I refer to the article “Telco fines to be used to help needy go digital” (Straits Times,  Apr 4).

Telco fines to help needy?

It states that “The money collected from fines on telcos, such as the record $1.5 million imposed on M1 for its mobile outage in January last year, will soon be used to help low-income families join the Information Superhighway. ”

– In my opinion, the principle behind the policy of using fines from operators like Telcos and transport operators in this manner is wrong.

Why should consumers end up paying for the inefficiencies of operators?

I understand that in most countries – the penalties are returned to consumers by way of rebates or free services.

Govt no need to pay?

This policy is fundamentally flawed because the only party that arguably gains – is the Government.

With a budget surplus of $3.9 billion for FY2012, or $36.1 billion according to IMF fiscal reporting guidelines – the Government should be paying to help the needy, instead of consumers.

Such a policy may also contribute to inflation.

Extension of “do not spend money”?

It is bad enough that already, from a cashflow perspective – we do not spend a single cent on healthcare, CPF or HDB – the subject policy issue may be akin to a further extension to our “uniquely Singapore” ‘do got spend money’ syndrome.

MPs outspoken?

In this connection, I agree with MP Hri Kumar Nair’s remarks “far too often … he has attended meetings where Singaporeans kept silent, giving the impression they are ignorant”, and Mr Erman Tan, president of the Singapore Human Resource Institute’s remarks “the importance of being outspoken is weighed differently by firms. “Some may like that you’re outspoken because it means you engage more but some might think that you’re not respecting your bosses or not a team player” (Straits Times, Apr 4).

So, will some MPs raise the above issues in Parliament substantively?

Leong Sze Hian