Govt in overdrive to justify $20M Summit spending
Published on 2018-06-20 by The Online Citizen
by Georgia Tong
Seems like the focus of our government after the US-N Korea Summit ended is to justify the $20 M poured into the holding it. Could it be because of the negative outcome as most critics said the agreement signed between the 2 leaders is full of holes? Or could it be because our closest neighbor Malaysia is cutting back on govt expenditure while ours is still spending like they have a gold mine?
The mainstream media went into overdrive the last few days to highlight how many monetary benefits Singapore has gotten out of the summit. Really?
I recalled after Prime Minister Lee announced that $20 million will be splashed on the summit, CNA interviewed 2 economists if Spore would benefit from the summit. Both said the tangible economic benefits are limited. However, after the summit, we are thrown figures like $700M - Meltwater report, $200M worth of global publicity, $150M to $750M of economic benefits ($750M- increase by $50M overnight ?)
Looking at the figures from $150M to $750 M - the difference is $600M ie 400% difference! Such a wide gap and they expect us to accept them at face value and believe in them?
The $20 M is already spent on the Summit, but all these airy figures are intangible benefits which may not even materialized.
To top it up, Minister K Shanmugam said that North Korea missiles can reach S'pore in 20 mins. The same old trick, using scare tactics. Since when did North Korea ever threaten S'pore? They may not even know of our geographical location since they have no relationship with us. If US, our longtime friend thinks we are part of Malaysia, N Korea is likely unaware of our existence before the summit.
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