Home > ST Forum > Online Story
Dec 10, 2007
Double whammy for low-income households
IN THE midst of the current discussion over the increasing rate of inflation in Singapore, one issue has been left out.
This issue is especially germane, since higher inflation affects the less-well-off in Singapore society much more than those who are better off.
I am referring to the declining real, as opposed to the nominal, interest rate, for savings in Singapore. The gap between the two is caused by the recent increase in inflation, combined with a stagnation in the interest rate offered by financial institutions here.
According to monthly data available from the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) website (https://secure.sgs.gov.sg/apps/msbs/interestRatesOfBanksAndFinanceCompaniesForm.jsp), 12-month fixed deposit rates of banks have averaged 0.92 per cent (over the last five years, that is, 2002-2006) and 2.05 per cent (over the last 10 years), 2.56 per cent (over the last 15 years) and 3.02 per cent (over the last 20 years).
The bank savings rate has averaged 0.31 per cent (over the last five years), 1.12 per cent (over the last 10 years), 1.52 per cent (over the last 15 years) and 1.94 per cent (over the last 20 years). The picture is similar for finance companies.
Annual inflation data from the SingStats website (http://www.singstat.gov.sg) shows that the average was 0.7 per cent (over the last five years), 0.7 per cent (over the last 10 years), 1.2 per cent (over the last 15 years), and 1.5 per cent (over the last 20 years). This year, it is expected to be between 3 and 4 per cent.
Thus, low-income households have suffered doubly in the current Singapore economy: their purchasing power has fallen (because of higher inflation) while their ability to grow their savings has declined. It is doubtful whether next year's increase in inflation will lead to any rise in interest rates.
In addition, while higher-income households are aware of alternative options for increasing their returns, such as REITs, ETFs and commodity futures which have boomed in recent past, lower-income households are unable to take advantage of such financial innovations.
It's a situation full of despair for low-income households - while they are asked to spend more time enhancing their skills so they can earn more, whatever savings they do have or put aside are steadily being eroded.
Harminder Singh
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_184770.html
Latest comments (#1)newsstorm at Mon Dec 10 07:23:30 SGT 2007:
Plus, the richest 10% - 20% people in Singapore enjoy doubling, tripled or four-fold increase of their fixed assets like private properties and commercial properties and many made millions from en-bloc sales. HDB dwellers don't enjoy this at all. The rich also have their transport cost lowered. Lower import tax and road tax lead to the low cost of absolute car price over the years, a Japanese saloon car cost about $100,000 more than 10 years ago but now cost about $60,000. But public transport costs keep on going up and up. It pays to be a rich person in Singapore but the poor get to catch up with ever-increasing costs of living.
------
(#2)CallMeKP at Mon Dec 10 07:48:37 SGT 2007:
Dear Editor,
This letter should have been moved to the PRINTED VERSION. As a public media, you need to continually highlight the plights of the suffering average citizens.
Thanks
Showing posts with label Governance (Social security). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governance (Social security). Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
TNP: HARASSED BY LOAN SHARKS
"Debtors' neighbours feel loan sharks' fury"- Terrible...
HARASSED BY LOAN SHARKS
10,000 cases last year That makes it 27 police reports daily
By Joyce Lim November 11, 2007
10,000 cases last year That makes it 27 police reports daily
By Joyce Lim November 11, 2007
THINK the 10,000 figure is startling? It gets even worse.
In this case in 2003, Mr Raymond Leng allowed the previous owner of the flat to stay for another month after he bought the flat, but then had to face the wrath of loan sharks. -- File pictures
On one busted loan shark syndicate's database, there were 1,000 debtors. These ah longs (loan sharks) were dealing in $500,000 every month.
Another had 500 debtors, with a turnover of $80,000 a month.
The loan sharks' tactics are also getting bolder - they use debtors to do the dirty work.
And they harass the debtors' neighbours.
The notorious Ah Long San (former loan shark Chua Tiong Tiong) was jailed in 2001, but three equally dangerous characters who go by the nicknames Tiger, Carlsberg and Rolex have taken his place.
These three men run loan sharking syndicates and have groups of runners helping them.
The police have nabbed some of their henchmen in recent months.
The cops are taking a tough stance because the number of loan shark related harassment cases has gone up.
(Above) The door of this debtor resembles a colour palette, as he owes at least 18 loan sharks. In 2005, there were 8,568 police reports lodged, before the figure shot past 10,000 last year.
In the first half of this year, four major intelligence-driven operations were conducted, resulting in the arrest of 32 suspects, police spokesman assistant superintendent Toh Boon Ngee told The New Paper.
'In April, police busted a syndicate (with 1,000 debtors)... that was responsible for at least 230 cases of harassment island-wide,' added ASPToh.
Last month, police said they had conducted raids against loan sharks at Yishun, Hougang and Eunos and arrested three men between 32 and 39 years old.
Over $100,000 in cash and other items such as computer storage devices and handphones were seized.
RECRUITING YOUTHS
From the arrests made, the police noticed a worrying trend of loan sharks recruiting youths and debtors to assist them in their unlicensed moneylending and harassment activities.
The debtors-turned-runners are forced to open bank accounts under their names for illegal money transactions.
This means the loan sharks can stay out of the picture if the police discover the accounts.
The police said that three months ago, one of Tiger's runners was arrested. This man has since been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and 2 strokes of the cane.
(Above) In this file picture, the warning from loan sharks were found on the fourth floor of this flat although the debtor lives on the 10th floor. The 32-year-old had taken a loan from Tiger last November, which he could not repay.
To clear his debt, he worked as Tiger's runner, assisting the man to withdraw and transfer money through ATMs.
In another operation in June, a 19-year-old national serviceman was arrested for abetment of unlicensed moneylending. He had been working for both Carlsberg and Rolex.
Between February and June this year, he helped to collect repayments from debtors and performed ATM transactions for Rolex. Earlier, he was also helping Carlsberg collect repayments.
If the debtors could not pay, he would harass them by splashing coffee at their homes.
He has been sentenced to two years supervised probation and 150 hours of community service.
ASP Toh said: 'Police take a serious view of unlicensed moneylending and harassment offences and will continue to act against the offenders.
Police will not hesitate to take action against debtors who are found to be assisting unlicensed moneylenders in their illegal activities.'
Those who harass or intimidate anyone in connection with loans by an unlicensed moneylender face a maximum fine of $40,000, or up to three years in jail, or both.
Those who damage property as part of the harassment can also be caned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debtors' neighbours feel loan sharks' fury
HE owes nothing to loan sharks, yet his door has been splashed with paint on numerous occasions.
Mr Tan is the victim of the loanshark's new tactic of harassing the neighbours of debtors.
He found out that a neighbour had once borrowed money from loan sharks.
The retiree said in Mandarin: 'I know she feels bad about what happened. I never scold her. What for? It's beyond her control.
'She did apologise to us and told us that she has already cleared the debt so many years ago. But the loan sharks still return to vandalise.
'We have already informed the police. We can only leave it to the police to do their job.'
Others in Mr Tan's Bedok Reservoir Road neighbourhood have also been harassed by loan sharks.
Mr Low, 59, who lives one floor below Mr Tan, has also found fresh paint on his door on a few occasions.
Last week, another neighbour returned home after work to find the grille gate locked with a bicycle chain.
LOCKED INSIDE FLAT
Said the neighbour, Mr Ng Cheng Heng: 'My son was locked inside the flat. What if something happened and he was trapped?
'The loan shark should go after the person who owed them money, not the neighbours.'
The 48-year-old marketing executive lives with his wife and son in a four-room flat below the resident who had borrowed from the loan sharks.
When approached, the resident, who declined to be named, admitted that her husband had taken a loan from a loan shark five years ago. But they claimed they have since cleared the debt.
Said the middle-aged woman: 'I don't know why the loan sharks keep harassing my neighbours. Now when I see them I feel very malu (Malay for embarrassed).
'We don't know which loanshark is doing this. My husband even took a day off work and stayed home, hoping to catch the loan shark who vandalised my neighbours' flats. But they did not turn up.'
Her neighbour, Mr Tan, joked: 'We're no longer disturbed by the loan sharks. When they splash red paint, I'll paint my door red. And if the paint is black, my new door colour will be black.'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,147381,00.html?
In this case in 2003, Mr Raymond Leng allowed the previous owner of the flat to stay for another month after he bought the flat, but then had to face the wrath of loan sharks. -- File pictures
On one busted loan shark syndicate's database, there were 1,000 debtors. These ah longs (loan sharks) were dealing in $500,000 every month.
Another had 500 debtors, with a turnover of $80,000 a month.
The loan sharks' tactics are also getting bolder - they use debtors to do the dirty work.
And they harass the debtors' neighbours.
The notorious Ah Long San (former loan shark Chua Tiong Tiong) was jailed in 2001, but three equally dangerous characters who go by the nicknames Tiger, Carlsberg and Rolex have taken his place.
These three men run loan sharking syndicates and have groups of runners helping them.
The police have nabbed some of their henchmen in recent months.
The cops are taking a tough stance because the number of loan shark related harassment cases has gone up.
(Above) The door of this debtor resembles a colour palette, as he owes at least 18 loan sharks. In 2005, there were 8,568 police reports lodged, before the figure shot past 10,000 last year.
In the first half of this year, four major intelligence-driven operations were conducted, resulting in the arrest of 32 suspects, police spokesman assistant superintendent Toh Boon Ngee told The New Paper.
'In April, police busted a syndicate (with 1,000 debtors)... that was responsible for at least 230 cases of harassment island-wide,' added ASPToh.
Last month, police said they had conducted raids against loan sharks at Yishun, Hougang and Eunos and arrested three men between 32 and 39 years old.
Over $100,000 in cash and other items such as computer storage devices and handphones were seized.
RECRUITING YOUTHS
From the arrests made, the police noticed a worrying trend of loan sharks recruiting youths and debtors to assist them in their unlicensed moneylending and harassment activities.
The debtors-turned-runners are forced to open bank accounts under their names for illegal money transactions.
This means the loan sharks can stay out of the picture if the police discover the accounts.
The police said that three months ago, one of Tiger's runners was arrested. This man has since been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and 2 strokes of the cane.
(Above) In this file picture, the warning from loan sharks were found on the fourth floor of this flat although the debtor lives on the 10th floor. The 32-year-old had taken a loan from Tiger last November, which he could not repay.
To clear his debt, he worked as Tiger's runner, assisting the man to withdraw and transfer money through ATMs.
In another operation in June, a 19-year-old national serviceman was arrested for abetment of unlicensed moneylending. He had been working for both Carlsberg and Rolex.
Between February and June this year, he helped to collect repayments from debtors and performed ATM transactions for Rolex. Earlier, he was also helping Carlsberg collect repayments.
If the debtors could not pay, he would harass them by splashing coffee at their homes.
He has been sentenced to two years supervised probation and 150 hours of community service.
ASP Toh said: 'Police take a serious view of unlicensed moneylending and harassment offences and will continue to act against the offenders.
Police will not hesitate to take action against debtors who are found to be assisting unlicensed moneylenders in their illegal activities.'
Those who harass or intimidate anyone in connection with loans by an unlicensed moneylender face a maximum fine of $40,000, or up to three years in jail, or both.
Those who damage property as part of the harassment can also be caned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debtors' neighbours feel loan sharks' fury
HE owes nothing to loan sharks, yet his door has been splashed with paint on numerous occasions.
Mr Tan is the victim of the loanshark's new tactic of harassing the neighbours of debtors.
He found out that a neighbour had once borrowed money from loan sharks.
The retiree said in Mandarin: 'I know she feels bad about what happened. I never scold her. What for? It's beyond her control.
'She did apologise to us and told us that she has already cleared the debt so many years ago. But the loan sharks still return to vandalise.
'We have already informed the police. We can only leave it to the police to do their job.'
Others in Mr Tan's Bedok Reservoir Road neighbourhood have also been harassed by loan sharks.
Mr Low, 59, who lives one floor below Mr Tan, has also found fresh paint on his door on a few occasions.
Last week, another neighbour returned home after work to find the grille gate locked with a bicycle chain.
LOCKED INSIDE FLAT
Said the neighbour, Mr Ng Cheng Heng: 'My son was locked inside the flat. What if something happened and he was trapped?
'The loan shark should go after the person who owed them money, not the neighbours.'
The 48-year-old marketing executive lives with his wife and son in a four-room flat below the resident who had borrowed from the loan sharks.
When approached, the resident, who declined to be named, admitted that her husband had taken a loan from a loan shark five years ago. But they claimed they have since cleared the debt.
Said the middle-aged woman: 'I don't know why the loan sharks keep harassing my neighbours. Now when I see them I feel very malu (Malay for embarrassed).
'We don't know which loanshark is doing this. My husband even took a day off work and stayed home, hoping to catch the loan shark who vandalised my neighbours' flats. But they did not turn up.'
Her neighbour, Mr Tan, joked: 'We're no longer disturbed by the loan sharks. When they splash red paint, I'll paint my door red. And if the paint is black, my new door colour will be black.'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,147381,00.html?
Reuters: Singapore income gap widens with economic boom
3rd world Government for a 1st world people?
"...Singapore has an income inequality profile more in line with third-world countries..."
"...Singapore has an income inequality profile more in line with third-world countries..."
"...Singapore's Gini coefficient, ... ... is now in league with the Philippines (46.1) and Guatemala (48.3), and worse than China (44.7), data from Singapore's Household Survey and the World Bank show. ..."
Singapore income gap widens with economic boom
Monday, November 12, 2007
By Melanie Lee, Reuters
SINGAPORE -- Carol John, 27, doesn't own a bed. Every night she sleeps on thin mattresses which she shares with her three young children. Outside her one-room flat, a smell of sewage lingers in the common corridor.Just a few kilometers away, on Singapore's Sentosa island, Madhupati Singhania relaxes on his US$435,000 yacht berthed at the city-state's swanky One 15 Marina Club.
Income inequality is nothing new in free-market Singapore, but two years of blistering economic growth and a government policy of attracting wealthy expatriates have created a new class of super-rich, while a string of price increases for everything from bread to bus fares have made life harder for the poor.
"I can't save anything, it's so difficult for me," John told Reuters. John, who is unemployed, relies on her husband's S$600 (US$420) monthly salary and a S$100 government handout.
"We don't benefit at all from the economy. As far as I know, my husband's pay hasn't gone up," she said.
Singapore's economy is firing on all cylinders, with a booming construction sector, record tourist arrivals and a fast-growing financial sector all contributing to a gross domestic product set to grow nearly 8 percent in 2007. But the rising tide is not lifting every boat.
The proportion of Singapore residents earning less than S$1,000 (US$690) a month rose to 18 percent last year, from 16 percent in 2002, central bank data released late last month show.
At the same time, the proportion of those earning S$8,000 and above rose from 4.7 percent to 6 percent in the same period.
"When a country becomes richer, you tend to see a widening of income inequality. Over the last few years it has been worse," said econometrics professor Anthony Tay at SMU university.
Despite sporting a first-world GDP per capita of US$29,000 -- second only to Japan in Asia -- Singapore has an income inequality profile more in line with third-world countries. Singapore's Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has worsened from 42.5 in 1998 to 47.2 in 2006, and is now in league with the Philippines (46.1) and Guatemala (48.3), and worse than China (44.7), data from Singapore's Household Survey and the World Bank show.
Other wealthy Asian nations such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan have more European-style Ginis of 24.9, 31.6 and 32.6. CIMB-GK Research economist Song Seng Wun believes that growth itself partly explains the widening income gap.
"In an environment where growth is huge, there are lots of opportunities for risk takers, and inevitably, you will get this widening (of the income gap)," he said, adding that those in stable jobs will also benefit, but to a lesser extent.
Opportunity is what attracted Singhania to Singapore. He intends to buy a new 47-foot yacht for US$1.3 million.
"You've got everything you want in Singapore. You want to buy a fast car, you want to buy a big boat, you want to buy an aeroplane, whatever you need, you can get in this country."
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2007/11/12/130587/Singapore-income.htm
Singapore income gap widens with economic boom
Monday, November 12, 2007
By Melanie Lee, Reuters
SINGAPORE -- Carol John, 27, doesn't own a bed. Every night she sleeps on thin mattresses which she shares with her three young children. Outside her one-room flat, a smell of sewage lingers in the common corridor.Just a few kilometers away, on Singapore's Sentosa island, Madhupati Singhania relaxes on his US$435,000 yacht berthed at the city-state's swanky One 15 Marina Club.
Income inequality is nothing new in free-market Singapore, but two years of blistering economic growth and a government policy of attracting wealthy expatriates have created a new class of super-rich, while a string of price increases for everything from bread to bus fares have made life harder for the poor.
"I can't save anything, it's so difficult for me," John told Reuters. John, who is unemployed, relies on her husband's S$600 (US$420) monthly salary and a S$100 government handout.
"We don't benefit at all from the economy. As far as I know, my husband's pay hasn't gone up," she said.
Singapore's economy is firing on all cylinders, with a booming construction sector, record tourist arrivals and a fast-growing financial sector all contributing to a gross domestic product set to grow nearly 8 percent in 2007. But the rising tide is not lifting every boat.
The proportion of Singapore residents earning less than S$1,000 (US$690) a month rose to 18 percent last year, from 16 percent in 2002, central bank data released late last month show.
At the same time, the proportion of those earning S$8,000 and above rose from 4.7 percent to 6 percent in the same period.
"When a country becomes richer, you tend to see a widening of income inequality. Over the last few years it has been worse," said econometrics professor Anthony Tay at SMU university.
Despite sporting a first-world GDP per capita of US$29,000 -- second only to Japan in Asia -- Singapore has an income inequality profile more in line with third-world countries. Singapore's Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has worsened from 42.5 in 1998 to 47.2 in 2006, and is now in league with the Philippines (46.1) and Guatemala (48.3), and worse than China (44.7), data from Singapore's Household Survey and the World Bank show.
Other wealthy Asian nations such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan have more European-style Ginis of 24.9, 31.6 and 32.6. CIMB-GK Research economist Song Seng Wun believes that growth itself partly explains the widening income gap.
"In an environment where growth is huge, there are lots of opportunities for risk takers, and inevitably, you will get this widening (of the income gap)," he said, adding that those in stable jobs will also benefit, but to a lesser extent.
Opportunity is what attracted Singhania to Singapore. He intends to buy a new 47-foot yacht for US$1.3 million.
"You've got everything you want in Singapore. You want to buy a fast car, you want to buy a big boat, you want to buy an aeroplane, whatever you need, you can get in this country."
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2007/11/12/130587/Singapore-income.htm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
+Monkey+cut.jpg)