YOURSAY | ‘Singapore doesn't give money from the tax collected from its people.’

PM: If S'pore can give cash aid, why can't M'sia?

Chipmunk: PM Najib Razak, first and foremost, please get your facts right about the Singapore government.

In the Singapore 2015 budget, the following benefits were included:

1. Every Singaporean aged 25 and above will get an initial $500 of SkillsFuture Credit from the government, which will be topped up at regular intervals and will not expire;

2. The income ceiling for Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions will be raised from $5,000 to $6,000 from next year onwards. An additional 1% interest will be applied to the first $30,000 of CPF savings for those aged 55 and above next year, on top of the existing 1% extra interest on the first $60,000 of savings.

This means that the first $30,000 in Special, Retirement or Medisave accounts can earn up to 6% interest;

3. Under the Silver Support Scheme, the bottom 30% of Singaporeans aged 65 and above will get payouts of between $300 and $750 every three months. The average low-income senior citizen will receive $600.

4. In the interim, before the Silver Support Scheme is in effect, senior citizens who are aged 65 and above and live in Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, and whose assessable income for 2014 is $26,000 or less, will receive a one-off ‘Seniors’ Bonus’.

The bonus of either $150 or $300 will be in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) vouchers;

5. 1.4 million Singaporeans will get $50 more in GST vouchers from this year. The increase in GST voucher quantum across the board means that eligible individuals will receive up to $300 in cash.

The GST voucher, introduced in 2012 to help lower- and middle-income households with their expenses, is given in three parts - cash, Medisave and Utilities-Save, which provides HDB households with a rebate to offset their utilities bills;

6. Taxpayers will enjoy a one-off tax rebate of 50%, capped at $1,000, for the year of assessment 2015 for income earned in 2014.

These are just some of the practical measures taken by PM Lee Hsien Loong. As for your BR1M, this is more of a "monkey take, monkey give". You bribe the rakyat with peanuts while you and your cronies embezzle the huge chunk from the rakyat.

Basically: Why compare Malaysia with Singapore? Firstly, dear PM, Singapore gives cash handouts to all citizens, not just the poor rural vote bank.

Secondly, they don’t ask their politicians to hand it out or put the PM's face on the letter informing the recipients about the handouts.

The letter simply has the ministry’s logo without the PAP logo or leader's face on it, and the cash is banked direct into bank accounts.

I recall your face appearing on a BR1M letter before GE13. Lee Hsien Loong would never dare to do that.

If you want to follow Singapore, try following something good, not just the dirty tricks, which PAP also knows how to do them.

Try zero corruption, professional civil service, efficient public transport, and full transparency and good governance policies. Singapore does those, too.

PTH: If it's money derived from surplus due to good governance and efficient management of the economy, then such handouts ought to be given.

But what we see is the government taking from the taxpayers, GST, tolls, and etc, and not creating more wealth through increased FDIs (foreign direct investments) and other sources.

Instead we hear of much reported wastages and mismanagement that our country can do without.

Dingy: Yes, if Malaysia have excess budget then it's okay to give out cash aid. But Malaysia has a deficit budget along with huge national debt. Giving cash aid in such a situation means the government has to borrow money.

Can a company give out bonuses to its employees when it is making a loss?

Anonymous #45527285: Singapore doesn't give money from the tax collected from its people. The money is from the profit earned through its investment.

Ipohcrite: Singapore does not have the kind of leakages that Malaysia does.

Just read the annual Auditor General's Report about the scandalous wastages and absurd prices government departments pay for their procurements year after year and you have a fair idea, not to mention the countless inflated government contracts awarded by direct negotiation.

Singapore's finances are in great shape whereas Malaysia's are in dire straits. The only reason Najib resorts to BR1M is to win (some call it ‘buy’) votes from the rural heartland.

RM2.6billion Duit Haram: It’s very silly of us to compare ourselves with Singapore. It is akin to comparing charcoal with diamond. We are still a developing country while Singapore is already developed.

Why didn't Najib say Singapore has no corruption? It is a shame to compare ourselves with Singapore, which is a class on its own.

Franky: If Singapore can give 1Gbps home fibre internet, why can’t Malaysia do the same?

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