Put economy and welfare in perspective: Tony Tan

Dear Sir,

with respect to your comment on:
"If our economy doesn't do well, there won't be any revenue; there won't be any income at all for Singaporeans. So we won't have the means to do any welfare at all."

Our economy is currently doing very well with more than 10% growth last year... so did we see any improvement in our welfare scheme? Also, having good economy at the expenses of our own people, is no doing a gd welfare to all of singaporeans...

one simple example, with so many influx of foreign talent at once, has brought about the increase in your statistic of employment rate which in turn up your GDP... but your own Singaporeans is suffering from cheap labour competition and higher cost of living....

Pls advise on this...

Ha ha ... Even if economy was good ( the last 20 years, ask LKY )....there was still zero welfare.
Money however was bursting the pockets of the Super Rich Ministers and Top Civil servants.
Singaporeans have never relied on this government for true welfare.
They rather choose bedok reserviours, Singapore river...... or try their luck with toto.
Many luckier ones are now Citizens of truly first world countries.

"If our economy doesn't do well, there won't be any revenue; there won't be any income at all for Singaporeans. So we won't have the means to do any welfare at all."-TT

PAPayas made it clear they don't want a welfare state. IF you cant compete with FT, You cant get a job, you cant pay your bills. you get sick, you lose savings, you lose home, you lose everything....YOUR OWN PASAL...they don't care.....IF all these don't happen to you then lucky you but when you're old and useless they invite you to go die in Johor....ZERO welfare

All that is during boom economy....now TT saying during bad economy PAPayas going to do even less welfare? What is less than zero welfare? negative welfare?

Listening to TT makes me (T_T)

Mr. TT you said "If our economy doesn't do well, there won't be any revenue; there won't be any income at all for Singaporeans. So we won't have the means to do any welfare at all."
Wait a minute..
True in a way, we will have to suffer even more above our normal sufferings when the economy is not doing well. Everyone can see that since it has always been. People do not only take cuts, some loose their jobs. The older don’t get re-employed. Yah! Yah! if they do, the take up cleaning toilets, some pick up cans and cardboard boxes from the garbage bins. These were significant during the last crisis in later 2008 and 2009.
What about the ministers’ salary, any significant cuts, any reviews?
What about the trainee and poor performing MP's, riding on the GRC, still get the same?
Seems to me like these salaries including the president's remains status quo.
If the economy goes down, the biggest cuts should come from the highest rungs of the government since the money comes from the tax payers and that is us, the lay men and women in the street.
Don’t tell anyone to tighten their belts if the leaders don't or take a small cut that they do not feel it or really empathize with the poorer folks.
I sense this too...
Mr. LKY now will be involve in the PE debate with TJE who happens to be the one that gave Mr.TT a hard time. The telecast will be delayed 2 hours. In that 2 hours, lots will be filtered out other than the heaated arguement. I do hope during that 2 hours "black out" other than name calling and temper control, please do not tie the PE candidates hands behind their backs or resort to unfair controls just because they went against your beliefs. Be a fair goverment and you will see your legacy continue beyond 2016. Fair enough?

Another of this threat when election time, same threats used by the ruling PAP candidates during the recent GE 2011.

Stop threatening us!!!!!

TT, how about putting Ah boy AWOL Absent With OFFICIAL Leave for 12 long years issue in perspective?

Dont sound like a a EP wannabe more like a PM. Anyway where was your welfare when u were Min of Defence? Commoner son had to do full NS cycle while yours given the soft easy road?? What welfare his talking about??

Tony, what are you talking about welfare when economy is bad ?

When economy is good, citizens CANNOT even use their RIGHTFUL money, medisave to pay their medical bills.

They have to pay half in cash by themselves and can only use medisave to pay the other half.

Don't talk ckok !

Dear Tony, we have heard this many times already. We have also experienced it that whenever a govt dept thinks it does not make enough revenue, the buck is passed on to the public. What govt welfare are you talking about, man ? We do not need you to tell us this, there are already 80+ in the parliament doing that. What we want now is for more voices in the parliament to speak up for the public. Thanks very much for your interest to be my president. Sorry, you are OUT !!! I give my vote to the man who can act and take action with COURAGEOUS INTEGRITY. So far I see that only in TJS.

We just can't trust the white wizard.

Just my view. Please do not get offended or agitated over this and no offense intended.

For the first time, there is 4 candidates running for the Elected President.
All 4 are qualified candidates with experience.

I noticed past Presidents have a rather "clean" image with the exception of one. There is no rumours or proven "failures" on their career path. I may be wrong on these as I based on articles and news paper reporting as a Singaporean.

Deleting off the candidates who had "rumours" or "failed investments" or comments, only 02 have finally came up to my mind where not so established "bad achievement"....DR TCB and Mr TJS.

Between both, Dr TCB is retired and senior than Mr TJS.

Mr TJS is the youngest Candidate and going to reach 65.
Mr TJS appeared ALWAYS with his wife and young family.
All the other 3 Candidates have family and they are already Adults!

Who is the BEST FIT of a People's President ?.
Who is most qualified to represent the Citizens to speak on these common issues facing on the ground?

Mr TJS do not have much political experience but he is one MAN WITH FAMILY and going through the same life as common people like me.

Mr TJS is relevant & fits the bill of the People of Singapore as Elected People President.

As for other political concerns, our Government should not have any problem in dealing with it as long as the People's President is advised and guided along by the leaders and Ministries.

We as common citizens of Singapore are able to accept the turmoils and turbulence of the country UNITED AND AS ONE.

I love Singapore and I prefer a President who have LOVE of COMMON PEOPLE mentality.

Just my view.

Who said: "FOOLISH ENOUGH to build MRT"?
On the one hand, we had President Ong Teng Cheong (then Minister of Communication):
"The MRT is much more than a transport investment, and must be viewed in its wider economic perspective. The boost it'll provide to long term investors' confidence, the multiplier effect and how MRT will lead to the enhancement of the intrinsic value of Singapore 's real estate are spin-offs that cannot be ignored."
- 28 March 1982

"The MRT will usher in a new phase in Singapore 's development and bring about a better life for all of us."

On the other hand, we had a "visionary" Minister who went out of his way to deliberately, publicly, and rudely slam President Ong - the chief advocate for the MRT system - as being "FOOLISH ENOUGH":
"The construction industry has become over-heated and if Singapore were to be foolish enough to want to build its proposed mass rapid transit (MRT) system now, it will find itself in trouble."
- Forum on economic affairs at NUS, 17 December 1981.

Question: So, who was this "visionary" Minister who was not as "foolish enough" as President Ong?

Answer: Who else, but (again!) that very same man who "face thick thick", is now everyday busily (passively) shaking the hands of fishmongers and saving fainting children (on camera), desperately hoping that such comical last-minute manoeuvre can help him to get $4,000,000 per year as our President.

Meet T T, the "not-foolish-enough" Minister for Trade and
Industry in 1981.
Yes, this is the same T T whose forecast that Singapore had too many university graduate went wrong (again!), and whose forecast that pumping billions of dollars into failed western banks is good investment went wrong (again!)

Oh, by the way, when he made that wrong forecast on education, he was the Minister for Education.

When he made that wrong forecast on investment, he was in charge of GIC.

And yes, you guessed it, when he made that wrong forecast on the impact of MRT on the construction industry, he was the Minister for Trade and Industry!

Just what's wrong with this Minister? &^%$，he made the wrong forecast in every ministry he headed and when he had finally done enough screwing up all these ministries, he went right into the "private" sector (i.e. GIC) and immediately proceed to lose billions of dollars of our CPF money!

Is this the kind of President you want?

Not me.

I am not "foolish enough" to want to listen to any of his Presidential "visions"!

More importantly, I am not "foolish enough" to vote him to let him scold me; Notice that President Ong Teng Cheong was then his colleague in the cabinet and yet, despite having already had the opportunity to counter Mr. Ong privately during cabinet meetings, he was not contented. No, not enough! He had to 'suan' his colleague publicly and make sure the "nation-building" newspaper reported on it!

So, do you think he will have any problem labelling you - an ordinary citizen - as "foolish enough", when he becomes the President.

His good friend LKY has already called you "daft". Not enough meh? You want to be called "foolish enough" next?

So, Singapore did "foolishly enough" went ahead with the MRT construction. Did Singapore "find itself in trouble"?

When my mother was in hospital I had to use up my medisave to cover all her expenses as my father was retired and relied on his own medisave. So as a Singaporean what welfare did my mother receive? All because I had a job and that did not justify any welfare for my mum? Singaporeans have always been self relient due to their hard work when it comes to welfare...

All these TT and TCB bashing show u people are SIMPLETONS. I will never vote TJS because then I will be like a simpleton. I will vote TT and TCB in one big stroke. May you people who vote TJS be kicked out of ur cheap HDB flats!

..." And I think it makes Singapore a more vibrant place... a more fair place", so said Dr Tony Tan.

Please refer to what's the latest UNFAIR acts from PA and HDB concerning Aljuneid GRC. Will Dr Tan please comment? If his answer is PA and HDB are right, fine, I can understand. Otherwise, what would he do about it if he were the president?

wat he said is useless!wat does he mean by no wellfare?if singapore import so many FT for wat purpose?if he does cares for the country,the stop importing FT la!!!then our country will hv enough job for our own country citizen rather then all those trashes taking away our jobs and we still hv to show them kindness!better go kick their asses.........................

So far all he says is just 'economy' as though warning us that if he is not voted in, we will suffer...nothing to do with speaking up for us and our welfare - like the other 3 Tans

Economy and Welfare sounds great.

But for whom? For the ones taking home more than S$1,000,000?
The Union leaders, the clan leaders laughing to the bank?

What about those Union members earning less than S$1,000 a month?
What about those "less dignity", 55 years no job and without pension, hoping to draw a little saving for daily expenses?

It will most sad if both the President and Government thinks they have done their best for Singapore when maybe 60% or more Singaporeans are struggling to pay bills, house, income tax, property tax, school fees, bus fares, supporting aged parents every month.

why hold rally in the afternoon near the bank? So only the rich and overly highly paid people have the time to go and listern to him. The poor and middle? sorry please carry on working to pay off your debt!