Budget day.....

Tomorrow will be Budget Day for Singapore. The Minister for Finance will be letting us know where the money is coming and going for Singapore. This is usually a time of excitement for Singaporeans. We'll know whether the the government will be handing out goodies or not.
The Singapore government has been very effective in managing its budget.

The earners pay tax, depending on how much they earn, the not so well-to-do get incentives, cash bonuses or rebates. Almost everyone gets at least something. Wouldn't you think that it's great? Not everyone thinks that way. Some complain that they don't get enough, some complain that it's not fair. This is especially true for the group sandwiched between the very well-to-do or higher earners and the lower income group. We are neither rich enough to live what we deem is a comfortable live, nor poor enough to warrant substantial subsidies from the government.

What is a comfortable live? I think I've mentioned this before in an earlier blog. Look for it.

I had quite a lot to say about couples not wanting children. Many people ask me if we are going to try for another kid, especially a girl. I have recently started to say no. Not because I don't want a kid, but because I am unable to commit time to taking care of a baby for at least 6 months. I breast fed all my kids till they were 8, 6 and 9 months old. If I have another baby, I'd like to do the same. But my work requires frequent travel and I will not be able to make the kind of provisions I was able to with my kids.

If only the Budget 2011 will cater to that. Much longer paid maternity leave. I don't mind if I get paid half of my salary to be able to go on maternity leave for at least 6 months. The law now caters for 16 weeks of maternity. It makes more sense to have longer maternity leave. To be honest, it's easier to find a temporary contractual staff for 6 months than 3 months. When we have a temporary replacement, we need to spend at least 2 weeks to 1 month to train the person to do a half decent job. Then we have to have at least 1 week transition when the person returns from maternity leave. It may not be worth the effort to do that for a maternity leave of 8 or 12 weeks....

I hope the Budget brings me something interesting tomorrow......all the best!