What exactly has been the net gain for Singapore out of the debate on Sylvia Lim’s suspicions that the Government had backtracked on the GST? Zero. I would go further and say we actually ended up with a ridiculous net loss – being sidetracked from a serious, fruitful and much needed discussion on whether there is a need to raise the Goods and Services Tax.
Ridiculous because the GST affects everyone, especially the poor. Ridiculous because such a tax hike should not even be entertained without a full and robust debate – in public and in Parliament itself. All the facts, research and implications must be laid out in the open.
The Workers Party MP claimed that the Government had backpedalled from earlier plans to raise immediately the GST after adverse public reactions to alleged trial balloon statements.
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52 hours of debate but ‘Say Sorry’ is the only thing people remember
This year’s budget was debated by MPs for more than 50 hours over a period of eight days. This is the longest amount of time spent on debating the budget since 2013. But unfortunately, some of the members of parliament are fixated by what Sylvia Lim said and are demanding an apology.
MPs prepared a total 530 questions in all for these debates, which is why 52 hours were set aside primarily for this purpose. Here is a summary of their discussion:
According to Grace Fu, Leader of the House, this record emphasizes that the nation indeed faces wide-ranging and serious issues, including job security, which remains on people’s minds despite last year’s economic recovery. Moreover, a significant portion of the debate also involved social inequality and addressing issues that would cause society to become more caring. Recent developments concerning this have come to light, such as a survey from the Institute of Policy Studies that demonstrated how social networks have grown around class differentiators such as what schools people attend, or what kind of housing they live in, and also a book written by Teo You Yenn, a sociologist, which focused on inequality.
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Budget 2018 passed in Parliament, WP MPs cast “NO” votes against GST hike
The Budget 2018 has been passed in Parliament on Thursday with a majority of votes casted by Members of Parliament from the People's Action Party.
For the public, this means benefits highlighted by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, such as the "Hong Bao" handouts of $100 to $300 (based on income) is confirmed but at the same time, levy increase for domestic workers, tax increase such as carbon tax and the 2% GST hike is passed as well.
A division was called to count the number of votes casted by MPs. In the end, 89 MPs voted in favour of the budget while eight MPs – all from the Workers' Party - voted against the budget.
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The government is trying to hijack the GST hike debate
Create distraction and divert attention. Attack Sylvia Lim for speaking up and then demand an apology. Praise Low Thia Khiang for speaking up like a PAP MP.
Then Ministers take turns with their talking points which will be repeated ad nauseam, turning a deaf ear to the key issues at hand and the key points raised. It’s how the government intends to stick to its narrative and hijack the GST hike debate.
The government’s talking points were very much summed up by PM Lee Hsien Loong over the weekend: it has decided against tapping its reserves as they are Singapore’s “precious nest egg.” Once the reserves are depleted, there will be no money left “when the rain comes.”
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The Workers’ Party wanted to vote yes on Budget 2018, if not for the proposed GST hike
Of course it would happen — Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s 2018 Budget was passed in Parliament on Thursday, March 1. This would otherwise be largely a non-issue.
However, the Workers’ Party MPs present voted against it. The reason? While they supported the Budget’s measures, they could not support the proposed hike in the Goods and Services Tax. Party chairman and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim noted that the government had yet to set a specific date for the implementation of the hike to 9 per cent.
Therefore, she said, the WP is not in a position to take a stand (to support or oppose the tax hike) as they did not have a “crystal ball”.
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Singapore Democrats Slam Budget 2018 as a “Wayang” Designed to Protect the Elites
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced an ‘ang pow’ of up to $300 for every individual. The giveaway amounts to $700 million. This is against a collection of a surplus of $9.6 billion last year.
In other words, the government is giving back to taxpayers 7 cents for every excess dollar it collected in taxes and fees. For the government, this is a wonderful scheme.
The government had forecast that it would collect only a surplus of $1.9 billion but ended up with $9.6 billion instead – more than five times the originally estimated amount.
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Ungrateful Singaporeans Apologise for Criticising SG Budget 2018
Just hours after the dust from the Budget 2018 fallout settled, Singaporeans who had only yesterday complained about the GST increase are now feeling repentant about their ungrateful behaviour.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat became the most unpopular Singaporean on Monday afternoon when he announced a GST increase from seven per cent to nine per cent sometime between 2021 and 2025. That left many feeling aggrieved that once again, they are being exploited for the government’s interests.
“It’s injustice. It’s daylight robbery. And it’s time to vote them out,” wrote one very disgruntled Charlie on Facebook.
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Workers’ Party MPs made some good points in the Budget Debate
As the only opposition party in Parliament, the Workers’ Party (WP) plays an important role in voicing out alternative views and putting forth alternative policies. And that’s exactly what they did during the Budget Debate.
It seems like the WP doesn’t oppose everything that the Government says just for the sake of opposing. They aren’t afraid to publicly agree to some of the things that the Government put forth. Having said that, they are willing to voice out different perspectives and put forth alternative views, although they may not necessarily surface alternative solutions.
Whether we agree with those perspectives or proposals, it’s always healthy to have a contest of ideas.
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MARUAH’s Statement on the National Budget 2018
MARUAH would like to state its concerns in four main areas. We ask that the concerns be noted and we hope that the recommendations we make will be taken into account, during the Committee of Supply discussions in Parliament, as we need to balance the use of our finances for the benefit of the people.
Firstly, we are disturbed by the distribution of the Budget amongst the Ministries. There are both global and national complexities, trends that clearly show rising inequalities, rising healthcare costs, accessibility to public housing for everyone and social protection for sustainability of individuals in need. We refer to the Budget allocation in the National Budget 2017.
These can be lauded if as expressed in 2017’s COS Parliamentary sessions – that more revenue needs to be allocated to healthcare and social welfare, in the light that with our ongoing fiscal policies – that from a cashflow perspective, may mean that we have not been spending any money on healthcare, pensions (CPF) and public housing (HDB).
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Lim Tean: Budget 2018 is an immoral budget
My friends, a governments budget is a moral statement, it is a moral document. It is a window on the soul of the government, because it tells us in mathematical terms what are the priorities of the government, what areas what issues, things, people, that they deem important, and what they deem unimportant.
Now when I examine the budget carefully and in detail the one thing that came to my mind was this budget is a reflection of our governments’ greed. It is a reflection of a government that does not care much about its citizens, does not want to do much for its citizens, and yet expects a lot.
It is a budget which leaves the poor, the vulnerable, the elderly the without much hope and much recourse. And my friends it is a budget that is testament to the PAP’s fixation with a neo-liberal economic ideology that describes human society in terms of commercial transactions. Where people are described as economic digits. Where the aim of society ultimately is to maximizes profits for the state.
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7 IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT BUDGET 2018 YOU NEED TO KNOW BESIDE GST HIKE & ANGBAO GIVEAWAY
To be honest, no one really cares about the Budget unless it involves GST hikes and cash handouts. But you should.
I mean, it involves channelling funding to government initiatives that could change your life, for good or for worse.
These debates usually happen in Parliament which no one really pays attention to.
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5 things to note about Budget 2018 including the $100-$300 angpao from Govt!
In case you missed the two-hour Budget 2018 speech delivered by Minister Heng Swee Keat in Parliament today, here are 5 key takeaways that you need to know. This is probably the best thing that happened in Parliament today.
It’s day 4 of Chinese New Year and Singaporeans above 21 will be getting a big fat angpao from the Government!
It’s a one-time off SG bonus and it’ll only be paid out end 2018 so don’t be too quick to spend your future money.
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Budget 2018 passed in Parliament, WP MPs cast “NO” votes against GST hike
The Budget 2018 has been passed in Parliament on Thursday with a majority of votes casted by Members of Parliament from the People’s Action Party.
For the public, this means benefits highlighted by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, such as the “Hong Bao” handouts of $100 to $300 (based on income) is confirmed but at the same time, levy increase for domestic workers, tax increase such as carbon tax and the 2% GST hike is passed as well.
A division was called to count the number of votes casted by MPs. In the end, 89 MPs voted in favour of the budget while eight MPs – all from the Workers’ Party – voted against the budget.
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NTUC Members polled: Majority against GST hike
Earlier this week, results of a poll conducted within the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) was anonymously revealed through WhatsApp.
According to the source, there were more than 300 leaders of NTUC who took part, with about 440 responses received.
The results were not entirely favourable towards the proposed increased in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
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NTUC confirms that survey on taxes was conducted prior to Budget 2018
Singapore's labour union, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has confirmed with local newspaper, Straits Times that it had conducted a poll with its union leaders on issues such as training and taxes, ahead of the annual Budget.
According to ST, Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute has expressed that the feedback gathered from the poll along with other inputs gathered through focus group discussions and dialogue sessions, was used to inform NTUC workplan for the year and positions for the labour Members of Parliament.
The institute was responding to queries filed by ST on the poll that was reported by The Online Citizen on Sunday.
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NTUC Confirms that Feedback on GST Hike was Gathered from Union Leaders before Budget 2018
The National Trades Union Congress has confirmed that it conducted a poll between November and December last year to gather feedback from union leaders ahead of Budget 2018, which included questions on their attitudes towards a GST hike.
This comes after the survey and its results were leaked to online news agency The Online Citizen, leading to allegations that the government had indeed floated “test balloons” before deciding to raise GST only after 2020.
According to state media agency The Straits Times, NTUC said that the survey feedback was used to “inform the National Trades Union Congress workplan for this year and its labour MPs’ positions” and that the result of the survey “was not presented to the government.”
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NTUC confessed “test balloon” survey for GST increase
In yet another damning evidence proving the Ministers wrongly accused Sylvia Lim for lying, government statutory board NTUC today (Mar 15) confessed that they conducted “test balloon” survey for GST increase in Nov 2017.
The survey questioned 440 respondents if GST should be increased and when should it be done. The majority 38% chose “Between 2021 to 2025”, which coincides with the actual announcement 3 months later on Budget 2018. NTUC said that the feedback was not released to the public and only presented to the government.
A director of NTUC, Steve Tan, admitted he conducted the survey on GST increase on behalf of the government:
“NTUC have been conducting an average of 10 feedback exercises each year since I started heading it in 2015. As the voice for working people, the labour movement needs to be on top of their concerns. As such, we regularly gather feedback, both formally and informally… Naturally, this would include the national Budget.”read more
Labour movement confirms it conducted poll last year to gather feedback on Budget issues, including taxes
The labour movement has confirmed that it conducted a poll towards the end of last year to gather feedback from union leaders on issues such as training and taxes, ahead of the annual Budget.
Along with input gathered through focus group discussions & dialogue sessions, the feedback was used to inform the National Trades Union Congress workplan for this year & its labour MPs' positions. But the results of the poll were not presented to the Government.
The NTUC's Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute said this on Wednesday (March 14) in response to queries from The Straits Times, after a selection of tax-related questions from the poll were posted on sociopolitical website The Online Citizen on Sunday (March 11).
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