1st of all, a heartfelt apology to the Russian Team and its supporters for a 'almost' effort after losing to Croatia in the penalty shoot-out 3:4 this morning. This after a heroic last minute equaliser! It has done way beyond the Russians' expectation and had won fans throughout the country. Congratulations even as it missed out on the semi-final against England!
"Commentary: Government transfers and social assistance - Who deserves them? Who doesn’t?
We all want social spending to reach the right people to improve societal outcomes, but this requires us to agree on who needs help and how to identify them, says Channel NewsAsia’s Bharati Jagdish.
When it comes to U-Save rebates and Service and Conservancy Charges rebates for instance, the quantum is based on housing type.
This has been a point of contention for some including Members of Parliament who have raised the issue for discussion several times over the years.
More recently, MP for Marine Parade GRC, Seah Kian Peng said in an On the Record interview that among his residents, it is an emotive issue.
During last year’s Committee of Supply debate, then-Senior Minister of State for Finance Indranee Rajah said that household income remains the best measure to determine who qualifies for government social assistance schemes.
She pointed out that many social assistance programmes - such as the Community Health Assist Scheme and ComCare schemes - factor gross total monthly household income or monthly household income per capita in eligibility criteria.
Those with no income are assessed on the annual value of their home.
But based on this criterion, a person who lives with wealthier family members or with a big family in one house may be excluded from schemes even though he doesn’t receive monetary assistance from them.
If household income or housing type aren’t accurate gauges, what is?"
For me, case-by-case appeal can be entertained while the simpler one-size fit all criteria can be the 1st assessment gate! This means those who feel they REALLY need government social assistance get the chance to STILL get it. It also means that if they REALLY need it, they WILL appeal for it!
Ultimately, for the poor and disadvantaged, the ideal case is to: 'help them to help themselves!'. For the elderly and unemployable and infirmed, social help should be given to them without expecting them to 'help themselves' as they are NOT able to. The rest of the 'able to' just have to deal with this 'dead weight'!!
"Commentary: Government transfers and social assistance - Who deserves them? Who doesn’t?
We all want social spending to reach the right people to improve societal outcomes, but this requires us to agree on who needs help and how to identify them, says Channel NewsAsia’s Bharati Jagdish.
When it comes to U-Save rebates and Service and Conservancy Charges rebates for instance, the quantum is based on housing type.
This has been a point of contention for some including Members of Parliament who have raised the issue for discussion several times over the years.
More recently, MP for Marine Parade GRC, Seah Kian Peng said in an On the Record interview that among his residents, it is an emotive issue.
During last year’s Committee of Supply debate, then-Senior Minister of State for Finance Indranee Rajah said that household income remains the best measure to determine who qualifies for government social assistance schemes.
She pointed out that many social assistance programmes - such as the Community Health Assist Scheme and ComCare schemes - factor gross total monthly household income or monthly household income per capita in eligibility criteria.
Those with no income are assessed on the annual value of their home.
But based on this criterion, a person who lives with wealthier family members or with a big family in one house may be excluded from schemes even though he doesn’t receive monetary assistance from them.
If household income or housing type aren’t accurate gauges, what is?"
For me, case-by-case appeal can be entertained while the simpler one-size fit all criteria can be the 1st assessment gate! This means those who feel they REALLY need government social assistance get the chance to STILL get it. It also means that if they REALLY need it, they WILL appeal for it!
Ultimately, for the poor and disadvantaged, the ideal case is to: 'help them to help themselves!'. For the elderly and unemployable and infirmed, social help should be given to them without expecting them to 'help themselves' as they are NOT able to. The rest of the 'able to' just have to deal with this 'dead weight'!!
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