Heart disease research: CIPHER dedicated to cardiovascular stem cell research for Asian biology

It is clear that these public research boards completely lack the risk management of real business entrepreneurs. Blindly throwing massive capital at speculative breakthroughs without transparent baseline targets is a structural failure. Regular citizens shouldn&#39;t be the ones absorbing the losses through constant tax hikes when projects stall.<br>&quot;Sort by Newest&quot; to read more interesting comments.

The cancellation of the driverless bus trials this month shows exactly why these massive research budgets need stricter accountability. In the real business world, spending billions for over a decade with no practical utility for regular taxpayers would get people fired. We need much stronger independent checks in place to enforce clear project timelines and stop socializing the financial downside onto everyday citizens.<br>&quot;Sort by Newest&quot; to read more interesting comments.

Singaporeans need to look past the technical buzzwords and examine the structural flaws in our national spending priorities. While everyday citizens face punishing GST hikes and structural inflation under the banner of fiscal prudence, the state has systematically committed an astronomical S$65 billion across the last two five-year research cycles (RIE2025 and RIE2030).<br><br>Look at the massive budgets directed into biomedical and health research—including a multi-billion-dollar chunk of the S$10.8 billion strategic pillar handed over for genomic sequencing and abstract lab models like CIPHER. This follows the exact same pattern as the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector. After 11 years of continuous road trials and an estimated S$1.2 billion to S$1.5 billion allocated to AV development since 2015, the LTA just officially halted its planned driverless public bus pilots this month because the technology remains unviable for complex public routes. In the commercial world, burning through multi-billion-dollar budgets for over a decade without delivering practical utility is completely abnormal—the executives responsible would have been long fired. Yet, our public administration operates without this disciplined market accountability. Lacking the sharp commercial risk management of real entrepreneurs, they engage in blind investing and wishful thinking, chasing hypothetical breakthroughs without transparent baseline limits, knowing that the financial downside of these failed experiments will ultimately be socialized onto the tax-paying public.<br><br>The reality shows a persistent gap between expensive promises—like a Swiss standard of living or functional AV fleets—and the actual day-to-day returns for local citizens, even with free trade agreements and foreign talent frameworks in place. The average Singaporean sees no tangible, near-term returns from these elite capital deployments—only a rising cost of living and higher tax burdens, while critical demographic crises like our record-low TFR remain structurally underfunded. When multi-billion-dollar sums are expended with nothing to show, the system desperately needs strict accountability. To improve this, Singaporeans must do what they can to help the government make good and sound policies by voting more Opposition into Parliament. A stronger alternative presence will assist in enforcing strict, independent oversight—demanding clear timelines, mandatory waypoints, and verifiable projections of direct public benefits before these massive outlays are ever approved.