Yahoo Poll: Does Singapore do enough to address social inequality?
Singapore scored near the bottom in international charity confederation Oxfam’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2018, which is a global ranking of governments based on their efforts to reduce the gap between rich and poor.
The Republic came in 149th out of 157 countries, attributed in part to low taxation of the rich and relatively low spending on public social programmes compared to other nations.
In response, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said the country strives to attain “real outcomes” in health, education, jobs and housing, rather than aim to satisfy a “collection of ideologically driven indicators”, according to CNA.
Said Lee: “Almost half the population do not pay any income tax, yet they benefit more than proportionately from the high quality of infrastructure and social support that the state provides.”
What do you feel? Does the government do enough to address inequality in Singapore? Have your say in our poll and leave a comment below.
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