I REFER to the parliamentary exchanges between the People's Action Party (PAP) Members of Parliament and opposition MP Low Thia Khiang in yesterday's reports, 'Lively debate over Jobs Credit plan' and 'Is scheme to save jobs truly effective, asks Low'.

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Another valid concern is that why there was a need to dip into the PAST reserves when we have CURRENT reserves (reserves accumulated by the current adminstration, the positive budgets of the last few years)?

Also how was the presidential approval given? The process is invisible. Nobody knows when the application was made to the president and his advisers, and how fast the approval was given. Was there ANY study made to evaluate the use of the past reserves? [p.s the last was a rhetorical question]

Is there any elected president in Singapore??
Singaporeans are not that stupide lah! We all know that the so-called elected president and the PAP are just acting a show only. If the president does not approve the reserve withdrawal request, PAP will issue him the last pay check salary.

Not only the last pay cheque but also deprive him of the honor to be given a presidential burial when he died, just like what they did to the late President Ong Teng Cheong.

Surely the government must show some transparency as to:
1) why use past instead of current reserves?
2) was this open for voting? and who are the "qualified" voters?
3) who has the right to approve the decision to use past reserves? Surely it cannot be the President as we know how OTC was castigated for even asking how much the reserves was and surely the current President should have learned a lesson from the OTC saga.
4) how was the figure to draw down the reserves arrived at?
5) what credible procedure was preceded to apply for and getting approval to withdraw the reserves?
6) was there an independent party (not in PAP's payroll) to audit the approval process?
7) what has the government planned to do so "recover" these drawn out reserves? raise GST? income taxes? excise duties? ERP charges? educational fees?

Singaporeans, I'm sure knows too well that the reserves were withdrawn without any strings attached, right Singaporeans?

Agree completely with the Forum letter and with Low Thia Kiang.

Companies retrench workers because of two main reasons:

1) Falling demand
2) High wages

How is the stupid Job Credit Scheme going to solve (1)? PAP has time and again say that we cannot stimulate demand. This is the reason they reject giving Singaporeans direct cash to spend because they claim it is not going to help the economy.

How is the stupid Job Credit Scheme going to solve (2)? If demand has fallen, the companies are going to retrench workers no matter what. DBS recently retrenched hundreds of workers too. Do you think these workers would have been saved by the stupid Job Credit Scheme? Do you think DBS would have let them keep their jobs if the workers volunteer a 12% pay cut? Why save only 12% when you can save 100%?? Conversely, those who are not planning to retrench are simply not going to expand just because you have these extra money, given the economic uncertainty, most would just hoard the money. Please stop screaming the example of Sheng Shiong. In the first place, their expansion outlets have not opened yet and even if they are opened, one Sheng Shiong does not the forest make.

How is the stupid Job Credit Scheme going to save locals from being retrenched when the employer is faced with a choice of cutting a foreign worker and a Singaporean worker? The wage differential between a local and a foreign worker (for those blue collar jobs) is likely to be greater than 12%. So the employers are still going to retrench the local.

WHAT A STUPID SCHEME THIS IS.

INSTEAD OF PRETENDING THEY CAN "SAVE" JOBS, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO ALOT MORE FOR THOSE WHO ARE JOBLESS NOW OR WHO WOULD BE JOBLESS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

I had to agree. I am quite disappointed by the package given by the government and more should be done to ensure the money from the reserves are not wasted. I do not understand why the government are giving every companies the cash credits for every employees that contributes to the CPF. They are being generous in the wrong way in this climate. Obviously, there should be requirements that deemed whether the companies are eligible for the cash credit. Why should we be dipping into our reserves to pay companies who in the past 5 years, had made enormous profit and even in this downturn managed to be profitable? The money is probably wasted in the form of bigger bonuses to the executives and mgmt as we had seen in the United States. Are we just following the footstep blindly?

And i supported the idea of making those companies who receives the cash credit to abide by the requirements that they cannot retrenched any CPF contributors for at least 6 months for example. Let say there is company who had decided to retrenched 10% of the employees, and with receiving the cash credits, continues the plan to retrench those workers. Instead of saving jobs, the company would only profitted from the cash credit it receives for the other 90% employees it retains. Is it money wasted without achieving the purpose?

And there should be more given to Singaporeans when compared with PR. It is not about discriminations or being fair but the reserves is built up by our 1st and 2nd generation fathers and it should be given to full pledge Singaproeans and not evenly to PR who may leave us later.

Job Credit gives money to companies that are doing well and do not need it, companies that doing not so well but can survive with cost cutting measures, companies that are doing so bad that they will retrench in matter of time.

Job Credit for the above companies are wasting tax payer money. The money is better directly to help SME with more loan facility as Mr Low Thia Khiang suggested.

PAP MPs are avoid answering the question of why giving Job Credit money to the above groups of companies. However, they demand means testing when we are sick and go to hospital.

It was a red herring in Parliament.

Past Reserves.

Current term Surplus.

Low did not want to go for the killer move to ask full disclosure! He is too kind.

Low need not go for the killer move...He just need to shine.. ; )

He used the red herring.