MARCH 8 — The Singapore government is going to give me $50 (about RM133).
It is hardly a princely sum but well, when it comes to dealing with the government it is nice to be receiving rather than giving for a change. My little windfall is no special privilege — a majority of Singaporeans over 18 will receive a $50 GST rebate according to the 2015 Budget — apparently it is a gift to celebrate 50 years of independence.
And that’s really just the most direct of a whole basket of goodies, benefits and giveaways offered to citizens. The Budget also offers me $500 in skills credit I can use to take courses and gain new skills, will allow me to claim up to $1,000 back in income tax and give me 1 per cent more interest on my CPF (government savings scheme fund).
Even that’s just scratching the surface: the levy on hiring a foreign domestic workers has been halved for families with young children and homes with elderly residents. Low income elderly Singaporeans have also been promised outright quarterly pay-outs ranging from $300-750; quite a radical break for a government that has long insisted it will not create a Western-style welfare state.
Personally, my biggest takeaway from the Budget other than a little more cash in my wallet was the fact that elections are, surely, coming soon. But short-term electioneering aside there are some interesting threads in the governments numbers for 2015.
The worker skills grant, though still rather modest, is a really promising initiative — the government is or so it is telling us, is putting its money where its mouth is and delivering on buzz words like lifelong learning.
The outright pay-outs for low income elderly are another long term shift, measures like hand-outs can’t simply be rolled back after an election; in fact, over time, they will surely increase — so are we really going to see a welfare state in Singapore?
Then there’s an apparent phase shift in taxation policy with the top 5 per cent of earners now facing a 22 per cent rather than 20 per cent rates of income tax — the first rate rise in the top taxation bracket for 30 years. Okay, it is a very modest increase and Singapore will still offer the rich some of the lowest income tax rates in the developed world but it’s change nonetheless.
While I don’t think the Singapore government is about to move decisively in favour of re-distributive taxation I do think that the government knows it has to keep the population happy.
That 40 per cent of the votes in the last general election went to a fractured and fundamentally weak Opposition, basically as a protest vote, has made it clear that the ruling party can no longer take electoral success for granted and if that means letting the people have more domestic workers or more seniors benefits so be it.
There’s an element of responsiveness to this Budget — the government is responding to long-standing criticisms of the rich poor gap, and a lack of support for the elderly.
But for the government this is something of a catch-22 because they seem to have let Singaporeans know that to get more benefits they need to keep pushing the government and voting for the Opposition in just large enough numbers to keep the bosses on their toes.
On the government’s side, it’s a tricky business trying to balance the scale of your largesse with the practicalities of economic growth and success.
For ordinary citizens, of course, we just want an inlking as to what the government is thinking and, of course, money talks, and where and how the government is spending its money gives us some serious clues as to what the priorities are.
So I suggest Singaporeans with the time to spare, take a close look at Budget 2015. I’m sure you’ll have your personal takeaways and insights... me, I’m making plans for that extra $50.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
