Retirement issues top concerns on PM’s first radio call-in

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/retirement-issues-top-listener-concerns-pms-first-radio-call?singlepage=true

Making his first appearance on “live” radio, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was inundated with calls as listeners dialled in to Chinese-language station Capital 95.8FM.

Over the course of the programme, more than 100 questions were received by the MediaCorp station through calls to its hotline, SMS and Facebook.

Retirement adequacy appeared to be the issue that weighed most heavily on listeners’ minds, with questions on the Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme and housing dominating the hour-long special last night.

On fears of being unable to attain the CPF Minimum Sum, Mr Lee said that “on the whole, most Singapore elderly should have no problems with daily expenses” upon retirement, with monthly payments from their CPF accounts.

The elderly also have options for monetising their homes, such as by downgrading to a smaller place, renting out spare rooms or tapping the Government’s Lease Buyback Scheme for their Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats.

Details on the expansion of the Lease Buyback Scheme are expected this week. In March, the Government said it was studying reverse mortgages as a means to help elderly Singaporeans retire comfortably.

There were also questions over Mr Lee’s call for a cultural shift away from the paper chase.

Acknowledging that the dominant mindset is that a university degree is a must, Mr Lee said: “It doesn’t mean once you get a degree, employers will immediately regard you as more valuable... You may have bought a university degree, but that does not mean you get better treatment.”

With a General Election due to be held by January 2017, one listener asked if the Government could consider increasing the number of Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), so citizens can vote for individual candidates.

Responding, Mr Lee said the Electoral Boundaries report has not been done yet, but said both SMCs and Group Representation Constituencies have their purpose.

Asked whether he felt public satisfaction has improved over the past two years, Mr Lee said: “I believe people feel that the things that have caused them frustration in the past have reduced. Of course, I hope people are much happier than before.”