The Economist accuses Singapore of being a “stingy nanny state”
February 14th, 2010 | 
Author: Written by Our Correspondent
Influential international journal The Economist has hit out at the Singapore government of being a “stingy nanny state” in reference to its antipathy and resistance towards public welfare.
Though it acknowledges that the government “does run a handful of schemes directed at some of the needy, from low-income students to the unassisted elderly, these benefits are rigorously means-tested and granted only sparingly.”
“The most destitute citizens’ families may apply for public assistance; only 3,000 currently qualify. Laid-off workers receive no automatic benefits. Instead they are sorted into “workfare” and training schemes,” it added.
Known as the Public Assistance (PA) scheme, it gives applicants a monthly allowance of $330 which is hardly sufficient to survive in Singapore. One has to be completely destitute without any living relatives or certified permanently unfit to work by a medical specialist before one can qualify for it.
The process of seeking help is also made tiresome and in some ways humiliating on purpose to deter “free-riders” from “abusing” the system.
Singapore workers have no job security to speak of as a result of the government’s open-door policies towards foreign migrant workers who now make up more than 35 per cent of the workforce.
“Official reassurances that migrants create growth do not convince those competing for scarce jobs. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father and still its “minister mentor” has maintained that ambitious migrants help to keep citizens on their toes. In an interview given to National Geographic last July he said that if native Singaporeans lag behind “hungry” foreigners because “the spurs are not stuck on [their] hinds”, that is not the state’s problem to solve,” noted the Economist.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the relentless influx of foreign workers has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living.
To compound matters, there are no independent trade unions to represent and fight for the interests of Singapore workers. The only legal trade union in Singapore – NTUC is a pseudo-PAP organization which is always headed by a PAP Minister (without portfolio).
Right after he became Prime Minister in 2003, Lee Hsien Loong emphasized that “welfare is a dirty word in Singapore”, a sign that his administration will not do much to help those who have fallen behind.
In a speech made in Parliament in November 2006, he said:
“We need a sustainable approach. You saw the numbers. You see how quickly the number of old people and the proportion of old people is growing in Singapore. Some MPs and some other commentators outside writing in the newspapers have suggested old age pensions, which they argue every Singaporean should have as of right, because I am born here, I carry a pink IC, I should have an old age pension. But if every old person, whether rich or poor, is entitled to an old age pension, it is going to impose a very heavy financial burden on the State, which means a very heavy financial burden on young Singaporeans, because they are the ones who are going to be working and paying the taxes, which is where the State will get the money.”
Yet the state is flushed with cash as evident by the billions of dollars it lost recently in failed overseas investments via its two sovereign wealth funds – GIC and Temasek Holdings.
The Economist Society of Singapore (ESS) recently proposed to a government committee that it should build a more robust safety net, starting with unemployment insurance which would promote social stability and help muster public support for Singapore’s open-door migration policies.
“While self-reliance is a good principle in general, it may be neither efficient nor just if taken to extremes,” it claimed.
Posted in Editorial
This issue has been discussed and debated locally ad nauseum and it is good to see an international publication raising the awareness of the real reason behind Singapore’s apparent wealth. Now the whole world knows that behind the glittering facade is a Third World State made rich through oppression and extreme misery of the regime. While the elites can wine and dine, the common working class and lower middle class struggle to survive and cannot even save enough for retirement. Of course true equality is impossible to sustain but a more equitable distribution of wealth and prudent usage of our national reserves could reduce the hardship of Singaporeans. Not to mention a complete review of the current immigration policies can reduce unfair competition between cheaper foreign workers and Singaporeans in the current highly competitive job market. Personally I am pessimistic that the government cares about the plight of the common man and it is time we Singaporeans take the initiative to take back the mandate we have given since independent and retify the mistakes before it is too late.
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yet they can pay themselves a lot of monies and waive the estate tax on the rich, which America has as well.
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even helping 1 destitute is technically a form of welfare. Or am i wrong?
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http://www.economist.com/node/15524092/comments
Many many many commenters there ask their own western governments to learn from Singapore.
Only a few (likely anti-establishment critics) use the article to promote their political agenda, which is unrelated to social welfare.
These few only know how to talk and talk about one side of the story. They never tell that social welfare must be paid for by the citizens themselves.
All the many many many commenters there personally know the costs of social welfare, so they know it’s good for their government to learn something from Singapore. The few other commenters are only there for other agendas and won’t tell you the whole story.
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It’s fascinating to hear commentary like this, which help provide a alternative view of life in Singapore compared to much of the media we encounter. This is particularly interesting as we’re visiting for a week in June to gain an understanding of Singapore and Malaysia’s manufacturing and industrial situation.
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I just saw Chen Kaige’s movie Mei Lang Fang this afternoon.
In it, old master actor Shi San ye refuses to bow to young Mei Lang Fang’s request to reform the performances of Peking Opera. The young man left and sang at a rival stage. The crowds flocked to hear and see Mei Lang Fang and deserted old master Shi San ye’s stage. As long as the senile old fart Harry is still around, the PAP will end up being abandoned by all and sundry. Junior, take note, your time is also up!
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The welfare and health concern of the elderly and less privileged should be foremost in any government with conscience.
Mr. Lim Boon Heng was supposed to address this issue after stepping down as NTUC sec/gen.His successor Lim Swee Say who counts his monthly CPF and million dollar salary with a silly grin speaks of faster, cheaper and better.
Tell us Mr.Lim BH what have you done for the elderly? or like your successor just counting your $$$ till the reaper comes a calling? you owe the elderly an answer after their support of the NTUC all these years you were their sec/gen and leader.
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But we do have the best in class, world richest nanny, don’t we?
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and this nanny has no shame at all, go round the world and teach other nanny how to milk the baby instead of how to feed milk properly.
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Why hasn’t the Attorney General of Singapore inititate legal action to sue Economist for libel and slander ? The country is being criticised by foreign journal and it is the duty of the Attorney General of Singapore to act in order to protect the interests of the country.
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“The Economist accuses Singapore of being a “stingy nanny state””
If Singapore is not a nanny state, then how can old fart and his clowns hoodwink the nation and help themselves with millions and billions ?
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The thing is, almost all Singaporeans have $$$, but all the money is locked in the CPF schemes.
The PAP makes sure everyone is desperate, destitute and then dead before they will see any of the hard earned money they have been forced to save. And you know what, when the combined amount saved is so large, in the 10s of billions, the PAP says, they want to take a small percentage of it to pay themselves through their self-proclaimed incorruptibility. And then after that, they say you need to have minimum amount after retirement to ensure it lasts till you die. And then they say, we should pool resources to ensure those living beyond 85 won’t burden the state, so lets force everyone to buy annuity.
PAP have taken Singapore/Singaporean hostage, they are blackmailers, they are extortionists. They don’t have to get bribed to get rich, they demand payment from all and sundry.
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A constantly debated issue. No welfare state for Singapore please. The many failings of one is well known. And it gets people lazy.
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YOU ALL MUST REMEMBER OK………..
There is a need to pay us 3million bucks a year.
[1 million bucks plus + half million buck performance bonus [6 months salary] + half million bucks GDP bonus [6 months salary] + 213K plus MP allowance + all those GLC Directorship fees]
Where to find money to help the poor after the above,
we need to live you know.
AND OF COURSE, we need keep a few billions for future unforcasted ‘losses’.
Where to find money to help the poor ……….
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Singapore is the only country in the world where incompetent leaders are paid well beyond their worth. What’s worse is that we not only have one idiot but a multitude of million dollar idiots blindly leading the country towards total ruin. Now, not only its citizens but also the world community is seeing the utter stupidity of these leaders.
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to say the pigs are stingy to its citizens is being very gentle.
They are like the pimps in Geylang. They squeeze monies out of the ordinary people and withheld their cpf monies like forever.
And their solution is not effective because they are just delaying payment.
Imagine a group of old people just pass away like that…
their children will get monies. CPF still have to pay in lump sum.
I am telling you, if your investment records suck, you better don’t take in so much monies.
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Be highly skeptical to these external kind advice.
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lower income are suffering the most because they cannot go for welfare
we cannot keep up with the fast pace of progress. first world standard of living is too much for us.
to us:
higher property value means higher property tax
better quality power service means more expensive elect bill
newer aircon buses means higher fares etc…etc
singapore is good for the wealthy
we, the lower income people are left far behind and living under great sress and pressure.
if we fail to pay the elect bill on time, it will be disconnected.
if we fail to pay the tv license on time, we become a wanted person
if we fail to pay the town council, they will send us to court
if we fail to pay the hdb house installment, they will call you up everyday to demand payment or threaten reprossesion.
we, the lower income group have no more life. we must stinge on everything else in order to pay bills on time
sure, they have scheme to help you. lets say your average bill for sp is $200 and you have an utstanding of 2 months ($400)when you approach them for help,sure, they tell to pay the oustanding over 4 months. that is $100 extra a month on top of your regular monthly bill.($300} if you are having trouble to pay $200 monthly, how are you going to pay $300?? is that call help?? worse still, they tell you tat your record shows that you have ask for installment plan before so you are no more eligible
please….we dont need first world standard of living. just make it affordable for us.
YOU…in order to make a reputation fo being the best in everything, YOU are neglecting us and leavingus far behind
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You guys are all so noble to want to help every Singaporean pick themselves up. It’s so easy to be noble just by talking without any action.
Why not do your part? Donate a percent of your pay to some charity every year without fail. You can decide which charity you want. It’s voluntary and you can cheat anytime you feel you don’t want to donate for that year.
In fact, the tax system now allows you to get rebate for these donations. The rebate is more than your donation. If you donate enough, you can save yourself from taxation by your nemesis. Wow, you kill two birds.
But if you demand the government to do welfare on your behalf, then prepare to pay up that percent in tax. And you got no choice which charity that money goes to. And it’s not voluntary, so you can never cheat.
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Come on, It cny, lets forgive them for their honest mistakes, I know its bad, but lets move on, anyway what to do?It happened.
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The difference between Singapore and first world countries are the people. In a first world country the electorate will punish any party which tries to tinker with the welfare system. The Singapore electorate however have given the ruling party massive majorities/mandates to deny the possibility of monthly pensions for the elderly. Singaporeans have never understood the power of they have in their hands at the ballot box to get what they want.
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This is a government that has said that welfare is a dirty word. BUT that’s too sweeping a statement. If I buy a hungry man a dinner is not that welfare. If I clothe the naked and house a homeless man of for the night, isn’t that welfare and is that DIRTY???
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Need to be stingy.
Man in charge of Temasek’s new hedgie lost us billions.
http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/the-link-between-shin-and-temasks-new-toy/
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Let us vote out a few ministers to see if they have any spurs in their hides!!!
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Singapore government need to lead by example how to be more productive. We have so many MPs , DPM, SM, MM for such a small country.. opps i mean city.
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Re gong xi fa cai
We can tax the rich as what the west does.
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nothing you can do about it. until you vote them out. simple as that.
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pap belongs to a group of ppl who believes that you are poor because you do not work hard,you do not plan your finances or you indulge in vices, all in all, it is your fault that you are in this situation.
Trust me,there are many in the world who thinks like this,just see economist comments.
Whereas there is another group of ppl who believes that the destitute,unemployed etc. are victims of circumstances not of their own doing, they deserved a helping hand to get them back on their feet.
PAP always cites examples of free-riders who cheat govt of welfare money, but they are in the minority. should we penalise the majority who need help just because of a few bad eggs?
By helping the weak, we are strengthening the social fabric of a society and this benefits the govt too. pap is practising what i call penny-wise, pound foolish policy due to their obstinacy by clinging on to their ideology.
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“open-door migration policies”,
open-leg sounds better, it is swollen everywhere in the train, bus, on the road, in shopping centers, etc!
Last but not least, their pockets also swollen.
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@ gong xi fa cai on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 2:35 am
generally people of spore are quite generous despite the hardship they face daily, just look at the charity fund raising show on TV…. on the other hand, govt only need to loose lesser from TH and GIC, a lot more can be done to help the people in need. agree?
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Talking about first world standard..
yes our govt is undoubtedly a ‘world first’ among the first world nations. where else can you find this unique govt?
so incompetent yet so expensive
so heartless yet appears so compassionate
so short sighted yet act visionary
so autocratic yet disguised as democratic
so arrogant yet pretend to be humble
.
.
.
ok, is CNY now, some consolation for you, not all of you inside are the same, some righteous one please do something when the time is right ok?
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knn, gong xi fa cai!
I don’t understand. If you don’t trust them so much like how you don’t trust GIC and TH so much, then why do you trust them to tax you more so as to give to social welfare? You trust yourself more to give to charity or you trust they can do a better job than yourself?
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it all comes back to what i mention in an earlier comment – they want us to volunteer and give our time for free ; but the government will only volunteer basis pegging their salaries to the top end jobs. I mean, they all are millionaires already and still cannot sacrifice for the country! So why should I!
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We do not understand this Govt could loose billions and yet so
stingy on welfare to the poor and elderly people who live in
one room rental flats with a miserly $300 to $400 welfare
payout. How to survive on this amount in such an expensive
place. And the ministers are paid by the millions and with
pensions thrown in when they retire.
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@ gong xi fa cai on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 4:18 pm
exactly, you didn’t get my point………sigh.
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ministers are paid as CEOs and to function like CEOs to produce results.
If they cannot produce results, why keep paying them millions when ordinary citizens cannot survive on thousand.
minister who came in by the back door must leave by the back door as well.
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By all counts a civilized and 1st world country takes care of their sick,elderly and less fortunate.We are not seeking welfare per se as we have some pride in us not to go begging and subject oneself to all the autocratic ridicule for $330-400 per month.
That sum can hardly put three decent meal on the table not counting,PUB,room & board,transport and GOD forbid medical fees.
As mentioned in earlier posts, what is the cost of logistic to seek out these unfortunate souls living in squalid conditions 1-2-3 room HDB units after helping the govt. & PAP built Singapore to what it is today.Providing this help & NECESSITY is a MUST instead of spending millions on newcomers yet to prove their worth.
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knn, your point? They come out with money to welfare, you don’t need come out with money for welfare? It’s others’ responsibility, not yours. Very noble. Gong xi gong xi.
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I have always said that old ppl these days are a serious problem.
they are arrogant, rude, vile, don’t speak good english, have too many wrinkles, not good with computers, unproductive, lack basic knowledge, unintelligent, unworldly and disgusting.
finally parliament is seriously looking into the “ageing population problem” as well.
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Yes the PAP is indeed very stingy to its own people and very generous to foreigners. e.g. they are willing to loan $17 billion to former corrupt Indonesian president Suharto and yet refused to spend a single cent to improve the welfare of Singaporeans.
http://sgblogs.com/entry/chronology-authoritarian-rule-singapore/261326
Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party was labelled a “cheat, congenital liar and political gangster” by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Defamation suits followed, and again it wasn’t Lee who got sued. Chee was sued by both PM Goh Chok Tong and SM Lee Kuan Yew for questioning a $17 billion loan to former Indonesian President Suharto in 1997.
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for those who continue to vote for the regime in the next election, you will be no better than a whore..why?
because we are already like slaves under this regime.
if we continue to give them full mandate, then we are worst than whore. Because even a whore get paid after serving her client. but if we continue to vote them, we will be like a whore who actually paid her client to screw her, after entry from the front, the whore continue to pay her client to screw her ass. Do you want to continue to pay someone to humiliate you? to screw you?
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Not only is the state losing billions of dollars through GIC and Temasek Holdings, the state is also giving millions to her shameless ministers.
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I want my government to have a big head and a big heart. I do not want my government to have a big head and a very small heart. This government is not worth my support. How ironic? It is all right to lose billions of our reserves, no problem, but not so all right to help our poor, old, destitute, and those temporary down. How shameful.
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“This is a government that has said that welfare is a dirty word.”
PLEASE DO NOT DONATE TO CHARITIES, YOU ARE HELPING THE WELFARE THAT THE STUPID GAHMEN CLAIMED THAT IT IS DIRTY.
THOSE WHO ARE HELPING THE WELFARE ARE DIRTY PEOPLE.
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