MPs call for free preschool education for lower income groups

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It is indeed true that Singapore has one of the highest myopia rates in the world. This situation is very serious as one in four Singaporean has myopia. You can see almost everyone with spectacles nowadays when you walk in Orchard Road. An example can be seen in my class as more than three-quarters of my classmates are myopic. Is Singapore turning into a “myopic society”? Will there be one day when no Singaporean can become a pilot?

Therefore, what exactly is the problem with the eyes of Singaporean kids? Why are schools implementing a new green board to reduce the light reflection that a typical white board has, when “there are no scientific studies linking myopia to the glare from white boards” in school?

Yes, it is no doubt true that green is “the best contrast for the human eye” and it is proven that staring at green objects after hours of working in front of the computer will help to relax the eyes, preventing the risk of worsening the myopic condition of the eyes.

As a myopic patient, I understand that the light that reflects on the glossy white boards are glaring to the eyes and it is sometimes hard for me to see the words on the boards. However, I know that the cause of my myopia is not really due to those white boards. Like every other myopic people, we know that we are guilty of reading when there is insufficient amount of light, using the computer for long hours without resting, watching TV at a very close distance.

Therefore, is there a need to develop “green boards”? As mentioned in the article, there are already Visioncare programmes going on in schools. I guess that these programmes should have been able to remove the bad habits of myopic students and educate them on protecting their sense of sight.

Moreover, I know how troublesome it is to be wearing a pair of spectacles, as it is just too inconvenient, so I believe that myopic students will feel that way too and they will not continue to spoil their eyes.

However, my prediction may not be true. Young students may not have heeded the advices given and may have continued to worsen the myopic condition of their eyes. In this case, it is very worrying as the saying goes, “it is better to prevent than to cure”; when non-myopic students make friends with myopia, it is almost impossible to reverse the situation. As for students who are already myopic, their eyesight would worsen to a stage of almost-blindness.

Therefore, green boards may be a hard engineering method for soft engineering method (education) has failed. So it may be possible that less squinting of eyes due to light reflection may prevent one from becoming myopic or one’s myopia from worsening.

I just have to hope that whatever methods schools adopt to slow down the myopia rates among students, they would be successful.

Government to give out $4b GST offset package

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Ever since the announcement of the 2 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate hike, there has been a lot of unpleasantness.

With reference to a few articles I have read during November last year, I understand that the aim of the hike is to help the low-income groups and grow the economy. However, after reading through this article, I do not think it will be successful.

First of all, it was mentioned before that government spending has to go up as infrastructure investments and medical facilities will cost a lot of money, so as a result, the GST hike is inevitable. However, why is the government going to provide a $4 billion GST offset package in order to cushion the low-income groups from the impending hike when it can be used to finance those investments and facilities? And in fact, the majority of the low-income groups will get offsets equivalent to what they would have spent in GST over five years. But what would happen after the five years? Therefore, I have to ask: how much will the 7% GST help?

Following that, I have read that all government fees will only be raised one year after the increase of GST. So when the fees are raised, will the government provide some more offset packages to help the low-income groups? If it is a yes, the GST hike will seem to have been a bad decision after all; it just creates a vicious cycle that will go on and on. But if it is a no, will the economy grow since the poor will become poorer, and the rich might become richer?

What I think that the government should do is to help the breadwinners of the low-income groups get a better job with a higher salary. This would, in fact, solve the underlying problem as in the long run, the government needs not to provide any financial assistance package for them. If the government continues to give more and more money, as stated above, it will just be a vicious cycle and it will not do both parties any good.

However, I must also say that I do not know what burdens does the government have. They may be in need of a huge sum of money to make Singapore more competitive, so in fact, I think that the GST hike may help the government in the long run, as what I have stated above are just some short-term from the point of view of the low-income groups. If the low-income groups are just a very small minority, the government would be able to “earn profit” from the other taxpayers and consumers, after giving out offset packages. Accumulating the amount received every year; the government would have an amount that can be used for investments and facilities, hence growing the economy.

Lastly, I just hope that the GST hike will not add burden to us, but help the government achieve their aims.