Sabtu, 03 Desember 2011

Time to Review COE Categories & Priorities

RE: Singapore to become a premium car market?
"High-end names such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are expected to make up for more than half of new cars sales next year, according to a Straits Times report today. 
This is due to the lower number of certificates of entitlement available next year, which predetermines the number of cars sold."

There is a limited number of COEs sold each year. There are currently 2 main categories of COEs for private cars, i.e.

Cat A = 1600cc and below
Cat B = Above 1600cc




There are 2 glaring problems with the current categories.

(1) Cat A includes Taxis, which are basically commercial vehicles.

(2) Cat B is for a family sedan to a ultra noisy and powerful sports/luxury car.

If you are a potential owner of your only family car, you are up against 2 formidable competitors in both categories, i.e. the taxi-owner and the luxury car owner.

Both can outbid you easily coz the former uses the taxi for business, while the latter has a lot money than you'd ever imagine. Some (foreigners) buying their cars in this category are sponsored by their companies.


Questions to ask are:

How many families (households) are there in Singapore?
Break down according to Singaporean, PR and others (e.g foreigners), then again by Household Income.

How many Singaporean families own at least 1 car? At which Household Income level?
Create a distribution map using the family categories above.

Shouldn't the Government's objective to work towards say at least say 60% of all Singaporean families own at least 1 car? And help to spread this across household income levels?

The Singaporean family, headed by a hot-blooded Singaporean who has served National Service, ought to be the Government's first priority, isn't it?

Or does the Government NOT operate based on such criteria at all?

The more rare a commodity is, the more it ought to be shared amongst Singaporeans First. That is the point of a nation, isn't it?
..................................................................

PROPOSED: The Singaporean Family Master Plan

MCYS, or whichever ministry/portfolio that has enough clout, ought to study the Singaporean family/household holistically, in terms of its needs and aspirations.

If the family unit is the basic building block of the Singaporean society, then there must be a Singaporean Family Master Plan that charts out the quality of life this family unit is projected to enjoy in the years and decades to come, in addition to simply collecting 'hard data' such marriage/divorce rates, total fertility rate, household income etc.

And the gap between the level at which the Singaporean Family can perform in terms of economic contribution, social contribution, civic contribution, and even... political contribution, versus what the Government expects of the Singaporean Family to keep up with other priorities such as economic growth. Today, the Singaporean Family is just silently expected to keep up with the Government's plans in other areas.

Once the Government and the Singaporean Family starts to explore the Singaporean Family from this perspective, it will then be able to highlight the contradictions with other master plans that the Government draw up. Only then will meaningful discussions and debate take place to prioritise the different objectives and iteratively make amendments to all policies and plans, and to manage expectations for all.

(Acting) Minister Chan Chun Sing ought to take this opportunity to make a difference to his portfolio and his political appeal. Maybe I should write to him.

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