Justice Bao Gong: Help For Those With Financial Difficulties

If you know of any friends of relatives who are facing financial difficulties, they can seek financial assistance from Singapore Government. Through the agency 'Comcare', which is the collaboration of 3 Government agencies: Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), People's Association (PA) and Council of Social Service (NCSS), the Singapore Government aims to reach out to individuals and families in need.

In my earlier posts, I have provided several CDCs for needy families and individuals to seek help, which can be a bit tricky given that there are so many CDCs in Singapore. However, all you need to do now is just call ONE TELEPHONE NUMBER :

1800 222 0000

COMCARE HOTLINE

CALL THE ABOVE NUMBER IF YOU KNOW OF FRIENDS, RELATIVES OF FAMILIES IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES

-Your humble servant.

Justice Bao Gong: Help for the Poor and Less Fortunate

JUSTICE BAO GONG: To Serve and to Protect


If you are a union member and if a family member passes away, suffer from chronic illness or become incapacitated, you can obtain assistance at the below contact numbers:

Kalau agamamu adalah Muslim, dan sedang mengalami penyakit buruk, atau menjadi janda, atau gaji tidak cukup, kamu boleh dapat bantuan dari CDC atau hubungi MUIS pada nombor telepon terlampir untuk minta pertolongan.













If your household income is low and are unable to make ends meet, or if you know someone who is desperately in need of money to survive, you can look for help in this 'HOPE' program by the Singapore Government below:
















If you are unable to work, or temporarily unable to work, or unable to work due to disability, old age or sickness, you can obtain the attached financial help from the related Government agencies.















There are also a whole list of other very useful ASSISTANCE SCHEMES for the POOR and the less fortunate, a very much appreciated initiative from the Singapore Government. More details can be obtained at the following website. You may contact them or your nearest Community Development Council (CDC) to ask for assistance :



Life is a paradise for a fortunate few who soak in the sea of plenty, but for the vast majority, many are drowning in the ocean of poverty. But worry not, as there are always help available. Many thanks to the Singapore Government who have made the necessary plans and safety net for the really poor to obtain financial assistance.

It is the middle class that will find life very hard in Singapore, because many of the middle class will NOT be eligible for these financial assistance. You will have to be very very poor in order to obtain these financial assistance.

Another way to help the squeezed middle class is probably reduce the cost of living in Singapore, or rather, reduce FOOD INFLATION. Hawker food prices has been drastically increasing with no let down in prices and something must be done. In future posts, we will highlight good hearted hawkers who sell their food and drinks cheap, unlike those Kopitiam, Koufu monopolies who sell ridiculously high prices for their drinks and food.

You can obtain further information at this website:
http://www.ncss.org.sg/home/index.asp


* The above information is only a short summary of assistance available. For full details and conditions that apply, do contact your nearest CDC for clarification. The contents and opinions stated in this website are solely from Mulia of justicebaogong and we are publishing this in the hope of reaching out to the families and individuals who are truly in need so as to enable them to find the financial help that they may urgently need.

Singapore Newspapers - Totally free from Government Control?

Most western newspapers are free from government control, and they strive to post articles which are impartial and non partisan, so you receive news that are the fact, whereas newspapers that are not non partisan generally posts articles that may not paint the full picture. We always believed that some control in the press is important to keep the public peace, but too much, to the extent that the voice from the man in the street is not heard, is too much.

Check out the last 2 paragraphs of this article in the International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com/articles/1993/04/07/sing.php

We are a non partisan blog that strives to help the less fortunate and the man in the street, and do not wish to step across the line that the authorities have set and confined us in, but if you are always interested to find out more about what is happening behind the scenes in Singapore that is not reported in traditional media, send us a comment.

Your humble servant.

Singapore Government finally Guarantees all Bank Deposits

(Source: The Straits Times)


With reference to our earlier post "Good Pressure on the Singapore Government", the Singapore Government has finally decided to guarantee all bank deposits with immediate effect. In Singapore where almost everything is either a monopoly, duopoly or oligopoly, it is good to have some competition to ensure some equity.

This is a sharp turnaround from their declaration that there is no need to guarantee bank deposits just 2 days ago:
(Source: earthtimes.org )

This is because, as mentioned in our previous post, Singapore cannot afford to have foreign funds migrating to Hong Kong: It will only spell the beginning of the end for Singapore. By matching Hong Kong's move, what will be incurred from this guarantee will be higher banking operational costs, which will still be passed down to the us consumers, because banks, being profit oriented entities, are not going to absorb costs for the masses (More details on everything you wanted to know about what happens behind the scenes in the banks, in our earlier post "MAS Speaks up: What Investors Need to Beware").

We will analyse rising costs and inflation and how it affects the man in the street in our future post. Meanwhile, please do leave your comments or email us should you have any issues that affect the average man.

Your humble servant.

References:
The Straits Times
Good Pressure on the Government
earthtimes.org
MAS Speaks Up: What Investors Need to Beware

Justice Bao Gong: Increase in Electricity Prices NOT justified

(Source: The Straits Times)


Good morning Singapore and the Rest of the World,

This is a good opportunity for everyone in the world to see what really happens in Singapore- Whatever the Government says is always correct and everyone else is wrong, regardless of the facts that are backing the man in the street.

Attached is the reply from Director of Corporate Communications, Energy Market Authority (EMA), which we assume should be responsible for the increase in the electricity tariffs, since they replied in the forum to our good man, Mr Bruno Serrien, who has written in to question on the increase of electricity tariffs at a time when oil prices have been falling.

Mr Bruno noted that electricity prices have shot up 48% in the past 12 months, whereas oil prices have went down. The reply from the director of Corporate Communications was that price of electricity is pegged to the cost of fuel, and she claims that the increase was necessary because of the 38% spike in FORWARD fuel oil price from US$83 to US$115 per barrel between April and July this year. She also mentioned they will also continue to help households to conserve energy and thus save on our electricity bills.

OK, let us analyse the statistics: From October 2007 last year, oil prices closed at US$81.27pb. Today's Crude Oil nov contract is US$73.07 as I type. Thus, there is a decrease of 10% in oil prices since last year, but electricity tariffs have went up by 48% in the past 12 months: So am I doing the sums wrongly or is it the Energy Market Authority (EMA)? Details of world oil prices can be found here.

Maybe we give the director the benefit of doubt, as there was a substantial increase in oil prices in the previous quarter. So, going by her calculation, by next quarter, we should have a decrease in electricity prices by 58%. Let us see how electricity is priced next quarter then. Bookmark our page & follow this blog & wait for our update on this issue.

In light of the need for more transparency and disclosure following the financial turmoil debacle such as structured products being widely mis-sold to retirees who have lost their life savings, Singaporeans and the world would want to see greater disclosure and transparency on how pricing is actually calculated- If there is no arbritrary increases in pricing, then why shy away from disclosure and transparency?

We hope that the increases are not passed down to consumers because of poor market hedging. We welcome ALL comments from everyone around the world. If you are an expert in oil and electricity pricing, kindly do assist the man in the street by giving us a comment on how oil prices affect retail electricity prices.

Your humble servant.


References:
The Straits Times
Energy Information Administration

Good Pressure on Singapore Government

Good news again for the people in Singapore. Hong Kong, once again, coming in as the white knight to assure the Hong Kong people of its banking strength, has guaranteed all banking deposits for 2 years, putting pressure on Singapore Goverment to match the move, so as to retain its competitiveness in Asia. Without Hong Kong's move, it is highly unlikely any positive move be made, except, maybe, raising more tariffs (more details here). This will mean the current guarantee for banking deposits for Singapore banks may be raised to match Hong Kong's (Currently, Singapore deposits are guaranteed to only a paltry $20,000). More non partisan details can be obtained at nytimes.com.

Hong Kong is deemed to be a direct competitor in terms of attracting foreign investments from other parts of the world, due to their close proximity, good governance and excellent infrastructure. As such, Hong Kong would be Singapore's closest competitor in terms of fighting for a bigger pie of the financial inflows from the rest of the world.

In future posts, we will talk in detail about Singapore's future. Singapore has no natural resources, no land, no nothing, only people. Singapore's future can only be sustained for another few decades at most, propped up by the incoming integrated resorts. We have come a long way from a small fishing settlement, to manufacturing base to financial hub. With the financial turmoil still not yet fully over, our integrated resorts may not take off, as the success of Singapore's future depends on tourism & domestic consumption, which is why if you noticed Singapore is getting more and more crowded, be it in the trains, the walkway, the CTE or Orchard road. This is because Singapore needs the population to prosper. Take away the tourists, reduce the immigrants and Singapore will be in recession. We will discuss this in future posts and what lies ahead for Singapore's next generation and how to prepare ourselves for it.

Your humble servant.