Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

[335RS]

I think the current GE has raised the issues of housing prices and foreign imports many times. But they did not try to address car prices which is also a large contributing factor to our consumer price index and inflation.

I know land is scarce in Singapore, so the government has to use COE to curb our car population. However, I always wondered shouldn't priority be given to Singaporeans? It would seem odd if I see foreigners owning many cars and Singaporeans have to squeeze into MRTs.

Currently, COE categories for cars are being differentiated based on the engine capacity. But we already have road tax to deal with that. Prices of cars should also be based according to market values. However, quota to use our road spaces should be categorised according to our citizenship. What are your views?

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

just abolish the damn COE. ERP into business district@$10-$20 a shot and road tax based of physical dimensions of cars.

 

[pengful]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Easy to say, hard to implement. What happens when a foreigner becomes a PR or better still, citizen? LTA to refund?

I support citizen first initiatives but some are harder to put in place compared to others.

 

[Terry]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

cat B is unfair.... 2.0 litre have to fight with 6 litre car....

 

[ac323]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

cat B is unfair.... 2.0 litre have to fight with 6 litre car....

Terry you are so right............
so have more cat...................





cheers

 

[ac323]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

I think the current GE has raised the issues of housing prices and foreign imports many times. But they did not try to address car prices which is also a large contributing factor to our consumer price index and inflation.

I know land is scarce in Singapore, so the government has to use COE to curb our car population. However, I always wondered shouldn't priority be given to Singaporeans? It would seem odd if I see foreigners owning many cars and Singaporeans have to squeeze into MRTs.

Currently, COE categories for cars are being differentiated based on the engine capacity. But we already have road tax to deal with that. Prices of cars should also be based according to market values. However, quota to use our road spaces should be categorised according to our citizenship. What are your views?

Hi 335RS,

nice one.................but then i think govt will look at car as luxury stuff ( doesnt matter what car )..................it will be good to lower COE or road tax for those say 2L and below and ERP more ex for luxury marque.......

as for foreigners/expat, i think their cars are paid by their Company???


cheers

 

[zag]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

yes.. make sg so unliveable for foreigners. FT, PRs etc etc.. $100K minimum COE; medical care access only at Mt E; Gleneagles; tax loading on condo ownership. and whole lot more..
so with that, they altogether pulled and dumped all the investments; properties such as condo.. as they leave sg and this will hopefully drive condo psf down to 2006 level and all will be happy now as Singaporean can afford cheaper and nicer condos as well lower car prices now no more foreigners to compete space with..

 

[ac323]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

yes.. make sg so unliveable for foreigners. FT, PRs etc etc.. $100K minimum COE; medical care access only at Mt E; Gleneagles; tax loading on condo ownership. and whole lot more..
so with that, they altogether pulled and dumped all the investments; properties such as condo.. as they leave sg and this will hopefully drive condo psf down to 2006 level and all will be happy now as Singaporean can afford cheaper and nicer condos as well lower car prices now no more foreigners to compete space with..

that's good idea or visit govt medical centre but still pay Mt E rates???





cheers

 

[coolya]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

cat B is unfair.... 2.0 litre have to fight with 6 litre car....

we're in singapore lei.. nothing is fair..

 

[335RS]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

All the foreigners they bring in are all highly paid professionals. If they gonna bring in another few hundred thousand, I can be very sure COE prices sure drive up bloody high.

Just look at the housig prices and u know what I mean. Even PRs can buy Public Housing. In 20 years time, Singaporeans will be living in JB while foreigners will take over Singapore.

 

[335RS]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Easy to say, hard to implement. What happens when a foreigner becomes a PR or better still, citizen? LTA to refund?

I support citizen first initiatives but some are harder to put in place compared to others.

Its just like COE system now lah. except that CAT A = Singaporeans and CAT B = PRs and CAT CAT C = Foreign Nationals

quota for CAT C will be limited and say minimum bid starts at S$50k.

 

[zorro]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Dont ever suggest this or u wlll see more categories like..

Cat M = Minister
Cat G = PAP Grassroot
Cat B changed to PAP backbencher
Cat O = opposition (quota = 1 for each bidding exercise)
And cat M, G and B is transferable but Cat A (Singaporean) are not.

 

[Solidgold]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Just look at the housig prices and u know what I mean. Even PRs can buy Public Housing. In 20 years time, Singaporeans will be living in JB while foreigners will take over Singapore.

In the past, the garment canvassed large MNCs to set up shops and HQ here (ASEAN, AP, etc). With that, we get jobs and foreign investment. We were told to keep our skills up, send your kids to tertiary education to secure a good job..no worries, many big corporations will employ locals if we are educated and have the skills. Parents worked extremely hard to get their kids the best education possible (send them to tuition centers if they still cannot cope, etc). True enough, locals get the jobs and as they progressed they got into mid-level mgt and senior positions too. Many head regional roles too. Those in mid and senior mgt roles do their part by bringing in fresh locals (singaporeans) and so that cycle helps to get all of us.

Now fast forward to 2011, notice that things have changed. Look at most MNCs..who do you see siting in key positions and now even mid-level mgt. Look at our very own big banks and telcos, who are calling the shots. So FT bosses bring in more FTs and that cycle starts since there is no cap on FT. In IT services, you can hardly find any locals. Now even the financial services industry (except for local sales RM). So what do our local boys & girls (after spending all their years in Engineering, Comp Science, Accountancy) grow up to do? Join garment agencies, be their own boss (open small shops in Far East plaza)? Be a housing agent?

 

[pengful]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Its just like COE system now lah. except that CAT A = Singaporeans and CAT B = PRs and CAT CAT C = Foreign Nationals

quota for CAT C will be limited and say minimum bid starts at S$50k.

Good idea but who are the ones submitting COE applications? Car agents. They cannot give a flying f**k what nationality you are as long as you buy from them.

 

[pengful]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

In the past, the garment canvassed large MNCs to set up shops and HQ here (ASEAN, AP, etc). With that, we get jobs and foreign investment. We were told to keep our skills up, send your kids to tertiary education to secure a good job..no worries, many big corporations will employ locals if we are educated and have the skills. Parents worked extremely hard to get their kids the best education possible (send them to tuition centers if they still cannot cope, etc). True enough, locals get the jobs and as they progressed they got into mid-level mgt and senior positions too. Many head regional roles too. Those in mid and senior mgt roles do their part by bringing in fresh locals (singaporeans) and so that cycle helps to get all of us.

Now fast forward to 2011, notice that things have changed. Look at most MNCs..who do you see siting in key positions and now even mid-level mgt. Look at our very own big banks and telcos, who are calling the shots. So FT bosses bring in more FTs and that cycle starts since there is no cap on FT. In IT services, you can hardly find any locals. Now even the financial services industry (except for local sales RM). So what do our local boys & girls (after spending all their years in Engineering, Comp Science, Accountancy) grow up to do? Join garment agencies, be their own boss (open small shops in Far East plaza)? Be a housing agent?

Good point about FT bosses bringing in their supporting FT subordinates. I think the government did not think about this and it is this collective action which FT bosses practised that erodes job opportunities for locals.

 

[Solidgold]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Just look at the housig prices and u know what I mean. Even PRs can buy Public Housing. In 20 years time, Singaporeans will be living in JB while foreigners will take over Singapore.

In the past, the garment canvassed large MNCs to set up shops and HQ here (ASEAN, AP, etc). With that, we get jobs and foreign investment. We were told to keep our skills up, send your kids to tertiary education to secure a good job..no worries, many big corporations will employ locals if we are educated and have the skills. Parents worked extremely hard to get their kids the best education possible (send them to tuition centers if they still cannot cope, etc). True enough, locals get the jobs and as they progressed they got into mid-level mgt and senior positions too. Many head regional roles too. Those in mid and senior mgt roles do their part by bringing in fresh locals (singaporeans) and so that cycle helps to get all of us.

Now fast forward to 2011, notice that things have changed. Look at most MNCs..who do you see siting in key positions and now even mid-level mgt. Look at our very own big banks and telcos, who are calling the shots. So FT bosses bring in more FTs and that cycle starts since there is no cap on FT. In IT services, you can hardly find any locals. Now even the financial services industry (except for local sales RM). So what do our local boys & girls (after spending all their years in Engineering, Comp Science, Accountancy) grow up to do? Join garment agencies, be their own boss (open small shops in Far East plaza)? Be a housing agent?

 

[coolya]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Dun see it happening though.. imagine the fat bonus generated by COE.. last time with 1000 COE @ $20,000 = $20Mil, now they can achieve better with lesser COE, 500 COE @ $55,000 = $27.5Mil.. All paid for by suckers like us..

 

[Racebred]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Road tax, i feel, is conceived as a tax on the social ills of driving a car. Amount of road used, amount of pollution emitted. In the past, decades ago, the benchmark was to use engine cc as a gauge. Today we have accurate CO2 figures. A 3L engine can actually be cleaner than an old 1.5L. I say change the road tax guideline to a function of emissions, and to a lesser extent, road footprint. The current law is archaic. A big cc supermini paying sky high road tax is silly.

COE + ARF is meant to keep the vehicle population in check. It's in the right direction. A worse scenario to having to buy an expensive car is to buy a cheap one with nowhere to drive in.

Petrol tax, other than being a really convenient way to earn the state some money, should be used to discourage fuel-inefficient car purchases, the latter reason will be for the greater good. But by the same token, we should not have a punitive tax on diesel. The one and only reason why it exists, is so that the state does not lose out on collecting their petrol tax, which is very shallow of them.

LTA should also be much more open to alternative fuel subsidies, for the greater good. But no, when people pump less petrol, they got worried, and pulled the plug. Again, shallow.

ERP is an obvious solution but only for CBD areas and areas where people have an alternative, for both time and route. If not, you will just be accused of earning money from an inelastic demand situation. The rush hour jams happen because people need to get to work and get home. It's just the same as lunchtime human jams. The human jams happen during lunchtime because of.... lunch.

Instead of spending billions building more roads, LTA should instead focus on optimising flow along the same roads. Ineffective driving styles in my opinion are a major contributor to congestion. The other is road design. The channeling of flow at the entrances and exits of expressways, and the design of junctions including traffic lights management. The reshaping of roads and the investment into some form of "fuzzy logic" R&D on dynamic road usage, plus efficient driving public education, is a much better way to spend your money. You spend millions adding an additional lane on the expressway, only to have a taxi uncle hog that new lane and effective bringing your cars/hour flow rate back to day one.

Please vote me for transport minister. I need to earn a couple of million bucks a year. thanks.

 

[coolya]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

No no no.. if you are voted in to be transport minister.. your ideas means you will be digging into the reserves rather than generating them.. As a transport minister, your job is to generate more revenue for the growing reserves which will then be channeled into the growing pay checks of those guarding the reserves.

 

[335RS]

Re: Different COEs for Singaporeans and foreigners?

Come to think about it Transport Minister Raymond has been pretty quiet. All the Flak going to Mah Bow Tan. why nobody reads car forums isit? Or maybe those who own cars won't complain, its those that don't who will.

Seriously, if the goverment intends to prop population to to 6 million its ok, but they have to take care of us Singaporeans first.