SM Lee vs Jamus Lim on COE and the ‘best way to meet people’s needs and take care of them’

SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Wednesday (Jul 16), Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim described Senior Minister (SM) Lee Hsien Loong as “a mighty fine economist.” He explained, however, that he does not share the former Prime Minister’s perspectives on everything, giving the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and access to car ownership in Singapore as an example of where their beliefs differ.

Car ownership in the city-state is arguably the most expensive in the world, and the COE, the document allowing someone to own and operate a private vehicle for ten years, starts at around S$100,000.

SM Lee had acknowledged in a dialogue at the Economic Society of Singapore’s annual dinner, which the WP MP, an Associate Professor of Economics, had attended, that certain households may have a greater need for a car than others, such as those with elderly or disabled family members.

Assoc Prof Lim wrote, “But instead of saying that there was a reasonable way to adjudicate between these competing needs, he then pivoted to how competitive bidding represented the best way to allocate between these claims.”

His post received a lot of attention on Facebook, including a comment from SM Lee himself, who provided further clarification of the remarks he had made, saying that the government has ensured that Singaporeans have an efficient public transport system, and that there are possibilities for families who need a vehicle to apply for grants to help them pay for a COE.

SM Lee put it this way in his comment: “Where we disagree is not over who cares more for our fellow Singaporeans, but what is the best way to meet people’s needs and take care of them.”

In response, Assoc Prof Lim thanked SM Lee for his comment, but added that he favours “a more targeted mechanism, because it would not only better channel behaviour toward a specific social objective, but also signal more directly as to how the government is helping certain groups out (while also blunting the transactional nature of the system).”

He then reiterated SM Lee’s point regarding the difference between them, which speaks to their divergent views on the “behaviour of people and the efficacy of markets.”

Many other Facebook users have since also commented on Assoc Prof Lim’s post, with some saying they agree with him, and others seeming to side with SM Lee.

Some commenters, however, expressed their appreciation for the exchange between the two.

“I see this as a respectful dialogue between two fine economist-minded gentlemen who both have put in their best to serve the nation. Genuinely grateful for this!” one wrote. /TISG

Read also: Jamus Lim: COE system is broken; time to implement changes