How Singaporeans view and react to the current economic recession?
By Nicholas Lau

Singapore is heavily reliant on exports and imports to keep its economy running, and the global slowdown has resulted in a significant decline in international and regional trade, leading to our economy suffering a severe downturn. This is known to be the worst recession in Singapore since independence in 1965. Due to the economy crisis, companies have been going bankrupt, and more people are being retrenched, leading to an increased number of people on the lookout for jobs. Furthermore, the economic downturn’s effects are intensified by the current swine flu outbreak, which affected trade, tourism and business, and led to even more job losses.

During this economic unrest, how do Singaporeans view, and react, to the recession?

In fact, most Singaporeans, know about the economic recession, but think that they are not affected by it. Furthermore, most do not know how the recession was caused, and the recession in detail. Also, Singaporeans do not really save money until they are personally hit by the recession, in one way or another. This can be seen from Singaporeans spending a lot of money during the annual great Singapore sale (GSS). According to credit card figures released by MasterCard, the first GSS weekend saw Singapore cardholders chalking up bills S$38.3 million which is an increase of seven per cent from the same period last year, also, the number of transactions Singaporeans made in the first weekend using credit cards rose 15 per cent from last year to 283,703 this year, even though there is the economic recession to consider when spending. This can be seen not only from the GSS, but also from the fact that Singaporeans are still thronging travel fairs, IT fairs, clubs, shopping centres and swanky restaurants.

We interviewed Ms Tan, an office worker, about the economic recession, and she tells us that she does not think that her spending is limited, and that she still spends as much per month on clothes, and other items. She says, “I don’t think that the economic recession is as bad as some it looks to be. As compared to the 1998 Asian Economic Disaster, this is not so serious after all. The Singapore government has been very efficient in implementing counter measures to prevent the recession from spreading excessively. My daily spending is not really affected too.”

However, there are also people who worry about the effects of the recession on their daily life. These people find ways to cut cost so as to save money to tide them through the recession. From choosing cheaper alternatives as compared their more expensive cousins, to cooking instead of patronising restaurants. In this way, more money can be saved for daily essential usage, and for rainy days.

For example, Mrs Lee, a housewife, stated in an interview, that she would try to cut down on her family’s daily expenses. She informs us that by not using the air con in the day, and turning off electrical appliances when not in use, she has saved about fifty to eighty dollars per month on electrical bills. She tells us that when she goes to the supermarket, she would try to buy the cheapest alternatives to the things that she usually buys, such as food products, clothes and household essentials. Another way of saving money and cutting cost would be taking public transport to work instead of driving, which is practiced by MR Joshin Koh, allowing him to save up to a hundred dollars a month.

From this, we can see that Singaporeans hold two views towards the current economic recession. Although this might be the worst recession in Singapore since independence in 1965, we can still see that some people do not feel affected by the bad state of the economy. However, there are also, at the same time, some who feel that the downturn is very serious, and they must cut spending in order to survive. As the economic recession continues to plague Singapore, we must not take the recession too lightly, yet maintain a positive outlook on the financial situation of Singapore.
posted by blackfire123 at 8:09 PM