So, our most esteemed Health Minister is saying that we should  consider putting our elderly Singaporeans in Johore Bahru, which is in Malaysia, i.e. just in case you don't get it, another country, because "it would be cheaper, yet be near enough to Singapore for family members to visit and for residents to return for medical care if necessary."

Very pragmatic words, no? After all, what is citizenship when you can make a dollar stretch a bit longer. The fact that Singaporeans are finding health care becoming so unaffordable that we have to start looking at other (not very-welcoming) countries for affordable health care is just a fact of life, not something that the government should be concerned about. Or at any rate, the government has done its best by suggesting alternatives in other countries, countries that owe Singaporeans no obligations whatsoever.

But of course, this option "is not for the poor, who are heavily subsidised in Singapore", in fact, according to the Minister, "everyone can afford health care in Singapore whether acute care or long-term care," and the suggestion was "aimed at middle-income families who need to pay for the care themselves." [quotes in bold and italics are the Minister's words according to the newspaper report, quotes in italics are by the reporter who wrote this article].

The implication of the above is that our health care now cost so much that only the rich can afford it, the middle-class can't afford it and the poor can afford it only because they are heavily subsidised. How that gels with the statement that everyone can afford health care in SIngapore whether acute care or long-term care I have no idea. Just in case the Minister is mis-quoted and also to get an idea of the context in which the above issue arisen, I tried to search the Hansard but can't find the relevant parts, will try to look for it again and update when I find it.

Under our current system of taxation, the middle class probably pay the bulk of the taxes - investment income is generally not subject to tax, foreign-sourced income of individuals are not subject to tax, hence, it should not be too far off to suggest that for individuals, the main item of income that is subject to tax will be employment income and trade or business profits, which are the primary sources of income for the middle class. So after paying taxes, you are now told, sorry, our health care is too expensive for the likes of you, go Malaysia (where I have personally not been to more than 10 times in my life) instead for cheaper health care. You mean that after setting aside 30% of my salary as enforced savings, after paying my taxes, after paying you bunch of politicans more in salary than the President of the United States of America himself (who has a far more stressful and more shitty job than the load of you guys), I cannot have affordable health care in the land of my birth, where I had stayed and worked and lived my entire life? Come on guys, you gotta be kidding right?