Observers say Budget will address income disparity, rising costs
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 10 February 2008 2227 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's Budget will be released on Friday, and observers said it will address the core issues of widening income gaps and rising cost of living.

Central Singapore Community Development Council, the largest CDC in Singapore, handled 600 financial assistance cases a month in 2007. But its mayor said the mood has somewhat changed this year.

Zainudin Nordin, mayor of Central Singapore CDC, said: "People are giving us feedback (that) the prices are rising... even the (prices for) things they want to get on a daily basis are beginning to rise. So this is a concern to us too."

He said about 40 per cent of those asking for help are the elderly and needy who simply need that helping hand because they either cannot work or are too sickly to, or they cannot get any support from their families.

And the CDCs are doing more than just giving financial help.

Mr Zainudin said: "We also want to prepare people mentally and psychologically because whenever we face such challenges, Singaporeans need to be more resilient, they need to understand that they need to adapt and manage their resources. It is about managing expectations, moderate their aspirations. So people need to be encouraged to live within their means."

At the CDC level, officers are helping the lower income and needy with acquiring life skills and advice on using their finances resourcefully.

It is hoped that Friday's Budget speech will include measures to strengthen job stability for the lower income and further encourage both employers and employees to embark on skills upgrading programmes.

Upgrading the finances of lower income homes can also come in other ways, said Associate Professor Tan Khee Giap of Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School.

"We should try to entice women from lower income households to come back to the workforce. The economy is... very strong, we need more labour. And if the mother/housewife comes back to work, it will... increase the lower income household's income."

He also hoped that the Ministry of Education would look into an expanded after-school programme, starting from pre-schools, so children from low income homes can spend more quality time in school to get better in their studies while allowing their mothers to go back to work to boost the family income. - CNA/ac