Mr Chiam See Tong and some other Members have commented that this Budget does not offer much to the man-in-the-street. But maybe they have forgotten the many rebates which are still in place for the households and many programmes to get the unemployed back to work. Some were from the GST offset package two years ago; others were from the off-Budget package last September. As these are quite generous, there has been no need to increase them, especially with the economy picking up and unemployment going down. Instead, this Budget focuses on creating opportunities for individuals to help themselves.

Let me just briefly name the items which are still in force.

We had a second tranche of Economic Restructuring Shares in January and February this year. Altogether, we have given out $814 million worth of shares. $814 million – that is equal to the whole corporate tax cut this year. And of this, $562 million has been encashed, that means nearly 70% has been cashed out. And there is a third tranche, which is worth an estimated $900 million, which will be allotted next year.

Secondly, HDB households are receiving rebates this year on the Service and Conservancy (S&C) charges (up to five months), rentals (up to four months) and they are getting Utilities-Save rebates too (up to four months), and the S&C and rental rebates are going to continue for another couple of years.

Thirdly, needy persons affected by the downturn can turn to the Interim Financial Assistance Scheme (IFAS) for help. In FY 2003, we had disbursed more than $4 million to assist more than 8,000 individuals.

In this year’s Budget, I decided to make Medisave top-ups from $50 to $200 for older Singaporeans, and to inject another $100 million into Medifund for needy patients. Dr Jennifer Lee did not think that Medisave top-up was necessary, and she preferred to put the money into Medifund. But I think, on balance, it is necessary. Firstly, because the older workers are suffering a deeper CPF cut when we made the changes to the CPF system last year, and I think we owe them an obligation. I said then that at the next opportunity, the Government would do a little more for them in terms of top-ups. Secondly, we have structured the Medisave top-up to give more to those with lower Medisave balances, who are likely to be the less well-off. And if they already are on Medifund, this will help to pay for the MediShield premiums. Thirdly, I have not neglected Medifund, and I have put $100 million into Medifund to bring the fund to its target size of $1 billion, to look after the group that Dr Lee is concerned about, which we are also concerned about.