Jamus Lim on reviewing public finances to help Singaporeans

Singapore’s reserves belong to the people, not to the Government, said MP Jamus Lim. “It means that our Government is a steward for our reserves … entrusted with managing it, growing it and dispersing it,” he said in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 7). He said adherence to transparency simply means respecting the rights of the owners to know what they own. More generally, such transparency also ensures that the reserves are held accountable in real time to their owners. This is why the current practice where the portfolio assets of Temasek and GIC remain concealed runs afoul of this principle, he added. Assoc Prof Lim stressed the need for consultation, saying the decision on whether to use more or less of the reserves should be a common collective decision after proper deliberation over their best use with full information available. “The bottom line is that unless we have a serious conversation, as a nation and people, over the proper use of our reserves - one with full information of what we have and what we should set aside - we will never arrive at a position where we are comfortable with what is being spent, whether in terms our Net Investment Returns Contribution or even the amount we hold as principle,” he said. He added that it is “unconscionable” that the savings do not get a fair hearing in a democratic society, with the vague reassurance to trust that the Government is being prudent and that efforts to alter the usage of the reserves amount to some charge of fiscal irresponsibility. “This review is critical for us to understand the importance of what we can do or cannot do with the people's money.”