Tag Archives: Spending

Has tax deduction somehow discouraged people from making donations? Our reader noticed a plunge in donations after SG50 and wonder if we can help needy Singaporeans if this continues.

Our reader felt cheated by a credit card company for enticing cardholders with mooncake giveaway only to find out that he was not qualified to do so. "I was so upset because instead using of my regular preferred credit card during this period, I fully utilized this credit card..." What do you think?

The government announced that there will be more infrastructure projects over the next decade to help Singapore's economy. However, does this mean we should be allocating more money to infrastructure as compared to social welfare spending? Shouldn't we think of ways to help those in financial need instead?

“Our public healthcare institutions are not-for-profit organisations,” he said. “While the drug prices include a margin, this is to offset overheads and operations costs… They are not profit margins.” So, does it mean that drugs are priced to recover all costs, including overheads and operation costs? So, from a cashflow perspective – does it mean that the Government may still not be spending a single cent on healthcare. if annual inflows exceed outflows ($13.3 billion – $13.2 billion)?

With that experience, the current budget of $324.5m is just about there, about right. With 7000 athletes and officials, it would mean the Games will cost $46,300 per participants for the duration of 12 days. Or for each day, it will cost about $4,000 to host a participant. Cheap, quite cheap really. If each participant were to spend $1,000 a day, the net loss will be $3,000 daily per participant.

Malay households are overspending despite earning more, says the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP). Their household debt is a cause for concern, even though it has not reached alarming levels, said Mr Azmoon Ahmad, chairman of the AMP yesterday.

I am a rider but I keep hearing complaints from riders that PAP is a bloodsucker and they are going to vote out PAP because they cannot afford $5,500 COE. I am sick and tired of hearing it. Cannot afford COE? How about the illegal exhaust and mods made to their bikes? I know one dispatch rider who always complain about bike COE but owns 3 motorcycles and he spent more than $3,000 on modifications to his hayabusa alone. He always complain things are expensive in Singapore but did not take into account of their own income level and moderate his spending habits.

We as citizens feeling the pain of huge daily cost of living that we have to bear. Our most important survival and the only resource, trade will be slowly eroded as all the money will be sucked into defense spending. Singapore government social help is near to negligible. The huge money spent on the military could be better spent on the aged, the poor, education, hospitals and upgrading of skills of our fellow men and women.

Now let me ask a simple question. What is more important? – “Prudent government spending” or allowing citizens access to affordable medical care? If the answer is “prudent government spending”, then bearing in mind that the UK has more than 10 times Singapore’s population but pips Singapore in per capita beds, then one can only conclude that the Singapore government is far less efficient than the UK’s in this area because aside from the fact that there are more available hospital beds in the UK, the UK also provides free healthcare!