TAKE MY WORD FOR IT: PM PART 2

"… I give you my assurance that the government will look after you, especially lower-income $ingaporeans."
- Goh Chok Tong, Prime minister, the nation-builder press, Aug 20 2002.

The nation-builder press, Mar 27, 2003

According to the nation-builder press, electricity rates are about to go up - by a HUGE 17 per cent - here because of the war in Iraq. The report said: "The new rates are for the April to June quarter. But consumers could face yet another hike as early as May if the Iraq war causes a drastic increase in world oil prices."

THAT’S ALL FOLKS

The nation-builder press, May 1, 2003.

The report said the $20 is a one-time discount for 267,105 families living in one- to three-room HDB flats. The report noted that in February 2003,16,000 homes did not pay their utilities bill for the past three months. Power is cut off if a bill is not paid for five months.

REALLY, NO RESPITE FOR CONSUMERS

The nation-builder press, Apr 24 2003.

The nation-builder press, May 11 2003.

The nation-builder press, May 26 2003.

Month after month the PAP government pours out new information that prices are rising. At the same time, they are again asking workers to take pay cuts and companies to retrench workers.

HIGHER MEDICAL FEES

The nation-builder press, May 26 2003.

HIGHER MRT FARES

The nation-builder press, May 9, 2003.

Yin-Yang approach to helping lower-income $ingaporeans. Also called "give and take back".
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, May 9, 2003.


ANOTHER 9,400 SINGAPOREANS JOBLESS

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/sub /latest/story/0,4574,82147,00.html

The nation-builder press reported on May 21, 2003 that "the National Wages Council (NWC) has proposed an immediate wage cut for workers in SARS-affected sectors after announcing that Singapore's unemployment rate is likely to hit 5.5 per cent later this year."

So exactly how many more Singaporeans are out of work this year? This is what the Asian Wall Street Journal reported May 20, 2003. "First quarter unemployment rose to 4.5% from 4.2% as the economy lost 9,400 jobs, more than double the 4,100 jobs lost in the fourth quarter, the ministry said." They join the 100,000 who have already lost their jobs.

Wage cuts. More jobless. And the cost of living just keeps getting HIGHER.


THE HIGH COST OF LIVING GETS HIGHER

The PAP government confirmed Feb 7 2003 that the CPF rate cut will stay till 2005 but the May announcement of 10 % pay cut for ministers and top civil servants will start July 2003 and end June 2004. The CPF is workers and employers contributions to a forced savings scheme. Which means the 1999 CPF cuts, which cost Singapore workers $7.5 billion in earnings a year, will remain for six years. That’s a total of $45 billion that workers will have sacrificed so far. Ministers are taking a 10% pay cut for ONLY 12 months.

With GST confirmed to rise to 4 per cent on Jan 1 2003 and 5 per cent on Jan 1 2004, it will mean an additional burden to bear of $1.32 billion a year from 2004 onwards, forever.

Workers wages will either be frozen or cut further by order of the National Wages Council. Living in $ingapore is a high cost affair. And WORKERS ARE THE ONES ASKED TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO BEAR THE BURDEN AND MAKE THE SACRIFICE.

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POWER TO THE PEOPLE?

The nation-builder press, Mar 27 2003.

$ingaporeans braced themselves for MORE sacrifices when it was announced on March 27, 2003 that electricity rates were going up by a HUGE 17 per cent - because of the war in Iraq. According to the nation-builder press: "The new rates are for the April to June quarter. But consumers could face yet another hike as early as May if the Iraq war causes a drastic increase in world oil prices."


$ingPower's OBSCENE PROFITS

The nation-builder press, Sept 24 2002

In 2002, even with a drop of 70 per cent, $ingPower still made $412 million. The report said that while full-year earnings fell $188 million short of projections made the previous year, directors' renumeration jumped from $1.5 million to $2.5 million. What will $ingPower's directors' renumeration be when profits soared to $749 million in 2003?




The nation-builder press, Sept 30 2003.

On Sept 30, 2003, it was reported that $ingapore Power posted a profit of $749 million for last year, more than double the $332 million it made the previous year. Who will benefit from this windfall?

For the record, $ingPower's directors are Ng Kee Choe (Senior Advisor to Chief Executive Officer of DBS Group), Quek Poh Huat (President of Temasek Holdings), RADM (Ret) Kwek Siew Jin (President and Director of $ingapore Power Limited), Timothy Chia Chee Ming (President of PAMA Group), Tan Guong Ching (Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs), George Allister Lefroy (former Executive Vice President of Shell Chemicals), Eric Gwee Teck Hai (Chairman for the Public Transport Council), Alan Chan Heng Loon (Chief Executive Officer of $ingapore Press Holdings), Engelin Teh Guek Ngor (Senior Counsel and Managing Director of Engline Teh Practice), Keith Tay Ah Kee (Chairman and Managing Partner of KPMG Peat Marwick $ingapore from 1984 to 1993) and Ho Tian Yee (Executive Director of Pacific Asset Management).


SHY, SHY MEH?

The nation-builder press, Oct 2 2003.

Buried at the bottom of the page on Oct 2, 2003, it was reported that $ingPower would cut electricity rates by an average of 4.6 per cent "because of the drop in oil prices." Why not a 17 per cent cut?

ANOTHER SLIGHT DROP



The nation-builder press, Nov 1 2003

Buried at the bottom on Page H11 on Nov 1 is a report saying that electricity tariffs were down by an average of 3.5 per cent or 0.54 cents a kilowatt-hour. In other words, an average monthly saving of 55 cents for a one-room flat; $1.84 for a four-room flat and $2.31 for a five-room flat.


AND CONSUMERS ARE STILL PAYING MORE

Asian Wall Street Journal, Sept 24 2003.

$ingaporeans continue to make sacrifice after sacrifice for their million-dollar earning "servants."

"NO POWER WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, October 3 2003.


REMEMBER THIS



The nation-builder press, April 12 2003

The report said: "Twice a day, Madam Dillaram Ali and her teenage daughter make their way to a public toilet to bathe. Carrying a plastic bag containing a change of clothes and soap, they cross the road in front of their block, to the toilet in a neighbourhood coffeeshop.

"If it is occupied, they brush their teeth and wash their faces in the toilet at a nearby McDonald's. They do this because the water supply in their three-room Bukit Panjang flat has been reduced to a trickle and the electricity disconnected. They have been living without electricity for the last two months...

"(Madam Dillaram) has not paid her utilities bill for over a year and owes nearly $6,000. If she does not pay soon, her water supply will be cut off."




The nation-builder press, May 1 2003

The report said the $20 is a one-time discount for 267,105 families living in one- to three-room HDB flats. The report noted that in February 2003, 16,000 homes did not pay their utilities bill for the past three months. Power is cut off if a bill is not paid for five months.