Singapore: Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said on Wednesday (November 3) that food prices are expected to “further rise in the coming months” as energy prices rise.

In a written answer to a question from Member Wong Wai Chung (People’s Action Party-Jurong GRC) on the impact of supply chain disruption and energy cost increases on food prices, Mr. Gan stated that energy prices contribute to global food costs.

He added that suppliers may need to adjust prices to reflect increased costs.

“Food costs are affected by many factors, including import prices, energy costs, freight, labor, and seasonal weather changes,” he said.

The minister said that the increase in domestic food prices in the past six months was mainly due to “global food prices, energy prices, supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages.”

In the past three weeks, five electricity retailers have withdrawn from the Singapore market, citing turbulent market conditions following the surge in wholesale energy prices.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global supply chain has been under pressure, which has led to reduced manpower, ship delays and bottlenecks in major ports around the world.

Mr. Gan said that the government will assist Singaporean households in reducing the impact of rising food prices through “various methods”.

“For example, the Social Services Office of the Ministry of Social and Family Development provides ComCare assistance to low-income families to support their daily expenses,” he said.

“In times of economic uncertainty, the 2020 Budget Grocery Voucher Program has also helped less affluent Singaporeans solve their household expenditure problems.”

Last month, about 160,000 eligible Singaporeans received grocery vouchers worth S$100.

“Singapore will continue to diversify our import sources to maintain price competitiveness and increase supply elasticity,” Mr. Gan said.

Singapore: After Ms. Khan admitted to lying in Parliament on Monday (November 1), House of Representatives leader Indranee Rajah filed a complaint against MP Raeesah Khan (WP-Sengkang).

Ms. Khan admitted on Monday that she did not accompany the rape victim to the police station as she claimed in Parliament earlier in August, and that her previous statement on the matter was “untrue”.

She also apologized for accusing the police of mishandling the cases of sexual assault victims.

In a subsequent speech by Ms. Khan, Ms. Indranee stated that she “has no choice” but to lodge a complaint under Rule 100(7b) of the parliamentary rules of procedure, alleging violation of parliamentary privileges.

What is parliamentary privilege?
Parliamentary privilege means that members of parliament cannot be prosecuted or prosecuted for statements made in Parliament as part of their duties.

This allows members of Congress to speak freely on major issues without worrying about legal consequences. This exemption applies only to what is said and done in Parliament.

“As members of Congress, we are granted privileges. One of the privileges is the ability to enjoy immunity in Parliament. Unlike others, we can do this without worrying about being prosecuted, because the potential public policy interest is the ability to raise questions,” Ms. Indranee explained in Parliament.

“When we do this, we must be able to speak the truth in the House of Representatives, and it is very important when we assert or raise charges to support them.”

She said that members of Congress are “subject to duties and responsibilities,” adding that they should not violate or “abuse” this privilege.

“But as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I also have the responsibility to ensure that all members of Congress in this Chamber perform their duties faithfully, responsibly and responsibly, and that any violation of privileges must be dealt with,” she added.

The parliament is a platform for people “to pay attention”. When there are false words, it “undermines trust”, said Ms. Indranee, who is also the second minister of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Development.

What do regular commands mean?
The Rules of Procedure cited by Ms. Indranee allow any member of Parliament to stand up at any time during a meeting of Parliament to complain, alleging that sudden privileges have been violated.

If the speaker is convinced that the complained issue ostensibly-or based on the first impression-affects the prerogatives of the parliament and has been raised as soon as possible, the issue will undoubtedly be referred to the Privilege Committee.

Until the committee reports its findings, no further procedures can be taken on the matter.

The committee consists of eight members. As members of the committee, Ms. Indranee stated that she and Mr. Shanmugam will avoid cases involving Ms. Khan.

Other members of the committee include: Speaker Chen Chuanren, Minister of Sustainable Development and Environment Fu Ying, Minister of National Development Lee Desmond, Minister of Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, and other members of Congress Don Wee (PAP) -Chua Chu Kang) and Dennis Tan (WP-Hougang).

Article 20 of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act provides for the power of Parliament to take action against members who engage in “disgraceful conduct, abuse of privilege or contempt”.

According to the decree, Congress can imprison members of Congress for a term not exceeding the current session of Congress, imposing a fine of not more than SGD 50,000, or suspending members of parliament from serving for the remainder of the session or any part of the session.

Parliament can also instruct members to be reprimanded or cautioned by the speaker.

Previous events
The last time a member of Congress was referred to the Privilege Committee was in 1986.

The then Congressman J B Jeyaretnam (WP-Anson) was accused of abusing parliamentary privileges and accusing the executive branch of intervening in the judiciary with no basis.

He was also accused of “defaming the judiciary by implying that the judiciary did not perform its duties in accordance with their oath of office.”

The complaint was filed by the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, S Dhanabalan, who was then the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Jeyaretnam was found guilty of abuse of parliamentary privilege by the committee and was fined S$1,000. The report was submitted to Parliament in January 1987.

As a member of Parliament, he was referred to the committee twice in 1986 to deal with different issues.

The latest report of the Privilege Committee was in November 1996. The then Minister of Health George Yeo filed a complaint with representatives of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), namely Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Mr. S Kunalen, Mr. Wong Hong Toy and Mr. Guan Yueqing.

Mr. Yeo claimed that the four SDP representatives contempt the parliament by fabricating data and providing false or untrue documents in order to deceive the committee.

In July 1996, the four men, representing the Social Democratic Party, provided oral evidence in support of their written statement before a special committee to verify medical subsidies for government polyclinics and public hospitals.

Due to “so-called errors” in the charts they submitted, they were summoned to the Privilege Committee to testify in August.

The committee finally determined that Dr. Chee was “the culprit so far,” and he prepared written comments and diagrams.

The committee reported that he fabricated data, gave false testimony, and deliberately provided false answers to cover up the fabricated behavior, among other allegations.

The four were fined. Dr. Chee was fined S$25,000, Mr. Wong was fined S$13,000, Mr. S Kunalen was fined S$8,000, and Mr. Kwan was fined S$5,000.

Singapore: Indranee Rajah, the second minister of Singapore’s Ministry of Finance, told the parliament on Monday (November 1) that the government is not opposed to taxing wealth, but such policies should be effective and the rich cannot easily avoid it.

Ms. Indranee is responding to MP Jamus Lim (WP-Sengkang)’s motion to adjourn Singapore’s need to consider more types of wealth taxes.

She said: “The question has never been whether we want to tax wealth, but how to do it effectively so that it cannot be easily avoided.”

“So, in the final analysis, I don’t think we have any problems with the wealth tax itself. We just want to make sure that everything we deploy is effective.”

Previously, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong stated on October 15 that Singapore would continue to study how to expand its wealth tax system in the face of key challenges such as inequality and climate change.

Singapore currently levies property taxes, but does not levy other types of taxes such as property gains or inheritance taxes. These are different from general wealth taxes, which involve trying to value different assets.

Achieve income diversification and eliminate inequality
Associate Professor Lin stated in the adjournment motion that wealth tax can improve the diversity of government revenue sources and help manage social problems caused by rising inequality.

He called Singapore’s income inequality a “problem” and pointed out how the country’s Gini coefficient (which measures the unequal distribution of income or wealth) after redistribution puts it at the top of the scale of inequality, comparable to the United Kingdom and the United States. .

Associate Professor Lim listed some solutions that Singapore can explore, including the reintroduction of inheritance tax, although he pointed out that there are concerns that this may weaken the country’s value proposition as a wealth center.

He said another option is to make the inheritance tax more progressive, such as imposing another level of tax on high-value properties.

Associate Professor Lim also proposed a 0.5% general tax on net wealth exceeding S$10 million, 1% for net wealth exceeding S$50 million, and 2% for net wealth exceeding S$1 billion.

He added that this tax can be assigned to a special purpose foundation whose task is to use up all of its donations and allocate expenditures to government-approved uses that are “in line with national priorities”.

Associate Professor Lim suggested that taxation may also be limited to cases where net wealth gains are positive.

He pointed out that Singapore has had experience with other forms of wealth tax in the past, and he added that it should not be afraid to risk its competitive position because other jurisdictions have already adopted similar capital taxes.

“More generally, we need to get rid of the misconception that low taxes provide the most competitive advantage for our position as a global financial center.”

Associate Professor Lim cited a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which showed that low taxes were not one of the main factors that made Singapore attractive for asset and wealth management. Associate Professor Lim said: “Tax competition is more suitable for the 20th century. Not the mindset of the 21st century.”

Taxation in a “competitive way”
In response, Ms. Indranee disagreed with Associate Professor Lim’s suggestion that the company may no longer consider tax rates, and said that this cannot be fully discounted.

“And it must be remembered that wealth can flow. Singaporeans and foreigners can move talents. Companies can move,” she said.

“Therefore, we must tax in a competitive way and allow individuals and companies to generate income to encourage them to stay here, and then use, redistribute and redistribute these income.”

Ms. Indranee also talked about Associate Professor Lim’s comments on how the Goods and Services Tax (GST) disproportionately affects low- and middle-income groups, calling it a sentence “often” repeated by the Workers’ Party.

Ms. Indranee said that the GST system is designed to help low- and middle-income groups, and pointed out that programs such as GST vouchers and S$6 billion protection plan are designed to help these groups get through the tax increase stage.

“To be fair, it is important to also consider what we are doing to support and buffer middle-income and low-income people in order to reduce any additional burden on them due to the goods and services tax. We make it a better one. A fair and systematic approach,” she said.

Strike the right balance
Despite this, Ms. Indranee said that the government “does not oppose” Associate Professor Lim, because the government has been looking for ways to supplement revenue, but pointed out that this must be done in a “right balance” manner.

“Therefore, with regard to wealth tax, it is not in itself to levy more types of wealth tax. On the contrary, it is important to formulate wealth tax policies that apply to each jurisdiction,” she said.

For example, Ms. Indranee pointed out that Switzerland is another wealth management center that levies net wealth tax, inheritance tax and property-related taxes, and its wealth tax revenue accounts for approximately 1.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

She said that this is equivalent to Singapore’s wealth tax revenue, accounting for about 1.8% of its GDP, and added that Singapore will continue to review wealth tax.

Finally, Ms. Indranee said that Singapore’s tax system is fair, and the greater the contribution, the more people.

She added: “It is dynamic because it imposes a lower tax burden on corporate workers and enables them to retain the fruits of their labor.”

“We care about competitiveness not for competitiveness, but to promote growth for the benefit of everyone, and it is financially and environmentally sustainable.

“This is what a well-designed tax system in the 21st century should look like, and we will continue to improve it and make it even better.”