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作者:冀居·谢 紧接着李显龙的讲话，哼哈二将 马宝山和 维文左右夹攻，看来“政府将抑制组屋套现”是势在必行了。 股市术语，不能套现的东西就必然被套牢，学台湾张老师话哉：好的老师带你上天堂，不好的老师带你住套房——今后新加坡政府要选择做“不好的老师”。 私有财产因为政府的干涉，而成为不能套现之赘，那还算是私有财产吗？这是他们必须回答的第一个问题。 维文医生说其他国家的福利养老计划听起来都像是庞氏骗局（Ponzi Scheme），只有新加坡的才是真的。基于什么呢？ 1.  现收现付（pay as you go）制度是把现在纳税的钱用来养老人，当社会还年轻时，这个制度的收入会比支出高。但当现在的年轻一代老去时，是否会有足够数量和足够努力的年轻人缴税来养这些老人？我国自1955年开始推行的公积金制度，是建立在“每一代人都必须要为自己这代自给自足”的信念上，虽然新加坡也为小部分低收入者提供额外援助，但基本原则不变，这才是唯一能为将来建立可持续安全网的途径。 2.  到了2030年，我国每五个人口中，就有一个超过65岁。老龄负担系数（old age support ratio，即15到64岁人口对65岁以上人口的比例）也已从1990年的11.8减少到去年的8.3。 说得似乎成理，不过好像忘了把政府应该扮演的角色算计在内。政府是否应该抑制物价，保证国人的消费水平？政府是否该为我们不断下降的生育率负起政治责任？政府是否为那一小部分水平线以下的人制定更好的社会安全网？ 维氏骗局还隐瞒一点，就是新加坡人口实际上是不断地增加，一直会增加到600万以上，所以缴税的人口是只会多不会少，即使他们不成为新加坡公民，他们也在缴消费税。 更可笑的是，这个政府是号称世界第一流的政府，他们领取世界第一流的薪水，做的只是重新分配国人上税的工作而已吗？要国人“自己顾自己”吗？我们还有世界一流的主权基金和政府投资公司，为国家赚进千亿的储备，怎么他们都在图像之外，只有在帮忙执政党竞选分猪肉的时候，才出现在主画面？ 我的这些疑问，始于罗杰斯今年初提出公共交通系统完全免费的建议。老实说，这个建议作为一般人恐怕是连想都不敢想的课题，可是一个国际商业奇才提出这样的一个构想，我肯定他一定是研究过其中的明细，知道这是一个“非不能也，实不为也”的问题。试想想，要是这个计划行得通，其实解决了很多很多的社会问题。首先生活费显著降低、有效地抑制通货膨胀、同时吸引更多人乘搭公共交通、拥车证迟早成为历史。陆交局可以花更多时间来规划公共交通，而不必在有限的土地为建设上天下地的快速公路而头痛，至于环保的那一套根本就是多说的。 维文说钱的问题必须从钱的来源去追朔，其实是把大家引导到一个错误的方向，至于是不是故意的，这个可就说不准了。 来源：大马论坛  Read More →

April 7, 2010 AAP A new opinion poll reveals half of all Australians believe current immigration levels are about right, but two-thirds think all asylum seekers arriving by boat should be sent home. The Roy Morgan poll found that 46 per cent of people believe the current permanent immigration intake of around 170,000 a year "should remain about the same". Some 39 per cent of those polled in mid-March said immigration should be reduced, while 11 per cent wanted to boost the numbers settling here. However, when it came to boat people the picture was more clear cut. Sixty-four per cent said asylum seekers arriving by sea should "be returned and apply through normal refugee channels". Just 26 per cent are happy with the current system while another 10 per cent either want some other system in place or don't know what should be done. The poll was released on Thursday as the federal government and opposition continued to trade blows on the population front. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison was forced to backpedal after Labor, big business and some of his own colleagues questioned his call to cut net migration. New Population Minister Tony Burke, who will take a year to devise a strategy on how to deal with a burgeoning Australia, admitted his work wouldn't actually pin down how big the nation would be by 2050. The Roy Morgan poll of 670 Australians found 81 per cent of people don't want the country's population to exceed 35 million by 2040. It supports a Lowy Institute poll released earlier in the day which found 69 per cent of people wanted the population to be 30 million or less in 40 years time. Pollster Gary Morgan says while Australians are opposed to a huge population increase they generally support migrants. "Australian views on immigrants are generally positive with 39 per cent of Australians saying immigrants change Australia for the better compared to 32 per cent that say immigrants change Australia for the worse," Mr Morgan said in a statement. "Looking at different types of immigrant shows that majorities of Australians are in favour of skilled migrants (87 per cent), family reunion migrants (78 per cent), Muslim migrants (55 per cent) and asylum seeker migrants (50 per cent)." © 2010 AAP Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/big-population-has-little-support-poll-20100408-rsgl.html  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Controversial Arab channel Al Jazeera English was taken off from SingTel's MIO TV after screening a sensational documentary on homeless Singaporeans who are made to sleep in the streets due to the PAP's discriminatory policies against locals. When asked by MediaCorp why the channel was removed, SingTel replies: ""mio TV constantly streamlines our content offerings in order to address the demands and requirements of our customers." [Source: TODAY, 7 April 2010] Al Jazeera is one of the few independent broadcasters allowed to operate in Singapore and has produced some objective, factual and balanced documentaries so far on the socio-political affairs of Singapore. In Sept 2008, Al Jazeera aired a report on an engineering company that housed 30 foreign workers in its warehouses followed by another documentary on retrenched Singaporeans whose jobs are taken up by cheaper foreign workers. Media Development Authority also did not reveal any reasons why Al Jazeera was dropped: "The introduction of new pay-TV channels and the removal of existing ones are part of the constantly evolving media landscape in Singapore. These are commercial decisions made by the pay-TV operators, which periodically review and refine their channel offerings to meet market demands." It is likely that channel has stepped on the toes of the PAP by embarrassing its authoritarian leaders with its latest stunning documentary on the plight of homeless Singaporeans titled: Singapore policies force some onto streets: The paranoid PAP regime has always viewed the foreign media with disdain and often accused them of "interfering" in local politics. Al-Jazeera should consider itself fortunate that it is only taken off air and not sued for defamation as what happened to International Herald Tribune a few weeks ago. Though Singapore is an advanced economy, its political system resembles more like a fascist totalitarian state in the mould of North Korea. Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a "classic textbook example of a politically repressive state" in its annual report this year. U.S-based NGO Freedom House labeled Singapore as a "hybrid regime" and not a full-fledged democracy while Reporters Without Borders ranked the Singapore media 133th in the world in terms of press freedom. With the exit of Al Jazeera English TV channel from Singapore, Singaporeans have one less credible source of alternative media to turn to for local news.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.  Read More →