When Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman gave his Budget 2015 speech yesterday, he boasted, “Everyone has moved up, including poorer Singaporeans.” The Oscars have been handed out, but that will not put a stop to this class act.
According to his version of a fairy tale, in the same honest vein as Khaw Boon Wan's Butterfly Lovers, Tharman reminded us that factory employees who made rubber slippers in 1965 were paid about $87 a month (around $340 in today’s dollars). Today, a lower-income Singaporean worker (at the 20th percentile of the income range) would earn about $1,860. This is more than 5 times as much as it used to be, after adjusting for inflation over the years, he punched in for effect.
In "LKY: The Man And His Ideas" by Han Fook Kwang et al, it is recorded that in 1970, when the pay of other ministers was raised from $2,500 a month to $4,500, Lee Kuan Yew chose not to raise his pay of $3,500. But he knew the greed would come: "...it is unrealistic to expect the next prime minister, one qualified for the job, to discharge the functions of this office for the present salary." The White Paper on Ministerial salaries would come about on November 1, 1994.
The pay off would be more than 5 times as much as it used to be, after adjusting for inflation over the years. Meanwhile the median worker’s pay is only about 6 times what it used to be in 1965, even after adjusting for inflation.
The government had budgeted for an overall deficit of $1.2 billion (or 0.3% of GDP) for FY2014, ending 31 Mar 2015. Tharman said that they now expect a very small deficit of $0.1 billion. That's so many words for saying that money supposedly set aside for the welfare for Singaporeans have not been fully spent. Instead, more have been harvested from the financially strapped. Commuter fares were increased so that the train operators can see their net profits surge 54 percent. Group revenue increased 6.8 per cent to $313.2 million, outstripping total operating expenses which rose 4.2 per cent to $295.9 million. Clearly, there was no need for a fare hike.
Clearly, there's no need for inflated premiums for the compulsory Medishield Life either. You can expect that more will be creamed off from the sheep in this year of the goat.
According to his version of a fairy tale, in the same honest vein as Khaw Boon Wan's Butterfly Lovers, Tharman reminded us that factory employees who made rubber slippers in 1965 were paid about $87 a month (around $340 in today’s dollars). Today, a lower-income Singaporean worker (at the 20th percentile of the income range) would earn about $1,860. This is more than 5 times as much as it used to be, after adjusting for inflation over the years, he punched in for effect.
In "LKY: The Man And His Ideas" by Han Fook Kwang et al, it is recorded that in 1970, when the pay of other ministers was raised from $2,500 a month to $4,500, Lee Kuan Yew chose not to raise his pay of $3,500. But he knew the greed would come: "...it is unrealistic to expect the next prime minister, one qualified for the job, to discharge the functions of this office for the present salary." The White Paper on Ministerial salaries would come about on November 1, 1994.
The pay off would be more than 5 times as much as it used to be, after adjusting for inflation over the years. Meanwhile the median worker’s pay is only about 6 times what it used to be in 1965, even after adjusting for inflation.
The government had budgeted for an overall deficit of $1.2 billion (or 0.3% of GDP) for FY2014, ending 31 Mar 2015. Tharman said that they now expect a very small deficit of $0.1 billion. That's so many words for saying that money supposedly set aside for the welfare for Singaporeans have not been fully spent. Instead, more have been harvested from the financially strapped. Commuter fares were increased so that the train operators can see their net profits surge 54 percent. Group revenue increased 6.8 per cent to $313.2 million, outstripping total operating expenses which rose 4.2 per cent to $295.9 million. Clearly, there was no need for a fare hike.
Clearly, there's no need for inflated premiums for the compulsory Medishield Life either. You can expect that more will be creamed off from the sheep in this year of the goat.