Hongbao in Budget may breed ‘gimme’ mentality - Singapore
MP suggests links to growth so S’poreans will better appreciate handouts
By Lynn Lee
A SIMPLE and direct formula that links goodies dished out in the Budget and economic performance could help Singaporeans better appreciate the handouts that they receive, Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) said yesterday.
The Government is ‘the only one in the world that gives out cash hongbao on its Budget Day’, he said, even as he asked if this was breeding unhealthy expectations of handouts every year.
Mr Baey, speaking during the
debate on the Government’s Budget for the new fiscal year, supported the principle of targeting more help for the lower-income and elderly - society’s most vulnerable.
But he said that people also tended to see the handouts as an annual cash windfall. Some people, for instance, spend what they had received to offset the hike in the goods and services tax (GST), and then ‘continue to complain about the 2 percentage point increase’ in GST.
Mr Baey said he was concerned that Singaporeans were beginning to take such hongbao for granted.
‘I am worried if people just look at the dollar figure they receive, rejoice when it is more than last year’s, and become disappointed if it is a smaller windfall,’ he said.
Perhaps the Government could draw up a formula for handing out goodies in the same way that bonuses for top people in the Administrative Service are determined - by pegging it to economic growth.
‘We should also retain the priority towards the needy and elderly who will receive more,’ he explained.
‘Perhaps we can add the size of the Budget surplus as another factor, so that people are able to see the basis of the hongbao and the direct linkage between the state of the economy and their benefit.
‘With a formula, there will be less debate on the quantum of the money given out, lower expectation and hopefully less unhappiness.’
The Government, on Feb 15, announced a Budget surplus of $6.4 billion, as well as $1.8 billion in benefits to Singaporeans in the form of Growth Dividends, income tax rebates and health-care and education-related top-ups.
Mr Baey said another way to share part of the Budget surplus was to hand out goodies just before the Government’s term ends - just before a General Election.
‘Some people will accuse this of being a pre-GE sweetener, but I see this as a reasonable way to end a term of government and to share part of whatever surpluses before closing the books,’ he noted.
‘Sometimes we take a good government for granted and give it less credit than it deserves.’
Like him, Mr Sam Tan (Tanjong Pagar GRC) was also worried that the Budget handouts of the past few years had raised expectations.
Already, he was hearing reactions: that the goodies this year were helpful, but not enough.
What would happen then, if there was a Budget deficit and the Government could not return anything to the people? Would they despair? he asked rhetorically in Mandarin.
So, it was necessary to manage people’s expectations of the yearly Budget bonuses, he said, adding his voice to a view that had been made previously by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Said Mr Tan: ‘The people lack self-examination. I hope that the Government can, through national education, educate our people…so they can have realistic expectations of the Budget.’
This would ensure continued growth for Singapore and teach its citizens how to prepare for rainy days, he added.
Source : Straits Times - 26 Feb 2008
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