PME Taskforce call for stronger support for PMEs who become involuntarily unemployed
It’s been a full year since nine recommendations were made by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)-Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) PME Taskforce (PME TF) to strengthen PMEs’ employment and employability and enable them to compete fairly and more effectively in the labour market. Since the release of the recommendations, NTUC-SNEF has been working closely with the Ministry […]
Can I still afford a HDB flat?
Someone said that young graduates used to aspire to a 5-rm flat but now they can only afford a 4-rm flat. And a poly grad used to aspire to a 4-rm flat but now, they can only afford a 3-rm flat. When I was a young graduate, I was realistic of my financial ability and […]
99-year lease is only way to recycle land for future generations to buy BTOs
Today, over 80% of Singaporeans live in public housing. Compared to public housing in most parts of the world, our HDB flats and home ownership model is the exception rather than the norm. Singapore’s housing policies have been uniquely successful. We are the only major city in the world where nearly every young couple getting […]
Resident in Sengkang hurt her shoulder when the elevator suddenly rose to the top floor
A resident’s shoulder was injured… An elevator at Sengkang failed and suddenly rose to the top floor, which caused an injury to a female resident during the ride, and it was suspended for three months by the Workers’ Party-run Sengkang Town Council. According to Mr Chua, a resident at Block 158D Rivervale Crescent, the elevator […]
Should land for public housing in Singapore be priced at a nominal rate?
You’ve heard this before: that land for HDB flats should be priced lower, even at a nominal fee of $1 because it is land for public housing. After all, land assets, as part of the reserves, belong to the people. The problem with this line of reasoning is that public housing in Singapore has taken […]
All surpluses are given back to Singaporeans in different forms: Lawrence Wong
When WP Jamus Lim wrote in a Facebook post that ‘the government must not make money while citizens suffer’ he was just doing what an Opposition MP usually does, using emotive language to paint the government in a negative light even when it is not true. Thus he looks with glee upon the surpluses the […]
GST hike: will Singaporeans rise to the occasion with grit and determination?
At the IMAS-Bloomberg Investment Conference earlier this year (9 March), SM Tharman Shanmugaratnam talked about the ‘perfect long storm’ that the world has entered, shaped by a confluence of many factors. It is an era of profound uncertainty and fragility. The world has been facing rising prices caused by the pandemic recovery and then exacerbated […]
Studies show strong support for using the Death Penalty for the Most Serious Crimes.
Under Singapore’s laws, the death penalty is used as a punishment for the most serious crimes. To better understand Singapore residents’ views and perceptions on the death penalty, the Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) commissioned and conducted the following three studies: Survey on Singapore Residents’ Attitudes towards the Death Penalty, conducted by the MHA Research […]
The suggestion that a government can arbitrarily decide on land value is a dangerous one
Let’s be clear. To begin with, the HDB does not price new flats based on costs, nor development or land costs. That much the Minister for National Development Desmond Lee has stressed. So the argument over how land should be valued is moot because land cost does not come into the equation. I suspect some […]
The ‘return my CPF’ fever has been soundly replaced by a voluntary top-up fever
Remember when the “Return My CPF” and “Vote them out” fever was so high? Multiple protests were organised at Hong Lim Park as speaker after speaker criticized the Government for holding back people’s money, for not keeping their promises and for losing their money. All kinds of claims were made about the retirement sum, minimum […]