Last Day for 5% GST

Still planning that trip to the mall to pick up some large price items?

Good news: You still have less than 24 hrs
Bad news: You only have less than 24 hrs.

Start getting used to it, my friends. The 7% GST (Government Says Tax) is here to stay until ... the next hike. So, before the next impending increase, stay calm, cool, & contented. Yeah, be content, cos that's easier done than complaining.

But then again, the rising cost of living in Singapore is starting to hit a lot of people, me inclusive. I am not complaining; I am just contemplating. Everything in Singapore is getting expansive, well almost everything. I missed the uncle at Golden Shoe Hawker Centre (where I used to work near Raffles Place) that serves his $2 for any 4 dishes lunch (& the other $2 food stalls). Now, the best deal I can clinch is $3.00 for a one-meat, 2 veg lunch!

Fact is: Taxes are up from the initial 3% -> 5% -> 7% with effect from tomorrow, over a period of 13 year. That's more than 100% inflation just over a decade! What's next? For drivers like me, ERP will rise, private car park vendors all around Singapore will increase rates. COE will go down so that there will be more cars to tax (& fine) on the road. More cars means more jams, slower traffic, longer engine idling time, more fuel burnt . . . man, I am switching to motor-cycle next week.

Everything is rising except the most important thing: take home pay. Well, at least that's my least concern since I have shed my corporate employee outfit & join the ranks of the self-employed. With the exceptions of bankers (who get pay rise recently), most of my friends (who are in the wrong line at the wrong time) do not see an increase in the amount they’re getting. In fact some of them have to bite the bullet & get a pay cut to maintain their jobs. Sad, but true.

Of course, we heard that a lot of housing agents are making it big recently. How not to? A recent 5500 sq ft condo unit in downtown was sold at a record $31 million, making it the most expansive unit to be transacted at more than $5600 per sq ft! Even that buyer was smart enough to save the 2% from the GST hike!

Okay lah, I am going to sell my humble 5-room HDB next week, switch to real estate as a real estate agent, sell my car, get a new motor-cycle, open a new bank account to deposit whatever I can garner through these changes. Anyone wanna join me?

Memory Lane is a nice place to visit once in a while, but terrible piece of real estate to invest in.
- Joseph Isaac