Convoluted - the Singapore way

Singapore policy makers have a convoluted way of handling issues. For those who are not familiar with this word, it means "Extremely complex and difficult to follow."

 I have mentioned the CPF contribution rate that requires a person to refer to 6 brightly colored booklets of 19 pages each. How about setting the CPF contribution rate at 16%? It does not require many complicated tables.

How about workfare - which is lauded by our MPs as being better than a minimum wage. Here is the convoluted WIS (in case you don't know, it meas Workfare Income Supplement). I hope that our MPs, who love workfare, are able to understand how much is being paid to the low income workers. http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/WIS/WIS_Scheme.htm. Why can't the supplement be paid monthly and depend only on the income of the worker for that month?

What about GST Offset Package? Here is the table: http://www.gstoffset.gov.sg/GSTCredits.htm The table is simple, but figuring out the category that a person falls under require some research, i.e. the annual value of a house or the assessable income. What's wrong with giving every person a flat $300 or whatever amount?

There are many more of our convulated practices all over the place. Many of us experience them all the time. We give up trying to understand them. Each set of convoluted practices is designed by a large team of highly educated experts who can spend long  hours to produce the complex tables and web calculators. They can spend the time because this is their job. They forget that every citizen has to do his daily work and live his daily life, and do not have the time to figure out the complexities that are created by five, ten or more agencies.

Welcome to convoluted Singapore.
Tan Kin Lian