Plenty of my friends have been complaining about the increases in the costs of living in recent times. I would like to share a personal experience on how costs have beenunnecessarily increased for the middle-class like me, and passed on to the rich without adding any value. A high GDP statistic is what the PAP likes, but then it actually has more adverse effects than benefits.
Sometime in the middle of this week, I had to attend a whole-day discussion at International Business Park. Before I headed down, I did a Google search on the parking rates and the first result showed that parking at that building costs $1 an hour. This did not affect me, since I was going to file an expense claim with my company.
After my meeting that day, I prepared my camera phone to snap a picture of the charges to pass on the expense to my company. To my horror, the parking was not $1 an hour but my total charges came to $25 for 9 hours worth of parking. Apparently, the costs was increased to about $2-something for the first hour and about $1.6-something for each additional half hour!
After doing a second Google search, the source I had initially gotten my information from was not inaccurate, but outdated. Another search of the address revealed that the building had been acquired by a particular REIT in Singapore in 2008, and the parking increases seem(disclaimer: I have no concrete information) came thereafter the acquisition. Looking at the current REIT price, you had to be reasonably wealthy to be a shareholder.
How does this 2.7 times in parking charges add value to the economy except showing that GDP has increased? In fact, it poses unnecessary burden for private consumers while adding the costs for SMEs, as business visitors like me would claim the costs from the company. All these costs are eventually re-distributed to the rich who bear a low investment risk while reaping high dividends.
According to Caritas Singapore, there are 400,000 people who save less than $5 a day after accounting for their living expenses, while the rich continue to gain from the system as described above.You could say that inflation for something such as iPhones can be justified considering the more advanced technology, but something as basic as parking?
Something wrong? You decide!
JL
*Article first appeared on http://mythoughtsinafewparagraphs.net/2015/03/07/270-inflation-rising-co...