A rent seeking economy is a passive economy not sustainable in the intermediate and long term.
The tourists are screwed only once and they will never come back again.
We the citizens are screwed perpetually and there is no escape unless we migrate. But than why should we run away, we will stick around stoically to effect change.
I was at IMM, Jurong, last week, buying a piece of rice dumpling and it cost me $3.20 for a diminished size dumpling.
I questioned why so expensive and so small size but was told that the exorbitant rental of S$25K a month for a cubicle stall and how many dumplings must he sell to break-even just on rental alone and not counting, raw materials, ingredients, manpower, utilities and such.
7,143 pieces a month just to pay rental. Besides there are also a percentage surcharge on revenue and profits, if indeed a stall can make a profit.
Who owns IMM? Capital Land, Temasek Holdings. A government link company. The government is the biggest landlord and they are ripping us, the commoners off night and day.
Our annual inflation rate is 4% and MAS has been strengthening the S$ to try cushion the inflationary spiral. That only make our exports more expensive and uncompetitive in foreign currency terms. That’s why manufacturing industries are moving out to places like China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand etc.
Strengthening the S$ can only address imported inflation and not inflation caused by domestic factors like exorbitant rentals…
Strengthening the S$ can only address imported inflation and not inflation caused by domestic factors like exorbitant rentals, crazy transportation costs (COEs, ERPs, GST and petrol taxes @ close to 40% etc), utilities charges etc.
When domestic inflation is at 75% (or 3% of the 4% annual inflation rate), surely the government can and must do something to help mitigate the sufferings of the citizens, especially retirees like me.
The 3% inflation rate driven up domestically is within their influence and control by policies.
Also a significant part of the inflation rate is brought about by more than two million of foreigners in our midst, simple economics of supply and demand, with two million more of foreign economic predators driving up costs of just about everything; that’s stifling.
The government is hell bent on collecting more revenues and we are on our own so to speak.
This is an uncaring government dishing out crumbs like GST rebates, U-rebates and the PGP in attempt to pull wools over our eyes.
Make no mistake about it, we will make sure that 2016 will be the defining moment in the history of Singapore when a government of a jubilee will be pulverized in the ballot boxes.
I know a lot of us retirees are talking and talking everyday in coffee-shops and hawkers centres, we share news and we scour news from cyberspace and disseminate to one and all to create an acute sense of awareness of what’s actually going wrong with our nation and that if nothing is done in 2016, we will not rest peacefully in our graves.
We just want to live out the next GE before we can rest in peace.
A Forsaken Lot