The Art Of Sophistry

In ancient Greece, sophists were a category of teachers who specialized in using the tools of philosophy and rhetoric for the purpose of teaching "arete" — excellence, or virtue — predominantly to any young nobleman seeking public office. In modern usage, sophism, sophist and sophistry are derogatory terms. A latter day sophist would not hesitate to craft a specious argument to appear logical while actually representing a falsehood, or he might use obscure words and complicated sentence constructions in order to intimidate the opponent into agreement out of fear of feeling foolish. It's prettier when done with powerpoint charts.

At first glance, $4.25 of benefits for every $1 of taxes paid by the lower income household group seems awfully generous. We assume the chart was constructed using personal income tax data plus miscellaneous vehicle related taxes. The respective budgeted revenues for FY2012 (i.e. sources of income) are $7.8 billion (from income tax) and $1.6 billion (from motor vehicle related taxes). The mirage here is that the government collects only about $9.4 billion while handling out lots of goodies for the poor and needy. A quick reality check will show that $9.2 billion incoming from GST is expected for FY 2012, income that cannot be neatly categorised as sourced from lower-, middle-, or upper income households, with or without car ownership. Regardless of what they are insisting, we all know GST is regressive. The poor are also unlikely to shop at airport duty free shops with GST rebates, or benefit from the newly introduced GST waiver for buying gold. You bet your bottom dollar these folks will be paying more than $1 for the $4.25 worth of benefits.

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Khaw Boon Wan has come up with a new math for buying a $100,000 flat on a $1,000/month salary. Specifically, he was enlarging on Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugeratnam mind-boggling declaration in parliament: "98 per cent of Singaporeans below the age of 35 earn at least $1,000 and are able to buy HDB flats". Khaw explained that Tharman was referring to a two-room flat, which has a subsidised price of about $100,000. If the applicant is a first-timer, there is a housing grant of up to $60,000, and the net purchase price will be about $40,000. Ergo, the $100,000 flat can be sold for $40,000 and HDB won't go broke. Khaw only tripped when he revealed that the median income of two-room applicants, based on recent BTO (build-to-order) launches, is at about $1,400 - those earning $1,000 knew better than to try. Khaw is a good guy, he may stretch the truth a wee bit, but he won't lie all the way to the grave. Unlike some people.