23. Profits Share
Taxes
8%
Company
Profits Wages
50% 42%
24. High Cost of Living Culprits
PROFITS!
Retail Companies
Rental Companies Banks
Profit = Profit =
Few BILLION $ Profit =
Few million $ TENS OF BILLION$
27. • Cost to build shops: $200 per square foot
• Cost of rental: $20 psf PER MONTH!
– Break Even in just 10 months!
• Rent for 10 years
– Rental companies end up making 1200% profit!
28. Bank Profits!
Interest Rate: 10% per year!
After 5 years, you end up paying 60% more!
35. Singaporean
VS
Foreigner
• Younger
• Older •No CPF, No insurance
• Need to pay 15% CPF (by law) • No Reservist
• Need to go Reservist (by law) • No leave
• Need to take Leave (by law) • Lower Salary
• Need to pay Insurance (by law)
• Want higher salary
The next topic I want to talk about is about the Economy.The government ministry that runs the economy, actually there are multiple, is the MTI, Ministry Of Trade and Industry.Popularly satired as Ministry of Talented IdiotsThe minister in charge of this, is S. Iswaran, I call him, Ass is I Swear One!
Now, why is the government so concerned about the economy?Actually, the economy only has 1 purpose, to give money to citizens via wages, whatever higher purpose you think is all bullshit.So, if the economy is not giving good money to the citizens, it has failed.Keep that in mind.But ah, right now, government say, economy is doing well, but then ah, all the people of Singapore are saying , money not enough!So, economy successful or not, I leave it up to you to think over.
Of course, if the economy is prospering, but citizens are having a hard time making money, then we must ask ourselves , why?Before I go on to the next slide, I want to ask you this question.Say, you work for your company and help him make $1000 in sales.How much of that $1000 is your boss going to pay you back as salary?90%, 80%, 75%, 50%?
Actually ah, the truth is very sad. Of every $100 you make for your company, your boss pockets $50, gives the government $8, but only givesYou back $42 as salary. In fact ah, we are the only developed country where your boss makes more money than he pays you back in wages. Sad right?
So, with this information in mind, we can now proceed on to the money cycle.The money cycle essentially has 4 corners, the Business Owner, he sets up the business, the worker, who works for him and later goes shopping and becomes the customer.
For simplicity purposes, lets assume the business owner and the worker starts out with the same amount of money.
So, first of all, the workers goes shopping. Lets say, he spends $1000
The $1000 goes to the company.
But then , remember that only 42% of the earnings of the company goes back to you as wages? So the boss pockets $58, (lets assume there is no tax), and you get back $420.
So, at the end of the cycle, the boss is richer by $520, and you are poorer by $520.
But then , get paycheck still must eat right? So the worker goes shopping again and the cycle begins anew.
Pay the company.
Pay the worker and boss.
And after the second cycle, the boss gets even richer and the worker gets even poorer.
And then cycle 3 starts again.
Blah blah.
Blah blah.
The boss get EVEN EVEN RICHER, YOU GET EVEN EVEN POORER.
And so on and so forth.
So like after many years and many cycles, right, the boss ends up many times richer than you.
The money cycle is like that one, rich get richer, poor get poorer. Intrinsic feature of a capitalist economy. So that is why we have wealth inequality.You look at this graph here, it represents Singapore, the richest 20% control 80% of the wealth, while the poorest 20% control only 5% of the wealth.Sad right? Its true, yunno.
Earlier on, I made an assumption that only the worker goes shopping. But in reality, even the business owner goes shopping. Unfortunately, because he get richer and richer, he can afford to demand more stuff, so the businesses will increase their price (demand and supply mah), so as a result, everything gets more expensive.So the next time, you wonder why the McChicken costs 100% more but your salary never increase at all, blame inflation!
So that is basically why the cost of living is so high. Because companies make excessive profits. They take advantage of Singapore’s lax-business policies increase the price, and decrease your salary, so that they can make 50% profit.
In reality though, it is not that simple. Your average Tampines Mall Store actually don’t make 50% profit margin. Rather , they make 50% surplus after wages, but they pay most of the money to rental companies, as rent, and to banks, as loan repayment.These are the REAL culprits behind the high cost of living. Because businesses have to pay loan and pay rent, they have no choice but to increase prices.Just conicidence ah, the 2 largest rental companies and banks are CapitaMall and DBS bank, and they happen to be owned by none other than TEMASEK HOLDINGS.So in the end right, the cost of living is so high because the GOVERNMENT IS MAKING ALL THE PROFIT!
According to this article ah, to build shops only cost $200 per square foot.
But then ah, capitaMall rent out at $20 per month/
So in the end, CapitaMall, 10 months can recoup the cost. But of course, they wont rent out for just 10 months only right? For about 10 years ah, that’s as long as your traditional Houngang mall has been around, the end up making 1200% profit! Ridiculous right?
And also the banks as well. You put your money in the bank, they only give you 1% interest, but then they loan to businesses, 10% interest leh. After 5 years, compound compound, end up, you borrow $300,000, you end up paying $500,000. Scary right?
So now you know why money not enough. Because price increase, earnings drop.
And that is why government say need economic growth. When your economy grow, even if the money cycle happens, your wage increase, so you don’t end up losing money.
To grow economy, to attract bigger businesses to Singapore to give singaporeans better pay, they also need a lot of workers. But unfortunately ah, our population has been ageing and declining, so how to find workers?
So S Iswarans simple solution, import foreign workers lah! Very easy, very effective right? Actually turns out, no so yunno.
So foreign workers come into singapore, by the HUNDRED THOUSANDS.
And by coming into Singapore, they compete with Singaporeans for jobs. So whenever employer want to hire someone, they must first consider who better mah. So this is what he thinks.Unfortunately for the Singaporean, the employer must give all this bullshit, required by law, while foreigner, since not his country, he don’t have all those bullshit rights mah.So in the end, if you are employer, who you want to employ?
So the foreigner get hired, replace him, the Singaporean get sacked lah!
So ah, even when a lot of singaporeans are unemployed, MOM still say ah, We got labour crunch, not enough workers, so must import foreigners. 2.0% unemployment rate, as evidence that workforce already saturated, cannot hire more Singaporeans.But that’s only have the story.The labour force particpation rate, the percentage of the working age population that is working, is only 66.6%. That means 1/3 of Singaporeans are unemployed.Strange right? So what happens?
It turns out that MOM like to quote cock and bullshit story statistic, the unemployment rate does not take into account those who have GIVEN UP LOOKING FOR A JOB. So, if the older workers say, aiyah, bopian, cannot find job, so he goes into early retirement, he is not counted into unemployment rate.You look at this table ah, and all the figures, you see, especially the older workers, 30% unemployed. So, where got 2% unemployment rate?Bullshit right?
So what happen aftter all the story? Economy prosper. Singapore make money. But all the money goes into profits. In the end, the MEDIAN INCOME DROPPED! You watch this guy speaking, 4 out of 5 years, we earn less leh! Eventually right, we will all be bankrupt and not able to afford our living.So you judge for yourself, is our economy successful or not?
So right, Singapore, cost of living, because of profits, is now rising at fast rate, now comparable with developed cities.
But because of foreign workers, our wage drop. And so, we are paid the LEAST when it comes to DEVELOPED COUNTRIES!
And ultimately, SINGAPOREANS ARE THE POOREST IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD, because everything costs so high but our salaries are so paltry. Even Malaysia, KL people, they are richer, they can buy more things with their salary compared to us.
