The_King Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Amanda: The first thing I can think of is the rising cost of living. Because with young children, it is a trade-off with regards to the quality of education, childcare, their basic needs.... So, during this period, it's a very challenging time, especially for young parents between the age of 25 and the 40s, that phase where we're supposed to build our career, build our family and look after elderly parents. The rising cost of living is causing a strain on what we have financially, our energy and our resources. Bernadette: Most food-and-beverage (F&B), retail or service-oriented businesses are already struggling with manpower stability and are very hard-pressed to find adequate levels of local manpower, especially because Singaporeans have eschewed jobs that are service-oriented traditionally, and what more in the face of the risk of being on the front line of the pandemic. Karl: As a young person, as someone who is aspiring to be a plant ecologist, (the Budget) is very relevant to my own life… How would I, as a person going into the workforce very soon, be able to afford a basic income to survive? That was really my major concern as a young person entering the workforce. Another thing that concerns me… is about how we want to transit to a fairer society… I feel very strongly that inequality has to improve. Nurultasnim: Before the pandemic, my mother used to go to a rehabilitation centre, but since it hit, I have been taking care of her. As a young caregiver, it is tough because I need to juggle establishing myself and taking care of her. Sometimes, I need flexible hours to accompany her for appointments. The solution is to get a helper. That is my concern. I was hoping that there was some assistance in the healthcare or mental health sector, so that people will be more aware about mental health issues and hopefully in future employers will be more understanding and empathetic to her and to me also. Sebastian: I want to share that as a front-line social worker serving in the Family Service Centre, we serve in the heartlands and the clients that we see are people that come from all walks of life. They have various issues like mental health, disabilities and even those that are facing accommodation, financial or family relationship issues... Cost of living is something I’m concerned about (in particular) as a social worker addressing social inequality in Singapore. TODAY: DID THE BUDGET ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS? WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE BUDGET? Amanda: Since I built my mobile application (to match babysitters with parents), I’ve been speaking to a lot of young parents... It's very stressful for them to look after a young child during the pandemic. It’s difficult to take leave when your child has (to be isolated at home for several days). Some of them make the decision to stop working altogether, since the kids are not going to school. That raises questions about the employability of a lot of very capable young women. So Minister Lawrence Wong has addressed this issue. He said that especially for lower-income families, the issues that they face are multifaceted. It's not like you can just give them cash, and then it solves the problem… What I was thinking about when he brought this up was whether it was timely and holistic enough. I do feel that sometimes a lot of parents are burnt out and they need immediate or timely assistance and it might not be able to reach them as quickly as we hope for it to be... hopefully, there'll be more support and more collaboration, and then that could bridge this gap. Bernadette: So hearing the Budget speech, where there is an adjustment of foreign manpower policy, we clearly have our challenges cut out for us. The foreign dependency ratio is really computed as a function of how much local manpower you're able to hire and I think that most businesses in the F&B sector have really done everything that they possibly can to hire as many locals as possible. Karl: The first thing that came to my mind was the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike, and it took me a while to come to the realisation about how impactful the 9 per cent GST will be on my life. It’s just so broad-ranging. Everything will be affected. Nurultasnim: The (raising of the Basic Retirement Sum and higher monthly CPF payouts) caught my attention. It is very assuring for me that my parents have something to depend on and I don’t have to provide for them my whole life. Sebastian: I was touched by what Minister Lawrence Wong mentioned about (upholding a sense of) obligation to each other. What the Minister stated is actually what’s called in the social service sector as the "many helping hands" approach. This is where the individual has a part to play for his own living and then coming in with support from family members, relatives and also the community to support them. Finally, the Government working with respective stakeholders for the self, family and the community in this "many helping hands" approach to help our families and fellow Singaporeans. So I thought those are very interesting principles we have in Singapore. We’ve also heard about the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers. The vouchers were introduced to boost tourism, but... they also gave low-income families an opportunity to have luxury activities such as to go to the zoo or other excursions. There are some unintended positive benefits from the vouchers and I am curious if the Government will consider in future how we can utilise these vouchers to better the quality of living for Singaporeans. TODAY: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OVERALL CHANGES TO THE TAX SYSTEM, INCLUDING RAISING THE GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) AND TAXING HIGHER EARNERS MORE? Amanda: In terms of parenting, a lot of things are necessities — even a breast pump costs S$500. There are costs that you just cannot do without. With childcare, sometimes it's a painful decision. If you cannot afford better childcare, it's very painful to put your child in a place you don't feel that comfortable with. So there's a lot of emotional things tied to price increases... I’m thinking of what I can cancel or what I can do without. I think (my children) can eat simpler food; they can do without enrichment classes. These are not a must-have, but a good-to-have. Bernadette: I’m happy to hear that the GST hike will not take place this year, because I feel that supply chains have been so heavily disrupted that raw material costs for almost everything have really been increasing… So, I'm glad that this has been deferred till next year, because it would be good for the market to have some stability, in order to determine its pricing and for consumers to not have that additional burden, such that GST gets confused with increases in price because I think it might be a lot for an average consumer to stomach. The GST applies to everything that is consumed. So it hits the middle-income earners the hardest. And I think the middle income in Singapore generally feel quite sandwiched because there's really a very high cost of living. So I was quite surprised that this also didn't come with more wealth-tax-related things. There was a bit about (income and) property taxes (for non-owner occupied residential properties) and a tax for luxury cars, but that was about it. Karl: I’m just glad there is at least some certainty to this GST hike, which has been talked about for quite a few years. At least we will be more prepared. I thought it was going to be 9 per cent straightaway, but I guess it’s nice that they (are raising it to) 8 per cent, then 9 per cent later so it's not a shock to ordinary people. When I heard about the increase in taxes for luxury cars, I thought that was a good idea... that by increasing tax on specific luxury goods, it would have been a better way of building up our revenue, rather than (increasing GST). Taxing certain goods that are wants and desires, and not necessarily needs, would have been a better option. Nurultasnim: My concern about the GST increase is the medication bills (The Government will continue to absorb GST on subsidised public healthcare). My mother has a lifelong illness of schizophrenia and diabetes. It’s an expense that I will have to look into for many more years. Healthy food is also more expensive than normal food, so that’s another lifelong expense we would have to pay more for. If fuel prices increase, then my family may have to pay more for taxi expenses, too. Sebastian: Definitely, low-income families would be concerned about the GST increase, but at least now there is certainty regarding the staggered approach, which is 8 per cent next year, and then 9 per cent in 2024. In my work as a social worker, we do share with families how to exercise financial prudence and discuss with them their income expenditure. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 As usual telling ppl it's a beautiful world when looking through it yourself is a different thing .. Taking back the whole chicken farm only benefit those at bottom of the pit... Those who don't qualify will become real actors and actresses of money no enough... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates469bc Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 The last few days have been noticing the white panties IB on overdrive mode... Shooting down every criticism bery fast... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 8 hours ago, XianGe said: The last few days have been noticing the white panties IB on overdrive mode... Shooting down every criticism bery fast... they can shoot all they want, when it come to paying, they cant shoot 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee_O Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 tldr.....so in future we are suppose to fund this kind of news? thanks to the worse minister in singapore? 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 35 minutes ago, Coffee_O said: tldr.....so in future we are suppose to fund this kind of news? thanks to the worse minister in singapore? 61% likes to find rubbish news 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates469bc Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Coffee_O said: tldr.....so in future we are suppose to fund this kind of news? thanks to the worse minister in singapore? 1 hour ago, XianGe said: 61% likes to find rubbish news limpeh me alrdy warn abt that casinos will only at most give 5 yrs of strong growth in 2004 liao. but the masses too stupid to think. nb, this professor alrdy did an economic analysis of casinos in individual us states and indian reservation lands using data between 1990-2005. his conclusion is that casinos have a marginal impact on economic growth after the 5th yr in operation but can contribute significantly to the states' coffers. whole singapore no read his papers?????? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homelander Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 1 hour ago, socrates469bc said: limpeh me alrdy warn abt that casinos will only at most give 5 yrs of strong growth in 2004 liao. but the masses too stupid to think. nb, this professor alrdy did an economic analysis of casinos in individual us states and indian reservation lands using data between 1990-2005. his conclusion is that casinos have a marginal impact on economic growth after the 5th yr in operation but can contribute significantly to the states' coffers. whole singapore no read his papers?????? Next step will be to build more casinos...create more jobs and generate the economy from pinky...wahahaha...one at jurong, one at north... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates469bc Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 15 minutes ago, Homelander said: Next step will be to build more casinos...create more jobs and generate the economy from pinky...wahahaha...one at jurong, one at north... pinky alrdy preparing groundworks liao. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaur4man Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) even a breast pump costs S$500 Edited February 21, 2022 by aaur4man 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ODACHEK Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 No need breast pump rah....tell hubby to squeeze can oredi... 2 TVB for life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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