Presidential Elec 2023
TKL's initial response to PM's National Day Rally Speech
Draft
I give my initial response to the PM's National Day Rally speech.
I support the various measures that the PM is introducing to help people to cope with the cost of living, affordable housing and jobs. They are in line with my goals set out in my campaign to be President of Singapore
If I am elected as President, I will make the following suggestions on how to improve the measures.
1. The PM will introduce the Majulah package to help seniors in a certain age band. While the people in this age group would be happy, I wish to point out that people in other age groups are suffering financial hardship due to the high cost of living.
It would be better for the government to introduce a more comprehensive measure to deal with this problem that affects everyone.
I would suggest that the GST increase of 1%, due on 2024, be deferred. This would not reduce the cost of living, but it would not cause the price of goods to increase further. Many people are worried that the 1% increase may cause some prices to go up by 5% or 10%, as has happened with the 1% increase that was introduced in 2023.
2. The government plans to make housing affordable by introducing new HDB types and new government grants. Already, the current structure of HDB flat types and CPF grants is complicated for the buyers to understand and for HDB staff to administer. With the new changes, the entire scheme will become even more complicated and costly to administer.
Furthermore, the complicated set of rules (governing eligibility and CPF grants) may favor some groups and discriminate against others. It is better to have a fairer system.
If I were elected as President, I would suggest a new approach that would deal with this problem more comprehensively. The goal is to make housing affordable and to implement this goal in a fairer and less costly way.
3. In his speech, the PM talked about BTO flats. Actually, the term BTO is a bad term. It means "Build to Order". A better word is "new flat" that are sold by HDB to the public, to distinguish them from the resale flats that the owner sell to buyers.
Why is BTO a bad term? It implies that the flats have to be build based on demand. This is a bad approach.
Our first finance minister and architect of Singapore's economic development, Dr. Goh Keng Swee, said that a good time to build our infrastructure and housing was during a recession. It helped to create jobs in a recession, and the construction cost (in material and labor) is cheaper.
The BTO concept works in the opposite direction. By building flats at a time of high demand, which usually happens in a booming economy, we have to pay high construction cost, and compete with other sectors of the economy for the scare labor and materials.
We should change our strategy and build flats at a steady pace, to enjoy lower construction cost.
These are my preliminary thoughts. I will work on this draft further.
In conclusion, I like to thank the Prime Minister for taking the steps to address some of the key problems faced by the people. I hope to be able to suggest ways for these measures to be made more effective and fairer to all segments of the people.
Tan Kin Lian
Please give your comments (below) to my tentative views. I hope to be able to improve on this draft.
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Primary 1 registration, a nightmare for Singapore parents. More schools,more teachers but very very less birth rate for Singaporeans. Sums do not add up. Not able to get a neighbourhood school for my 5th generation 1st grandchild.
Mohammad Ansaari 03 Sep 2023
Do not vote for Tan Kin Lian. Not only is he mysagonistic, he is also racist. As a young man, I am extremely disappointed by his social media points, and even more with his response. Women should not be treated as objects, they don't dress up just for men to praise them. Also, no indians will be voting for you after your bus 857 posts. Hahaha. Vote for Tharman or Ng Kok Song guys.
NKS 24 Aug 2023
Dear Mr Tan Kin Lian, you don’t need to be the elected President of Singapore to make suggestions to improve the system. And that’s not the official function of the EP.
Tan KB 21 Aug 2023
Yes Tan Kin Lian!! I support you. You have my vote.
Wynna 21 Aug 2023
I'd rather vote for Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming.
John Tan 21 Aug 2023
As for BTO, it has always been a terrible idea. In the past we had BIA ie Build In Anticipation. You might end up with a glut of flats once in a while but the govt is best placed to manage a glut of govt controlled flats so as to avoid the over supply from depressing the property mkt. You should expand on this because the 2/3/4 G leaders have always used the "glut" risk to support BTO.
Prospero 21 Aug 2023
这不是政府选举而是民选总统竞选。
总统是代表国家在国际性的邦交，有深度远见的人。国内政府机构政策有待改革精进并不是总统工作范围的事。
人民辛苦并不是给钱给优惠算了，而是教育发展商、商家、投资者要有的公道合理，不剥削人，无破坏大自然和污染环境的商机。
小市民 21 Aug 2023
So you have a better idea to manage public housing. Let's hear it! Details please even if it is prelim. Do tell us what your plan is and how it is better than what we have now. Currently one has no idea what your plan is.
Prospero 21 Aug 2023
All are valid points. I’ll just like to point out a typo error under Point 3 concerning material and labour costs. The word should be scarce and not scare as shown in the draft. Just for your information please.
Eric Teo 21 Aug 2023
The Majulah package targets retirement adequacy & Healthcare. It does not primarily address current COL pressures. You should focus on what the govt is already doing wrt COL.
Prospero 21 Aug 2023