We have the name

Some Many Human Batteries seem to have this strange idea that the Matrix Island has very low income tax and in return, it has very little welfare benefits. The corollary is that the only way to have more welfare is to increase tax rate substantially. Rubbish! Singapore has one of THE highest income tax rate in the world for its average citizen, except that we do not call it "income tax"! We call it CPF.

CPF is income tax! And why so? Look, in other countries, citizens pay taxes in return for comprehensive welfare benefits, ranging from free medical care to retirement benefits. Hey, you know what, that's exactly the goal of CPF - a nest egg for medical care, and retirement benefits. In fact, the CPF board itself defines CPF thus: "The Central Provident Fund is a comprehensive social security savings plan, which has provided many working Singaporeans with a sense of security and confidence in their old age" (emphasis mine).

So, whether you call it "income tax" or "cpf", it doesnt matter. No matter what you call it, it works fundamentally in the same way: the government collects $Y from you, and returns $Z to you, , either in cash or in kind, after a delay in time. Now, if $Z is much greater than $Y, that's good. Conversely, it's bad.

This is how the CPF system works:

• Everyone - regardless of salary level - pays the same 33% of his income to CPF: If your income is $X, you and your employer, under the old system, each contributes 20%. Thus, your overall income is actually 120% of $X (the employer's 20% is also part of your income). So cpf contribution / true salary = (20+20)x / 1.2x = 33%


• At retirement age, you get back this 33% plus a miserable interest of about 2.5%, after leaving behind a minimum sum of some hundred thousands, which you can never take out. And once you finish up this amount, that's it! You are on your own till the day you pass on to another world.
  

Now, contrast this with other countries, where firstly, the poor pays much less than the rich, and secondly, the average tax rates of many countries are nowhere near 33% and thirdly, they get back much more than the amount they are taxed, in terms of unemployment benefits, health benefits, and of course, monthly retirement payment till the day they die, even if they live till 100 years old!

The sad miserable truth is: each and every one of us pays 33% income tax, calls it "CPF", and gets hardly any welfare after paying so much tax! And please, don't start with me about using cpf to pay for HDB flat. HDB is overpriced and is just another way for the Matrix Master (MM) to get your cpf money away from you permanently so that he does not have to give it back to you at 55.

Is there anything sadder and more miserable than this?

Actually, yes, there is. Sadder than this is the fact that most Human Batteries are oblivious of all these! To them, CPF is simply "compulsory savings". Hmm, maybe they should read more Shakespeare:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

"What's in a name? That which we call Income Tax
By renaming it CPF would hurt as much."
The Human Battery

Bottomline: We do NOT need to tax the people more in order to increase welfare spending. We have already taxed them more than enough! (Look at this if you are still not convinced). We just simply need to get rid of the Matrix Master who is stubbornly stucked in his zero-welfare belief and who just simply refuses to go!

Neo: My name... is Neo.

Trinity: My name's Trinity.

Agent Jones: We have the name of their next target.
Agent Brown: The name is Neo.