Now for some political updates on our own shores with yesterday’s Singapore Budget 2009.

Against an unprecedented economic uncertainty, many businesses and households were anticipating for some  change (pun intended) from our government.

Unfortunately for many, the Budget merely dished out loose change. You can read  some feedback and learn about the Budget’s key initiatives.

Though I found the Job Credit Scheme a creative incentive for employers in order to retain employment, but the rest were expected measures that were necessary for any downturn.

Some of these measures included corporate tax cuts (from 18 per cent to 17 per cent?!) and 15 per cent rental rebates for JTC/HDB/SLA tenants. However, we know that this is not any ordinary downturn that we are experiencing today.

Hence, it is natural that more help is expected from businesses to cope with the financial crunch especially since their survival will benefit our economy and livelihood of Singaporeans with gainful employment.

MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Inderjit Singh was reported saying: “We did not do enough in the area of cost reduction and this is a very urgent issue. Freezing government charges alone was not sufficient. We could have reduced and also looked at other initiatives to help companies reduce their costs.”

Nonetheless, this year’s Budget seemed to have more heart for Singaporeans such as the lower income group and disadvantaged. But how these measures will translate to direct help remains to be seen.

Read a related news report from Wall Street Journal here>>>