Translated by Donaldson Tan
On 16 April 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hosted a mandarin TV forum “live”, engaging a panel of 12 Singaporeans from a cross-section of the population on a wide range of topics. The hour-long programme – Question Time with the Prime Minister – was shown “live” on Channel 8 from 8pm to 9pm. Topics for discussion include social, political and long term issues facing Singapore. There are 4 segments to the debate.
This is the second segment. Click here for: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3][Part 4]
Yang Junwei [Media Freelancer]:
I would like to reflect an overall sentiment on the ground, not just singles and single parents but also other layers of society. If housing price is an indicator of a nation’s prosperity, then income must be an indicator of an individual’s quality of life. Many people feel that their income growth cannot match the inflation rate.
For example, housing price can grow by 50% to 100% within 5 to 10 years while there is no way an individual income grows at that rate. As a result, the nation is prosperous, we appear prosperous on the surface but poor inside. Hence, we are unhappy and unsatisfied.
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
This is a side-effect of chasing material desires. If we look back 3-4 years ago, housing price indeed grew very fast. If we take a long-term perspective, comparing housing price today versus that of 10 years ago, we would see that housing price didn’t grow that fast. However, I agree with your overall sentiment that housing price has grew too fast. The government agrees with you that it is a bad thing that housing prices appreciate too fast. We expect the housing price to not only be stable but also remain affordable to Singaporeans.
How do we ensure that housing is affordable? The HDB sets the price of public housing and the government ensures this price is affordable to many Singaporeans. If you consider recent purchases, you will find that many Singaporeans do not have to pay cash. They finance their mortgage with their CPF monies. There is no way you can purchase a flat overnight. As long as you are willing to wait, apply for a HDB flat, within 2-3 years, the flat would be ready for collection. Singaporeans should be able to afford, the flat would not be too expensive.
Yang Junwei [Media Freelancer]:
Many people there is gap between wishful thinking among policy makers and the sense of reality felt by ordinary Singaporeans. For example, how many MPs and Cabinet members live in HDB, take public transport and are familiar with the residential environment of ordinary Singaporeans? The lives led by Cabinet ministers may be too different from that of ordinary Singaporeans such that the Cabinet may not be able to empathise with ordinary Singaporeans.
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
Whether one is a MP or a Cabinet Minister, if he is unable to establish an understanding with his constituents, he would not be able to win their support. Every MP is aware that in order to stay in office, he must be able to win votes, so they work very hard in the grassroot sector and vist residents in order to establish a rapport with the constituents. All these interactions should help the MP to develop an understanding of the ground sentiment. It would be a problem if the MP doesn’t live with the community, but the MP’s involvement in the grassroot sector would enhance the PAP’s collective understanding of ground sentiment.
Moderator [Zeng Yeli]:
On top of insufficient income, Singaporeans are concerned on the adequacy of the social safety net and the impact of foreign workers on Singapore. We will address these issue after the interlude.
[INTERLUDE]
Moderator [Zeng Yeli]:
Welcome back. The impact of foreign immigrants are felt differently by different Singaporeans. Miss May Ong said in an email that she often has to wait for 5 trains before she can board the MRT to work. When she finally boards the train, she often find the train is packed like a can of sardines. She finds Singapore is too small to contain 5 million people. There is a student among the panellists who take public transport everyday. How do you feel?
Zeng Su Wei [Student, Ngee Ann Polytechnic]:
We have to take bus to school everyday. Waiting time can be as long as 45 minutes if we are unable to board the first bus that comes, thus we may be late for school. However, school officials perceive this as an excuse and not a reason.
Du Siu Wei [Student, Nanyang Technological University]:
Despite hikes in Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices, I have not seen any reduction in traffic congestion. I am unsure if the government’s transport policies are effective.
Moderator [Zeng Yeli]:
Dear Minister…
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
This is the government’s biggest headache. That’s why the Minister of Transport has the hardest job. Many cities face the same problem of crowding out and congested traffic. It is not just because of foreign immigration but also because everyone goes to work and comes home at the same time. That’s why the transport infrastructure cannot take the stress.
The government has invested a lot of money to improve the transport infrastructure and is still continuing to do so. It is estimated the government will spend S$60B over the next 10 years to expand the MRT. From 2011 to 2017, the government will launch a new MRT line. I understand how crowded how public transport is nowadays, but I assure you the government is doing everything it can.
In the last 4-5 years, if we fail to capture economic growth by rejecting foreign immigrants, I think Singapore would have lost out. For example, if we miss the opportunity of building two integrated resorts, Singapore would not have experienced high economic growth today. Our taxi drivers would not have so many passengers too.
Cai Xiang Bi [Grassroot Leader, Jurong GRC]:
I believe the feeling of not enough money is a universal sentiment. For example, a constituent recently shared with me that he had to undergo a minor surgery after being diagnosed with heart problem. One overnight stay at the hospital cost him $30,000.
Lee Hsien Long [Prime Minister]:
Did he stay in a Class C ward?
Cai Xiang Bi [Grassroot Leader, Jurong GRC]:
He was transferred from a public hospital to a Raffles Hospital after the doctor at the public hospital recommended him to see another doctor at Raffles Hospital.
Lee Hsien Long [Prime Minister]:
So he was treated at a private hospital. Why didn’t he insist to have his surgery at the public hospital?
Cai Xiang Bi [Grassroot Leader, Jurong GRC]:
The public hospital’s doctor recommended so.
Lee Hsieng Long [Prime Minsiter]:
And it is his personal choice?
Cai Xiang Bi [Grassroot Leader, Jurong GRC]:
Yes, it is his personal choice. He spent $30,000 to treat his condition. It is a big sum. I know an old men working at a coffeeshop to make ends meet as a dishwasher. Despite his hunchback, he has to collect and wash the used dishes and utensils. Doesn’t this reflect an omnipresent pressure that one doesn’t have enough money? I was also told: Is it because our government does a great job that it raises the standard of life quickly?
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
The government wouldn’t admit that it has done a superb job but the government tries its best in every endeavour.
We are certain that the standard of living has improved and Singaporeans lead better life now. However, expectations have also gone up. Many things that we consider necessary today are actually absent in the past. e.g. air condition, mobile phone and colour TV. These things contribute to the cost of living, so things are more expensive now.
On healthcare, if one were to patronise public hospitals, there would not be the situation of expensive medical bill. The government ensures healthcare is affordable through 3M – Medisave, Medishield and Medifund. If you subscribe to medisave and medishield, you should be able to afford the medical bill.
Moderator [Zeng Yeli]:
Li Lin, what are your views on this matter?
Zhang Li Lin [Political Observer, Institute of Policy Studies]:
Let’s change topic. Just now you mentioned integrated resorts and crowding out. We need more tourists to boost the economy. However, I would like to know the proportion of Singaporeans who make up the visitors to the integrated resorts. Does the government monitor this number?
My neighbourhood hair styler once remarked that she has lesser customers now because her regular customers (housewives) now spent more time at the casinos of the integrated resorts. They lost money to the point they now even save the little $20-30 spent on hairstyling to plug their losses. I implore the government to take a closer look because the casino levy doesn’t appear to deter Singaporean. It is actually more convenient for Singaporeans to visit the casinos today.
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
The government is monitoring the situation closely. The casinos are setup to attract tourists, not Singaporeans.
However, I understand that there are many gambling opportunities for Singaporeans, even in the absence of casinos. Because of the integrated resorts, Singaporeans are less likely to bet on horse racing and to gamble on cruise ships. They visit the integrated resorts instead at Marina Bay and Sentosa. We have implemented measures such as $100 Casino Levy to deter Singaporeans from visiting the casinos. We are prepared to make adjustments should the need arises.
However, we can’t act arbitrarily. There are specific obligations we have to adhere to as the casino operators had based their investment decisions on them. It is unreasonable of us to amend these obligations after the casino operators have set up shop here. The government is very concerned and it is actively monitoring the situation.
Jiang Pei Sheng [Managing Director, Mr Bean]:
Hi. Just now Mr Cai talked about having insufficient money. I would like to talk about the inability to earn money. In the last one year, the economy experienced a strong recovery. It should be a good thing. Although many SMEs were able to increase their revenue, they are unable to make a profit. This is because operating cost has went up.
If this trend were to continue, we can forsee that many SMEs would face the possibility of winding down. This would lead to 2 problems. Firstly, employment will go down. Secondly, the consumer will have less choices as the market becomes cornered by a few players. What is the Prime Minister’s opinion on this trend?
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
The economic outlook is still evolving. SMEs face big pressure as they don’t have so much capital and resources to adapt to a new economic environment. The government has many programs to assist SMEs in areas such as training, re-designing of business processes and boosting productivity. The government is working with corporations and industry associations to improve the performance of SMEs. It is not an easy task, so we have to continue to work hard.
Toh Hock Poh [President, Metal Industries Workers' Union]:
The government has started to tighten the influx of foreign labour into Singapore. e.g. increasing foreign worker levy and reducing foreign worker quota. We are concerned if there are flexibility in these policy changes. Some companies may relocate overseas and thus have an impact on the employment rate.
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
This is why we have to balance between foreign worker’s levy and foreign worker’s quota. We cannot have too many foreign workers but if we over-tighten the supply of foreign workers, we may lose the company. While we can force employers to hire Singaporean workers, we cannot force the company to stay in Singapore. If the company leaves, there would be less jobs in Singapore.
Toh Hock Poh [President, Metal Industries Workers' Union]:
Older workers are most concerned about loosing jobs as it would be difficult for them to find a new jobs.
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
Not just finding a job, but a job with compensation comparable to the previous job.
Moderator [Zeng Yeli]:
Young Singaporeans are also concerned with job competition by foreign labour. Bernard Leung would like to know how the Prime Minister would address the increasing difficulty of young Singaporeans finding jobs. Siu Wei, you are about to graduate. Do you have worries regarding job security?
Lee Hsien Loong [Prime Minister]:
She has already found a job. [laughs]
