Levy Not The Way to Deter

TheOnlineCitizen: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/01/pawners-linked-to-casinos/

The Singapore government levies a S$100 fee on each Singapore or Singapore citizen who enters the casinos at Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World Sentosa. This is regardless of whether the person enters to play or to observe.

This blanket levy, to me, is akin to imposing foreign worker levy in hope of discouraging the hiring of foreign workers by companies in Singapore. It doesn’t.

The government has to understand (it probably does already) that people who badly want to gamble (the non-social gamblers) would willingly, without batting an eyelid, go all means to pay that S$100 to do so. They are already prepared to lose (or win) a lot when they gamble. $100 would b e a drop in the bucket for them.

If deterrence is the main priority, other methods should be devise such as a gambling loss limit that is pegged to one’s income imposed on them. I know it’s hard to administer (lots harder than simply making them pay S$100 upfront) but social programs are easy to administer in the first place and social problems too are not easy to solve.

Of course there could be many other better ways to help gamblers control when they lose self-control but a flat S$100 levy is certainly not a good measure.

TODAYonline | Voices | Disparity in tertiary education facilities

TODAY Online: Voices | Disparity in tertiary education facilities

There’s always this problem with a handful of Junior College (JC) students – elitist mindset. Very often, they feel superior to their peers who are in the polytechnics or ITEs.

In this letter that this JC student wrote to the press, it is evident to me he feels being a JC student who is supposedly brighter and better than their peers, his school facilities should not be sub-par to or even better than those of the ITEs.

I personally know of several friends who were from the ITEs who eventually work their way to the Universities and excel in their fields.

The disparity in the quality of equipment and facilities in the schools compared in the letter are probably due to the timeline of replacement set by the schools. The fact that it is an ITE doesn’t mean the equipment should be old and the priority of renewal should be on the back-burner.

Everyone has to realise that no matter what path a person takes or the school in serving the education needs of a student, there should be no discrimation against or disparity in the treatment of school or its students.

Playing Robin Hood?

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/business/global/micro-tax-on-financial-trades-gains-advocates.html?emc=eta1

It feels great to see many pushing for this but I can also understand why Obama is not keen based on the reasons cited.

A small tax of 0.1% or less will have very little impact on even the small retail investors. The Singapore and Hong Kong models have proven this. When you buy with the expectation of capital gains, most won’t mind the puny tax. When you do sell (usually at a profit), it’s even truer.

A transaction tax of this nature hurts less than an income tax or a Value-Added Tax or Goods & Services tax because people don’t profit as often or even at all when they consume.

It’s time for change and this is the change Europe and the US should work towards. This revenue can either help the poor or revive the dying economies of the former great countries…

China Plays Wait and See

ChannelNewsAsia: Chinese premier Wen warns of global economic turmoil.

China should know better. While being afraid to dip their toes into the turmoil and yet knowing that if it does not save Europe with its huge reserves of trillions of dollars, their economy will not come out unscathed as they sell a lot of the Europeans.

China has been trying recently to arm-twist US in getting its house in order with the subtle threat of not investing and even pulling out of the US bonds it current holds (lots!).

Everyone knows that to be an influence in the world, it’s not just through missiles or aircraft carriers but through money and that’s what China has. Plenty of them…