to Ms Jaffar’s observation is: “Are the people themselves ready to vote in an Opposition?” Elections after elections, screwing after screwing, the electorate here do not seem to fully cognize the value of their vote and the significance of having 1/3 Opposition in Parliament to deny passage of bills that are harmful to our Nation!
The government has time and again, pressed the Opposition with propositions like" “Can they form the next government?” The role of the Opposition is to SAFEGUARD our interest and not to govern (except in Constituencies where they have been returned). This is where the parties concerned have failed to educate the young and old alike, of the purpose for their candidacy. This is where Malaysians do better to comprehend a Legislative system despite having a 3rd class education.
Secondly, I do not know if Ms Jaffar fully understands the value of having a multi-party system where 2 dominant parties DO NOT exploit the electorate and hold them “hostage” like the political situation in Australia, UK, USA etc. where the dominant parties do not need to work hard as they know they will be returned anyway, sometime, somehow later when they lose this round.
That being said, it will be up to the parties that lost the other time around, to make a last ditch effort to convince voters from now until 2020, of the need to vote them in or else, how it will be disastrous for the People’s Action Party (PAP) to win big again, a situation largely similar if Najib’s government had been voted in on 9 May!
Nothing substitutes hardcore groundwork and the incumbent Workers’ Party should venture beyond their current goals of securing Aljunied and trying to gun down East Coast. It renders the impression of complacency, where certain candidates are comfortable with their seats and do not want to “rock the boat” much. This is the reason why the PAP in Aljunied and Hougang are unlikely to win as voters there do not sense the sincerity of the government in wanting the ward by consistently fielding weak and relatively unknown candidates who will be transferred to a GRC after losing.
We the people, should also ourselves start reflecting if we are indeed living a “Swiss Standard” as promised by Goh Chok Tong when he handed over the reins to Lee Hsien Loong, who had in his term, been accused of abuse of power amongst other things which is just a step before corruption. We must be more magnanimous and stop dwelling on past events such as the “Hock Lee Bus Riots”, “Maria Hertogh Riots” and Dr Chee Soon Juan’s previous civil disobedience campaigns that led to his unjust convictions. We should look ahead of the scare and smear tactics and forge a common bond as fellow Singaporeans for the survival of our next generation! Majulah Singapura!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
jacky43
I guess there are five senior VIPs who set down during the next ge. This is an example of they jump into the water, no one will follow them. This people had done serious mistakes, if they continue to stay in power. One more GRC will be lost.
We saw another weakness.
There are many weakness around . There are many mistakes around . Yet they still in power . I anticipate they will lose between 3 to 5 GRCs and 5 SMCs. They will still be able to form the next government unless there is something drastic happen .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nitecrawllerr
I think sillyporeans been shortchange for too long. The list endless. Just the cpf issue is enough to make BP rise! But we still see lightning in power after every election. Put it this way. We are far from getting there. Even WP himself admitted they are not ready to form a garment.
Sadly that is quite true . WP they themselves admit they only want to be the codriver and slap the driver. But to me it looks like the codriver always kenna slapped instead . If the opposition truly want to win seats in parliament they have to work together . The opposition need to have a strong leader to unite them just like what happen in Malaysia . Will someone be able to do that ?
Next water price hike coming on 1 Jul – MCCY highlights some Singaporeans do support price hike
Published on 2018-06-22 by Correspondent
Last year, the government announced that water prices would be increased by 30% in 2 phases. The first increase occurred on 1 Jul last year. The next one will happen in less than 10 days’ time, on 1 Jul.
The government later published further information on its website explaining why it is increasing water prices.
It cited concerns of climate change, “Water should not become a vulnerability for Singapore. We must continue to invest in and upgrade our water system to make it more resilient. One particular emergent concern is the effect of climate change on our water supply.”
Then it also said that the costs of producing water and maintaining the water infrastructure are rising.
“In 2000, our water system cost around $500 million to operate. By 2015, the cost had risen to $1.3 billion. PUB expects to spend another $4 billion on water infrastructure from 2017 to 2021. This will include investments in NEWater and desalination factories, pipelines and pumping stations, and water reclamation plants,” it added.
“A revision of our water prices is needed to meet the higher costs of treating and supplying water. We also need to price water properly because it is a scarce resource that is not cheap to produce.”
MCCY highlighted Singaporeans in support of water price hike
So far, many Singaporeans have expressed negativity on social media with regard to the water price hike implemented by the government.
But on MCCY website, it highlighted that some Singaporeans actually do support the government in increasing water prices.
Undergraduate Malcolm Han, said, “It’s not like Singapore has a special supply of water that they just decide to make everybody pay for. Who’s going to pay for the machinery and processes to supply clean water to millions of people?”
Similarly, Stanley Alonzo thinks that in the long run, the increase is necessary for Singapore’s future and development.
The polytechnic student said, “We cannot expect everything to remain cheap. The point is, it is still affordable. Our collective financial sacrifices are why Singapore is what it is today, a completely developed nation. To maintain this, we must accept that we have to continuously make sacrifices.”
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oBike in S’pore a lousy business that lost S$4.25 million in a year
Crap.
By Belmont Lay | June 27, 2018
Talk about being crap.
More details about oBike’s loss-making business in Singapore has come to light, courtesy of Business Times and Today on June 26.
The details presented make it clear oBike’s business proposition ranged from poor to non-existent — and yet still managed to raise US$45 million in funding.
Cash flow problems within one year
Launched in Singapore in January 2017, oBike has been having cash flow problems since beginning of 2018 — one year into business here.
It ran up losses of more than S$4.25 million for the financial year that ended Dec. 31, 2017, as it brought in only S$912,668 in revenue.
Could not pay for services
It also owed various service providers money.
One of these service providers is Ruder Finn, a public relations agency in Singapore. oBike owes it several months of fees.
oBike had engaged Ruder Finn’s services in September 2017, but the contract has been “put on hold due to payment issues”.
Another company that is owed money is a logistics partner hired by oBike to round up indiscriminately-parked bicycles.
It also suspended its services this year when it hadn’t been paid its fees.
oBike had told this partner that it was in talks for a merger or acquisition, and would pay up after that. Talks failed.
Lee Der-Horng, director of the NUS-LTA Transport Research Centre, said: “I will not be surprised if more operators are forced to step out of the small Singapore market. Their incomes are pathetic. Whatever fees they collect are far less than their expenses.”
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Bicycle-sharing might cost more with new LTA rules kicking in
Cheap things come at a social cost.
By Joshua Lee | June 27, 2018
Price hikes might be on the way for bicycle-sharing users.
Higher costs?
Mobike and ofo recently increased rental prices for using their bicycle-sharing service.
It is their attempt at weaning Singaporeans off the “discounted introductory prices” dangled to attract users initially.
And further hikes can possibly kick in after the July 7 deadline set by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for bike-sharing firms to submit applications for a licence to operate in public places or cease operations.
Those who submit them will have their applications evaluated and licence awarded by September.
Operating according to the bike-sharing operations licensing framework will then be a costlier affair and these costs might be passed on to riders.
What is this licensing framework?
The new licence, which is part of the Parking Spaces (Amendment) bill, sets out a bunch of conditions that bike-sharing companies have to follow if they want to operate in Singapore.
Licensing conditions include making sure bicycles are in working condition, parked properly, and enforcing a blanket ban on recalcitrant users.
Current bike sharing companies will also have to downsize their fleet. With 100,000 dockless bicycles in Singapore, only half of them are in use at any one time.
Bike-sharing firms will also have to share data about users with one another.
Recalcitrant users who don’t park properly can be banned for up to a year and can be charged for as long as the bicycle they used is not parked properly at the designated area.
Syncing the various platforms and abiding by new rules, such as the scanning of QR codes to proof a bicycle has been parked properly, will require resources.
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https://mothership.sg/2018/06/bike-s...ase-singapore/
Another failed PAP policy to encourage people to go car-lite .
oBike users unlikely to get back deposits, say lawyers
Published Jun 27, 2018, 5:00 am SGT
At least 259 users of shared-bike service oBike have made complaints to the consumer watchdog this year, with the majority involving deposit refunds and lodged in the past two days after the operator announced a surprise exit from Singapore on Monday.
With the company going into liquidation, chances of getting the refunds are slim as oBike’s assets will be distributed to pay off possible debts, and customers will be low on the list, say lawyers.
oBike, which launched here in January last year, had at least 20 staff, with no reports of workers being unpaid so far.
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Locals question 30 per cent water price hike since Singapore only pays Malaysia 3 sens for 1000 gallons
By Jewel Stolarchuk -
June 27, 2018
While some Singaporeans were anxious after Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad indicated that his government will possibly look into the “manifestly ridiculous” price of the water Malaysia sells to Singapore, others have expressed incredulity at the extremely low price of water sold from Malaysia and Singapore and have questioned why water-related fees here climb despite the low price.
This comes after Dr Mahathir singled out water as one of the issues Singapore and Malaysia need to iron out as he revealed, “they are still paying 3 sens for 1 thousand gallons. And once the 1000 gallons is returned we can buy back 12 per cent of that. At the same time they can sell 100 gallons for 17 Singapore Dollars. That is a lot of money.”
Dr Mahathir’s revelation prompted several posts like this to pop up on social media this week:
The post above captures a question by a netizen Danny Ong who challenges why water prices here were hiked by a whopping 30 per cent given the low price Singapore pays its neighbors across the Causeway for water.
The 30 per cent water price hike was announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat as he delivered Budget 2017 last year. The water price hike went into effect in two phases, with the first phase taking place in July 2017 and the second to be imposed this July. The water price hike is the first water price revision since 2000.
Responding to Ong’s question, which quickly began trending online after it was shared on Facebook – several netizens expressed that the reason why water prices increase here despite the low cost of water from Malaysia is the Government’s perceived “greediness”:
Some others, however, explained that the water price hike probably has more to do with the costs related to purifying the water, desalination and the like. These netizens’ explanations echo the authorities’ own assertion that the price hike will be utilised to maintain Singapore’s water infrastructure and for desalination.
The “costly but necessary” processes such as desalination and the investment into Newater plants contribute to the price hike, Finance Minister Heng indicated.
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Exclusive: Price of water sold to Singapore ‘ridiculous’; Malaysia to renegotiate deal, says Mahathir
By Sumisha Naidu
@SumishaCNA
25 Jun 2018 12:30PM (Updated: 25 Jun 2018 11:59PM)
PUTRAJAYA: The price of water being sold to Singapore is “ridiculous”, and Malaysia will make a presentation to its neighbour on renegotiating the terms of the water supply deal, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday (Jun 25).
“I think it is manifestly ridiculous that we should sell water at 3 sen per thousand gallons. That was okay way back in the 1990s or 1930s. But now what can you buy with 3 sen? Nothing,” the 92-year-old told Channel NewsAsia in an exclusive interview.
Earlier, Bloomberg had reported that Dr Mahathir intended to go back to the drawing board on the water accord, which is set to expire in 2061.
“We are studying the case properly and we’ll make a presentation,” he told Channel NewsAsia.
The revival of the water issue comes on the back of Dr Mahathir’s decision to scrap the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project agreed upon by the previous Najib Razak administration.
Dr Mahathir had cited a need to reduce the country’s debt and liabilities exceeding RM1 trillion (US$251 billion) as the reason for scrapping the deal. Singapore has, however, stated that it has not been informed of Malaysia’s intent.
At the interview, Dr Mahathir was asked about his foreign policy decisions, and he conceded that Malaysia had yet to inform Singapore about its intentions on both issues.
“Sometimes we make public statements without actually finalising the process,” he said. “When we want to make a decision we don’t wait until we inform Singapore, we just say something. Of course they would want to know, and we will inform them in time.”
Asked if there is any timeframe on when he’s planning to inform Singapore, he said: “It’s not so urgent.”
Dr Mahathir repeated this during a press conference on Monday evening, when he was asked again if he would be speaking to Singapore on renegotiating the water deal.
“It’s not urgent,” he reiterated. “We have many other problems that we have to focus on”.
At the same conference, he also confirmed that the water issue had not been discussed in Cabinet before he made his comments, but that he was “pressed to announce” the issue after being “asked by the press”.
Earlier, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister said any bilateral problems that may arise from these choices could be resolved.
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Proposed changes to GST Act: Finance ministry invites public to give feedback
28 Jun 2018 12:36PM (Updated: 28 Jun 2018 12:50PM)
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is seeking feedback from the public on proposed changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, including the introduction of a levy on imported services and enhanced powers for officers investigating serious tax crimes.
During his Budget 2018 speech, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced plans to impose GST on imported digital services such as movie and music streaming services and mobile apps from 2020.
GST on the imported services will take effect through two ways.
The first is a reverse charge mechanism for business-to-business imported services, where the local GST-registered business customer is required to account and pay GST to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) directly on the services it imports.
Most GST-registered business will not be affected, however, as they can claim full refund of the GST they incur on their purchases including imported services, MOF said in a news release on Thursday (Jun 28).
The businesses that will be affected are primarily financial institutions and residential property developers, which do not get such full refunds, MOF added.
The second way the GST on imported services will be effected is through an overseas vendor registration (OVR) mode for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.
Under the OVR, overseas suppliers and electronic marketplace operators which make significant supplies of digital services to local consumers are required to register with IRAS. Once GST-registered, they will collect GST on their B2C supplies of digital services and pay it to IRAS.
ENHANCED POWERS FOR IRAS
The proposed changes to the GST Act also includes giving IRAS officers enhanced powers to investigate tax crimes.
If accepted, IRAS investigation officers will be able to perform forced entries, arrests without warrants, and body searches for certain serious tax crimes.
“Syndicates and recalcitrant taxpayers are becoming more active and are employing more sophisticated strategies for tax fraud,” MOF said, adding that suspects have in the past refused to cooperate with IRAS’ investigations, hand over potential evidence, and also destroyed evidence.
“Such acts of non-cooperation affect IRAS’ effectiveness in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” MOF said.
IRAS’ powers will also be expanded to allow it to gather all information relevant to its investigations from any individual. It will also be allowed to share information with other law enforcement agencies to combat serious crimes that it assesses as critical for investigation or prosecution of serious crimes.
Custodial sentence will also be introduced for unauthorised collection of GST under the proposed changes, and alternative evidence besides invoices or receipts will be permitted to prove the crime.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...rrest-10478526
Really seeking feedback ??? People already say no to 2% GST increase . Just look at Malaysia .