Lily Neo wrote in her facebook that she felt very down after failing to help her residents to get back their money held captive in the CPF. Many have reached 55 or going to and are in desperate need of money only to see their money in the CPF. The money is their but not for them to touch. The impatient is turning into anger and desperation.
And many thanks to the govt for the many schemes to help the people with their life savings. And the govt is so proud to declare to the people that it is helping them with their money. As more and more Sinkies get to and pass 55, the number of disgruntled people is rising daily. On the other hand there is not a single word of sorry, of apology or remorse from the govt, but sheer arrogance that the people can just be ignored.
Now why would a population of several million people, and tens of thousands of aggrieved oldies finding themselves so helpless, so in need of money but not able to use their money? And at most there are less than 80 MPs to deal with. Even then, not all 80 of them are in favour of keeping the people’s savings out of their reach.
The decision is likely to be the brain child of a handful of politicians who are so aloof and dismissive to think that the people elected them to do anything they want to the people. Could the people change their fate and take back their money by simply voting out the govt? Is it really so difficult to do such a thing when their core interests are at stake? Howe Yoon Choong was forced to step down after he tried to extend the withdrawal age of the CPF. What had happened since was much more obnoxious. And on top of this there are many very serious issues that the people are unhappy about.
Why not change the govt in the next GE? It is so easy to vote out a govt in a GE if the people decided to do so. Is the CPF such an intolerable issue to break the camel’s back? Why would the people work for a life time and rudely awaken to find the hard truth, that they have no right to take back their life savings as promised? Why would the people feel that they cannot do anything about it? And why does the govt think that they can change the rules of the CPF and they can get away with it? And the schemes to hold back the CPF savings of the people are getting more and more audacious and unacceptable with total disregard of the people’s feeling, objection, disapproval and protest. The frustration is festering and growing.
Maybe it is true, once the people elected other ordinary citizens to be the govt, they ended up as servants and slaves to these ordinary people who are now called the govt. The helplessness is not only in Lily Neo. The helplessness is in all the citizens, young and old. Why save?
Chua Chin Leng AKA Red Bean
*The author blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.sg