MOE says it is trying its best to modify the existing education system so that it can encourage students to think out of the box. How do you do that when even our millionaire ministers have not done any of that? I mean just look at the recent Budget, did it shock and awe you?
The pioneer generation is the ONLY reason why PAP is still in power. “Silly” people like my dad and mom refuses to grade current PAP performance and only blindly remembers what they have done back in the 1970s! But, even that power base is shifting due to the bombardment of new media. Sad to say my parents are illiterate, so the new media has
no impact on them. BUT to those who have received even the littlest education, they too are questioning what PAP is doing nowadays.
Anyway, before I digress any further, let’s come back to the talk on CPF. My first question for our government is WHY is CPF the responsibility of only employers and employees? I believe it is time we introduce a THIRD component into the contribution – Government’s contribution.
What is the purpose of CPF? Its fundamental purpose is to provide a retirement fund. Now, that the income gap between the two classes is so great, it is imperative that this retirement fund is allowed to grow (well, at least to outpace inflation)
Take my BOSS for instance – self-made millionaire before the age of 30. At this present moment, there are many private bankers waiting to serve him. He has been moving his millions in and out of the forex market, making tens of thousands weekly! Will any private banker knock on your door or my door? Of course not! So, while money pours into his account even when he is sleeping, we are working ever hard to keep our families fed.
Hence, it is important for us to our retirement fund to grow at a faster rate that is tied to our earning power. Because let’s face it, if you rich, retirement is your last worry. That’s why our millionaire ministers all hope to work till they are 80!
Anyway this is what I propose :
There are two tools that can be used for CPF. One, introduce an additional component, that is the government contribution. The government’s contribution should be inversely related to your earning power. The more you can earn on your own, the lesser the government needs to give you. Two, the rate of interest at which your CPF money grows. The lesser you earn, the higher the interest rate it gets.
The government also doesn't need to be scared to people becoming lazy because the government is helping them seeing as the money is still only being held for retirement. People would not purposely earn less so the government gives them free money. We need to eat before we retire right?
Through this proposed change, we can allow those who are earning minimum wage or slightly more to get their money to work harder for them. Remember, this group of people is likely not to be too educated to know all the various sophisticated investment tools available in the market. Because of the lack of tools available to them, only the government can step in and accelerate the growth of their small pile of money.
Seriously, I can never understand the government’s needs to accumulate billions and billions of dollars in their reserves! Look at most of the government in the first world – virtually all of them are in debt! Yet, is there anything dramatically wrong with their economy?! I will always remember what Keynes said, “In the long run,
we are all DEAD!” So, what is the purpose of saving up so much money?! Can our government predict when Armageddon will come? What if a meteorite hits us tomorrow? I say, let’s spread the wealth a little bit when we are ALL alive!
The income divide problem is not as small a problem as the government think it is. For instance, it was reported on the social media that a husband complained about his pregnant wife not getting a seat when the North-East train broke down for more than an hour yesterday. While there were netizens who sympathise with his wife’s plight, there
were also a number of netizens who complained about the husband’s incompetence. Why did he not buy a car? Why not get his wife to take taxi to work since she is pregnant? Why no money still want to have babies? Etc . .
As the social class divide widens, less and less people will be able to show empathy towards those who are poor. We do not want to end up with an economy where 90% of the economy is controlled by less than 10% of the people. That is one sure route that will end up with a bloody revolution!
MC HAMMER