TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Malaysian supermarket chain Sheng Shiong has increased the rental by an astonishing 30 percent at the 5 wet markets it bought last year from HDB in a controversial sale which was opposed by both the stallholders and customers alike. The Straits Times reported that "the stallholders at the five markets - in Serangoon, Bukit Batok, Fajar Road and two in Choa Chu Kang - were informed of the increase by the supermarket chain earlier this month." The increase means that they will have to pay about $2,000 to $4,000 in rent. The duration of their contracts was also reduced from two to one year. Sheng Siong's managing director Lim Hock Chee claimed that the chain had "no choice " but to increase rental rates in order to recoup its $25 million purchase of the wet markets. Stallholders interviewed by Straits Times feel that the increase is too high with some indicating that they may have to give up their stalls. As early as October last year, the Singapore Democratic Party had written to Bukit Panjang MP Dr Teo Ho Pin to implore him to oppose the sale of the Fajar wet market to Sheng Siong on the grounds that the rentals for the stalls will be raised subsequently. When told about this, Dr Teo Ho Pin remarked sarcastically that SDP should “do its homework” first before pin-pointing at others said that it was he who lobbied HDB to build the wet market in 1996 and he had been meeting the residents, stallholders and grassroots leaders recently to "resolve" the issue. Nothing was heard from Dr Teo again and now that the hikes have been announced, can the stallholders still count on him to safeguard their interests? Though HDB has since stopped Sheng Siong from converting the wet markets into air-conditioned supermarkets, it is powerless to interfere in the impending rental hike. The state media had a field day trying to convince Singaporeans that wet markets are no longer economically feasible in today's Singapore, but utimately, it is the stallholders who will suffer in the end. The Straits Times article reported that a group of tenants have approached their PAP MP Seah Kian Peng for help. It is highly doubtful that Mr Seah or any PAP MP for that matter will be able to assist the aggrieved stallholders after HDB has sanctioned the sale to a private supermarket chain without imposing any conditions on it. Singaporeans should realize that they will never have any economic rights unless they reclaim their political rights as citizens of the nation from the PAP. The last thing left for the affected stallholders and customers to do is to vote out the PAP in the next general election. Only when there is political pressure exerted on them will they bother to do something to resolve the problems faced by Singaporeans.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page.   Related articles: >> SDP calls off planned speech at Fajar after being denied a permit by police >> SDP requests for a meeting with Sheng Siong >> Teo Ho Pin replies to SDP without addressing them >> Teo Ho Pin to SDP: "You didn't do your homework!" >> SDP stops Sheng Siong from converting wet markets into supermarkets >> SDP writes to Dr Teo Ho Pin to oppose sale of Fajar wet market  Read More →

Hi Dr Tan,   You were quote on the Straits Times saying, “WDA should work actively to help citizens get jobs. When these people turn down jobs once, twice, three times, the Government then doesn’t have to make apologies about bringing in foreign workers.”   Rather than just blaming Singaporeans for rejecting the jobs found by WDA, perhaps WDA should do more analysis for the reasons of objections by these Singaporeans? I suspect that salary is the main issue here. How do you expect an over 40 years old retrenched Singaporean with 2 schooling kids and a HDB loan to pay off to survive on $1K+ salary? $1K+ may be alright for foreigners but certainly it's not going to be enough for Singaporeans with families. The main problem is really, we are over importing foreigners which in turn depresses our salaries in Singapore.   Many netizens are throwing brickbats at you. You might want to read all about it here.   Sometimes, it's good for the elites to come down from their ivory towers to mix more with the ground before saying anything.     Yours sincerely,   Kojakbt  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent City Harvest Church continues to come under fire from skeptical Singaporeans three weeks after it announced that it has bought a $310 million stake in Suntec to be used for its worship services. Since then, more than a dozen of letters have been published in the Straits Times Forum questioning if City Harvest Church should still be considered as a charity and if the returns from its property investments should be exempted from tax. Two letters are published today in the Forum on the matter alone. Ms Tan Saw Bin who is an auditor of several charitable groups wonder if "significant involvement in commercial activities by mega churches, through investments in properties, still qualify the churches as charities under the Charities Act and their Constitutions." She urged the authorities including the Registrar of Societies and Commissioner of Charities to "look into statutory compliance and evaluate if such religious groups still qualify as charities." "New Creation Church and City Harvest Church are registered as charities but not Institutions of a Public Character. This means that donations to these churches are not tax exempt, so donors do not enjoy tax deductions of 2.5 times. Nevertheless, I am impressed by the ability of these churches to obtain significant donation income, which is a feat few organisations can match," she added. Another Singaporean Harvey Neo pointed out the blurring of lines between a religious group and its associated business entity in reality: "For example, the initial start-up funds for the business entity could come entirely from the church. Tax-exempt funds from the church might also be diverted to the business entity in indirect ways." He stressed that the problems arises when "the associated businesses of a religious group balloon to such an extent that one starts to forget the raison d'etre of religion and begins to wonder where the profits of such businesses go to." City Harvest Church was founded by its Senior Pastor Kong Hee in 1989 as a small Bible study group of 20 and has since ballooned to a mega Church with more than 33,000 members.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page.   Related articles: >> City Harvest Church questioned over Suntec stake      Read More →