By Tan Wui Hua

Stayers or Quitters - I listened to PM Goh's National Day Rally speech. I heed his call to live for Singapore and not to die for it. "The English students of Oxford University, in a famous debate just before World War II, voted that they would not die for King and country. Ironically, a few years later, when the war broke out, many of them did fight bravely against Hitler and the Nazis." Similarly, many of us may say that we will flee, but the truth will only come to light when there is war. I am amused that the PM is so engrossed in his persuasive and heart rending speech that he is not able to overlay the words of wisdom with his earlier illustration. Singapore may have 90% of the population saying that they will fight, but when there is war, is that the reality? We have adjusted the Ministers pay to match "market compensation packages". With such high salaries, is it surprising that people do not find the Cabinet to be leading by self-sacrifice and wonder if the Ministers are stayers or quitters?

Transport Fare Hikes - I listened to PM Goh's reply to the public, saying that feedback on transport fare hikes had been taken into account before a decision (contrary to the feedback) was made. In my family, we would normally have lunch together on weekends. My father would ask what the family would like to eat, and some of us would innocently mistake it as an offer for suggestions. When we did give our suggestions, my father would comment that the journey was too long, it was difficult getting a parking lot etc etc etc. I wonder if the same also applies here. Was the decision to increase fares already cast in stone even before feedback was sought, or was the feedback obtained before any decision was made? Whichever the case may be, it would be very difficult to convince the public that a fare increase in this difficult times is justifiable and that, despite strong reactions from the public, the increase had to be implemented. To implement such a fare hike on purely commercial grounds does not bode well on the average citizen facing unemployment and future economic uncertainty, where wage restraints, wage cuts and retrenchment are in abundance.

$388m Honest Mistake - The government explained that the $388m payout by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore ("IDA") to SingTel was an honest mistake. The government has paid top dollar to recruit talent, and it would be a shame if these talents were not responsible for the actions they take. If any individual in the private sector would, honestly and mistakenly, lose $388m of the company's money, not only would the executive board fire him on the spot, but the shareholders would also fire the board as well. Any executive with a few years of experience will tell you that the tax component could have been addressed by supplementing the payout with a Tax Indemnity whereby IDA will pay the tax on behalf of SingTel (subject to a maximum cap) should SingTel be assessed tax based on the compensation. This would have prevented IDA from honestly and mistakenly paying out an amount not amounting to the compensation, and also allowed IDA to keep the $388m and earn interest during this tax assessment period.

I do concede that it is easier to criticise in hindsight. I do not profess to know all the answers, but knowing where the problems are is a good way to start. I have always believed that an alternative representation in parliament is good for two reasons: that there is alternative view to be aired in parliament without having to "tow the line", and a system of checks and balances can be maintained so that mistakes can and will be prevented, and that "honest mistakes" do not silently happen, and get written off..

Tan Wui Hua is a Financial Controller and is also the Deputy Treasurer for The Workers' Party.