Govt has ensured access to affordable transport instead of overcomplicating COE scheme: SM Lee to Jamus Lim
He made the comment in response to a Facebook post by Workers' Party Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim, who wrote that the car allocation system does not consider that those with genuine needs to own a vehicle may still be unable to afford a COE.
Mr Lee said the government provides direct help to those who may need more support, such as families with young children, who can use the grants to pay for a COE if they wish to do so.
"Therefore where we disagree is not over who cares more for our fellow Singaporeans, but what is the best way to meet people's needs and take care of them," he said.
Associate Professor Jamus Lim made his Facebook post after attending the Economic Society of Singapore's annual dinner on Tuesday, where Mr Lee participated in a wide-ranging dialogue with the society's president Euston Quah.
At one point, Mr Lee was asked about calls to allow certain groups to pay less for the COE.
He said that there were "so many good arguments" that it is difficult for the government to design a system that accounts for all the factors – such as whether a family has children, how young they are, whether someone has a disability or is elderly, or works a job that requires a car.
Assoc Prof Lim, however, took issue with Mr Lee's position, saying that while the government acknowledges the needs of different groups, it ultimately defaults to a market-based auction system.
"But instead of saying that there was a reasonable way to adjudicate between these competing needs, (Mr Lee) then pivoted to how competitive bidding represented the best way to allocate between these claims," wrote Assoc Prof Lim.
"What's sorely missing, however, is how those with genuine needs may not have the purchasing power to meet those needs, even if their needs may have more merit."
During the dialogue, Mr Lee said, "I think if you want to design a scheme which worries about all those things, it will fail."
There is no easy way, Mr Lee said, to fairly distribute something valuable and make it cheap. Road space is scarce in Singapore, and the COE system means that buyers pay the fair market value for the right to own a car, he added.
Assoc Prof Lim said people do not want every aspect of their lives to be determined in a transactional way.
"Society has values – about compassion, equity, respect, and loyalty – (that) are poorly valued by impersonal markets." That is why people teach children to share, spend money on their parents' health and devote their energy to causes they believe in, he said.
"That's why, for all our economic successes, there are ways that Singapore, Inc. operates that (rub) many people the wrong way."
Mr Lee said during the dialogue that while he cannot promise every Singaporean an affordable car, he can guarantee affordable and convenient transportation.
"Cars, no. Transportation, yes," he said.
He added that for families, instead of giving them cheaper COEs, the government provides more support through initiatives like the baby bonus.
"Directly help the group you need to help in cash, rather than make complicated schemes, which then end up with all kinds of contradictions and wrong incentives."
Assoc Prof Lim said, for him, the bottom line is that "we are not mindless slaves to the prevailing structures and institutions present in the society we live in".
He said Singaporeans have inherited a prosperous nation that was built based on the constraints and prevailing wisdom of the past, and must be active participants and shapers of the future they want.
"If we want to head in a different direction, toward a more empathetic and just economy and society, then it is on us to seize that vision and make it real," said Assoc Prof Lim.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
24 minutes ago
- CNA
Malaysia's sultans end meeting without naming new top judges, urge public not to speculate over judiciary crisis
KUALA LUMPUR: A highly anticipated announcement from Malaysia's royal rulers on top judges' appointments has failed to materialise, stirring a fresh round of uncertainty over the leadership vacuum in the judiciary. The Conference of Rulers - the ceremonial heads of Malaysia's nine royal households - held talks with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim this week to discuss recommendations for top appointments to the judiciary. On Tuesday (Jul 15), Anwar said that the rulers would announce the appointments the next day. Government sources told CNA on Wednesday that the Conference of Rulers had reached an agreement and that the appointments would be formalised at the closing session on Thursday before an official announcement. At around noon on Thursday, the Sultan of Selangor, who ranks as the most senior monarch in the Conference of Rulers and the chairman of this week's proceedings, issued a statement to confirm that the meeting had discussed the appointments of the Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as other judges of the superior courts. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah added that he supported the statement by the Istana Negara (National Palace) on Jul 10 regarding the power of the king to appoint these top judges on the advice of the prime minister and after consultation with the Conference of Rulers. 'The process provided for under the Federal Constitution must be carried out transparently and carefully, in order to uphold the rule of law and support the principles of justice that form the core of governance in this country,' the Sultan of Selangor said. 'In this connection, all parties are urged to refrain from making any speculation or unfounded accusations without complete and verified facts.' However, there has been no formal announcement of any top judges' appointments as widely expected even though the Conference of Rulers had finished their three-day meeting at mid-day on Thursday. This unusual development has provided yet another twist to a deepening political crisis that has been raging over allegations of political intervention in the appointment of senior judges following the retirement of Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and President of the Court of Appeal Abang Iskandar Abang Ismail earlier this month. Both had reached the retirement age of 66 on Jul 2 and Jul 3 respectively. Anwar has been battling growing public pressure over allegations that his government was interfering in the senior appointments of leadership in the judiciary and that he was at odds with certain members of the Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC). Under laws governing the appointment of top judges, the nine-member JAC - which was established in 2009 - proposes qualified jurists to the prime minister, who makes a final decision based on the recommendations. His decision is then put up for consultation among heads of the country's royal households who make up the Conference of Rulers, before the King makes the appointment. Malaysia's current monarch is Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor. There was widespread speculation among lawyers and retired jurists that the Conference of Rulers had come to some agreement on the appointment of candidates proposed by the premier. Some media outlets had speculated that Wan Farid Wan Salleh, a low-profile judge in the Court of Appeal, had emerged as the front-runner for the position of Chief Justice. News of Wan Farid's supposed promotion immediately appeared to defuse tension that had been building over the possible appointment of Federal Court judge Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, the country's former Attorney General, for one of the top three positions in the judiciary. Terrirudin, who served as the country's Attorney General for 14 months before being appointed to the Federal Court in November 2024, has been at the centre of the political storm whipped up by the crisis in the judiciary. Last weekend, purported leaked confidential minutes of a JAC meeting in May alleged that his conduct as a judge raised serious questions about his suitability for high office in the judiciary. Various politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Anwar's own daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, have called for a probe into the allegations, while the police are also probing the alleged leak. Even Anwar acknowledged on Tuesday that the delay in filling the top judicial vacancies had stirred public unease, but stressed that the announcement by the Conference of Rulers on the appointments would help 'dispel negative perceptions'. 'There are of course concerns expressed, and I must take note of that. First is the delay of appointment and secondly is the perception that some appointments to the key positions in the judiciary may be somewhat compromised,' he said in a speech at the International Conference on Governance and Integrity 2025 in the capital Kuala Lumpur. To mollify growing public criticisms over the vacancies, the Anwar government had moved to make temporary appointments. In a move that retired judges and lawyers noted was unprecedented in Malaysia's judicial history, the judiciary's third-most senior jurist, Hasnah Mohamed Hashim, who is the Chief Judge of Malaya, was appointed to assume the role of Chief Justice in an acting capacity until the position is filled. In rapid succession, the Registrar of the Federal Court said that Federal Court judge Zabariah Yusof has been appointed acting President of the Court of Appeal until the position is filled permanently. Zabariah turned 66 in April and following her six-month extension, she will retire in October. Hasnah, meanwhile, turned 66 on Tuesday and will retire later this year. The prospect that two of the most senior positions in the judiciary would become vacant in the next six months has made the position of the Chief Judge of Malaya hugely crucial in the leadership succession in the judiciary. That's because the candidate picked for the third most senior position in the judiciary would be in line for a top leadership role in the judiciary. On Wednesday, various reports suggested that Terrirudin's name was not among those submitted by Anwar for the Chief Justice, Court of Appeal President and Chief Judge of Malaya posts. However, with no official announcement on the top judges' appointments as of Thursday night, it is unclear whether there will be any further surprises ahead.
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
The old Thong Chai Building, a national monument, set to change hands
[SINGAPORE] The former Thong Chai Medical Institution in Eu Tong Sen Street, a national monument, is close to being sold, The Business Times understands. The asset – with triple frontages along Eu Tong Sen Street, Merchant Road and New Market Road – comprises the building constructed in 1892 and gazetted as a national monument in 1973, as well as a two-storey annexe built in the 1990s. The property is being sold by MMT Singapore Properties, a US-incorporated company that is linked to Forever Living Products, a global multi-level marketing health and beauty business selling mostly aloe vera products; the company is headquartered in Arizona. The incoming owner of 50 Eu Tong Sen Street is understood to be an entity linked to Singapore-incorporated real estate investment company Clifton Partners. The word in the market is that the all-in cost for the buyer is in the S$45 million to S$50 million range. The property is on a site area of about 11,730 square feet (sq ft) with 99-year leasehold tenure from August 1994, leaving a balance term of about 68 years. The total built-up area is about 20,000 sq ft. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up After occupying the 50 Eu Tong Sen Street premises for about two decades, Forever Living recently relocated to Carpenter Street. View of the first courtyard from the second storey shows a roof with concrete ridge frieze, gable walls and ornamental copings. PHOTO: BT FILE Forever Living's late founder, president and chief executive officer Rex Maughan died in 2021. The company is currently helmed by his son Gregg Maughan, who is the CEO; Aidan O'Hare is the president. The former Thong Chai Medical Institution, also known as the old Thong Chai Building, was among the first batch of eight buildings that were gazetted as national monuments in 1973. The status accords the highest level of protection for built heritage, that is, preservation under the Preservation of Monuments Act. The second courtyard with a view of an original timber screen with the Chinese characters Fu, Lu and Shou – the Chinese deities of good fortune, prosperity and longevity, respectively. PHOTO: BT FILE Industry observers expect the new owner of 50 Eu Tong Sen Street to refurbish the asset in accordance with guidelines stipulated for national monuments. Potential uses may include suitable wellness, lifestyle or food and beverage concepts. Clifton has experience restoring and uplifting heritage properties. An example is the conservation shophouse at 75 Maude Road in the Jalan Besar area. This is where Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew hid during the Japanese Occupation, to escape a mass screening and almost-certain death. Describing the former Thong Chai Medical Institution, Vernon Cornelius and Valerie Chew, in an article on the National Library Board website, write: 'The building is considered a historical landmark not only because the institution symbolised the spirit of mutual assistance among early Chinese settlers, but also because it is a rare surviving example of Southern Chinese secular architecture.' The Thong Chai Medical Institution was built with the support of philanthropic Chinese businessmen as well as funds raised through public subscription, with the British colonial government providing the land. Completed in 1892, the Thong Chai Medical Institution in Chinatown provided free medical services and herbs to the poor; it was also a centre for activities for the early Chinese community. The building served as the headquarters of Chinese guilds and the venue for various public meetings. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce operated from an office there until 1906. In 1976, the medical institution moved to a new building in Chin Swee Road and returned the old medical hall to the government, which then spent nearly S$500,000 on extensive restoration and renovation works before the venue was reopened as an arts and crafts centre in 1979. URA sale of site The national monument was packaged with an adjacent vacant site and put up for sale in the early 1990s by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Architect Chan Seng Kee, through Ke-Cho (Pte) Ltd, placed the highest bid of S$3.89 million for the property at a URA tender that closed in April 1994. His firm Design Environment Group Architects did extensive restoration work on the asset; this included adding a new annexe in the same southern-China architectural style of the original property. The project was completed in 1998. The original configuration of the interior spaces and courtyards was retained. Skilled craftsmen from China were engaged to restore the old Thong Chai Building's detailed features such as the intricate concrete ridge frieze on the roof, with gable walls and ornamental copings. The building was tenanted to a pub-disco and later to two restaurants, but all closed within a short time. Chan then put the property up for sale. In late 2004, it was sold to MMT Singapore Properties. According to an earlier media report, the price was 'under S$7 million'. The premises were spruced up to serve as the new corporate office for Forever Living Products.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Sirens wail, cities shut down as Taiwan simulates air raid
Taiwan is stepping up its civil defence as military tensions with China continue to rise. For the first time, an air raid drill has been built into the island's largest annual military exercise. CNA's Victoria Jen has more.
