Notes from the East February 3, 2009

Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

The Singapore population at present is about 4.8 million people and about $850,000 of those are foreigners. The population has grown from $2.7 million 16 years ago. The government’s goal is for Singapore to have 6.5 million people in 17 years. They are getting this growth by two methods, 1) trying to get “foreign talent” to become permanent residents or citizens, and 2) getting Singaporeans to have procreate more.

They are fine with adding foreigners to the population and expect it to be between 1 to 1.5 million when they are at 6.5 million population, but they really want those foreigners to stay here permanently.

Two years ago (last data I have), the government granted permits for 58,200 permanent residency (PR) and 13,900 citizenships to foreigners. That total was almost double the 38,000 babies born to Singaporeans that year.

This is not an intro into a confession that we are becoming citizens here, only an introduction to one more Singaporean “campaign” to win the hearts and minds of the citizens. This is called the “Marriage and Parenthood Package” which has been enhanced.

Here are some amazing parts of what this whole package offers:

A Working Mother’s Tax Credit Basically, this is to get people to get Singapore citizenship for their kids (or reward those who have it automatically) and keep women in the workforce after they have kids. It boils down to the fact that a woman can get credit (so that she does not pay taxes on income) of up to $50,000 per child (with a couple of caveats, but they do not diminish this too much) in a step-up for each child. See this chart:

How much you can claim
The amount of WMCR claimable for each child is based on a specified percentage of the working mother's earned income corresponding to the child order.
New! With effect from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009, the percentage quantum for WMCR has increased and WMCR is now extended to all qualifying children. Working mothers can claim WMCR up to 100% of their earned income for all her qualifying children. In addition, the total amount of QCR/ HCR and WMCR claimable for each child is capped at $50,000.
Child order
WMCR (YA 2008 and before)
WMCR (YA 2009)
1st
5% of mother's earned income
New! 15% of mother's earned income
2nd
15% of mother's earned income
New! 20% of mother's earned income
3rd
20% of mother's earned income
New! 25% of mother's earned income
4th
25% of mother's earned income(for child born in or after 1987 but excludes child adopted before 1 Jan 2004)
New! 25% of mother's earned income
5th and beyond
0%
New! 25% of mother's earned income
Maximum claim allowable*
QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $25,000 per child
New! QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $50,000 per child
Cumulative WMCR percentages are capped at 100% of mother's earned income
* QCR/ HCR, regardless of whether it is claimed by the father or mother, will be allowed first and WMCR will be limited to the remaining balance.
Baby Bonuses and Children Development (Savings) Accounts

You will get a cash gift of up to $4,000 each for your 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for your 3rd and 4th child. All your children born on or after 17 August 2008 will also enjoy Government contributions in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching for the amount of savings you contribute to your child’s Children Development Account (CDA). If your child is born before 17 August 2008, he or she will enjoy the Government matching contributions in the CDA if he or she is your second to fourth child. The CDA is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered Bank branch for your child who is eligible for CDA. You can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year your child turns 6 years of age. The savings will be matched up to the cap of $6,000 each for the 1st and 2nd child, $12,000 each for the 3rd and 4th child and $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child. The Government will match your savings in the following month. The savings in the CDA may be used to pay fees for all your children who are attending Approved Institutions registered with MCYS under the Baby Bonus Scheme. These include child care centres, kindergartens & special education schools registered with the Ministry of Education, and early intervention programmes registered with the National Council of Social Service. The CDA savings can also be used to purchase MediShield or Medisave-approved private integrated plans for all your children and pay for all your children’s medical-related expenses. These would include consultation fees, treatment fees and prescription costs incurred at healthcare institutions.

Just in case you are wondering, this is not an introduction to news of us deciding to have a Singaporean baby, just things I thought you might find interesting.

Its almost time for the Finance Minister to give the speech where they tell you how much money (if any) is left over from the budget expenditures/ inflows last year and dole out the goodies to people as they did last year. Despite the fact that I personally get none of the largesse, I love reading what they are using their money for—the whole thing is an economics case study.

Here is what they have come up with for the next year’s budget. It is going to be a very bad year for the Singapore economy…

$5.1 billion from government coffers to save jobs: Government will give all employers money for every Singaporean (or permanent resident) on their payrolls—12% of the first $2,500 of each month’s wages for each employee.

$5.8 billion from government to help small businesses: Government will get involved in trade financing and unsecured loans because small companies can not get credit in the markets.

$2.6 billion in tax rebates for families; $2.6 billion property tax rebate for factories, offices and shops that will hopefully lead to lower rents for the tenants.

$4,4 billion on public infrastructure, education, health care, sustainable development projects. These are not campaign promises—these are in the actual budget for next year!

On January 1, the government mandated that there cannot be smoking within 15 feet of the entrance to buildings, elevator lobbies, parking garages. Okay, that is pretty much in line with all kinds of initiatives in the US and elsewhere. Here is the difference, “About 100 plain clothes enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) fanned out across the island yesterday (1-2-09) to issue friendly reminders to smokers who were still puffing away in now out-of-bounds areas…NEA has put more officers on the beat—120 daily [my emphasis], up from 50—to enforce the ban and also to catch litterbugs. Another 500 public health enforcement officers are on duty daily to check cleanliness and hygiene in public areas, as well as smokers and litterbugs”

“Smokers who infringe on the smoking bans can be fined up to $1,000. Operators who fail to advise their patrons against lighting up can be fined up to $2,000. Those caught with duty-unpaid cigarettes (which they do by not allowing any un-official import and all imported cigarettes have a legend printed on them (on each cigarette) will be fined at least $500 for each pack [my emphasis] found on them.” All that from the Straits Times.

As I have often said, when you look at a situation (like the “drug war” in the US or whatever) and say, “Well, if they really wanted to solve the problem, this is how they would do it…” that is how they have done it in Singapore. They may not have a sense of humor, really cannot speak English correctly and cannot possibly be talked poorly about in the Wall Street Journal, but they do know how to get the results they are after!

Last bit! This is not from Singapore, but from the Invocation Card in the seat back pocket on Indonesian airline Lion Air. I have left the spelling and grammar as reproduced on the card:

Islam
“We seek the help of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful…Who has bestowed upon us the will and ability to use this aircraft, without Whom we are helpless. Verily, God, alone we worship and to God alone we shall return. Oh Allah, shower us with your blessings and protect us on this journey from any hardship or danger and protect also our family and our wealth.”

Protestant
“Lord in heaven, we praise and thanks of Thy bless and endless love in our live. In this opportunity, We call They holly name to accompany our journey. We believe Thou will guard and protect our plane from any disturbance and danger. To the all air crew, Thou will lead their duty in order for us to arrive to destination in time and save. Thank you for Thy help and firm love from beginning, now and forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.”

Catholic
“In the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Long ago You save the children of Israel who crossed the sea with dry feet. And three wise kings from the east received Your command with the guidance of a star. We beg You. Bless us with a safe trip, with good weather. Bless us with the guidance from your angels, so that crew of this aircraft will lead us to our destination safely. We also hope that our family remain happy and peaceful until we land safely. Blessed be Your name, now and forever, Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Hinduism
“Keep our minds and manners pure and let us attain inner peace and happiness.”

Buddhism
“Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the Perfected One, the Supremely Enlightened On (3x). May all beings be well and happy.”

Faith (that’s my name, not the last part of the Invocation Card).