Moles in the online space

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

My account may be new but I have on this forum for the last 10+ years. I finally decided to create an account to counter what I see is danger hitting my Singapore.

There are moles in the online space. They are from another country. Their job is to crumble the current government in Singapore so that Singapore will lose the shine that it has now. That allows another country to take over the big brother role in this region. These moles are not true supporters of the opposition parties. They are using the opposition parties to achieve their objective. That’s why they have an online life. They post and post, and you wonder why they don’t have to go to work. Because their job is to attack the current government in Singapore.


These moles look and talk like a native Singaporean. They can also be found in coffee shops spreading fear and propagandas. Do you think all the people in the opposition parties' rallies are true Singaporeans? Planting moles is an age long well tested tactic.


I appreciate how much opportunity I had growing up here. I remember the attap house, water well, turkey and pigs. I remember how it was like moving to a clean flat and playing along the corridors with the neighbours. But times were hard. Porridge and salted egg were my daily norm. That's why despite the life I have now, there are certain food that I stay away because I simply had too much of those.


In the neighborhood school I attend, easily half the class were abangs. Fought and curse we did like any kids did, but I appreciate their carefree attitude to life. Then I started working hard for my O levels and made it to one of the top JCs. That opened my eyes to another world where my peers were academically brilliant. Some of them studied very hard while some of them played the whole day round yet appeared on the top scorers' list. But I was not denied any opportunities just because I came from a neighborhood school.


I am doing well in life now - married with naughty kids. I tend to think we are globally mobile. The reasons to move are so great:
1. less stressful educational environment for my kids
2. less stress to have to compete with foreigners in my own homeland
3. bigger car and a bigger house
4. wider landscape to drive around to appreciate nature


But I know I will die of lust for bak kut teh, char kway teow, chicken rice, $$$$$ and the local coffee in the coffeeshops here if I were to move to another country to work. Hence I am still here and sharing my sincere and heartfelt thoughts to fellow Singaporeans who had less opportunities than I, so that Singapore will be available and strong for my children. I wish for the strength of the red passport and S$ to remain, and not let Singapore fall into the evil schemes of the moles.


For those who had the opportunity to have some financial training, we know that the CPF is a good scheme. It is really a “forced" savings for a hard time to come, but blessings to you if you never have to have a hard time. We lept from a 3rd world country to a first in a very short time. There are still many of us who are not financially literate. Many families do not intentionally set aside savings from their daily or monthly income. The CPF comes in useful here. Have you seen the joy on the face of a fellow Singaporean who suddenly realised that his unexpected medical expenses are being taken care by the drips of money that went into his CPF account monthly? But yet the opposition intentionally use it in the negative way. They claim that the government is taking away “your money”. But do you know that the government has to work hard to pay you 2.5% a year for the money in CPF? Isn’t that laborious when it is easier for the government to just increase the corporate tax on the companies that operate here and raise the rate of personal income tax?


Of course the moles say that the government earns 7%from the money in the CPF but only gives 2.5% back to the people. Yes the CPF pays 2.5% which is not low nor high, but I challenge you to find a low risk investment for 2.5% annually for such a big population. And consistently 2.5% annually regardless of what happens all over the world. And how is that possible for a small country like Singapore where our economy is so vulnerable to external changes? The buffer to ride out the bad years has to to come from the years when there were good returns. Since no one can predict how long a global crisis can last, can you imagine how much savings there must have been for such a large number of people? Essentially the government is running a mini wealth programme for the population. If you are running your own business, including property agents, taxi drivers, a good income in April doesn't mean a good income from May to August. What do the wise ones do? Save up during good months in order to even the months that are rough.


On the other hand, can you imagine what happens when the CPF gives out 5% on a good year and 0.5% on a bad year? The unpredictability will harm many people because CPF is used to pay off our housing loan. If we had assume that it will be 5% annually, we may plan our loan payment based on that. When it becomes 0.5% for 2 years, whatever is shortfall from the CPF for the payment of the housing loan will have to come out as cold hard cash from our pocket. What will happen then? Our disposable income drops for that period and whatever financial planning we have goes into chaos. Suddenly the budget for that birthday bash becomes smaller due to the portion needed to pay for the housing loan. That’s why stability helps a lot in planning.


If the CPF is not a good tool, does it mean that those in the opposition parties do not use CPF for their housing and medical needs? They do. If it’s a bad scheme, prove it by not using it.


COE is an issue for a number of us. Some of us need a car as a matter of convenience (ie. luxury), some of us need it because it is more efficient to ferry our aging parents. But for those who had been to Bangkok and experienced the traffic, you will agree that that level of traffic jam sucks. That kind of jam can happen in Singapore if the density on the road is not managed. In limited land here, is there a better solution to the ownership of cars until technological advances allow cars to hover over each other or a teleportation machine becomes a reality? How do you show that you need a car more than your neighbour? In everyone's mind, my need is always greater than yours. Those with children will understand this when your children fight for the same thing. Allocation of scarce resource by balloting and bidding are methods that removed a number of these unqualifiable factors.


GST is a necessary evil. Again opposition parties use it as a fly swap so freely, as if they have a better suggestion to create income for the government to support the running of the country. Those of us who learnt economics know that the absence of GST means taxes will have to come in other forms - it will hurt more. Countries that do not need GST have means to support the country without that. If a resource rich country like Australia, Britain, Japan and Malaysia also need GST to support the economy, what more for a small country like Singapore where we have nothing except the brain of our educated population? The beauty of GST is that you tax more when you consume more (eg. luxury goods) while you pay less otherwise. That is part of the reason for the lower personal income tax. But I am of the opinion that basic necessities be tax exempted. The tricky part is in the implementation and enforcement. The cost of implementation and ongoing enforcement may be more expensive for Singapore than just a blanket GST on all goods.


We are in Singapore. Rules affecting a wider population do not change overnight. When GST was first introduced, it was announced way in advance that the GST will rise gradually. It was NOT a decision made immediately after election to increase it. As a contrast, check out what Malaysia did overnight during the period of crisis in 1998 when the country claimed that it was under the attack of George Soros. So opposition parties who are spreading fear that the government will be rising the GST to 10% soon after election should be shot. Where is the integrity to use something out of the air to spread fear among the people? Do you want this kind of people running Singapore?


Ministerial salary is an issue. Only those running their own business or at the top of the executive layer understands what is paying for talent. The talent pool for any economy is always going to be smaller than what is needed. A country wants intelligent people to run the country in order to out-do the world for resources to feed the country. These will be the same intelligent people who have the option to be a professional (doctors, accountant, lawyers, bankers). Yet we want to pay a good civil servant lower than what these professional profession will pay? Why do I want my child to be a civil servant if he has the potential to earn more as a lawyer? Do you know how much Davinder Singh charges an hour? Sure, serving the country is a calling. But for a small country like Singapore where survival means least mistakes, do we take a chance with people with passion or people who can spar with the best in the world? If you have not seen the interview with Tharman at the St Gallen Symposium, please check it out on YouTube. That interview allowed me to hold my head high up as a Singaporean.


But even so, passion aside, why would I want to go through the pain of seeing my child being bashed upside down like what Liu Tuck Yew (and probably his family) went through? Remember that policies and planning at a national level take years to see fruition. Just like our children's personality. The good and bad traits in their personality were not implanted overnight. It is a result of the environment and parents' influence over a period of time. Likewise, to fix those behaviour takes time, not overnight. How long did it take the wrong policy of two is enough to become a problem? How long did it take the vision of marina bay to take shape? How long did it take the change in direction for Singapore to become a financial hub to become a reality? How long did it take for our streets to be safe? So was Liu Tuck Yew responsible for the train breakdowns? I boycotted Sunshine bread ever since the company employed the former CEO of SMRT.


Attracting people into this kind of political landscape is challenging, more so when the pay is nowhere attractive compared to the professional occupation. Imagine being a dentist with a pay of $1m. No stress, no name calling on social media. Just enjoying family bliss every night after work. Where is the attraction to be a minister? It is made worse when the population size in Singapore is small. The cream is smaller when the pie is smaller. How do you attract your fellow Singaporeans to serve? Passion is core attribute. But Singaporeans have grown to be practical people - the pay has to be near to what he/she will get in the private sector as a minimum.


So the annual pay of a junior minister in Singapore is more than that of the President of USA. Someone please check out how much Bill Clinton has earned since he stepped down just for comparison. And do the same for Obahma 5 years after he steps down. And if you can, put a price on the prestige of being the President of USA.


For the true opposition supporters, I would say please don't support the opposition blindly just because you are disgruntled or unhappy with certain things in Singapore. You only benefit the moles. It is easy to be an opposition. Just form a party, take a recent hot topic and make a mountain out of a molehill.


Each seat in parliament is important. Choose someone who can make a difference, and not just to ask question for the sake of asking questions (eg. Pritam Singh, the one without integrity). The PAP candidates have the backing of the PAP to run programmes across the whole Singapore even if they are not the top of the cream. Choosing a PAP candidate means you get to enjoy the same programme. So what this means is that the candidates from the opposition have to be one up than most of the candidates from PAP. Thus,don't vote blindly. Look at the candidate instead of the party. If Chen Shao Mao or Sylvia Lim were to contest in my estate, he/she gets my vote over my current MP. They are the kind I can proudly show off to my friends from overseas. They are the kind of talent I take my hat off because I know that I am not as good as them. Lily Neo is another. Her heart is golden. With her background, her MP’s allowance is pittance. She’s not in there for the money. I heard so much about Tin Pei Ling's hardwork. What were you and I doing when we were 27 years old?


Alternatively, you can make a difference instead of sitting on the couch. Join the grassroots is one. Joining the grassroots allow you to "make use" of your MP to change things around you, provided it's reasonable of course. Joining the social media is another. But before we bash a MP/minister, think whether we could have done the job better. Remember the "favourite" colleague who likes to criticize everyone else's work but yet himself/herself is nowhere near your standard? Don't be like this colleague of yours.


Most importantly, don't fall for the tactic employed by the moles.


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