Great news rents up now wonder politicians and friends own them
Article says average $490, its more like $7-800
Maybe you should take the time to find out how all this work.
Both CPF and HDB are statutory boards, separate from the Government coffers.
CPF (Central Provident Fund) is a compulsory savings scheme for Singapore citizens and permanent residents with wages under a set limit.(It does not apply to self-eployed)
The money goes into each individual’s accounts, not a common pot.
The employers pay a set % into the account the employee’s account as a % of wages monthly basis. This is divided between X% deducted from the wages and Y% contributed by the employer (Presently 20% and 17% respectively):
The money in the individual accounts earn interest at a rate that is better then for savings account in the bank. (Presently: Ordinary Account:2.5%
Special, MediSave and Retirement Account: 4%
The money can also be used for down payment on a HDB flat, or to by private properties:
They can also be used to invest in approved schemes and funds (but not for risky speculations):
When you pass away the balance on your CPF account does NOT go to the Government, but to those you have nominated:
If and when you move permanently from Singapore you can withdraw the balance of your CPF account (as I did in 2016):
As far as I have experienced Singapore this last 60-odd years, I find that your scare stories and negative view on everything about Singapore, (the Singapore Government in particular) is just hogwash.
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Perhaps you should read more….
The money goes to the gov in a common pot, treasury gives an iou to the cpf board
Hoping they gov can earn a return on that to afford the interest that will be paid out when you start to withdrawl
As the public learnt with the last $500 billion of debt issued the gov said we need the cash for future CPF repayments hence admitting they are struggling to make that return.
Hence its no longer a secret from the public whether the cpf boards balance is up or down due to the govs return
A bit like they can never say if its an asset or a liability for the gov.
Added to issued debt would push Singapore to about $2 trillion dollars of debt.
Giant interest bill….
You get a statement just like a bank but there is no box with your money assuming you know how banking works?
Using your pension to fund your house, the gov swaps bricks at their value for your cash and you owe the money back to cpf board if you sell with the interest, if you dont sell you retire with that cash in your apartment for a reduced pension.
Just to scheme to ramp up the prices and make money for the gov.
all hogwash things are great here but your the only person that thinks so.
Yes I know how banking, insurance and pension funds work. CPF works a bit like all those + as medical insurance (Medisave) and investment account. (CPFIS)
PS> People are voluntary putting extra money into their CPF account because of the higher interest rate and the safety guarantee it offer over bank savings.
BTW; what is the sources of all that you claim to be facts about the dire strait of Singapore’s economy?
No, that somebody that claim to know told you is NOT verifiable facts.
The gov printed it in the newspaper, talked about in parliament
The pathetic throw away line, we have no net debt is a joke, unless your a bankrupt African country I bet there isnt a western country in the world with net debt.
USA $35 trillion debt but gov has nearly $300 trillion of assets.
Considering the GDP is a trading one ( artificially high) it makes debt to actual gdp huge.
Borrowing has increased and they said will need to top up cpf
GLC’s make no money any more ( quote from previous PM in his long youtube on reserves BUT they have edited out the graphs showing income sources where he explain why they cant dip into reserves as they dont earn the money to put it back) so the borrowing started in about 2000. Sure for 20-30 years prior SG did fantastically well.
The fundamental problem is for all the gov investments they make very low return over the long term and its certainly lower than what they repay on CPF investments.
Now that more and more as a percentage of people are retiring its becoming an issue.
Previously CPF was free cash for the gov as most were paying in, now with aging demographics payouts are increasing. payout up age upped from 65 to 66 in 2025.
Inflation means the locals need higher payouts to survive.
Goh Kengs Swee famous speech ( against gov policy at the time) on future problems have come home to roost as the gov took the cheap labour route rather than allow free thinking entrepreneurs as thats a threat to power. Low productivity and low skills base doesnt cut it when currency and cost go up, just like he predicted.
Imagine the Govs interest bill debt plus cpf?
A chapter of British and Singaporean history that i well known in brief, but not so much in details:
I know I’m not the only one on the forum who admired and respect the memory of Lee Kuan Yew. Here is a couple of Quora post about LKY:
But he was also be a tough taskmaster when needed, especially in the early days of the 1960s and 70s:
PS> I never met him in person, but I attended some of his election rallies in his constituency of Tg. Pagar. I also watch many of his speeches on TV, both as PM and later as Senior Minister.
I was among the many Singaporeans and PRs that paid our respect at the memorial put up outside the Istana maingate on Orchard Rd. when he died. RIP
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Want to know even more about Singapore as a shipping hub?:
To access the whole of Splash’s Singapore Market Report 2025 for free online,
click here.
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More from “Singapore Market Report 2025”:
Singapore Register of Ships (SRS) has been a success story beyond anything anybody could envisage when it was opened up to foreign ownership of ships on the register (1968)
Not many takers in the first few years. Even the local shipowners (mostly British owned) did not immediately jump in, but kept on using British, or FOC flag, like Panama and Honduras.
It started to shoot speed in 1970, when some foreign owners started to use the flag, especially those with operations in S.E.Asia and the growing fleet of offshore vessels operating worldwide:
The problem in the early year was lack of licensed Singaporeans to crew the ships. or with any form of maritime background to manage ships ashore.
Maritime training had been handled by the British through their Naval Base and Shipyard at Sembawang, but limited to their need for lower ranks.
The training ship “TS Singapore” was used to train seamen, while moored at Tg, Pagar from 1963 -79:
Source: https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3196689
She was a breeding ground for Communist agitation, which was widespread in the early years of Singapore independence struggle.
Higher Maritime education started already in mid-1960s, but most of those who graduated went to the national carrier Neptune Orient Line and many quickly became PSA Pilots.
When I joined my first Singapore registered ship in 1970, there were only a few ships in the SRS.
Most of the Masters and Sr. Officers were westerners, while Jr. offices were mostly Malaysian, Indonesian, or Filipinos.
PS> Unless you held a Commonwealth licence and Citizenship you had to have a dispensation to serve in Sr. positions.
Those were the days, when things were “easy” in the sense that rules and regulations were fairly leniently enforced and communications were in many cases non-existent.
(On my first ship in command (1971-72) we made 5 week trips from Singapore to East Indonesia and back without communication with the Managers in Singapore util we were a day or so away)
There was a bridge in Baltimore that might disagree
For every Singapore flag ship that “hit a bridge in Baltimore” there are thousands of SRS-registered ships that sail all over the world without hitting anything.
You want to compare “apple-to-apple” with other registers, you have to look a fleet size, vessel type and trade routes.
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Perhaps it was a one off as it was not just Singapore registered but managed
No sure how well you understand how the SRS functions, or how the shipping business operating in Singapore is structured. SRS is NOT an FOC
FYI: SRS was established as a closed “National Register” in 1966, but became an “Open Register” (FOC) in 1968.
In 1979 decided that it didn’t want the “stigma” as an FOC and stricter maritime standards and ownership disclosure rules were implemented, requiring foreign owners to incorporate companies in Singapore.
Thus becoming what is popularly known as a “quasi FOC”. This is similar in structure to the Hong Kong Ship register and various European “2nd registers” (NIS, DIS, FIS etc.): https://commons.wmu.se › cgi › viewcontent
IOW; some form of affiliation with the flag state is required, over and above what is required to register ships in FOCs.
Thus Singapore is now one of the most used “Maritime Arbitration Centers” and “home port” for many of the world’s leading Ship Owning and Management companies.
As to 3rd party Ship Managers, Singapore has attracted many of them over the years, managing ships of all types, both under Singapore flag and other registers.
Not because of lacks rules but because of a steady governance, favourable business regime and “Rule of Law”.
PS> One of the first Ship Managers to set up shop in Singapore was Thome & Co. founded in 1963 in Singapore. (Now OSM Thome): About Us — OSM Thome
(I sailed on ships manage by Thome & Co from 1967-70)
Familiar view leaving or returning home in daytime:
Image credit to: anek.soowannaphoom / Shutterstock.com
Bunker tanker anchorage off East Coast. Under the flight path when taking off or landing at Changi Airport.
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the register is about 4500 vessels
Singapore’s petroleum industry is not stagnating but renewing it’s facilities for the future:
Whilst there is a green push to make the vessels that deliver and support the massive oil business electric?
No irony at all
Where did it say anything about electrification in my post, or in the linked article?
it didnt
Shell have left, so the industry is dying but you think the industry is not stagnating?