Tag Archives: Billions

Huh? So $10 billion loss in investments is just like that - nothing from any minister AT ALL?? Nothing? Zilch? Nada? It's not $10 leh. It's S $10 billion, you know? $10 billion of Singaporeans' hard-earned money leh. Got nothing to say? 80+ MPs and not a single one is even interested to at least post about it on their Facebook page? No one? Not one MP?

S’poreans are the 2nd biggest gambling losers in the world? It states that “This is no anomaly. Australia fritters away more money per person gambling than any other country. According to H2 Gambling Capital, a consultancy, the average adult lost $990 in 2016; 49% more than Singaporeans, the next-biggest losers.” Does this mean that the average adult Singaporean lost about S$930 (US$990 divided by 1.49 x 1.4)? Since the adult population was about 2.9 million in 2016 – does it mean that we lost about $2.7 billion ($930 x 2.9 million) in a year?

With reference to my article “Water price: Have costs, but no revenue?” (Feb 24) – Terry Xu, the editor of theonlinecitizen had talked to me about the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) annual reports. The Net Income after Government Grants and after Contribution to GCF (Government Consolidated Fund) and Taxation (Profits) for FY2015 was $166.8 million – an increase of 77.3 per cent compared to say FY2010’s profit of $94.1 million. The total profits in the last seven years (only seven years’ annual reports in the PUB’s web site) was $1.0909 billion.

“From July 1 to Sep 30, “electricity tariffs will increase by an average of 9.2 per cent or 1.59 cents per kWh compared to the previous quarter” According to the annual reports of Singapore Power and Singapore PowerAssets for 2014/2015 – their combined profits for the year was $1.5893 billion. This is an increase of $197.2 million or 14.2 per cent over 2013/2014’s combined profits of $1.3921 billion. Is there something not very right with our electricity system, which may make Singaporeans pay one of the highest charges for electricity in the world, after adjusting for purchasing power parity and relative wages?

This is Ng Yat Chung, the former Chief of Army, now more infamously known as the CEO of Neptune Orient Lines. NOL was sold at a loss of more than S$1 billion yesterday. Singapore's national shipping icon collapsed because of this man.

According to the Strait Times news report ”$3b plan to help seniors live more fulfilling lives” (Aug 27) - “In a push to brighten the golden years, a $3 billion five-year plan will give Singapore’s seniors opportunities to learn, volunteer and live independently, well after retirement.” The timing of this announcement may be rather uncanny, given that the elections are just days away.

It states that “Mr Gan Kim Yong (Minister for Health): The MediShield Fund’s reserves were at $1.7 billion as at 31 December 2013. The reserves support scheme liabilities that include policyholders’ claims as well as premium rebates to help policyholders with their premiums in their older ages. Of the total reserves set aside, currently about two-thirds support ongoing and future claims while the rest support future premium rebates. The portion of the reserves that support premium rebates is expected to rise in future with the move to distribute premiums more evenly over policyholders’ lifetimes under MediShield Life, so that net premiums after the premium rebates rise less steeply in old age.