What were your overall thoughts on this year’s Budget announcement? What else did you want to see in the Budget?

Amsyar: I think generally, the Budget addresses the questions that will come up in the future like AI, housing, an ageing population, the section of the population that is in the middle, like the 30 to 40 year olds, which demonstrates foresight. It shows empathy... and that they’re listening, which I really appreciated.

Dev: A big part of the Budget was focused on ensuring our workforce remains competitive. The tech landscape is changing very quickly, the forces of who is a competitive workforce and who isn’t changes very quickly in times like this, so it’s nice they are keeping an eye on that. I was also hoping to see more on mental wellbeing, as it’s going to be a growing concern and it already is. (Mental health services) are not as accessible as some would like it to be.

Dawn: I think it’s important to address mental wellbeing concerns too, to ease anxiety and stress related to the rising cost of living and even in the workplace. I think there could be more support programmes in this area, because when individuals are concerned about meeting their basic needs such as covering food, housing and health, it’s really very challenging for them to actively participate in the shared vision of what Deputy Prime Minister (Lawrence) Wong has said and to be productive in the workplace. If the Government is able to consider all aspects — financial, emotional and mental well being — Singaporeans would be in a better position to move forward together more productively.

Larissa: It’s great that the Budget was diversified, like supporting NSF (full-time national servicemen) by giving the Life SG credits, supporting the arts and sports funds. To me, it’s also the Government signalling that there’s more to life than your corporate job or progressing in the workforce… In comparison to last year’s Budget, which was more focused on family planning with baby bonuses and housing schemes, which is also essential, but Singaporeans are also diversifying how they look at life, work, marriage.

Justine: I was hoping to hear more about the 30 by 30 food production goal. I haven’t heard much on that, and thought there would be some (mention) about that in the Budget, but there wasn’t.

What did you think of the measures to defray the rising cost of living? Are these measures sufficient in addressing your concerns?

Dawn: I think that the current handouts provide short to mid-term relief for the rising cost of living in Singapore. However, relying solely on handouts is not a sustainable long-term solution. It may be beneficial to review structural policies for more lasting effects. Additionally, it's important that we use these handouts carefully and not view them as disposable income.

Justine: We currently use CDC vouchers mainly for groceries — while I wouldn’t say it goes very far, every bit helps. You buy better ingredients and healthier stuff that you may stinge on if you didn’t have the vouchers. It does make you spend a little bit more…the fact that you have the vouchers reassures consumers as well as businesses that people have a bit more confidence to spend.

Dev: Sometimes (the handouts) feel like a bonus you suddenly receive. There’s not a direct one to one relation sometimes, from an on the ground perspective, where I can directly associate cost of living and GST hike to CDC voucher payouts and whatever subsidies they pay out in cash. An interesting data point would be if we can see how that increase of 1 or 2 percentage points (in GST), how much did it actually increase my cost of living and do the handouts actually offset it?

What do you think about the measures aimed at alleviating cost concerns for parents and young families – from rental vouchers to ways to help improve preschool affordability?

Justine: I think (the vouchers to assist families in renting from the open market) are really good because that was the exact issue that I faced. We were very lucky that my parents had space in where they were living, so we could (live) there… I think that really helped because I have friends whose parents — both in-laws and their own parents — have no space for them. Then they’re married, but they don’t live together because they’re still waiting for their flat. So it’s kind of like, then how? And they’re my age, and their flat would be ready in another three, four years. By then, it’s not the best age to start trying to have a baby. It’s very difficult. So I think this… could help people get their own housing, and is really useful.

Dev: I’m at the age when… a lot of people in my age group are actually having that anxiety, where I have to plan out the next few years down to a T: Get married in this year, wait for a flat in this year, and everything has to happen on time, or else I’d literally be lost and not have a house. So at least now I can wait and be like, ‘Okay, when I’m ready, then I’ll go apply for one, and in the time being, I can still get a rental’. There are other ways I can sustain myself, and not necessarily having to fall into that stress that everything needs to be planned out, and that if I don’t now, I’ll be left without a place to stay.

Justine: I do appreciate that they took away the differentiation between working mothers and non-working mothers for lower-income families, because sometimes you don’t earn enough, that it makes sense to send your kids to school. But also on the other hand… why did they remove (the differentiation) for only lower-income (mothers)... most of our (non-working mothers) expenses still go to the kid, so having that subsidy still helps. I also kind of wish there was more on maternity leave or paternity leave. In this Budget, I don’t think they really touched on that.

What do you think about the measures aimed at helping Singaporeans to continuously upgrade their skills — such as the S$4,000 SkillsFuture credits top-up for Singaporeans aged 40 and above, and the monthly training allowance of up to $3,000?

Justine: As someone on a career pause because of the young kids, that’s really a big incentive actually. It is a privilege to take this pause and spend all that time with your kids, but at the end of the day, you’re also out of the workforce for five, six years, and then you’re like… now what? So having this cash to go out and reskill… I think it’s a good push for me.

Dev: What kind of stood out for me for the Budget was the ‘Level Up’ programme. To me, that was quite interesting because it’s a further lean-in to the SkillsFuture system. The programmes of having boot camps for (individuals) above 40 years old, I think it shows Singaporeans that the requirement of being agile and being willing to be mobile with your skillset is very important. Likely, the youths going into the workforce now have to envision that they’re not going to have one career, but probably two or three careers down the line that might look vastly different, and that’s probably the reality of the world because things are changing so rapidly. There’s no guarantee that the career you start with today would be the career that you retire with.

I also help with a little bit of the boot camp programmes as well, and I can see that a lot of these folks come from defence sectors, healthcare sectors, sectors that are highly specialised – which kind of alienates them from the corporate world. So sometimes, having that pay support really helps. Because I could potentially leave a job if I’m fully committed to transiting careers, be funded while I’m studying, sustain my lifestyle and my family, and then get a new job as well. It’s really difficult to learn and work at the same time… so at least the Government is trying to make it a bit easier for folks to do that now.

Amsyar: The monthly allowance sounds like a good deal though it’s likely limited to certain courses. Government SkillsFuture top-ups or allowances for upskilling function as a cushion. They do not function to guarantee a successful upskilling journey. Choosing to upskill mid-career is and always will be a risk, and with great risk comes great reward.

The Government recognises that, and to encourage more citizens to attain that high reward, they help to reduce that risk. Does the risk still exist? Yes of course. Is S$3,000 enough? For someone earning S$3,000, sure. But I doubt any 40-year-old seeking to upskill would be earning that amount anymore. My point is the allowance will likely not match their current wage... so it will remain a risk to upskill, but a worth-it risk at that.

What did you think of plans for a temporary financial support scheme for retrenched workers?

Larissa: While I was job hunting, of course a cash payout would definitely be nice. With unemployment, you never know how long you go out of work and despite the handout given by the company during layoffs or retrenchment, it will likely be insufficient to tide over for long periods of time, say six months. Out of maybe 200 applications that I sent, I’ve only had about 20 to 30 interviews, so that’s really time consuming.

For younger folk, it definitely is more manageable since utilities are shared with the family but for people who might be married or supporting a family, it will be tough. For me, I would have likely used the cash payout on necessities or any applicable upskilling courses.

If a fund could be set up to create a programme that connects retrenched workers to a network of companies that would be a good fit for them that could also be helpful. It’s something retrenched workers can add to their portfolio and also potentially continue into full-time employment should there be a good fit.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Today Online

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]