“This is a resident who has an issue. I spoke with her personally after the dialogue and I’ll be doing my best to assist her. She’s a resident in one of the landed estates in Thomson.”
Was the third sentence really necessary? Ad hominem attacks take the form of overtly attacking somebody, or more subtly casting doubt on their character or personal attributes as a way to discredit their argument. The result of an ad hom attack can be used to undermine someone's case without actually having to engage with it.
Ex-Straits Times editor Cheong Yip Seng wrote in his memoir ("OB Markers: My Straits Times Story") that he resisted Lee Kuan Yew's pressure to print the full O level results of Opposition politician Chiam See Tong during the 1984 election. Chiam won that bout, but Mah Bow Tan was allowed to sneak into parliament via the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) route at the next electoral opportunity. Ad hominem attacks can backfire.
The 76 year old spinster must have been frugal enough to set aside a portion of her teacher salary to pay for her terrace house, assuming she owns the property. Decades ago, such units could have been selling at a fraction of present day prices. A friend sold off her father's spacious house at the old teacher's estate after he passed on, and could only afford a tiny condominium unit with the proceeds.
She's not the only one who is asset rich, cash poor. Plaintively, the senior citizen had begged, "“What I want is my money back and I want to arrange for my funeral and I want to arrange for my rice and I want to arrange for a nice settlement." She articulated what we now see as a truism, the three letters for our retirement money spell Coffin Provision Fund.
“That’s all I want. Give me back my money. CPF, give me back my money. And make it as soon as possible. Because 76, I won’t be able to live (too long),” she added. If we are in her shoes, we too would like to spend the final hours on our own bed, rather than the tented facilities of our overcrowded public hospitals.
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Her plight shall befall on many other Sinkies.
ReplyDeleteHer parents or she may had bought the landed property 50 years ago at a fraction of present day prices. Beside give me back my CPF money, she did mention about her POSB a/c being 'hacked' to pay her property tax. The annual value of her property must be high and I think she has to pay quite a high property tax. Why do we have to pay high property tax when our property are owners occupied. IRAS should not link annual value to rented value and tax us. She must has been short of cash after her money being forced to pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we pay property tax calculated on the basis of rental rates when we have no intention to rent our property? Besides ripping us off on this, they also impose the water conservation tax, on top of which is slapped the GST, effectively making it double taxation. Is it ethical for them to cheat us left and right?
DeleteCannot resist highlighting that HDB "owners" need to pay Property Tax too but they are never Owners ! I was lucky to have once seen my HDB Deeds but I did not make copies of it . I could not find a word or phrase that state that I and my wife were "Owners" !
DeleteAt 55 we must maintain the minimum sum and only at 65 years old then we are only allowed to withdraw about 1k per month until we die, I really dread what is going to be worth 1k in 10 years time never mind whether they adjusted for inflation or not?
ReplyDelete10 years ago we only need to pay about half of what we are paying now for a full tank of petrol same with the price of a saloon car. Using this as a rough guide, that 1k in 10 years time is roughly equal to half in value now. So if we can't even survive with S$500 now, can we survive monthly with 1k in 10years ?
So is the whole CPF retirement scheme when assiciated together with the ridiculous overpriced public housing plus the skimming of the rightful investment profits part of an elaborious scam to shortchange unsuspecting CPF members?
So many questions and yet so few answers from our overpaid leaders, why?
Is it through that the lady Jaslyn who filmed the CPF dialogue and the Cheongsum lady got knocked down by a car?
ReplyDeleteHri Kumar is implying that since she lived in landed property, she has no right to her own CPF because she is already "rich" enough to be able to support her and the govt's taxes. If not, the govt will sneak into her bank books and take whatever is necessary without needing her approval. This is the kind of gangster-lite PAP behaviour we see everyday when they tried to come near us.
ReplyDeleteHow come nobody is asking for public pension? We are the only country in the world without a public pension.
ReplyDeleteLaundered money sitting in private wealth managers' banks are tax-free. Dividends and capital gains are tax free. All these are guarded by your sons in NS and the (just grounded) F35 to be bought by your tax money. But the house (or HDB flat), in which you live is taxed, is taxed. And this tax rises every year because the housing bubble caused by the FT import chases up the "rental value". See how the system works now? Tax the poor to feed the elites and the rich money launderers. But then they do get 60% each time, so who is the patsy around the table leh? Unless of course the trick lies in the discarded ballot boxes lor .... ok ok, I retrac before they serve me letter, ok singh?
ReplyDeleteThis retraction is derisory. Bayi will find a way.
DeleteThe CPF was good in the early years. Contributions were high (as high as 25% employer/25% employee). It paid out solid interest rates (as high as 6.5% between 1974-1986). Then in 1986 the formula to calculate the rate changed to one based on 50% fixed deposit and 50% savings rate - the CPF interest dropped. In 1999 they changed the formula again and the CPF interest plummetted to 2.5% (minimum rate) until today: "From 1 July 1999 to present, the formula to compute the calculated rate is 80% fixed deposit rate and 20% savings rate of the average of the major local banks over the preceding relevant 3 months."
ReplyDeleteIn effect the CPF treats our money as fixed deposits/savings accounts. But it is a retirement fund, and not a bank! By using the present formula, the calculated CPF rates will always be below 1% (see table below). In actual fact, we are LENDING money to the CPF. CPF interests should therefore be based on the bank's prime LENDING rates:
6 June DBS prime lending rate = 4.25%
17 June DBS fixed deposit rate > 24 months = 0.55 %
Now you see why banks make exhorbitant profits, and why we are screwed?
http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/5C7AAE66-A2F1-4DCD-9898-D6D1F37A8FB0/0/InterestRate.pdf
http://www.abs.org.sg/rates_plr.php
"What's wrong with fleecing more money from Sinkies into the royal treasury?"
DeleteBanksters and real estate developers like the Kweks, the Ngs the Ongs (oh yes, of the Nassim condo discount affair fame) are the real mafia dictating how the country is run (even in Msai, HK, China). Old's fart's father in law was banker thick with the brits, the first family uncle was a close ally and bankster too. So for those who wonder what the real history of sillipore was and why the brits, heavily dependent on their banks in the colony of singapore for income, suddenly switched their backing from lim yew hock to an unknown, untested 'left-leaning' lawyer? And why that lawyer proceeded immediately to purge his commies allies and became the worst neocon serving the banksters' and real estate kings' interests immediately after he won the elections, think $$$. And why CPF quickly got tightened over the years into a piggy bank for the banks, who could borrow CPF dollars cheap from the garmen? Yes, in those days, garmen had no THL nor GIC so they 'gave' the CPF money straight to the banksters who then minted gold from your sweat and blood. History is written by the winners. learn silliporeans.
DeleteWhy is CPF savings invested in a fixed deposit account that earns 2.5%? That would a criminal neglect of fiduciary duty by the board in another country. Historically, pension funds return around 8% a year.
DeleteTemasek bought into Citic Resources in 2007 at the peak of Citic's share price climb, juts before the Lehman crisis in 2008. Its entry price was between HK$5 to HK$6. Share price as of today: $1.25. Bravo!!
ReplyDeletePAP Chicken Joke
ReplyDeleteWhy did the chicken cross the road?
TAN CHENG BOCK
The chicken was dis-invited from staying on this side of the road.
How many GE cycles will it take for the majority of Singaporeans to realize that we are cash cows and what is rightfully ours will more and more elusive.
ReplyDeleteDo we wait until it's past our time and let our dependants reap the benefits of our efforts? Many amongst us are single and without children. Do we silently allow our savings to be taken from us and only visible from the monthly CPF statement?
When will the nannying stop?
CPF NOT= coffin provision fund.
ReplyDeleteBecoz pappies only return your CPF money 30 days after your death cert registered with police.
So you need to keep your body in the fridge for at least 30 days before you can touch your CPF money to buy coffin.