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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.
