Budget 2023 watch party: Young S'poreans tell TODAY what they think about the announcements

On Tuesday (Feb 14), TODAY organised a watch party with several young Singaporeans aged 35 and below to discuss their concerns as well as measures announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong in Budget 2023.

The participants were Ms Nur Raihan Muhd Razali, 31, a human resources professional and mother of a four-month-old baby; Mr Shawn Ang, 24, an environmentalist and undergraduate from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU); Ms Sofiyah Ramzi, 24, a jobseeker who graduated from the National University of Singapore last July; Ms Hana Kalysa Taufiq, 24, an NTU student graduating this July; and Mr Goh Yong Wei, 30, a platform worker. 

Here are the excerpts:

What do you make of this year’s Budget? Did the measures allay any immediate concerns you have?

Raihan: I was looking forward to more cash payouts for Singaporeans and young parents like me this year because the rising cost of living and inflation have been worrying. 

Sofiyah: My main concern was housing… there are obstacles (for other youths) like having to wait a long time for BTO (Build-to-Order) flats and I think the Budget helps some people address their immediate concerns. 

Hana: There are a lot of child-related grants that are great for families and parents. I guess the part about GST (Goods and Services Tax) vouchers (caught my attention) because of our current inflation and rising GST.

Shawn: I think it’s awesome that there are all these measures to support households and families and I think in the immediate period, it definitely helps to alleviate some of these (cost) pressures. DPM Wong said that it’s not fiscally sustainable to rely on these measures and ultimately, what we need to be able to cope with this inflation is worker productivity and worker wages to also grow. I think that’s the real challenge — whether the Government and industries are able to achieve that kind of productivity and growth in real wages to be able to offset rising inflationary pressures.

I think it is a bit disappointing that there are no (environmental-related) policy measures, but I’m waiting for the Committee of Supply debate. I hope there will be some new policies announced by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.

The attention we give to climate and environment and sustainability is something we should not let up on just because our immediate attention is on inflation and the cost of living.

What do you think about the initiatives to support parenthood?

Raihan: The CDA (Child Development Account) top-ups will help young parents like me a lot because we can utilise it for our child’s education and healthcare, such as when putting him in infant care. Because now infant care is not cheap; it can cost up to S$2,000 before subsidies.

Doubling the paternity leave is also good. It would have helped me so much during my confinement period because honestly, it was really tight for us financially because my husband had to take unpaid leave to assist me. I think having fathers around is good, especially for young mums like me who did not have parental help as my in-laws are of old age. 

Sofiyah: I like that they added two more weeks for paternity leave. It’s nice to get fathers to be more involved in raising their kids. It is up to the dads to take up the leave but it’s a nice step to normalising (them being involved).  

Hana: I think it is important that fathers do more, too. There are some things that dads can do like doctor visits… they can drive their kids or spouse for visits. I think more paternity leave is also cool because it means that we’re moving towards a time when fathers are more involved. 

What do you think about the measures to alleviate the cost of housing?

Raihan: As we are staying with our in-laws, we actually looked into buying resale flats but the upfront cash amount is quite high nowadays, and so is the price of the house. We are looking at BTOs.

I wouldn’t say it’s currently very expensive but it’s quite affordable if you can get the ones not in the mature estates. For my income and my husband’s, we’re looking at a three-room (flat) and we’re looking at a non-mature estate cos we understand that a flat in mature estates can be really pricey. Now with the new measures for first-time buyers, I would want to try applying for a BTO and see what the response is like.

Sofiyah: I think the housing measures will help some families. I don’t have a family to sustain so I don’t have the urgency to move out of my family’s home. But I do think about my future and I’m looking at housing prices… and a five-room flat can cost more than half a million dollars.  

I'm just thinking how long is it going to take me to acquire more than half a million? To me at least it doesn't seem nice to be in debt for the rest of your life just so you can have a roof over your head. And I think rental isn't really an option because even rental prices are increasing right now, and that’s a really big concern.

Yong Wei: I’m a bit disappointed that there weren’t any measures for singles. I’m 30 years old and I’m from a broken family so I really want to get my own house, but I have to wait five more years. Everybody has different situations, but for me, I really want to start afresh but… I need to wait. Otherwise, I need to make sure I earn enough money to be able to afford a private apartment. 

Shawn: I think a lot of the measures are targeted at this one concept of what a typical family in Singapore would want and looks like, and most of the support goes there. I think that’s great. But I think the social compact is evolving and it’s also important to start thinking about what other conceptions of family there are in Singapore that are equally as legitimate.

What do you think about the move to make Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions mandatory for platform workers?

Yong Wei: I think it’s there for a good reason and it will really help people. How many of us have the real discipline to save up S$100,000 to buy a house?

This is a problem we're trying to solve — it's a housing issue and a retirement issue. You don’t want to wait 10 or 15 years down the road because you will see a lot of platform workers who have worked all their lives but are still unable to buy a house or retire. 

I really support this measure because I regret not contributing to CPF five or six years ago. I started contributing recently and I feel like it’s harder to save up my CPF to buy a house right now. I should have started years ago.