GST and YOU

Have been seeing lots of news, articles and even advertisements on how GST hike seems like a big impact to our lives. Most interesting of all will be the exaggeration of the hike from the series of advertisements from your favourite "M" fastfood chain. Things that cost $1 will probably cost $1.20 after the hike, while things of $10 value will cost $12. Locals from all walks of life are crying out loudly about the "huge" impact it will make on our lives.

I have seriously been thinking about it, and have not reached a conclusion on how much it will actually impact us. I pretty much believe that how much the hike will impact your life depends on your own spendings. 7% sounds like a large amount when converted to monetary terms, but is it really 7%? In actual fact, it is just a 2% hike for now at least. Unless your lifystyle revolves around high-end products and services, i do not believe that the hike will actually affect you much. For example, if you constantly make purchases for electronics and branded goods, a mere $1000 purchase will incur you a GST of $20. In comparison, if your purchases revolves around purchases of maybe $100 on groceries, the GST will be only $2. So i actually i do believe that it is by choice how much you want to be affected by the GST. Why are so many middle class citizens also whining about the hike when they are so willing to spend on luxurious goods, which easily amounts to thousands of dollars.

Singaporeans do like to compare ourselves with lesser developed countires like some of our neighbours, but is the comparison really valid? If the hike is for the good of the country in general, i should believe that the hike is inevitable. Although i do agree that its hurts slightly when comes to making purchases, it still boils down to making smart purchases.