My wish for budget 2024 was for the government to take measures to reduce the cost of living.

I knew that it would be an unfulfilled wish. The pattern of the PAP government has been the same for the past two decades under Lee HL - to keep raising the cost of living.

To fool the people, they will give a small sum of pocket money. For the past three years, the pocket money is called CDC vouchers.

The headline in Today paper said - Budget 2024: All S'porean households to get S$600 in CDC vouchers; 2.5m adults to also receive cash payments of up to S$400.

Lee HL has succeeded well. Singapore has now become one of the most expensive cities in the world, if not at the top place.

The people will suffer another challenge, that will probably go unaddressed - the insecurity and uncertainty of jobs. They will probably receive another small change - perhaps the SkillsFuture credit. It will be insufficient to meet the mandatory living expenses.

It is sad that the PAP government will continue to rely on wasteful schemes that are costly to administer and inadequate to meet the needs. They prefer to "look nice", instead of addressing the real challenges of the past two decades.

Maybe, I am mistaken. But I do not have the mental strength to read another load of rubbish.

Tan Kin Lian