Going For The Jugular

Devadas Krishnadas, CEO of consultancy Future-Moves Group, nails it when he fleshed out the sweetheart deal between the Government and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board:

"The Government issues Special Singapore Government Securities or SSGS to the CPF with a coupon rate matching the rate of return on CPF monies.
The SSGS is non-tradable and the CPF is the only purchaser of these securities.
According to the Accountant-General’s Department, SSGS amounted to nearly S$250 billion as of March 2013. What happens is that the CPF monies are transformed, via this mechanism, into investable capital. This capital, when variously invested, then earns a return which permits the paying of the coupon, which in turn allows the CPF to pay interest to its members."

An astute commentator, a Ms Chung, completes the rest of the story which may never see the light day until the current political scene is changed out:

"This article didn't answer the following:-
(i) transparency of how funds flow between CPF, GIC and Temasek;
(ii) the high rates of returns for our SWFs vis a vis CPF interest;
(iii) the rate of increase for MS is higher than inflation; and
(iv) whether there can be increased flexibility for people to use their CPF, esp for those caught in dire life situations not of their making.
v) If you are 55 and you sell your flat... if you don't meet the minimum sum AFTER refunding the CPF utilized + interests; they will withhold the proceeds from the sales to cover the shortfall... Does this makes (sic) absurd sense???"

Until the incumbents decide to come clean, it will always be hard for Singaporeans to understand CPF. The face off in parliament is not about constructive politics, whatever Uncle Tony Tan had in mind.

Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, meaning "of, for, or relating to citizens") is defined as the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. There are no holds barred in the range of unsavoury methods employed in politics, which include promoting one's own political agenda among people, manipulating laws for selfish reasons, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. In the latter, short of another Operation Spectrum, we are witnessing high-handed tactics against political opponents and abuse of governmental resources, including civil servants, to serve partisan goals. The type of politics, as Mr Low Thia Khiang pointed out, that is constructive only for the incumbents.

Enjoying a ringside seat of constructive politics in parliament