I think all the PAP MPs understand the importance of keeping the Government trim. Even Mr Steve Chia supports our prudent fiscal position. He said so. In contrast, Mr Low Thia Khiang argued against the Government’s fiscal policies. He questioned the 2% cut in Ministries’ budgets; he opposed changing the basis for university fees, and he also opposed using means testing in healthcare.

These are easy, populist demands to make. But supposing we agree. Who is to pay? We are already drawing on the returns on our reserves, up to the constitutional limit. Is Mr Low Thia Khiang suggesting a further increase in GST? Or should we raise income taxes, instead of reducing them? He did not say. But his unspoken message is that someone else, presumably someone else richer, can cough up, not middle or lower-income Singaporeans.

But it is not possible simply to pass on the cost to someone else. Today, the top 20% of people working already pay 93% of the net income tax assessed. So, if we go the way Mr Low proposes, then we are going to have to tax the majority of Singaporeans more heavily, in order to pay for the benefits to themselves. In other words, tax the middle-class and lower middle-class in order to benefit the middle-class and lower middle-class. That is how welfare states work. That is how the British work – the first pound you earn, you pay about 20 pence on the pound. In Singapore, the first $20,000 you earn is tax-free. So, that is what it amounts to. And if Mr Low were candid, I think he would admit this.