Taxes in Singapore

Without taxes

Published in The News on January 30, 2012

This is with reference to Mumtaz Bhutto’s article ‘Hollow talk of democracy’ (January 25). According to him, no taxes are levied in Singapore. I’ve heard this from others as well. Obviously, there is some misunderstanding here, because no state can exist without taxes.

In Singapore, 3.5 percent to 20 percent income tax is levied on individuals with incomes above 20,000 Singaporean dollars. Also, besides other taxes, a goods and service tax is also in place while the corporate income tax is 17 percent.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Zardari not trust worthy?

Cancellation of licence

Published in The Express Tribune on January 20, 2012

KARACHI: In his recent interview which was shown on several television channels, our ‘popular’ president categorically stated that he would order the cancellation of the licence given to Air Indus (the airline said to be owned by his sister Faryal Talpur). However, in a national newspaper of January 15, this company had advertised for the opening of pilots and other technical personnel. Should we then assume that (as often said by the president on previous occasions), what he said should be ignored?

Shakir Lakhani

Why remake Pakistan?

Published in The News on January 17, 2012

In his article, ‘Why remake Pakistan?’ (Jan 14) Ameer Bhutto says, “Besides, if administrative efficiency is the only concern, then smaller administrative units already exist in the form of divisions and districts. All that is needed is to enhance their authority and further empower the existing system of local government”. This is exactly what Pakistan needs. Either divide the whole country into 27 provinces (each division being a province), or give the divisions more authority and empower the system of local government.

But then, our present feudal rulers do not want this. They want to keep the power to decide how to spend the taxes paid by the people, while at the same time exempting themselves from paying taxes. As long as there is taxation without proper representation, there will be no progress. Switzerland, with a population half that of Karachi, has 22 provinces, each with the maximum degree of autonomy. As a result, Switzerland is one of the best-governed countries on the planet.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

President's interview

Published in The News on January 10, 2012

There were so many other questions which Hamid Mir could have asked President Zardari. For example, why is it that the rupee always depreciates so much only in a PPP government? Why did his government do nothing to prevent what the president called the ‘weakening of PIA, the Railways and Wapda etc’? Why didn’t the government do anything to raise CNG production during the last four years?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

FBR & missing containers

Missing containers

KARACHI: This is with reference to the news item “FBR files a dozen more references in missing containers scam” in your issue of January 6.
While appreciating the Federal Board of Revenue’s efforts to punish those involved in the scam, I would like to know why goods meant for Afghanistan (through the Afghan Transit Trade Treaty) can be found in just about every city of the country.
If the FBR administration wants proof of this, all it has to do is to carry out a survey of most major urban markets in the country. And if it wants to clamp down on this blatant misuse of the Afghan Transit Trade rules, it should also arrest some of the traders involved in selling these smuggled items.

Shakir Lakhani
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2012.

Does anyone care?

Does anyone care?

This is with reference to the news item ‘Brother of MPA gunned down in Karachi’ (December 31, 2011). After Prof Saleem Ahmed Kharal’s murder, who was the brother of PPP lawmaker Naeem Ahmed Kharal in a car-snatching attempt, perhaps the ruling party will devote some attention to the deteriorating law and order in Karachi. But I doubt if anyone at the helm will do anything, as they are seemingly told by their sycophants every day that all is well in the country and all negative news are the media’s conspiracy against the ruling party.

And if the PPP government has not yet noticed the scandalous waste of taxpayers’ money, I can help it. Outside Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s house in DHA, among the six police mobiles permanently stationed there (even when he and his wife are not in Karachi), one van has been rendered completely useless by bird droppings and corrosion. In any other civilised country, the people responsible for such negligence would have been sent to jail, but alas, this being Pakistan, these criminals might instead be promoted.

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi
Published in The News, January 3, 2012

Mr. Jinnah's "grandson"

Mr Jinnah’s ‘grandson’

Sir: I was shocked to see on a private television channel a man by the name of Muhammad Aslam Jinnah claiming to be Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s ‘nawaasa’ (maternal grandson). The man was speaking flawless Urdu and was treated like a VIP by the anchor and others present on his show. According to many sources, Mr Aslam is an impostor because the Quaid had only one child — a daughter named Dina, who married Neville Wadia from India. Any maternal grandson or granddaughter of the Quaid would therefore have the surname Wadia and not Jinnah. I also heard that Mr Aslam is being paid a stipend by the government for being the ‘Quaid’s maternal grandson’. I did not know that it was so easy to cheat the government. Obviously, those who invited this man on the television programme have never read a biography of the great founder of the nation, otherwise they would never have been given so much importance to anyone alleging to be related to our great leader contrary to the evidence and statements of the real family members of Mr Jinnah.

SHAKIR LAKHANI
Karachi
Published in Daily Times, December 28, 2011

Make Veena Malik Pakistan's information minister!

KARACHI: The prime minister should have immediately accepted Firdous Ashiq Awan’s resignation as information minister. Instead, the government should have appointed Veena Malik as information minister since she would probably be able to do a far better job than all those who have preceded her.

Shakir Lakhani
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2011.

Crisis in Pakistan and lack of governance

Crisis in Pakistan

26 December 2011

This is in response to the editorial, ‘Crisis in Pakistan’ (Dec 25). If the present government had devoted its attention towards improving the lot of the people, rather than trying to stay put in power, it wouldn’t have found itself in such a precarious situation today.

Rather than learning from their mistakes, however, the ministers will continue to indulge in loot and plunder — until the masses vote them out of office.

Shakir Lakhani
Published in Khaleej Times, 26 December 2011

DHA's waste of taxpayers' money

Karachi DHA affairs

Published in DAWN on December 22, 2011

I have long been convinced that there are government officials whose only job is to find new ways of wasting our tax money. Take Karachi’s DHA, for instance. Here, for the past week, road dividers on many roads are being demolished and new ones are being built to replace them.

I have tried hard to find why this is necessary. There is nothing wrong with the existing dividers, except perhaps they require fresh paint. Yet a lot of money is being spent on breaking and replacing them.

The irony is that there are no dividers on many DHA roads. The portion of Khayaban-i-Shaheen in Phase VIII, for instance, urgently needs dividers to prevent more head-on collisions (there is at least one every fortnight). Only a really horrible accident involving some VVIP’s relatives will persuade the DHA to spend money where it is really needed.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi