‘JB businesses will be happy' — Singaporeans debate pros and cons of Universal Basic Income

Independent Singapore

6 hours ago

SINGAPORE: When a local Redditor asked what Singaporeans think of Universal Basic Income, a commenter took somewhat of a left turn and said it would certainly make business owners in Johor happy.
In a June 17 (Wednesday) post on r/askSingapore, u/AjaxCooperwater wrote, 'With people getting retrenched and AI replacing jobs, what do Singaporeans think of Universal Basic Income (UBI)? Can it be implemented in Singapore?'
They further explained that UBI 'is a regular, unconditional cash payment given by the government to all citizens, regardless of their income or employment status, to cover basic living costs.'
Certain countries around the world have used or launched a trial of one form or another of basic income, such as Brazil, Kenya, and South Korea. The advantages and disadvantages of such a scheme have been widely discussed. On the one hand, UBI would significantly reduce poverty. On the other hand, it may be too expensive for countries to sustain.
As for u/AjaxCooperwater's post, many commenters had a lot to say.
The top comment, however, was this: 'If you give cash as UBI, the business owners in JB will be very happy.'
A Reddit user replied that this illustrates the biggest problem with the scheme.
'For an economy like Singapore, a lot of such money will flow out. Be it foreign investments or overseas trips/shopping. We will be essentially paying taxes to stimulate other countries' economies. I would very much prefer CDC vouchers. At least we keep the money within the country,' they wrote.
Another seemed to agree, writing, 'I'm starting to think of things like CDC and NS Home credits as extremely limited forms of UBI, with the limitation that we need to use it in the local economy.
Yes, they're not universal, but if I'm not wrong, it's actual usable currency, which is very different from tax rebates, etc. Plus, receiving these is very hard to game, and at the very least it's NOT disproportionately putting money in the hands of the rich, which is a very common complaint for how governments redistribute wealth.'
Others also said that they believe Singapore already has a form of UBI.
'Your CDC vouchers, GST credits, and the slew of new fanciful vouchers are UBI dressed in different names. The government won't suddenly announce that everyone will get $x unconditionally because they don't like sudden shifts. They like to give a bit, look-see monitor, then shift a bit more, etc. Evolution, not revolution. Who's gonna pay for it? We are. That's why they had raised GST ahead of time,' one wrote.
A commenter, however, was blunt in declaring that they are not in favour of UBI at all.
'Money is not free; you are just taxing more on those who are productive and not in a good way. Prefer for the government to actually invest more in education, financial literacy, and support schemes to help uplift those who are in need. At least these have very clear ROI and impact.
Also with the mindset that some SG people have, confirm will have some that will exploit it/be damn entitled kpkb too little, want these and that. Very hard to determine a good threshold and will breed complacency. Our only resource is people and hard work, take away the motivation and SG is gonna lose competitive edge.' /TISG
Read also: Universal basic income: is it really what today's youth need?