Ravi Philemon

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We the Citizens of Singapore!

December 07, 2008

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Feedback: Budget 2009 - Tax-cuts not the way to go

I am concerned that another round of personal and corporate tax cuts may leave the government unable to play its essential roles in promoting the common good and preserving essential community services and support. Although these tax cuts may seem attractive in helping to draw more foreign talents and investments especially in these times of economic slowdown, the cuts should be avoided as these taxes should be the main means of supporting social welfare. Further to this suggestion, the government should also not raise GST further and should pare down the use of GST for providing public assistance. The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said in an exchange in parliament on March 9, 2007 : “We can always do more (in providing public assistance) and we can always raise GST further.” The raising of GST further, will put a huge tax burden on the poor. Some studies show that the lowest 20% of the population pay more than 15% in taxes, while the top 1% of the populatio

Risks of Unchecked Export-Driven Growth

Singapore's basic economic strategy of surviving by tapping on the global economy by attracting foreign investments to Singapore and exporting our goods to international markets is flawed. Goldman Sachs said in a client note on Thursday that, "We reiterate our view that Singapore has one of the highest exposures to weakness in external demand, because of its high ratio of exports to GDP and the high portion of exports-driven domestic demand". The brokerage firm has lowered its forecast for Singapore gross domestic product for 2009 to -8 percent from -4 percent previously as the US economy is expected to contract further in the year, curbing already weak demand for Asian goods. In Singapore, consumption composes only 40 percent of the GDP versus at least 55 percent in other developed Asian economies. With globalisation, more players have entered the "export-driven" economic playing field. Good skills are offered at lower wages by these players. This globalisatio

How was Certis Cisco officer involved in corruption case dealt with? ST did not publish letter

I refer to the report titled, " Syndicate leader sentenced to five years and eight months’ imprisonment and $30m fine for smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes and bribing Certis CISCO senior protection officer ", dated 22 March 2018. The report mentioned the punishment meted out to the 50-year-old syndicate leader who crafted the plan to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore. The report also said how the 2 Singaporeans and 1 Malaysian the syndicate leader recruited to abet his crime, were dealt with. The article added that the Malaysian who was convicted for his part in the offence, bribed a Certis Cisco senior protection officer to aid in the crime. It is however silent on the nationality of the Certis Cisco senior protection officer and if he has been punished for his crime. "Rajeswaran (the Malaysian) made arrangements with a Certis CISCO senior protection officer not to conduct checks on the truck that Devinderan was driving. Mok agreed to pay the officer

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