Record credit card debts and casino gaming revenue with little help for the needy

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

RECORD CREDIT CARD DEBTS AND CASINO GAMING REVENUE WITH LITTLE HELP FOR THE NEEDY

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2 Jan 2015 - 9:31pm








Singapore Falling apart: Three Stories in One Day's Newspaper
Record credit card debts

According to the Straits Times news report “Overall bank loans up 0.6% in November” (Jan 1) – “Consumer loans also crept up, although a new high set for credit card loans highlights concerns about unsecured credit. Credit card loans, however, crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time to $10.2 billion.

… about 3 per cent of unsecured borrowers, including credit card users, have racked up debts exceeding their annual incomes.

About one in three cardholders, meanwhile, had not paid their bills in full as of October … This comes at a time when banks have also raised the interest rates on outstanding balances on credit card bills.” – This means that a whopping 540,000 people are not paying their credit card bills in full, and incurring more than 24 per cent per annum interest since interest rates were recently raised – amounting to rollover debts of $5.4 billion.

If we add those who can’t pay their debts to licensed moneylenders, loan sharks, pawn shops, other loans like credit lines, banks’ personal loans, car loans, renovation loans, education loans, business loans, home and commercial mortgages, etc – how many people are in financial stress?

Record gaming revenue at the casinos

In the Straits Times news report “IRs looking beyond gaming for revenue” (Jan 1) – the two IRs’ gaming revenue grew to $3.7 billion in the first nine months. So, it may be about $4.9 billion for the full year.

Despite questions in Parliament over the years – we have never had a straight answer as to how many locals visit the casinos in a year – how frequently – and how much of the gaming revenue were from the losses of locals?
VWOs have been reporting increasing numbers of people and families in financial stress due to gambling.

To what extent has gambling contributed to the record credit card debts?







Pension for the needy only cost 1% of GDP

According to the Straits Times news report “Pension to give peace of mind to the elderly poor?” (Jan 1) – “the latest Household Expenditure survey shows that for a retiree household in a three-room HDB flat, average expenditure per person was about $725. For those in one- and two-room flats, it was $623.60.

With payouts of around $300 to $430 a month, many households with low CPF balances will struggle to make ends meet.

it is feasible to introduce a basic pension for the bottom third of the elderly population aged over 65.

This would cost the Government less than 1 per cent of GDP in most scenarios, she estimates. In other words, a basic pension scheme could cost the state less than $369 million a year.” – With a Budget surplus of $36.1 billion in FY2012 using IMF fiscal reporting guidelines – why is the Government still dragging its feet on spending some money on our CPF system?

Don’t you find it ridiculous that we are the only country in the world that from a cashflow perspective – does not spend a single cent on pensions, public housing or healthcare?

Win battles lose war
TRS Contributor

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