‘Show your kindness by not increasing GST’ — Netizens respond to PM Lee’s “Make room for kindness” message

After Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted a message reminding Singaporeans to “make room for kindness” specifically when it comes to lifts and queuing, netizens responded by saying that real kindness would be stopping the GST hike.

In recent news, Mr Lee shared a message with Singapore after receiving a letter from a mother who said she had to take her baby in a stroller down on an escalator as there was too long of a queue by a lift.

He encouraged Singaporeans to be aware of those in society who have a greater need to use lifts and to give way to them. “Besides parents with strollers, some others too will have greater need to use a lift – persons with disabilities, seniors, and pregnant women,” he wrote. “COVID-19 has shown us that we are a caring society. Let’s all show consideration for those in need and make room for kindness.”

In response to this, while some netizens came forward with their own personal experiences similar to the situation of the distraught mother, others had a different picture of kindness. “The greatest kindness he can give to Singaporeans is to stop making the cost of living higher and higher,” wrote one netizen. ” Stop GST.”

Come Jan 1, 2023, Singapore is set to raise its Goods and Services Tax (GST) from seven per cent to eight per cent. Then, on Jan 1, 2024, the nation is set to raise the GST from eight per cent to nine per cent.

“Mak(ing) room for kindness is not the common sense of giving way to (those) too young and too old,” another online user wrote. “Please show your kindness by not increasing GST by January 2023 please!”

“Make room for kindness”: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urges Singaporeans to give way to people with “greater need” to use lift