Affordable healthcare! Many testify to it. 🙂

Affordable healthcare! Many testify to it. 🙂

Reclaiming our status as an Aviation Hub

Singaporeans take too many things for granted.

The world is not going to pick up from where they stopped when this COVID-19 is over.

Singapore is no different. We will have to rebuild again and this includes reviving the aviation sector and re-establishing our position as a aviation hub. It is not a given.

Our seaport and airport are like "vital organs to the Singapore economic body, almost like our lungs … taking oxygen … oxygenate and vitalise various parts of the body".

"And that is the role of our seaport and airport. It adds vitality and competitiveness to all sectors,” said Mr Ong.

The formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is to give expression to Singaporeans' desire for a greater diversity of ideas in politics

The formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is to give expression to Singaporeans' desire for a greater diversity of ideas in politics.

Make no mistake about this. No serious opposition party contests in an election without the desire to form the next government.

With the Opposition institutionalized, no longer is the role of WP merely to raise criticisms and ask questions of the government.

Their duty to Singaporeans is to put forward serious policy alternatives to be scrutinised and debated.

This way, Singaporeans will better understand the issues, choices and trade-offs.

And when we go to the polls at the next election, we can better decide for ourselves whether we want a PAP government or a WP government.

Because, to quote Calvin Cheng, 'Nowhere else in the world does a voter go to the polls and say I want Party A to govern, but I am going to vote Party B.'

Overall, the formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is a positive development for politics in Singapore.

The electorate must also grow in maturity to set the same standard for both the government and the opposition.

When the government and opposition are both held to the same high standard, it can only be good for Singapore.

Affordable healthcare: Bill of a premature baby

Thank you, Kenneth Tiang, for sharing your experience and your baby's bill with us. It adds another piece of valuable proof to the heap of stories that have been shared with this page on affordable healthcare.

A premature baby spent 5 months in the neonatal intensive care unit and incurred a bill of $326,152 !!

Government grant: a whopping $249,531
Medishield Life accounted for $72,372

Medisave paid for $4249

Out-of-pocket payment? $ZERO

If that is not a great system, what is?

We have a very good healthcare system with the 3Ms, so let's not mindlessly attack the system for other agenda because you don't like the government.

And yes, for all their imperfections, we do have a great government too.

POLITICAL OPTICS from Workers' Party

POLITICAL OPTICS

𝐏𝐀𝐏 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐏𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐂𝐅 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬.

For years, WP chooses to hold their MPS in void decks for political optics even though they could have rented the spaces from HDB at 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 to build a simple room for MPS.

𝐀𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐀𝐏 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐏. For example, some PAP MPs are known to donate all of their MP allowance to their constituencies (Edwin Tong and Tin Pei Ling are 2 examples). But they do it on the quiet.

This makes us wonder if that is good. Good works should not be hidden under the bushel and the PAP MPs should publicly announce all their deeds.

#overheard
When it comes to playing politics, if WP claims they are no. 2, no one dare they claim they no. 1. Everything WP do is just optics to score points.

I won my bet. The moment I hear LO will get more pay, I bet he will donate and score point. I am proven right.

PAP is a lousy at playing politics.

“A POLITICIAN VERSUS A POLITICAL LEADER"

To explain (the changes to the elected presidency) Mr Chan related a story about a conversation with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, which he said taught him the difference between a politician and a political leader.

“We asked ourselves - PM, do we need to do this now? Because we had anticipated it would be a hard journey to convince people and we would pay the political price, at least in the short term,” said Mr Chan.

“PM Lee’s answer will forever be etched in my mind, and that distinguished a politician from a political leader.

“He said 'Yes, we are likely to pay a political price. Yes, we may not have a problem here and now, but what if we have a problem 20 or 30 years from now? Will the fourth, fifth or sixth generation of leaders have the liberty, and the luxury of time and space for them to put in place a system?'” said Mr Chan.

Mr Lee, he added, had taken it upon himself to put in place a system to pre-empt potential issues from arising in the future. “Not for himself, not for his political capital, but always thinking about what this country needs,” he said. “We are prepared to pay the political price, because we think the future of our country is much more important than any political capital that we may have.”

𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

By Mdm Ho Ching:

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback on the #MaskSafe DET30 masks.

The Temasek Foundation team has been most encouraged by the positive reception, and are looking into suggestions like kid size masks.

Everyone involved is very happy to have the chance to complement the government’s generous efforts to provide Singaporeans and Singapore residents with masks.

This is part of our national effort to fight covid, with different people and organisations pitching in to help in various ways.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞.

I also take this opportunity to thank the generations of Temasek staff. They have helped to grow the Temasek portfolio from its S$354 million heritage, to over S$300 billion by March this year.

This is what enabled Temasek to do its part confidently in this covid crisis.

* 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 **

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞.

What does this mean?

This means that Temasek is a taxpayer like any other taxpayer, corporate or individual. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐏𝐅 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.

𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

** 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 **

Excluding any new capital from government, and including the dividends paid to government, Temasek has grown its portfolio at an average annual rate of 14% since 1974.

A 14% annually compounded growth means a doubling of our money every 5-6 years.

While Temasek had been contributing to various community and philanthropy projects since its founding, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

This is why we have been able to accumulate funding which we could redirect for the fight against Covid, both in Singapore and abroad. These were community funds accumulated over the years.

This is why i thank the generations of management and staff in Temasek as well as the Temasek portfolio companies. It is their hard work and enterprise which has given us steady and sustainable results, and which has helped to fund our community donations.

** #𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝟑𝟎 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 **

Will there be 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝟑𝟎 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬?

Yes, the Temasek Foundation folks are working on that, and will keep everyone posted closer to the distribution date in September.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬?

Well, when we embark on the #BYOBClean to distribute non alcohol hand sanitisers to everyone to help prevent the spread of covid virus via our hands, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

Hence, we encouraged every household which wanted a kid friendly hand sanitizer, to bring their own bottles to collect 500ml of hand sanitizer.

In the same vein, we wanted to have a reusable solution for keeping our saliva to ourselves, instead of adding to the plastic waste.

Do you know that all the disposable surgical or single use N95 masks are made from plastic?

On top of an𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 reusable mask, we were also looking for antimicrobial or antibacterial property esp on the outer layer.

Why?

Have you noticed how we use our masks?

Most of us would adjust our masks, perhaps scratching our nose through the mask, etc.

We are not medical staff working in hot zones with the discipline of not touching our masks, or with the discipline of removing our masks gingerly by holding only the head or ear loops.

So 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

And for those of us with hidden infection, we are already infected, so it is not likely to matter as much.

But for the rest of us who are not infected, a mask with 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Nonetheless, it is good to get into the habit of sanitising our hands every time we handle our masks, ideally both before and after handling our masks.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐈𝐘 𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤?

All is not lost!

We just need to take extra precaution, to sanitise our hands every time after handling our masks.

And if we want to be doubly sure, we can add a face shield as well. This will protect our eyes, and keep our masks less likely to be contaminated.

So keep safe, folks, and stay masked.

And if for whatever reason we want to see each other’s faces, then put on a face shield, rather than go maskless.

And for added protection, wear a face shield on top of our masks.

Keep well, and be kind!

The fight against Covid is not over, and will last beyond 2020.

So stay cool, and be patient, be kind.

Edwin Tong does not spend his MP allowance on himself

Edwin Tong became an MP in 2011. Back in 2012, he was asked by the ST what he spent his MP allowance on.

Edwin does not spend his MP allowance on himself.

He told ST that when he became MP, he opened a separate bank account for his monthly MP allowance, which he only uses for MP-related purposes.

These include dinners with grassroots activists and charitable donations.

He does not see the allowance as income for himself, and having a separate bank account makes it more transparent, he said at that time.

He is the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law.