Tag: Heng Swee Keat

Protest Against Unjustified 30% Increase In Cost of Water: March 11

When finance minister Mr Heng Swee Kiat went to deliver the budget speech in Parliament, many people were relieved to know that the minister has finally recovered from his horrible stroke and ready to serve the country again.

But the welcoming relief soon turned to shock as the minister drops a bombshell by announcing a 30% price hike in our water pricing.

Though the hike will be spread over two years – one in July this year and the other in the same month next year with the assurance that Singaporeans will enjoy rebate subsidies to cushion the hike, nobody is smiling especially when the hike is carried out during the current economic crisis.

Moreover, we realised that PUB has being enjoying profits from its operation and over the past 7 years, it has generated a massive S1.1 billion in profit. For FY 2015, it has generated $166.8 million profits – an increase of 77.3 per cent compared to FY2010’s profit of $94.1 million.

The government has also tried to increase train fare few years ago when the transport operators are still reaping handsome profits triggering off a protest in January 2014. Protesters were unhappy with the fact that the two major transport companies, SMRT and SBS Transit, are making $120 million and $18 million in net profits respectively and this is set to increase rapidly with the rise in train ridership as well.

For the latest 30% increase in water cost, the government has quoted the higher operating cost of treating water and that the reservoir in Malaysia is also drying up as mitigating reasons – factors which do not hold up well as all along PUB is still doing well in the black. The 30% increase in water pricing will probably add billions into the coffers of PUB but will certainly deepen the hardship of our poor and vulnerable who are already struggling with the country’s high cost of living.

We have the unenviable record of being the world’s costliest city for the third time in a row this year. More shockingly, the water price hike also came on top of a slew of other recent price increases eg town council fee, ERP, electricity among others.

Many have suggested that instead of increasing water pricing, why not ration water as during LKY’s time water rationing was very popular as it fosters community togetherness and people still value water as a precious commodity instead of having to pay dearly for it to be appreciated.

The environment minister Mr Masagos did himself no favour by saying that:”The consumer must feel the price of water and realise how valuable water is in Singapore, every time he or she turns on the tap, right from the first drop.”

It is as if Singaporeans need to be financially punished so we can better treasure our water supply. I am sure that we can look at other cheaper feasible alternatives to better appreciate water.

It is unknown why the government could not use part of the tens of billions it has collected annually from GST, COE, taxes, ERP, land sales and other tariffs to offset the water hike but prefers to pass the pain directly to the people.

The timing of the price hike is also damaging as many PMETs are still jobless or under-employed during this economic downturn. There is no social safety net for those who are jobless and such price hike only adds on to their growing frustration as a local Singaporean.

All these recent utilities’ price hikes reveals a heartless merciless government bent on squeezing every drop of revenue from a struggling populace tired from paying all kinds of bills amidst stagnanting income growth.

We call on all Singaporeans who are against this unjustified water price hike to turn up for our protest in a defiance show of unity.

Though we may not be able to change the government’s stance but at least we will show them that we are unhappy and won’t take it laying down!

Prepared by: Gilbert Goh
Event Organiser
3 March 2017

Source: https://www.facebook.com/events/131704817353153/

March 7, 2017
Upgrading To Bigger Motorbikes? Maybe Not With Latest Taxation System

He was planning to replace his current five-year-old Ducati 848 with a new Ducati Panigale this year, but Mr Kevin Liew now has to consider cheaper options instead.

The change of plans came after Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced a new tiered tax system for motorcycles while delivering the Budget on Monday (Feb 20) in Parliament.

Under the new system, the 15-per-cent Additional Registration Fee (ARF) will stay for motorcycles with an open market value (OMV) of up to S$5,000. The subsequent S$5,000 of its OMV will incur an ARF of 50 per cent, and the remaining OMV above S$10,000 will come with an ARF of 100 per cent.

The Ducati Panigale that Mr Liew was eyeing was estimated to cost around S$40,000, but with the changes, it would cost “around S$50,000 or S$60,000”, the 27-year-old marketing manager said.

“Bikes are already overpriced in Singapore compared to other countries because of the COE (Certificate of Entitlement),” Mr Liew added. “With this new scheme, they are only going to get even more expensive.”

Mr Heng said that a small but rising number of buyers are getting expensive motorcycles, with OMVs similar to those of small cars. To address this, the tiered ARF would be introduced for motorcycles registered with COEs obtained from the second February bidding exercise onwards.

He added that, going by current registration trends, more than half of new motorcycle buyers would not have to pay more.

Although the new tax scheme is meant to target luxury-bike owners, some owners of “working class” motorcycles said that they would be affected as well. And the bikers community is upset over the move, lamenting that it would cause a spike in motorcycle prices.

Mr Justin Khaw, 25, who rides a Honda Trial Bike and was planning to switch to a Honda Africa Twin, said: “Nowadays, most bikes in the open class 2A category cost close to S$10,000 and above.”

With the new ARF, instead of paying S$32,000 for the Honda Africa Twin, Mr Khaw, an undergraduate, will have to fork out around S$36,000 to S$40,000. He has since decided to look for something cheaper.

Mr Khaw remarked that the move would do little to reduce vehicular traffic. “If Singapore’s goal is to curb congestion on the roads, then perhaps alternative transport such as motorcycles should be considered. So why are the taxes for motorcycles increasing? Shouldn’t it be decreasing instead?”

Given that cars and motorcycles do not contribute to congestion equally, he said, he wondered why bikers are “taxed and subjected to the same vehicle control policies as cars”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 22, 2017
Heng Swee Keat Coy On Succession

His name has often surfaced as a front runner to take over when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong steps down. So when Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had a stroke, it inevitably stoked discussion about his role in the future leadership team.

During an interview last Tuesday, Mr Heng declined to discuss who would lead Singapore next.

“That is a hypothetical question. I will not go into that,” he said when asked if he would accept the position if picked.

He, however, suggested that steering Singapore is about teamwork.

“A lot of it is really to make sure that we all pitch in and we all support one another, not just the fourth-generation leaders among ourselves, but also with all fellow members of the Cabinet and with the broader institutions in Singapore,” he said.

Succession planning took on a renewed urgency after PM Lee repeated several times his plans to retire some time after the next general election, which must be held by April 2021. Concerns were raised when Mr Heng had a stroke in May and PM Lee almost fainted when delivering this year’s National Day Rally speech in August.

Mr Heng said the younger ministers have been getting their feet wet in the various ministries they have been rotated through, part of the preparation to take over. “I think they have all done well.”

Mr Heng himself held the education portfolio before his current appointment, and was also put in charge of key assignments such as the 2013 feedback exercise Our Singapore Conversation, the SG50 celebrations last year, and the Committee on the Future Economy, tasked to come up with strategies to prepare the workforce and economy for upcoming challenges.

“It’s not just about your individual work, but it is how we connect with Singaporeans and how we do the right things to make sure we have the right policies that will enable us to navigate to a better future,” he said.

In the ruling People’s Action Party, each generation decides among itself who will lead its team. Both prime ministers after the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew – Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and PM Lee – had taken on the premiership with the support of their peers.

PM Lee said as much when he pointed out that the fourth prime minister will be chosen the same way. Just three years after taking over, he had said he would not anoint his successor.

Besides Mr Heng, others identified as core members of the next team include Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and labour chief Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin and Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

Asked if the team had started discussing who should be PM, Mr Heng was tight-lipped. Breaking into a slight smile, he said firmly: “I shall not veer into this.” But ultimately, he said, what matters is the trust and confidence Singaporeans have in the team that will lead the country. “If we are united and cohesive and have a sense of direction, we can get there.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 18, 2016
Heng Swee Keat Lucid, Making Progress

Visited Heng Swee Keat in the TTSH Neuro ICU at NNI this evening. Delighted to find him recovering well, and making steady progress. He was fully lucid, communicative, and cheerful.

The doctors are happy too. But they have advised Swee Keat not to receive visitors yet, so that he can get as much rest as possible.

I told him we had made arrangements to look after his residents in Tampines while he recuperates. He gave me two thumbs up. 🙂

Swee Keat wants to thank everyone for their support. He especially sends his greetings and best wishes to his Tampines residents and volunteers, who have been asking after him. – LHL

Source: Lee Hsien Loong

May 31, 2016
Heng Swee Keat As Future PM?

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a slew of changes in his new Cabinet on Monday, including one that may signal a possible successor.

Heng Swee Keat, 54, the former Education Minister, was tasked with the Finance portfolio, taking over from current Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Heng’s appointment sees him getting the “traditional exposure for a DPM-in-waiting”, said Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Gillian Koh.

Commenting on the fourth generation of leaders, Koh said, “I think that the heart and head of this fourth generation group will still require time, exposure and experience to be shaped and refined but it looks like Mr Heng Swee Keat is head over shoulders above them.”

Inconvenient Questions editor-in-chief Viswa Sadasivan said Heng, as former Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has the “aptitude” to take over as Finance Minister.

“That could be a very important testing ground to see whether Heng Swee Keat has the versatility to manage these two portfolios,” Viswa said. “Education and Finance are critical portfolios to be prime minister.”

New faces in education

With Heng’s departure, newcomers Ong Ye Kung and Ng Chee Meng were both appointed Acting Ministers for Education, with the portfolio split between Higher Education and Skills, and Schools.

The appointment of two first-timers, a former air force pilot who rose to Chief-of-Defence and high-flying civil servant who left for the private sector, “marks the quick promotion of the new recruits”, said Koh.

Bilveer Singh, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), said the two were placed in the Education ministry to be “tested and tried”.

“They’ve been thrown into the deep end, and Education is a hot potato in this country, one of the most important ministries,” Singh said.

Despite not being the “obvious choices”, Viswa said the pair might bring “a certain maverick streak” into Education.

“If we want people to think out of the box, we have to be prepared to think out of the box, and give people the benefit of doubt,” he said. “Education needs maybe a major shift in gears instead of tweaks.”

Will Khaw be the transport fixer?

Perhaps the hottest topic of discussion prior to the Cabinet announcement centred around who would be the next Transport Minister after Lui Tuck Yew opted not to stand for re-election.

Confirming earlier speculation, former Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan was handed the Transport portfolio, and was also appointed Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure, a position which draws on his past and present experience.

“Having been at MOH (Ministry of Health), MND and now at Transport, he pulls together his knowledge and expertise very nicely,” said Koh.

Khaw was “tried and tested in difficult areas” like health and housing, Singh said.

“His experience in MND will be extremely critical in overcoming all the gridlocks in the country over transport,” he added.

Khaw, in his first blog post as Transport Minister, said it would have been “selfish” of him to say no when approached by the Prime Minister about taking up the position.

“If my term turns out to be a thankless job, the loss is personal. But if we succeed collectively in transforming the city, the benefits will go to millions of Singaporeans,” he wrote.

Khaw has an “established track record of being a fixer”, said Viswa, and the move showed the need to “bring back public confidence” in the Transport ministry and “dispel the notion that anyone who becomes Transport Minister has one term”.

“In MND, he fixed in four years what his predecessors couldn’t in 15,” Viswa said.

First woman to head ministry

Lee also moved former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).

Fu’s appointment makes her the first woman to head a ministry, and she was also appointed as Leader of the House, another first for female politicians in the country.

“Grace Fu fits the bill perfectly… She’s got the cultural temperament, the language temperament, and a genuine interest in the arts… That’s like a slam dunk,” Viswa said.

Singh highlighted the MCCY as a “significant” and “important” ministry in a developed country like Singapore.

“It is the confidence the government has that she (Fu) can run a ministry single-handedly, and I think that’s an important signal which is coming from PM Lee,” Singh said.

Koh, who has called for women to be given “heavyweight portfolios”, said the move was “wonderful”, and suggested there may be room for even more female ministers in future Cabinet reshuffles.

“I think that at this stage, the men and women will be in that competition as equals – talent, political nous, the ability to be people-centric while showing technocratic ability will come into play,” said Koh.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

September 30, 2015