The answer is no – IF! If ah if, IF the Government gives out big Ang Bao for this year’s budget is because they managed to save a lot of money during their term of government hor. Not because election coming.
Every year, somewhere around the Chinese New Year, the Singapore Government will come out and announce the Budget for the year. This is not because CNY period is more HUAT, but because just nice it is the start of the financial year.
This year, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will deliver Singapore’s 2025 Budget statement in parliament on Feb 18 at 3.30pm.
What kind of support or “ang bao” do workers get from Budget 2024?
Very simple logic mah, just like how we plan to earn, spend, and save for our own households, the Singapore government also needs to plan how to manage its money for the whole country.
Then hor sometimes, especially near the end of a government’s term, people start saying,
“Wah, Gahmen give out goodies! Confirm is because election coming! Want to buy our votes ah!”
But hor actually, it is not. But government got money to give out is because they manage the money prudently, they scrimped and saved during their term of government, that’s why they got surplus. So that is why they got money to share and give it back with us.
How the Government Manages Money
Think of Singapore’s budget like your own pocket money.
Every month, you get a fixed allowance (taxes and other source of government income). But you also have expenses like food, transport, phone bills and all the wu eh bo eh right? Then hor, you will also TRY to save some in case of emergencies (reserves).
If you budget well, guai guai don’t anyhowly spend money, sometimes you even have extra left at the end of the year (surplus).
Why Some Years Have More Goodies / Big Ang Bao during Budget leh?
Now, like mentioned earlier, on good months, after being super careful with your spendings, you realize you saved extra. Then what do you do? Some will go Siam Diu to Lim Jiu and Diao Huey. Some will buy nice things for your family and loved ones.
This is exactly what happens with Singapore’s budget. When the government collects more revenue than expected (surplus), they can afford to give back to the people through cash payouts, subsidies, or grants.
But this doesn’t happen every year hor. Some years, just like when you have big expenses (e.g., medical bills or need to buy new laptop), the government also faces higher spending needs, like during COVID-19 when they had to spend more to help businesses and workers.
So hor, don’t think you will get more Ang Bao every time when near Election!
It doesn’t works like this hor.
Whether got surplus or not is not tikam-tikam or by luck one. The surplus comes from years of careful financial planning.
And don’t forget, our Singapore Government is also very kiasu and kiasi one. They will only spend what it collect during its term. They cannot anyhow touch past reserves, which are saved for future generations. So, if the government has been careful with spending and revenue turns out higher than expected, then they have money to give back to Singaporeans lor.
In other words, towards the end of a government term, if they managed finances well, there might be extra to share. It’s not because of elections – it’s because of good financial management. That’s how we keep our finances strong and stable, and enough for the future generations.
