Miss Paimia (not her real name – name altered to protect her identity) is a math tutor working at Tekan Tuition Centre (TTC) (not their real name – name altered to protect their identity) in Novena.
Born in an impoverished village in Southeast Asia, she was approached and persuaded by an ‘agent’ when she was twelve to come to Singapore, where she was promised a life of luxury, living in houses that dwarf her attap farmhouse, with a cost of living lower than her village, and with local students so stupid that she’ll be guaranteed top place in the education system year after year.
Her dreams vanished instantly when, upon arriving in Singapore after a thousand-kilometer sampan journey, she was whisked away to TTC, given a smallish HDB flat to live in (though the entire building did dwarf her farmhouse), discovered that a cup of kopi peng in Novena costs > SGD$1, and read about this year’s O Level results.
Worse was to follow when her new employees brutally made her memorize the 2008 GCE O Level EMaths and AMaths Syllabus in double-quick time, and forced her to service up to 40 disorderly/havoc/lame/naughty/whatever students at a time in class.
are never seen again
But in her darkest hours, a silver lining appeared in the form of another tuition centre (name withheld to protect its identity) nearby.
Each day from her decrepit classroom, Miss Paimia would peer through the narrow gaps of her grilled window – to admire cosy classes of angelic, orderly students (yeah right.) being taught by the soothing maths tutor (name withheld to protect her identity) there – scenes that she longed to be a part of.
So imagine her joy when she bumped into the math tutor today on the way to file her income tax at IRAS in Novena (sadly, TTC doesn’t even have internet for her to do eFiling).
Embracing the tutor in a tight bear hug, she implored her to take her in and help end her misery. As the first thing in the poor tutor’s mind now was how to extricate herself from that suffocating bear hug, she glanced at Miss Paimia’s tax information and found that:
Given that Miss Paimia works 365 days a year (12 hours/day), she effectively earned $30/hour in 2007, after deducting her income taxes (assuming as a ‘Foreign Talent’ she’s not eligible for any tax relief). It was also revealed that her pre-tax hourly rate was increased by 50% plus an extra $3.05 per hour at the beginning of 2007.
If the tutor offers to increase her 2006 pre-tax hourly rate by 75%, and she only needs to work an average of 340 days a year (12 hours/day), should Miss Paimia take up her offer?
Please use IRAS’ 2007 tax rates for your calculations:
| Chargeable Income | Rate (%) | Gross Tax Payable ($) |
|---|---|---|
| First $20,000 Next $10,000 | 0 3.50 | 0 350 |
| First $30,000 Next $10,000 | – 5.50 | 350 550 |
| First $40,000 Next $40,000 | – 8.50 | 900 3400 |
| First $80,000 Next $80,000 | – 14 | 4300 11200 |
| First $160,000 Next $160,000 | – 17 | 15500 27200 |
| First $320,000 Next $320,000 | – 20 | 42700 |
NOTE: While such percentages questions from the Arithmetic chapter may look longish and tricky and intimidating, they are usually pretty straightforward and ‘sure-scores’ in any E-Maths papers. The following statements should be common sense to you:
- When y increases by x% ⇒ new value of y is
- When y decreases by x% ⇒ new value of y is
Lastly, do spare a thought for your parents and adults as, while these questions are easy for you to score, be rest assured that none of us look forward to solving this every year 🙁
Now to all adults who have managed to bear with Miss Loi until this point,
