Ministry of Finance Bad practice to set up many separate funds
I dislike the practice of setting up separate funds for special purposes. The latest is the Merdeka Generation Fund.

I do not know if separate funds were set up in the past for Edusave, Skills Future, Pioneer Generation, etc.

Why do I object to this practice?

A separate fund may give the impression that it is self controlling. It is no longer under the purview of parliament. 

This is one step towards lack of oversight and accountability.

We have seen scams involving SkillsFuture. I do not know if there are other scams and malpractices with the other funds. I would not be surprised if they surface in the future.

It is also bad to give different levels of benefits to different "generations".  We should treat all citizens equally. 

As more special purpose funds are set up, I ask the question - can we manage the complexity?

Tan Kin Lian
 

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