(thispostcanbeveryboringdependingonyurinterestontheseissuesoproceedatyurownrisk, dunsayineverwarnyouhor)

i spent quite a few hrs at the cna website

watching videos - as PM Lee talks abt our future, our problems in the recent parliament

reading articles related to the GST hike

made me feel like a nerd doing extra study for GP / Econs

but it was alright cos i was interested to know abit more anyway

so to what i understood

there are 4 things that the govt wants to tackle

investing in our future, ageing population, income disparity, preparing for future needs

a bit different from wad we learn in our (econs) notes, but perhaps its becos 2 or 3 of them are un-econs

raising the GST is to fund the government expenditure

its not meant to be put into our minister's pockets

expenditure on this 'social security net' thing

its meant to help the lower-middle income groups people

i din find a definition for lower-middle income, but i guess ard less than $1500 hsehold income perhaps

so, why does the govt need to help them

becos for the past few years the fruits of growth is not enjoyed by these people

incomes of the richer people rose much faster than those who are poorer

also with an ageing population, there are a number of elderly who don't have enough to live on

raising the GST is not just raising it per se, its a comes with a package

this package will offset the rise in costs of living due to the GST hike experienced by the lower income groups

so...why not just tax the higher income people?

yea, perhaps

but we learnt in econs, raising income tax will increase the disincentive to work, and make this place less attractive for foreign talent

raising corporate tax worse, chase away all the foreign investors that we depend on to boost employment and growth

so...is the GST hike inevitable?

how about telling our ministers to cut their own pay by half

ministerial salaries is relatively much higher in Singapore than other countries

the rationale is to attract local talented leadership from the private sector, to prevent corruption (i tink the idea originated from the fact that even the most ferocious animals will not attack people if properly fed or something)

i so made i quick calculation then

i found in the web the salaries of our ministers and our president, its not a secret

in fact i read it in zq's school of thought notes in preparation for GP a lvls also

assuming we have 30 minsiters in singapore, (assuming means i don't know...lol)

including our PM and the president

their earnings is around 42.2 million per annum

if we half that, government expenditure falls by 21.1 million.

distribute that money to us! $5 each person, =)

no, we dun need that...but actually

they said that the GST hike from 5% to 7% will generate 1.5 billion more govt revenue per year...

the cut in salary is only 0.1407% of that revenue from gst hike

in other words, if ministers cut their pay by half, the GST hike can raise by 1.997286% instead of 2%, because the remaining will be funded by the minister's salaries

lol...i mean...uh...look at the bigger picture >.>

yes. cut their pay will help, its a good idea, but its not going to help much...=/

ok, perhaps they should only increase tax on luxury goods?

i don't know really...imagine paying more for stuff like gummies and teh peng

perhaps they can...

give free gummies and teh peng! woot

no -.-

i dun really have ideas actually

families like mine really kena the most

not poor until will receive benefits, nor so rich until GST doesn't matter....=/

you can find out more in http://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/index.htm , just search for GST and you'll find 10+ articles

NO! don't do that...are u crazy

its time to party =)