The way our reserves are handled
February 19th, 2024 | 
Author: 
I share my thoughts as a citizen on the way our reserves are handled.
This platform is far from being an ideal platform for me to share my thoughts in-depth, however, I will try my best to be brief but to the point.
The pap government has done a marvellous job building up our reserves over the decades, thus giving us the opportunity of having the means to draw on investment incomes to help fund our national expenditures, a thick buffer against external shocks such as the Covid 19, the Ukraine war, imported inflation etc and going into the future, God knows what and for that, I am forever grateful.
However, going forward, I am more incline to support calls by the oppositions for the pap government to be more transparent, more accountable and more willing to share about the state of our reserves with our citizens. Let me explain.
I am not an unreasonable or unthinking person. I do not expect our sovereign funds to always and forever make profits from their investments.
I accept investment losses provided that our best efforts at deliberation and consideration were not compromised and on this issue, the not too long ago FTX fiasco comes to mind.
Despite the brave front and the eloquent explanations put forth by the pap government ministers, I could never swallow that our investment experts at our sovereign wealth funds and by extension the pap government were completely conned, I repeat, completely conned by a bunch of teenagers and young people overseas and as a result, S$369 million of our collective hard earned money were lost! (Please read this paragraph again).
I wonder how many more in the likes of FTX happened that we the citizens are not aware of it at all.
I ask which pap MP asked hard enough hitting question and no hold barred questions regarding our FTX losses in Parliament on behalf of their constituents? The answer is none. Zero!
I might agree to have the government continues with its present way of handling our reserves, ie, impatient with the opposition's questioning, uncooperative, lack of satisfactory transparency and accountability etc if we have men and women of the late Minister Mentor and the late Goh Keng Swee's calibre in charge but the reality is that we don't and therefore with all things considered, I support the opposition's call on the government to be more accountable and transparent in order to facilitate informed and matured discussions and dialogues.
Nothing is perfect but making a choice between proper accountability, transparency, informed and matured discussions and the fear of foreign and hostile speculative attacks lalala, I consider choosing the former to be the wiser choice and lesser evil.
In conclusion, our reserves do not only belong to the pap. They belong to each and every one of us and across generations. The government is just a steward, no more and no less.
Think.
Simon Lim
Posted in 
Too many so-called FTs in GLCs $crewing around with Sgs’ hard-earned reserves.
After all,if “tikam-tikam” happens to win lottery can get promotion and reward$.
If not,try tikam another time again and again.Unlike sgs,such FTs are SO PRECIOUS to PAP even if shown to be FAKE AND STUPID?!
As for handling reserves,sure,mistakes could occur but we must debrief such genuine mistakes.
Worst of all is to MI$HANDLE THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUCH SGS’ RESERVES WHEN WITHDRAWING RESERVES LIKE DURING COVID.
MANY sgs got grant of ONLY $600 OUT OF CLAIMED PER CAPITA OF $23.5K as per PAP MP.
And WHY DID EVEN INTRA-COMPANY FT-transferees who came here just prior to or after COVID EXTRA BUDGETS got to be granted furlough in sums much higher than the $600 many deserving sg-retirees were granted?
Such transferees had not even started to PAY INCOME TAX???
Our DPM HENG who hails from MAS and armed with multiple MASTERS seems to have ZERO IDEA of GOOD AND RATIONAL FISCAL POLICY-MAKING?
PANDEMICS MUGHT JUST OCCUR AGAIN AND THE G MIGHT DECIDE TO WITHDRAW FROM OUR RESERVES.
YET,NO PROPER DISCOURSE HAS BEEN ACCORDED AS TO HOW THE COVID BUDGETS WERE ALLOCATED IN DETAILS AND WHY WERE THEY ALLOCATED SUCH THAT DESERVING NEEDY sgs got only an arbitrary sum of $600?!
There are other ways of job-saving especially in high wage scenario.
Even 1G decided to cut wages and CPF for employees decades ago for sgs way before FTs flocked here by the garbage truckloads???
Parliament must discuss more vigorously on the USE OF SUCH RESERVES AND IN MORE MEANINGFUL DETAILS TO BE FAIR TO sgs who received only $600,is it not correct?
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Many (1000s or more) towkays are sitting on the windfall (heng ah!) and keeping quiet. Many of them, or their relatives are sitting and kooning together in a big house.
A few, very few, conscientious towkays returned the money and made the gov look bad, very bad.
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The Pappy Mega Corporation will ownself check ownself. In any crisis that means sheeples will have to stomach the fodder mixed with the bullshit. Dr. Goh Keng Swee had warned LKY against the abomination of 8nn9vating what is unique to Singapore alone, ie. the party politician corporate man with hidden remunerations.
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You want to know more about the reserves then please do your part in reducing the number of PAP turkeys in parliament. Like any political party they fear losing power and control the most which is most definitely not happening now hence why we never know anything else abiut the reserves other than what they have been repeating over and over and over.
When they are forced into a coalition government or become the opposition is when we will find out exactly how much we have in our reserves. No more of the nonsense about why the amount needs to be kept a secret of whatever other nonsense they tell us.
So come on, do your part as a citizen in the next election hor!!
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Please allow me to summarise in 2 words:
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY
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Many seniors have retired and some retired for many years. Many have little savings or no savings at all, ie absolutely no income. The high cost of inflation is bleeding these seniors dry.
Every time there is a hike in fees or fares, or taxes, it is like extorting money from the seniors, aka, squeezing blood from stones.
The seniors contributed a whole life in the building up of the reserves, now in the trillions. Why are the trillions unable to support the no money seniors? The huge reserves not making money, or losing money instead?
Many seniors simply have no money, not a single cent. Stop robbing the seniors! Every increase in taxes, fares and fees is like cutting a slice of flesh from the seniors. And many seniors did not have a voice, no one to speak out for them. They are suffering in silence while seeing how the billions and trillions of the reserves are being thrown into so called investment schemes, supposingly to make good returns. Really?
The younger working generations have their pay adjusted to inflation. What about the seniors that have no pay, no income?
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I remember many years ago, Temasek opened an office in New York.
HO Ching was there to officiate the opening and she said that the NY office will be involved in Crypto currency. Crypto currency, Bitcoins were a novelty back than.
Wonder what happened to the NY office? Is it profitable or busted?
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OPM can anyhow give, anyhow throw, anyhow tikam, oops, invest. Lose hundreds of millions or tens of billions also never mind. Can still keep jobs.
Did they give our hardearned reserves to non citizens, to new citizens?KNNBCCB.
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It is weird, Sg is the ONLY country without adequate welfare$, pension$ missing despite all the talents brought in.
It is known what returns can be expected… and Sg had been blocking access at every downturn.
Conned by scammers?
It is known investments ROI is minimum xxx%, … etc and can go above 1000%
without doing anything much.
So the ignorant are conned or are they trying to con Sgpn to believe that they are doing great when it is just normal market movement?
GIC CIO claimed that risk is the basis for investment which is supposed to be managed.
Temsek, OC claimed that GDP is the basis for investment with ‘great’ understanding of biz.
whereas world’s largest sov fund says none of that and produced better results
Are you conned by someone?
Why are you sharing huge % of profits doing something that the market does normally?
You do know how market works as you set up EndowUs with lower fees.
Sg does not employ but block award-winner and pioneer to employ those who have no idea to be trained.
Why Temsek employed lawyer from msia originating from SriLanka to be CEO with zero knowledge, nor experience in investing to be trained?
Is this normal?
Can God enlighten the puzzle?
They all said to wait for Temsek easier to get bigger funding.
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In past 6 months since Oct 2023, market has already moved up 50% – 100%
So I would expect Sg Reserves to be restored already.
Don’t believe any scammer who says it can’t be restored as market moves much more than that.
The past 15 years super run should also have seen even more massive gains.
Not unexpected. All these are just normal market movements.
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Isn’t this the fault of the voters. Why 70% vote in a PAP President. Aren’t they saying they are not interested in the Reserves and trust the PAP? It is the PAP voter who should be held accountable for the loss in our reserves. Why hold the PAP responsible when it has been shown on numerous times that they are not accountable to the Public and do as they please.
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