If you’re now heading to the bubble tea shop to order ten cups of bubble tea because you think DPM Heng is going to give you another $600, hold your horses.
It’s a ministerial statement and there’s no mention of a budget, so keep your cash in your wallet first.
DPM Heng Delivering Ministerial Statement on Plans of COVID-19 Support Measures on 17 August
Lest you didn’t realise, before a budget that involves COVID-19 support measures was announced, DPM Heng would usually post about it, and said that it’s a budget. Heck, he sometimes even gave it a fancy name before talking about it in Parliament.
This will allow people like you and me to pre-order our bubble teas, and for bosses to book a new Mercedes.
This time, there’s no mention that it’s a budget. Yet.
Instead, it’s a Ministerial broadcast which will be aired on mainstream media channels on Monday, 17 August 2020, at 3.30pm.
Yes, it’s not even in a Parliament sitting, a familiar place that DPM Heng had announced his previous COVID-19 relief plans to over five million cheers.
But why a sudden announcement?
Could it even be bad news, like the closing of bubble tea shops (again)?
No, it’s a plan to “continue supporting workers, businesses and protect livelihoods, in our ongoing efforts to build resilience and to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In his Facebook post, which is more comprehensive than Ministry of Finance’s press release, DPM Heng revealed some details.
I will be making a Ministerial Statement next Monday on how we will continue our support for workers and businesses…
Posted by Heng Swee Keat on Friday, 14 August 2020
He spoke about the severity of the pandemic worldwide, and how Singapore has experienced the “worst quarterly GDP performance on record in the second quarter.”
He then said that more job losses and retrenchments are expected in the coming months.
And then he echoed what his BFF, Minister Chan Chun Sing, has recently said as well: the pandemic is hitting companies differently, with some growing despite the virus lingering in the toilets we go to (hello, Sheng Siong) and some being affected badly (Starker, can you still hearrrr me?).
Previously, Minister Chan has said, “We need different measures for the different type of companies – some to help them grow faster, some to help them consolidate their capacity while preserving their core capabilities, and some to help them pivot into new products and new markets…So the measures are quite different and must be targeted in order for them to be useful to the respective companies.”
DPM Heng then added that Singapore cannot “sustain the same level of support indefinitely” and “we will have to evolve and taper the support provided.”
And finally, he mentioned something that might render the speech…irrelevant to you: “We will continue to provide targeted support to sectors that are hardest hit, including helping them pivot to new opportunities in growth areas.”
Not trying to second-guess lah, but I think that unless you work in the entertainment industry like a KTV or nightclub, it’s most probably a targeted support for selected sectors.
