Emcee-ing at YOUthSpeak on Budget Dialogue 2018 today!
I was actually surprised when I received the invitation request because not many people know that I do emcee and hosting work as well 😅 most of the time I only get requests from people who have worked with me before, or word-of-mouth recommendations, because I don't really do this professionally or full-time!
There's a lot of great discussions here among the youths and unsurprisingly, the impending GST hike is top of almost everyone's concerns.
Some others asked about how new technologies will affect employment in the new economy, and what Singaporean workers can do to adapt so that they do not lose their job to automation or robots.
Loving the cold brew coffee from One Hen Coffee this afternoon 😊
How much is the govt willing to invest to combat the issue of terrorism?
Wah I like this student's question on one of my favourite topics 😁 @sgbudgetbabe:300517 and @sgbudgetbabe:040318
Why not raise other taxes instead of GST?
Quotes today from Minister Lawrence Wong, Second Minister for Finance:
"Our main problem is beyond the present, beyond this term of government, where government expenditure will increase after 2021. To fund this, we will need more revenue."
The exceptional surplus from this year's Budget is largely cyclical – stamp duties, revenue from MAS in managing the SGD foreign exchange float, etc – and does not mean this will be repeated every year as it depends on the economy.
There are generally two categories of taxes:
– direct (corporate and personal income taxes)
– indirect (on consumption like GST)
America had just lowered their corporate tax rate, so if we raise ours, it could lead to companies moving to other countries instead.
"50% of Singaporeans don't pay income taxes."
"We recently raised the personal income tax rate to 22% so it isn't feasible to do it so quickly again. And if we do raise it, the rich will then do tax planning (such as hoarding their income in other countries with a lower rate such as HK), so this would be counterproductive."
"Personal income tax is also based on work, so if the rate is raised too high, then it will create a disincentive to work."
"But the GST is different as it is a tax on consumption and spending."
On GST and digital goods and services
Today we pay taxes for Singtel and Starhub. Why is Netflix excluded?
Eventually we will extend GST to digital goods at well. (furniture from Courts is taxed now, but not Taobao? How is that fair?)
"How much are we getting from GST? 0.7% of our GDP. That amount of money is not going to cover all the increased expenditure on healthcare, terrorism and infrastructure."
(eh really so hard to define meh? 😒 what if we crowdsourced the definitions so that the govt doesn't need to engage in these "difficult debates"? Dayre community what do you guys think!!!)
Honestly I feel like if we could crowdsource and get every citizen to vote on definitions of essential living necessities vs. non-essentials, then removing GST on those items would make more sense imo.
We could use SingPass so everyone can only vote once, then publish the results?
Even if people are unhappy with the results, they can barely argue against public consensus from people like you and me, right? If majority say bread loaves ok but Breadtalk cannot, then you protest also no use mah.
Lol I feel like I should run some public poll or something, then we use that to convince the govt to waive GST off living necessities!!!!
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Selfie with Second Minister for Finance 😂
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Planning your wedding on a Budget
For those who are about to get married #dayrebrides #diybride , DBS is holding a talk this Thursday that's focused on teaching you how to set wedding priorities, create a budget and save up for your big day!
💲💰💲💰💲AGENDA💰💲💰💲
📝 Looking out for various and sometimes hidden costs
📝 Prioritising expenses
📝 Shopping and negotiating with vendors
📝 Possible DIY options
Date: 22nd March 2018
Time: 7:30pm – 9.30pm
Venue: NAV Hub, 45 Tras Street (S078984)
Cost: $10 nett
(also includes free dinner! Super worth it please lol!)
It'll also include free access to a consultation with them after to run through you and your partner's financial habits and investment profile, with absolutely no hardselling OR even product pushing during the session. This is optional but free for you to book after the talk!
www.bit.ly/navbudgetweddings
(Limited seats for booking online, on a first-come-first-served basis)
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SGBB Cashback App coming soon to Android!
First look at the SGBB Cashback App for Android!!!!!!!!!
A lot of you requested for an Android version after the iOS one was launched a few weeks ago, so I'm working with a developer to get this done! Will announce once the bugs have been fixed and the app is ready for download.
And no this won't be paid nor crowdsourced! The responses previously just wasn't enough so I decided to just find another way around it. No need to pay anything k, it'll still be a free app and I'll do my best to upkeep it as long as I can afford to!
