GST up to 7%

[Hoky]

Aiyah... wat to do...
blame ourselves suay to be Singaporean.... not as if we can do anything.

 

[xray]

I just blogged about this.

He added that his “purpose is to help the lower income group. For the middle income, it will be generally about okay.” Now, can the lower income families really cope? The income disparity between the haves and the have-nots in Singapore has steadily widened, especially in the last decade. Ever since Mr Lee took over the Prime Ministership from Mr Goh Chok Tong, the GST has increased from 3% (1994) to 5% (2002) and now to 7% (2006/07).

Mr Low Thia Kiang, MP for Hougang, and the Workers’ Party (WP) asked for the people’s vote during the 2006 General Elections, and complained about the rising cost of living in Singapore. A People’s Action Party (***) minister asked in a sarcastic manner what the WP would do to lower the price of bread, to lower living costs. Right now as I write, there is much buzz on online forums. People are saying that forums that the *** has self-inflicted a well deserved slap on its face.

... continued

 

[DT_]

good thing... while cost is getting higher.. my body weight is getting lower...

 

[unseen]

I wonder why everyone so enraged about this.. It was "announced" in a fairly invisible article quite some time ago.. a year ago?

Gee.. if most of you missed it, then I'm sure not most of you wouldn't have caught the bit about eventually raising GST up to 10% within the next few years...

XD well then news announcement:
GST is going to hit 10% in within the next few years.. They said it would be increased gradually. From 5% to 7% to 10%.
Makes me hope there would eventually be a change in the future.
Like Singaporeans waking up and vote an 50% opposition into the Parliment.

 

[Hoky]

I saw vandalized lifts with scribes "Punish All Poor"
Wonder what does it really mean... :think:

 

[mattlock]

The problem with this whole GST hike scenario is that PM Lee has not laid out exactly how he is going to redistribute the takings. Quite rightly, many in this forum have observed that a GST increase hits all, and the low income harder than the high earners. If there is no commensurate adjustment in income tax (upwards, that is), I really fail to see how this can be a useful income redistribution exercise.

Exactly
how does GST "help finance enhanced social safety nets to help this group"
This does not seem to gel with the government's philosophy of avoiding a welfare state scenario, neither does it gel with Dr Vivian's Balakrishnan's recent statements regarding helping people , which insinuates a reliance on NGOs and charitable organisations rather than the government

"Dr Balakrishnan said his ministry will confine itself to the 'big picture' to identify needs and find out what VWOs need, while maintaining a co-funding and a co-helping model. "

 

[AReality]

AR, yes you can, provided by than, you saving is enough. dont forget, $100 you save now is worth less in the future. so my friend, sell off your gear unless you are making $$$ with it.

Yes, to save more money, I'll start donating less to charity, do less volunteer work, to make up for the extra 2% loss (or more in future).

Since the govt want's to use the $ to help the poor, I'll take my hands off it. No need my help.

Sorry to the poor people, I can't help u any longer.:cry: I'm also getting poorer by the day...


.

 

[haagen_dazs]

Mr Lee said it was better to raise the GST when the economy was doing well. - CNA /dt

wow
2% is quite substantial

Did Spore ever reduce GST when the economy was doing poorly??

 

[corollax]

wow 2% is quite substantial

nah, to the gahmen 2% is peanuts...

 

[mohgui]

two words... BULLSHIT CRAP!!!

 

[creampuff]

Can you imagine the knock-on effect of the GST? Everything will be ROUNDED UP. Businesses will invariably mark-up to say 10% because 7% is just so troublesome to work out.

As in the past, the taxmen will be pleasantly surprised by how much revenue is gonna be collected over what was projected... Unfortunately, this tax hits all and does no favours with the poor and less advantaged.

 

[nightpiper]

It really puts me off. In the last resession, we got our employer CPF cut, and it was never restored. When times are good, instead of raising the employer CPF contribution, GST is raised. Their ammunition is always at the expense of us! And the part that says better to raise it now than wait . . . waiting for a downturn? Raise taxes before a possible downturn? What is he thinking of when he said wait?

The other part says the government spends very little of what they collect. If the expenditure is already so little, why the need to collect so much? Where is all this money currently going to? No answers, obviously. They collect before they spend. If they spend first, they will definitely collect it back almost immediately. What plan is this that requires them to collect now, then wait and see what needs to be done? Come on, treat your fellow Singaporeans with more respect, explain your plan and justify it. At this juncture, I cannot see how raising GST by 2% can help needy Singaporeans. Ultimately, prices will go up by more than 2%. Definitely more than meets the eye. Note, I am not suggesting fraud, I am thinking that the government does not necessarily have to raise taxes now.

i agree totally with what u said.

why r we treated like this? well, during the NUS speech, PM Lee already said we r a skilled labour country. so how well treated r labourers? juz look at the bangali & their foremen, we r the bangalis & the miniters r the foremen "supervising" us in every move. the bosses? the foreign talents of course. so top tier positions r not meant for fellow citizens, we r juz 2nd class people with "voting" rights. and looking at how some constituencies easily had a walk-over, there's really nothing much to say about our voting sys. not much diff to be a 2nd class citizen here with voting rights vs a 2nd class citizen in other country.

i stopped donating to charities ever since i started working, that shud be a govt's job & not getting fellow people to take care of social problems while they sit around thinking of ways to squeeze more to cover their investment losses.

seriously we need more opposition to take up more seats in the parliament to debate before any bill can be passed. i'm really sick of this kind of "shaft it down ur throat" policies making. :angry: ;(

 

[nightpiper]

Perhaps all the naysayers can come up with a reason why PM Lee is doing this? To peeve off the electorate? To get brickbats thrown at him?

C'mon folks. You want to leave the country because of a 2% increment in GST? You there with the 'L' lens and the latest Nikon digital body? You got a right to gripe if the government wants to store up some money for a rainy day? To help the poor? How many of you will tip into poverty, get kicked out of your flat, after this raise? Puhleez, get a grip on reality.
.

i dun quite agree.

there r many more tax & levies & fees to generate income from the govt. we need to look at these as well when comparing to other countries. do other countries have COEs? what about the most expensive public housing? also not forgetting the ratio proportion (like welfare-free policies vs GDP & other govt income, etc) affecting these changes.

u will see the full impact when u lose ur job one fine morning. with housing to pay, committments to fulfil (esp long term investment), kids education & upbringing, bills piling up every month, etc. then u get a job paying u $700 as a cleaner after the "retraining" exercise. u tell us all if thats enuf & will u be "choosy with jobs"? rem... the min CPF contri now is $600... what r u taking home & how much disposable income do u have? sad... sad...

(i'm not cooking this up, there r middle age managers retrenched & ended up retrained as cleaners for $700)

 

[reachme2003]

that can only happened if people voted them in.

seriously we need more opposition to take up more seats in the parliament to debate before any bill can be passed. i'm really sick of this kind of "shaft it down ur throat" policies making. :angry: ;(

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

nah, to the gahmen 2% is peanuts...

according to the law of V...

2% should be 'peanuts' to us and livelihood to them... so instead... they should do our bidding instead...

V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

 

[nightpiper]

if prices go up, everyone starts to cut spendings, economy will end up a downward spiral

we shud all do that, cut spendings, only spend for neccessities like food & education. s'pore shud go into another reccession to show our policies makers that increasing taxes too soon has its effect. lets see what policies wud be implemented to bring us out of reccession again. like japan, within 10yrs can have 3 reccessions back in '90-'00. u see how they've changed their PM & cabinet of ministers?

 

[deckard]

want to buy big ticket items, quickly buy now.

 

[jeff49er]

the best line up is that this is happening after elections.

So wait for next election...u know what to do

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

So wait for next election...u know what to do

ya... all the NATO will act again... each and everyone pushes the responsibility to the voters beside... all think... hey 50% the guy next to me seem to be a opposition supporter, he will vote... ok, i'll just be safe, i'll go with the natural flow... anything, the joker gets it only...

 

[nightpiper]

V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

that is absolutely correct. we r the ones to give them the authorities to make things better. many elder folks dun even know the meaning & purpose of voting (i've talked around). and many had the illusion that if P-A-P didn't win big time, we'll be thrown back to the '50s kind of living condition. the infrastructures r for the whole country, they belong to every singaporean, not any ruling party.

ever wonder why there's no national kindergarten? that'll be a change i'll like to see, & a good start too.