Is Lee Hsien Loong’s 2013 speech a joke? Did he even do his due diligence when he made those fancy claims promising Singaporeans the utopia in his speech?
1) “We have cleared the queue for HDB flats, stabilised BTO prices and tightened up on property speculation and excessive borrowing.”
In the latest BTO exercise, BTO flats remain oversubscribed by as much as 4.5 times in popular areas like Hougang (your much hated Opposition Ward). According to the HDB [Source], BTO applicant rejection rate is as high as 31%. So what do you mean by you have “cleared the queue”? BTO prices have also increased steadily over 2010 to 2012 [Source], what do you mean by “stabilized? Stabilizing linear increase instead of an exponential increase? Also, when you said you tightened up on property speculation, did you actually mean you are making it harder of young couples to secure a housing loan and increased the number of non-NS serving new citizens to take advantage of the BTO system?
In the latest BTO exercise, BTO flats remain oversubscribed by as much as 4.5 times in popular areas like Hougang (your much hated Opposition Ward). According to the HDB [Source], BTO applicant rejection rate is as high as 31%. So what do you mean by you have “cleared the queue”? BTO prices have also increased steadily over 2010 to 2012 [Source], what do you mean by “stabilized? Stabilizing linear increase instead of an exponential increase? Also, when you said you tightened up on property speculation, did you actually mean you are making it harder of young couples to secure a housing loan and increased the number of non-NS serving new citizens to take advantage of the BTO system?
2) “We have added more buses and increased the number of bus routes.”
800 buses, or 20%, of the exiting fleet has been added, with 550 of these buses paid for by a hefty $1 Billion Singaporean taxes [Source] while SBS and SMRT chalks tens of millions consistent profits every year, recession or not [Source]. Money matters aside, Singapore population swelled more than 35% to today’s 5.45 million under your 10 year premiership, how is your 20% increased capacity going to help? And you are selling me the 6.9 million story? Could you have the decency and humility to be present at Raffles MRT station at 7pm to see the ground for yourself?
800 buses, or 20%, of the exiting fleet has been added, with 550 of these buses paid for by a hefty $1 Billion Singaporean taxes [Source] while SBS and SMRT chalks tens of millions consistent profits every year, recession or not [Source]. Money matters aside, Singapore population swelled more than 35% to today’s 5.45 million under your 10 year premiership, how is your 20% increased capacity going to help? And you are selling me the 6.9 million story? Could you have the decency and humility to be present at Raffles MRT station at 7pm to see the ground for yourself?
3) “We need foreign workers to serve our economy and Singaporeans’ needs, and immigrants to make up for our shortfall of babies.”
Are you importing a foreign adult to make up for the shortfall of local babies? If you are, you are only worsening the aging population. The good part about this is that you have not given up on low fertility rate like your father did. The bad part is that you are doing it wrong and Singaporeans are bearing the brunt of your incompetency. It is not only congestion and overcrowding we are facing, what about diminishing employment opportunities, inflation of domestic prices, education places [Source]? In your drive for immigration, you have somewhat become the unofficial Prime Minister of foreigners in Singapore. You failed to address the gross disadvantages of National Service, the distinctions between PRs and citizens, the recognition that a Singaporean poor is valued more important than a foreign millionaire, the protectionism and privileges Singaporeans deserve for sacrificing to the political platform and accolades what you and your father enjoyed in our name over the decades. Your pro-foreigner policies have been logically met with much protests, but bear in mind, a better Singapore has always, and is made, only possible by citizens, not economic migrants.
Are you importing a foreign adult to make up for the shortfall of local babies? If you are, you are only worsening the aging population. The good part about this is that you have not given up on low fertility rate like your father did. The bad part is that you are doing it wrong and Singaporeans are bearing the brunt of your incompetency. It is not only congestion and overcrowding we are facing, what about diminishing employment opportunities, inflation of domestic prices, education places [Source]? In your drive for immigration, you have somewhat become the unofficial Prime Minister of foreigners in Singapore. You failed to address the gross disadvantages of National Service, the distinctions between PRs and citizens, the recognition that a Singaporean poor is valued more important than a foreign millionaire, the protectionism and privileges Singaporeans deserve for sacrificing to the political platform and accolades what you and your father enjoyed in our name over the decades. Your pro-foreigner policies have been logically met with much protests, but bear in mind, a better Singapore has always, and is made, only possible by citizens, not economic migrants.
4) “We need to strengthen this spirit of togetherness.”
For a start, please leave foreigners out of this “togetherness”. You know there is a political standoff among Singaporeans, then why do you deepen this divide by controlling the media and challenging every allegation, engaging in defamation lawsuits and letters of demands? It is no less hypocritical hearing that coming from a mental patient whose pathological history is stating otherwise. Perhaps I’ve been wrong, your idea of “togetherness” has no place for misfits like me. Your “togetherness” may prefer Singaporeans like me to emigrate, while a foreigner from any 3rd world country who can better appreciate you can be imported to take my place. You may also prefer to have Singaporean elderly working on a $4/hr paycheck than to have them taking a few zeros off your billion dollar projects like Garden by the Bay and the largest man-made river in Bishan. You may like new media control in addition to your worsening mainstream media credibility. And if what happened over the past few years is your definition of “togetherness”, kindly leave Singaporeans diverse and vocal.
For a start, please leave foreigners out of this “togetherness”. You know there is a political standoff among Singaporeans, then why do you deepen this divide by controlling the media and challenging every allegation, engaging in defamation lawsuits and letters of demands? It is no less hypocritical hearing that coming from a mental patient whose pathological history is stating otherwise. Perhaps I’ve been wrong, your idea of “togetherness” has no place for misfits like me. Your “togetherness” may prefer Singaporeans like me to emigrate, while a foreigner from any 3rd world country who can better appreciate you can be imported to take my place. You may also prefer to have Singaporean elderly working on a $4/hr paycheck than to have them taking a few zeros off your billion dollar projects like Garden by the Bay and the largest man-made river in Bishan. You may like new media control in addition to your worsening mainstream media credibility. And if what happened over the past few years is your definition of “togetherness”, kindly leave Singaporeans diverse and vocal.
5) “We will tackle the cost of living, for example healthcare costs, especially for the elderly.”
I cringed when I hear that because the last time you said you want to help the poor, you raised GST by 2% and then your Ministers started drawing million dollar salaries. We didn’t know the poor you were referring to were the poor Ministers who may have their standard of living affected. Could you please be specific this time? Is $8 too much for Khaw Boon Wan’s bypass surgery? Does he need more help? If healthcare costs is an issue, shouldn’t you be reviewing the feasibility of the Medisave system instead of making undisclosed drawdowns from our reserves?
I cringed when I hear that because the last time you said you want to help the poor, you raised GST by 2% and then your Ministers started drawing million dollar salaries. We didn’t know the poor you were referring to were the poor Ministers who may have their standard of living affected. Could you please be specific this time? Is $8 too much for Khaw Boon Wan’s bypass surgery? Does he need more help? If healthcare costs is an issue, shouldn’t you be reviewing the feasibility of the Medisave system instead of making undisclosed drawdowns from our reserves?
I am glad you cleverly gave resale flat prices, COE prices, purchasing power and breakdowns of public transport a miss. These are hot topics that will haunt you in 3 year’s time.
P.S. You may want to watch your awkward hand gestures flying around. You are not Obama, keep it simple stupid.
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