When you do business in most countires, you have to deal with the various gangsters and corrupted crooks. Here, everything has been integrated into only one party that you have to pay but it is also the most expensive in the world. People still come.
People still come because it's probably one of the few advanced countries where the government approves easily their PR status and even citizenship. (Although now it should be more difficult but it's a bit too late as a good handful of Singaporeans are already feeling the human congestion and other social problems here.) It's also a safe and politically stable country.
I always feel one way to cope with the extremely high COE prices is to impose heavy taxes on families who own more than 1 car. At the same time, the lower class or less wealthy families (say those who earn less than S$10k a month) could be given subsidies if they wish to own one.
With this benefit, what they could do is perhaps restrict the sizes/prices of the the cars that can be bought and if need be, impose a levy should the car ownership or car itself be changed within say 3 years. These cars are not for social status. It is to help parents ferry their kids to childcare centers or their own parents' homes to look after them. I feel it will help a lot. I really don't know how young working class parents without cars can cope. It's no wonder so few want to have kids these days?
We all know our MRT trains are almost always jam-packed. The strollers can hardly go in and having to control kids screaming or crying for whatever reason in a packed train is a big headache. I've seen a mother having difficulty balancing on a crowded bus with one arm carrying her daughter presumably.
But having said all these, I am not optimistic the above will take place. Why? Cos there are too many rich people here who own more than 1 car per family. And those who pass down such policies could very well be in this category!
Which brings me to the final point: So why else do people come here, besides this country being safe, clean, stable, etc? Cos they are rich. I've heard of foreigners who got their SG citizenship buying up HDB flats with cold hard cash. (Ever wonder why true blue locals are unhappy with the exponential increase in HDB prices for many years in the past? I think it is justified!) So I think such rich people are unfazed even when the COE is $80,000.
But who are the ones at the losing end eventually??? What will the future social and political scene be like if such a situation continues in the next 5 to 10 years? It's not hard to imagine.
