This is the second part of our comparison of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) election manifesto against its actual policies and official statistics over the last half-decade.
Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, public housing
PAP manifesto:
– Give low-income earners more help to buy their homes and build up their assets for their retirement, through the Additional CPF Housing Grant Scheme (ACHG);
– Upgrade HDB housing estates
– Approvals of HDB flat dwellers given financial assistance because they could not pay, disappear from HDB’s 2005/2006 Annual Report onwards
HDB loans in arrears over three months declined from 33,670 in September 2008 to 26,000 in June, despite Singapore’s worse recession in 2009.
New HDB flat prices always increase more than the increase in the ACHG. HDB resale prices have risen by about 75 percent over the last five years.
In Malaysia, public housing start from around RM25,000, against the cheapest (S$90,000 -RM216,000) two-room HDB (1 bed-room) flats in Singapore
There are, meanwhile, 2,200 Selective En-bloc Re-development (SER) flats and other non-SER flats (such as former Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) that are rented to foreigners, whereas thousands of Singaporeans wait years in the queue for HDB rental flats.
The number of homeless in Singapore picked up by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) has doubled compared to last year.
HDB continues to refuse to disclose the break-down of costs of building flats. Last year’s HDB annual report had its largest deficit ever of S$2 billion (RM4.8). Is this because under its market subsidy pricing policy, the more flats HDB builds and sells, the more money it loses?
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on Oct 24 that the federal government has allocated RM180 million to build the first ever People’s Housing Project in Kelantan, comprising 1,500 units, for the benefit of the poor and those in the low-income group.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/146254
Central Providend Fund (CPF)
PAP Manifesto:
– “Top-up the CPF retirement and Medisave accounts of older citizens”
CPF policy has changed without any announcement in the media or Parliament – such as relating to the “property pledge”, which states that at 55, one will no longer be able to automatically pledge property against the withdrawal of money at 55, as the “property pledge” will only cover the CPF Minimum Sum (currently S$123,000 (RM295,502) shortfall.
Only 60 percent of active CPF account holders are estimated to have at least S$67,000 (RM160,959) by the age of 55 when the new compulsory CPF Life Scheme kicks in by 2013. Twenty-five percent of active CPF members with less than S$40,000 (RM96,098) at age 55 will be excluded from the scheme. How many inactive CPF members are there?
CPF savings left unclaimed for six months upon the CPF member’s death will receive the lower 2.5 per cent interest, instead of the higher four to five per cent in the Retirement, Special and Medisave accounts.
CPF members included in CPF Life will no longer be able to withdraw the minimum monthly payout to enable the member to survive regardless of the account balance, as the payout will in future be solely determined by the life annuity payout monthly amount.
CPF Minimum Sum will be raised to S$123,000 (RM295,502), and Medisave Required Amount will be raised to S$22,500 (RM54,055).
CPF withdrawal rule at 55 will be reduced from 50 percent to 30 percent, and will continue to decrease at 10 percent per annum, until it becomes 0 in 2013.
CPF partially restored from 34.5 to 35.5 per cent, but the increase will go to the Medisave and Special Accounts, so there will be no increase in disposable cash income.
Temasek and Singapore Government Investment Corporation (GIC) had returns of 18 percent (S$ terms) and 7.9 (In US$) for the last 33 and 20 years respectively, whereas CPF Ordinary account interest is only 2.5 percent – the CPF Board transfers CPF funds to the government in exchange for non-marketable government bonds that match the 2.5 and 4 percent interest on CPF accounts.
In contrast, Malaysia’s Employee Provident Fund (EPF) interest rate has ranged from 4.25 to 8.5 per cent historically, and is currently (2009) 5.65 per cent
Healthcare
PAP Manifesto:
– “Provide affordable healthcare to all”
– “Make hospitals more efficient so that they can keep charges affordable”
– “Continue to subsidise lower-income Singaporeans who fall sick”
The number of hospital beds in Singapore, has hardly changed – from 11,742 to 11,663 during the years 1999 – 2009, against a population growth from 3.96 to 4.99 million; and medical tourists to Singapore growing to 646,000 in 2008.
Forty-eight percent of Medisave withdrawals in 2009 went to paying for CPF members’ dependants’ medical expenses. What this means is that the current generation is already using up a lot of their Medisave for other generations. In healthcare funding terms, this may be what many countries fear most and try very hard to avoid – whereby the current generation pays for older generations and depletes their own healthcare funding for the future.
CPF Medishield insurance premiums and medical costs keep increasing to wipe out in a short time any Medisave top-ups for the elderly
– 28,500 Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS) elderly Singaporeans only received S$1.2 million of subsidy funding from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to General Practitioners (GPs) in 2009
The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) highlighted in 2010 the rampant practice of nursing homes eating up their residents’ government payouts like GST credits because of acute insufficient funding, but without asking for the residents’ consent
Doctors, nurses and staff of healthcare group running Polyclinics continue to raise funds every year for needy patients who cannot afford polyclinic fees, because Medifund cannot be used to help pay for Polyclinic fees
In Malaysia, the lowest consultation cost at a public clinic is RM1, whereas in Singapore polyclinics (public clinics), the lowest cost start from about S$10 (RM24). Presumably, when Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965, the cost of medical treatment at public health providers were about the same. So, why is it that lower-income Singaporeans have to pay about 24 times the amount Malaysians fork out for the most common basic medical services?
In 2005, about 18 percent of a particular ethnic community in Singapore were in credit debt due to medical fees.
Countries like Malaysia and Thailand have free treatment for HIV patients, but not in Singapore, where HIV treatment costs start from about S$1,500 (RM3,605) a month.
Singapore’s public GDP spending on healthcare is at about two percent, one of the lowest in the world. In contrast, Malaysia spends about 2.2 percent.
Hospitals and community hospitals receive funding based on a complicated system of average costs depending on the number of patients for each and every different type of illness or procedure, and also on a needs basis arbitrarily determined by MOH. So when you are told the subsidy is say 80 percent for Class C, perhaps nobody actually knows how much exactly.
Means Testing implemented – those earning over S$3,200 (RM7,690) will pay more in subsidised C and B2 hospital wards.
Means Testing was also implemented for community hospitals
Singaporeans’ foreign spouses and dependants’ medical costs in Class C hospital wards have increased by 400 per cent, and Singaporeans’ permanent resident spouses’ increased by 75 per cent (100 per cent by July 2011).
Next week: Part III
S’pore polls coming too: Time for a report card (Part I)
