Let me state this first : There is no problem with CPF. It makes sense. Withdrawal age must increase as we are all living longer. Back in the 60s, people only lived to about 65 years old. Now the average is 85, by the time my generation becomes senior citizens, we will probably live to 100 . If I withdraw my CPF at 55 years old, 155k, would definitely not be enough to sustain me for 45 years. Hence, the withdrawal age and min sum must increase.
But here is the problem. According to Mr Tan Chuan Jin, a whopping 50% of citizens are unable to reach the minimum sum! No, its not the minimum sum's fault. It is actually just nice for retirement. BUT the problem is, our WAGES are TOO LOW. How can citizens expect to retire well if we don't even earn enough in the first place? Min sum is adjusted to inflation, that's a good thing.
Then what about our wages? Should our wages also be adjusted to inflation? Everyone here think LHL is a fool for suing Roy, but he is not, LHL is damn smart. He is leading the argument towards CPF, he is leading all the opposition and Roy like a flock of sheep to a debate about something that does not matter. Because the real problem doesn't lie with CPF, it lies with our WAGES. At the end of the day, LHL will really audit CPF/GIC/TH, and he will say "see, all the money is still there" and he will win. Because he knows he can win this, he knows all the money is there. But he knows what he cannot win, a REAL debate about our wages.
So I suggest to all of you, stop talking about CPF, talk about the WAGES. The median wage has not increased since 2000 but the price of basic goods have almost doubled, in some cases, even tripled.
The problem is with the large influx of PMETs that are taking away good jobs. The problem is with big corporations giving their employees too little while big bosses take home the largest share. The problem is that we don't have a worker's union to represent us to bargain for a larger share.
All of you who are arguing and complaining about CPF are doing just what PAP wants you to do. They are diverting your attention to the REAL problem in Singapore.
Sam Tan
TRS Contributor