I am writing in response to the article ' The hidden ugly side of Singapore '.

One very ironic thing about this world is that there is no such thing as a perfect government. The perfectness of each government is tied to the situation that the country is in.

The Singapore government is no exception. Even when it portrays its best image to the world, there are always imperfections in its own system and many of these relate to power sharing issues.

Poverty, which the author tried to describe, however, is not. I have been working in Singapore for many years and it is long enough for me to see the darkness of Singapore’s politics and thus harder for me to accept that one day I would be defending Singapore's record such as now.

The author tried to demonstrate that even when both parents are working, they cannot afford the basic necessities. In general, the average wage of Singaporeans is at least above SGD500 for female, SGD700 for male, inclusive of the rental of SGD700, the total income for this family is SGD1,900. This family comes under the lower income group and thus no income tax is posted on them. Furthermore, they are also qualified to have the constituency charges waived and subsidies of SGD516 plus SGD600 (into their CPF) from Workfare. The total sum is sufficient for them to live in relative comfort and no worries about the housing loans (through CPF).

Yet the author has portrayed a family who is so poor that even with both parents working, they cannot afford to pay the utility bills. He mentioned of a power cut and thus he has lived in darkness for many days. It seems to stress him so much that he did not take his bath nor use the toilet. Unlike Malaysia, utility bill in Singapore comes in one piece. You pay the water, electricity and gas in a single bill, and should there be a cut in utility, it would not be electricity alone.

In addition, the price of utility is very low in Singapore especially for a three-room flat, which amounts to no more than SGD60 per month. It is very difficult to justify that with both working adults plus rented room, there is insufficient income to pay the bill. Utility cut off to a single family is a news event, literally speaking. In fact, anyone reporting such a matter to the news agency will get a reward of SGD50 and the family will sure get into the evening news.

The cutting of utility bills rarely happens as the agency goes through different processes to ensure that families get their basic neccessities. It is very unlike Malaysia that the agency is very efficient in cutting off power when the payment is outstanding by two months.

It is true that the price of houses are very high in Singapore. Unlike Malaysia, Singapore is an island of 30X20KM and land is scarce.Yet the price of the houses are not as the author has claimed. On average with SGD200,000 Singaporeans can afford a 4-room (3 bedroom and one living room) house while a 3-room (2 bed room and 1 living room) house would cost around SGD150,000. For SGD300,000 it would be a 5-room (3 bedroom, 1 study room and 1 living room) house. The size of the units are sufficient for standard households since Singapore families are generally very small.

Nevertheless, should families cannot afford a house of their own, the Singapore government has other schemes to ensure that they have a roof over their heads. In fact, not a single Singaporean is without a roof. I cannot really say the same for Malaysia.

I also noted the author's total lack of insight into Singapore's public transport and medical system. He sighted that one family is so poor that they cannot afford a taxi to bring his father to the doctor. Singapore's transport system is one of the most efficient with buses available at an average time span of 15 minutes apart. You will find buses everywhere and they are very affordable.

The average Singaporean does no need to take a taxi since the bus can bring them to any part of Singapore, not to mention about the need for a car.

In addition, the government of Singapore has ensured that cheap medical services are readily available through the setting up of polyclinics. Every single polyclinic has around six to 10 doctors at one time to attend to the residents of the constituencies and medication is made very affordable.

I am really not sure the exact purpose of why the author wrote such an account of Singapore.

The more I read the article the more I felt the presence of Dr Mahathir.