Budget 2025 - What I would like to see

 Lawrence Wong is going to deliver his hamper budget very soon. Given the election year, given the cries about high cost of living and nonstop increases in taxes, fees and fares, it is quite reasonable to expect that Lawrence Wong would be quite generous in his first budget as the PM. With all the revenues collected, with all the sovereign funds making lots of rupees, oops, I mean money, giving a bigger hongbao to the citizens should not be a painful decision. No need to slaughter the goose that lays the golden eggs. 

Lawrence had said many times about supporting the senior citizens, knowing very well that many are retired and have no income to soften the blow of high cost of living. The food in kopitiam or food courts are not exactly cheap. $50 could hardly buy anything in NTUC FairPrice. Maybe could buy a bit more in Sheng Siong. Tough time is facing the senior citizens and those that are unemployed for one reason or another.

60 years after independence, the prudence and thriftiness of the earlier govts, and the high saving rates have helped to accumulate a national reserve that could come in handy for a time like this. After paying millions and millions, if not billions to the fund managers, perhaps it is time to return some dividends to the Pioneer and Merdeka generations for their contributions to the national reserves over the last 6 decades.

It is a good gesture to share the accumulated wealth of the nations to the deserving citizens without exceptions. But there is one exception that must be made with regard to new citizens. The nation has a lot of money in the reserves but sharing it with the citizens must be carefully considered. 

New citizens did not contribute as much to the nations reserves like the original citizens. The children of the original citizens have parents or grandparents that contributed their parts to the nation's reserves. Cannot say the same about new citizens. New citizens already enjoy many windfalls for becoming Singapore's citizens to start with. Subsidised medical care, education and the privilege to buy HDB flats or landed properties. Buying a HDB flat direct from the govt is like striking lottery of a few hundred thousand when sold in the resale market. This is not small change for the average Singaporean. And they have two cherries to pick as citizens.

If I am not mistaken, I stand corrected, new citizens immediately qualified for all the govt handouts and Assurance Package the day they become citizens. Is it necessary? The new citizens would not be expecting to strike lottery once they become citizens. The handouts and Assurance Packages from the govt in recent years are not small change. And Lawrence is likely to be more generous in his maiden PM budget. 

The big question, why should new citizens that have not contributed much to our national reserves be given as much Assurance Packages and handouts as the original citizens who have contributed for many years, many decades? Some fine tunings are warranted when handing out our nation's reserves to new citizens who have hardly contributed much to the reserves. Having a lot of money to give away is one thing. Some prudence and careful thinking are called for when giving out OPM.

New citizens could qualify for the full benefits of govt handouts and support over time, not necessarily to be immediate. The savings could be given to more deserving senior citizens that lived through a time of low wages and when cost of living was lower. It is a double whammy to have to live with little or no savings when the cost of living is hitting the sky and seeing new citizens enjoying current higher salaries and also sharing the same govt handouts.

What do you think?

PS. KNN, Singapore govt so good, gives free money once become citizen.