The global economy is reeling, and Singapore is certainly no exception. The question for most Singaporeans now, I believe, is how the Singapore government plans to respond to the crisis. The question for me, though, goes a tiny step further. I wonder what other creative ways can my government come up with to help Singaporeans weather the storm.

It seems to me that in recent years, whenever something negative regarding our wallets strikes, there’s already a standard operating procedure (SOP) in place to execute (or a generic drug to prescribe, whichever analogy you prefer). The first is to send those deemed to be more lowly skilled to retraining so that they can get better jobs. The second is to dole out several hundred dollars per person to help Singaporeans cope with the problem. Of course, you can always count on multiple reassurances by government leaders that Singapore will weather the storm provided that we continue voting for the correct political party to lead the country.

I recognise I am making sweeping statements that may or may not be 100% factually correct but this is how things seem to be, and I think that more often than not, perceptions matter more than truth. I do think that the general perception of the government’s ability to tackle problems creatively is not exactly positive. I am really interested to see what the government will propose to help Singaporeans weather the current storm.

And, what I don’t want to see is the classic give with the right hand and take back with the left. The signs have already appeared. Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said a couple of months ago he will look at how to prepare the budget to help Singaporeans (it was in response to the ridiculous electricity tariff hike). Recently, the transport minister Raymond Lim said public transport prices aren’t necessarily down even though oil prices have plunged. Maybe Singaporeans will get a handout, and then they will get a round of public transport increases (and maybe electricity tariff increases, if the folks regulating energy pricing decides not to base electricity pricing on oil prices, just like the folks regulating the transport industry :mrgreen: ).

Of course, it is unlikely that any price increase or tax increase will completely wipe out the value handouts. Doing so is just plain stupid. However, what such increases will do is to wipe out the goodwill that was intended to be generated in the first place. If the government really wants to give, give wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly.