think we hear alot about the so call "other means"... but usually other means are nothing more then empty talks if you dont have big guns and tanks to back them up...Originally posted by kilroy:what is so great about defence budget increasing every year? more money on defence means you are going to pay higher taxes, less money for education, health etc...
it is not a question of more or big, it is about the right amount. peace can be achieved by other means other than more tanks, fighter planes, submarines. we should avoid creating an arm race - the only persons who will benefit are the weapon manufacturers.
Correct.Originally posted by tripwire:think we hear alot about the so call "other means"... but usually other means are nothing more then empty talks if you dont have big guns and tanks to back them up...
and seeing how most of the nations around the world resolve their difference with war and threats... you just cant have too many tanks.
that is how it works in this world...
I dun agree with u that peace can be achieved by other means. Like what tripwire said, without the big toys, others might think who we are to talk big. We need to make our presence felt. those toys act as multiplier and together with our diplomacy, then can we achieve peace.Originally posted by kilroy:what is so great about defence budget increasing every year? more money on defence means you are going to pay higher taxes, less money for education, health etc...
it is not a question of more or big, it is about the right amount. peace can be achieved by other means other than more tanks, fighter planes, submarines. we should avoid creating an arm race - the only persons who will benefit are the weapon manufacturers.
from what you've written, i guess you must be someone who have not started paying taxes. surely you are not aware of the rising medical costs and educaton costs.Originally posted by kelong70:I think our government is very effective. for other country, i know for sure that higher defence budget comes at the expense of other sectors. but for us we can increase our defence, together with education, health at the same time. Yes it leads to higher personal income taxes, but our taxes are one of the lowest in the world, be it GST or income tax. if you dun smoke, dun change car so often, dun bet so much, u dun have to pay so much taxes.
agreed. there's a need for more debates about our defence budget, how the money is spent.... if you look at previous years debates on defence budget, you will find that how few questions were asked and no insightful issues were raised. the same situation outside the parliament.Originally posted by Fairyland:Transparency is also important. So much money can lead to abuse and waste. Not to mention, corruption. It's been proven time and time again all over the world. Even here in Singapore.
it is not just the largest, it is almost 1/3 (31.2 %) to be exact.
IMHO, Mindef need to work on this. It is after all the largest allocation for any ministry in the whole budget.