[sgbuffett]

Unlike many pension schemes where both funds and risk are pooled to create a national pension CPF is individual account based and you get back what you put in.

In other developed countries everyone pay tax or into a pension scheme ...amount based you income level for example you earn $1M a year you contribute 50K, if you earn 50k a year you contribute $8k....Once you retire everyone tap from the common pool and more or less get same amount. This is how broadbased retirement adequacy is achieved


In Singappee everyone has his own CPF account. It operates like FD with higher interest  in fact now FD is better. Then you take out when you reach 55. Some money goes jnto a pool cpf life but what you take out again is proportional to your contribution.

There are pros and cons of each of these system however the Singapore system simply AMPLIFY the inequalities in our society. It is also a poverty trap. Poor never keep enough to retire the children who may be poor have to shoulder the financial burden and it becomes vicious cycle. Poverty is a rising problem jn Singapore.

To change the system to that of other  developed is probably not acceptable to Singaporeans who are brainwashed with the meritocracy narrative...that poor deserve their plight due to their inferior abilities and so elites are paid sky high as they are society 's true talent. The idea of implementing sharing in a national pension breaks this narrative.
It will never happen because the narrative justify the high remuneration of our political leaders.
Singaporeans who are brought up on the same philosophy will reject the idea of sharing.

If Lawrence Wing is a bit bold he will use excess returns from GIC and Temasek to top up retirement accounts of the poor. That's about all they can do.