General election 2024/5

 Vote unconditionally for a non PAP candidate in the general election for 2024/5. 
https://tklcloud.com/Feedback/feedback2.aspx?id=6173

Singapore people pays too much taxes

 The people of Singapore have to pay many layers of direct and indirect taxes.

The direct taxes are income tax, goods and services tax, vehicle taxes (including COE, road tax, petrol tax, parking fees and ERP), levy on foreign maids, taxes on liquor, tobacco, gambling and stamp duties.

Some of these taxes, such as COE and stamp duty on properties are big ticket items.

The indirect taxes are the low interest rate paid on Central Provident Fund savings (where the excess earnings become revenue to the government) and the high cost of housing (where a large part of the cost is revenue to the government).

The sale of state land is another large source of revenue to the government but it is accounted separately.

The government collects more revenue than is needed to provide the public goods. It generates a large surplus in most years, which are transferred to the national reserves or to various endowment funds (which are difficult to keep track of).

The alternative to generating a large surplus is to reduce the tax burden and lower the cost of living borne by the people.

Some of the government spending are unnecessary (such as the $550 million on ERP 2.0) or excessive (such as the very high salaries paid to political office holders). There are many other examples that have been quoted elsewhere

As the ordinary people struggle with the high cost of living, they should send a strong message in the coming general election that they want this important bread and butter issue to be addressed at its root cause.

Tan Kin Lian

WOTC - Vote for individual candidates

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 74% of respondents said that it is better to vote for individual candidates in a general election, based on their personal qualities.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2819

Is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?

In 1988, Lee Kuan Yew revealed that minister S Dhanabalan had been a possible candidate to succeed him as prime minister but then concluded that Singaporeans were not ready for an Indian prime minister.

Several people had privately expressed the view that Lee Kuan Yew had in mind a certain person to be a future prime minister. The reason that Singaporeans were not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister did not pass the test of credibility.

I personally was sceptical of the reason. While 75 percent of the residents of Singapore were of Chinese origin, they had lived for several decades under the colonial rule of the British until self-government in 1959.

In April 1955, a non-Chinese lawyer, David Marshall, led the left-wing Labour Front to a narrow victory in Singapore's first Legislative Assembly elections. He formed a minority government and became Chief Minister.

Clearly, the majority race in Singapore had accepted a non-Chinese as the government leader three decades before Lee Kuan Yew expressed that astonishing opinion.

Furthermore, Singaporeans had for several decades been imbued with the concept of meritocracy and to select the best people “regardless of race, language and religion”.

Singaporeans had seen the success of this approach in building a harmonious society that achieved remarkable social and economic progress.

I held an immense respect for Lee Kuan Yew for his foresight and insight on international affairs and for his approach in running the government of Singapore. There were however a few matters that I differed from his views. This was one of them.

Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister on 28 October 1990. He was later succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong (eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew) on 12 August 2004.

The question of the successor for Lee Hsien Loong came up in December 2017. Goh Chok Tong, who held the position of emeritus senior minister after retiring as prime minister, said that it was urgent for the leadership of the ruling party to identify the next prime minister to take over from Lee Hsien Loong before the end of 2018.

Many people among the general public were in favour of senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to take over this position.

An economist by profession, Tharman served in the private and public sectors for several decades, before entering political life in 2001.

He subsequently became the minister of education, minister of finance and deputy prime minister.

He had also served with distinction as Singapore’s representative in several international bodies, including the G20 Eminent Persons Group, the International Monetary Fund and in the United Nations.

The decision to select the next leader for Singapore was not taken by the people at large. It was decided in secret by the elected members of parliament from the ruling People’s Action Party.

In May 2018, the party decided on another Chinese, namely finance minister Heng Swee Keat.

In March 2019, Heng Swee Keat defended the party’s decision to select him, in favour of the more popular non-Chinese candidate, in a university forum. He said that the people would still prefer a Chinese to be the prime minister and made this statement “I can tell you that it is not easy because it triggers all the feelings about race, which are not obvious. But for an election, it becomes an issue.”

A few days after this assertion, 19,900 individuals responded to a viral Facebook poll and 92 percent voted for Tharman Shanmugaratnam to succeed Lee Hsien Loong and become the
next prime minister. This poll did not have any binding power.

A more scientifically based Blackbox survey commissioned by Yahoo Singapore found that 69 per cent of 897 respondents said they would prefer Tharman to become the prime minister.

The choice of the people, if these polls were to be believed, was clearly in favour of a nonChinese to take over as the next prime minister.

This issue of racial pre-requisite for the head of government came up for discussion in 2008, when Barack Obama became the first black person to be elected as President of the United States of America. Prior to his election, the office had always been held by a white person, who formed the majority race in America.

If America could elect a minority as the president, and one who came from a community had served as slaves in America, why can’t Singapore?

I recalled that Lee Hsien Loong gave a weak answer to his question. It was never debated actively anyway.

This question of the racial prerequisite came up again recently, in November 2022, when Rishi Sunak was elected by the ruling Conservative Party to be the prime minister in the United Kingdom. This was the first time that an Asian was elected to the top office in the UK.

The election of the prime minister was decided internally by the ruling party and not the country at large. (Singapore follows this practice).

If a former colonial power, who ran an empire that “the sun never sets” for two centuries, could accept a non-white, and one whose grandparents came from a former colony, to lead the country, why can’t Singapore.

This time, I did not see any active debate, so far.

Let me give an answer to the question – is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?

My answer is – the people have been ready for many decades. But the ruling People’s Action Party is not ready yet.

Tan Kin Lian
Retired chief executive of NTUC Income Coop

WOTC - General election in Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 53 % of respondents said that Pakatan Harapan (Anwar Ibrahim) is most likely to win the general election. They have the highest score.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2745

Voting in a general election

 I suggest a secure and efficient platform to handle voting in a general election.

https://s3.tklcloud.com/T99/221118202556583_Voting%20in%20a%20general%20election.pdf

WOTC - General election in Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 55.6% of the respondents expect a coalition to form the next government of Malaysia. The remainder expect the Barisan Nasional to form the government.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2720

WOTC - Next general election in Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 59% of the respondents expect the Barisan National to win the next general election in Malaysia.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2684

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Why does China continue its covid zero policy?
2. Who is likely to win the next general election in Malaysia?
3. Will former PM Najib receive a pardon?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - PAP at next GE

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 100% of the respondents said that the PAP will lose votes and seats at the next general election (Shhh. Only 12 people voted).

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2677

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. What role will George Yeo play in the future?
2. How will the PAP perform in the next general election?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - Which party will you vote

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 89% of the respondents said that they will vote for more opposition MPs at the next general election.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2626

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Should Singapore voters choose PAP in the next general election?

2. Has the govt taken the necessary steps to reduce the cost of living?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - PAP performance an next GE

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 70% of the respondents expect the PAP to lose many seats at the next general election.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2447

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. Will PAP lose more seats at the next general election
2. Will the opposition parties merge to become a stronger party.

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx

WOTC - When will next prime minister takes over?

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 88% of the respondents expect the next prime minister to take over after the next general election or afterwards.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart3.aspx?id=2283

WOTC - Snap election in Malaysia

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 56% of the respondents said that the Perikatan Nasional coalition under Muhyidden is likely to win a snap general election, if it is called in Malaysia. 31% chose Pakatan Harapan under Anwar Ibrahim.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2109

WOTC - Performance of new ministers

 Wisdom of the Crowd: 83% of the respondents are disappointed with the performance of the ministers appointed after the 2020 general election.

https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/chart.aspx?ID=2101

Quora: Is this another stunt by Donald Trump for his election campaign?

Quora: Now that Trump has all but declared war on China, demanding China be held accountable for unleashing COVID-19 on America, is this just another stunt for his election campaign or does Trump truly want a war with China?

Donald Canton replied:

Yes, Trump has too many exceptionally excellent ideas and expressions to make many countries mad. His only one accomplishment was counted in killing an Iranian general successfully. He continues bashing China and the best Chinese high tech companies like Huawei, Tecent, TZE, TikTok, …, etc. with national security, virus, …, etc. to no avail.

The Trump administration has been banning all the companies to partner with Huawei and provide Huawei the parts. However, in the end, only some foreign companies like TSMC and MediaTek, catering to the US imperial sanctions against China, were hit, but the US companies will get the licenses to trade with Huawei to save jobs in the USA and stop the looming unemployment. That is to say, the U.S. ruled out the other business competitors that cooperate with China, leaving only those American companies like AMD, Intel, …, etc. allowed to trade with China. Thus, ASML will also start speeding up their layout in the huge profitable Chinese market.

As to TikTok, Washington’s methods are extreme pressure, blackmail, and the temptation of frontline vitality. The United States has a joint operation in which the government, congressional forces and American companies actively respond and cooperate, and the American media are also happy to see the results of this dirty hunt and help beat the side drum.

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, are too thin, obviously unable to deal with the almighty institutional plunder on their own. The Chinese government stepped forward in time, and first included the "personalized information push service technology based on data analysis" in the "China's Export Prohibited and Restricted Technology Catalog" on August 28, 2020, which dampened the arrogance of the United States. When the United States expressed "agreement in principle" to the agreement reached by ByteDance with Oracle and Wal-Mart, and wanted to confirm this agreement in one go, China again sent a clear signal against the agreement, thus rewriting the plot moving direction in this struggle. Any single Chinese company is too weak, but China as a whole will not accept blackmail from the United States, nor will it hand over control of an outstanding high-tech company in China to the United States in accordance with a script written by the United States.

The success of the Chinese high tech companies such as Huawei and ByteDance proves that China’s overall business environment has the ability to incubate the Chinese high tech companies with its own core technologies and global competitiveness. The Chinese can’t let these exceptional companies in China become fat sheep arbitrarily slaughtered by the United States or the lifeline of China's future technological development fall into the hands of Washington.

The Chinese hope to maintain fair and mutually beneficial cooperation with the American, but the Chinese are also ready to wage a resolute struggle against US bullying and robbery logic. The choice is open for both sides. Peace will benefit both and fight will hurt both. This is a philosophy that the Chinese have long believed in. It is no longer a luxury to hope that big countries will face each other in the 21st century.

What an accomplishment! It is not a stunt but a disguise for Trump. No wars are needed but simply words of mouth. Calm down and enjoy the show.

Wisdom of the Crowd - New Issues

1. If Malaysia holds a snap general election, who is likely to win?
2. Will work at home for 50% of office based work result in lower productivity?

Vote in
https://tklcloud.com/Crowd2/vote.aspx